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The North End hates ESPN
By adamg on Wed, 05/23/2018 - 10:38pm
Seems ESPN has a contract with some company to fly a plane over the Garden to show what the building looks like when the Celtics are playing. And the plane just keeps flying in circles over the North End, over and over and over and over and over again, and people are beginning to get sick of it.
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Kenmore Sq. and Back Bay deal with the noisy low-flying Geico banner ad plane circling overhead for 6hrs on Sox game days. Believe it or not but people actually live and work in Boston, it's not just Disneyland for suburbanites playing tourist for the day.
Do civil aircraft have mufflers?
If not, why not? In the Vietnam War, there was a night-surveillance plane that had a heavily-muffled Corvair engine. It made no sound, yet still flew. Are the loud private planes safer (sarcasm), or do their owners just enjoy annoying large numbers of citizens?
Source of the noise
Most of the noise is the propeller itself rather than the engine. The night surveillance planes had a lot of other modifications beside the muffler on the engine, many of which would in fact make the plane less safe (and less practical) for ordinary use.
I don't know about "most"
This NASA survey (PDF) of various experiments to reduce noise from prop planes includes (in Section 3, beginning on p. 28) studies using just mufflers, and includes this statement: "Muffling of piston engines is shown to have a significant effect on noise." In at least some of the experiments, power losses were minor.
Ah, the Poor Kenmore Square Person Who Hates The Sox
It is a great little open air parlor game. When I leave Fenway I like to point out to whomever I am with to watch the faces of the people walking against the crowd who have a disdained look on their faces, especially along Comm. Ave. between Island Creek and McDonald's.
There are plenty of mostly 20 somethings who cannot believe that these cretins have dared come into their urban environment while they blow in from suburban Philly for a year to do their post-grad work or are scraping by (with Mom and Dad's help) on their first job as a "creative type" at some marketing company. The look on their faces says this baseball thing is such a nuisance.
It is awfully cute. I actually lived in Kenmore for a spell and game days were interesting, especially watching the drunks walk by. I will say this though, I knew full well moving to Kenmore that there was this thing called Fenway Park that was somewhat filled (then) 82 days a year and that little bandbox had been there since 1912 and it was the heart of the neighborhood and I was only passing through. You should get used to it as well.
You don't move to East Boston or Winthrop and complain about airport noise. You don't move to Revere Beach and complain about the sound of the ocean or people in front of Kelly's. You don't move to Worcester Square and complain about ambulance sirens and you don't move to anywhere within 1,500 feet of Fenway and complain about baseball. Welcome to the city.
The person in the North End complaining about a plane taking shots of an indoor arena. Yes, that is valid. At least NBC has the smarts to do ground shots of the waterfront for NFL games. How many shots of the Shawmut Center / Fleet Center / TD BankNorth Garden does one need?
Help me understand this
The person who lives in the Fens and complains about the endlessly circling planes is completely unjustified because the stadium is open, but the person who lives near the Garden and complains about the endlessly circling planes is justified because...the stadium is closed. Oh wait, you thought the plane was "taking shots"? Uh-uh. It's advertising. They're not "taking shots" of anything.
BTW, John, "disdained" is a past participle, not an adjective. HTH, HAND.
Planes Over Fenway?
Blimps, Planes, maybe even ultralights. Yes, for decades they have been over Fenway. They are part of the urban fabric and have been there a long time before that person moved to the Fens. They are advertising to the people in the stadium and I am sure they are regulated.
Taking aerial shots of an indoor arena for viewers at home? Stupid.
Go ahead and complain. I'm sure the FAA will respond immediately.
I'm sorry that I used a past participle in my statement. Using HTH, HAND? Are you typing your response while in the bus on the way to middle school?
Wrong
The planes are fairly new. It used to be blimps.
You don't live there - how would you even know?
Don't you live in Vermont?
And you should read the actual linked story. This isn't advertising. This is flying around and taking live footage to patch in on breaks.
Nope
Nope. But I lived in the Fens for 10 years. They had planes then too.
Thank you.
Been saying this for years.
Celtics season can't end fast enough. Go Warriors.
??
"Celtics season can't end fast enough. Go Warriors."
The Celtics are playing the Cavs. If the Celts win, they play one more seven game series. It's what, four more games?
Regardless of where you stand on the impact of a sports team on the city, this Celtics team is incredibly fun to root for. They have been underdogs in virtually every game this post-season and they've been winning with teamwork, defense, coaching and an eye-opening performance of a pair of very young players on the verge of superstardom all while overcoming season-ending injuries to their two big free agent signings.
If you can't enjoy this Celtics team, I don't think you can enjoy basketball.
Get over it babies you live
Get over it babies you live smack dab in the middle of the city.
When you grow up and get a
When you grow up and get a job and actually (gasp! omfg) pay your own way you might get it.
Every city has residential sections to it.
I hear this a lot from people that grew up in the burbs:
"It's the city! It should be loud! There should be trash everywhere! Let's Raaaaage!!!"
Every city in the world has residential sections to it. Just because a street or neighborhood is within city limits it doesn't mean every inch of the city can be treated like Landsdowne Street after a Sox game.
learn about city living or don't come here.
Thank you TB Lightning for ending the Bruins season which in turn increased the quality of life for many residents a week or two early...and thank you to the Pennsylvania Eagles for beating the Patriots. This prevented the city from throwing a silly parade for suburbanite sportsball fans.
Now go Cavs!
