Nov. 7, 2008

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -

by Stephanie Castillo, The Western Front

Western Washington University freshman Chris Lipscomb stands on the sideline of Wembley Stadium in London, England, holding a San Diego Chargers helmet. From this vantage point, he can see everything - fans filing into their seats, camera crews preparing their equipment, referees shaking hands. He's not playing in the game, and he hasn't won the lotto to afford front row seats - he's working.

In fact, for every Seattle Seahawks home game, Chris finds himself arriving at Qwest Field in Seattle four or five hours before kickoff and staying well after the final seconds tick off. Some people would say he is the luckiest 18-year-old alive, but to Chris, who has been in this line of work since he was 15, it's just his job.

He describes the best night he ever worked at Qwest Field, the 2005 National Football League NFC Championship game when the Seahawks beat the Carolina Panthers to earn their first Super Bowl appearance. The attendance was over capacity and he said it could be best described as incredible.

"The stadium was the loudest I've ever heard it," Chris said. "It was standing room only in the pressbox and you couldn't hear the person next to you."

Chris's father, Bill Lipscomb, is a telecommunications contractor who started his own business called William Bruce Lipscomb Services about 15 years ago.

Bill was hired to handle Seahawks games for First and Goal Inc., a Seattle organization formed by Paul Allen to serve as the developer and operator of the Qwest Field & Event Center. He also travels around the country paving the way for sports telecommunications and working for the National Football League.

Chris has assisted his dad with these services since he was in high school and now helps whenever he can.

Telecommunications for games, in simpler terms, is anything to do with technology going in and out of a stadium. That means coaches' headsets, belt packs, radio transmissions, Internet lines, phones and more. First & Goal Inc. and the NFL rely on Bill Lipscomb's company to set up, test and monitor all of this technology during a game.

When Chris, who plans to major in electronic engineering, was a sophomore at Blanchet High School in Seattle, his dad gave him the opportunity to learn first-hand what his telecommunications company was all about.

"We went early to the stadium as usual," he said. "I think I was shown how to do everything ... once."

Chris caught on quickly and soon found himself at every Seahawks home game working for his dad.

It was Bill Lipscomb's relationship with the NFL that led to a six-day father and son trip overseas to London where the San Diego Chargers and New Orleans Saints played in Wembley Stadium, which is primarily a soccer venue. The trip caused Bill to miss a Seahawks game for the first time since he started working at Qwest about 20 years ago.

The second-annual NFL promotional game in London sold out within hours and left a lot of work to be done.

"We were in charge of things like scoreboards, video and audio feed, microphones and frequency coordination for radios," Chris said.

Nikos Mouat, a long-time friend and colleague of the Lipscombs, accompanied Bill and Chris to London to help in setting up and monitoring technology during the game.

"The first few days there, all we did was testing, testing, testing," Mouat said. "Christopher was helpful because we needed a lot of hands for the set-up process."

Microphone testing responsibilities led Chris around the soccer-turned-football-field two hours before the start of the game.

"We tested the microphones in the quarterback's and linebacker's helmets before the game," he said. "We had to make sure the frequency was okay."

Mouat said the atmosphere at Wembley was very similar to games held in the United States.

"In the crowd, I saw fans of every single NFL team," Mouat said. "I saw at least three Matt Hasselbeck jerseys."

Chris still assists his dad with telecommunications for WBL Services when he can, but thanks to connections made at Qwest Field he landed another job as an information technology, or IT, supervisor with Levey Restaurants in August.

He monitors technology for all concession stands in Qwest Field & Events Center, which may not seem strenuous, but the littlest things create the biggest problems, which affects the time he is able to watch the game.

"I'm all over the place so I usually don't even know what quarter it is," Chris said. "I can't be a fan when there's work to be done."

Chris makes sure cash registers and credit card machines are running properly, sometimes having to replace whole systems with long lines of people waiting.

"It's non-stop running around," he said. "But after alcohol cut-off in the third quarter or halftime, it gets a lot better."

Levey requires Chris to be at not just every home Seahawks game, but every event held at Qwest, meaning games, concerts and other local events like the Battle in Seattle featuring Western and Central Washington held on Oct. 11.

His demanding work schedule assures that he makes the drive from Western back to Seattle almost every weekend.

"It gets hard balancing work with my classes, but I've done an okay job so far," he said. "The tough thing is going to be when the Sounders games start because they're held on Thursdays or Fridays."

Chris's girl friend, Western freshman Meaghan Kemp, said she knows his work schedule can be hectic, but understands why he works so hard.

"He is constantly working but [his job] is really important to him, so balancing everything is just something he has to deal with," she said.

Most people Chris meets through work are much older, which may be intimidating to some, but most people didn't grow up with a backstage pass to the NFL.

"I get questioned a lot [when I work]," he said. "I just don't look like an authority figure. They'll say, `Oh my god you're that young?'"

Mouat said he would sit with Chris in the pressbox during Seahawks games before Chris worked for Levey, and was always struck by his maturity for a teenager.

"[Chris has] been doing this for so long that it's easy for him to see the right way to act in a professional setting," Mouat said. "He has had positive role models very early in his life."

Even if distracted during home games, the Seahawks remain Chris's favorite team.

"I grew up working with my dad, but I also grew up with the Seahawks," he said.

Chris said he watches away games intently with family and friends and is always happy for a win in more ways than one.

"If [the Seahawks] do well, that's great for me," he said. "That's one more potential game that I get paid for."

Chris hopes to apply his electronic engineering degree to a career similar to what he's doing now. He said he wouldn't mind starting a business someday like his dad's.

"The people I know through work help guide me," he said. "I'm definitely getting good connections."

The long hours of work, missing classes and balancing everything in between is all worth it according to Chris, who said his opportunities seem endless since he started working for his dad four years ago.

"I'm constantly learning stuff everyday about my job, like how things work and why stuff happens," Chris said. "I'm sometimes so busy working a game that I don't have time to eat, but overall I'm not complaining."