Can a sound change your attitude for the better? Can it relax your mind and bring an immediate wave of peace over you? Some might struggle to understand how this might be so. Some might give an affirmative answer and say that such a sound might come from their mother or father or child. My answer is a scene that comes from my past. When I moved to Indiana from New York to attend graduate school, I did not have a great social life and I worked very long, very gruelling hours. My typical choice for an activity during my down time was to watch television, specifically baseball. Back in the 1980s, there were only two choices for televised baseball. One was WGN in Chicago, which broadcast the Cubs games. The other was TBS in Atlanta who carried the Braves. I chose to watch and follow the Braves.The Braves were televised on TBS up until a few years ago. I cannot give an accurate estimate of how many games I watched, but win or lose, those broadcasts meant so much to me. They kept me from being alone. Heck, I had a whole team of friends, and I was certain that they played better when I was watching. To me, the greatest sound in the world was turning on the television and hearing the roar of the crowd before the picture came to life. The soothing sounds of Skip Caray, Pete van Wieren, Joe Simpson, and Don Sutton helped me pass the time and gave me something to look forward to, to cheer for, to get emotional over. I miss those games, those people, and those voices, but the memories of those times are still very much with me.