Wow.
You really are a special little loser. Let's rage....
Another figment of your tiny little imagination.
Loser!
There's nothing I like more
There's nothing I like more than watching aerial views of a roofed arena. It really adds a lot to the game....
Didn't read the post?
They're not taking "aerial views of a roofed arena". It's an ad plane.
Didn't read the post?
We're talking about a small Cessna flying circles over the Garden at night. It's not an ad plane. It was taking shots of the arena from above (which can be confirmed by everyone who watched the game last night).
Somebody else was complaining about ad planes over Fenway in a separate comment.
Ad planes are horrible too.
Ad planes are horrible too. No one goes to the beach to hear some stupid plane flying an add for a car wash or whatever. I'll actively avoid a business who engages in that rubbish.
How the hell are we gonna explain all this dumb crap to future generations? "Wait, one of the most popular sports in America was watching cars drive around in a circle for hours? And this was after you'd know for decades that auto emissions were ruining the planet and causing lethal diseases?!?"
OK
I agree that ad planes are annoying.
But what's with the NASCAR dig? I don't like NASCAR either (road course racing is where the real excitement is), but that comment came out of far left field. You're really stretching to hit your anti-automobile comment quota today.
"[Something-something] cars,
"[Something-something] cars, [something-something] parking, [something-something] cyclists."
It's not that hard
The same way we explain that every Friday night they used to show men beating crap out of each other on TV. (Friday Night Fights)
Nope
They are literally getting live shots of a roofed arena.
And such a waste of money
Didn't ESPN just have to lay off tons of employees... If ESPN somehow thinks aerial shots of an indoor arena add value to their broadcast, why not do the aerial shoot once, then save money by always playing the same footage?
Or come up with something easier
People would be all over a "live" shot if the weather changes and the shot is clearly taped. How about just a live shot of the street scene with the Garden sign in the back or random "Boston" scenes or the Zakim bridge. They typically use all that kind of stuff anyway....showing the roof of the garden adds nothing.
It totally adds value
I mean, I want to know what is going on near the arena. Like, is there traffic near the arena? Has the sun set yet? Is there a wind? Are there people walking by the arena? Very, very important stuff. Vital for knowing how the game will go.
Add to my personal "Get off my lawn, you kids," complaints...
Add to my personal "Get off my lawn, you kids," complaints, the news helicopters that hover over the State House. You know, because my understanding of a bill currently under debate, the implications of its passage, the history of how it came to be, the alignment of political forces on either side, is so vastly enhanced by live aerial footage of the State House during debate.
tv news orgs
also seem to think that it's important that the reporter speak from in front of a courthouse, etc. despite the fact that the courthouse or whatever closed hours before and everyone went home.
Use a drone
I'd think this could be done by a lower altitude drone easily enough and much more cheaply.
agreed..
A drone would make much more sense, though i bet ESPN needs some sort of 4k high def live stream.. I watched the game and saw the footage a few times but a few seconds of footage seems like a silly expense.
But, complaining about this stuff when you live in a CITY is kind of silly in the first place.
Logan air space
might prohibit a drone in this location.
But not a small plane?
Flying around and around and around and around and around?
Actually, no
There are places where you can fly a plane, but not a drone
...or strike a deal with the
...or strike a deal with the state to buy one minute of real-time video feed every hour from the traffic cameras on the bridge behind the Garden.
For that matter, I'm a little surprised that the Garden doesn't have a cam of their own on a neighboring rooftop - that they would then sell the feed to the appropriate team/league/network.
A good idea, but have you
A good idea, but have you ever viewed traffic camera feeds? The image quality is terrible -- not up to broadcast standards.
Posting a dedicated Garden-cam would make a lot of sense. It would have to cost less than the hundreds of dollars per event that the plane costs.
Why have live shots at all?
Surely they already have clips of the building in all possible conditions: day, night, snow, sun, rain, sunset, whatever. If they just used whichever one looked appropriate to the moment, no one would know the difference.
isn't this normally a job for
isn't this normally a job for blimps? they're good at hovering over one spot for a long time.
Hovering blimp noise is
Hovering blimp noise is annoying too.
When did we suddenly become a society
of hypersensitive self-centered people who get into a panic because a plane is flying overhead?
Oh right, because the "environmental" types have unilaterally declared noise to be nothing short of pure evil that needs to be totally obliterated.
It's a small plane people - get over yourselves already.
Aw, angry man is angry
It's not just that there was a plane overhead, but that it kept circling overhead. For the entire game.
Small planes are dangerous
Small planes are far more prone to crashes for random unforeseen reasons or "pilot distracted" reasons than airliners are.
A small plane crashing into an urban area means fairly high body counts.
When?
September 11, 2001
Don't go it alone, call Markey and Capuano
Since the advent of cable TV and not long after trading his ice cream truck for a lifetime in politics, Sen. Ed Markey has boasted about his influence with the cable TV industry of which ESPN is a significant part. While we are awaiting Ed's long promised lower rates, could he make a phone call to ESPN to cease the flights on behalf of his constituents?
Likewise, U.S. Representative Mike Capuano, in the fight for his political life, is not only a longtime member of the House Transportation Committee but also a member of the Aviation Subcommittee. Could he call the FAA or Winged Vision (owner of the plane) and ask this practice to end or be limited?
Don't hold your breath unless the airplane noise is disrupting a meeting of MS-13 down below.
Alternate title...
"Everyone Hates ESPN"