We all see the statistics on the scoreboard at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and at Truist Field, but probably never realized that it takes a dedicated team of three (or more) members on the gameday stats crew to make those come to fruition in real time.
David Kivett, who has been volunteering at Wake Forest since 1988, working the stat crew for both men’s basketball and football, will be working his last game on Feb. 25 when the Demon Deacons host Notre Dame.
He was first brought on by sports information director John Justus in 1988.
“There’s a team of three of us at basketball,” Kivett said about the job. “One is calling. We keep up with shots, assists, rebounds, field goals, turnovers and minutes played for both teams. It’s pretty challenging. All of that gets translated to the stats that you see on TV. That evolves from the stuff we do.
“The most challenging thing is when there’s a computer failure or lock-up. If something goes wrong with the computer, it just becomes impossible. For football, it’s a little bit slower of pace. You can jot down the notes and can catch up rapidly. With basketball, there’s no dead time. You really can’t catch up.”
Every once in a while, there are events in either sport and can slow down the process as well, such as a double fumble or a misspot by the referee.
“There are those things that don’t happen very often that make you think about how to input the statistics,” Kivett said. “For instance, we had a lane violation by the team shooting the free throw. So that’s no shot for the guy who took it, and it’s a turnover for the guy who stepped into the lane.
“Then there’s the possibility of an own-goal, which hasn’t happened in the 35-plus years I’ve been doing it. Your own team can knock in a goal.”
Because of previous commitments with the ACC, Kivett won’t run the final home game this season, instead wrapping up with the penultimate contest in late February.
“I do the ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament, which starts during that last home game,” he explained. “When I commit, I commit. I rarely miss games, but because of my commitment with the ACC, I occasionally miss the last men’s basketball home game.”
Having been in position for roughly 25 years, Kivett has seen some of the glory days of Wake Forest Basketball during his tenure.
“I do enjoy the games,…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Wake Forest University Athletics…