Fox Sports Has A Weird Way of Describing The Texas Rangers

Somehow the fact that the franchise (initially the Washington Senators) was founded in 1961 (49 years ago) and played their 1st season in Texas in 1972 (38 years ago) is not the most disturbing part of that headline.

Meet Your 2009 BCS Announcers!

Both Fox and ABC have decided to release their BCS announcers and I must say, there are definitley some surprises. I know that I normally save posts like these for when the whole schedule is released but seeing as I have a few quips and snarky comments, I'll post them with today's official release.

Rose Bowl - January 1 (ABC, Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit)
Allstate Sugar Bowl - January 1 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)
Tostitos Fiesta Bowl - January 4 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)
FedEx Orange Bowl - January 5 (Fox - Dick Stockton and Charles Davis)
BCS National Championship Game - January 7 (ABC - Brent Musburger and Kirk Herbstreit)

Fox has obviously decided to stick with their NFL pairings instead of reuniting the dreadful pairing of Brennaman and Mangina, but they may have instead created a whole new monster the likes of which this country has never seen before.

Dick Stockton is calling a BCS Game! As if he was not senile enough in an NFL booth, he is now going to be on the call of a college game, where surely the slight rule varifications will drive him to a greater depth of senility in the booth the likes of which this world has never seen before. Add to the fact that once again he is working with Charles Davis (And His Mangina) and the awfulness could reach epic heights.

That being said, isn't it sad when there is a list of 4 PbP announcers and the best one out of the 4 is Brent Musburger??? And isn't it even sadder when of the 3 Fox PbP guys, the best one is Sam Rosen? If Rosen can get a grasp of the college game, then there is a chance that he could overtake Musburger has the best PbP guy on the list. As far as analysts go, there is no doubt that Herbie will just blow all of the Fox guys away. End of story.

FOX and ABC release BCS bowl game announcers (Awful Announcing)

Glee Is Coming To The World Series

All through last year, we constantly chastised MLB for the potpourri of butchered renditions of the national anthem. The only one that was remotely good enough was Taylor Swift's rendition before Game 3. This year, it looks like Game 3 will once again be a good one as Fox, with MLB approval, have tabbed the cast of the hit Fox show, Glee, to sing the National Anthem at Game 3 of this year's World Series, to be played either in Philadelphia or Los Angeles. Via the Los Angeles Times

Fox has confirmed that cast members from its new hit musical comedy "Glee" will sing the national anthem during Game 3 of the World Series, currently scheduled for Oct. 31. That game will be either in Los Angeles or Philadephia, depending on which team ends up in the series against either the Yankees or the Angels.

Fox had to get a green light from Major League Baseball to have the cast sing at the game. Networks often use the World Series and other big sporting events to promote their own entertainment shows, but it is unusual to actually have a cast of a show perform during the game. Of course, few probably have the chops to do it. At least we know they'll do better than Roseanne Barr did when she butchered the anthem during a San Diego Padres ballgame.

Awesome!!! There are only two scripted shows that I am watching this season, one of them is Lie To Me, and the other one, as you've probably figured out by now, is Glee. Personally, I find the show hysterical and their song covers are really good. Then again, having just graduated high school, I can relate and easily get a lot of the humor in the show.

Aspeaking of Glee, if the Phillies can't turn things around in Game 3 of the NLCS, they might need to bring Sue Sylvester in to give them a pep talk.

Back to the music, though, here is a sample from the end of last week's episode where they sing "Keep Holding On" by Avril Lavigne.



Personally, I think it's a really good show and they will present a really good rendition of the national anthem. I can't wait!

Fox Has Made A Rather Odd Selection To Call Saturday's Marlins-Phillies Game

Why Fox even booked the Marlins and Phillies is beyond me. Despite the struggles, most people would have guessed that the Phillies would have clinched by then, but I guess this is what happens in a year with only 2 interesting races and you need 3 games to book. Regardless, when Fox moves their top baseball PbP guys to football coverage, baseball coverage is given the cold shoulder and Fox literally finds whomever they can get their hands on to call the regional games in September. Well, this week is no different, as not only is Bert Blyleven doing the Twins game, but the Phillies game has quite a familiar PbP guy.......Tom McCarthy!

