Thursday, February 02, 2012

The biggest screen of all


What's the score?
London, ON, October 2010
About this photo: Thematic. Screens. Here.
Scoreboards used to be single-purpose: they displayed the score, maybe the time, and that was about it. Old display technology was typically hard-wired, monochrome - usually some shade of neon or, gasp, made up of a bunch of incandescent light bulbs. None of this gazillion-pixel/LED/HD nonsense that the young whippersnappers talk about these days.

And while you're at it, get off my lawn.

Oops, tangent. Sorry.

These days, an arena or stadium can't do without a Jumbotron or its equivalent, a full-color, full-motion panel that makes your screen at home look like a postage stamp. London's John Labatt Centre is no different, and the scoreboard over centre ice more than holds its own in the multimedia sports space.

So there I was at the London Knights game last Friday with my family when, during a break, the camera swung in our general direction. I'm not sure what overcame me, but when I realized the thing was about to point at me, I thought it would be neat to have a little fun with the fans. Our son, Zach, and I mugged for the camera and made complete doofuses of ourselves, to the point that it stopped panning and stayed locked on us until play resumed.

The television crew covering the game recognized me and tweeted about it, which touched off a friendly storm of tweets flitting back and forth across the arena and beyond. We laughed for the rest of the game, confident that this complete abuse of technology had made others smile, as well. As a bonus, the Knights won in thrilling fashion. Sometimes, life is good, even if you have to make a bit of a fool of yourself in the process.

Your turn: Ever make a big-time spectacle of yourself? Do tell!

4 comments:

lissa said...

This cracked me up! At Habs games, they have the dance-cam (people dancing till there are only 2 contestants to become the "winner" - bragging rights only), and the ever-so-uncomfortable "kiss-cam" (what is this, a wedding video?). In between those, there are people hamming it up but not quite like what you described. This is a feel-good post for my morning, thanks for sharing, Carmi - and I'll bet Zach is still chuckling too!

Krissy said...

It always cracks me up the way people act on those things sometimes. Now you have joined the ranks! There is nothing wrong with having a good time and making the most out of it. That's what you're there for, right?

Once, I was invited onto the ice for a competition since I was the president of the booster club for our local team. I slipped and busted my behind while they all laughed and played "Wipe Out." I'm sure it was a sight to see.

http://www.talkativetaurus.com/

David Edward said...

doing 'stuff' with the family is what matters, if its crazy stuff, all the better. you remind me of a younger me, and that is a pleasant memory -
Just back from a very pleasant Hawaii vacation... get there when you can. Big Island, volcanoes, coffee, seahorses... all good 'stuff'. Aloha

young-eclectic-encounters said...

Good job, Carmi made me laugh
Johnina