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October 14, 2006

NESN: Papi's Greatest Hits

Peter N taped this show a few weeks ago and mailed it to me and asked what I thought of it.

It was pretty disappointing (though I'm glad I got the chance to see it).

How the hell can NESN make Flo banging 54 taters dull? Here's how:

1. Cut the clips really short, so we don't see the pitchers' windup or any of the tension of the at-bats.

2. Give no context of the game -- date, inning, score at the time, # of guys on base, pitcher, etc.

3. Show way too much of the crowd. ... They stand up and yell when the ball is hit. We get it.

4. Stick a big logo in the bottom left of the screen, so it blocks some of the action.

5. Use the exact same camera angles we have seen all season long. NESN did include some unique shots, however, so I know they exist.

6. Use split screens -- sometimes even splitting the screen in three -- so we can't really make heads or tails of anything.

7. Include interviews with teammates that were the same ones NESN used bits of in their promos all year.

8. When NESN shows the standing ovation Papi gets when he returns from his heart scare, the shot is from deep left -- with no zoom -- so you can't really see Ortiz raise his helmet.

It didn't look like NESN put much effort into producing this thing at all. They just slapped the clips together and put it on the air. (Note to self: Add "Big Papi does it again!" to the Orsillo Drinking Game for 2007.)

The one HR that gave me some goosebumps was the 3-run walkoff against Cleveland (it included a short Grady Sizemore interview clip). I remember watching that game and both Laura and I saying "well here it comes (naturally)" and then after the ball sailed over Sizemore and into the CF seats just laughing for several minutes.

(Another great shot was seeing Manny in the on-deck circle, hand on his hip, watching the ball sail away with absolutely no expression of his face.)

With some creativity and decent direction/production -- maybe an original Ortiz interview (what an idea!) -- this would have been much better. And then NESN could have made the show twice as long. Red Sox fans will watch an hour of Ortiz.

...

Dear NESN:

Here's what you have to do. Make a DVD called "Walkoff". Include all of Ortiz's walkoff hits from his career (and include the three from Minnesota for fun). Include a little narration -- but each DVD chapter will be the entire bottom of the 9th (or later) inning that ends with Ortiz's hit. Include the mob at the plate and any on-field interview.

Now. You should have had this thing ready to go for Christmas. I apologize for not suggesting it earlier, when I first thought of it -- but whenever you get it out there, it'll fly off the fucking shelves. Now get to work.

Love,

4 comments:

  1. I was waiting for your review....and remember I told you it could have been longer. What did not mention were the faults inherent in a 30 minutes minus 9 minutes show. You touched on them all. Still worth saving?? have a great weekend...right now the A's are up 3 zip. At least the picture quality was good. {Peter}

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  2. Thanks for taping and sending it, Peter, much appreciated. And yes, the picture quality was definitely good.

    Of all the problems with that show, I thought the worst was the lack of context for the HRs. I mean, his HRs were cool in themselves, but when he hit them is part of what makes Papi so special to us.

    Add "Big Papi does it again!" to the Orsillo Drinking Game for 2007.

    Here's to getting tanked on that one!

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  3. And would it have killed them to mention my wonderful walk-off research? :>)

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  4. The main culprit in NESN's thinking was hurrying its airing to coincide with the start of the playoffs...they should have done it right and added it, with publicity, for the tens of thousands of NESN watchers hungry for baseball when there will be none to be found. Soon! They could learn so much from us. And if they do it correctly with an 85 or 90 minute show for DVD, with the proper context for EACH and every tater, with the camera views and the comments needed, it would be a true collector's DVD. One that I'd like to own, with so many others that are now on my bookshelves.. Have a great Sunday. The Tigers took THAT step...now it's up to the Mets to put up or shut up. You have a great blog. Love ya!

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