The rise of sideline reporters was a product of the TV networks' constant efforts to offer up new things for viewers to keep the product fresh, which is fine as long as those new things are valuable and not just window dressing.
K-Zone: Good. Switching to a camera directly under the basket on fast breaks so viewers get an artistic shot but can't see the result of the play: Bad. That freeze-frame replay thing where you can zoom around and see the play from different angles? Good. Scooter the talking baseball: Bad.
What I'd love to have is much more informative and intelligent analysis, especially from the ex-players who populate so many booths. These guys accumulate a lifetime of know-how and wisdom -- the kind of stuff that makes them "savvy veterans" at the ends of their careers -- and then they get into the booth and spout banalities about wanting it more and staying consistent.
We get that stuff already. We've heard it.
But why can't we get more stuff like
I've been watching and listening to baseball on TV and radio since about 1970, and I've never heard this truism. Can we get more of that kind of thing, please? Al Leiter was able to bring similar insight to the booth when he did a postseason stint on Fox a few years ago. I haven't heard him enough on Yankees broadcasts since his retirement to know if he has kept that up. You'll tell me in the letters section, I'm sure. Jeff Van Gundy does a good job of it on TNT's NBA broadcasts, talking about how to attack certain defensive schemes or pointing out a center's improper footwork. But it's rare stuff, way too rare, and it's one of two areas where TV outlets could vastly improve their broadcasts. The other is sound, the last great frontier in televised sports. What are all those conversations between the runner and the first baseman about? Or between the offensive and defensive lines? How does the on-ice chatter sound in the NHL? With today's sophisticated sound equipment and a little quick editing, the sports we watch -- which are essentially silent affairs, with commentary and crowd noise on top -- could come to life in sound. Plenty of time and money to work on that once all those sideline reporters are fired. Previous column: Ya gotta believe - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
About the writer
King Kaufman is a senior writer for Salon. Visit his column archive. You can e-mail him at king at salon dot com or visit his MySpace page.
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