When The Score Wasn’t On The Screen

Not too many sports enthusiasts under the age of 30 can remember ever tuning in to watch a sporting event already in progress and not seeing the real-time score posted in one of the corners of their television screen. For those of us who remember having to wait until the announcer felt it was timely, or for a timeout/commercial break before we could find out who was winning, by how much, time remaining, etc., the score box is one of the great innovations in televised sports. For the viewer, it has changed everything from those days when the score wasn’t on the screen throughout the entire contest.

WE DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WE DIDN’T HAVE 

Back in the 1960’s and 1970’s we didn’t really need a score box — at least not like we do now. In those days there weren’t as many options if you were trying to watch a sporting event, and it was a rare day when you had to make a choice. In most cases, the game you were watching was the only one available. If the hometown basketball team was getting destroyed by 30 points, you either just toughed it out or watched a western instead. Flipping over to a more competitive contest was not an option.

And for those of us who were television reception-challenged, it’s just as well we didn’t have a score box, because we wouldn’t have been able to see it, anyway.

WHAT’S THE SCORE? 

If we weren’t watching the game, we didn’t have the option of just getting on the internet and for an up-to-the minute account of the game, and if we heard a score on our all-news radio station (at 15 and 45 minutes after the hour), it certainly wasn’t in real time. If we were watching, we still had to be patient and wait for the score to be announced, or the camera would show the arena scoreboard periodically. Even after technology allowed the score to be superimposed on our screen every so often, we still had to wait.

But times have changed.

We want everything NOW.

AN IDEA THAT CAUGHT ON

Soccer started it in the mid-90’s, and probably had no idea it would stick or spread so rapidly. Their score box included the name of sponsors who couldn’t otherwise get airtime because there are no commercial breaks during a game except at halftime. And soccer needs a score box because scoring is so rare. Sometimes it doesn’t happen at all.

Football needs it because scoring is also difficult, and after analyzing the previous play, there’s not always time to give the score. Now they’ve added down, distance, a game clock,  play clock and other graphics.

Baseball needs it because there are too many breaks in the action to keep anything but diehards focused, and it’s easy to lose interest of you don’t know the situation. So in addition to the score they’ll display balls and strikes, outs, pitch count, baserunners, pitch speed, etc., and this is a good thing.

THE ONE SPORT THAT REALLY NEEDS A SCORE BOX

A sport like basketball needs a score box more than any of the other sports, because the score changes so rapidly, especially nowadays when we have guys firing up three-pointers with 15 seconds left on the shot clock. Even when no one really knows what the score is, like when there’s a pending replay to review a borderline three-point shot but there has to be a play stoppage first, everyone’s confused about the score (just saw it in Game One of the Houston – Golden State series), and the score box and the announcer aren’t in sync (I’m serious – the league needs to address that or they’re going to have an embarrassing situation very soon. In a playoff game.).

NO TURNING BACK

For the hoops junkie with a short attention span, multiple channels, a remote control (none of this works without that gadget — imagine having to manually change channels with all those options?) and time on their hands to look for a competitive contest, the score box totally changes the game.

And those of us who normally resist change will make an exception here. However conceived, the score box thing was a cool innovation. Not interested in going back to the days when it wasn’t available.

I ain’t THAT nostalgic.