Nats on the Radio

Someone over at XM Radio may be a Nats Fan.

As Nate already mentioned today, I didn't make the Picnic or today's game. I'll admit, I'm kinda disappointed in that, and am really looking forward to Watson's pictures and getting back to DC to hear the stories. I was at yesterday's game with Watson, but others have covered that mess.

Instead, I'm spending the week in Beantown for a Microsoft conference. I tend to go to a lot of these, as they are always good for business. This time, I elected to drive up, since I'm here a week and it wasn't that bad a drive.

From 1pm to 4pm, I listened to channel 183 on XM. XM has the contract with MLB for the game broadcasts, and for those who don't know, they broadcast the home team's broadcast. Thus, I was able to listen to Charlie Slowes and Dave Jageler

I briefly reviewed the broadcasts last year, but thought I would spend a little more time on it this year, particularly since I have some time here in the hotel. :)

I think this year's radio team is actually really strong. Their game coverage was tight, and included good side stories on minor league ball (and clubhouses), and a particularly good sense of the game. They dwelled some on a foul ball that landed in the booth yesterday, but you can't blame them. Apparently it almost took out Dave's head.

They had plenty of information (as you would expect), but also used it well. It was good situational descriptions. They even went into great detail on player placement, uniforms, and the like -- I got a good sense of the game as it was played.

Watson and I were talking about the MASN crew yesterday, so it led me to think about this for tonight.

Compliments also go out to XM -- they add text on every out, so your display (my dash, in this case), was displaying both the score and the current situation -- "Top 7th, 1 Out" for example. Someone is adding that -- and doing a good job too. Since I was stuck in traffic when the game ended, I snapped that picture of my dash display, which amused me to no end. The fact it has two exclamation points at the end is part of the fun. I think their coverage is worth it.

Just some thoughts on today's radio broadcast. I don't think it was as good as the picnic.... but then again, Microsoft has rented Fenway for Thursday, with a private concert with Train. That should make this week a little extra fun.