{"id":2495,"date":"2021-03-01T02:32:27","date_gmt":"2021-03-01T06:32:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/pr\/?p=2495"},"modified":"2026-07-13T22:13:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T02:13:42","slug":"is-that-dr-anderson-i-see-on-tv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwcp.umes.edu\/scm\/is-that-dr-anderson-i-see-on-tv\/","title":{"rendered":"Is that Dr. Anderson I see on TV?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Anderson, top, and Davidson<\/strong>

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UMES president\u2019s image among the Final Four cutout crowd<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Wednesday, March 31, 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A four-member contingent headed by a Hoosier state native will represent the University of Maryland Eastern Shore at the 2021 edition of college basketball’s Final Four in Indianapolis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, actually, their images will be present. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As \u201ccutouts.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the stands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of Lucas Oil Stadium. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The NCAA holds the final two rounds of its annual basketball extravaganza — dubbed March Madness, for some reason — in early April in football arenas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lotsa seats — 70,000, to be exact.  Lotsa tickets to sell.  In normal times. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These times are not normal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, this year, the big finale will be mostly fanless<\/em> — except for family members of student-athletes who are competing, and select personnel from the institutions participating the final weekend’s games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the lingering pandemic has proven, empty sports venues don’t give off the kind of vibe that gibes with the excited-to-be there atmosphere TV executives who pay for the right to broadcast games like to project into living rooms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Enter entrepreneurs who came up with the novel idea of fan-image \u201ccutouts\u201d occupying the seats in crucial camera shots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this instance, the NCAA extended its member schools like UMES the opportunity to submit pictures of four people at no charge to a company marketing the \u201csee me on TV\u201d opportunity hoping hoops fan will want their face to catch some screen time during one of the big games. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Stan Bradley, UMES’ associate athletics director for external affairs, said he and colleague Shawn Yonker brainstormed on identifying a list of people whose images should be submitted to the company creating the cutouts. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UMES’ line up for Final Four weekend 2021 will be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Nativio, top, and Revels<\/strong>

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