‘This recognition a testament to hard work and dedication’

Heather Graves

Staff

November 18, 2024

FOND DU LAC – The Fond du Lac Dock Spiders’ video production team hit a grand slam this season – recently being named the 2024 Northwoods League Video Production Team of the Year.

“The award is for the best broadcast consistently over the season – and we play a 72-game season, so 36 of those are home games,” Jim Misudek, Fond du Lac Dock Spiders general manager, said.

The recognition, Misudek said, is the culmination of a goal set out by the production team long before the season started.

“Our broadcast video production team has a whiteboard in our video production room, and they wrote on day one – before the season even started – 2024 Northwoods Video Production Team of the Year,” he said. “So they set out to win this award before the season even started.”

Batting .300

Each of the Northwoods League’s (NWL) 26 teams, Misudek said, are required to staff a production team to produce a broadcast of each home game – “it looks pretty close to what you might see when you turn on any other baseball game.”

“We staff (our production team) with interns that are in college,” he said. “They join us for the summer. (Sports broadcasting or production) is something they want to get into in their career.”

Being recognized at a league level as the best, Misudek said, can be credited to the whole production team’s buy-in.

“We’re all pulling the rope in the same direction and we have the same goals to be the best that we can be and put out the best product every night,” he said. “That certainly was true for our video production staff.”

Some of the things that the Dock Spiders’ production team did that helped set them apart, Misudek said, are not necessarily game-related aspects.

These, he said, included 30-60-second b-roll clips of the Greater Fond du Lac community.

“Our team spent every day out in our community getting content and recording footage of the lighthouse, or at the lake, or at the Lakeside Park, going to Gilles (Frozen Custard) downtown – getting some good footage that would run every time we came back from commercial or during pitching changes to show off our community a little bit,” he said.

Misudek said the team also banked interviews with players, coaches, staff and community members that could also be used during “slow moments” of the broadcast.

“So it’s not just watching this person warm up on the field,” he said of the gameday production. “With the broadcaster – as talented as they are – it can get kind of boring when it’s the same ‘he went to this college, this is where he’s from and these are his stats.’”

Instead, Misudek said, the Dock Spiders’ production team filled this time with ready-to-go packages.

“Our broadcaster says, ‘while so-and-so warms up, we were at the YMCA today for a camp – here is some footage and more from our players about the event,’” he said.

Those “extra things,” Misudek said, are aspects folks may see in higher-level broadcasts.

“Our team here worked really hard to separate themselves by adding those things to our broadcast well,” he said.

When you turn on a baseball broadcast, in-game, Misudek said, “it’s going to look very similar.”

“Whether it’s a Milwaukee Brewers broadcast or a Wisconsin Timber Rattlers broadcast or a Fond du Lac Dock Spiders broadcast – the action on a field is relatively similar,” he said. “Where we can set ourselves apart, to continue to grow and continue to set ourselves apart, by highlighting our community and what makes Fond du Lac a unique place.”

Another area the production team spent time highlighting this season, Misudek said, is the team’s host family program.

“It is always interesting to people that our players stay with people in our community when they are playing here,” he said.

Misudek said it’s about taking every-day aspects some may take for granted and creating content pieces that “show off what we do and show off our community.”

Drew Cowden, Dock Spiders box office manager/video production supervisor, said the recognition is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the video production team.

“Our team set out to win this award and took our production to the next level in all aspects of our broadcast,” he said. “We are excited for the opportunity to build upon this success in the coming seasons.”

A triple play

Misudek said the Dock Spiders’ operations/front office team is made up of three full-time employees and 17 interns.

“The interns we bring in for the season help run everything we do here – from the video side to the stadium operation side to the food and beverage operation – every aspect of our business,” he said.

The team specifically connected to the recognition, Misudek said, is made up of three interns.

“Two that handle the production of the broadcast – we call them a producer and a director,” he said. “And then a broadcaster who calls the game.”

Video production interns were Karson Schroeder from Spring Arbor University in Michigan and Max Hoener from the University of Arkansas.

This year’s broadcast intern, Misudek said, was John Baldridge from Xavier University.

“We have gameday staff that work underneath them that might be camera operators or (serve in other roles),” Misudek said.

On deck

Misudek said a significant amount of due diligence goes into selecting each season’s intern class – partly due to his own standards.

“I’m from Fond du Lac originally,” he said. “I started my career in baseball as an intern with Timber Rattlers when I was in college. From there, I worked for the Brewers, the Cincinnati Reds, the Atlanta Braves and the Baltimore Orioles.”

With those teams, Misudek said many of his roles centered around media relations and broadcasting, “so I’m a little picky at the people we bring in here.”

“We are a developmental team for players, coaches and interns. A lot of people come through here and want to play at the next level. We can provide for them, and that’s great, but before they come here, I want some proof that this is the path you want to go down,” he said.

Though the team is more than happy to provide interns with on-the-job training in baseball production, Misudek said “I’m selfish, in a way, that I want you to bring some experience here to help make us better.”

“When we interview and go through our intern candidates, the first thing we ask is, ‘What have you been doing before to show that this is something you’re really serious about?’” he said. “Rather than, ‘oh, broadcast a game – that sounds fun, let me give it a try.’”

In line with the team’s developmental aspect, Misudek said the Dock Spiders don’t have too many returning interns.

“We typically don’t have a ton of returning interns, though we are always hopeful for that,” he said. “But again, this kind of is a developmental spot where people do really good work here, and then they move on to the next big thing – we’ve been really proud to be part of everyone’s journey.”