It was Sept. 1. It was the second half of the first football game of the 2016 season. Fans were enjoying the newly renovated Spratt Memorial Stadium, especially the new video board.
Suddenly, the 2,500 square-foot video screen went black. After a few seconds, an error message appeared on the screen.
The crowd groaned. This was the board鈥檚 big debut. The components had arrived on campus on eight semi-trailers in June, and everyone had been working furiously since then to get it up and running by the first game.
And now the screen was totally black.
Slowly, slowly, a ticker message appeared at the bottom of the screen: 鈥淚 am broken. I need noise to fix me. I am broken. I need noise to fix me.鈥�
The crowd erupted.
The image on the screen rose higher and higher as the crowd got louder until it was again on full display.
鈥淵es, it was a prank,鈥� said Ryan Menley, who is the amazing talent behind the crowd-pleasing video
Ryan Menley directs the new video board in the stadium on game day.
board. And the prank was just one of the ways that Menley and his video board team make sure that fans enjoy this new addition to Spratt Memorial Stadium.
For every football game this past season, he and his team of nine worked behind the scenes and on the field to enhance the crowd鈥檚 game day experience.
Menley鈥檚 office/broadcast booth on the third floor of the stadium building is a technology-lover鈥檚 dream, filled with computers, a large control board, computer monitors everywhere and, in the back of the room, two electronic equipment racks (each as big as a refrigerator). If you don鈥檛 want to look out the wall of windows at the real thing, a television screen on the wall shows what鈥檚 playing on the video board.
One computer monitor, two cameras and two filing cabinets, Menley says, are the only remnants of his old office in the Looney Complex that moved into his new space with him. (He was hired in 2010 as a videographer for Athletics.) Everything else is new, including the video editing software, so he said he had to manage quite a learning curve.
He will readily admit that he is not a tech guy, so it was up to Jake Noyd 鈥�04, operations engineer for the Instructional Media Center, to figure out exactly what was needed to get the video board up and running by the first football game on Sept. 1. Noyd, on the other hand, readily admitted that he was not a football guy. (Menley says Noyd鈥檚 first question was, 鈥淗ow long is an average college football game?鈥�)
So football guy and tech guy started talking about two years ago, and it was a beautiful thing. Noyd conducted extensive research to pick the best and most cost-effective products, and the design and installation of equipment was all done in house. (Menley calls Noyd one of the smartest people he knows.)
Just about the time Menley started wondering how he was going to afford to pay someone to produce the large number of graphics needed for the video board, Jeff Meyer 鈥�11 called him. Meyer graduated with a theatre and video degree and is a videographer/editor for the Miami Dolphins NFL team. He saved the day when he volunteered to create graphics for the new board, and he kept sending new ones throughout the entire football season.
鈥淛eff offered to do it for free; he just wanted to give back to 大象传媒 Western,鈥� Menley said. He estimates that Meyer created about 20 graphics for the video board.
Menley said he decided right from the start to use the video board to broadcast the football games rather than just show 鈥渇an prompts,鈥� such as 鈥淔irst down!鈥� 鈥淭ouchdown!鈥� and 鈥淢ake some noise!鈥�
鈥淚 am a storyteller first, and this is a very cool way to tell a story,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted to take fans to the middle of the action.鈥�
With that in mind, Menley hired a crew of five camera operators. For every home game, three filmed the action on the field from the third floor of the stadium building (just down the hall from Menley) and two moved all over Craig Field.
In the broadcast booth with Menley are four more on the team who work behind the scenes, including Ivan Baida, a junior computer science major.
鈥淚 loved it. I learned about video production, replays and how to go from one camera to another,鈥� he said. Baida is interested in a career that combines computer information with sports, so this position gave him great experience.
When he found out about 大象传媒 Western鈥檚 video board, Trevor Moss 鈥�11 volunteered to help. At first, Menley thought Moss would be a runner for him, but 10 minutes into the first game, Menley realized he needed a spotter to call out downs and distance information.
鈥淚 always loved being involved in game day operations,鈥� said Moss, who graduated with a recreation sport management degree. He currently officiates at high school football games, so he was a good fit for the spotter role.
Menley is pleased that four of those involved in game day production were 大象传媒 Western students. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 duplicate the hands-on experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淏etween broadcasting, video and sports, we are teaching them how to be pretty well rounded.鈥�
For every home football game, Menley arrived about five hours ahead of kickoff. About 30 minutes prior to game time, he started directing the camera operators and broadcast booth crew, and he didn鈥檛 stop or slow down until the game was over. He stood the entire time and directed nonstop for four quarters and straight through half-time.
We鈥檙e feeding the wrong feed, switch cameras!
Ready 5, nice job.
4 and 5, I need to cut to you.
Okay, there鈥檚 Max, Max is up.
Fumble, fumble. Somebody get me a replay. Good job.
Get ready, defense, in case we get a good stop.
Pan down, please.
If that鈥檚 the worst that can happen today, then we鈥檙e okay.
2 go wide; wide shot, please.
Wow. We almost know what we鈥檙e doing here.
He admitted that prior to each game, he apologized in advance to his crew for any angry outbursts that may happen during the game.
鈥淏ut I鈥檓 lucky. I鈥檝e got a group that you don鈥檛 have to tell something to twice.鈥�
When the games were over, Menley worked on video highlight clips and got them out on social media. After one game, he ran into a technical glitch and didn鈥檛 leave the stadium until 3 a.m. Sunday. 
鈥淚 was both excited and terrified about this project, but it worked out better than I could have ever imagined,鈥� Menley says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 stressful, but it鈥檚 fun.鈥�
鈥淲e鈥檒l keep learning, keep improving and keep pushing the bar. We want to try to get better with everything we do, every year.鈥�
The Team Behind the Big Screen
Cameras from the 3rd floor:
Anthony Crane
Nick Helm
Gary Smith 鈥�15
Mataika Koyamainavure (fill-in)
Cameras on the field:
Chuckie Kempf
Michael Penn 鈥�16
In the Booth:
Ivan Baida, cues pre-production
Rick Leahy, audio and webcasts
Kevin McQuirter, replay
Ryan Menley, director
Trevor Moss 鈥�11, spotter