In this letter to the editor, the reader responds to the story, “Mapping NFL Fandom Through Radio Signals.” Radio World welcomes letters to the editor on this or any story. Email [email protected].
I have never really been into sports. I didn’t care for them, and I wasn’t good at them. Or was it the other way around? But since I grew up in the Twin Cities in Minnesota, I also grew up with the Vikings and their legacy as ice warriors.
I once heard a fitting description of football in this country (pretty much the only place where “American football” is played).
In the West, football is entertainment. In the East, it is big business. In the South, football is a religion. In the North, it is a blood sport. Of course, those were the days when it was played in open-air stadiums in November across Minnesota, Wisconsin and Chicago, out in the sleet, rain and snow.
I didn’t appreciate the art of the play-by-play announcer until I worked at the University of Minnesota student radio station. Early on, I had to sit there running the board. Later, I listened simply because I happened to be in the chair. Eventually, I began to appreciate the “theater of the mind” that radio does best.
By the way, I have only bet on a sporting event three times. Each time was against the Vikings. Each time they were in the Super Bowl. Each time I won.
— Archie Stulc, former broadcast radio engineer
Radio World welcomes letters to the editor on this or any story. Email [email protected].
