ESPN to broadcast 8/3/14 Sox-Yanks Sunday Night game from Monster Seats

mabrowndog

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https://twitter.com/GlobeChadFinn/status/493854827798347776
 
Not sure what this is supposed to add to the viewer experience -- or to those who pay big bucks to, you know, actually watch the game from the Monster Seats. A chance to stand 10 feet away from John Kruk as he woofs down a sausage grinder? Sign me up!!
 
I'm also curious how many seat holders are being displaced by this stunt to make room for the broadcasters, cameras, etc.
 
 
 

RedOctober3829

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mabrowndog said:
https://twitter.com/GlobeChadFinn/status/493854827798347776
 
Not sure what this is supposed to add to the viewer experience -- or to those who pay big bucks to, you know, actually watch the game from the Monster Seats. A chance to stand 10 feet away from John Kruk as he woofs down a sausage grinder? Sign me up!!
 
I'm also curious how many seat holders are being displaced by this stunt to make room for the broadcasters, cameras, etc.
 
 
They broadcasted a game at Wrigley from the bleachers this year.  Looks like they are trying to spice it up.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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RedOctober3829 said:
They broadcasted a game at Wrigley from the bleachers this year.  Looks like they are trying to spice it up.
 
Didn't they also do a 8-10 man broadcast as well, with their analysts scattered all over the ballpark?  I want to say it was at Dodger Stadium.
 
Seems like they're trying to gimmick up the broadcast to make it more appealing to the brain-dead masses.  Can't see any harm in it, really.  It's not like when they do it the "normal" way it's a superb telecast.
 

pedro1918

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If this was a battle for first place between two good teams I'd be annoyed.

But it isn't, so I'm not.

Of course I still want the Sox to stomp all over the Yankees.
 

rembrat

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I like it. It showcases one of the few quirks left in MLB stadiums. Next year, I propose they broadcast a Yankee game from the vacant seats behind homeplate.
 

Curll

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rembrat said:
I like it. It showcases one of the few quirks left in MLB stadiums. Next year, I propose they broadcast a Yankee game from the vacant seats behind homeplate.
You idiot. They're not empty.
 
They're filled with ghosts and mystique.
 

HriniakPosterChild

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Red(s)HawksFan said:
Seems like they're trying to gimmick up the broadcast to make it more appealing to the brain-dead masses.  Can't see any harm in it, really.  It's not like when they do it the "normal" way it's a superb telecast.
 
Outstanding idea. Can they do one where they have no announcers and just broadcast the ambient ballpark noise.
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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HriniakPosterChild said:
 
Outstanding idea. Can they do one where they have no announcers and just broadcast the ambient ballpark noise.
 
mulluysavage said:
They tried that in the 80s with football and it was a dud.
 
Yeah, like I said, they're trying to appeal to the brain-dead masses, not the intelligent sports fans that we are. ESPN couldn't give two shits about the intelligent, knowledgeable sports fan. They always cater to the brain-deads that need someone detailing every action they see on the screen so they can understand it.
 

mulluysavage

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The accounts and descriptions of the game cannot be used without expressed written consent, but it doesn't say park noise. Those with seats- stream it and post the link and we can turn down our TVs. Oh, and don't say anything during the game.
 

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mabrowndog said:
https://twitter.com/GlobeChadFinn/status/493854827798347776
 
Not sure what this is supposed to add to the viewer experience -- or to those who pay big bucks to, you know, actually watch the game from the Monster Seats. A chance to stand 10 feet away from John Kruk as he woofs down a sausage grinder? Sign me up!!
 
I'm also curious how many seat holders are being displaced by this stunt to make room for the broadcasters, cameras, etc.
 
 
 
My guess is they'll do it from the platform just foul from the Fisk Pole (sorry about the huge image), where the guy in the khakis is standing.  The seats there were added a couple years after the Monster seats opened and can easily be removed for something like this.
 
