Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Alan Wasielewski has worked within Notre Dame's digital media department since 2006. He films the action from the Irish sideline during ev- ery football game, home or away. Blue & Gold Illustrated: Where did the idea to film from Notre Dame's sideline start? Wasielewski: "I always thought we needed to provide our fans a unique perspective that they don't see on television. It's one thing that is an advantage that Fight- ing Irish Digital Media has that nobody else has — our ability to capture that. "That's where Irish Connection came from. We want to connect the fans to some of the experi- ences that the team has, though obviously not all of them. If you enjoyed the game, but you wanted to relive the game in a different way than you did, that's what Irish Connection is designed to bring you: a different way to see what happened during the game." Blue & Gold Illustrated: What did it take to get Irish Connections off the ground? Wasielewski: "Once Coach [Brian] Kelly came on board, that's when we went forward with Irish Connection. He was open to giving us access in the locker room for certain things, and it just grew from there." Blue & Gold Illustrated: Did you get any push back to that proposal? Wasielewski: "They do have some control over what happens. I am 99.9 percent usually on the same page with them, but any time my antennas go up because I think it's something sensitive, I will send it to the football program and the football program will say yes or no." Blue & Gold Illustrated: When you're filming on the sideline or in the locker room, are you more focused on the shot or staying out of the way? Wasielewski: "I am very, very sensitive to [my placement]. I get upset when any of them even bump into me, and I'm a big guy. It's kind of tough for me at times, but I want to be a fly on the wall. "In the locker room, I usually choose a spot that's behind a col- umn or dug into the locker room somewhere so I'm not in any- body's sight line. … I'm extremely conscious of not getting in their way." Blue & Gold Illustrated: From your spot on the sideline, what has been the cool- est moment you have been able to experience you would not have been around for otherwise? Wasielewski: "It has to be USC in 2012. When we beat them, we knew we were going to go to the national championship game. There had to be five or 10 minutes left in that game when we knew we were going to win. "Being able to capture all of the players' cel- ebrations, the Notre Dame fans that were there who worked their way down close to the field. I'm even getting goose bumps just thinking about it now, and then the celebration in the locker room at USC, which is our No. 1 rival. I think that's been the high of the sideline stuff so far." — Douglas Farmer Five Questions With … FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCER ALAN WASIELEWSKI Wasielewski provides fans with a behind-the-scenes look at the football team with Irish Connection, film- ing on the sideline and in the locker room. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS