TheBigFiz21

22 hours ago, RyanMcD29 said:

March Madness usually had a Turner based graphics package, so the rest of CBS doesn't go with them

 

(so maybe they'll update their NBA graphics sometime this century when the season restarts in the playoffs or comes back in the fall?)

Although, I felt the now-retired package was more based off of CBS (the font choice feels more akin to that from their NFL graphics than anything at Turner IMO). Hopefully it pairs well with what CBS may bring with whatever changes come after Super Bowl LV, especially since they have the two most widely watched events of the year in sports next year

On 12/17/2019 at 4:01 PM, the admiral said:

You're right, you just solved talk radio. What people really want to hear is CBS Sports Radio where some guy talks to himself and takes a thousand pregnant pauses in arguing that the thing you like is bad or the thing you don't like is good.

This is why I prefer FS Radio over CBSSR, where the hosts can hold their own ground. I could even put up with ESPN Radio, but sadly the ESPN affiliate here is a news station that would only air them unless it's any of the championship games. They'll put on Navy football any given Saturday before ESPN Radio.

Also, while I'm on the topic, I want to rant about one local station in Baltimore. It's getting hard to listen to when the lineup of hosts is so thin, the 9pm-12am is sometimes working weekends. Then it in turn forces national radio to start early (9pm on Saturdays and 6 on Sundays without midday sports). I know terrestrial radio is a dying breed thanks to smart phones, unlimited data plans, aux cables, smart speakers, etc., but when I'm not in a music mood in my car, I'd much rather hear a local guy give his take on who the Ravens will sign this offseason at 9:24pm on a Saturday as opposed to CBSSR for the rest of the night. 

10 minutes ago, VandyDelphia Mike said:

How long has NBATV had the ticker styled like below?

Fairly new if you ask me, but I didn't know they updated this

On 11/20/2019 at 10:21 AM, McCarthy said:

I listened to some local sports talk on my drive home last night and I've no idea how people do this every day. It's like 6 to 10 minute blocks of nothing but ads periodically interrupted by some sports talk and if the host interviews someone they have to repeat to the listeners who they're talking to before every question - I used to listen to a Bengals podcast hosted by one of the Cincinnati radio hosts and he carried this habit over to the podcast. I stopped listening because of this. Dude, we downloaded the episode, the guy's name is in the description. We know who you are and we know you're talking to. You don't have to keep saying it. Also, it's a podcast, you have unlimited time. Have an actual conversation. 

 

Don't even get me started on taking calls from listeners. I change the station so hard I break the preset buttons whenever Gary from Monroe calls in. Fastest way to lose me as a radio listener. 

 

I don't know how these shows even exist anymore when the podcast format is so much better. 

I think it goes without saying that there are a great share of radio shows, local and national, that have a podcast functioning with "best-of" and/or fully replayable episodes. I'm not exactly sure how if that podcast  you mentioned is streamed exclusively or not, but if it isn't, then I could see why the hosts pick up that habit easily.

As for sports talk shows, I think that interaction with callers is necessary. For instance, I listen to one station in Baltimore where the weeknight and weekend shows do more fan interaction with texts and calls throughout with about 1-2 interview segments thrown in. Very much different from the weekday shows that are doused with ads, have dedicated "segments", some contests, etc.

My point being...I don't think that's going away. It's been mentioned before that stations know only a fraction of their listeners actually call in. There's a saying I came across that about 10% of listeners call in to these local stations. So without that interaction, said shows are no different from the streaming podcasts that are pushing sports radio off its totem pole.

2014 ALDS, Game 1 (Tigers at Orioles): First year working at OPACY as an usher and I only attended three of the four postseason games at the Yard. I missed Game 2 (probably the peak moment for many O's fans in recent memory), so the series opener was my happiest day I ever experienced. Watching the infamously mediocre Tigers bullpen get destroyed by the O's offense made for the most fun game I've attended, even better than any game I'd attended before/after my 3 years working at OPACY.

2012 AL Wild Card (O's at Rangers): Of all the postseason games I enjoyed, this IMO beats the 2014 games. I didn't attend this game...hell, I only started listening to the game halfway through as I went home, then watched from the 6th down to the final out to watch. And I gotta tell you, I was definitely the happiest man in the house running around in celebration! Not to mention, in the midst of TBS' rough playoff coverage, Ernie Johnson's call was beautiful: "...and the magical season of the Baltimore Orioles continues!!"

