ESPN and Jackie Robinson Day
I'm very glad baseball integrated. I know and appreciate Jackie Robinson and all the players who made the jump from the Negro Leagues to the majors, and appreciate their courage in the face of much hostility. Leroy "Satchel" Paige is my favorite pitcher, and I consider Branch Rickey a role model and a hero.
But in the midst of the tributes ESPN worked into its Sunday night telecast, I ended up feeling shortchanged. The interviews the network lined up were very distinguished persons: Rachel Robinson, Henry Aaron, Don Newcombe, Frank Robinson, and Dave Winfield. And some of the things they said in between the expected platitudes were worth saying. The timing, however, was lousy.
It upset me very much that they frequently forgot that THERE WAS A BALLGAME GOING ON!!! In one instance, the broadcasters' ignorance of the goings on on the field was so strong that John Miller asked Frank Robinson to repeat a story many viewers (but admittedly not all) had heard just two weeks before during the Civil Rights Game. Frank actually had to rein in John and point out that there were two outs in the inning, and two strikes on the batter -- not a great time to start telling a story.
My objection to the telecast matches my ambivalence regarding all the games and restaurants surrounding the concourse/mezzanine of the newer parks: they're nice in themselves, but are the customers really there to watch a ballgame? If not, it's no longer a ballpark, it's a theme park. Last night had the feel of a documentary with a lonely ballgame off somewhere in the background, like a band on stage at a street fair: watch a couple of batters, and then wander off to listen to Dave Winfield plug his book...
... or Joe Morgan play the Big Shot and namedrop all his connections with that first generation of black major leaguers through stories that sometimes were relevant, and other times not so much.
Ya know, if there was a black major leaguer for every time Joe and John said "Jackie Robinson" last night, there wouldn't be so much hand-wringing over an imagined shortage. Any college kids who tried a drinking game where they chugged upon each utterance of "Jackie Robinson" didn't make their classes Monday. They're lucky if they didn't end up in the emergency room. I know I feel as I've been overdosed with too much of a good thing.
ESPN let their pretensions show and acted as if the ballplayers were children they told to go outside and play so the grownups could sit in the press box and talk about serious matters. The older folks would look out the window and make sure everything was alright every once in a while, and then picked up their conversation wherever it had left off. I found myself wondering if John and Joe could even remember today (without checking the score books the staff assistants were keeping for them) which pitcher picked up the win.
Next time - and I'm sure there will be a next time - I hope ESPN tries to work the celebration into the rhythm of the ballgame instead of letting it drive the game into the background.
But in the midst of the tributes ESPN worked into its Sunday night telecast, I ended up feeling shortchanged. The interviews the network lined up were very distinguished persons: Rachel Robinson, Henry Aaron, Don Newcombe, Frank Robinson, and Dave Winfield. And some of the things they said in between the expected platitudes were worth saying. The timing, however, was lousy.
It upset me very much that they frequently forgot that THERE WAS A BALLGAME GOING ON!!! In one instance, the broadcasters' ignorance of the goings on on the field was so strong that John Miller asked Frank Robinson to repeat a story many viewers (but admittedly not all) had heard just two weeks before during the Civil Rights Game. Frank actually had to rein in John and point out that there were two outs in the inning, and two strikes on the batter -- not a great time to start telling a story.
My objection to the telecast matches my ambivalence regarding all the games and restaurants surrounding the concourse/mezzanine of the newer parks: they're nice in themselves, but are the customers really there to watch a ballgame? If not, it's no longer a ballpark, it's a theme park. Last night had the feel of a documentary with a lonely ballgame off somewhere in the background, like a band on stage at a street fair: watch a couple of batters, and then wander off to listen to Dave Winfield plug his book...
... or Joe Morgan play the Big Shot and namedrop all his connections with that first generation of black major leaguers through stories that sometimes were relevant, and other times not so much.
Ya know, if there was a black major leaguer for every time Joe and John said "Jackie Robinson" last night, there wouldn't be so much hand-wringing over an imagined shortage. Any college kids who tried a drinking game where they chugged upon each utterance of "Jackie Robinson" didn't make their classes Monday. They're lucky if they didn't end up in the emergency room. I know I feel as I've been overdosed with too much of a good thing.
ESPN let their pretensions show and acted as if the ballplayers were children they told to go outside and play so the grownups could sit in the press box and talk about serious matters. The older folks would look out the window and make sure everything was alright every once in a while, and then picked up their conversation wherever it had left off. I found myself wondering if John and Joe could even remember today (without checking the score books the staff assistants were keeping for them) which pitcher picked up the win.
Next time - and I'm sure there will be a next time - I hope ESPN tries to work the celebration into the rhythm of the ballgame instead of letting it drive the game into the background.
posted by JKH at 4/16/2007 02:41:00 AM
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