taxpayer Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 From reading last night's thread on the game, I wanted to put up this thread. I'm not a tech guy but with 20,000 students can't someone with some technical prowess address this issue? Isn't someone at UA responsible for such a production? Do they receive compensation? If so, withhold it until this issue is resolved. If the issue is our equipment came over on the Mayflower andblah, blah, blah.....turn it off. This "little" issue effects alumni, those unable to attend, parents/family of players & staff not able to attend in person AND RECRUITS AND THEIR PARENTS. No facility, no internet feed, no ESPN, no money = NO VISIBILITY = NO RECRUITS who live more than an hour or two away.If some of these issues aren't addressed the success of this program will continue to be contingent on KD's loyality to UA and nothing more.Could the powers that be address this issue and provide some insight as to what's up? How it will be improved? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Thaaaaaaank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippy5 Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 My high school alma mater (between 150-190 per class nowadays) came up with a U-Stream for their last two playoff games. The quality was much better.. I just don't understand how a division one athletic department can't do better than my high school. Ridiculous. And it cost them games televised on an ESPN network to boot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Could it possibly have to do with the number of fans attempting to access the video stream? Lack of bandwidth, or something? I'm NO techie. I just know our church streams it's services online without a hitch, but we typically only have between 10-15 people attempt to view the stream at any one time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Thank you for starting this thread. From now on, any complaints in the game threads about the video will now be moved to here or deleted (if it just says "video sucks"). Yes, the video is not good. Everybody at ZN knows this. No need to fill every game thread with the same thing over and over. ZN members are tired of reading it. ZN has zero control over the feed. Contact the proper people. Carry on...in this thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skip-zip Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Could it possibly have to do with the number of fans attempting to access the video stream? Lack of bandwidth, or something? I'm NO techie. I just know our church streams it's services online without a hitch, but we typically only have between 10-15 people attempt to view the stream at any one time.I didn't want to make a joke here, but do you really think that an amount astronomically greater than this number regularly watches our internet feeds? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue & Gold Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 I didn't want to make a joke here, but do you really think that an amount astronomically greater than this number regularly watches our internet feeds?You're probably right. I guess the point I was trying to make was that I don't attend a huge, mega-church. We simply have two guys who volunteer their time (not much time, either) & run a successful internet stream. You'd expect a D-1 university to be on the cutting edge of technology. It's shameful, really. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Dr Z, I think you're really on to something with separate threads for ongoing subjects like UA's poor video feeds, game officiating, etc. Now if we can just get all the old dogs to learn this new trick ...Really, there's no excuse for a university not to have fast, reliable video streaming. Services to expedite this are available at relatively low cost. The quality of video streaming is a direct reflection of a school's technical capabilities. UA is coming across as a third world institution. Ustream for one could easily correct this, since they do a great job with more technically challenging connections such as NASA TV. Ustream's top-of-the-line Enterprise plans start at $2,000 per month. It's time for UA to enter the modern connected world with a modern connection. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RowdyZip Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Sorry for adding to the whining on the WIU game thread, just wanted to let the usual suspects know that I could now sympathize with them. As a season ticket holder for about 10 years now, I've probably attended 98% of our home games. This is the first time that I can recall not being able to attend (illness) where I was at home and able to attempt to access a UA stream. What a hot mess. I watched the "blindfolded kid finds Zippy" timeout contest twice due to that strange skip-back glitch, before giving up and going to bed with a huge lead before bedtime. I think where we start here is with the question "Who is 'Sidearm Sports'?" Are these guys being paid to supply this product? Did UA sign a contract with them? Is the problem attributable to the provider or UA equipment/infrastructure? As a public institution, I'd think the contract question would be reasonably easy to dig up for someone with knowledge... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sergeant Zip Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 This situation reminds me of this Mayor Frank Jackson quote:The problem is we have a problem. It's not that we don't know we have a problem. We have known it for years. It's not that we don't know what the solutions are. We have known those for years. The problem is we haven't done anything about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Since I am THE USUAL SUSPECT, I am delighted to see this thread.Finally The Nation has woken up to the problem.Today, right on cue, I received yet another mail solicitation for money.They won't be happy when they pay the pre-paid postage to get the envelope back and it contains a complaint, not a check.So it looks like a decade of posting THE VIDEO SUCKS has finally gotten someones attention.Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balsy Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 akronzips71 that's because I'm usually at the games and not watching the feed But, I too have written a letter do the illustrious AD about this problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zippyfan34 Posted December 5, 2014 Report Share Posted December 5, 2014 Not feeling well so I won't be at the girls game tonight. Maybe the feed will be working better for me tonight than it was working for everyone else yesterday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mes102 Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 Not feeling well so I won't be at the girls game tonight. Maybe the feed will be working better for me tonight than it was working for everyone else yesterday.How was it for you? I had a meeting and couldn't make it, so i had the stream on my laptop during the meeting and the stream kept skipping and rewinding. I always thought it was my old technology, but maybe my technology is too advanced for our video stream... