Softball on BTN
Nice to see the final is on BTN. Anyone know if it was picked up late?
After spending $7 a pop for each of the previous "games" -more like M blowouts - I think I'll enjoy today's on the BTN. Good thing I'm not a ND fan, otherwise I wouldn't have that option on a regular basis.
Not only do ND fans not get to enjoy games on the BTN often, I very much doubt that any of them will enjoy the game today! Go Blue, crush the Irish!
This is great news. Like Tom from AA, I also went to both previous games, I live like a block away. But I think I'm going to enjoy this blowout from the comfort of my own home. :)
Whose haus? Viefhaus! 1 - 0 on a solo shot.
No doubt about that one. Viefhaus has that prototypical sweet lefty swing.
These announcers are awful. I'd rather have no announcers and just audio of the stadium.
Instead, we seem to have the opposite - just announcers, and no ambient noise, no ping of the bat, crowd, nothing. :(
1 - 1 after 1.
me likey.
ND's pitcher is looking like she's a bit frightened by Michigan's power. They were lucky to get out of that without issuing a run or two.
Taylor not at her best in the early going, ND with the 2 - 1 lead after 2.
Veifhaus 2 for 2 with solo & three-run shots. ND makes a pitching change after Roya St. Clair gets on base. 4 - 2, runner on 1st, no one out in the top of the 3rd.
Viefhaus is a beast. Too bad we couldn't knock in a couple more runs. Good job by ND to get out of that jam.
This would be a great time for Findlay to bust it open.
Load 'em up. ND will never pitch to Viefhaus again. Ever.
7-2, walked a run in, and chidester gets a 2 RBI single
The lack of crowd/field noise is really weird.
has to be the BTN feed. audio can't be that expensive
In a 3-run inning, they talk about how Michigan can't figure this pitcher out.
This strike zone is killing me, too. The corners are completely random.
"This strike zone is killing me, too. The corners are completely random."
Glad I'm not the only one feeling that way. It's esp. frustrating, b/c ND is obviously pitching around us to avoid our power.
ND is really lucky not to be in run-rule territory. A couple bad swings, a couple dubious strikes, and (esp. early) one or two nice catches by the ND defense. Still, you can't feel bad about a 7 - 2 lead!
Way to break the game open.
I feel like I'm watching a game via 1950s highlight reel without the crowd noise and what not.
Findlay drives in another run, chasing ND's second pitcher. 8 - 2, Blue.
Taylor in complete control after a shaky start.
There are pitchers who would kill to be able to pitch as well Taylor's shaky start.
Roya blasts a 3 run shot to make it 12 - 2. Too late to get the run-rule, but taking a double-digit lead into the bottom of the 7th is pretty solid work.
"What does Notre Dame need to do to get back into this game?"
It's official: Announcer FAIL.
"I'm thinking they'll be needing a miracle. And they are a Catholic school, but that hasn't seemed to be doing them too much good so far. So, to get back into this game, I think they will need to time travel back into the past and start changing things earlier in this game, or possibly in this tournament."
Taylor with the exclamation point on the win, striking out the last 4 batters for 11 Ks on the day. 12 - 2 final, your regional champions. Bring on the super-regional!
Keep it rolling
A few others commented on lack of crowd noise. I don't think the announcers were at the game, I think they were doing a play by play from a studio someplace, based on what was shown on the screen. I called my sister, who was at the game and sitting near the press box, described the two announcers (suits, white shirt on him with a tie) and there was no one in the press box fitting their descriptions. Then late in the came there was a checked swing appeal and he said they would have to wait for the ruling, whereas if he was anywhere near the field they would be able to see the third base umpire make the call.
I guess the decision to put the game on the BTN was a last minute deal, since they could not be sure that Michigan, the only Big 10 team in the regional, would be playing today unit they beat Notre Dame yesterday.
I'm glad they put it on TV, but wish they had spent a few more dollars to fly someone to Ann Arbor.
impression I got, without the benefit of a sister to confirm it. It was disappointing and really weird. They didn't necessarily need to fly someone to Ann Arbor, just put a mic at the stadium. I'm no sound engineer, but with all the technology that exists would it really have been that hard to get the stadium sound and the announcers even without on-site announcers?
Regardless, I'm glad it was televised. I love watching Michigan win.
I've seen it on the wall behind homeplate. I don't know -- was it was merely an oversight or Alumni field doesn't lend itself to running the cord or what?
I noticed that too. It seemed fishy when you clearly saw the crowd going crazy after a strike out and all you heard was a tinny little noise. Hopefully they'll have a better setup for the super regional.
Dumb question time:
Who are we looking at in the Super Regional?
We'll be facing the #15 Tennessee Volunteers in a best-of-3 series.
The full bracket is available here: http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2010/ncaa_bracket_DI_softball.html Note with particular interest that Oregon & BYU knocked off higher-seeded GA Tech & Texas, respectively.
To be precise, it took BYU and ECU to knock off Texas. I was a camera op working that regional in Austin so it really suprised me to hear we (meaning Michigan) weren't mic'ed on the Big 10 Network. All cameras should have microphones on them and for a production on the Big 10 Network, some mics should have been positioned around the stadium. Good to hear our softball team is kicking ass, unlike Texas's early departure.
So I'm curious, does the BTN do games where the announcers are somewhere in a studio, not actually in the press box? Or was it just my suspicious nature?
Thank you. I watched a good chunk of the Oregon-GTU game earlier today. I also watched the beatdown that was Auburn-Jacksonville State yesterday. I turned it on at 8-1 Auburn, and I had to keep watching, just because of the train-wreck effect as Auburn pushed it to 15-1. JSU's pitcher was throwing all of about 57 mph and not fooling anyone.