Welcome to the behind-the-scenes
story of how the CBC TV show POV Sports is created.
On Sept. 29, I went with the crew and host Joseph Motiki to film an episode at the Air Canada Centre during the Leafs vs. Canadiens game.
When I was younger, I watched Joe when he was a TVO Kid on The Crawlspace, so it was like meeting someone I'd known for ages. It was amazing to meet someone I had always watched on TV. Oh yeah, Joe went to my school and one of his old teachers is still teaching at Cosburn Middle School.
I got to watch as they filmed from the opening teaser to the end. Well actually, it was more the end to the opening. They actually did the opening teaser last.
But let me start at the beginning. I followed Joe and the crew, cameraman Greg Bruce, audio Rod Chicorli, producer Paul Papadopoulos and associate producer Josh Tizel, around for the first two periods of the game.
The first thing we did when we got there was to go to the media centre, the place where the media hangs out when they're not filming. I got a red media pass at the media gate at entrance 2A. The pass gave me access to all areas for one game.
There were a lot of famous people hanging out at the media centre. I got to see a lot of people who were NHL scouts. I got to shake hands with Doug Gilmour and see Darryl Sittler and other TV personalities.
George the usher was really helpful in showing us where the time keeper sat, and also the official score keeper.
At the end of the first period, when the Leafs were just coming off the ice, the camera crew decided (while we were still up in the large blue media box, right at the very top), "Hey, we want a shot of the team coming off the ice."
So we ran to the elevator, went down and through a huge equipment room that has stuff like extra nets and glass in case the rink glass gets broken. We ran through there and down the hall, toward where the Leafs dressing room is. Only to have just missed them.
Next was the Zamboni shoot. We saw the Zamboni garage. It was huge. It could have held 20 of the NHL-size Zambonis, but in the background there was all this machinery that is used to melt all the ice. That water is then put back into the Zambonis for a fresh flood.
away stuff as he went. He signed it for me.
The segment, called "Off The Ice", will feature a bunch of ice-related sports like figure skating and hockey, and what the pros do in their free time. The show will be broadcast on Fri., Nov. 7 at 4:30 p.m. on CBC. I'm looking forward to seeing it because as soon as it comes on, I can say, "I saw that being made! I saw it!" It was an amazing experience.
BRAND NEW PLANET Reporter For A Day Alex Adair, 12, Grade 7, Toronto November 6, 2003
