This isn’t about the “legendary” Tom
Brady, admittedly a stellar but aging quarterback who won his seventh ring out
of ten Superbowl’s played. It isn’t about the beleaguered Kansas City Chiefs
hoping for a second consecutive win in the annual event.
It isn’t about the boatload of
expensive commercials that draw fans of their own to watch this pseudo
spectacle. Commercials, by the way, often so memorable for their content that
people forget the product or service they advertise.
It isn’t about the “special team,” to
use football jargon, that gathers in the announce booth to pontificate and
comment endlessly relying on its flock of on-site researchers to make them
sound informed, knowledgeable and familiar.
Yes, they are there to call the action.
But that’s a sideline. You can see that for yourself. More important, they are
there to fill your ears during the endless times-out and other clock-stopping
events that stretch a 15 minute quarter to last a half an hour, sometimes more.
The viewing gave me control room
Flashbacks. I’ve always marveled at the way a group of men and women can sit
behind consoles and put together a flawless broadcast of a dizzying complex
series of unpredictable interactions and make it look easy to the viewers.
My vote for Most Valuable Player was
not anyone on the field, it was for the CBS director playing deity over a 55
camera shoot. I have to say that again: 55 cameras. Plus graphics
pods. That is a show of reflexes, athletic prowess and timing that dwarfs
anything that happened during the actual game. Or could happen.
Live TV control rooms are crazy noisy
and crazy active. But a 55 camera shoot? That requires people with the compound
eyes of a horseshoe crab, the agility of a pronghorn antelope and the
sure-footedness of a mountain goat.
My vote’s always for the crab-eyed
antelopian goat.
I’m Wes Richards. My opinions are my
own but you’re welcome to them. ®
Any Questions? wesrichards@gmail.com
© WIR 2020
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