Good Worcester T&G Article on Brian Lowe

[pats1]

http://telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060105/COLUMN08/601050801/1009/SPORTS

Thursday, January 5, 2006
Lowe-down on Patriots

Bill Doyle

Brian Lowe operates a television camera on the sidelines of Patriots games, so he experiences the sights and sounds of bone-jarring NFL tackles up close.

The Doherty High graduate also knows firsthand what they feel like.

In his first game running a camera for Patriots Video News, Lowe was kneeling on the sidelines for the Patriots’ 2003 opener at Buffalo when Rodney Harrison shoved Bills running back Travis Henry out of bounds and into Lowe’s lap. Henry ran back onto the field without saying a word. Lowe’s glasses got knocked off, but fortunately he wasn’t injured and he continued to tape the rest of the game. The camera withstood the hit as well, and Lowe still uses it today.

When Lowe later watched the CBS video of the Pats-Bills game, he saw Henry run him over and heard announcer Dan Dierdorf talk about it. Welcome to the NFL.

“I was a little more nervous,†Lowe admitted, “the next game than I was for the first game. I would have been embarrassed if that happened again.â€

Lowe, 27, has been on the sidelines for every Pats game home and away since, but he hasn’t been run into again. That hasn’t stopped the teasing from his co-workers, though. He will be on the sidelines at Gillette Stadium Saturday night when the Patriots open their quest for a third consecutive Super Bowl title against Jacksonville in a first-round game. He’ll be sure to dress warm.

“I enjoy when it’s snowing,†he said. “I don’t like when it’s raining.â€

Lowe and Bob Doyle form the two-man crew for Patriots Video News, a highlight and interview package of 6 to 10 minutes that airs weeknights on Patriots on Demand on Comcast cable television. Lowe is host, producer and videographer. Doyle is a producer and editor.

In 1995, the Patriots became the first sports team to launch a Web site, and two years later, www.patriots.com introduced Patriots Video News. It moved to Comcast on Patriots on Demand last October. Comcast teamed with the Pats and the NFL Network to offer its digital customers access to Patriots on Demand at no extra charge. Patriots n Demand offers news and analysis as well as extended game highlights and interviews, and the press conferences of coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady in their entirety. Such other Patriots programming as “Patriots All Access,†“Totally Patriots,†and “Patriots Football Weekly,†also are re-aired.

As a Patriots employee whose office is at Gillette Stadium, Lowe receives two free season tickets, but the perks end there. He doesn’t get anything more out of the tight-lipped Belichick than anyone else in the media.

“We really don’t get too much extra access,†Lowe said. “When the media is in the locker room from 11:15 to 11:45 (a.m.), that’s when we’re in the locker room. What we do get is some extra time to devote to the show. We’re not limited to a one-minute block on the 6 o’clock news. We can go longer than 10 minutes if there’s a lot going on.â€

Lowe majored in American studies at Brandeis University, but he took a number of journalism courses and even served a news internship with the Telegram & Gazette. His mother, Harriet, passed his name on to a New England Revolution representative at a Kids Fair at the Centrum. Lowe landed an internship after graduating from college and was hired full-time in public relations the next year. His duties included working for the Revs’ Web site and serving as editor of the “Bay Stater,†the Massachusetts Youth Soccer newsletter, a position he still holds today. His job with the Revs led to his current one with the Patriots, but he still fills in on public address for the soccer team.

“He’s doing a great job,†Lowe’s boss, Fred Kirsch, said. “He’s so easy to work with. Some people don’t take help that well. He’s just so eager to learn, and he wants to get better.â€

Lowe’s parents still live on Worcester’s West Side, so they have to visit friends to watch their son host Patriots Video News on Patriots on Demand because Charter doesn’t offer it. They can view the reports he files for the team’s Web site on “Patriots Today,†hosted by cheerleader Lori Baranski.

Lowe didn’t have any trouble naming the highlights of his time working for the Patriots. They were running a camera on the sidelines of their last two Super Bowl victories. With so many camera operators on hand, Lowe had to stake out his spot on the sidelines six hours before game time and not leave for fear of losing it. But the Patriots made the wait worth it.

Tennis Channel available
Charter launched the Tennis Channel a week ago on Channel 319, its digital sports tier, but Charter director of sales and marketing Dennis Jerome said it did not replace the NFL Network, which the cable company stopped carrying 10 days earlier because of a contract dispute.

“We had plans to add the Tennis Channel before the issues with the NFL Network came up,†Jerome said in an e-mail.

Bladd’s back on the air
Bob Bladd’s new one-hour sports talk show, “Back to Sports,†will debut at 2 p.m. Sunday on WBIX-AM (1060) in Framingham. The program will be simulcast live at WBIXonline.com. Visit backtosports.net for more information.

Bladd was sports director at WSRO in Hudson before the station switched to Spanish programming.

In other news, Charter replaces the NFL Network with the friggin' tennis channel. Spanish Soccer...College Rugby...Horse Racing....Tennis...but no football?

Losers!

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Tennis, hehehehehe!

My DirecTv is expensive and the weather can occasionally cause problems, but I've really enjoyed watching all the Pat's games this year....