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Olympic Flames And
3,381411
Football Sundays

Detroit native Mark Stacey is behind the TV camera
at major sporting venues.

JENNIFER FINER STAFF WRITER

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7,

orking the Olympics had
it perks. But, then again
it's still work — a lot of
work.
Mark Stacey wouldn't have it
any other way. The 38-year-old
freelance cameraman just re-
turned from Atlanta, where he
was one of a handful of camera-
men at the Olympic equestrian
events. With a four-day hiatus be-
tween jobs, Mr. Stacey, of Pleas-
ant Ridge, had enough time to do
his laundry before heading out to
San Francisco for Sunday's pre-
season football game. He also will
work preseason games in Dallas
and Indianapolis.
Typically, Mr. Stacey will meet
up with the football crew a few
days before the game. Much of the
advance time is spent setting up
equipment and testing it.
"For three intense hours you're
listening to directions in one ear
and the announcers in another,"
he said. "It really beats a regular
job."
Although he is a freelancer, Mr.
Stacey can count on a weekly job
for each of the football games
broadcast by FOX "Fll be at every

game, from now until the Super
Bowl, done by [John] Madden and
[Pat] Summerall," he said. This
year will be his first Super Bowl.
Although Mr. Stacey's focus has
now turned to football, memories
of Atlanta are still fresh in his
mind, particularly memories of the
pipe bomb exploding in Centen-
nial Olympic Park. His venue was
the first to reopen after the explo-
sion.
"The whole feeling and the
mood of the Olympics changed,"
Mr. Stacey said. "Standing in Cen-
tennial Park during the memori-
al for the two people who died ... it
felt like someone took something
away from the spirit of what the
Games are about."
Although most of Mr. Stacey's
time was spent at the equestrian
venue, about 30 minutes away
from the main Olympic sites, he
did go to the Olympic Village,
which housed more than 10,000
athletes. There, Mr. Stacey met
1972 gymnastics gold medalist
Olga Korbut of the former Soviet
Union.
"That was my brush with
fame," he said. "We talked about

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Cameraman Mark Stacey will work an NFL game every week.

