ESPN, FOX, WGN, Comcast, TBS...
This past St. Louis Cardinals vs. Chicago Cubs series offered a look at four different television network telecasts:
Thu 8/11 1:00 PM Comcast
Fri 8/12 1:00 PM 9 WGN
Saturday 8/13 12:00 noon Fox, HD
Sun 8/14 7:00 PM ESPN, HD
Which network's telecast style do you prefer and why?
This time around I found that ESPN had the best picture quality. When they slowed it down, you could actually see the seams on the ball move when thrown by the pitcher. I don't recall seeing that before.
Not sure how I feel about the microphones on players. Hearing what is said is interesting... although the players do know they're miked and try to find something appropriate to say. The example from last night "nice home run, I'd like one of those" was an interesting moment. Hope the irony of the moment didn't negatively affect anyone.
I like how ESPN and FOX seem to be more interested in the surrounding neighborhood than WGN/Comcast. Some of us like seeing the ballhawks and other outside the park regulars and would like to see views of these folks more often.
The ESPN on field camera seemed to show the position of the runners on base better than anything I've seen on WGN/Comcast. It was appreciated that we could see where each baserunner was when Ramirez or Lee had to decide which direction to try to start a double play.
I was a bit nervous on Saturday while at Radio Shack and saw that a different game was on Fox. We have a problem here regarding ESPN and FOX telecasts with the Cubs games being bumped for a different game or just blacked out completely. WGN and Comcast are not available here in HD, so those ESPN and FOX HD telecasts are a special occasion. The helpful Radio Shacks salesguy let me know that there was a rain delay at Wrigley.
Really, they didn't select the other game intentionally in Illinois.
The Cubs play the Braves later this month, so we'll get another chance to hear Chip Carray work for the Braves on TBS.
Any thoughts on the telecasts?
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Cubs are thinner in High Def
The Cubs appeared to have lost weight over the weekend...but only on tv.
My family purchased a used high def tv earlier this year. Sadly, we don't get the WGN/Comcast games in HD. Even worse is that the screen has burn-in from being watched in 4x3 format too much, so we've taken to watching the tv in full screen which stretches out the tv picture making everyone look shorter and wider then they deserve.
This weekend was a treat as the Saturday and Sunday games were both available in High Def from Fox and ESPN. As a result we could watch the games with no distortion. Even the fans look thinner as a result.
Do you wonder if this bothers the players? Imagine a player watching a replay of a game at a restaurant on a wide screen with the image making him look shorter and somewhat wider... "Thanks, I'll just have a salad - no dressing..."
Were the players in the 70's that much thinner that modern players? Watching the 1984 Ryne Sandberg game would lead you to believe that.
Even watching the game in wide screen those guys looked quite thin.
Photos from a Cubs game at Wrigley
ESPN
You're right about the technical quality of the ESPN broadcasts. It's just having to hear Joe Morgan (don't care for his partner either) and then they show them several times in the booth, up close. Ewwww.
I like when they superimpose the strike box and show where the ball crosses the box and/or where the hitter strikes it - I think that's Fox.
WGN with Stoney was enjoyable. Without him it's bearable but you wish for something better.
Announcers, special effects, etc.
I like that too.
I'm okay with the new guys. Give them a chance. Bob and Len give us a different perspective on the game. I like that.
Remember, I'm the one that thanked Governor Rod Blagojevich for offering the pardon to Steve Stone regarding that last week of the 2004 season, so I know about being a Steve Stone fan.
I wonder if I have pics of Steve Stone from his playing days???
If you need to know what is going to happen before seeing it on the tv, try listening to WGN radio with the tv audio off.
No, Ron Santo isn't psychic. There is a time delay in delivering the tv signal that doesn't occur with radio. So Ron can respond to what happened before you see it on tv.
Diana
Photos from a Cubs game at Wrigley