Is A Scoreboard More Than Just A Scoreboard? – Brose Knows

It is safe to assume that we are fully immersed in the “dog days” of summer when the hot topic of the week in the Sens blogosphere relates to the audio/video equipment within Scotiabank Place. Indeed, courtesy of a piece by Sens Town, which pointed to a “leak” of the elusive new scoreboard believed to be headed for the rafters at SBP by a third party, scoreboard designing company – Anthony James Partners, bloggers and fans alike launched into a tizzy of excitement and speculation. With no official word from the Senators organization, eyebrows were raised even higher when the leak was mopped up and the scoreboard pictures on the AJP website were replaced with a curious “coming soon”.

There has been a plethora of double speak and veiled commentary on the scoreboard issue from within, so much so that it’s nearly impossible for an outsider to make heads or tails about what kind of dubious device will be hanging over centre ice come the fall. This latest happening just adds more fuel to the fire. The one constant through all the hemming and hawing remains fan interest, nay, demand for a score/videoboard that takes SBP and the Ottawa Senators out of the stone age in that department. It’s a demand that begs the question, is a scoreboard more than just a scoreboard in the modern NHL (sports) landscape?

Long gone are the days of the 2D, flat boards (literally) that performed the basics of displaying the score, period, time remaining, and penalty time. Today’s videoboards are spectacles in themselves; they are massive multi-screen, multi-dimensional, entertainment super beings. Not only are they gargantuan, but all the latest and greatest “boards” function at the highest of definitions and the utmost crispness in sound. These modern things give new meaning to Marshall McLuhan’s theory of the medium being the message. It seems as though the videoboard has become almost as important as the sporting event itself. Fans want options, they want crystal clear replays, stunning graphics, and interactivity. It’s not surprising really, if capitalism and consumerism have taught us anything it is that the newest gadget far exceeds that two-year-old model we still have kicking around. Apple, for example, has it down to a science; how often does a new iPhone come out? With ticket prices ever climbing and our ingrained desires for cutting-edge technology, why shouldn’t fans want the best available scoreboard option for games involving their local team?

In Ottawa, a special set of circumstances surround the desire for a new scoreboard. In addition to the facts that the scoreboard at SBP is an over ten-year-old model, ranks as one of the eldest in the entire NHL, and that Sens fans have watched as scoreboards league-wide have been upgraded while the one at home remains stagnant, 2011-12 will see the All Star Game take place in the nation’s capital. If there was ever a catalyst to modernize, this is it. The eyes of the NHL and millions of fans around North American will be on the hockey venue in Kanata, and we don’t want to look like a bunch of hayseeds with our dead-tech doohickey. We have enough insecurities as is. A brand-spanking scoreboard would be like that amazing wedding cake at a wedding; everyone appreciates a fine-looking wedding cake.

Past the ASG is the reality of the rebuild in Sens land. Rebuilds tend to make for some long evenings. Long evenings can put a strain on ticket sales. Having something fresh and grandé to look at over centre ice during those long evenings would certainly be appreciated.

The answer is an emphatic “yes!” A scoreboard is more than just a scoreboard, and that answer is even more pronounced if you are a fan of Ottawa Senators in 2011. The time has come today, Eugene. Buy us that new iPhone.

…And now you

know

want, what Brose

Knows

Wants.

(PS: I don’t want an iPhone.)

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