Radio Day

Came to a conclusion this afternoon -- actually just now.

I'm pretty damn spoiled when it comes to getting coverage of my favorite teams. Especially coverage on the telly. My beloved Florida Gators. Those exasperating Buccaneers. The venerable Boston Celtics. All television regulars.

And then there are my Tampa Bay Rays. Baseball is one hell of a long season -- and the Rays broadcast team is there on one channel or another to bring me pre-game, gametime and post-game coverage.

Except for the rare moment when there's no TV coverage.

Like tonight.

Whoa.

What's a sports chick to do?

Tried following on the "real-time" (and oooooh, how I use that term loosely) Yahoo sports thing. Meh.

Not an MLB.com subscriber. There went that audio option.

And then I realized the stereo receiver in the living room has a radio component. Push a couple of buttons -- Bingo, Bango, Bongo and Irving ... POW! Got the game, coming straight to my ears.

Old school, baby.

(BTW, if you get the semi-obscure pop culture reference in the above statement, we need to talk...)

There's something to be said for listening to a sports event, as opposed to watching it. Takes a little work. But it's worth it.

The mind's eye goes into overdrive, processing the plays as the announcers call 'em. I'm picturing the outfield, the diamond, the dugout. Processing the action as well as what's going on around the action.

I'm a really visual person -- like to see things. It's my learning style. So this is a workout for me. But it's good.

My pop, when he was a kid playing sandlot baseball in Orlando in the '40s, took in all his big league games this way. Hoping the atmosphere would line up just right so he could hear the broadcast of his favorite team of the day, the St. Louis Cardinals.

There's something really pure and unsullied about this experience -- this listening to a game thing. Innocent almost. And while my radio is more complicated than the little transistor with the white single-earpiece my day used, the broadcasts then and now probably don't differ all that much.

The beauty of the game. Timeless. Any way you look -- or listen -- at it.