A.P. Discuss SNY Thread

[metirish]

]No, there's no "phantom" calling of the game. The network version of the game will be the only telecast that exists. I was in Baltimore a couple years back and was wandering around the harbor an hour or two before the game when I walked right past Howie Rose (then doing TV) and his wife & kids. Just as I was about to ask him what the hell he was doing there instead of being down the street at the stadium I realized it was a network game giving him the day off to spend with the family.

Thanks FK, it would suck if the Mets had a no hitter and Gary wasn't on to call it, it would suck for him at least...but that will never happen...

[Guest sharpie]

The sound intermittently cuts off on my SNY broadcasts. Does it on all TVs in my house and on no other station. It only lasts about 5-10 seconds but it is annoying. This happening to you guys?

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I haven't noticed that at all.

[soupcan]

sharpie wrote: The sound intermittently cuts off on my SNY broadcasts. Does it on all TVs in my house and on no other station. It only lasts about 5-10 seconds but it is annoying. This happening to you guys?

YES!

Maddening. Lately my Cablevision service has s-u-c-k-e-d. Pictures get pixelated, freeze, black out and the sound cuts out.

Then I read in The Times and The Post this morning that Jams Dolan and his band 'JD and The Straight Shot' spent the evening performing for patrons at a 'midtown club' that had a cover charge of $15.00.

Want to know the worst part? One of my best friends owns the club - Coda - where this fat billionaire bastard sang the blues last night!


OE: James Dolan not Charles

[Willets Point]

If only he'd buy the Mets, that would turn the team around.

[soupcan]

Can you imagine? Yeesh.

[Frayed Knot]

Actually it's James - son of Charles - Dolan doing the white-boy blues band thingie.

The only thing I notice about the sound on my SNY feed (also Cablevision) is that it's usually lower than that of surrounding channels. IOW, when flipping between innings I'm constantly lowering and then re-raising the volume when I go off and then return to SNY.
But no cut-outs.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I remember SportsChannel, in the late 80's, would blare the commercials at more than twice the volume of the ballgame. I'd have to lower the volume on the commercial breaks to preserve my eardrums, and then raise it again when the game resumed so that I could hear.

I actually contacted some of the sponsors and told them that because of this practice their message was being distorted into something very annoying. The problem eventually went away. I'd like to think that I had something to do with it, but I tend to doubt it.

[G-Fafif]

Centerfield wrote: I was wondering that too. I hope they have a better plan in place than Keith. I remember a few years back, there were a few innings where Keith was left alone with Seaver. They might as well have handed the booth to me and my buddies. It was downright awful. Pure speculation on my part, but I would think maybe they would bring in Howie and let Ed Coleman fill in on the radio.

It's been pointed out to me that Howie is under contract with MSG/FSN-NY to call Islanders games and that might conflict with his ability to slide into the SNY booth. Given his TV experience, I wondered why he didn't sub for Keith in Milwaukee instead of Eddie (and Eddie could have remained mostly faceless, sitting in with the even less exciting Tom McCarthy).

[Elster88]

Moved to announcer rant thread.

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

That's nothing compared to the White Sox crew. They are such freakin' homers it's unbelievable.

I never heard any other announcers refer to the opposing team as "the bad guys" before.

[G-Fafif]

G-Fafif wrote: It's been pointed out to me that Howie is under contract with MSG/FSN-NY to call Islanders games and that might conflict with his ability to slide into the SNY booth.

Either whoever pointed it out to me was mistaken or the issue was resolved on the fly. Howie's in for apendicitis-riddled Gary until further notice.

[Elster88]

Centerfield wrote: I was wondering that too. I hope they have a better plan in place than Keith. I remember a few years back, there were a few innings where Keith was left alone with Seaver. They might as well have handed the booth to me and my buddies. It was downright awful. Pure speculation on my part, but I would think maybe they would bring in Howie and let Ed Coleman fill in on the radio.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

[Guest GYC]

Centerfield wrote: Pure speculation on my part, but I would think maybe they would bring in Howie and let Ed Coleman fill in on the radio.

Centerfield wrote: It would be a shame if Pujols got injured and we had to shoot him.

Lotto numbers?

[Elster88]

There are two commercials on SNY that make me as uncomfortable as I ever have been watching a commerical.

One is the artery clogged with fat. The other is the guy who had his voicebox removed and they show him Q-tipping the hole in his throat.

From the perspective of the commercial, they are probably very powerful in getting across the idea that smoking is bad for you. But I don't smoke.

I liked those anti-smoking "knowledge" commercials that they did a while ago. And those got the message across too. Why not just run something similar to those?

[Guest ScarletKnight41]

I agree - those commericals creep me out.

[Elster88]

I agree Scarlet. I sometimes wonder if even a creepy commercial like those has an effect on smokers.

