A Heavy Dose of Thought

After watching the merciless beating the Celtics gave the Lakers last night in the finale of the NBA Finals, I got to thinking about the television coverage that permeated the series. In between quarters, after important timeouts, during pre-game, and at halftime there seemed to be a sideline reporter or commentator interviewing or opining on something that happened with the head coach or important player. This constant stream of interviewing and commentary on the game is now considered normal for most major sporting events. Obviously, a November match up between the Bobcats and the Hawks is not going to garner 1/1000th the attention game 6 of the NBA Finals is going to receive; however, the broadcasters, producers, and sideline reporters for that November throw away game between two horrible teams are still going mine every last detail that they can out of the teams, their budget is just smaller. All this got me to thinking about television has changed the face of sports (and yes, I do see the irony in blogging about television and sports on a website run by a television station).

Television has changed every last aspect of our sporting lives, some changes for the better, some for the worse. Increased coverage means that the Bobcats and Hawks are playing on television and not just playing out a game without any television coverage at all. Networks, starving for more programming after the major sports, have begun broadcasting lesser known sports, as well as earlier games/rounds/playoffs of major sports. The NHL, of all leagues, managed to negotiate a television contract even though the ratings for the league aren't even close to the average rating for a UCONN women's basketball game. Money is poring into other sports from television rights, and those sports are improving dramatically. Players in the major sports are seeing salary increases at the bottom tier of their union structure, while endorsements and business opportunities have increased recognizable player salaries to unheard of levels. I can now watch every NFL game practically at the same time, I can catch every MLB game of every team every night the season happens, I can watch every NBA game on a single night, and I can even find some NHL games whenever they might be televised. Once a strictly regional sport, NASCAR has become essentially the fourth major sport after the NBA, MLB, and NFL; and, thanks to television pressure and loss of consistent revenue, open wheel racing finally ended their years-long dispute and merged back into a single racing circuit in America. I can even watch Formula 1 racing on American television, which is insane, since I doubt there are any American drivers in Formula 1.

Television also increased the internet presence. Besides my awesome voice occasionally popping up on the internet, there are countless others who write about whatever they want in an open forum. Players like Gilbert Arenas (of the Wizards) and Curt Schilling (of the Red Sox) are blogging, and Mark Cuban (owner of the Mavericks) has his own blog that he maintains. Thanks to the pervasiveness of the internet, television companies now broadcast games online, which allowed me to watch several matches of the Cricket World Cup (I'm a West Indies man myself, but I think my dad would root for India, and my mom, just to be contrarian, would root for Australia or New Zealand). I can watch the Spanish National team destroy Russia in the European Soccer Championships, then flip over and watch my beloved All-Blacks work over the Wallabies in Auckland. And if that isn't an obscure enough reference for everyone, I can spend the next day flipping between Phil Taylor beating up an opponent at 501 at the dartboard and watching Alinghi work on windward and leeward tactics in preparation for a challenger.

But television and the internet have brought some troubling changes to the sports world as well. The increased coverage has brought increased scrutiny to every single thing that happens in the sports world, and athletes are becoming more and more guarded. Does anyone really know an athlete anymore? Adam "Pac-Man" Jones maybe the devil incarnate, or he may be just a misguided guy who really likes strippers, or he could be a normal guy who has the worst luck in history. Any of those things is possible, but in a mad rush to cover every angle before a competitor trumps your coverage, television and radio have taken a "ready, fire, aim" approach to coverage, and the athletes are reacting violently to the increased pressure and scrutiny. Fans will never see some of the following controversial things ever again, just because it would be too much of a media circus if any of this happened:
1. Billy Martin would never manage a game in the major leagues. While being a great manager and motivator, Billy Martin was an alcoholic, an inveterate drunk who once chased a player around the dugout with a bat. Imagine the reaction on ESPN if that were to happen today.
2. Dave Cowens would be institutionalized for an indeterminate period of time. Dave Cowens was so intense a competitor for the Boston Celtics, so intense a personality, that he got burned out and left the team during the 1977 season. His stint as a cab driver around Boston is famously remembered by those around New England during that time. If that happened today, the cab would be followed constantly, and Cowens would need to be hospitalized and put on drugs to calm him down.
3. Muhammad Ali would probably have been killed by some enraged fan. Ali was the most outspoken athlete of his day, a polarizing figure who has become a giant of his time. If Ali said half the things he said back in the 1960s and 1970s today, there would be riots all over the country as every word he uttered would be parsed for "true" meaning, and some wacko would probably have taken a shot at him. He also would not be as famous or important a figure because of the death of boxing.
4. Red Auerbach would be criticized constantly for lighting up his cigar. Mind you, he wouldn't be criticized because he was a sore winner who reveled in showing up opponents, he'd be criticized for smoking indoors and sending the wrong message to his young fans. He'd probably be forced to do a PSA about the dangers of mouth, throat, gum, and jaw cancer.
5. The Colts would have destroyed the New York Jets in the Super Bowl. Joe Namath's comment that the Jets were going to win the Super Bowl would have been plastered all over the news for the entire Super Bowl week and the Colts players would have been asked daily about the guarantee. Thus fired up, the Colts would have destroyed the Jets. Of course, we would never have some second string player guaranteeing a victory for no other reason than just to see his name in print, so maybe it would have been better.
6. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar would have been railroaded for not wanting to stay in Milwaukee, as well as being lauded for demanding a trade to a bigger market and better team. It would have been the great debate of the season, whether the Bucks should trade Jabbar or wait until he leaves in free agency, and my head would probably have exploded from the 100 posts I'd do on the idiocy of trading Jabbar.

Television has changed the face of sports, and the increased scrutiny and attention has driven athletes into protective shells, surrounded by managers, agents, friends, bodyguards, wives/girlfriends, and the occasional child. Sports has changed, but the biggest part, at least from an aesthetic view is the degradation of sports broadcast commentary. Play-by-play guys and color commentators have become lazy because of replay and the need to fit in all the necessary commercials. And that is the biggest loss of the television era, no more Howard Cosell, no more Vin Scully, no more Keith Jackson, no more great commentators who possessed the ability to paint a scene and be involved in the action. The closest we get nowadays (excusing Al Michaels, who has definitely slipped into a "just give me my check, I said 'do you believe in miracles!' mode) is Gus Johnson and Ron Franklin. Listen to those two guys if you get the chance in the future. Gus Johnson gives his heart and soul to every broadcast he does, and listening to him get excited about a game is great. Ron Franklin is the consummate professional when it comes to college football broadcasts, and his slight southern accent fits right in with the flow of the game and is wonderful to hear. But keep in the back of you mind this last thought:
As Bobby Thompson stepped to the plate on October 3, 1951 four men were calling the game for four separate radio stations. The great Ernie Harwell was calling the game for the Giants flagship, Red Barber was calling the game for the Dodgers flagship, Russ Hodges was calling the game on the secondary Giants station, and Gordon McLendon called the game for the national broadcast. The great call of "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" was Russ Hodges call, and will go down in history as one of the great calls of all time. If the game was played today, the call would not be as historic or meaningful, as the television broadcast would probably have gone to commercial so the sideline reporter could grab Thompson for an immediate interview...instead of being carried off on the shoulders of his teammates, the sound of the crowd echoing in his ears.