One of the greatest compliments I hear from basketball fans around the country is that MacsLive has the sound and look of a professional radio broadcast and website. Of the thousands of listeners and visitors to our website, many are not aware that MacsLive is a student organization operated by undergraduates at Yeshiva University. The final product that goes on the broadcast or is published on the web is the result of countless hours of preparation and effort. 

This year's broadcast was an extraordinary success by any measure that we set for ourselves. We launched the live scoreboard, which included a real-time box score for all games at the Max Stern Athletic Center. The amount of work that went into creating (and then properly running) the scoreboard is staggering. We also added a new feature, MacsLive mobile, that allowed users to visit a special site of MacsLive designed to work better on mobile devices.

But our success was not limited to the launch of new features. We also recorded our largest audience ever, both in visitors to our website as well as listeners of our broadcast. As an organization, MacsLive ran as efficiently as ever, with increased student involvement. We've come a long way from the days when MacsLive was four students, four headsets, a small mixer, and a computer.

Consider these remarkable statistics that MacsLive recorded at Sarachek 2008:

Games played at the Max Stern Athletic Center: 29

Total listeners: Exact number is unknown, since we can only track computer connections. We hear that people listen to the games in groups. For example, the entire school at Ida Crown listened to the championship game using one connection. Clearly, most groups are smaller, but indications are that most computer connections are going to multiple listeners.

Broadcast connections: Approx 5,000 (computers that connected to our server)

Number of times a MacsLive staff member clicked the touch-screen to update the scoreboard: Approx. 70,000

It takes a lot of effort to put together the production that we do in such a short amount of time. I would like to take a moment to thank some of the people -- students, alumni, and administration -- who help make MacsLive possible.

Asher Goldberg and Danny Cohn. With Asher and Danny at the helm of MacsLive this year, the broadcast and website grew to greater heights. Asher was responsible for all the logistical coordination for the entire organization as well as the audio technology and the audio production. Danny handled the computer side, which this year included supervising an overhaul of our servers, upgrading the website, and developing the live scoreboard.

One cannot say enough about the phenomenal job that these two did, but I will try to impart a least a sense of how impressive their efforts were. Let me begin with Asher.

I have been with MacsLive since its founding in 2001, and we've broadcast every Sarachek Tournament since March of 2002. Our operation has never been as big and complicated as it was this year (as evidenced by some of the numbers above), and yet, despite the increase in complexity, Asher ran the program more efficiently, effectively, and productively than it ever has been run before. Asher not only managed the entire MacsLive organization, but he also produced all 29 games, and did so flawlessly. He was the perfect captain.

What was so remarkable about the live scoreboard is that we didn't purchase commercial software and adapt it to our website. Well, that's not entirely true; we did purchase commercial software, and we did try to use it, but nothing worked well enough for us to be satisfied. In what has become typical for MacsLive, when we felt that the job by a professional wasn't up to our own high standards, a student at Yeshiva volunteered to give it a try and completely amazed me. Danny wrote the entire program from scratch, from the ground up, with no outside help and no commercial software. It took him about 500 hours, and the final version was completely professional looking. I find his accomplishment astonishing. Because of the software program that he developed, 2000 different people were able to follow the action at the Sarachek Tournament from their homes and offices. In addition, Danny put a screen in front of the broadcasters, who were able rely on accurate up-to-the-second stats, which put a professional touch on our radio broadcast.

Danny also made several upgrades to the website, including back-end changes that resulted in an upgrade even though you, the user, can't see it. He did a terrific job upgrading our computer equipment and working with the folks at the IT department at Yeshiva, and he was responsible for setting up (and running) all of our on-site computers.

Danny and Asher both did a magnificent job, and I am thrilled that MacsLive will continue in their capable hands next year.

Josh Ricklis (SSSB '06). Josh will forever be in my personal hall of fame for the incredible work he has done for MacsLive, and this year he continued his invaluable service by acting as a pivotal advisor to Danny and Asher. Josh is the person who took MacsLive on that first jump from a small broadcast to a much larger organization. He graciously took off from work this year in order to be at YU as a resource for MacsLive.

Evan Silver. With the close of Monday's broadcast, Evan ended three years of magnificent service to MacsLive. Evan started out by helping Josh with technology matters, then ran the logistical side of the broadcast. He was once again tremendously valuable during the Sarachek Tournament. As MacsLive's seventh president, he was a remarkable steward of the program. We're sorry to be losing him, but we're sure that he will be back in some capacity next year (as all MacsLive alumni tend to do).

Chanie Kirschner, Josh Lawson, and the Office of Admissions. MacsLive could not have broadcast a single game without the funding and logistical support that it gets from the YU Admissions office. Josh and Chanie were a pleasure to work with, and the Admissions office continued its tradition of generosity to MacsLive, which this year included the purchase of two new servers. Thanks to the Office of Admissions, our returning listeners may have noticed that our broadcasts didn't continuously buffer as they occasionally did in the past when our servers were under a heavy load.

The President's Circle. We are continually grateful to The President's Circle for their initial investment in us back in 2001, and for their continued support in the time since. The President's Circle is a group of alumni committed to supporting student initiatives at Yeshiva College and the Sy Syms School of Business.

Enrique, Scott, Sasha, and the YU Photography Department. MacsLive.com has added many more pictures this year, thanks to the terrific folks at YU Photography. With two photographers and a full-time technician, the 20-25 best pictures each game were selected, edited, and handed to MacsLive within a short time after the game was completed. We all worked very well together, and the results speak for themselves.

Joe Bednarsh, Mike Spinner and the YU Office of Athletics. Special thanks to the Athletics office for giving us all the help we need. Joe and Mike work very hard to make this tournament the great success that it is, and they never hesitate to help MacsLive whenever we ask for it.

Paul Burack, Pysched About Sports Video Productions. Paul filmed the entire tournament and will be releasing a highlight DVD (along with a DVD of the entire championship game) in a few weeks.

The MacsLive On-Air Staff. In no particular order, I would like to thank Moshe Kook, Ari Roth, Isaac Benishai, Ari Gres, Robert Katz (YC '85), Ilan Tokayer, Etan Bluman, Daniel Shaffer, Aaron Gordon, Aaron Schultz, Danny Kroll (YC '05), Uri Burger (YC '05), Binyomin Cooper, Avi Bloom (YC '02, REITS '07) and Jon Cohen (SSSB '04). I was also a broadcaster.

The MacsLive Off-Air Staff, including scoreboard operators and sideline reporters.  Josh Gottesman, Eli Malakan, Jon Korman, Daniel Kallush, Daniel Rosenthal, Ari Strulowitz, and Yitzi Matanky.

MacsLive's Team of Sportswriters. Doni Kandel (who did the bulk of the writing), Isaac Benishai, and Tzvi Twersky.

In our initial proposal when founding MacsLive, Avi Bloom and I wrote that we wanted our broadcasts to be first-rate, "a point of pride for the University, its students, and alumni." Thanks to the remarkable efforts of all those involved, I hope that we have met that goal for one more season.