The DirecTV blimp drifted over Raleigh this past weekend providing aerial coverage of the RBC Center, which played host to a portion of the first and second rounds of the 2008 NCAA tournament. During the games, Jim Nantz provided mind-blowing facts about Raleigh, such as Fayetteville Street was named after Fayetteville (I think he listened to one of the early podcasts to get that information). Here a couple shots of the blimp:
Too bad they couldn’t broadcast the games on there.
The pod at the base of the Blimp.
Basketball fans were welcomed by Raleigh.
It wasn’t easy to juxtapose the blimp with anything Raleigh related- the Block S will do.
Keeping with the theme of the site, RBC Plaza and the hovering blimp at night.
Bonus: The early stages of the RBC crown are in place.
March 24th, 2008 at 8:33 am (#)
Nice pics
March 24th, 2008 at 12:33 pm (#)
Somehow I knew you would be out there taking photos when I saw the blimp flying around 🙂 Unfortunately, I had to work, so I couldn’t take photos 🙁 Thanks for sharing your work with us. Excellent photos, as always!!!
March 24th, 2008 at 8:51 pm (#)
Is that how tall the spire will be when it is completed?
March 24th, 2008 at 9:33 pm (#)
No, I’m pretty sure this is the section where the RBC sign will be placed THEN the crown and spire will be placed on top of this. Thanks for the pics!
March 24th, 2008 at 9:51 pm (#)
I saw that Blimp in the sky from Mellow Mushroom on Peace Street on Saturday. I also saw they are building the final piece of the roof of the RBC Plaza. Must be an awesome view of the city from that blimp.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:34 am (#)
It was nice seeing Raleigh from the sky during the games. Just after commercial breaks they would sometimes show the blimp’s camera perspective from the RBC center, which made for spectacular, spread-out views of I-440/Wade to downtown. Some of my friends around the country texted or called me saying they had no idea Raleigh was that big… the cameraman on the blimp did a really nice job of extending the skyline and representing our city.