Stupid Question(Commentators)

[ZBTHorton]

Everytime I'm watching NFL Football, they always randomly go to the camera angle that is inside of the booth. Two things baffle me about this camera view.

#1. Why are they always standing up? Do they seriously stand for the whole game?

#2. Why in the world do they have to wear their heavy coats when they are inside of a booth? I'm not talking about their suit coats, I'm talking about REAL coats. Anytime they are in a cold city, they're always wearing big ass coats. Tonight, Theisman was wearing a big leather coat, and Kornheiser was wearing a huge MNF Parka. It's not outside. They aren't going outside. It doesn't make them look better, or classier as they are always wearing suits. I don't get it.

[BWebb]

#1 No.

#2 It is actually pretty cold in the press box, it isn't like a luxury box.

[Sluss]

#1 Some guys actually do. It's easier to see the whole field sometimes.

#2 Not only is it pretty cold in the press box anyway, alot of times you have to open the glass in the cold because it fogs a bit when your talking at it.

[DrewDevil]

#1 When you're showing a full body 2-shot, it looks a lot better to have the commentators standing than sitting down. John Madden would probably look even more like a big bullfrog if they showed him sitting.

#2 Many times the press box is open air.

[biakabutukafan]

#2 It sounds better for the audience if the crowd noise comes through the announcers' mics. They also would know this way if they need to talk louder because of the crowd.

[MicroBob]

biakabutu - you're wrong.
There isn't much crowd noise that gets through the announcers mic at all.
They have other mics that pic up the crowd and on-field barking and hits.

If you turned-off all the 'FX' feed mics you would practically not hear any of the crowd because the mics are pretty good and don't pick up that outside stuff.

This gives the audio people and director more specific control of the kind of mix they want.


You can really tell in college-football that there is a mic very near the band and that noise gets mixed in.
I hear the band-mic the most on ABC college-football and CBS March-Madness.
Sometimes on March-Madness the mic will be closer to one of the instrument sections so all you are hearing is tuba and the song that the band is playing sounds much suckier than it would if you were live in the arena and hearing the whole mix.

Anyway, that's why you can hear the USC fight-song stuff so well over and over again behind Musberger and Davies talking about whatever.



As for the other Q's:

Yes, it can be freaking cold up there.
But by leaving the windows open you feel closer to the action and also don't have to deal with annoying reflections of yourself or the engineer behind you.

People in the 'regular' press-box don't usually open the windows in collge-football. And in some places the windows CAN'T be opened.
But the radio and TV people in their own seperate booths almost always open the windows.

Most announcers HATE to try to call a game through a closed window although some will do it if it's REALLY freaking awful outside like if the rain is blowing-in or if it's 20-below or something.


For football games most announcers definitely stand-up through the whole broadcast.

Most hockey announcers do as well.

This is just habit mostly but in some places it almost becomes necessary in order to really see the whole field and the sideline or bench on your side of the field.


Maybe there are some announcing teams that do it sitting...and then stand-up for the in-booth shot because that's how they set-up the backdrop or whatever.
But I see most announcers definitely standing.


Obviously basketball announcers are courtside and need to sit or they would block the view of everyone behind them.


Baseball is usually done sitting. And when you see the in-booth shot on ESPN of their baseball announcers like Gary Thorne and Steve Phillips or Dave O'Brien and whoever oftentimes they are sitting.

But I think that Jon Miller and Joe Morgan do a lot of standing on sunday Night Baseball IIRC.
But that shot might be so they can feature those guys in front of their proud HDTV set-up.
Can't imagine they stand-up through an entire baseball broadcast as most baseball play-by-play guys tend to keep their own stats and scorecard and that would be pretty annoying to do standing up.

[Assani Fisher]

I've stood up for entire games many times when I've been in the 'student section' of college games. Its really not that hard to do.

[cuserounder]

I'm a broadcast journalism major who wants to do play by play..

1. Yes, for football, we usually stand the whole time. At least for me, I can get more excited when I'm standing, it's just easier to talk louder. I guess it has something to do with the diaphragm or maybe it's psychological. The other sports I'll do or have done are lacrosse (we stand) and basketball (we sit)...

2. Since we have the Carrier Dome at SU, I haven't called an outdoor game yet.. But I'd probably want the window open.. You can really feel the energy of the stadium more if you can hear the crowd noise a little better. Although, you would still hear it through your headset because the crowd mic (or FX mic) is run back into the announcer's headset.

Really, something just doesn't feel right about looking through a glass window to call a game...