| Also lots of gory dimensions and spirals in TRUCKS::FOOTBALL note 552.
The story in LIVEWIRE said that we were the "Official Technology
Supplier". Although Digital does have its signs around the stadia,
Sema Group gets lots of visibility on the TV screen when scores
are shown.
- ken
<<< TRUCKS::DISK$USER54:[NOTES$LIBRARY]FOOTBALL.NOTE;1 >>>
-< Soccer Football Conference >-
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Note 552.26 Digital and Euro '96 26 of 28
BULEAN::ROBERTS "Are your lights out?" 124 lines 6-JUN-1996 16:05
-< The official version (extracted from livewire) >-
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Digital provides service, support for
EURO 96 football championships
(Courtesy of Digital Public Relations, United Kingdom)
Digital's Multivendor Customer Services Division (MCS) has
unparalleled experience in providing and servicing mission-critical
client/server applications for large organizations. This June, it
faces an entirely new type of customer: EURO 96, the third largest
sporting event in the world.
As an Official Technology Supplier and member of the Technology
Team, Digital is supplying all computer hardware for the tournament:
53 Intel servers, five AlphaServer systems, 540 PCs and notebooks, and
53 LANs, to say nothing of the 80 engineers providing specialized
on-site support and service. MCS is installing, de-installing and
servicing all the systems used in EURO 96.
EURO 96, the 1996 European Football Championships, is being held
in England this month. It's the first time England has hosted a major
championship since the 1966 World Cup.
EURO 96 is like a virtual company in many ways. It has more than
1,000 "employees" (volunteers and staff members), more than 35
"offices" (football stadia, hotels and offices in eight cities around
England), "customers" (an average TV audience of 220 million per
match), and a need for mission-critical, state-of-the-art information
technology systems to control and coordinate the whole operation.
But this organization will only be in business during June. As
part of the Football Association-appointed EURO 96 Technology Team
(also including Sema Group, Microsoft and British Telecom), Digital is
faced with the task of installing, servicing, supporting, and
subsequently de-installing all the hardware and LANs used for the
competition and Web site -- all in a period of six to eight weeks.
"Only an organization such as Digital could support an event of
this size and complexity," said Fran Winters, EURO 96 project manager.
"EURO 96 presents some tough logistical challenges for the Technology
Team; however, Digital's MCS Division faces similar challenges from
our clients every day and we have the experience needed to get the job
done."
Digital's products and services are essential to the smooth
running of EURO 96. The logistics of the tournament are demanding,
with 31 matches spread across eight of the UK's most famous stadia.
The event, which kicks off on Saturday, June 8 with England vs.
Switzerland at Wembley Stadium, had a record 48 entries. The final 16
nations will be competing throughout June.
There are three core systems for EURO 96, all vital to the smooth
running of the tournament:
o Operational management system -- Developed specifically for
EURO 96 to support the management of the tournament. It
covers accreditation and media ticketing, materials
management, VIP and volunteer management. The networks are
resilient so that if one were to fail, another would take
over immediately, ensuring that no loss of information would
occur.
o Information system -- provides the media and other accredited
personnel with details of the tournament, its history and
current standings.
o Results service -- graphically presents match statistics to
broadcasters for presentation to a worldwide TV audience.
"Spotters" sitting with the match commentators during EURO 96
matches are equipped with Digital HiNote Ultra notebook
computers. During the match, the spotters enter statistics,
such as free kicks, possession by player, etc., which are
then transmitted to the broadcast van on the stadium grounds.
This information is then fed to FORTO, an alliance of host
broadcasters, BBC and ITV, who provide it to broadcasters
around the world.
Digital is facing a complex set of challenges:
o Tight deadlines -- At most stadia, Digital installation
teams will work under extremely tight deadlines. For
instance, at Wembley Stadium, the Digital team, as well as
the other Technology Team partners, will gain access only
eight days before the first tournament -- about half the
normal time for installing the type of systems needed for
EURO 96.
o Remote locations for broadcast units -- At some locations,
the broadcast van, which beams the TV signal to broadcasters,
is parked up to 500 meters away from the stadium itself.
Digital must install fiber cabling from the stadium to the
van, no matter how far away it is.
o Unusual LAN locations -- In some stadia, the LANs are
cabled under the actual seating areas. This is because,
unlike a modern "intelligent" building, many of the football
stadia were not designed with data cabling and distribution
in mind.
o Scale of operation -- The sheer size of the EURO 96
installation, involving eight stadia across England, will
be a challenge for Digital's engineers. Besides installing
all the computer equipment, Digital engineers must deal
with ordinary factors made extraordinary by the scale of
the match. For instance, around 2,500 boxes will need to
be shipped, unpacked, stored, and re-packed after EURO 96
is over.
o High profile Internet site -- Digital will be hosting the
official EURO 96 site at www.euro96.com. The site will
provide up-to-the-minute match information as it happens.
