Big Sioux Media Goes National
By: Lee Palmer
Andy Worhal said, “In the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.” Well Big Sioux Media and Matt Larson have lasted a little longer than 15 minutes. When I talked to Matt about joining Big Sioux Media last spring during the end of the basketball season, I could see why broadcasting high school sports is so addicting. A few of my first games were an overtime, last-second shot win during a Dell Rapids Quarriers girls basketball game, a very close down-to-the-wire game at Dell Rapids St Mary as the boys let one game get closer than it should, and then of course the Dell Rapids Quarriers boys basketball game on the campus of Augustana where if not for a foul call, the Quarriers would have been in the state tournament. I was hooked.
After the Madison vs. Dell Rapids game at Auggie, I remember my broadcast partner and owner of Big Sioux Media texting me and telling me that there were 300 hits on YouTube from the highlights of that game. He talked about how that surpassed every other highlight in the first 24 hours. I was pumped. I knew that this hobby was right for me. I knew that I did this so fans could experience what we were experiencing, even if they were not there. I knew that social media could carry that clip for people who might not have had the chance to see it (to date there have been over 1,200 views).
Which brings me to my opinion piece today. First let me say, I am extremely proud to be associated with Big Sioux Media and Matt Larson. Secondly, what has happened since Friday (September 19, 2014) has been mind blowing and could not have happened to a better person in Matt Larson. Matt puts his heart and soul into Big Sioux Media. If I need something, it is Matt that goes out and finds it. If there is an event, Matt is there or sends me. We have done some great stuff in the past few months, and he is the driving factor behind it. So for this to happen to Matt is wonderful.
What has happened you may ask? On September 19, 2014, in a blowout of a game between Dell Rapids and Milbank, Keegan Hemenway kicked a low line drive extra point; it bounced of the head of a Milbank player and found its way up and over the upright.
I was in Colman finishing up the Dell Rapids St. Mary game when on my way home I receive a text saying to check out the video on the Big Sioux Media twitter feed. I will be the first, and Matt can attest to this, I do not understand Twitter, but I can watch a video. After seeing it, I laughed and was surprised at the result. I have coached and officiated football for close to 20 years and have never seen anything like that. As surprising as it was, nothing is as surprising as what has happened in these five days. As I type this, I know the numbers will change.
This clip, which ha been posted to YouTube, has over 380,000 views. The complete highlights over 2,500 views! Remember the Madison game – 1,200 was the largest to this point – these two have crushed it. Mind you it has had some help. Help? The local television stations, radio stations, and newspapers have picked up this clip …that still is not the help it needed. The help has been on a national level. Yes national! News organizations such as ESPN, The SportingNews, Bleacher Report, Yahoo, Sports Illustrated, television stations (Seattle, Indianapolis, and New Orleans to name a few) and even Fox News and Good Morning America have given this life.
Matt and I talk daily about Big Sioux Media happenings; the past three days it has been nothing but this. We are amazed and stunned at the sheer number of people who have seen this. Mind you some of the people who have seen this cannot be measured because the video sometimes is not linked to the YouTube video. Talking to someone who follows social media, they said if the video is out there on that many places and not linked, double the number from YouTube. DOUBLE? Almost ¾ of a million people have seen this? WOW!
Matt is a very humble, down-to-Earth person…one of the qualities that make working with him that I admire. We are kind of the perfect broadcasting pair. He stays cool and collected (that clip is about how excited he gets on air), and I am the one always screaming and acting over the top. So for this clip of Matt to spread across the country for ¾ of a million people to see is a proud moment for me…proud to work for Big Sioux Media, and proud to see my broadcast partner, more importantly my friend, have the success he truly deserves for all the hard work he has put into Big Sioux Media. Congratulations Matt!!!!