2013 AFC Divisional (Ravens at Broncos): The Mile High Miracle. Need I say more???

2009 East Finals, Game 6 (Cavaliers at Magic): Probably the best day in the 9 years of being a fan of a Dwight Howard-led team. Is it safe to say that 2009 Magic team handled the Cavs in that series? It sure as hell felt like it. Remember...it was 3-1 going into Game 5 and I personally felt that they had the series in the balance. But back to Game 6....that was the pinnacle of Dwight's career as far as team success and it felt so good having settled onto the Magic back in November of that associated regular season.

On 10/20/2019 at 5:57 PM, Crabcake47 said:

Some immediately spring to mind. 
 

The Cundiff Game - 2011 AFC Championship. Lee Evans is one of the luckiest men in recent football history because everyone remembers Cundiff’s shank of the potential game-tying FG, yet many, many less remember Evans dropping the potential game-winning TD the play before. 
 

.........

 

The O’s losing G5 of the ALDS to the Yankees, in the first time I remember seeing the Orioles in the playoffs in my lifetime. Getting swept by the Royals also sucked. 
 

I realize as I type this that I’ve been incredibly lucky, in that all of these (except the Orioles’) have been resolved later. The Ravens and Liverpool won titles the year after their heartbreaks, and the Caps won the Cup two years after. 

For some reason, I didn't have the heartbreak I should have after that Cundiff miss and Evans drop (or swat by the defender? Some people still argue that). If anything, I was bummed that we didn't get it done in a season where we didn't end up facing the Steelers in the playoffs since the Broncos took care of them two rounds beforehand.

The 2014 ALCS though...that hurts my heart more than anything. I worked at Oriole Park that year and it was the first of three. For all the fun I had that season, what turned out to be my last day at work that year was a crushing blow. I took that subway home having the worst gut feeling that I wouldn't be back for a Game 6, and sure enough that happened. It's even worse considering I didn't work the two biggest days of the season (The division clinching game in September and Game 2 of the ALDS with the memorable Delmon Young double) at the yard because I had classes during the week. The 2016 Wild Card game was even more gut-punching for me...watched that on my computer while staying late at school to do some work and I went home at 3am in total disarray.

On 10/23/2019 at 12:10 AM, Jimmy Lethal said:

>Super Bowl LI (I'm not even a Falcons fan)

On this note, every Pats SB win in this decade has been tough. If it wasn't for the Eagles winning a few years back, I'd be frustrated at how these NFC teams all struggle vs the Pats. I hate hearing any mention of 28-3 or Seattle's late-game fluke INT at the 1 almost as much as any Falcons or Seahawks fan. I don't know how bad the Rams fan get roasted for 13-3, but man...all those games made me wish playoff Flacco, Nick Foles, and/or Eli Manning was around more to challenge Brady.

On 8/12/2019 at 11:51 PM, TrueYankee26 said:

 

1st year since the early 90s with a smiling oriole as the primary is not a good one.

Yet people won't even remember that when this logo came to life in 2012, they had a 5-year run with the most wins in the American League through that timespan

On 2/17/2019 at 1:13 AM, neo_prankster said:

A montage of TNT NBA playoff intros from a couple years back.

My favorite parts of these intros are the establishing shots of the arena exterior or the cities with no other graphics except for the closed captioned symbol at the top right. I also love when they'd show Jurassic Park at the beginning of the Raptors' home games.

I've gone on record that I'm ready for a change from TNT (currently in its 5th season having used these graphics). While it is an absolute beauty, especially with how they incorporate cities, I'd say the 2010-11 set was superior. It brought more color and the transitions had full-screen shots of key locations in town or the city skyline. 

Not sure if this classifies as part of sports graphics, but NBC has a logo for the 2020 Summer Olympics:

Honestly I'm not sure why ESPN feels the need to keep upgrading their graphics. I don't like this new scoreboard at all, and I think at the very least, they could have kept last year's scoreboard in tact for another year or two. I missed the game because I watched SNF, so I don't want to say too much more about it since there are full-screen stat boards as well; hence, I'll make my call come the regular season when it matters. Also, you never know if there will be any additional changes. Remember how last year's scoreboard was left-justified for two preseason games, then moved to the center?

Tonight we get to see the first game of TNF in the Fox era. So far watching the pregame, it looks like Fox is simply handing NFL Network their current graphics as I've seen elements of the current Fox Sports package.

ESPN started using a new ticker this morning...it's now two lines of info on the screen instead of one single streamline of scores, news, etc.

Also, it's split into two sections; the left side has all your stuff as usual, but the right hand side is pretty much ad space for anything ESPN is promoting, from their app to any games, shows airing later on. My biggest fear though is that other companies may take advantage of that to promote their stuff, as I don't like how ubiquitous ads are these days.

