When the Announcers are Involved, We Have More Fun

So far I have had the pleasure of going to two events: a football (soccer) match at Wembley Stadium, and a beach volleyball game at Horse Grounds Parade (a stadium near Buckingham Palace).  The difference in the atmosphere of the two events was astounding.

The attendance at Wembley was around 76,000 people for the North Korea V Gabon game I attended.  For the most part, the announcers left the crowd to its own devices.  There were claps for good plays, random calls for cheers, and a wave here and there, but for the most part the atmosphere was fairly subdued.  Maybe it was because being a football fan is such a normal thing in Europe, the announcers left the fans alone.

The beach volleyball game was a totally different atmosphere.  The announcers would have different sections of the arena do different cheers at frequent intervals.  The music was up-tempo, and the energy was incredibly high.  The stadium only holds around 20,000, so the waves done by the crowd were quick and frequent.  There were cheerleaders in bikinis (although it was quite chilly) that came out and danced periodically.  The most important thing is that whatever the announcer called for you to do, they (the announcer) did themselves, so the fans really got in to it.

Maybe it is because beach volleyball is less known, maybe it is because we got to see powerhouse Brazil play Spain, but the involvement of the announcers at the Horse Grounds Stadium made the experience that much better

-Matthew Reitzfeld

Posted by olympian on August 4, 2012 | Filed under: GWSB News,Olympics.