Last night, Goodnight and I were settled in to watch a pre-season football game: Minnesota Vikings at Houston Texans. I turned on the television, found the right station and . . . . there was a lovely picture of the crowd, the stadium, the on-field broadcaster, but there was no sound.
“No worries, it’s the pre-game show”, I thought to myself. GN and I chatted.
The teams got lined up for the opening kickoff and . . . it was rather quiet. No cheering, no announcer chatter, not a sound! I told
Goodnight that she was going to be the broadcaster for the game until the technical difficulties were resolved.
GN: But, um, Gram, I don’t know the words they use. I don’t talk like that.
Gram: That’s okay. Give it your best shot. It will be fun.
GN: Okay! Let’s see. The end zone cameraman pans to a shot of the goal post and . . . Don’t they look especially . . . yellow this evening? GN was getting into it. She moved from her spot on her comfy chair, to the floor in front of the TV.
GN: And here’s the snap. The quarterback guy is falling back. It looks like he’s going to pass. No! Wait! It’s a fake. He gave it to . . . um another guy and he’s gonna run. He’s got it. He’s . . . tackled just past the line of scrimmage for, oh, about a two-inch gain. OMG!!! He’s pulling up his socks!!! Can you believe it? There was an obvious effort to resolve the sound issue.
The network went to several commercials, but each time we got back to the game, there was still no sound.
The game continued and so did my teenage commentator.
GN: Well, it’s been a rough possession for the Texans. They are 4th and 10. But! It looks like they are gonna go for a first down. Wait! Ne’er mind! They’re gonna kick. I don’t know when the sound got fixed . . . it was actually somewhere near the end of the first quarter, which meant it took a while.
GN and I were both bummed because we were having so much fun. So, I just turned down the sound again for a few more minutes. I was loving the game from her perspective. She notices different things than I do. For example:
GN: OMG! Take a look at the huddle folks!!! Did they plan it that way or am I just hungry? Saulsberry, Berger, and Love are lined up in that order. (She and I both know that the meat is Salisbury Steak, but it was still funny.)
Turns out that Saulsberry Berger Love was a common shoulder to shoulder line-up in the Vikings huddle. I think I should turn down the sound for some more football games . . . and feed the girl some beef, apparently. Love that commentator!
I’m not a football fan but that sounds like a game I’d like to have shared with you two!
Saulsberry, Berger, and Love…now that’s hilarious. I’ll have to remember that one the next time I start taking the game too seriously.
Trav; Me too!
Like Dancing, I would have enjoyed football much better with GN telling me about the plays – and the order of players in the huddle. (I wonder if they stand that way on purpose so that observant teens will see the humor.)
Carol: I don’t know if they do or not. But they did several times while we watched. I would not have noticed, but I’m glad GN did.
When the Saints played on Thursday night, we still had no power after Hurricane Isaac, so we gathered around the radio and listened to the game. Someone mentioned it was like the old days when people would gather around and stare at the radio as they listened. Except this night it was very dark outside and inside. Maybe that helped our imaginations picture the game! I enjoyed GN’s take on your game. Memories being made.
I used to listen to the baseball games on the radio. I think listening helps the imagination a lot!