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 Welcome to THE VIDEO SUCKS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Z Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 Since I am THE USUAL SUSPECT, I am delighted to see this thread. Finally The Nation has woken up to the problem.Why did you not start the thread, instead of posting multiple times in multiple threads? You started this one complaining with in inappropriate thread title. Nobody was "woken up." Everybody has been well aware of the issue. Like I have replied multiple times, contact Mr. Wistrcill, he responds to thoughtful written emails, and it's HIS JOB, not ZN's. Please inform us in this thread what knowledge you gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave in Green Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 ... I think where we start here is with the question "Who is 'Sidearm Sports'?" Are these guys being paid to supply this product? Did UA sign a contract with them? Is the problem attributable to the provider or UA equipment/infrastructure? As a public institution, I'd think the contract question would be reasonably easy to dig up for someone with knowledge...Sidearm Sports brags about:Proudly powering the websites of 763 NCAA DI, DII, DIII PLUS NAIA, NJCAA, NCCAA, CIS and high school athletic programsThey do not list UA individually as one of their clients, so their deal may be with the MAC. Since some MAC schools have much better live streaming quality than UA, the problem may be internal at UA, an area where Sidearm's technical support staff should be able to provide good advice on how to improve. Sidearm describes their video streaming service like this:SIDEARM: Streaming is not your average video streaming solution. Fans can watch the game live while seeing the latest game stats and related twitter feed all in the same window, providing the best streaming experience on the market today.They claim the following:We want the SID who has already worked 60 hours in a week to go home a little sooner because the SIDEARM system completed some of the mundane, but required tasks for them. We want Grandma in Montana to be able to see her granddaughter in NY score the winning goal as it happens. We spend every day making sure that we do everything we can to make these processes the best they possibly can be for everyone involved.So if UA's poor, overworked athletic department folks get to go home a little sooner believing that Sidearm is taking care of the streaming video, why don't they use a little of that extra free time to personally check on the quality of the streaming service Sidearm is actually delivering? It's not rocket science to check the quality of a video streaming service. Anyone with an internet connection can do it any time. Zips fans do it every game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 I have in fact contacted TW. No reply has been received. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACER Posted December 6, 2014 Report Share Posted December 6, 2014 like I said before they don't care. they will care when we stop sending $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OU Dude Posted December 7, 2014 Report Share Posted December 7, 2014 I can sympathize with y'all on this one, the feed for Ohio's games are less than desirable as well, its not uncommon to have the camera operator forget to follow the ball and sometimes appears to have walked off, leaving the camera facing one basket as the game moves up and down the court. Today the issue was with the audio, they would forget to reconnect the radio feed after the timeouts.But fret not, help is on the way.For those that don't know, as part of the renegotiated contract with ESPN every MAC school is required to upgrade their basketball broadcast operations to meet ESPN's standards, that includes announcers, multiple camera angles, instant relay, ESPN's score graphics with shot clock and timeout icons, the whole 9 yards. An additional $24m was added on to the last 3 years of the original deal with ESPN before the new 10yr deal kicks in in 2017, I'm assumingly those additonal funds are to be used towards upgrading the bball broadcasts.The MAC has 4 years to complete the upgrade and a tentative schedule of 3 schools/yr will be used to spread out the costs. In year 1 (2014) Buffalo, CMU and Northern Illinois were chosen to be the first to upgrade, likely because they already had most of the infrastructure in place. As a result ALL home games for those teams are being streamed on ESPN3 and as more schools upgrade all of their homegames will be on ESPN3 as well. If you have access, go check out an ESPN3 game replay from UB, CMU or NIU, the quality is full on ESPN, none of this bush league Sports Time Ohio nonsense with their cheesy graphics and inability to rack up a replay in a timely fashion. The only noticable difference is the on-air talent, that's still going to be local and home grown.So believe it or not but your prayers have already been answered and its going to be even better than you could have hoped for. The only unknown at this point is how quickly will you get the upgrade, will it be year 2, 3 or 4? In my very biased opinion it is in the best interest of the MAC to make sure that Ohio, Akron and Toledo are the next 3 to get the upgrade next year. Those are the 3 best programs with the biggest home crowds, they need to be the most visible. Have no idea who or how these things get determined but keep your fingers crossed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted December 7, 2014 Report Share Posted December 7, 2014 We have been plagued with the forget to turn on the mic thing for years.Personally, I would prefer to not have to wait four years to be able to watch the games. I am a '71 grad, I may not be around in 4 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RACER Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 We have been plagued with the forget to turn on the mic thing for years.Personally, I would prefer to not have to wait four years to be able to watch the games. I am a '71 grad, I may not be around in 4 years.espn 3 is not espn.never wil be. my cable carreier is massillion cable.they do not carry espn three.which meansno football.the basketball feed has been like this for years.it can be done in other cofferces like the horizon has been doing for about five years.just not in the mac.the first thing ask about the poor video audi/feed.then the second question about of kd's press confences should be about the audio feed.i no faith in tw do get anything done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MDZip Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 No cable company carries ESPN3. It is an online streaming service only and I think it's actually pretty good. I prefer straight TV of course but I'm happy I get to see the Zips any way I can see them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 No cable company carries ESPN3. It is an online streaming service only and I think it's actually pretty good. I prefer straight TV of course but I'm happy I get to see the Zips any way I can see them. You need to subscribe to an affiliated cable company in order to be able to access watchespn.comCablevision now carries it, after years of petitions and requests. You need to keep after your provider. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
akronzips71 Posted December 10, 2014 Report Share Posted December 10, 2014 I sent them the following message at www.sidearmsports.comI suggest everyone message them if you are concerned:The video feed from the home games at the University of Akron has been just unwatchable. Awful. It starts and stops, then rewinds to what was already shown.Everyone is having the same issue, it is not my connection.Can you PLEASE PLEASE do something about this? The feed is less than worthless right now.Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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