9781422286784

A Long Way from Fenway F enway P ark in B oston is home to M ajor League Baseball’s Red Sox. It’s the old- est ballpark still in use in the Major Leagues. Its left-field scoreboard turns back the clock. Metal signs identifying scores and results from the innings—outs, runs, hits, etc.—are hung from inside the left-field wall by a human operator. The dinged-up panels bear the scars of years of baseballs hitting them, along with paint faded by sun and rain. Such scoreboards are now just there for nos- talgia. Today, massive high-tech scoreboards and video screens provide a treasure trove of information and entertainment to fans in the seats. Not only is this a benefit for fans, who can choose from numerous screens to watch and learn more about players and teams, but teams and stadiums can make big money sell- ing ads on and around the screens. The state of Texas has a famous slogan: “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” That goes for stadium video screens. Each new stadium in recent years seems to be trying to outdo one another for massive screen size. The 2012 de- but of Cowboys Stadium in Dallas is a great example. The screen that hangs above the playing field is 160 feet wide and 71 feet tall, an area of nearly 12,000 square feet. Fans can see images on the screen almost instantly af- ter each play. In between quarters and plays,

WORDS TO UNDERSTAND grandstands a name for a large seating area at a stadium, usually long rows without any partitions scalper slang term for a person who illegally buys and sells tickets to an event, usually at a price above “face value”

stem in sports: technology

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