Sadly, those in charge of directing sports broadcasts seem to be more interested in the arts than sports. (Perhaps sports’ fans only recourse is to send our athletes in to direct their operas.)

THE ARTFUL SPORTSCASTER SERIES:

I: EMPTY NET WORK
II: DISPLAYS OF THE YEAR
III: ALL-STAR BABBLE (you are here)

Dear CBC Sports:

Unlike many snobby viewers such as your Don Cherry (who lament the lack of standard hockey violence), I enjoy taking in the NHL’s annual lighthearted skill-a-thon known as the all-star game. In contrast with those who can’t bare the uncharacteristically free-wheeling pace, I appreciate the players’ efforts to entertain me with lots of fancy goals. And why not?! The intensity-connoisseurs get their way every other game of the year, can’t we skill-fans have this one moment on the scoreboard?

Apparently not, CBC Sports, since you decided that the game wasn’t interesting enough to keep the fans’ attention. So, instead of providing the usual exciting live-action commentary (“he shoots, he scores,” etc.) from your expert broadcasters, you spent the game showing off your mic’d up technology and access to the players by interviewing them while the game was being played!

“So, Bobby,” your announcer asked one all-star while another was about to score the goal of the game, “how are you enjoying the game so far?”

These meandering mic’d moments might have been interesting if they weren’t muting the coverage of the play I’d tuned in to witness. I’ve ranted it before, and I’ll rant it again: there’s nothing wrong with these alternate perspectives, but there’s also nothing wrong with recording them and waiting till a break in the action to show them to us. Patience, my broadcasting friends. When you impose your instant-access distractions on the live action then—instead of accentuating your fans’ experience—your broadcasting toys take precedence over the game that brought us to your channel.

I think the problem here, CBC Sports, is that you recognize that social media is a big deal right now—and so you want to harness it’s all-access power—but you don’t quite understand why it’s so successful. So let me clarify: yes, this new everybody-tweets world means we’re used to hearing the everyday thoughts of previously inaccessible celebrities. But that doesn’t mean that, in the middle of our maiden viewing of the new movie, Battleship Vengeance, we want Johnny Superstar to tweet across the screen how he completed that big stunt. That would actually disrupt our experience. Save that stuff for when we’re not concentrating on the plot (like on a separate Twitter feed or in the DVD Special Features).

As it was, CBC Sports, your version of the 2012 NHL all-star game became a fast-paced Facebook after party before the game was even over, and I did not care for it.

Good day to you, CBC Sports!
SethBlogs

THE ARTFUL SPORTSCASTER SERIES:

I: EMPTY NET WORK
II: DISPLAYS OF THE YEAR
III: ALL-STAR BABBLE (you were just here)