IT TAKES A SMALL ARMY TO AIR BISON GAMES ON TV
WDAY’s commitment to telecasts includes satellite truck of more than $1 million
BY JEFF KOLPACK
The Forum FARGO
The ratio of Murray State football fans who either stopped, paused or checked out the satellite trailer must have been at least 75%.
It’s a 44-foot mobile facility adorned with North Dakota State football and WDAY ABC graphics. In the world of Division I FCS football, it looked out of place at another team’s stadium. Perhaps foremost on those fans’ minds: What in the world is a green and yellow TV trailer the size of an efficiency apartment doing in Murray, Kentucky?
It’s seen plenty of miles this season, and it doesn’t get to East Tennessee State, Illinois State and Murray by accident. It’s a traveling party that starts with a large commitment from Forum Communications, which airs and produces Bison football games.
“I think it’s one of those things people don’t understand,” said Stacey Anderson, operations manager for WDAY. “We have four guys that leave in a truck and drive for two days to Murray, Kentucky. It’s not glamorous. It’s a lot of time in a car together. But if they don’t do it, there’s no way we’re getting on the air.” The trailer and pickup truck alone cost more than $1 million. The technology inside of it would probably put Apollo 11 to shame. But the contract to air Bison football includes home and away games, sans the ones the
Missouri Valley Football Conference, along with ESPN, take as part of the league deal.
A typical television crew for a home game is 22 people. For a road game, it’s about 18 assuming Anderson can hire some local help. In the case of the Murray game, the stadium had no end zone platforms for cameras so that meant two fewer people.
Eight engineers handle matters in the truck on game broadcasts. That includes a PIERO graphics computer that generates the digital down and distance, or the yellow first down line if viewing from home.
“I dare you to find another FCS entity that uses a PIERO,” Anderson said. “I guarantee nobody else does that, so that’s the commitment. What viewers see regularly on a Saturday and Sunday basis we’re giving that in Fargo.” Take the Murray game. A Ford XLT pickup with WDAY engineers Alex Moulvi, Chris Danzl, Kyle Strecker and Logan Frauenshuh left Fargo on Wednesday morning for the 1,027-mile drive to Murray, arriving late Thursday.
“I think it comes down to how you prepare for it,” Moulvi said. “As for the trailer, you’re always worried about how much of the gear is bouncing, and if you have enough stuff. After that the drive is easy, you just sit in the car and enjoy the company you have.”
That includes how far the crew will drive in one day and where it plans to stop for the
night, with the hope to avoid bigger cities because of the size of the trailer. Typically, Moulvi is the navigator and Danzl does most of the driving.
“I’m just sitting there making sure the bridge we’re about to go under is one where we can actually fit under,” Moulvi said.
There is no mentally taking a break anywhere, either, especially when it comes to the turning radius of the trailer. In Johnson City, Tennessee, it took geometry to properly angle it up an incline at a Holiday Inn parking lot.
“Everything at East Tennessee was on a hill,” Anderson said. “So it was like, let’s just try to find the flattest ground and keep it there until we get out of here.”
Preparation for the East Tennessee game began with conference calls and text messages in July to ETSU administrators and campus information technology personnel and electricians. A good internet connection is a priority. Running cables from the trailer to cameras is not as simple as running cables to cameras. There needs to be a safe route, taking into account the foot traffic of fans using protective cable bridges. The closer to the stadium, the better, but there are other factors.
At Northern Iowa last year, the parking ramp next to the UNI-Dome where the trailer was parked was sloped enough to where the crew had to make sure it wouldn’t roll into the
stadium. Luckily, the weather hasn’t been an issue since the Bison contract was obtained in 2021. The Forum crew missed Hurricane Helene in the Johnson City area by two weeks.
At Murray, once there, there was no time for sightseeing the thoroughbred horse country, instead unloading and preparing for the Saturday broadcast. That includes the “Bison Gameday” pregame show from 10-11 a.m., followed by the game at 1 p.m. Like a rock band that plays a local venue, once the game broadcast is complete, already tired from a long day, it took at least two hours to tear down and pack all the gear.
Most of the crew left to fly back to Fargo on Saturday night; four on the Bison team charter and others on The Forum’s company airplane.
The Moulvi driving crew got back to Fargo at 5:30 p.m. on Monday. There were no issues in the two-day return trek.
For Moulvi, a graduate of the University of Dayton (Ohio) in communications with a
concentration in broadcast, the Murray game was a chance to see his parents, who drove to the game from Ohio. Doing something else around the time of postCOVID-19, he was on a trip to Joshua Tree National Park in California when WDAY chief engineer Dave Johnson called and offered him a job.
“We’re driving into the desert and about to lose the cell signal,” Moulvi said. “He said the turnaround is like 10 days so I said, all right, I’ll be there in 10 days.”
So the job started, appropriately, with a long drive back to Ohio and then to Fargo. The miles won’t get any easier next year. The Bison open the season at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina, followed by a road game against Tennessee State in Nashville.
“Live sporting events are what’s governing television watching,” Anderson said. “So we went all in.” Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack at jkolpack@forumcomm.com.
