Houston is a proud town and while the Astros don’t always win, they are proud of their team. You can often hear people having heated water-cooler discussions about the games at Minute Maid Park or the latest concert they attended. The venue is big enough, but not too big and almost everyone in town has been to the park to attend one kind of event or another. But the water-cooler talk has taken a rather nasty turn. It seems that a new electronic scoreboard has gone up at Minute Maid Park and opinions are passionate as to exactly what it is and why it’s there.
If you went to an Astros game in the past, you would have seen a large television screen that played nonstop videos of advertising, game bloopers, pre and post game information and a never ending, always incessant stream of audio and video. Not too many people liked it, but, they got to the point where they became used to it. Most recently, a new high definition and absolutely monstrous electronic scoreboard was installed at Minute Maid Park. The TV that was always thought to be large enough is still there, set to the side, but now it looks like a little miniature box. The scoreboard was complimented with strips placed in between the seating levels so that they too can be coordinated for continued digitized viewing.
There are big time mixed concepts on this new scoreboard. Comments have been flowing by the locals as to the fact that the scoreboard is actually too big. It overtakes the section of the stadium where it’s installed and the audio is so loud that no one can hear each other. During the half time, the sponsor ads blare so badly that you have to leave your seat and exit the area if you want to have a conversation with the people that you came to the game with.
It has been said that the scoreboard at Minute Maid Park is the fourth largest for the MLB. While some may think that big is better, everything has to be kept in perspective. Sometimes big is too big. Sometimes there can be overkill in a visual presentation of this sort and a game needs to be watched and enjoyed for the essence of the game itself.
On the opposite side of the spectrum we have attendees that are reveling in the high tech abilities of this new electronic scoreboard. They love the special effects that the digitized strips offer, coordinating messages, music and information. They like the vibrant colors, the up to the nanosecond statistics and all of the other incredible bells and whistles that this technology brings to the table.
Whatever side you saddled up to in this discussion, the first glance appearance of the scoreboard does seem a bit intrusive as compared to the size of the stadium. However, if you are into the high tech side, it is no more intrusive than the large wide screen television that might take up three quarters of your living room. Personally, I believe in the ‘Goldilocks’ theory: not too big, not too small, just right.
Source:
blogs.houstonpress.com