Cards’ video board “supports the team”

A recent post by Phil Kurz at Broadcast Engineering outlines the fancy new technology that has been acquired and installed at Busch III since last season’s unspeakable exit from the Major League Baseball Wild Card and Other Winners Tournament.

Despite some issues with reading comprehension (and/or writing comprehension – yeah, think about it) on Kurz’ post – for instance, I had to re-read several times to gather that the Cardinals had not purchased several video motion graphics companies including but not limited to Avid, Daktronics, Pixar, and DreamWorks – it appears that the system in place is being reined in on many counts.

To wit, from Craig Wilson, Manager — Production & Creative Services, Corporate Marketing, St. Louis Cardinals:

‘We take a fan-base mentality, and what we do is a secondary thing. It’s all about supporting the team.’

Kurz goes on to write:

Wilson draws a distinction between the ‘very conservative’ approach the Cardinals organization takes to video and some other sports enterprises that are constantly looking for ways to push the video production envelope to enhance the fan experience.

…

This approach is understandable given that the team’s fans are frequently called ‘the best in baseball.’ With a passion for the game and deep love for their team, the idea that Wilson and his crew could do anything to ‘enhance’ their experience at the game is a stretch.

So, one, damn you Joe Strauss and your BFIB flapdoodle. Second, don’t insult me Phil Kurz, the Cardinals could do plenty to “enhance” my experience at a game at Busch III. If the scoreboard spewed free Schlafly at the mere opportunity of every gosh-forsaken sacrifice bunt without prompt, we’d be talking about a SERIOUS NUMBER of enhancements.

Of note, there appear to be sufficient upgrades (albeit without mention of a Schlafly spigot) on the horizon:

Wilson also notes that AMG’s HD support will be fully deployed as the new Busch Stadium, which opened in April 2006, transitions its stadium displays to HD in 2015.

Cool! In the meantime,

Wilson is the first to acknowledge that the Cardinals’ initial deployment of AMG has been conservative, but that’s not too surprising given the philosophy behind the role of stadium video for the 11-time MLB World Champions. ‘We play it as safe as safe can be,’ says Wilson.

Of course. This jives with the club that has sacrifice bunted 74 times this season, fourth in the National League. Teases. Swing away! Let the talent (and/or technology) make things happen!

(This over-dramatization brought to you by an off-day. Hope you enjoyed. The video screen stuff is real.)