This article is the third in a four-part series on student jobs appearing on Fridays.
When Trinity senior Teos Abadia arrived at the University four years ago, he did not know anything about sports, much less about the men's basketball team.
"The only game I had seen was against UNLV the year before [1990]. We got our asses kicked and I thought we sucked," Abadia said.
But he's caught on quickly. Abadia is the senior scoreboard operator for sporting events in Cameron Indoor Stadium and Wallace Wade Stadium. He has attended almost every men's basketball game, as well as many women's basketball, volleyball and football games.
"I don't know what job a person would rather have," he said.
Sitting on the scorer's table 10 feet from Mike Krzyzewski might seem like the coolest job in the world, but Abadia sometimes enjoys the other games more.
"Volleyball is an incredible sport--that's the best-kept secret," Abadia said. "It's a lot of fun, and I'm allowed to put up any graphics I want to."
A couple of examples make Abadia's personal list of top graphics:
Several hours before a volleyball game against the University of Virginia, Abadia saw some UVa players having breakfast at a Waffle House. After UVa lost the first point of the game, Abadia put up a sign reading "Must have been those waffles."
During last weekend's Final Four games televised in Cameron, Abadia had almost free reign over the scoreboard. He gave nicknames to players and put up a top 10 list. He also put up a display reading "We caged Big Dog, we skewered Da Meat Hook, let's eviscerate those Hogs."
"When fans get really happy like that, I think `God, that's pretty cool,'" Abadia said with a broad grin across his face.
To prepare for a men's basketball game, Abadia arrives about 2 1/2 hours before game time to type in statistics and work on graphics. He said he types in just about everything--it is his fault that the Cameron Crazies thought "Doug" Collins started one game for the Blue Devils.
During basketball games, Abadia's creative powers are restricted.
The Athletic Department is wary about putting "clever" signs on during televised events, said Tim Searles, general manager of technical services and Abadia's boss.
"We've been more or less told not to run funny graphics during men's games," Searles said.
However, Abadia has found ways to subtly annoy opponents.
Against the University of North Carolina Tar Heels, Abadia has several tactics, including running what he considers an extremely ugly picture of head coach Dean Smith on the scoreboard.
A drummer in a band in high school, Abadia took the job because he was interested in working with audio equipment and helping set up equipment for concerts and similar events.
His sophomore year, he was asked to work the scoreboard. Originally hesitant because of his lack of enthusiasm for sports, Abadia took to the job like a fish does to water--or like Grant Hill does to a basketball court.
Abadia is happy he did it because as an environmental sciences and policy major, he may never have a chance like this again.
And he never had to camp out to see a basketball game.
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