Toilet Paper Toss 🧻

 

        One of the biggest games that happened all year was the game between Central Michigan University and Western Michigan University's Men's Basketball Teams. Before this game the Toilet Paper Toss happens, making a comeback on the 40th anniversary in 2023. This year was the third consecutive year of the TPT. Before the game attendees are given rolls of toilet paper to throw down onto the court when a dunk or layup is made by a player of the Men's Basketball Team. 

        I worked this game along with several other students and Athletic employees. A group of students on our video and photo team covered the arrival of students, free food, toilet paper handouts, pre-game warm-ups, atmosphere, the toilet paper toss, clean up, in-game coverage, half-time performances, and post-game coverage. Before the game, we all met in the media room at 4:30 pm to have dinner and go over the plan of how the night was going and who was on what. Doors opened at 5:15 pm when students and fans filled in the arena. 

        At this point, all of us split up to cover our 'shot list' to get back to our editors to be uploaded in real-time to social media for fans to see. At this point, I had over an hour to help out and prepare for my first list of shots, the passing of the ball, and the dunk that triggered the toss to happen. Fast forward to right before the toss we get into position with six photographers and four videographers placed all around the arena. Some are placed high in the stands, others with the players or under the basket. 

        At 6:50 pm President Mackinnon passed the ball to the alumni Derek Boldon and then to player Shaedon Simpson. When he dunked, thousands of rolls of toilet paper fell onto the court. The photo above is one I captured from the event where you can see the rolls falling onto the court. 

        This is amazing to see happen but also very stressful because none of us want to miss a moment. After the rolls continue to fall facilities crews quickly clean up the rolls and I continue to snap as many photos for our editor to get out on socials right away. People in the crowd can be quite accurate with their throws so we work through getting hit with rolls of toilet paper as we work. 

        After SD cards were given to editors, we all reported back to the court to get in position for introductions and tip-off. Since this game is very important and gets A LOT of media coverage the baseline was covered by photographers and videographers who were not from the Athletics team. Unfortunately, we had to ask some of them to move because we needed to be in certain spots to cover the game correctly. Throughout the game, our photo editor would come around collecting SD cards to supply updates on your social media with our photos while we captured the game. Throughout the game, several photographers would switch places from the top of the stands to the court to get diverse photos. 

        By the time the game ended, we then covered the team celebrating with fans. One photographer and videographer went into the locker room with players to get more celebratory photos and videos. After, we collect our things from the media room and split up into our offices where we go through and pick out the best photos, and name all of them with the respective players' names, teams, and game numbers. Then each of us edits our photos and uploads them to three separate places for players, writers, and graphic designers to use for stories and social posts. Our day did not end till 10:30 pm when the photo gallery was up. 

        This photo is of almost all of the women on the creative team responsible for the game coverage. I am very lucky to be surrounded by and work with these amazing women doing a job all of us love. Fun fact! On the creative side, we have 14 students who worked on this game, eight of which were women!