THE FRONT ROW with MARK NELKE: Sports on TV still a little weird, but we'll take it

| September 27, 2020 1:25 AM

You can tell sports is back — almost — by the number of TVs you need in the living room (or man cave, or wherever) to keep track of everything.

SEC football returned Saturday which, if we were to believe the national media folks, means college football is back to normal.

We in the West would beg to differ, since Pac-12 football is still six weeks from returning. And the return of Boise State Conference football is still four weeks away.

And Big Sky football will still have to wait until the spring.

But yes, at least on TV, things are looking closer to normal — as much as that is possible during this forgettable year.

Some wise folks recently asked me what I thought of the sports that have come back — some played in bubbles, most played without fans.

So I thought about it ...

NBA GAMES look almost like NBA Summer League games, or when the top players gather for summer pickup games at UCLA — few people watching at the site, no large crowd to give a team a home-court advantage. That’s why an NBA Finals no one would have expected, like Miami vs. Denver, was a distinct possibility.

Verdict: perhaps because they’re not playing in NBA arenas, I’ve found myself not watching as much NBA playoffs as I normally would. It just doesn’t look like the NBA.

NFL, major league baseball and NHL games at least sort of look normal, as all are being played in arenas or stadiums.

The more TV zooms in on the actual game, the closer it looks to normal on TV. But the more they pan back and show the whole stadium, then it just looks more like two teams, in full uniforms, scrimmaging in an empty venue.

The piped-in crowd noise sounds kinda corny, but maybe that helps with the atmosphere.

Players at T-Mobile Park in Seattle are probably startled when they look up in the stands and see the thousands of cardboard cutouts of humans (and animals) in the seats — there aren’t that many REAL people that go to Mariners games on a nightly basis.

The U.S. Opens — golf and tennis — looked close to normal, played at the actual venues and not looking like virtual golf or Wii tennis.

I still watched a lot of the golf, despite the lack of crowd energy — though it was cool when folks would gather in someone’s backyard on one of the holes and cheer. It was nice, but a bit surprising, as we’re getting used to silence when someone sinks a 40-foot bomb.

I thought we would see even more “galleries” in people’s backyards, since many golf courses are surrounded by homes.

I didn’t watch as much of the tennis, mostly because some of the stars weren’t playing — or were gone early.

Verdict: I still watch baseball and the NFL like normal. I feel bad I haven’t watched much hockey at all, but it also could be because there’s a glut of different sports on TV these days.

Also, I’m not used to a Stanley Cup Final in September. That could also be why the NBA doesn’t seem as normal this year — its playoffs are usually a springtime affair as well.

BUT, BOTTOM line, we’re not going to complain.

In the end, we’ll take whatever we can get as far as live sports — maybe even cornhole.

Watching old games was nostalgic for a while, and I probably like reliving those moments more than most. But when you start to become more familiar with your favorite team from 30 years ago than the one that’s playing right now (or will soon) ...

It’s time to give the VCR a rest.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @CdAPressSports.