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Growing up, we attended a lot of Arizona State football games. My parents had two sets of season tickets. Two for them in the lower deck, and two in the upper deck that we rotated amongst us kids. I used to watch the men at the game wearing their headphones and wonder what the point was. You know the men I’m talking about. They are wearing a set of headphones LISTENING to the game while AT the game watching the action live. I didn’t understand it at the time. Why would you listen to a radio broadcast of a game you were at watching live? You could see the action, see what was going on. Why would you need to LISTEN to it?

As I got older, I started to understand it a little bit more. You see, each sport has its color commentators. As a resident of Arizona, we have Al McCoy for the Suns, Ron Wolfley for the Cardinals. The Lakers have Chick Hearn; the Cubs had Harry Carey etc. If you ever watch a game on TV and are able to hear these announcers, or better yet, if you are not able to watch it on TV and happen to listen to a game on the radio you will understand why these men brought their handheld radios and headphones to the game.

While nothing beats watching a game or any sporting event live, there is something magical about listening to the action. I prefer to listen to games a lot on the radio. There is an element to the game you can’t get watching it live. Listening to the games on the radio, you have to use your imagination and your own personal knowledge of the game to get a feel for it. To know where exactly the football or basketball is on the court. Where in the strike zone the ball was thrown etc.

I noticed this while I sat in the nosebleed section of Chase Field with two of my boys and my boyfriend watching the Diamondbacks play and Astros Friday night. While I could SEE what was going on, I wasn’t getting the in-depth information. I wasn’t getting the trivia, the backstory to a pitcher, or a batter. All I was getting sitting in the stands was the name of the player coming up to bat. There were some great athletic catches made by both right fielders. I didn’t get the announcers gushing over the acrobatics that had just taken place. There is something unmistakable about the SOUNDS of the game.

This of course is where that color commentator comes into play. Listening to a SUNS game while Al McCoy is shouting “Shazam!” or “Wham Bam Slam!” While Chick Hearn proclaims at a Laker game, “The mustard is off then hot dog”. You can’t get that live at a game. I realized I MISSED that at the game. I found myself wondering what Mark Grace was saying up in the booth about that Parra catch. I want to know what Ron Wolfley thinks about that tackle by Darnell Dockett. I want to hear Al McCoy. Those of you that are wrestling fans, being at a match is fun and full of excitement but do you ever wonder what Jerry “the King” Lawler has to say? Or JR? I’d go to tapings of Raw and rush home to watch it just to hear exactly that.

Yes, watching a game live is a wonderful experience. There are the SIGHTS of the game, and the SMELLS of the game that you cannot get from home. But the SOUNDS…the SOUNDS of the game…those are best taken in from home.

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