Frogkicked

Columbia Television fell victim to a backflip gone bad on Saturday, when a NCAA mascot crashed into its production equipment during the Columbia-Yale basketball game.

CTV was in the middle of its halftime analysis when J.J. Jumper, a promotional mascot for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, tumbled into the station's television equipment, causing significant damage to CTV's production capabilities.

According to Beth Katz, class of 2006 vice president, the incident began when she challenged the feisty amphibian to a back handspring competition. Katz said she did 10 back handsprings, but that when J.J. Jumper came off of his sixth repetition, he had veered too far off course and ran into the CTV crew.

"It's his fault for thinking he could be as good as me. He didn't didn't do any back handsprings after that," Katz said.

Robert Wray, director of programming for CTV, estimated that the mascot, a large, green frog with tufts of orange hair, caused a total of $6,500 in damage to its equipment.

"The damage is pretty extensive," Wray said. "We have a camera which was totally destroyed. Our sound board was damaged. Our switch that connects everything was damaged."

The blow to CTV's equipment has put further strain on its already limited budget. How the network will recoup its losses remains unclear.

"Alex Oberweger, associate athletics director for athletics communications at Columbia, told me that the equipment is owned by the University and that he and the University would have to take care of it somehow," Wray said. "The mascot said there was no precedent for this and that the NCAA would probably 'pass the buck' to him."

The NCAA requires that if a university contracts the Association's mascot to perform during a game, the institution must have a spotter for the mascot in addition to having proof of Commercial General Liability insurance, should any accident occur.

The Athletic Department has begun an inquiry into the accident, as no one from the department was present during the incident.

"We will follow up with CTV to figure out what happened exactly, and we will contact the NCAA on Monday morning," said Barry Neuberger, associate director of sports marketing at Columbia. Neuberger declined to comment on whether the University hired a spotter or had liability insurance.

CTV could feel the impact of the incident well beyond Saturday's game. The network will have to limit the camera angles on both normal shows and sporting events, according to Wray. "If we are able to shoot any more games, it would be in a much more limited capacity," he added.

The accident comes at an inopportune time for CTV's sports coverage. The station was planning to broadcast the Columbia-Harvard men's basketball game from the Lavietes Pavilion in Cambridge, Mass., its first live broadcast of a road game.

This was the second time Columbia has hired the frog to perform at a sporting event. The first was at a women's basketball game last season.

Lydia DePillis contributed to this article.