Ref:Pixabay
Since covid we have seen drastic changes to the sporting landscape. I know that over the years i have either been to or watched hundreds of hours of sports across a lot of different competitions.
My main go to sports have always been Irish football and hurling due to them being the best sports in the world. ( Totally unbiased opinion) But i do love them. Where else could you get 90,000 fans in to watch a fully amateur sport on multiple occasions. I have one on right now in the background. But that is besides the point.
My fall back sports tend to be soccer and rugby with a solid mention to anything the Irish national team is playing in or Irish athlete competes in. We are a loyal bunch.
Champions league used to be my go to on these occasions. There is something quite special about a full Celtic park when Barcelona lands into the far reaches of Scotland to play a team of minnow that will fight for every inch with non stop wall of sound to follow every pass, tackle, goal or bad call.
The yellow wall of Dortmund or the Kop on European game nights. Soccer is ok but the occasions were amazing. They fans made the matched, not the other way around.
I find that without the fans in the background that the games have lost that bit of bite. That extra bit of energy from the players and something to make the boring patches that bit more interesting. Who can forget the world cup in Brazil with those eagle eyed camera men. They knew how to keep the viewers watching.
I have to say that i do prefer the fake crowd noise instead of the hollow ring that comes with playing in an empty Colosseum. i find that when the noise is playing behind the scenes that i focus more on the actual game.
When you can only hear the players and coaches that it's hard to get caught up in the action. I get distracted by the sound and emptiness of the whole thing. I know that some of the pundits find it fascinating to hear which players are being vocal, what is being passed on by the coaches or how teams bond together but for me it takes away from the spectacle of the game.
I don't wan't to know who is being told where to go. I want to follow the action and get caught up in the moment. When the camera is zoomed in on the action and the noise is going on in the background you can almost forget that there is nobody there.
What about the rest of you?
Fake noise or no noise?