I know he did some Fox games last year (I don't recall if they did Phillies games or not), but it seems odd that Fox (and TBS for that matter) elects to use homer announcers on non-local broadcasts. McCarthy will be paired with Mark Grace for this Saturday game that starts at 4:10.

Your final regular season MLB announcing schedule (Awful Announcing)

Your 2009 NFL Week 1 Schedule

The maps have been released, which means that instead of that I can now unveil all the information about what announcers are doing what games this week and who is getting each game. Due to possible copyright issues with the506, I will not be screen grabbing the maps, but rather you can just click on the links that you will see below. With that being said, here is your complete and entire schedule for Week 1 starting on Thursday and ending on Monday! The games that I get will be in bold. (all times eastern)

Thursday Night Kickoff Game
Tennessee Titans @ Pittsburgh Steelers 8:30 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

Sunday regional games

Map of who will get what games on CBS.

New York Jets @ Houston Texans 1:00 (CBS - Jim Nantz and Phil Simms)
Miami Dolphins @ Atlanta Falcons 1:00 (CBS - Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf)
Jacksonville Jaguars @ Indianapolis Colts 1:00 (CBS - Kevin Harlan and Solomon Wilcots)
Denver Broncos @ Cincinnati Bengals 1:00 (CBS - Gus Johnson and Dan Fouts)
Kansas City Chiefs @ Baltimore Ravens 1:00 (CBS - Ian Eagle and Rich Gannon)

Map of who will get what early games on Fox

Dallas Cowboys @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 1:00 (Fox - Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa)
Philadelphia Eagles @ Carolina Panthers 1:00 (Fox - Dick Stockton and Charles Davis)
Minnesota Vikings @ Cleveland Browns 1:00 (Fox - Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick)
Detroit Lions @ New Orleans Saints 1:00 (Fox - Chris Myers and Trent Green)

Map of who will get what late games on Fox.

Washington Redskins @ New York Giants 4:15 (Fox - Joe Buck and Troy Aikman)
San Francisco 49ers @ Arizona Cardinals 4:15 (Fox - Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan)
St. Louis Rams @ Seattle Seahawks 4:15 (Fox - Ron Pitts and John Lynch)

Sunday Night Football
Chicago Bears @ Green Bay Packers 8:20 (NBC - Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth)

Monday Night Football
Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots 7:00 (ESPN - Mike Tirico, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden)
San Diego Chargers @ Oakland Raiders 10:15 (ESPN - Mike Greenberg, Mike Golic, and Steve Young)

Please Excuse Me While I Go Shoot Myself (Your Week 1 Fox Announcing Line-Up)

First of all, big time thanks to James Craven and 49er16 for filling in for me on such a short notice.

And yes, I am aware of the Brett Favre story and if we have a contract signing and/or an offiical announcement tonight, I will get it on here ASAP. But now, on to the business at hand. I'd say thanks to Mookie and Fang's Bites, but if you're an Eagles or a Panthers fan, this is not good news. At all. As in, get ready to shoot yourself, as I have had the not so great privilege of viewing Fox's press release of their Week 1 announcing assignments, and while I could sugarcoat it and copy and paste the actual PR, I'll make this as quick and as painless as possible by just stating the games and the announcers for Week 1 of the NFL on Fox. And for all you Eagles and Panthers fans, there's been a HORRIBLE CHANGE!!!!! (all times eastern)

Philadelphia @ Carolina 1:00 (Dick Stockton and Charles Davis)
Minnesota @ Cleveland 1:00 (TBD)
Detroit @ New Orleans 1:00 (Chirs Myers and Trent Green)
Dallas @ Tampa Bay 1:00 (Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa)
San Francisco @ Arizona 4:15 (TBD)
Washington @ New York Giants 4:15 (Joe Buck and Troy Aikman, SR: Pam Oliver)
St. Louis @ Seattle 4:15 (Ron Pitts and John Lynch)

If your game is a TBD game, that means you are either getting Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan or Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick. Either way, I do pity you, although I think you all need to pity me a whole lot more. Trust me, I need it.

