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MLB All Star Game - time to take a bath

S

Seven_Costanza

Two comments.

During the pre-game, Jeanne Zelasko's cut-off of Ernie Harwell was so ham-handed, she should be barred from broadcasting. Forever or anywhere. Just because Ernie is retired doesn't mean he forgot about "the clock" and I'm sure he's had to cut an interview short himself. Hopefully he did it with a little more class. BTW, I'd rather listen to Ernie Harwell read a phone book than hear Ms. Zelasko recite the Canteberry Tales.

Secondly, if you happened to watch the game you may have caught history. Between innings, Fox directed it's cameras towards a banner being unfurled - partially obscurring Chevy's huge HHR billboard - which read simply "hhrya.com". Little Buck tried to play it off as some sort of unrehearsed event which he had no knowledge of. Of course HHRYA.COM directs your browser to a contest to win an HHR. I'm not sure what bothered me more... FOX acting like it was some kind of guerrilla tactic to cover-up a major sponsor (when it was indeed the sponsor coving itself up) or the fact that the web-site couldn't hold the traffic it asked for.

This little scenario is the future of broadcast advertising? Good luck.
 
You expect credibility from FOX?
They are the broadcast equivalent to the New York Daily News. Pure tabloid trash. Besides that its baseball coverage is the worst on any day.

Overall, I think that the All Star Game is going the way of The Miss America Pageant. No one cares and no one watches. Perhaps, we will see it on The Nashville Network next.
He Haw !!!


> Two comments.
>
> During the pre-game, Jeanne Zelasko's cut-off of Ernie
> Harwell was so ham-handed, she should be barred from
> broadcasting. Forever or anywhere. Just because Ernie is
> retired doesn't mean he forgot about "the clock" and I'm
> sure he's had to cut an interview short himself. Hopefully
> he did it with a little more class. BTW, I'd rather listen
> to Ernie Harwell read a phone book than hear Ms. Zelasko
> recite the Canteberry Tales.
>
> Secondly, if you happened to watch the game you may have
> caught history. Between innings, Fox directed it's cameras
> towards a banner being unfurled - partially obscurring
> Chevy's huge HHR billboard - which read simply "hhrya.com".
> Little Buck tried to play it off as some sort of unrehearsed
> event which he had no knowledge of. Of course HHRYA.COM
> directs your browser to a contest to win an HHR. I'm not
> sure what bothered me more... FOX acting like it was some
> kind of guerrilla tactic to cover-up a major sponsor (when
> it was indeed the sponsor coving itself up) or the fact that
> the web-site couldn't hold the traffic it asked for.
>
> This little scenario is the future of broadcast advertising?
> Good luck.
>
 
One hour prior to the game, Fox Sports Net had a Red Carpet special that showed the players coming in before the game. I caught about 15 minutes of it and the guy doing the interviews was terrible. He was insulting many of the players with his questions/comments. When Mike Piazza arrived, the interviewer basically said to him "Mike, you're having a terrible year and the fans still voted you in, how does that make you feel?"
 
> Two comments.
>
> During the pre-game, Jeanne Zelasko's cut-off of Ernie
> Harwell was so ham-handed, she should be barred from
> broadcasting. Forever or anywhere. Just because Ernie is
> retired doesn't mean he forgot about "the clock" and I'm
> sure he's had to cut an interview short himself. Hopefully
> he did it with a little more class. BTW, I'd rather listen
> to Ernie Harwell read a phone book than hear Ms. Zelasko
> recite the Canteberry Tales.

Agreed. Fox should be honored to have a legend like Harwell gracing
their airwaves, and for Zelasko to cut him off in the manner she did
was an abomination. Ernie was at the pinnacle of his profession when
Zelasko was in diapers.

And how about Joe Buck and Tim McCarver toeing the company line and
defending MLB's decision to let the suspended Kenny Rogers play in the game...when just a week before, they had called for Rogers to be excluded!

I cannot wait for Fox to lose the rights to MLB......their shameless
cross-promotion, poor Game of the Week coverage, Tim McCarver, and
"Scooter" have ruined televised baseball.
 
I will not watch baseball on Fox, as it is pure crap, although that is an insult to crap.

What is need is to ditch McCarver and Buck, the two worst baseball anouncers in the known universe. Surely NASA has some deep space mission they could send them on. Scratch that, if they met any aliens they would surely come and kill us all.

Where is Vin Scully when you need him?<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>
 
> Perhaps, we will see it on The Nashville Network next.
> He Haw !!!
>
The Nashville Network is now Spike TV. You mean CMT?

ixnay
 
> > Perhaps, we will see it on The Nashville Network next.
> > He Haw !!!
> >
> The Nashville Network is now Spike TV. You mean CMT?
>
> ixnay
>

Whoever got Miss America. And I think he also meant the Post, not the News.
 
