Bill Robert believes that USFooty has a home on community television and he is putting his mouth, his knowledge and his time where his mouth is. In his spare-time from his day job as operations manager for Wilmington Community Television (WCTV), Robert has created StateSideFootyTV.com to develop programming on USFooty and his hometown Boston Demons for WCTV and community television stations across the country. It is ambitious plan, but if his first show is anything to go by, Robert can put his words into actions.
StateSideFootyTV.com's first show and WCTV's first USFooty telecast, was the July 17 match between the (8) Nashville Kangaroos and the hometown Boston Demons. Robert produced, edited, directed and called the game. WCTV provided the equipment, volunteers did the camera work, and Robert's wife kept the stats.
According to Robert, "I was very nervous when I did that first game. Though I have been watching (and thoroughly enjoying) footy for decades, this was the first time I was going to be describing the game to people with no TV calls or replays on which to fall back. Also, hockey is a sport readily available in the States. Footy? Not nearly as much. For the past few years (at least since the weekly one-hour AFL highlights show was pulled from FOX Sports Net) my footy watching has come mostly by way of YouTube, and it's been in limited doses at best. I didn't have satellite TV, or any type of online subscription. This year I made the most of ESPN's resurgent involvement in the AFL. I also knew that I would be in the presence of people that grew up in Australia completely immersed in the game. I was thinking a lot about the game in the days leading up to it, fearing I'd come off sounding like some dumb Yank who didn't know what the hell he was talking about."
Has been calling his other love, hockey, for a number of years as WCTV telecasts local high school hockey games, but calling footy was something new. "When you hear me call a game, what you get is all me. I like to think I bring my excitement and passion to the events I call (especially since I love both hockey and footy). I'm not trying to work up hysteria or excitement for the sake of working up hysteria and excitement. When you hear my cadence quick and my voice get louder, it is because something in the game I am watching has moved me to that level. And that is what I have said to anyone who has commented on my hockey commentary in the past. I'm not trying to manufacture excitement, I'm just an excitable guy. The only thing I really thought about going in was the fact that a lot of people who would probably see this program had never seen a game of footy in their lives. And I wanted to make sure they understood what was going on. But I didn't want to over-explain the game. I didn't want to get to the point where those who did know what was going on were driven crazy by the constant spoon-feeding of every minute detail of the game. So I just decided to do the game normally, and I produced a six-minute primer package that I ran at the head of the show. This clip is also available on our video page and on YouTube."
Robert has been very encouraged by the feedback he has gotten after his first outing. "The response I got on site was nothing short of amazing. I had spectators and players come over to our "portable press box" (A tent, a table, some chairs and a couple of microphones) and comment on their amazement at what they were hearing. The Aussies who visited us seemed really pleased not only that the game was getting some TV exposure, but that they were hearing somebody who shared their love (and at least some of their knowledge) of the game. A few folks came up to me and said I sounded like I followed the game, which I did. I watch AFL games all the time, I told them, and was especially fond of the Geelong Cats. And every single person I told that to was a Hawthorn supporter. Every single one. It was uncanny.
"The best story of the day was after the Boston Demons/Nashville Kangaroos game when Marty Thompson (the Kangaroos Head Coach) came up and asked me to nominate players for his Best and Fairest awards. Someone as knowledgeable about the game as that, asking me to vote for his best players? I was completely blown away by that and rode that high for the rest of the weekend. Since the show launched a week and a half ago, I have had some wonderful email and telephone conversations with players from different teams, as well as footy fans. The nicest bit of feedback had to be when Michael Sheppard (the Demons club president) emailed me to ask if I knew of a good place in Wilmington to get together and watch the game. The team, after a regular practice, came up to Wilmington and reserved a room at one of my favorite local restaurants so they could watch the game as it aired on our cable station here. And they absolutely loved it - albeit not so much the game, as it was a big loss, but the chance to watch the thing on TV and see the good points and bad points of the game they played. When I first embarked on this project, I was hoping what I was doing would be all right with the team. Now they're making a special trip to our town to watch the thing? That was, to put it totally in classic Bostonian parlance, "wicked awesome"."
Robert is interested in developing programming for WCTV and StateSideFootyTV.com and he is interested in providing that programing to community television stations across the country. "If someone would like to shoot some footy-related footage (would we call it "footy-age"?) to submit for a story segment, that would be terrific. I am currently working on ideas to keep the show going during the off-season, when I'm going to have to depend on more than just game coverage for episode content. One of the segments I would like to add is a segment called the "Free Kick", which would be a segment in which guest commentators could put in their two cents on something related to the sport of Australian Rules Football. I'd like to see how other areas do similar things. I'd love to have video from Grand Final parties across the country to assemble in a big collage and do a piece about how this huge day in Australia is observed here in the States. I'd love to have stuff sent in from other teams. Not just game stuff. I'd like to show how different teams practice, the different ways in which they approach a game. Since I am based in the Boston area, a lot of the show will be kind of "Demons-centric", but any and all contributions would be appreciated to widen the breadth of the show. Also, if you are in the area and would like to see "Stateside Footy" in your town, call me and we can set up distribution.
"At WCTV (Wilmington Community Television in Wilmington, MA - Stateside Footy's flagship station), our programs are produced by our volunteer members. I am not producing this show for WCTV, or on behalf of WCTV. I am an independent producer, and WCTV is just the place that happens to be airing the program (and providing the equipment). Though I am a WCTV Staff Member, "Stateside Footy" is my program, and I produce it as a volunteer. It's my show. Not WCTV's. I hold the copyrights and am responsible for the show's content. Many community television stations work in this way. Some have programming produced mostly by staff (usually in the more affluent communities with better funding and bigger budgets), but still accept shows from volunteers. If anyone has an interest in doing a show like this, talk to your local cable access center. Many of them can provide you with access to professional video equipment and the training you need to properly use it. Much like the star quarterback's dad who goes out and tapes all the games so he can see them on cable, anyone out there who likes footy and has a favorite local team can help get the word out. Part of my goal for this project is to demonstrate to people how important a resource like local access cable television can be to parties looking to get more public exposure. As I said before, if you'd like to see "Stateside Footy" on local cable in your town, talk to me. If you'd like to do your own footy show, go for it. (Talk to me anyway, if you need advice as to how to go about such a thing.) The more footy on TV, the better, no matter where it is. Even if you have to wait through the end of your local selectmen's meeting to get it. Would I like to see "Stateside Footy" on in tens, perhaps hundreds of communities? Sure? Would I like to see shows like "Stateside Footy" on in tens, perhaps hundreds of communities? Even more so!"
Learn more about the show - visit the web site at http://www.statesidefootytv.com.