And for the depth chart junkies, here is your Fox depth chart this year starting from the top, to the You Know Your Team Sucks If This Is Your Announce Team team.

Joe Buck, Troy Aikman, and Pam Oliver
Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, and Tony Siragusa
Dick Stockton and Charles Davis
Thom Brennaman and Brian Billick
Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan
Ron Pitts and John Lynch
Crhis Myers and Trent Green

And for all those representing the suicide hotline out there or what not, the title of that post is SARCASTIC!!!!!! Barely sarcastic, but nonetheless, I am not really about to blow my brains out. Although my toes may only have a few more minutes of attachment........

Major Changes In The Fox NFL Announcing Teams

After a long and tiring day of walking around an amusement park, I was looking forward to a nice, relaxing night of watching Eagles pre-season games and having a chat or 2 over at Awful Announcing about some of the games and the few future UFL stars that we recognized. Nothing more. Nothing less. And now, another huge story about Fox's NFL coverage has been released and to say that there are changes is quite the understatement. As we all know, Brian Baldinger and Matt Vasgersian are no longer with Fox so we knew changes would be coming, but nothing quite like this. Here are the changes courtesy of Michael Hiestand's USA Today column.

Fox's lead NFL game teams — Joe Buck/Troy Aikman and Kenny Albert/Darryl Johnston — remain intact. So does its studio show, except for weather reporter Jillian Reynolds being on maternity leave.

The changes:

Billick, who worked in two- and three-man booths last season, will this season step up — after what Goren calls "an outstanding rookie season" last year — to a full-time two-man booth with Thom Brennaman.

•Charles Davis, Fox's lead analyst on BCS games, will work NFL games with Dick Stockton. With Fox's BCS deal in its last season, Goren says, "we looked for an opportunity to keep Charles with us."

•John Lynch, the nine-time Pro Bowler who called a few Fox games after retiring last season, will work games with Ron Pitts this season.

•Trent Green, who retired in June after playing 11 NFL seasons, will call games with Chris Myers. Goren says Dick Vermeil, the ex-ABC analyst who coached Green, recently "called me out of the blue and said, 'You just made the best hire of the year.' "

•Gone from Fox's NFL games: Analysts Brian Baldinger, J.C. Pearson, Tony Boselli and play-by-play announcer Matt Vasgersian.

When it comes to TV wild card Favre, Goren says there's "no indication he's interested in starting a broadcasting career at this time."

If I recall correctly, other than the studio show, Buck/Aikman and Albert/Johnston/Siragusa, the only announce team at Fox that is in tact are the 2 doofuses that are doing the Eagles-Panthers Week 1 opener, Sam Rosen and Tim Ryan.

As far as my view on the changes, while the jury is obviously still out on Lynch and Green, I'm surprised that Fox is so high on Charles "Mangina" Davis who was noticably bad in all of his BCS games. As far as Thom Brennaman goes, while I like him calling dramatic moments in dramatic games (i.e. the Boise miracles), when there is no earth-shattering excitement going on, I find him bland and unexciting, and oh, let's not forget, his man-love for Tim Tebow. In other words, when he is not screaming his head off, Thom Brennaman is a bad announcer. And wait, Chris Myers??? I suppose that he will be the first PbP man ever to call games in the booth while simultaneously giving out reports from the sidelines. In all seriousness, though, if I recall correctly, he has done PbP before and he was actually quite bad at it. And lastly, while I do feel utterly despise Dick Stockton's announcing, Fox is not helping him at all with partners. First it's Goose and Moose, then Baldinger, and now Charles Davis (and his Mangina). Oy ve. Maybe Mike Vick will draw us so much publicity and the Eagles will be so good this year that every Fox game the Eagles get Buck/Aikman. In my view, at least, they are better than most of the other garbage that Fox seems to be putting out there this year.

