Media Timeout: Local prep games available on CISN.TV

Got a Friday night scheduling conflict? Or not sure you want to sit through a high school game in the rain?

Peter Tarpey and his crew may have you covered.

For the past four years, they’ve been live-streaming prep games and established a website, CISN.TV (short for Central Iowa Sports Network).

Tarpey started it all with a "why not?" attitude after noticing a trend among fans.

“What I saw was everything is going to video. Everything,” Tarpey said. “People thought I was crazy. We were getting 500 to 600 people to watch our games. We’re (now) averaging more than 4,000 people on a Friday night.”

The early focus was on West Des Moines Dowling Catholic, where Tarpey’s kids went to school. They’ve expanded to include West Des Moines Valley, Waukee, Southeast Polk, Johnston and Ankeny.

The typical audience spans generations.

“The big thing is iPhones,” Tarpey said. “Some people watch it at home, there’s a lot of moms and dads and grandmas and grandpas, but a lot of people watch it on their smartphone now.”

Tarpey continues to push for quality and depth. The featured games on CISN.TV include a color commentator, play-by-play announcer, statistician, producer, director and sideline reporter.

Most of the staff falls into the Baby Boomer category, and they’ve known each other for 15-20 years.

So teamwork and chemistry are not a problem.

“They love sports and they like doing this,” said Tarpey, who is 65. “We show up at 5 o’clock and we leave at 10.”

They survived last week’s soggy openers, which led to postponements and the cancellation of the Dowling game against Cedar Rapids Xavier.

This Friday, CISN.TV will offer a video feed for Urbandale vs. Dowling at Valley Stadium, as well as a live stream for Southeast Polk at Waukee.

Johnston’s game at Ankeny will be available via audio feed.

TOP TWEETS

Joey Donia ‏of KWQC Channel 6 (@KWQC_Joey) 
Not the best start to Tim Beckman's 4th year at Illinois IMO
-    Aug. 28

John Bohnenkamp sports editor of the Burlington Hawk Eye (‏@johnbohnenkamp) 
Welp, looks like I have to put together a new Illinois preview for our college football section.
-    Aug. 28

Cody Westerlund ‏of CBSChicago.com (@CodyWesterlund) 
On top of injury stuff, Tim Beckman threatening to take away scholarships for seniors in spring semester is just completely awful.
-    Aug. 28

STRONG TAKE
Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com makes a strong case on the behalf of former Drake basketball player Jordan Daniels. After getting his degree from Drake, Daniels transferred to California Baptist, an NCAA Division II school in Riverside, Calif., in hopes of playing one more season. But because he participated in two preseason scrimmages while at Boston College, Daniels’ eligibility is in doubt. “It would be a shame, not to mention completely insane,” Parrish wrote, “for a solid student and decent young man to actually lose a year of eligibility because of a few meaningless minutes spent in mostly meaningless preseason scrimmages three years ago.”

SAY WHAT?
Turns out the Hawkeyes and Cyclones can co-exist, at least on television. KCWI (Channel 23) announced last week it will air the Kirk Ferentz Show and the Paul Rhoads Show. Starting this Sunday, Ferentz’s weekly Hawkeyes program will air at 10 p.m., followed by Rhoads and the Cyclones at 10:30 p.m.

STAY TUNED
WHO (Channel 13) unveiled its travel schedule for this year's RV TV tour. The annual road trip, which takes place the week leading up to the Cy-Hawk football game, will make stops in Greenfield, Carroll, Humboldt, Webster City and finally Ames. This year’s game will be held at Jack Trice Stadium.