After a sports filled weekend with every kind of football bowl game possible (my favorite has always been the San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl), I want to make a suggestion intended for all television sports directors. Enough with the up close and personal shots first employed by ABC Sports and ballyhooed by Howard Cosell.

The picture quality is so good now days, we don’t need to be looking up the nose of every baseball pitcher, football coach, or even the occasional fan in the stands. I have actually squirmed in my chair while watching a camerman zoom in on a baseball pitcher looking for the sign. It starts with a full body shot, then rapidly closes in on his face for a view which should be reserved for only those with whom he shares an intimate relationship. Ugh! As a matter of fact, the way a baseball game is covered now days, if you had never seen a game in person you wouldn’t know what was going on. First we get the pitcher’s eyes (and sweat), then the batter’s face (and spit), then if the ball is hit, a close up of the player making the play. Is there a field? Was that grass I saw?

When watching a football game, which is not quite as bad, I still long for the days when we could see all the players at once. Wouldn’t it be fun to watch the reciever’s run their patterns as the quarterback decides who to throw to? Just because technology allows us to see every skin flaw doesn’t mean we have to do it. Please Mr. Sports Director, back off just a little. Let us see the field of play. Let us watch plays unfold more naturally. Thank you.

As for the cheerleaders, you”re doing a hell of a job!