> > > Perhaps, we will see it on The Nashville Network next.
> > > He Haw !!!
> > >
> > The Nashville Network is now Spike TV. You mean CMT?
> >
> > ixnay
> >
>
> Whoever got Miss America. And I think he also meant the
> Post, not the News.
>

There was so much wrong with the telecast last night on so many levels. It was unbelievably cheesy the way they used Elton John's Levon as background music when showing the stats of Livan Hernadez. Livan-Levon Get it! Oh, how horrible! And I've had it with the flusies on the sidelines of sporting events in general. You dont just see this in baseball but also in football. It's ridiculous!
 
>>
> Where is Vin Scully when you need him?
>

"It's interesting to note....", as Mr Scully would say....that Vin continues to work Los Angeles Dodgers games on TV (Fox Sports Net West/2, as well as their over the air station) well into his fifth decade.

The only time I"m able to watch him is when MLB lets me have a free week of their digital cable pay per view games.

I'd love to hear his stories on the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers who will celebrate their 50th year of giving the beloved bourough their only World Championship!
 
> > > > Perhaps, we will see it on The Nashville Network next.
>
> > > > He Haw !!!
> > > >
> > > The Nashville Network is now Spike TV. You mean CMT?
> > >
> > > ixnay
> > >
> >
> > Whoever got Miss America. And I think he also meant the
> > Post, not the News.
> >
>
> There was so much wrong with the telecast last night on
> so many levels. It was unbelievably cheesy the way they
> used Elton John's Levon as background music when showing the
> stats of Livan Hernadez. Livan-Levon Get it! Oh, how
> horrible! And I've had it with the flusies on the sidelines
> of sporting events in general. You dont just see this in
> baseball but also in football. It's ridiculous!
>

For the second time in recent years, perhaps more than that, FOX bagged the Canadian anthem in favor of a commercial. Spirited thread on this issue at http://www.mlb.com.
 
FOX loses baseball after 2006??

I gotta give FOX credit for bringing back a Game of The Week on Saturday afternoons and somewhat reviving This Week In Baseball but either they need to get rid of most their announcers and pre-game talent or just focus on getting a contract with a college (football) conference to match their BCS acquisition for 2007 and let another network pay out the nose to broadcast baseball. Hell, I would've been happy to see ESPN broadcast the All-Star Game but Bud Selig would never let it happen unless ESPN pays for the MLB TV rights for 2007 and gives ABC the All-Star Game, Playoffs and World Series. I actually hope another network does pick up Major League Baseball and not screw it up like CBS did from 1990-1993, NBC/ABC did in 1994 and 1995 with their Baseball Network and Baseball Night In America broadcasts, and NBC did from 1996-2000 with their All-Star Game and Playoffs only telecasts.

CBS right now seems like a good choice because they nothing during the summer (sorry, I don't count golf) but the only question is scheduling around SEC Football on Saturdays and NFL on Sundays.

NBC can try to go back to a Game of The Week, but they're too cheap to pay for it and by 2007 they will have to worry about the NHL, NASCAR, Olympics in 2008 and Sunday Night NFL.

ABC right now seems like they have the least but don't forget about the fact that they pretty much OWN College Football TV (well only the regular season come Fall 2006) but that seems like the only day they have to fret about is Saturday. Can we say an LCS on ESPN.
 
Re: FOX loses baseball after 2006??

> I gotta give FOX credit for bringing back a Game of The Week
> on Saturday afternoons and somewhat reviving This Week In
> Baseball but either they need to get rid of most their
> announcers and pre-game talent or just focus on getting a
> contract with a college (football) conference to match their
> BCS acquisition for 2007 and let another network pay out the
> nose to broadcast baseball.

Fox's "Game of the Week" is a joke..I find little appeal in seeing the same regional teams week after week, only sans hometown announcers. And what they have done to "This Week In Pepsi...er, Baseball" is even worse. The real "Game of the Week" is ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, and has been for a long time.

>
> CBS right now seems like a good choice because they nothing
> during the summer (sorry, I don't count golf) but the only
> question is scheduling around SEC Football on Saturdays and
> NFL on Sundays.

Regardless of which network airs baseball, they will not air September/October games against football unless absolutely forced to by rain delays.

> NBC can try to go back to a Game of The Week, but they're
> too cheap to pay for it and by 2007 they will have to worry
> about the NHL, NASCAR, Olympics in 2008 and Sunday Night
> NFL.

I wonder if the policy of "no Sunday Night Football during the World Series" will continue under the new NBC deal?