Digital engineers will be on hand at all matches to oversee the
systems and to identify any potential problems. For instance, to
monitor the central server, a Digital AlphaServer 2000 system, one of a
team of Digital engineers will be on site 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, for the entire month of June in Birmingham. This location acts
as the brain of the entire system.
"With an event such as EURO 96, where the world is watching, we
can't afford to have even one second of downtime," said Fran Winters.
"Organizers and fans alike expect everything to run smoothly. That's
why our engineers will be present every step of the way, anticipating
problems and avoiding them before they even happen."
The Technology Team
The Technology Team, led by Sema Group, is providing a complete
IT infrastructure for EURO 96. Everyone involved in the tournament,
including 6,000 media representatives, 2,000-plus staff and players,
1.5 million ticket holders, and a cumulative TV audience of 6.9
billion viewers in 150 countries, will depend on Sema Group, Digital,
Microsoft and BT for vital information and logistical support.
|
|
Wow, whatta guess. Here's the main point of the TV guide article.
SUBSCIBE TO THE PRINT EDITION | CONTENTS June 22 - 28 �| �BACK ISSUES
_________________________________________________________________
The Rise of Conan | Millennium Approaches | 3rd Rock's Kristen
Johnston | NASCAR
_________________________________________________________________
Insider | Style | Cheers & Jeers | Couch Critic | Soaps | Family Pages
[Nascar Nation]
NASCAR NATION
How TV wizardry made stock car racing the hottest, family-friendliest
sport around
B Y � G R E G � F A G A N
[idrop] f you're looking for trouble, you came to the wrong place. The
130,000 or so smiling race fans filing into Charlotte Motor Speedway
for the Winston Select, NASCAR's all-star gala, are an orderly horde
-- despite temperatures headed for 90-plus degrees and
bumper-to-bumper traffic that stretches for miles. It's all families
and fun, and the ballistic behavior you expect in a huge traffic jam
just doesn't happen. These people are saving up their emotions for
when their heroes -- Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jarrett, and
others -- come whipping around Charlotte's 1.5-mile oval at speeds
exceeding 160 miles per hour, filling the air with a deafening roar,
celebrating the uniquely American phenomenon that is NASCAR.
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing is challenging NBA
basketball, NHL hockey, and figure skating for the title of hottest
sport of the '90s. And they make an interesting case:
lNASCAR's Winston Cup circuit drew 5.3 million fans to 33 events in
1995 -- better than 170,000 per event -- up 59 percent from 1990.
(Auto racing, overall, is among the most popular spectator sports in
the U.S.)
lWinston Cup TV ratings for 1996 (races air on CBS, ABC, ESPN, TNN,
and TBS) are 12 percent ahead of last year, with all but a few races
posting significant household-viewing increases over '95.
lSales of NASCAR-relatedmerchandise topped $600 million in '95, and
may hit $700 million this year.
lReigning Winston Cup champ Jeff Gordon took home over $4 million in
race earnings last year, a new record.
lDale Earnhardt -- whose total of seven Winston Cup crowns matches the
record number won by NASCAR legend Richard Petty -- ranked 20th on
Forbes' list of the 40 top-paid athletes in '95 with $8.4 million in
earnings. The bulk came from the sale of nearly $50 million in
Earnhardt merchandise.
lThe first official "NASCAR Thunder" store opened in Atlanta in May; a
NASCAR Cafe will open in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this fall; and
new superspeedways (more than a mile around) are under construction in
Fort Worth, Las Vegas, and San Bernadino, California.
Ask any NASCAR insider under today's hot North Carolina sun the reason
behind the sport's rising fortunes and they'll say, "Cable TV." NASCAR
made its live-TV debut in 1979, when CBS aired the Daytona 500, after
years of tape-delayed broadcasts. This year, all 33 Winston Cup events
will air live, mainly on ESPN and TNN. NASCAR TRUCKS | NASCAR STARS
forward arrow
SUBSCIBE TO THE PRINT EDITION | CONTENTS June 22 - 28 �| �BACK ISSUES
_________________________________________________________________
The Rise of Conan | Millennium Approaches | 3rd Rock's Kristen
Johnston | NASCAR
_________________________________________________________________
Insider | Style | Cheers & Jeers | Couch Critic | Soaps | Family Pages
Photo credit: Earnhardt driving by George Tiedemann for TV Guide
_________________________________________________________________
�1996 News America Publications, Inc.
TV Guide is a registered trademark of TV Guide Financial, Inc.
|