Like a principal walking through a hushed hallway on the first day of school, Cheryl Nygaard last week felt an emotional surge of relief and pride as the Minnesota Vikings director of information technology peeked in on the videoconferencing sessions set up for this most unusual NFL off-season.
“We had all of the players and coaches set up in their virtual classrooms and that whole process went off without a hitch. That’s when it kind of hit me: They were able to continue working as if we were in the office,” Nygaard said.
Thanks to the effort and ingenuity of technical support departments, teams’ player acquisition and development has pressed on, despite facility closures.
Quarterbacks normally have the market cornered on Most Valuable Player awards, but the frontrunners for this season work in IT.
As Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn said, they are the “unsung heroes in all of this.”
Just like in so many other workplaces during these stay-at-home days, maintaining smooth connections for disconnected employees is a vital job.
Detroit Lions director of information technology Steve Lancaster spent the three-day draft in a rented recreational vehicle parked in general manager Bob Quinn’s driveway, on call for socially distanced technical support.
“Bob said: ‘Hey, in five minutes, you’re going to be famous,’” Lancaster said, recalling the first-round TV coverage of the RV. “From the rest of the day and then into the second day, the phone was buzzing constantly from text messages and calls. I had fun with it, though.”
When the Vikings moved into new headquarters two years ago, team ownership invested heavily in technology, including a custom-built, touchscreen draft board consisting of 40 different large-screen TVs.
Director of information systems Paul Nelson still had the specs, which he used to create a miniature version for general manager Rick Spielman’s home office.
“The next big hurdle was, well, hey, we’ve got to get all these coaches and scouts who maybe are not really super technologically savvy onboard with doing everything through their computer,” Nelson said.
The forced pause created by the pandemic has triggered a deeper appreciation of many occupations, tasks and people around the world — many who are often taken for granted in the daily hustle.
“It’s been great,” Lancaster said. “I guess it just shows that we are behind the scenes, but we’re definitely essential.”
The Taiwan Daredevils yesterday won one and lost one in the Taiwan Premier League, dispatching TCA with ease, but stumbling against Formosa. In the morning match at the Yingfeng Cricket Ground in Taipei’s Songshan District (松山), the Daredevils’ Johan Koekemoer carried his side to 141-6 with 44 from 45 in their 20 overs. George Klopper’s right-arm spin dominated in the run chase. He claimed 4-5 from 3.3 overs as TCA slumped to 77 all out. The highlight of the innings was a stunning catch at cover as Jeff Black turned back the years to pull in a full-blooded drive on the dive
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Alexander Zverev on Wednesday reached his 18th ATP Masters semi-final in Rome, but only after a worrying fall which sparked memories of the horror injury he had at the French Open two years ago. The world No. 5 from Germany defeated Taylor Fritz of the US 6-4, 6-3 in Italian Open to set up a last-four duel with Alejandro Tabilo, the Chilean journeyman who had stunned world No. 1 Novak Djokovic earlier in the tournament. Zverev’s moment of concern came in just the third game on center court at the Foro Italico when he fell on the clay and landed on his
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