How broadcasting changes our views of sports

The Superbowl, BCS Championship game, March Madness, Conference Championships, World Series, and Frozen Four, to name a few, are all examples of sporting events that have sporting fans racing to the nearest TV to make sure they catch all the greatest plays as if they are at the event themselves. Sports broadcasting has changed how we view sports and most importantly HOW we watch them.

Sept. 6, 1920 with the first radio broadcast of a prizefight of Jack Dempsey vs. Billy Miske was the start of radio broadcasting in sports, at least the first that I could find!  August 5, 1921 was the first radio broadcast  baseball game between Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies that really seemed to kick off the radio era. After America realized that they could keep up with the games without actually having to attend them, everyone was in almost need of one.

www.americansportsbroadcastersonline.com

Sports broadcasting soon became a talent that most would compare to the actual athletes themselves and how well they can play the game. If the voice that so many heard on the radio did not announce the game as if the listeners were actually at the game, and did not give them a vision, then they had failed at their job. There are many that have ingrained a recognition into our minds as a well known announcer, but there are others that have become legends for what they are best at.

 Among the top fifty sports broadcasters, Vin Scully, Mel Allen, Red Barber (pictured to the left), Curt Gowdy, and Howard Cosell are among the top five. These men have been able to take a skill that they were blessed with and turn it into something that many can only dream about doing. How the radio has changed sports is incredible, but how sports has changed radio is rather unfortunate in my opinion. Society has gone from only listening to the games on the radio to relying on the television to now bring them the game. People have cast radio to the waste side and don't realize the talent that still lies within it.

www.ktgr.com Mike & Mike in the Morning

Many ways that radio has been able to stay in the picture of sports is by offering online radio segments that cover the wide range of sports with special guests to discuss the many topics that come up throughout the season. Mike & Mike (pictured to the right) is one of those series that airs both online as well as on espn.com. They are, in my opinion, both experts in the industry of sports and are able to relate to a series of issues that they make sure to cover thoroughly. They provide the chance for listeners to give feedback and take their opinions and comments and incorporate them into the discussion. They are able to do this by having accounts on espn.com for fans to activate and comment as well as Facebook and Twitter accounts to reach their fans that way as well.

Other ways that radio has incorporated social media is by having the accessibility of chats, blogs, podcasts, twitter, facebook, and all the other outlets that are available  to broadcasters to reach listeners as the event is taking place. This is one way they are still able to bring light to radio that has taken a backseat to television in the most recent years  and to keep the fans involved as many ways as they can.