NBA "Hardwood Classics Game", 70's style silent broadcast meets 2006-style high definition
By Richard Lawler 
posted Jan 24th 2006 3:26PM
posted Jan 24th 2006 3:26PM
Old school meets new school February 26 when the Orlando Magic face the Houston Rockets at home.
The NBA will broadcast a "silent" game with no announcers, only sounds from the court and the arena
announcer. The game will be available on NBA TV in high definition and surround sound, and should really provide a
"you are there" experience for the viewers.The Magic will wear uniforms from their inaugural 1989 season, and music from the 70's will be played only during game stoppages.
This all sounds well and good, but if they're going to do a 70's style broadcast, why not show two teams that were around in the 70's?
HDNet did this last week for an NHL game (they've probably done it before, this is the first one I've been able to watch in it's entirety).
Gotta say, it really made it interesting - not to mention a nice respite from the announcers who more often than not didn't seem to know what they were talking about, just felt they needed to fill any and all air space.
It would be cool if they started broadcasting these "game-only" soundtracks on the SAP channel (or the HD equivalent). I'd love to watch more sports as if I were there - and not like those guys with the late-70's Radio Shack AM headphones!
this would probably be really cool with baseball, some of these announcers are really annoying going on and on about nothing. In basketball my main gripe is all the commentary on certain players, where in this sport even the weakest players are above the cut of all the players that come out of college.
SportsChannel Boston (currently Fox Sports New England) did this in the late 90's for a Boston Celtics game. They had a couple cameras in a typical seat location and rarely switched the active. There was no announcer. Obviously it was not in HD, but it was a really neat experiment for the time.
My Fox affilliate out of Chicago WFLD has been broadcasting stadium audio on SAP for about 3 years w/ the NFL. I don't know if they do it on purpose, but its great just hearing the crowd, stadium announcers, and cuss words from the fans. When they cut to a 'gamebreak' to JB in L.A the audio pops back in, then goes away when the game starts. Milwaukee afilliate doesn't do it.