by Michael Cannata

Created on: June 13, 2008   Last Updated: March 05, 2011

There's no doubt that TV has had a major impact on basketball as a sport. Yet, for all its impact I don't think it has changed the game or how it is played. More accurately, it has changed the way basketball, the teams and, more importantly, the players are marketed and presented to the fans. In turn, how, what and who we see when we watch a game has changed. In many ways, TV has brought fans closer to the action. Sadly, for all that TV technology has given to us when it comes to watching basketball a lot has also been lost or sacrificed along the way.

As a kid growing up in the 1950'S watching TV was not like it is today. In my house there was one TV and it was ruled by my parents. Other than Saturday morning cartoons there wasn't much programming for kids. A lot of sports were broadcast on tape delay. Live sports broadcast on TV were still rare and, because of the times the games were shown, watching them on TV was usually not an option for kids with early bedtimes. Radio was how most people experienced sports in general.

Radio ruled the sports world back then. I was a Celtics fan as soon as I knew what a basketball was. But, save the rare occasion I went to a game, most of my game times were spent listening to the broadcast on the radio. Basketball was a fast paced game that demanded a quick tongued announcer to keep up. Great announcers knew we were watching the game through their eyes. The best of them could make you feel as though you were sitting right next to them. When they called the action we felt like we saw exactly what they did.

Radio announcers were more personal and familiar to the fans of a team. They didn't spend a lot of time analyzing plays. Describing the action as it unfolded during a basketball game required a quick and fluid ability to translate the action on the floor into words that flowed as quickly as the players raced up and down the court. The announcers were home town guys all the way. They were not ashamed to declare their love for the home team and were unreserved in their loathing of all visiting teams.

Before TV changed the world, lying in my room with my transistor radio crackling out the sound, listening to Johnny Most broadcast the action from "high above courtside" was how I got to "see" the games. When it came to describing the play during a basketball game no one was as great as Johnny Most. OK, maybe Chick Hearn, but he was the LA Lakers announcer so he was always relegated to second place as far as I was concerned.

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>