London Log-In - July 26, 2012
July 26, 2012 | Bruin Athletics, Olympics
UCLA athletes, coaches, alumni and staff share their experiences at the 2012 Olympics. Hear from UCLA Gymnastics alumna Ariana Berlin, who is working as a team videographer for the U.S. women's soccer team, and UCLA Associate Athletic Director Mike Sondheimer, who is working for NBC Sports.
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July 26, 2012
Greetings from Glasgow, Scotland where the U.S. Women's Soccer Team kicked off its first Olympic game, bringing home a 4-2 win over France! Team USA is starting with a bang! It has been an unbelievable experience working with this team. We started in Middlesbrough, England for a short, one week pre-Olympic camp, but now, being in Glasgow, I can really feel the Olympic buzz.
I've been in Glasgow a little over a week and am starting to get familiar with the city. You would think being in an English-speaking country I wouldn't have much trouble adjusting, but Scottish accents are much harder to decipher than I had imagined. If I have to ask "What? One more time? Sorry, say that again" another time, I don't know what I'll do! Good thing every Scottish person I have encountered has been very nice, helpful and PATIENT!
It is so great being here not only to support my country, but my family ... the Bruin family, that is! Lauren Cheney and Sydney Leroux are here representing UCLA. Always great to be around fellow Bruins.
Well, it's back to work for me. Check out USSoccer.com for all the latest videos!
Talk to you soon,
Ariana Berlin
UCLA Gymnast, 2006-09/U.S. Soccer Team Videographer
 Mike Sondheimer |
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July 25, 2012
One of the most amazing part of working the Olympic Games is the behind-the-scenes television media operation at the International Broadcast Center (IBC). Virtually every country in the world has a broadcast studio at the IBC to send information back to the home country. They took a giant center and created small offices for big countries like the U.S., China, Russia, Germany, Australia, Brazil to the smaller countries that may have very few athletes or may be one team in the competitions.
NBC has the "Today" show and "Access Hollywood" with full crews originating from London, for example. The NBC center is the largest and has numerous studios for conducting interviews and producing the content that you will be able to see, starting with the Opening Ceremonies on Friday night. NBC has a full IT unit, a full medical center and a 24-hour eating center that includes the most popular unit, a Starbucks. Personnel mans the various units 24 hours a day with the five-hour time difference from the East Coast.
The only issue is getting to the IBC. NBC is more spread out than ever before, with numerous hotels and living places across London. It takes about an hour by car from where we are staying in Kensington to get to the IBC. To give you an example and to appreciate Los Angeles traffic, you can walk to our Earl's Court venue in 10 minutes. Today by car to take the producers and announcers, it took 20 minutes to go less than a mile. Then it took another 20 minutes with security for the car to be checked and for all of us to go through security. Instead of being able to then walk into the venue, we had to get back in the car to a designated drop off location and show our IDs again to get inside the buidling. Supposedly, all spectators will be going through special security screenings, which will be burdensome but in the best benefit for all concerned. The other issue is no bottled water, sealed or not, nor any other beverage is allowed in the venues for security reasons.
Mike Sondheimer
UCLA Associate Athletic Director/Director of On-Campus Recruiting and Academic Admissions
Previous Entries:
July 21-24 - John Speraw, Mike Sondheimer