The majority of the Enhance Your Experience posts throughout the land have involved some new innovation or process that fans wish the league would implement. My plan from the start, however, was to evaluate what we can do in and of ourselves as fans to help us have a better time, hence the "Do's and Dont's" and "Evaluation of Traditions" posts. In the same vane of my prior word vomits, we'll look at something that damn near anybody can do:
Listen to a game on the radio.
It's that damn simple. The allure of watching the game in HD is certainly something to behold with its crisp picture, I'll give you that. Being able to see the replay and watch a play develop for yourself is also something that radio can't compete with. And yet, flipping on the radio once in a while and grabbing a cold beverage has such a vintage feel to it. Some posters here will be able to relate to the feelings and emotion of listening on the radio better than I can. Hell, I'm 23 and I grew up with the ability to watch most of the games all the time. From what I understand, there was once a time when the radio was all people had, although I'm skeptical. Even still, I'm not saying to abandon your TVs and adhere to a strict diet of Kerber and Chase. Kelly and Pang on the TV are still great at what they do, if you can get past the deer in the headlight gaze from the child of Dan Kelly and the chuckling and sound effect additions from a former Hawks netminder.
But make sure you give KMOX a chance every now and again. The team of Chris Kerber and Kelly Chase is so damn good that I'm surprised one of them hasn't been plucked away by some other team in need of broadcasting help. As I cruised towards Schnuck's last night seeking out the finest in frozen pizza for a nutritious and healthy dinner, I had the game on in my car after watching most of the 1st period in HD at my new place. The moving pictures were nice (damn nice, actually) and I had no complaints about how the TV commentators worked. The way Kerber and Chase illustrated the game got me "into it" far more than any words John Kelly or Darren Pang uttered. I can't say for certain that it wasn't the Backes goal that did it, but after looking back at the TV call, neither Pang nor Kelly were half as pumped up about it as the McRib superfan and the former pugilist were. Hell, I thought Chris Kerber was so excited that he was going to reach through my radio and shake me.
The way both broadcasting teams bring you the game is good. I love Kelly/Pang and I love Kerber/Chase. They do differ quite a bit, though, and you'll have to spend some time with both broadcast duos to find out.
Also, Bob Plager, potential Monopoly guy, will fill-in on radio games and has far more appearances with Kerber/Chase than with the TV crew. 10 points for radio.
So next time the Blues come on, fire up the radio (even if it's just for one period), crack a beer, soak up some AM goodness, and consider your experience enhanced. And if you won't tune in to KMOX for my sake, do it for Plager!