To any smokers out there...do those non-smoking ads do anything to you? Do they affect your decision to smoke?

[Centerfield]

When they brought in Howie, I thought to myself, "Holy crap, I think that's the first time I've ever been right about something."

As for the smoking commercials, I hate them. I can't speak for others, but to me, they are insulting, disturbing, and downright tasteless. First of all, I understand the importance of getting the message across that smoking is hazardous to your health, but I feel like there should be some line of decency that shouldn't be crossed. For instance, it's also important to wear your seat-belt...but to show someone who was seriously crippled as a result of neglecting to wear one is crossing the line. I think they've crossed that line with these commercials.

Secondly, they are insulting because I feel like the motivation behind these commercials is "People don't understand how dangerous smoking is, let's show them." Trust me, I know how dangerous it is. I don't need it blatantly waved in my face. The problem most smokers face is not that they don't want to quit, but that it is so difficult to do so.

Personally, I have been struggling to quit for nearly a year now and it is the single-hardest thing I've ever tried to do. For about the last three years, I have managed to cut down to exactly one cigarette per day (right before I go to bed), but cutting out that last cigarette has been so much harder than I thought it would be. I quit for days at a time, sometimes weeks, and then go back again. It is a frustrating and disheartening process.

And the commercials are no help.

[Elster88]

Centerfield wrote: For instance, it's also important to wear your seat-belt...but to show someone who was seriously crippled as a result of neglecting to wear one is crossing the line. I think they've crossed that line with these commercials.

That's an excellent point that I hadn't thought of.

]Secondly, they are insulting because I feel like the motivation behind these commercials is "People don't understand how dangerous smoking is, let's show them." Trust me, I know how dangerous it is. I don't need it blatantly waved in my face. The problem most smokers face is not that they don't want to quit, but that it is so difficult to do so.

This is where I disagree slightly with you. Some smokers (or non-smokers) may not understand fully what all that fat looks like in your artery, or what a person who had his voice box removed has to go through on a daily basis.

I agree with everything you said that also goes with this point though, the potential benefits of having it right there in your face do not make up for all of the other negatives that you mentioned.

]Personally, I have been struggling to quit for nearly a year now and it is the single-hardest thing I've ever tried to do. For about the last three years, I have managed to cut down to exactly one cigarette per day (right before I go to bed), but cutting out that last cigarette has been so much harder than I thought it would be. I quit for days at a time, sometimes weeks, and then go back again. It is a frustrating and disheartening process. And the commercials are no help.

Thanks for being so candid CF. This is exactly what I was wondering.

[Guest Johnny Dickshot]

Opie and Anthony pointed out this morning, none too tastefully, the difference between smoking commercials and anti-AIDS commercials, whereby one focuses on the behavior leading to disease, turning them into pariahs and objects of public scorn, where the other wouldn't dare.

[Guest Yancy Street Gang]

I haven't noticed the commercials in question, because I rarely pay attention to commercials even when I don't have the ability to fast-forward, but I think anti-smoking messages have two audiences:

People who are smokers and people who may become smokers.

Most adults who smoke know about the effects on health, and, as CF said, would probably prefer to quit. But what about teenagers feeling that early peer pressure? If the message helps prevent them from taking up the habit (and I have no idea if it does or not) then it's a message worth sending.

[metirish]

I have no problem with the Ad's, you should see the anti-smoking commercials in Ireland, they are even more graphic than the ones SNY are running, they like to show blackened lungs and other effects of smoking.

[Elster88]

Yancy Street Gang wrote: But what about teenagers feeling that early peer pressure? If the message helps prevent them from taking up the habit (and I have no idea if it does or not) then it's a message worth sending.

Good point. But that's what health class is for. 'Course I don't think I was awake for an entire health class in my scholastic career.

[Elster88]

I kinda like it when all three guys in the booth.

[Centerfield]

Speaking of fist pumps, SNY is running a commercial now (I think for Mets tickets) featuring highlights from the year. One of them is of Glavine, walking off the mound, doing a fist pump. (I think it's the Sunday night MFY game reacting to a double play). Anyway, the clip is hilarious. It shows Glavine getting excited, pumping his fist, then, as if suddenly remembering he is in public, abrubtly regaining his composure and returning to his stoic face.

Classic.

[Elster88]

I'll admit it. I have no idea why all those guys have televsions for heads. That makes no sense to me.

[metirish]

I'm more concerned about no antena on the TV's.

[MFS62]

metirish wrote: I'm more concerned about no antena on the TV's.

Maybe they have a cable up their butts.

Later

[Elster88]

oops.

[Elster88]

I think it's evident that the Met broadcasters are willing to get on the Met players. Or at least Lastings Milledge.

Not homers, I says.