In today's super-paced world of technological stimulation, the difference between "entertaining" and "entertaining with a message" is much like the difference between a video and a book. You can lead the crowd to watch, but you can't make them think. That's the kind of challenge the exhibit designers for the NCAA's Hall of Champions faced when told to overstate technology with an understated educational theme. It was almost as daunting as the task facing the NCAA itself -- blending the practicality of higher education with the excitement of intercollegiate athletics without one overtaking the other.

But designers Bruce Hornstein and John Crank didn't see the challenge as a gauntlet. Rather, they saw it as a joy ride. Their vision was to make the Hall as unique as the NCAA's own place in the sporting world, a place where champions are not just byproducts of raw athletics skill but of human character. They knew the NCAA had a million stories to tell; the trick was to get people to listen.

"It was clear from the start that we had to have the 'wow' factor," said Hornstein, the man responsible for most of the media presentations in the Hall. "But in order to make sure we incorporated the NCAA's mission, we had to mix that message with powerful images. We wanted to take people to a place they wanted to be, a place they enjoyed both physically and emotionally."

The "wow" factors are apparent from the get-go. If the worm's-eye view of college sports on the overhead scoreboard in the Great Hall doesn't grab visitors' attention, the 144-monitor video wall overlooking the atrium will. There's enough technology in the new Hall to raise any egghead's brows, but one of the challenges, no matter how interactive or just flat-out fun the exhibits are, is to make sure that people of all ages come away with the NCAA message.

According to the NCAA's Todd Greenwood, who is in charge of marketing and sales for the Hall, it's one thing to entertain, but quite another to teach.

"Obviously, one of the major age groups we're targeting with the Hall is pre-college-aged kids," Greenwood said. "We've found in our research of other halls of fame or things of this nature that it's easy to get kids into a place like the Hall and entertain them, but if they find out that you're trying to teach them something more than you're trying to entertain them, it's a challenge to get them to be repeat customers."

Not an arcade

Hornstein said the search for the right atmosphere for the new Hall was almost a matter of attrition. By viewing other facilities -- and there aren't that many around -- the design team was able to scratch what it didn't want off its list right away.

The main thing the team didn't want was an arcade setting -- though Hornstein said that has been proven to be a successful model -- where parents can take their kids to shoot a few hoops and burn off some energy.

"We wanted something more where participants will take with them a lingering message," Hornstein said.

That message -- the NCAA's mission of blending the athletics experience as an integral part of a student's education -- isn't an easy sell, particularly to youths who are expecting nothing but net.

"A lot of the message is in the environment itself," said Crank, whose design firm, 1717, handled the graphic elements of the exhibits. "For example, one of the theaters is set up like a locker room, and the bulletin board is constantly flashing messages of what it takes to be champion. And the 'look up to champions' theme is emphasized in the worm's-eye view from underneath the scoreboard in the Great Hall. It's a simple take-away in a unique presentation."

Education outreach

"You'll be learning, but it won't be hitting you over the head," said Dan Boggan, senior vice-president of the NCAA. "There are messages that people will pick up that aren't shouted out, which makes a difference in terms of the imprint it makes on you as you go through the Hall."

Boggan, an integral player in the administration of the NCAA's link with Citizenship Through Sports Alliance initiatives, also said there are ways to teach the NCAA's curriculum without relying solely on the exhibits.

Through the use of current and former student-athletes making presentations at the Hall, a broader audience can be reached. He said that kind of venue would be ideal for local student-athletes looking to perform public service.

"We also could attract some professional athletes who are interested in youth, leadership and citizenship development, stressing the importance of being good students in order to be better athletes and better citizens," Boggan said. "Our education-outreach strategy is going to be a major part of what makes the Hall different. It's going to be more than just coming and looking at the exhibits or just listening to the teaching moments that occur as you go through the various theaters."

That kind of flexibility will make the Hall more than just a shrine for annual team and individual champions, said Crank.

Between the sheer drama of the multimedia displays, the juxtapositioning of the teaching opportunities and the personal sell of the NCAA's message, the Hall will pay tribute to the entire educational experience.

"We want people to take away the message that it's what you can learn from athletics beyond the game that counts," Crank said. "It's not just the fun, the publicity or the glitz -- it's an education."