[mythtv-users] OT: HD and sports

[Dewey Smolka]

On Feb 16, 2008 7:35 PM, Brian Wood <beww at beww.org> wrote:

>
> In fact, I worked for WWOR when we aired a baseball game between the
> Mets and the Padres that was played in Monterrey, Mexico. They were
> using local cameramen (no women doing that down there) who were used to
> shooting very wide shots. Our directors were beside themselves because
> the shooters just would not get the tight shots they wanted.

I would guess that this comes down to futbal vs football. I've noticed
this all over the world. Sports tend to be shot wide since if you're
watching the sport, you're probably more interested in context than
the stitching on any given player's uniform. What the world calls
football is particularly suited to wide shots, since it is a huge
pitch and one can't follow the game without knowing where the players
are located.

I've also noticed this in a lot of other sports too. Hockey is an
obvious example, but perhaps understandable since the European rink is
wider than the NHL rink, and the rules discourage the kind of
breakneck back-and-forth play of the NHL. But even things like tennis
and skiing seem to be shot at wider angles.

In US football, by contrast, there is an (almost) equally large pitch
but every play begins from a set position in a small area. Closeups on
the quarterback/runningback/star linebacker are the rule, at least
until the play begins. In futbal, the play only rarely stops, and
closeups only distract from the action on the field -- at least until
someone scores a gol and you can get a nice, tight shot of him pulling
his shirt off and flipping.

Baseball is a bit different, but even here something is lost with the
constant focus on tight shots. It's long been my experience that
baseball announcers on radio are far better than their TV
counterparts. That is becoming less true. Not because TV people are
getting better, unfortunately, but because only the old-time radio
guys still know how to call a game.

In baseball the really important things happen between pitches. Which
way is the outfield shaded? How deep is the infield playing?* How
tightly are they holding runners on base? Which players are breaking
in which direction with the pitch? These are the kind of things you
see when you're at a game, and they're the kind of things a (good)
radio announcer will tell you. The TV announcers never bother,
presumably because they think you can see what they're seeing. On TV,
you'll only ever hear about a shift when the shortstop is on the
first-base side of second and second baseman is in shallow right.

But at the game every player moves to a different position with every
batter and on every pitch. I certainly wish US baseball coverage
featured a lot more wide shots and a whole lot less Joe Buck.

* I still remember how people used to gush over Ozzie Guillen at
shortstop. He was an admittedly great player but at the time it seemed
I was the only person who noticed that he made so many diving stops
(and near misses) because he had been out of position at the time. In
contrast, Cal Ripken always seemed to be exactly where the ball was
hit. And I remember the Orioles announcers of the day always
commenting if Cal was shaded two steps left, or right, or back, or
whatever.