Because I know you want to know..

My Redskins finally lost a game. I spent lots of time in the car yesterday. Why? Because while I can’t guarantee that my Redskins will be shown on television in this Philadelphia market, they’ll always be on 1320 AM out of Gettysburg. And I can only really get that station in my car. Which leads to this revelation:

I love listening to sports on the radio. When I was a boy, I don’t think cable existed (until my teens) and because of that, there wasn’t the availability of sports on television like there is today. So you might have gotten one game a week (shout-out to Mel Allen and This Week in Baseball). But all the games were on the radio. I used to listen to Orioles and Capitals games on WTOP and Redskins games on WMAL. When I would go to bed, I would set my clock radio so that I could listen to the game as I went to sleep. I would also listen to Larry King on non-sport nights, but that’s a story for another day.

The absence of television coverage allowed me to create a picture in my own mind of what was going on. I could create my own images of Cal Ripken, Jr, Rod Langway and John Riggins. And there was the drama. I could be on the edge of my seat, thanks to the play-by-play of people like Jon Miller, Ron Weber and Frank Herzog. It was great. And it was quality stuff. Not some of the crap they try to pass off on TV today. I’ve often thought about subscribing to satellite radio so I pick up these broadcasts again. But that time hasn’t come yet. And until it does, I’ll cherish my memories of those nights on the radio.