24 hours from now...

I will be checking in at the Atlanta airport for my flight to Qatar via Frankfurt, Germany.

I would like to back up a bit and tell you the story of how this trip came about.  The videoboard production for the Arab Games is being run by a company based in Raleigh and LA named Big Screen Network.  They produce the videoboard show for the Super Bowl and all of the NCAA Championships including the Final Four, etc.

As a result, I have worked with Big Screen Network on many occasions since we hosted the FCS Championship games at Finley Stadium and had the NCAA Women's Basketball First and Second Rounds at McKenzie Arena.

At the FCS Championship game, BSN would send in a producer for the game, but the MocsVision crew did our usual thing.  Two of the five years that BSN came to Chattanooga for the title game, BSN's Executive Vice President Bob Becker served as producer for the game.  I also got a chance each year at the IDEA conference to spend a little time picking Bob's brain about in-game entertainment and videoboard production.

This past summer, at the IDEA conference in Kansas City, Bob asked me if I was interested in working the Arab Games in Qatar.  I told him I was interested, but needed to check with my AD at UTC to make sure the time away was not an issue.

When BSN gave me an official invite to the games, I checked with Rick Hart - our AD - who gave an enthusiastic thumbs up to the trip.

The real test was asking my wife Kathy about being gone for more than three weeks right before the holidays.  Her response was classic - "You can do it if you take us on a nice beach vacation this summer."

So essentially, this trip nets me another one this summer.

Meanwhile - preparations for being gone have proceeded.  Due to final exams and out-of-conference road games, I will only miss five basketball games (two men's and three women's) while I am gone, but thankfully MocsVision has a new Production Coordinator who will be filling in nicely while I am out.  Thanks Leah!

Some last minute packing and a quiet night with the family tonight.  Some meetings in the morning here at MocsVision World Headquarters, then to Atlanta for a night of flying.