My first 3-D experience was anything but a sporting event — unless you consider wearing goofy glasses while watching burning wax corpses falling into your lap as some sort of bizarre competition.
This happened in 1953, when “House of Wax,” the first major studio 3-D production, scared or intrigued moviegoers across the nation.
In June, three-dimensional television will arrive on the national TV sports scene, when ESPN 3D debuts with a series of World Cup soccer matches to be followed by college football and basketball games and the next BCS championship game.
There will be a lot of questions — and hopefully a few answers — before the 3-D gimmick hits the living room sports scene.
Recently, Frank Shorr, a retired TV sports executive and a journalism lecturer at Boston University, answered several key questions posed by the Albany (N.Y.) Times Union.
He estimates initial costs of sets will range from $1,799 to $3,900 for an 8-foot high screen for fans who want the “theater experience at home.”
While expressing doubt that the nation’s viewers immediately will run out and buy such devices, Shorr believes sports is the best platform to test 3-D television, noting the growing popularity of the Wii, which needs only regular TV sets.
Shorr then expressed a feeling probably shared by many in this tight economy: “When I watch a game . . . on HD or standard . . . it’s the game I’m interested in. It’s not necessarily how the game is presented.”
By the way, you’ll have to use those goofy-looking glasses as soccer balls zero in on your head or a 300-pound lineman falls into your lap.
NFL weekend.
Fox Sports’ Saturday crew easily won the four-game competition for the “Nice Job Award.”
Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston and Tony Siragusa, covering the Saints-Cardinals, may have set a broadcasting record for the constant use of the “he does a nice job” bromide in covering plays and players.
• Things got a bit testy on Fox’s Sunday postgame show when Terry Bradshaw voiced loud irritation over the Vikings’ “in your face” touchdown scored in the final minutes against the Cowboys.
However, former Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson strongly disagreed, noting the Vikings and Brett Favre, on an emotional roll during an important game, still had a lot of adrenaline flowing.
Longevity.
Last week I noted that Avs announcer Mike Haynes, with more than 1,300 games, was the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer on the Denver pro sports scene.
But Haynes has a long way to go to pass Dan Karcher, the longtime Sky Sox announcer in Colorado Springs, who will begin his 21st season with 2,838 games under his baseball belt. Karcher works on KZNT-AM 1460.
Quotable.
“Winter Olympics executives should replace those flags on the giant slalom course with broken NBC contracts.” — Conan O’Brien
Longtime Denver journalist Dusty Saunders writes about sports media each Monday in The Denver Post. Reach him at tvtime@comcast.net.
“Real Sports” investigates collapse of Cowboys’ facility
Dallas’ Super Bowl hopes came crashing down Sunday. On Tuesday, HBO’s award-winning “Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel” (8 p.m.) begins its 16th season detailing a different type of Dallas crash that critically injured two Cowboys employees.
During a rookie minicamp last May, the Cowboys’ indoor practice facility in Irving, Texas, collapsed, leaving special-teams coach Joe DeCamillis (see Sunday’s Denver Post) and scouting assistant Rich Behm with severe spinal injuries.
Was it turbulent weather or poor engineering that brought down the facility?
“Real Sports” also revisits its Emmy-winning investigation of three years ago into concussion problems suffered by NFL players. The show’s report was credited for speeding up the investigation underway about how violent collisions and “routine hits” impact players.
One cynical reader, noting that I regularly “promote” this series, said I probably was on HBO’s payroll. Ridiculous, of course.
The reason for my interest should be obvious to anyone who watches.
“Real Sports” regularly goes behind the scenes to report stories and controversial events ignored by most TV organizations that concentrate on sports glamour.