>
> ABC right now seems like they have the least but don't
> forget about the fact that they pretty much OWN College
> Football TV (well only the regular season come Fall 2006)
> but that seems like the only day they have to fret about is
> Saturday. Can we say an LCS on ESPN.

I think ESPN getting exclusive rights and farming out the All-Star Game, World Series, some playoff games and perhaps some kind of Saturday Game of the Week to ABC is a strong possibility, and I hope it comes to be. ESPN is not perfect, but I'll take their coverage of baseball over Fox any day of the week.
 
I remember the last time I was wrong; I was in my cradle and . . . ;-)



> > Perhaps, we will see it on The Nashville Network next.
> > He Haw !!!
> >
> The Nashville Network is now Spike TV. You mean CMT?
>
> ixnay
>
 
Re: FOX loses baseball after 2006??

> Fox's "Game of the Week" is a joke..I find little appeal in
> seeing the same regional teams week after week, only sans
> hometown announcers. And what they have done to "This Week
> In Pepsi...er, Baseball" is even worse. The real "Game of
> the Week" is ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball, and has been for
> a long time.

I would have to agree.
When baseball is on Fox, I do not watch as I cannot stand McCarver and Buck, the two worst sports announcers in the known universe.

<P ID="signature">______________
WCBS = We're Crazy Buffoons and Schmucks
<a href=http://chuck.spotteddogs.org/tv/>Spotted Dog TV Talk - for all your non-news TV Talk</a></P>
 
random thoughts (was Re: MLB All Star Game - time to take a bath)

> For the second time in recent years, perhaps more than that,
> FOX bagged the Canadian anthem in favor of a commercial.
> Spirited thread on this issue at http://www.mlb.com.>

Thankfully, I didn't watch the game telecast, as I was at work. But I listened to the ESPN radiocast, and what bothered me was the apparently small regard the placed on "O, Canada" by having a choir sing that anthem, only to bring out American R&B superstar Brian McKnight to do "The Star-Spangled Banner".

Fox, MLB, and the Tigers couldn't find a Canadian-born performer to sing the Canadian national anthem? Fox runs a commercial in place of "O, Canada"? And this took place in Detroit, a border city no less?? FOX being pro-USA doesn't really shock me, but if the Tigers have any kind of fan base on the other side of the Detroit River, I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be happy about being snubbed like that.

As for all this Buck/McCarver bashing, please STOP!! While they aren't the best announcing duo on national TV (Jon Miller/Joe Morgan on ESPN has that honor, IMO) they aren't the worst, despite their pro-Yankee and pro-Cardinal biases.

Tim McCarver is one of the sharpest and smartest analysts around, and he's been doing it for a long time. He's also very honest with his criticisms, but his one fatal flaw may be hammering a point for too long.

Joe Buck will never be confused with his late father, but I respect and prefer his style very much. Fox should really take him off their NFL coverage, though, and keep him strictly on MLB.
<P ID="signature">______________
"Know your role and shut your mouth!!" -- The Rock</P>
 
> You expect credibility from FOX?
> They are the broadcast equivalent to the New York Daily
> News.

Well, I trust Fox News (they ain't Dan Rather) but Fox Sports can be a bit
much. Gee, will they point out the Curse of the Bambino again this week
when the Yanks come to Boston? I didn't know about that! (/sarcasm)
 
Re: FOX loses baseball after 2006??

Enbycee noted:

> Fox's "Game of the Week" is a joke..I find little appeal in
> seeing the same regional teams week after week, only sans
> hometown announcers.

The reason for this is that Fox usually covers three or four regional telecasts each week.

And there is some logic behind that.

Let's say that Fox were to carry just one game on a Saturday afternoon, and that it has the Boston Red Sox hosting the New York Yankees. That game would get a lot of viewers in Boston and New York (and in markets near Boston and New York), but would have very little appeal in the rest of the country.

By contrast, let's say that Fox covers four regional baseball games on a Saturday afternoon, and that the games were:

* New York Yankees at Boston Red Sox
* Pittsburgh Pirates at Philadelphia Phillies
* St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs
* San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers (4:15 P.M. EDT--1:15 PDT--start; the other games on our hypothetical Saturday start at 1:15 P.M. EDT. This regional telecast is shown only on the West Coast)

You now have hometown teams playing on a Fox telecast in eight markets, and many viewers in (and near) those eight cities will tune-in, which will significantly raise the total national ratings when compared to a single game.

That's one reason why the Fox and CBS Sunday-afternoon NFL packages get good ratings: Every Sunday-afternoon game is regionally televised to the home cities of the two participating teams. Having hometown teams televised in each city whose local NFL teams are playing on a Sunday afternoon boosts total network ratings.
 
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