A Different Feel

There has been a different feel during our home telecasts this season. Because of the cold, wet weather the crowds at Busch Stadium have not been as large as we have come to expect for the last ten seasons or so.
The atmosphere at the ballpark plays an important part to the quality of the telecast. Forty thousand screaming fans creates an energy that the TV crew feeds off of and this energy really contributes to a successful, aggressive telecast.
The TV crew seems to "create" more memorable moments during a game/telecast when the crowd is large and boisterous. It is so easy to get "into" the game/telecast when the ballpark if full and the crowd is going nuts.
It is just as easy for a TV crew to become complacent when the crowd is sparse and seemingly not into the game.
In St. Louis, we have been very fortunate that Busch Stadium is usually full and the best fans in baseball are usually really into the game. It is a blast cutting the game when the game is on the line and the crowd is going crazy. These moments fire up the crew and the telecast becomes sharper.
I really respect my colleagues who televise games out of stadiums that have sparse crowds. I believe that our difficult jobs which consist of many split second decisions during a game/telecast (decisions that affect the ultimate quality of the show) are made more difficult when there is little or no energy from the crowd. Kudos to those TV production teams that still "create" memorable moments during those telecasts featuring small crowds at the ballpark.
The first month of the 2011 season has proven to me how spoiled I am being able to cut the game at Busch Stadium. I miss the full houses and the boisterous fans.
I am sick of the cold and the rain.
I miss the energy of a full Busch Stadium.