Rollins College Inks Deal With Full Sail's Dan Patrick School of Sportscasting.Full Sail Students To Broadcast All Tars' athletic games.

The Rollins College athletic department recently announced the school has entered into a comprehensive broadcast agreement with Full Sail University, a nearby entertainment and media school in Winter Park that is affiliated with longtime ESPN sportscaster Dan Patrick.  Patrick put up the money for this and is believed to make three to four visits to the school per year.
  Under the agreement, Full Sail will take over live video and audio broadcasts of many of Rollins home sporting events, including the most high profile, men's basketball games. Students enrolled in Full Sail's sportscasting program which developed in collaboration with ESPN's Patrick, will also be the on-air broadcast talent.
 This appears to be a good parternship for Rollins College, because with 23 athletic teams it is nearly impossible for Rollins to provide the resources necessary to produce live video broadcasts for many of the sports at every game.
 However, this new agreement pushes out longtime Rollins TV and radio broadcasters Jim "Shooter" Ferro and Robert Segal, who spent nearly 20 years broadcasting Rollins College Men's basketball games.
 When asked about the money aspect of this Ferro told me:
" It was a labor of love." Ferro mentioned."
 They will no longer do the TV broadcasts but have been invited to stay on as radio broadcasters. As of the last time I spoke with Ferro he said he will do the radio for the opening  two games of the season and then the two games in Las Vegas.
"Robert Segal, my broadcast partner and I have slightly different points of view. He enjoys broadcasting, and has done it for many years, in its purest form. I, on the other hand have enjoyed doing the games in the hope we are easily and readily heard by the people who want to watch/listen.  We have lost a good portion of our road audience to the home team broadcast because all the conference teams provide home video and audio. Now we are going to lose the majority of our home audience to "The Full Sail broadcast! I see clearly the handwriting on the wall. You don't need us on the road and now you don't need us at home. I feel like Nate Weyant (Sports Information Director) was attempting to appease the basketball coaching staff by offering Robert and I radio only." Ferro said."
 I used to work alongside Ferro and I consider him a friend. He was the one who got me an apprentice role some 15 years ago in the Rollins Sports Information department.  Since that day, I have voluntarily blogged and written about Rollins athletics.
 My time at Rollins and with Ferro paved the way for me to get my current job with the  Sports Information department at Notre Dame College. NDC is a Division II school, just like Rollins, in South Euclid, OH a suburb of Cleveland where I grew up.
   I was motivated to write this story because I could tell how much this whole situation has hurt Ferro, someone whom I truly believe has become the voice of Tar nation. Who could forget his call of "Can You Say Elite Eight! Can You Say Elite Eight! when the Tars punched their ticket to Sioux Falls,S.D. just a couple years ago. Ferro has also been featured on Sports Illustrated's  Extra Mustard for a couple of game winning calls he made.Also the NCAA Division II homepage and ABC local Orlando sports have featured him. I spoke to him after Rollins announced the partnership with Full Sail and I could hear the disappointment in his voice when he learned of his demotion.
"Rollins could have protected or  grandfathered Robert and I in based on our commitment and tenure to the basketball program," he said with a sigh.  Rollins could have also allowed Full Sail full access to men's basketball, sending out our call over  the air instead of theirs.  This would effectively make Robert and I the first choice instead of the "second fiddle" if you will. Full Sail would still have their broadcasts for classroom diagnosis and we would still have our longstanding positions." Ferro stated."
At the same time, he recognizes the benefit to Rollins.
" Overall I feel this is a good thing for Rollins. Truly it is a good thing for all the athletic teams who have had little to no recognition throughout the years. They have primarily had no coverage because they have no committed broadcasters. They all deserve the best based on the commitments they make and hard work they put in." Ferro mentioned."
  I listen to Rollins games religiously here in Cleveland and for me it will not be the same. Both Robert and Shooter have built quite a following and have made Rollins fans of people like me, who 20 plus years ago had never even heard of the school.
 The other listeners I know might be few in numbers but are as loyal as it gets. I believe the home and road broadcasting consistency Rollins has built throughout the years has had a positive impact on the success of the program itself.
 A quick look back to even the casual fan will tell you that the past 20 years have been the most successful in program history for Rollins basketball.
Asked how he views the future, Ferro said he has to keep his sense of humor.:
"What am I going to do with 20 plus years of DII basketball knowledge?"he asked."
"Secondly, I keep thinking of those people (the fans) over the years who threatened to turn the volume down and just watch the game. They won't have to threaten us anymore."