Bowling Green Unveils Its New Basketball Arena with a Rap Video

Bowling Green State University recently launched its new basketball facility, the Stroh Center, in a truly viral fashion. The Athletics Department turned to a sophomore student named Mikey "Rosco" Blair, a senior gospel singer named Rachel Willingham, and a company called Madhouse Productions to produce an official music video to unveil the University's new state-of-the-start facility in a truly unconventional fashion.

The result? The Athletics Department's loose, creative mentality created a sensational viral video that has attracted the attention of ESPN, USA Today, NBCSports.com, and more. While the video just surpassed the 25,000 mark, it's well on its way to becoming a hot topic of discussion within all of sports.

In the video, Rosco pays homage to several of the school's major donors and philanthropists, all-time legends, and new basketball facilities. The high quality video features several viewpoints of the Stroh Center and lyrics that are simple, yet catchy.

Check out the terrific venue launch video below:

Go Inside the Huddle to Deliver Unprecedented Access for Fans

The University of Washington football team gave its fanbase unprecedented access during the team's annual Spring Game by outfitting quarterbacks Keith Price and Nick Montana with a helmet cam and mic.

The result? The Washington Huskies football team was able to effectively convey to fans what it's like to lead a football team during a game, including:

• Calling plays in the huddle
• Taking snaps from center
• Identifying defensive schemes
• Scrambling on the run
• Listening to coaches provide instruction
• Staring down defenders
• Throwing passes
• Motivating teammates
• Scoring touchdowns

The insider video, posted by Huskies coach Steve Sarkisian on YouTube, truly serves as a best-in-class execution that should be benchmarked by all sports organizations (either during practice, Spring games, exhibition games, etc.). The video has attracted 44,000+ views. Check it out below:

Sarkisian recently followed up the Huskies' "Inside the Huddle" access with two (2) terrific Fall Camp 2011 videos, profiling the football team behind-the-scenes. Check them out below:

A special thanks to Rising Star Mark Gallo of Anheuser-Busch for his insights and contributions to this column!

The Making of a University Athletics Team Poster

Have you ever wondered how Athletics team posters are made? Or how many hours of labor goes into designing an appropriate look and feel that coincides with the team's brand DNA and team slogan?

Team posters take hours of expertise and a nice creative touch to produce an outstanding product. Geoffrey Rogers of Old Hat Creative recently created an outstanding five (5) minute time lapse that showcases the eight (8) hours of Photoshop expertise that went in to designing the 2011 Stanford Lacrosse Team Poster. Check it out below:

And here's another video detailing the creation of the 2010 Florida State football team poster:

Old Hat Creative is on fire right now with their creative services and out-of-the-box marketing tactics. I would encourage you to check out their site and sign up for their newsletter.