Ryan Anderson | August 5, 2022
The Sounds of Sports Edition
On crowds, announcing, and the acoustics of competition
Ryan Anderson (RJA) is a freelance marketing exec based in Atlanta, GA. He has written a whole bunch of WITIs, including Video Assisted Review, Semiconductors, Simpson’s Paradox, and Batteries.
Ryan here. At their best, sports are the peak of human capabilities. People have been watching athletes entertain us for millennia, and today a Sunday night NFL Football game gets nearly double the viewers of the most popular scripted television show in the United States.
One of the reasons the NFL got so popular is that they were the first to really invest in the television experience. And for them, that included sound. In a 2012 Atlantic article, Rich Cohen explains how the family behind NFL Films taught the country how to watch football. This quote sums up the immersive experience of their approach:
“They were getting angles you had never seen. On TV, you’d always see the shot from the main camera, which sits high above the stadium—never any handhelds. And here was this little company doing slow motion, doing sound. They were on the field. I remember saying ‘Boy, that really makes you feel like you’re part of the game.’ ”
Sound is enveloping. While we can shut our eyes, we can’t close our ears.
Among the many ways sound can influence your experience with sports are the on-field action (engine noise at races, squeaking sneakers in basketball, the crack of a bat in baseball), the fan experience (in-stadium announcers, a roaring crowd, and even vuvuzelas), and live commentary when you are watching from home.
Why is this interesting?
For today’s WITI, I wanted to share some of the wonders of sports sounds with you. Click the link or the image to go to the videos, and make sure you have your speakers on.
Over the years the different engines used in F1 have led to a variety of sounds and people are religious in their devotion to one over the others. The V10 sounds like Michael Schumacher winning 5 championships in a row for Ferrari.
Golf is a sport best known for its silence. Even the rare camera shutter can cause a golfer to back away from a shot, to say nothing of crowd noise from an adjacent hole. But there’s one hole on one course that’s different. The 16th hole at TPC Scottsdale is a short par 3 surrounded by 20,000 fans ready to go wild for a great shot, and boo you if you miss the green.
I love the differences in sports sounds across cultures as well. In America, we boo, but lots of other sporting cultures add a “lovely” whistle to show their displeasure.
Similarly, the crowd roars in the United States tend to be a high octave, near-squeal of excitement. Take this example of Atlanta Brave Eddie Rosario hitting a home run in game 3 of the NLCS last year
It’s a deafening roar from the start, and you can hear the crowd go up another octave when the ball lands over the outfield wall.
Latin American soccer, on the other hand, is full of low octave roars from the crowd, often coming on shots that just missed. This is hard to find a great video of so I’d encourage you to watch more games, and instead enjoy a toned down version of that reaction in this clip that also features the classic announcer GOOOOOOOOOOL.
On the subject of announcers, Vin Scully, the legendary voice of the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers passed away on Tuesday at the age of 94. Scully is the measuring stick for broadcasters, a man who knew how to keep you the right amount of informed and entertained. Over his 66 year career he called some of the most well known moments in baseball history including:
Kirk Gibson’s pinch hit home run in the World Series
Hank Aaron breaking the record for career home runs
These clips are long. Longer than you’ve probably seen before since they get turned into 15 second clips. But they’re worth watching in full to understand everything Scully was able to offer.
And once you’ve seen those, make sure you watch him spend a whole at bat telling the story of 12 year old Jonny Gomes getting attacked by a wolf. His storytelling, mixed with an occasional update of the status of the at bat, are just masterful.
And finally, a champion competitor who just can’t stop yapping while performing at the top of her game. (RJA)
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Noah (NRB) & Colin (CJN) & Ryan (RJA)
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