Wireless Wednesday for 8/20/14: College Football Hall of Fame
Wednesday, August 20, 2014 at 7:53PM
Rick was at "Media Day" at the new College Football Hall of Fame in Downtown Atlanta today and we will take a look at the new technology being used.
**Topics**
The new College Football Hall of Fame
After nearly two decades in South Bend, Ind., the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta brings today's technology and media together with the past. The National Football Foundation's decision in 2009 to move the Hall of Fame into the deep South symbolizes how the sport has changed demographically and through television.
Located within a five-minute walk from the Georgia Dome and the future Atlanta Falcons stadium, it's high tech in every way.
1. The Entrance
40-foot-high wall with more than 700 football helmets representing every Division I, Division II, Division III and NAIA program. “People come in here and just stare at this thing for 10 minutes,”
Schutt, the sports-manufacturing company that made the helmets, had contracts with only about 200 schools. So for the remaining teams, helmets got painted with the right color, and a Hall of Fame intern spent six months asking every school for one set of helmet stickers.
Upon entering the lobby (called "The Quad"), you can register with the Hall of Fame to get a personalized experience. Your school's helmet will light up. RFID chips are embedded in the museum ticket telling the Hall who you cheer for so you can receive school-specific content and activities during your visit (and, naturally, collect your information for the Hall).
2. The Playing Field
A 45-yard field spanning 15,000 square feet will feature various activities on a daily basis. You can try to kick a field goal, test your throwing accuracy, and complete an obstacle course.
Above the field is a massive video screen that will show live games and highlights. When the field is not used during normal hours, it can accommodate 900 people for a sit-down meal and up to 1,450 for a reception. The field is one of four areas the Hall will rent out for private events, and it has 35 such contracts so far.
3. Game Day Theater
A 10-minute film narrated by Hall of Famers will play inside a 150-seat theater that uses the new HDTV technology called 4K. It's designed to give viewers the feel of what a game-day experience is like, on some of the latest video technology.
The Hall of Fame's production company spent three years shooting about 23 games in 4K for the high-resolution film, which can be heard in surround sound. New footage could be added each year.
4. Coke's Game Day Gallery
A more light-hearted area where you can digitally paint your face or compete in electronic games.
You can interactively play tradition trivia, a cheerleader challenge or even design your own marching band routine and see it play out with music. Points are added up by each participant's favorite school -- there's that chip in your ticket again -- to keep a running tally by team.
5. It's Interactive
Plays drawn out by John Heisman on a lumber company book in 1905 were scanned into a kiosk with his actual handwriting. Heisman's nephew owns the playbook and allowed it to be scanned, not kept or borrowed.
Read recruiting questionnaires that eight players -- Peyton Manning, Orlando Pace, Danny Wuerffel, Tony Gonzalez, Jonathan Ogden, Hines Ward, Eric Crouch and LeBron James -- wrote about themselves in high school. LeBron noted he was a 6-foot-8, 232-pound wide receiver with a 2.8 grade-point average and a 4.6 time in the 40.
Elsewhere, a Hall of Fame coach teaches you a play on video. Learn the pistol from Ault, the wishbone from Barry Switzer, the option from Lou Holtz, the pro set from Terry Donahue, the I-formation from John Robinson, and the air ball from Steve Spurrier. Stay awake during the lesson. They're going to quiz you later.
Be a broadcaster by calling a famius play and even be superimposed onto the ESPN College Gameday set to make a pick with Cosro and Fowler.
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