When I would watch the NBA playoffs last spring, one of my favorite parts of the coverage was the ""wired"" segments from TNT and ESPN in which the networks would show three or four clips, mostly of head coaches yelling at their players or talking strategy with them during a timeout.
I loved this feature because, like most fans, I've always wondered what coaches are telling their players and what players are saying to each other, whether they're talking to their teammates or talking trash to the other team.
Even though I found this facet of the telecasts fascinating, it always left me wanting more. I knew the clips of coaches and players talking on the court only revealed the tip of the iceberg.
What was the context of their speech? How did the players respond to the coach? What was that player saying when he was yelling to his teammate? What were the two players saying to each other when they were jawing with one another? Answers to these questions, plus many more, were not available to the viewing public.
And why is that? One explanation may be the networks didn't want to reveal too much of the coach's strategy, or another may be they don't want to make anyone look bad.
But the obvious and major reason for this is profanity. There is so much swearing going on all around the game that the network has to pick and choose which audio clips to replay to the audience.
It's the bad language that keeps these clips from being interesting or groundbreaking.
Unfortunately it seems as though there is not much that can be done about this problem. Networks that covered the NBA postseason—TNT, ESPN and ABC—as well as any other networks that cover sports, such as FOX, CBS or NBC, are all renowned television companies.
These networks all seek to maintain a high level of integrity and cater to a broad, family audience. Running a profanity-laced speech by a coach or a player is clearly out of the question.
But there are networks out there that can realize this potential, specifically premium ones like HBO, Showtime and Cinemax.
These premium networks would be perfect for broadcasting a sporting event, whether it be basketball, football, hockey or baseball, tailored toward extensive on-the-field audio.
These networks could set up a broadcast with microphones on everyone—the players, the coaches, the refs. Then they create an overwhelming focus on live and replayed live-audio segments. After each play the replays could focus on the speech of a player or coach.
Every time there's a timeout in basketball, the audio would switch to the coach. Every time a quarterback runs over to his head coach, we could tune in.
The audio feeds may have to be replays so no important strategic conversation are revealed, but other than that the restrictions on field audio would be removed.
The premium channels would be perfect for this.
Not one of them would have any qualms about the poor language. All they have to do is announce the programming is for mature audiences, and they'd be fine.
Obviously a lot of work and more details would have to be worked out, but the idea is a gold mine. The coaches and players may have privacy issues, and the leagues may not want their reputations damaged in any way, but this is something that should be explored.
Even if it's a Kansas City Chiefs-Detroit Lions game, who wouldn't tune in to watch this?
To me at least, a sports feed with extensive on-the-field audio would revolutionize sports broadcasting. This could finally give fans the all-access, on-the-field pass to sporting events they have always wanted.
Should fans have more access to player audio? E-mail Scott your thoughts at kellogg2@wisc.edu.
