Covering all the bases.

     Jeff Moon and Moonlink Satellite covered the primary work being done at Detroit's Comerica Park during Major League Baseball's recent All Star Game events. With Billy Bob Thornton in town for the Celebrity/Legends Game, JMPSI provided four cameras and crews to shoot several media events for cross-selling Thornton's new Bad News Bears movies and the Celebrity Baseball Game. These press tours were done as "one on one" interviews with Billy Bob Thornton, and local and international media for station entertainment segments. The movie's director, Richard Linkletter, also sat in for several interviews.

     Tony D'Annunzio, staff senior video tech, liaisoned for Major League Baseball, as he has for many years. MLB came into town needing a total of 12 crews each day for their multi-day shoots: some of these crews were flown in from out of state, but our local freelancers also stepped up to the plate and did a great job. Their footage was used not only for historical coverage of the games, but also for segments of This Week in Baseball and Spike TV. JMPSI also provided a slew of crews, camera packages and rental gear to cover the live shows and events for networks, including Nippon Television and Comcast Sports.

     Jeff Moon spent most of his early mornings on the set of Cold Pizza for ESPN, which originated three days of live remotes from Detroit. Each day was a different location and a real challenge. Monday's remote originated from Cobo Center at the "Fan Fest" where sports writers and baseball managers were interviewed. Tuesday it was the players' turn from the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Dearborn, and finally, the morning after the All Star Game, the remote came directly from Comerica Park. 

     Four uplink trucks and one downlink were needed in various locations around Metro Detroit as well as at the Park for the five day event. Several of the trucks were running such long hours that two complete crews and multiple uplink engineers were required. Moonlink's C/KU hybrid provided all the primary feeds for ESPN's Baseball Tonight, SportsCenter, ESPN News, and Cold Pizza, and sat idle for only about three hours each night.

     In addition to ESPN, Moonlink had a KU truck dedicated to Fox Sports/Los Angeles. This truck supplied many Fox regional programs and tape feeds for Fox Sports channels in Detroit and Philadelphia. 

     "Detroit really did shine from all of the great visuals and the positive comments that were broadcast from here", said Jeff Moon. "One of the sportswriters-who had never been to Detroit-commented on how polite everyone was and what great hosts we were during his visit. He added if this is anything like what could be expected for the Super Bowl next February, Detroit is poised for nothing less than excellent marks. It was truly nice to hear national media say great things about Detroit for a change."

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