As television technology has grown wider and deeper, the effects on the broadcasting of sports have been profound. That there are now 300 channels where there used to be a handful means, among other things, that practically any sporting event of any magnitude (or non-magnitude) is now televised. (ESPN has recently broadcast, among other events, competitive Scrabble, juggling, dominoes, cheerleading, poker, billiards, and hot-dog eating.)
For the "name" events, Major League Baseball, the NFL, major college sports, etc., not onlty is every game on TV, it's covered more and longer and deeper. Longer pre- and post-game shows. Live post-game press conferences. 20 cameras where two or three used to be the norm. And the "media coverage" spills over to the Internet. Reporters and bloggers and fans deluge team message boards, sports network sites, etc.
For coaches in major sports, carefully controlling what the media has access to and parcelling out cliches as though they were revelations from the Dead Sea Sscrolls are common. In the case of the NFL, where most coaches take the words "control freak" to new heights, the relationship with the media is akin to the that of the dark days of the late Nixon White House.
There are always a few coaches, however, who are simply quote machines. Walking sound-bites. And it's those coaches who contribute some of the most priceless moments in TV sports.
Tonight's YouTube Tuesday offering is a montage of some of the finest moments of ex-Colts coach Jim Mora . . . a guy who would never hesitate to let you know how he honestly felt about his team's just-concluded game. Mora was a breath of fresh air in a sport consumed with presenting a tightly wrapped, homogonized media product. But in the end, leaving NFL coaching was probalby very good for this health.
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