Posted by Bud on December 26, 2009 at 10:29:06:
Constant ads in games tough to take on ears
By Jim Benson | Posted: Friday, December 25, 2009 6:40 pm
Before proceeding with this week's topic, we must stop for a moment for the following message:
This column is presented by your friendly neighborhood grocer, who has a special this week on fresh fruit. Stop by and save some cash. Now back to the column ...
Luckily, the print media hasn't gone down this path. But listening to your favorite team on the radio anymore is becoming more frustrating by the second. There has to be a sponsor for a first down or 3-pointer or home run or goal or ...
Get the picture?
This point was made annoyingly clear while driving back from Chicago last Sunday. You could sense the angst in Tom Thayer's voice on the Bears' radio broadcast. Jay Cutler & Co. was driving inside the Baltimore Ravens' 20-yard line early in the game, which was news unto itself.
Thayer, a guard on the Bears' 1985 Super Bowl champions and a savvy analyst, seemed about to explain how Chicago was moving down the field. Then a producer must have been slipped Thayer a piece of paper.
He was forced to read a 10-second or so advertisement. You could hear the crowd noise in the background rise as the Bears were coming to the line of scrimmage. Thayer never got to say what he thought was going to happen. Naturally, Cutler threw an interception - and the moment for Thayer's insight was lost forever.
Television sports coverage includes ads for upcoming shows between plays. Those don't seem to interfere with the viewer's enjoyment of the action.
Not true with radio. They have to pay the bills like the rest of us, but the flow of the game is being destroyed for the listener. Harry Caray constantly plugged Budweiser while calling Cardinals' game on KMOX in the 1950s and '60s. At least he was indulging in the product at the time.