Athletic Department Legends

Well, during my post thanking the athletics department for what I believe to be the greatest video intro package I have ever seen (PLEASE PUT IT ON YOUTUBE!), I mentioned many of the people that I have worked closely with in my dealings with the athletics department as part of another group. In my love filled post, I forgot to mention the man who is in charge of the whole video production package. Due to my error, I have decided to start a series about some of the people in the athletics department who I feel deserve recognition for their hard work. These people's names are usually only mentioned when something goes wrong, but I believe they deserve to be applauded for their hard work and their desire to make Pitt the best it can be.

Today's feature will be on Director of Panthervision Production. Mr. Paul Barto.

Since Paul took over the job in 2004, I believe we have seen some of the greatest intro video's and highlight packages of any university. I do quite a big of traveling to other schools for basketball and football games, and Paul really puts other people to shame with his in-depth, inspiring, and creative productions.

Growing up, the Penguins were always my favorite team and hockey was my favorite sport. I went to many games in the 90's and even more when the Penguins introduced the student rush program. Following the movie Sudden Death, the Penguins installed a new scoreboard and began utilizing it as a way to get the fans more involved in the games. I always felt that the Penguins had a great presentation and wished the other Pittsburgh sports teams could follow the Penguins model. Well guess what folks. Paul also worked as the Director of Production Services and Game Presentation for the Pens from 1996-2004. That really shouldn't surprise anyone that Paul was highly involved with what I believe was the best video presentation of any Pittsburgh sports team.

Paul, thank you for the greatest video intro ever for the football team this season. Everyone here at The Cat Basket looks forward to more great presentations in the future.