I don't understand why even bother going with conferences for the playoffs. Just do straight seeds. I guess I was just hoping for a first round Fire vs Chivas match. The Fire Eagle vs. The Emperor. No holds bared cage match.
It makes a difference in all kinds of ways. For instance, when the crowd is into the match, it feels like a better match to the announcers, which reduces the number of times the announcers want to step on it. To end the first inning of tonights ALCS, the announcers said absolutely nothing about Dice-K's last pitches. The crowd thundered, and the announcers let it speak for itself.
Interesting footnote to this post: at the bottom of the sixth, the camera brings us back from the commercial break with a front-row shot of. . . none other than Taylor Twellman! Similar reaction from the announcers, silence presumably so as to let you breathe in the moment. Strangely, though, no crowd thunder.
I'm really scared of the attendance numbers for this series. I think it will be tough to beat 15k combined for both games.