Lights... Camera... Sports Mag!

CU Sports Mag is a 30 minute sports show run entirely by student volunteers. Whether interested in sports or just looking for broadcast experience, students get together on Thursday and Friday to produce a show that rivals the professionals.

Now in its 20th year, Sports Mag began as a chance for interested students to get more time in-studio. From there it grew into a place where students could meet new friends and learn how to make TV in a controlled environment.

It’s not just for fun, though. Sports Mag is syndicated nationally by Fox College Sports Network, and in addition to 3 evening time slots during the week they’re shown at 3 and 5 pm on Saturday.

There’s a lot of pressure on these students to not only be professional but to produce a show that’s lively and engaging. But pressure doesn’t discourage the crew from having fun.

According to Co-Executive Producer Andy McDonnell, “There’s a lot of pressure being on a national network, but we look at it more as a great opportunity and try to enjoy it.”

McDonnell, who joined Sports Mag as a freshman, has watched the show grow tremendously over his four years. It’s now run completely digitally using server technology, and there may even be a jump to HD soon.

“Every week we’re learning,” says McDonnell, “we’re getting better, we’re getting experience and it’s extremely beneficial for when we hit the real world.”

Sports Mag even attempted its first-ever live feed from their premier PAC 12 tournament in Los Angeles last weekend. McDonnell and his Co-Executive Producer David LaRose traveled to LA to cover the team, but when it came time to “go live” technology had other plans.

“Our hope was to be able to give a ‘live-update’ on Friday’s show,” says LaRose, “but the cameras we had weren’t able to connect to our computer so we had to scrap that.”

Even though the live feed broke down McDonnell and LaRose were still able to feed back press conferences and pre-recorded updates on the tournament, which enhanced Sports Mag’s coverage of the Buff’s domination of the tournament.

With all the fun and innovative things Sports Mag is doing in the world of broadcast journalism, it’s puzzling that they still struggle to recruit new members.

“I don’t know of any other student-run sports shows that are shown nationally,” says LaRose, “it’s really a good thing that CU has and I don’t think a lot of people realize that."

Sports Mag meets on Thursdays at 6 pm in Armory 209 and on Fridays at 3:00 in the Atlas Production Studios. For more information, visit http://cusportsmag.com/