Working on the statistics crew for Little Giants games has given four Wabash men skills, community, and some prime-time opportunities.
IT MIGHT SEEM LIKE EVERY SPORTS FAN’S DREAM: a wall of monitors tracking 30-plus cameras, multiple instant-replay possibilities; sound blasting from mics on the ref, players, crowd, and sideline reporters; and a constant parade of charts, captions, and other graphics playing onscreen.
Yet life inside a production truck on an NFL Sunday is anything but dreamlike.
It’s cacophony. To the noninitiated, it’s a lot of yelling, at times profane—a coordinated rush of sound and an orchestration of teamwork that rivals anything seen on the field.
“It’s really intense in that truck, and you get yelled at a little bit when you’re in there, especially if it’s your first time,” says Joe Murphy ’16, now a veteran of multiple appearances in the NFL on FOX truck.
It’s not for the fainthearted.
“I can’t watch a football game the same way anymore,” he says. “To watch the director call the shots and pick what images he wanted on the screen was interesting. He was yelling the whole game.”
How did Murphy end up on the receiving end of such a life-altering experience? He joined the Wabash statistics crew.
Murphy, Austin Earl ’17, Sam Mattingly ’16, and Clayton Randolph ’16 all worked the Colts-Saints game at on October 25 at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Earl, Mattingly, and Murphy form the backbone of the Little Giant stat crew, and Randolph—the general manager for the College’s WNDY radio station—handles many of the radio and television play-by-play duties over the course of the year, especially Little Giant football, basketball, and baseball. At Lucas Oil on October 25, Earl, a game-day intern for the Colts, worked on the statistics crew. Mattingly and Murphy each toiled in the FOX Sports production truck, while Randolph got to shadow sideline reporter Pam Oliver during the game.
“The opportunities you get here at Wabash are awesome,” Murphy says.
It was Murphy’s second appearance in the FOX truck for an NFL game. This time he assisted with in-game graphics. Game analyst John Lynch, a 15-year NFL veteran, used one of Murphy’s stats during the broadcast.
“I felt like I was actually part of the production,” says Murphy, who was called back by FOX to work the Big Ten Championship game telecast. “It’s awesome to give a little bit toward that game when you love sports.”
THIS CREW EARNED THEIR SHOT at the big time. Hardly a Wabash sporting event goes by without major contributions from these four. Although each is a big sports fan, none of them anticipated being in this position.
“I thought it was something nobody else wanted to do,” says Earl. “Oh, yeah, of course I’ll do it.”
A numbers guy himself and a member of the Wabash wrestling team, Mattingly had high hopes for the work. It was an interview with Wabash Sports Information Director Brent Harris that sealed the deal.
“When I first saw the job on Wabash Works, I thought that it would be perfect for me,” said the Evansville, IN, native. “After my interview with Brent I knew it was a great opportunity and I immediately accepted the job.”
The hardest part, however, might be setting aside the usual sports fan’s excitement. Cheering is frowned upon in the press box; your primary responsibility is to record each play perfectly.
“I don’t really get to feel that fan enthusiasm,” says Earl, a Crawfordsville native. “So Mason Zurek runs for 54 yards. While most people would be screaming, ‘That’s awesome!’ I think, Okay, let’s put that in.”
Each sport has its own rhythm via the statistical call-and-response that takes more than a little concentration, especially when compared to watching the game as a fan.
“Sometimes I catch myself trying to look up and catch a big play,” says Murphy. “But you can’t look up as much. I’ve got to stay focused on it, because I’ve got to back up Austin.”
LISTENING TO THESE GUYS TALK you can tell that the friendships are genuine, forged under the stress of chasing perfection and learning when to blow off steam. The banter between plays can be more entertaining than the game.
“We’re just a family out there,” says Earl, who coaches middle-school tennis, football, and basketball in his spare time.
Stat crew responsibilities helped Murphy—who also was an outfielder on the Wabash baseball team for two years—establish himself on campus.
“It helped me realize how to build relationships with people,” says the financial mathematics major from Elmwood Park, IL. “It’s opened my eyes to joining more things, getting involved in anything at all, and realizing how beneficial it is and how much it helped me grow as a man.”
As a young broadcaster, Randolph used the NFL opportunity to learn about preparation—Oliver will put nearly five days of reading, research, film study, and interviews into each NFL telecast. During the course of the game, Oliver wasn’t in one spot for more than 10 minutes; she circled the field a dozen times.
“Her preparation has a direct correlation to what I do here,” Randolph says. “I’ve tried to incorporate that into what I do. It was a great learning experience. She is a big deal.”
You hear the phrase “we’ll figure it out” a lot as a member of the stat crew. The work requires quick thinking, responding to challenges, and managing your responsibilities. The rest comes with the wisdom of experience. These guys have figured it out.
“What you’re going to get here is hands-on,” says Randolph. “Wabash has invested in quality equipment. The TV trailer we have is just a smaller scale of the FOX truck. Brent and [media center director] Adam [Phipps] make sure that our equipment is the best that it can be.”
Earl says he has done more than sit at a computer.
“It’s definitely broadened my skillset. Wabash gives you the knowledge that you need, and they also throw you in and make you work at it. They put you in that situation where you have to use what you’ve learned and put it in action.”