European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 13, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Goalie Cam takes a new shot at hockey by Thomas o Toole Scripps Howard news service kit s just a gimmick but with a sport ,1 so difficult to televise As hockey lbs figures it must do something to add spice. So when the . Team takes the ice today in Lillehammer Norway be on the Lookout for goalie Cam a tiny Remote to camera built into the goalie s mask above his right ear. It s the latest step in television s continuing quest to take viewers into the Actis of a sporting event in the grand tradition of cameras inside race cars Here s the funny thing about goalie Cam View ers at Home will see much More action than the Goa lie. All that sound and fury in front of the net is exactly what the goalie does t watch. I m out there to Stop the puck said . Goalie Mike Dunham. That s what i focus on. You ask me about the bodies and the Sticks i Don t watch them. I m looking at that Little Black Dunham wore the camera in a december exhibition against a russian All Star team and said it was no distraction. A Cigar shaped Case covers a camera that is roughly an Inch Long. Wires run Down the Goa lie s Back into a transmitter in his pants. The technology was developed by Aerial video services in Burbank calif., with help from i tech a mask manufacturer in Montreal. The camera needed special approval from the International ice hockey federation. Lbs also had governing body approval for Dun can Kennedy to carry a camera on his luge. But after using it Kennedy said no. Ignoring bodies and Sticks is not the easiest part of a goalie s Job but it is essential. The goalie has a cer Tain amount of Protection from the wild mishmash in front of the net but there is plenty of pushing and shoving and an occasional collision. What you do As a goaltender said lbs analyst lbs the goalie Cam is connected to the headgear. John Davidson a former nil goaltender is you try to find a Way through being focused to find the puck. You straighten up your body to look Over a player you Bend Down to look under a player s legs. You Are aware subconsciously,.that these Guys Are around but you re so focused on the added Dunham i m usually in the general area so if the puck s coming at me it hopefully will hit me. Once in a while i lose it that s when reflexes come in. You have to be finding a flying puck is much like hitting a base Ball. When hitters Are on hot streaks they often talk about How Well they see the Ball. That s How it is with a hot goalie and the puck. When i m playing my Best the puck looks like a Beachall said Dunham. It s coming in slow motion. Any athlete gets like that when he s in a Groove. Sometimes it s smaller than a pea. You re trying to find it and it just sneaks through. But when i m at my Peak everything is what viewers will notice most says Davidson is How quickly the puck comes at the goalie particularly after a face off and also How other players can Block the goalie s vision. Lbs is Back with a hotter product in the cold by Ron Weiskind the Pittsburgh Post Gazette so How will Lillehammer differ from Albertville yes lbs has the Winter olympic again 120 hours Worth. Yes it s a six hour time difference to new York again. Yes the prime time coverage will All be delayed again. Yes alas Pat o Brien will Host the late night show again. But at least he won t run until after David Letterman. But yes there Are changes. The robotic 92 prime time hosts Tim Mccarver and Paula Zahn have been surgically removed from their hermetically sealed Albertville set. Greg Gurubel takes Over and he seems to have the right Atti tude. You Don t have to be a Genius to do it. You have to be the genial Host he said which Means you have to be Able to Welcome viewers Tell them what they la see do a Recap and say Good night. I Don t think it takes More than Zahn is in Lillehammer As co Host of lbs this morning with Harry Smith. They re broadcasting outdoors from a barn that overlooks the town. Lbs has a helmet Cam on the head of the . Hockey goalie. When it comes to ice time look for lbs to have a Nancy Cam. The network could t have dreamed up a belter ratings grabber than the Tonya Harding Nancy Kerrigan soap opera. It s a fortunate misfortune for us Gumbel said. I View it in the same Way the news depart ment drools Over a plane crash. It would be fool ish to deny it la be beneficial for us. I can t imag Ine anyone not tuning in on the night she lbs executives say they Are not planning any additional figure skating coverage beyond what was already in the works. The closer we get to the games the More people will want to focus on it Gumbel said. I m not saying Well overdo it but we can t deny that it is and will continue to be a huge and if for whatever reason Harding becomes available for example if she is removed from the team might lbs use her As an analyst network brass a bit nonplussed said or Well no. Sandwiching the games around tasty Letterman by the Washington Post hat a Good for David Letterman is usually Good for lbs and its viewers. But Over the two weeks of the Lille Hammer Winter games a Citerman s presence is bad news for stateside olympic watchers hoping to get their information from lbs late night show. During we knights that hour Long show with Pat o Brien As the Host will be seen from 12 37 to 1 37 . Est and a half hour later on three weekdays when lbs will run its prime time olympic coverage until 11 30 . Est. Why so late it s Letterman. And it s also the february ratings sweeps period when big numbers now translate into higher and rates later on. We were not going to delay Letterman for an hour during the highest viewing time of the year George Schweitzer lbs senior vice president told the associated press. We d look pretty silly if we Letterman is the hottest thing in Laic night television said Rick Gentile vice president production for lbs sports. But this is not Letterman holding his breath and digging in his heels. It s a corporate decision. First of All an olympic Lead in will help the local news on lbs affiliates. And Letterman will get a big ratings boost because of that too. The audience going into Letterman will be Gentile said there s no question ratings for the late night olympic show will be lower but the net work s sales department was willing to take the hit because it will be made up by Letterman s increased viewership. Lbs also will promote the late night olympic show on Letterman telling viewers what events will be featured what s Good for Letterman is Good for lbs and the olympics Gentile said. It s that Greg Gumbel continued from Page 22 clothing store and bought paper for time inc. Before being hired by american Hospital Supply to sell bed pans and bandages in Detroit it was 1973 and my brother was working at Knic in los Angeles and he told me Mao the Abc affiliate in Chicago was looking for a weekend sportscaster so i went for an he overcame his nervousness and Learned the broadcasting business. It was there where he made his most embarrassing on air Gaffe. I said Jimmy Connors Defeated Harold Solomon in straight sex.1"-. He became disenchanted with local news and in 1981 joined fledgling esp where he was a co Host of sports enter and its Aba shows. He went to new York in 1987 to handle Yankees and kicks games for Madison Square Garden network and hosted fan s morning program for a year. In 1988, after signing with lbs he covered baseball and College football. Since becoming Host of the nil today in 1990, he has emerged from his brother s Shadow. The olympics will introduce him to a wider Audi ence. He said he called Bryant a few months ago for tips he gave me some do s and Don to nothing major. But i Felt i was ready two months ago Gumbel said. I m Over prepared. Which by the Way is a Good thing. But Man is it going to be february 13, 1934 sunday j Page 23
