So, we’re into the NFL season, finally. Baseball is winding down just as it always does at this time every year. But, of course, this isn’t “every” year. Sports, like everything else, has changed. Probably just temporarily, but it’s still changed. Some sports have gone into a “bubble” while others just don’t admit fans to the stadiums.
For many of us, the way we interact with sports isn’t that different, surprisingly. We watch it on TV, on our phones, on our computers. It’s been like that for most of the history of professional sports. You have to look back to the 1920s to a time when the only way you could experience a game was in the stadium.
Yeah, but it’s still different.
Teams have done everything they can to bring the experience up to the level that you expect. Baseball’s organ players (or DJs) still blast music into the stadium. Sometimes you’ll hear fake sound effects to simulate crowd noise. Sometimes you can see cardboard standups filling the stands. They’re trying, they really are.
The question is, how effective are broadcasters at giving people the same experience they expect. I guess the answer is different for everyone.
Here’s my take
I think that yes it is different and you can’t get around that. But in a lot of ways you get a better experience. You can focus more on the games without having to watch the kiss cams or see that shot of the guy pushing his kid out of the way to catch a foul ball. It’s not as … electric, I’ll admit. The crowd experience does add to the tension of a difficult game and definitely adds to the thrill of the win. But overall I think that networks have done a good job.
I think adding crowd noises sourced from video games is flat out brilliant. These games have spent a quarter century trying to replicate the stadium experience. Why not take advantage of that? Yes, if you really think about it, it’s flat-out manipulative. There’s some dude or some algorithm deciding how you should feel and playing sounds to make you feel that way. Well, that’s the same thing that a radio DJ does or a club DJ does. It’s no different. If it really bothers you, you can always mute.
I’ll also give it to a lot of the color commentators for doing excellent work. There are a few sportscasters in the world who do a truly rotten job and still get paid the big bucks. I totally see that. But most of them really do pull their weight and it’s amazing that they create the excitement that they do. In a lot of cases they’re just watching the game on TV like we are, they aren’t even in the stadium. And yet they pull through spectacularly.
What’s your take?
Are you finding sports to be as good this year? Is it keeping your mind off other things that might be bothering you? [It is, after all, 2020, the hemorrhoid of years.] Or is the difference between 2019 and 2020 too much to bear because of how it affects sports? Tell us in the comments below!
With the digital audio channels/tracks that are selectable from a TV or streaming service, the broadcasters should make “no fake crowd” an option (SAP, maybe?) Here’s a unique opportunity to actually hear “the sounds of the game” without the drunk guy yelling in your ear. Why not make all of it selectable (announcers, crowd noise, stadium PA).
Reminds me of the story of the BBC accidentally leaving on the laugh track for M*A*S*H. It’s apparently an option on the DVDs.
Sounds like a reasonable idea. I think part of the purpose of the fake crowd noise is to help cover up some of the “less than TV-G” language that athletes are prone to use.
The fake crowd noise is also present in the stadium/arena/ballpark itself, so the field mics are going to pick it up to a certain extent anyway.
As a side note, I’ve certainly had times that I didn’t want to hear the announcers (there’s at least one national guy who tends to irk a lot of people). A work around I’ve used for that is to turn down the center channel speaker (if you have a surround system) and then the announcers mostly go away leaving you with just the ambiance.
I think the MLB app offers (offered?) a “Ballpark” audio option on some games that has no announcers.