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Photo Mechanic Code replacement files for NCAA football
Paul W Gillespie, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 8:08 PM on 09.05.06 |
->> Mike thanks for the script. One question, is there a way to make it read rosters from a different website? I tried to get the rosters for Navy and UMass and for the Navy team it brought up multiple players for the same numbers. I guess ESPN has not updated the rosters for the final players.
Thanks
Paul W Gillespie |
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Mike Carlson, Photographer
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Bayonet Point | FL | USA | Posted: 12:45 AM on 09.06.06 |
->> Paul and others,
That might not be ESPN's issue, as many large college teams assign two players the same number...bit of an issue for this code replacement feature.
On the upside, many players who have been double-numbered are given these because there is little chance one or the other (or both) will see the field.
It isn't an issue of whether or not it's a final roster, because in football certain numbers apply to certain positions, so the roster can be less than 99, but still have double numbers if there are more players of that position than numbers available for it. |
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Mike Stone, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | USA | Posted: 11:06 AM on 09.06.06 |
->> I experienced this problem myself Paul, thank you for bringing it up. However, Mike is correct, the problem isn’t with ESPN but the rosters themselves.
My first thought is to study the depth charts of the teams and delete the players whose numbers are duplicated but do not appear on the dept chart, however, even this isn’t fool proof, for example, U of Texas has two regular players with the same number, CB Terall Brown (though suspended this week) and WR Billy Pittman. Brown is a starter on defense and Pittman is in the regular rotation for receivers.
Best advice I can offer is to study the depth charts and be alert for things that do not look right. Another recommendation, use the 'p' option with the prefix to specify the player’s position. That will increase your odds of identifying when incorrect players are inserted. For example, if you are identifying a defender making a tackle and the player inserted has an offensive position, you obviously need to take a closer look. |
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Joe Andras, Photographer
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Orange County | CA | USA | Posted: 11:51 AM on 09.06.06 |
->> NCAA football rosters typically have 105 players, 85 scholarship players and 20 walk-ons. Factor in numbers that have been retired, and you can see the need for playes to wear duplicate numbers.
Sometimes #s are shared by starters. USC's starting QB is #10 J.D. Booty and USC's starting strongside linebacker is #10 Brian Cushing.
In my experience, when two players wear the same #, it's always the case that one is on O and one is on D so that they don't see the field at the same time.
Can you code in "o10" and "d10" or something like that? |
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Paul W Gillespie, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 12:16 PM on 09.06.06 |
->> That may be an idea Joe. Mike or anyone, is there a way in wordpad or Word to get the rosters that Mike's program produces to line up the numbers down the left side instead of all next to each other. Maybe a setting in wordpad or word that I am missing.
Thanks |
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Mike Stone, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | USA | Posted: 3:19 PM on 09.06.06 |
->> At first glance I was intrigued by Joe's recommendation, but after looking at a handful of rosters, it appears there really isn't consistency with whether duplicate numbers were assigned only one to defense, one to offense. I looked at four rosters at random (Texas, OU, TCU and Boston College) and all of them had at least four numbers which were assigned 2 (or 3) times to an offensive player or defensive player only.
Another thought is to actually include the position abbreviation in the code, for instance, qb10 for a quarterback wearing the number 10. From the little research I have done, it is still not fool proof, at least two of the teams I mention above have players at the same position wearing the same number, but it would certainly lessen the odds of an error.
Regardless, to be able to totally prevent mistakes will require some familiarity with the team you are covering and for this I refer back to studying the depth charts of the teams you are shooting. This isn't so much a code replacement issue as it is simply a NCAA D1 football issue. |
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Andy Altenburger, Photographer
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Tiffin | OH | USA | Posted: 7:46 PM on 09.06.06 |
->> Mike,
Thanks for doing this. It's been a tremendous time saver already. I just opened the file and made edits in Excel to add missing players and alter duplicates with a different designation. I also added coaches with their full title as well as last names. It took all of 15 minutes to do this. Another recommendation is to eyeball the code replacement rosters against what is handed out on gameday. Just make sure the file is saved as a text file. Works like a champ. |
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Mike Stone, Photographer
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Dallas | TX | USA | Posted: 3:14 PM on 09.07.06 |
->> Thanks Andy. I think you have the right idea, consider the code files from the script as the starting point but enhance them to meet your own needs.
That being said, I did make some enhancements:
1. Regarding the issue with duplicate numbers being used, you can now specify the one or two digit position abbreviation with the code itself, for example o7wr for Ohio State will insert "Ted Ginn Jr." whereas o7qb will insert "Antonio Heston".
2. You can now append a code with an 'n' to include the players jersey number as part of the inserted string. For example; o10n will insert "Troy Smith (10)" or "Troy Smith #10" where you specify the pound or parenthesis format when you select the teams and prefixes.
3. Finally, enhanced the script so that either an 's or just ' (apostrophe) will be added to the team name when the 't' option is used without the 'p' option. Example tpt12 will insert "Texas quarterback Colt McCoy" whereas tt12 will insert "Texas' Colt McCoy".
Thats it. Its hardly tested so beware. I appreciate everyone's input and kind words.
Mike |
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Matt Cashore, Photographer
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South Bend | IN | USA | Posted: 9:43 AM on 09.10.06 |
| ->> Tried this feature for the first time yesterday and it was quick and convenient, however when I type in my shorthand and it converts it to the full name, I always end up with a backslash at the end of the full name. For instance, I'll type my code for Charlie Weis and it will look like this: "Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis". Certainly not a problem to delete one character, but if someone can tell me what I'm doing wrong I'd appreciate it. I made my own text file using Mac's simple text. Everything else seems to work normally except for that extra character at the end. Thanks... |
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Matt Cashore, Photographer
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South Bend | IN | USA | Posted: 10:19 AM on 09.10.06 |
| ->> Wow. 20 minutes after posting this I got an email from Kirk at Photo Mechanic and he explained my problem. Apparently Mac OS-X simple text uses an RTF format and I need plain text. It's all greek to me, but I have an answer and a solution that works so thanks once again to Kirk and co. at Photo Mechanic! The customer support there is truly one-of-a-kind. |
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Stephen Mally, Photographer
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Marion | IA | USA | Posted: 10:22 AM on 09.28.06 |
| ->> Hey Mike - I was wondering if there was any chance that you were going to update the rosters now that we are a few weeks into the season? I know that on the Iowa and Iowa State rosters there are quite a few changes. Thanks! |
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Paul W Gillespie, Photographer
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Annapolis | MD | USA | Posted: 11:34 AM on 09.28.06 |
->> Stephen I don't think that it is something Mike can update. It is an ESPN.com that has the outdated rosters and they would need to update them. I could be wrong? What I did for the Navy football games I am shooting is contact the schools SID and ask them to send me a text file roster through email. They worked fine.
Good luck
Paul |
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