In sync is better

I wanted to watch the Oakland Raiders play the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday but I didn't want to listen to the dufus announcer. It has been my practice in the past to turn off the sound, just leave the picture on the television, and listen to Mitch Holthus and Len Dawson call the ball game.

It wasn't long before I felt like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day." I already knew what was going to happen on the TV because, somewhere along the line, the TV folks had created a five second delay, completely thwarting this idea. On the radio I could hear the ball being punted and on the TV the center hadn't yet snapped it to the kicker. Then, as somebody would break a long run on the radio, I would still be waiting for the ball to be snapped on the TV.

My guess is that they wanted you to watch the TV so you could see the numerous advertisements for Ford trucks, wheat beer, and Progressive Insurance. On the other hand, I like to listen to announcers that know something about the Kansas City Chiefs, but it was a little hard to put it all together when they were not in sync.

Once again, the advertisers won out; by halftime I had given up and switched off the radio in order to keep from being totally confused.