2008 Woodie Awards
Live From the Max Stern Athletic Center
Shuey Jacoby
Issue date: 4/18/05 Section: Features
Since its inception in September 2001, tens of thousands of listeners have tuned into MacsLive Reporting Services, which broadcasts Yeshiva Maccabees basketball and the annual Red Sarachek high school basketball tournament across the world.
The broadcast service was initiated only two years ago, when then students Adam Cohen YC '02 and Ari Bloom YC '02, approached Mr. David Himber, Dean of Students, about airing Yeshiva sports over the radio. With the help of Dean Himber, the unnamed broadcast service was formed, using a substantial $4500 from the President's Circle as seed money. Cohen and Bloom promised "a first-rate, professional-style broadcast that will prove to be a point of pride for Yeshiva University, its students and alumni." The name MacsLive came into play after Joe Bednarsh, assistant director of Athletics and Physical Education, named the homepage "Macs Live" which sat on Yeshiva's own server in cyberspace. And the name stuck.
Over the course of the first season, Cohen would write game previews and recaps, and email them out to the Yeshiva community in order to attract a greater fan base. Eventually, the press release summaries would become the premier of Macs news, and MacsLive Broadcasting transformed into MacsLive Reporting Services. Even The Commentator began to rely on the MacsLive reports, when running its sports stories.
The next year, MacsLive decided to broadcast the 13th Annual Red Sarachek Basketball Tournament, which turned out to be an enormous success. Schools and fans from all over the country logged on to listen to their home teams play. Over the four days of broadcasting, more than 4,000 computers had logged onto the server. At the tournament that year, the official MacsLive website, www.macslive.com, premiered as well. While it was hardly technologically savvy, the site proved popular due to its regularly updated virtual scoreboard.
Over the years, MacsLive has undergone significant improvements. In fact, for the 2005 Sarachek tournament, the MacsLive website was considered the premier site for the games, and even official Yeshiva banners advertised the site.
The broadcast service was initiated only two years ago, when then students Adam Cohen YC '02 and Ari Bloom YC '02, approached Mr. David Himber, Dean of Students, about airing Yeshiva sports over the radio. With the help of Dean Himber, the unnamed broadcast service was formed, using a substantial $4500 from the President's Circle as seed money. Cohen and Bloom promised "a first-rate, professional-style broadcast that will prove to be a point of pride for Yeshiva University, its students and alumni." The name MacsLive came into play after Joe Bednarsh, assistant director of Athletics and Physical Education, named the homepage "Macs Live" which sat on Yeshiva's own server in cyberspace. And the name stuck.
Over the course of the first season, Cohen would write game previews and recaps, and email them out to the Yeshiva community in order to attract a greater fan base. Eventually, the press release summaries would become the premier of Macs news, and MacsLive Broadcasting transformed into MacsLive Reporting Services. Even The Commentator began to rely on the MacsLive reports, when running its sports stories.
The next year, MacsLive decided to broadcast the 13th Annual Red Sarachek Basketball Tournament, which turned out to be an enormous success. Schools and fans from all over the country logged on to listen to their home teams play. Over the four days of broadcasting, more than 4,000 computers had logged onto the server. At the tournament that year, the official MacsLive website, www.macslive.com, premiered as well. While it was hardly technologically savvy, the site proved popular due to its regularly updated virtual scoreboard.
Over the years, MacsLive has undergone significant improvements. In fact, for the 2005 Sarachek tournament, the MacsLive website was considered the premier site for the games, and even official Yeshiva banners advertised the site.