Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s every Ocean City High School football game was telecast on tape by local cable companies. The broadcasts were put together by Thom Lee and Norm Nealy, two talented men who managed the local channel for Cable Entertainment (or Sammons, or TelePrompTer – the system had many names). The third member of the technical crew was Mike Randolph, who earned his real money as a producer of live boxing telecasts from HBO and Showtime.

Randolph took apart equipment and put it back together so that it would do something different. He created instant replay in an era when that was not common. And he helped put together creative graphics that were unusual for local broadcasts.

The Lee-Nealy-Randolph team back then was just the latest of a group that brought similar coverage to sports and other events to cable subscribers. The trailblazer was Bart Feroe, who turned a summer job in Ocean City into a full-time position covering the events that made the city unique. He would take his camera and his bow tie just about anywhere if he thought the resulting program would interest the community. Later, when the cable systems for Ocean City and the downbeach communities of Ventnor, Margate and Longport merged, Feroe expanded his coverage.

At around the same time, John Heinz and Lou MacDonald came down from New York City to create local programming for the McGinty Family on their Atlantic Coast system, believed to be the first in the nation. Headquartered in what is now the Boardwalk Hall, they covered the events in Atlantic City and the Mainland and, like Lee-Nealy-Randolph and Feroe, created some studio programs, too.

At one point, there were four high school football games taped every week in Atlantic County and Ocean City. Everybody played on Saturday back then so two would be shown Saturday night and one each on Monday and Tuesday. There was also a weekly highlight show and coaches shows, featuring all of the head coaches.

There were others, like Phil Pizzi in Southern Cape May County and Paul Engle in Hammonton, who provided quality coverage of local events and enhanced the experience for everyone involved.

Not all of these programs had mass appeal. But that was the point. For mass appeal you had the major broadcast networks and cable networks. These guys gave you a chance to see your friends and neighbors, to hear opinions and stories you couldn’t hear on programs designed for the masses. These guys brought coverage to the local community.

The strange thing is, none of that is happening today. Thirty and forty years ago it wasn’t that easy to go on location and tape an event. There weren’t quality digital (digital?) cameras that would fit in the palm of your hand with steadi-cam features. You couldn’t just bring the images back to your computer, upload them and edit together a polished program. The equipment was bulky and temperamental. And the editing machines were time consuming.

But these guys showed up on the scene and made it work.

Jim Quinn continues to provide that type of local coverage today in Millville through his Quinn Broadcasting. Now the town’s mayor, Quinn covers Millville football like no other team in the state and offers an assortment of programming that gives Millville cable subscribers their own local station.

Back then, the coverage was probably taken for granted. Viewers expected Feroe and the others to always be there giving them interesting local viewing options. Or that somebody else would succeed them. But, for the most part, it hasn’t happened.

In retrospect, we had something pretty special when Feroe, Lee, Nealy, Heinz, MacDonald and Pizzi were on the scene, focusing on the local communities. And Randolph? He was a genius!

By the way, Mike Randolph was not the only genius in his family. His father, Popsie, was an artist considered the finest jazz and rock photographer in the nation. “His artistry is a part of the landscape of American popular music,” said Quincy Jones, in his foreward to the book of his father’s photos published by Randolph.

It is quite a collection. From Billie Holiday and Benny Goodman, through Elvis and the Beatles, to Frankie Valli and Neil Diamond, this collection of Popsie’s work is amazing. When great artists gathered, he was there with his camera.

On Saturday, Mike Randolph will be at the Ocean City Fine Arts League (608 Asbury Avenue) from noon until 3 where his father’s photos will be on display and he will be signing copies of the book. He will repeat the presentation on Sunday at Gregory’s Restaurant in Somers Point.

It was just the kind of event Bart Feroe might have covered.