David Samson / The Forum
WDAY operation manager Stacey Anderson gives direction while producing the Bison Pregame Show on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky.
David Samson / The Forum
WDAY crew members monitor the camera angles and broadcast during the Bison Pregame Show on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky.
David Samson / The Forum
WDAY TV engineers Chris Danzl and Alex Moulvi tear down the set after the Bison Pregame Show on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky.
GAME DAY GUIDE
Cam Miller • QB
Sam Goetzinger WDAY-TV
Home Turf. Home Team.
NDSU linebacker Enock Sibomana is set to get his second consecutive start Saturday against Northern Iowa
BY ERIC PETERSON The Forum
FARGO — North Dakota State junior Enock
Sibomana got his first career college start this past Saturday and he parlayed that opportunity into his first career interception, first career touchdown and an end zone celebration.
“It felt like I worked hard for that moment and when it happened, I kind of had a feeling like something like that was going to happen,” said Sibomana, a 2021 Fargo South graduate.
His 34-yard interception return for a touchdown capped a 21-point first quarter as the Bison cruised to a road victory at Murray State in Missouri Valley Football Conference play. Sibomana and the No. 1-ranked Bison next host Northern Iowa at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 1, at Gate City Bank Field at the Fargodome.
Sibomana’s touchdown against Murray State was capped with a dance party in the end zone with his defensive teammates. Sibomana said the dance is one he often does in practice to celebrate a good defensive play.
“When it happened in the game, it’s hard to get
a defensive touchdown so we had to celebrate something that we worked hard for,” Sibomana said. “It was just a dance that we do to have fun.”
Sibomana started at outside linebacker against Murray State in place of Oscar Benson who was sidelined due to injury. Sibomana had five tackles and a forced fumble against the Racers to go along with his interception.
The 5-foot-11, 206-pound Sibomana said his firstquarter TD was a key moment.
“When it happened, it made me more confident for the rest of the game and for the rest of the year,” Sibomana said. Sibomana has 18 tackles, including two for a loss, through nine games. He is listed as the starter on the Bison depth chart for the Northern Iowa game.
Liwienski has great football ‘resource’ in his father
NDSU redshirt freshman Jack Liwienski
also made his first career college start last weekend in Murray, Kentucky, news he tried to keep a secret from his parents until closer to game time.
Liwienski said he texted his parents Chris and Nicole “last minute” that he was going to get the start at left guard against the Racers in place of injured redshirt freshman Griffin Empey
“That was pretty special,” Jack said. Chris Liewinski is a former NFL offensive lineman, including a stint with the Minnesota Vikings from 1998-2005. He played in 126 games and made 94 career starts.
“It’s definitely awesome.” Jack said of his father being a former NFL player. “He knows a lot about (football). ... He just gets it. He gets the daily grind, all that stuff. It’s awesome to have a resource like that.”
Bison head coach Tim Polasek, a former offensive line assistant coach at Iowa, said earlier this week he wasn’t sure how
Liewinski graded out but thought he played aggressive and fast.
“There wasn’t much hesitancy,” he said. “But I think it’s one of those where rhythm and timing combinations weren’t great. He still has to be more aware of what kind of combination we’re in. He is a good player and the more game reps against live action he gets he’ll continue to be a good player.”
RaJa Nelson still on redshirt path
Another week, another update on standout receiver RaJa Nelson, who is continuing to try and recover from an internal injury. The senior was listed as probable earlier this week, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to play against the Panthers.
He can play in one more regular season game and still retain
redshirt status and thus another year of eligibility. It appears that remains the path. He’ll most likely dress for every remaining game, but going from the sideline to prime time may not happen.
“I don’t think he’ll play this week,” Polasek said. “We’re just going to have to look at each other with the game plan in mind. If there’s something that pops up, it’s time to go.”
Polasek compared it to former Bison receiver Darius Shepherd, who against Northern Iowa in 2015 was medically given one half to play because of a pain medication for a shoulder injury. Shepherd caught the gamewinner, an 18-yard reception from Carson Wentz over two defenders in the back corner of the end zone with 35 seconds left in a 31-28 NDSU win. Polasek popped that
tape in earlier this week and showed Derrick Luken, NDSU’s director of football operations, the play.
“I said you want to see a throw? This is a man’s throw,” he said. Etc. etc. etc.
• NDSU has a plus-14 turnover margin through nine games to lead the FCS. The Bison have created 16 turnovers, while committing two. “You have to learn how to not beat yourself in order to be really good,” Polasek said. NDSU has won nine consecutive games against Northern Iowa to take a 30-26 edge in the overall series. The Bison earned a 48-27 road victory against the Panthers last season.
The Panthers are unranked for just the second time in 17 Division I meetings with the Bison.
David Samson/The Forum
North Dakota State offensive lineman Jack Liwienski made his first career college state Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, against Murray State in Murray, Kentucky.
David Samson/The Forum North Dakota State linebacker Enock Sibomana (14) returns an interception for a touchdown against Murray State on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, in Murray, Kentucky.
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