 

Merkle's Boner

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I'm not sure if I understand what they are doing here. Are the announcers simply going to be stationed out there rather than behind he plate? Or are they moving the usual center field camera shot to the Monstwr seats so the TV viewer sees the view from those seats? I mean, who cares where Baldy and Fatso are sitting while they wax eloquent?
 

smokin joe wood

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Merkle's Boner said:
I'm not sure if I understand what they are doing here. Are the announcers simply going to be stationed out there rather than behind he plate? Or are they moving the usual center field camera shot to the Monstwr seats so the TV viewer sees the view from those seats? I mean, who cares where Baldy and Fatso are sitting while they wax eloquent?
 
My guess is they'll have a handheld camera up with talent on the Monster. Maybe a small robotic/gopro in front of talent. I hope they sit up there during BP. Would be great to roll back during the game. Unfortunately baseball talent loves being around the cage during BP. 
 
I suppose you can call this a 'gimmick' but I don't really understand why so many folks seem to be naturally negative toward these types of production decisions. It is highlighting a Fenway-specific feature that most of the country will never experience. 
 
As long as the director gets back to the CF cam for each pitch, does it really matter what happens between pitches?
 
I've thought about starting a sports production thread to discuss these types of things (I'm a producer/director).
 
Also - the no announcers game was a Don Ohlmeyer idea. At some point no announcers will be an option on MLB.TV. It would take very little work to take the program cut with just the two channels of nat sound audio. 
 

Dehere

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mulluysavage said:
They tried that in the 80s with football and it was a dud.
It's worth trying again. A lot has changed in 30 years. You can communicate a lot more graphically now and people are watching on much bigger, sharper TVs. Eventually somebody will give it another shot and when it happens I think it will be pretty well received.
 

Morganwerk

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Outstanding idea. Can they do one where they have no announcers and just broadcast the ambient ballpark noise.
KQED, the local PBS station used to broadcast one A's game a year just like that.
 

mulluysavage

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Dehere said:
It's worth trying again. A lot has changed in 30 years. You can communicate a lot more graphically now and people are watching on much bigger, sharper TVs. Eventually somebody will give it another shot and when it happens I think it will be pretty well received.
I'm totally for it. With huge HDTVs and surround setups, you could get a great live experience in your man cave. As a sound man for TV, I want to do the sound work. Sign me up.
 

Nuf Ced

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The only bright side is that it may increase the chances of fan obscenities directed at the Yankees ending up on the air.
 

dirtynine

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mulluysavage said:
I'm totally for it. With huge HDTVs and surround setups, you could get a great live experience in your man cave. As a sound man for TV, I want to do the sound work. Sign me up.
 
I think it's most likely that games will start to come with multiple audio channels, ambient being one of them.  (besides the obvious English and Spanish, "Ambient Crowd" and "Stats Nerd" audio channels would work great). 
 

Red(s)HawksFan

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swiftaw said:
According to the Globe they'll be broadcasting from Section 9.  Also no fans will be displaced because ESPn bought the tickets: http://www.boston.com/sports/touching_all_the_bases/2014/07/espns_sunday_night_baseballto_broadcast_sunday_nights_yankee.html
 
From the team perspective, sure, no "fans" were displaced if the tickets are paid for...they get their money either way.  But from the fan perspective, unless they're going to let the fans who might otherwise have bought those seats sit in the broadcast booth (it's going to be empty, right?), then technically someone is losing out on the opportunity to be in the ballpark.
 

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The Social Chair

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smokin joe wood said:
Also - the no announcers game was a Don Ohlmeyer idea. At some point no announcers will be an option on MLB.TV. It would take very little work to take the program cut with just the two channels of nat sound audio. 
 
This has been an option on MLB.tv for over a year. You can watch it with the TV announcers, the radio announcers, or with just ball park sounds.
 

joyofsox

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The Social Chair said:
 
This has been an option on MLB.tv for over a year. You can watch it with the TV announcers, the radio announcers, or with just ball park sounds.
Yes, I have this option through my Roku. But you can have ball park sounds with the home feed only.