TAS: Here is the spirit of radio
November 24, 1992
I reverted back to the old glory days of radio this weekend to follow the Eagles game against Youngstown State on Saturday.
Granted, I was tuned in on a magnifies CD player/cassette recorder/radio using Sony headphones but I was relying strictly upon audio to get my information.
It is an entirely different experience when you listen to a sporting event rather than see it. To me, the players become, somehow, more important. When you watch the game from the stands the formations and the movements supersede the players. The motion of the motion man, or the quarterback fading back overrides their names.
When you hear the game on the radio, though, you can't rely on these things. You must listen for the announcer's voice to tell you what is going on. If you follow the team regularly, the names of the players involved in a particular play can let someone visualize what is occurring without actually seeing it happen.
Not being able to see the action forces listeners to use their imaginations. A few weeks ago, while driving back to the 'Boro from home, I switched on a Falcon's game to keep myself awake.
Whenever I hear a game on the radio I try to visualize the action about two or three feet in front of my face. Naturally when driving a car, one should scale the image down about three or four times in order to avoid smashing into a tree while trying to see around the fullback, but that, I trust, is obvious.
Big plays, as heard on the radio, can be as exciting as actually being there. Anyone who has ever heard Larry Munson call a University of Georgia game can attest to that fact.
There is only one UGA game that I can recall listening to on the radio. I was around fifteen or so, but it is a game that I will never forget . . . well, sort of.
I was playing basketball over at my neighbor's house while he washed his car and listened to the game on the radio. I don't remember who Georgia was playing, and to be truthful I remember next to nothing about the game--except for this: the Georgia kicker (Kevin Butler, I believe) had to attempt this monstrously long field goal from somewhere behind the 50-yard line. I told you that I couldn't remember!
So this anonymous kicker sends up this Hail Mary of a kick from some absolutely ludicrous distance. And it was good! The sound of Larry screaming, "It's good! It's good!" is forever seared into my brain. The power of his voice impressed me much more than a picture of the crowd going wild would have ever done.
I think that the radio has a power that we are in dire need of today. So much of the media is focused upon the visual image that the words get lost in the shuffle.
People spend millions on a fashion or "look" and forget about improving themselves. Movies that say nothing meaningful earn tons of money on the strength of special effects. It's a problem.
Substance over style--the radio has still got it. We all need a dose of it now and then.
I reverted back to the old glory days of radio this weekend to follow the Eagles game against Youngstown State on Saturday.
Granted, I was tuned in on a magnifies CD player/cassette recorder/radio using Sony headphones but I was relying strictly upon audio to get my information.
It is an entirely different experience when you listen to a sporting event rather than see it. To me, the players become, somehow, more important. When you watch the game from the stands the formations and the movements supersede the players. The motion of the motion man, or the quarterback fading back overrides their names.
When you hear the game on the radio, though, you can't rely on these things. You must listen for the announcer's voice to tell you what is going on. If you follow the team regularly, the names of the players involved in a particular play can let someone visualize what is occurring without actually seeing it happen.
Not being able to see the action forces listeners to use their imaginations. A few weeks ago, while driving back to the 'Boro from home, I switched on a Falcon's game to keep myself awake.
Whenever I hear a game on the radio I try to visualize the action about two or three feet in front of my face. Naturally when driving a car, one should scale the image down about three or four times in order to avoid smashing into a tree while trying to see around the fullback, but that, I trust, is obvious.
Big plays, as heard on the radio, can be as exciting as actually being there. Anyone who has ever heard Larry Munson call a University of Georgia game can attest to that fact.
There is only one UGA game that I can recall listening to on the radio. I was around fifteen or so, but it is a game that I will never forget . . . well, sort of.
I was playing basketball over at my neighbor's house while he washed his car and listened to the game on the radio. I don't remember who Georgia was playing, and to be truthful I remember next to nothing about the game--except for this: the Georgia kicker (Kevin Butler, I believe) had to attempt this monstrously long field goal from somewhere behind the 50-yard line. I told you that I couldn't remember!
So this anonymous kicker sends up this Hail Mary of a kick from some absolutely ludicrous distance. And it was good! The sound of Larry screaming, "It's good! It's good!" is forever seared into my brain. The power of his voice impressed me much more than a picture of the crowd going wild would have ever done.
I think that the radio has a power that we are in dire need of today. So much of the media is focused upon the visual image that the words get lost in the shuffle.
People spend millions on a fashion or "look" and forget about improving themselves. Movies that say nothing meaningful earn tons of money on the strength of special effects. It's a problem.
Substance over style--the radio has still got it. We all need a dose of it now and then.
Labels: TAS
posted by David at 9:53 PM
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