Videos to look back at 2018

My plan to put together a New Year's post has clearly gone by the wayside. I hope to look back at 2018 in a little more detail at some point, but for now, here are a few videos that'll show you just what I was up to professionally in 2018.

Soccer demo reel:



All MLS goals called in 2018:



NBA demo reel (some of which strays into 2017):

On the move, on the job for the next week

When your work is free-lance, it's good to be busy, and I'm fortunate enough to start one of my busiest weeks of the year today.

I'm flying to Pittsburgh Wednesday evening to start a stretch that will see me call four games in six days (Thursday, Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday) and fly five different segments before returning to an airport for a second time. It's going to be intense, and it's going to be fun!

Our own Friday Night Lights on gorgeous evening at @wvuwomenssoccer vs @TexasTechSoccer! cc @catwhitehill4 pic.twitter.com/67t5LNxhmU

— Jonathan Yardley (@jtyardley) October 14, 2016

I start in my current season, college soccer, returning to the scene of the above vista to see the same game I called a year ago, West Virginia against Texas Tech on ESPNU, although I'm working with Kate Markgraf this year instead of Cat Whitehill. One ridiculously good defender and partner for another!

From there, I'll keep moving for the next week, possibly the longest I've ever been away from my daughter in her young life, to cover this set of games:

Upcoming broadcasts
Date	Game	Media	Partner
Oct. 19 5 pm ET	West Virginia vs. Texas Tech (NCAA women's soccer)	ESPNU	Kate Markgraf
Oct. 21 8 pm ET	Houston Rockets vs. Dallas Mavericks (NBA)	NBA League Pass VR	Viani / Rogondino
Oct. 22 6 pm ET	Auburn vs. LSU (NCAA women's soccer)	ESPNU	Cat Whitehill
Oct. 24 7:30 pm ET	Boston Celtics vs. New York Knicks (NBA)	NBA League Pass VR	Viani / Rogondino

It's a lot to prepare for, a lot of phone calls to squeeze in, and a lot of clothes to pack into one trip! But I intend to manage with a smile on my face, so check it out when you can.

Looking back to top photos, moments from 1st NBA season in virtual reality

Clearly, I've been putting this off for far too long. No posts from the NBA League Pass Virtual Reality opener on Oct. 27 until late May. There's a lot to tell.

In brief, the NBA season was an awesome, exciting, fun, challenging, and lengthy experience. We called one game a week for the entire season for NextVR productions of NBA League Pass VR, finally totaling 26 regular-season games broadcast in virtual reality. While we feel like we always put on a good show, the improvement from No. 1 to No. 26 was substantial and something I was really proud to be part of.

I wrote a whole lot more about the season, and you can scroll all the way down to read it, but pictures are a lot more powerful, aren't they? I can't really do justice to the entire year, but here are a few pictures that I hope capture how much fun it was to cover the NBA in virtual reality!

This is meta: Kevin Durant watching our footage right next to our camera. (via NextVR)

Working my 1st game at Madison Square Garden with Antoine Walker filling in.

NBA opener in photos

Well, our opening NBA League Pass VR broadcast, produced by NextVR, is in the books, and we've definitely turned our focus to Tuesday's Pacers-Lakers game as our shows move to Tuesday nights for most of the season.

But I did find time to grab a few pictures / screenshots from Thursday's opener, one our entire crew and the basketball fans of Sacramento will not soon forget:

Hello, NBA! Coming your way in 2016-17

I am proud to announce that I will call play-by-play on the first full season of live virtual-reality sports this winter when the NBA and NextVR partner to produce at least 25 regular-season games in VR via NBA League Pass!

Official announcement from NBA
Official announcement from NextVR
How to get access to NextVR

On my end, this has been a few months in the works, and as we've gone through discussions and test games and everything, I've been so excited but unable to talk about it beyond my immediate family. So I can't wait to start the season Thursday with the Sacramento Kings-San Antonio Spurs game, the regular-season opener at the new Golden 1 Center in Sacramento! Tip is at 7:30 Pacific Time on Thursday, 10:30 Eastern Time, and fans can watch for free with the right VR headset. (Don't worry: If that sounds a little narrow, the availability is only going to get more widespread as the season goes on!)

For the NextVR team, this has been more than a year in the making, and seeing their reaction to the expansion and fine-tuning of the product has been awesome. It's a great group to work with, one I first met when working their first fully produced soccer game in the International Champions Cup in August, and I'm excited for the season.

USA Today article

Personally, this is certainly a bit of a departure from pro soccer and college sports. I've called plenty of basketball, but it's been entirely in the college ranks, so I look forward to learning some of the intricacies of the NBA, its storylines, and its players throughout this season.

One of my partners on the broadcasts this year will be Julianne Viani, who I've worked with a lot as a college basketball analyst in the New York area, and I know she's going to help make our shows analytical, fun, and successful! Fellow soccer vet Mark Rogondino will also be among those contributing, as various schedules allow, and he brings an awesome perspective and energy that are hard to match.

Upload VR article

The test broadcasts have been exhilarating and illuminating. I've learned some things about how to prepare and how to approach these broadcasts (slightly differently than a normal game), and I've learned a lot about how the NBA operates. As broadcasters and as a production group, we've definitely gotten a better idea of what works and what doesn't, and we've come up with ideas we think can be implemented as the season goes on. We may not have every bell and whistle on Opening Night, but you'll be impressed and enjoy the show!

The VR camera angles work really well for basketball, with the most often used cameras stationed underneath the basket. That means dunks and anything at the rim come right at you, and it also provides a more true look of how teams approach the game in terms of Xs and Os, since you get the same vertical vantage point as the players. Our scorer's-table camera, pictured here, brings some sideline access to coaches and players that you don't see on a normal broadcast. It's absolutey fascinating to watch a game this way.

I don't know how many of you have the ability to watch VR broadcasts just yet, but as somebody who was skeptical before trying the technology out, I can highly recommend that you give it a chance! Basketball is definitely the ideal sport to provide a starting point for sports in virtual reality, and I'm incredibly excited for all the new experiences this winter will bring.

So find a Samsung phone or Playstation and a VR headset and check out our Game of the Week all NBA season!

Again, here's how to get access to NextVR.