I have to admit, I watched way too much football this past weekend.
From a couple of NCAA college games on Saturday to a slew of NFL games on Sunday, and again Monday night, as well as six different pregame shows and three different postgame shows, I had an extra helping of pigskin.
It’s like when you go to your favourite buffet and eat a little bit of the healthy stuff first — then pig out on all the tasty, not-so-healthy food until you can barely roll out the front door.
Oh, the buffet. Good memories.
Watching football over the weekend brought back all the feels — even during the coronavirus pandemic — as well as a new appreciation for a particular part of the television broadcast.
Without any fans in the stands — at least, in the overwhelming number of stadiums that hosted games in Week 1 — there were a couple of games in which you could hear the crunching sounds of tackling, and the hootin’ and hollerin’ by the players after touchdowns.
But the one thing that was missing, and it was clearly evident, was the crowd.
And not just the noise, although not hearing that deafening sound was very awkward, especially at big moments in each game.
Apart from the lack of noise, there were no cutaway shots on TV of face-painted, ‘D-Fence’ sign-carrying, clearly impaired rowdy and raucous fans that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing in NFL stadiums from coast to coast.
Some teams are planning to bring some fans into their stadiums soon, they hope, and that would be great on two fronts — having that wonderful noise again — and perhaps taking one step closer to a healthier new normal.
Rick Zamperin is the assistant program, news and senior sports director at Global News Radio 900 CHML.