Overall,it's a nice update for a bottomline that I thought could have been left alone for 8-10 years.

Heads up for whoever can share it, but the HOF game is on, which gives us our first look at the new graphics post-SB. It is as beautiful as it was on SB Sunday. Also, interesting to see they had to angle the Ravens logo in the scoreboard, which they didn't do in past packages.

On 5/28/2018 at 8:59 PM, RETROJR79 said:

Only thing they did is they changed the scoreboard 

The one that's sitting up top like always or the ones that show before/after commercials?

By the way, the special graphics they use in the Final is beautiful, even though it's based on the old/current NBC set

On 4/15/2018 at 10:59 PM, insert name said:

I thought NBC was updating everything for the playoffs? What happened?

If anything, I (and a good amount of others who are on the site who follow graphics) were speculating and expecting NBC to start rolling out updates with the Stanley Cup chase. Now that the playoffs are in effect, it looks like we may not see anything new for some time. Worst-case scenario: we don't see the new look again until the HOF game in Canton this August, maybe?

On 4/2/2018 at 11:29 PM, insert name said:

I guess ESPN is aiming to have all the bugs unique to their own sport. 

And in the process, you'd have the less popular sports (college baseball, MLS, etc.) stuck on the 2014-based graphics.

Turner got a new set for their March Madness coverage. Looks great, and I love the "memories" written on the floor.

Also, from the looks of it, CBS and Turner have integrated the "official" tourney logo. The graphics that they've had since 2016 remain though.

I do wonder...what's the purpose of the audience section if it's only available for Selection Sunday (at least, I assume)

Not that it was a surprise to me, but it is nice to see the FS locals using the MLB graphics. I also noticed in the transition overlays that it's basically the postseason graphics tailored to the team color (FS Midwest uses Cardinals red, for instance).

14 minutes ago, RETROJR79 said:

Figured I think the new graphics is only for Sunday Night Football just like ESPN using different graphics for Monday Night Football 

I'll still wait it out with baited breath. They could easily have it ready for the NHL by playoff time.

However, I would like to see if the regionals will adopt it soon. I'm sure it's too late to switch for the NBA, so my hope is maybe the MLB games will have it by Opening Day.

11 hours ago, MJWalker45 said:

Using Madden images insteadvof real players images during stat box layouts on the field feels like a step backwards. Better off to keep using still photos of the players.

I'm sure that's a one-off thing for this Super Bowl. I doubt we'll see NBC go that far for its SNF games next season.

On another note, I'm glad the scoreboard they actually used looks better than the one that leaked earlier this week. At least that dead space in the place for the down and distance has room for special occasion (Kickoff, Thanksgiving, etc.) or "SNF". Also, how about that touchdown animation?

Ugh! Spoiler alert on myself for the new look, but oh well. That's what I get for asking.

All that aside, it is great! Can't wait to see it in action tomorrow and with the rest of the graphics elements too.

30 minutes ago, buzzcut said:

If the following scoreboard is any indication, NBC may have gone there, but for the gradients in the score:

Was that a concept or something teased as a real thing?

On 12/6/2017 at 10:20 AM, RyanMcD29 said:

Also one thing to lookout for in the coming weeks may or may not be NBC. Usually on a Super Bowl year they break out the new graphics for the Winter Classic and Wild Card weekend rather than waiting for the Super Bowl itself. The last time they updated they also did a soft launch of their new scorebug on NBCSN a week or so around Christmas. So something to keep an eye on for the next few weeks there. Personally I'd rather them stick to what they have given I love how much they work the primary and secondary colors into everything, but that's generally not how sports TV works these days with the Super Bowl graphics changeup.

We've made it to the final weekend and we haven't seen any changes in NBC's regionals and they still held on to their current package for their two playoff games as well as the rest of their non-football programming.

Haven't watched much on NBCSN either, so I'm expecting something new come Sunday. On the way to XLIII in '09, NBC did the same thing for their Wild Card doubleheader and didn't update until the night of the Super Bowl.

On 12/25/2017 at 10:58 AM, 29texan said:

 

Eh... I don't think they really meant to compete with the Big Four... 

My fault on that perspective...although I just feel like it didn't fill the void left by the abandoned UPN or WB stations that didn't get the CW.

22 hours ago, kmccarthy27 said:

And its no different than what ion (PAX) did prior. 

I know some cities had them, but I don't recall having a PAX station in Baltimore. The network, yes, but not a dedicated local station.

When your network sucks so bad that they stop competing in primetime with the other 4 + The CW, that is an EPIC FAIL in my eyes.