(Big time hat tip to SSReporters/Mookie!)

Why Wait For Football Season When You Can Hear Dick Stockton's Anti-Philly Bias This Weekend?

The Philadelphia Phillies are back on Fox this Saturday and guess who is announcing the game? You guessed it. It's none other than Dick "Ball Four! Strike Three!" Stockton (along with Tim McCarver in the booth and with Ken Rosenthal reporting)

In a post earlier this week, I mentioned at how Stockton is always anti-Philadelphia. His excitement is always less for Philly teams than it is for their opponents, whomever they may be. In games where Philly is winning, it is never about what the Phillies, Eagles, or Sixers are doing right, but rather, what the other team is wrong. In other words, he does not give credit where credit is due. This assessment of Stockton has come over many years of listening to him. As early as the early 2000s, I can vividly remember thinking to myself, "wow, this Stockton fellow hates Philly teams".

So go ahead, if you get the game this weekend, and you have not previously picked up on Stockton's anti-Philly bias, watch it and listen to Stockton and see if you can understand what I am talking about. I'm not joking or being sarcastic at all. Discover for yourself why Dick Stockton is my least favorite announcer of any sport.

FARN 2009 MLB ALL-STAR GAME LIVE BLOG

(Guest posted ad co-hosted by James Craven of The O Files)

• WHAT: 2009 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Missouri.
• WHEN: Tonight (7/14) 8 PM US EDT.
• WHERE: Fox in the USA, Rogers SportsNet in Canada, ESPN America in Europe.
• WHO: Joe Buck and Tim McCarver (Fox unfortunately); Gary Thorne and Rick Suitcliffe (MLB International feed).

And unless your name is Nathan Brice or any of his so-called aliases, or someone who's claiming to be there live on location in St. Louis, you ain't invited to this blog! Otherwise, please leave your thoughts, comments and announcing miscues here...

More On Fox And Manny Ramirez

I have already made my opinion of this situation known both here and at Awful Announcing, but I figured I would throw more opinions of more credible, established sports columnists and other blogs that were angered by this outrage.

The Philadelphia Inquirer

From: Ford, Bob
To: Fitzpatrick, Frank; Salisbury, James T.
Subject: Mannycam

We're renaming this "Talkin' Sense" this week since Gonzodud is on vacation (although how we will tell he's on vacation is anyone's guess).

I was appalled on Saturday when Fox kept cutting away or small-screening the Phils-Mets game to give extra-special coverage to the at-bats of Manny Ramirez, noted dope cheater just returned from suspension. I was in the press box and the Fox feed was on the monitors. You couldn't see the replays of the Phils' game because Pajama Man was all over the thing. Is "appalled" too strong a word? Your thoughts?

From: Salisbury, James T.
To: Ford, Bob; Fitzpatrick, Frank
Subject: RE: Mannycam

Cutaways should be reserved for milestone hits (500th homer; 3,000th hit) or no-hitters. Fox was trying to capitalize on this clown's controversy-driven celebrity. There's no way they would have done this if he didn't get caught taking mommy juice. Total pimping on their part.

From: Ford, Bob
To: Salisbury, James T.; Fitzpatrick, Frank
Subject: RE: Mannycam

Where's Frank? He must be listening to the game on his old crystal set. I'll send a carrier pigeon over with the message. We are in total agreement on this one, Jimmy, and that's how Talkin' Sense is going to be this week. Reasonable people making reasonable comments. Fox should be ashamed of itself, although I'm not sure that's possible. There couldn't have been one person in America who said, "I think I'll watch the Phillies-Mets game because there might be bonus coverage of Mannyball's historic second game back."

The New York Post

SATURDAY, the Fourth of July, FOX chose not to present the national anthem prior to its Mets-Phillies telecast, but it did choose to interrupt the first inning to show Manny Ramirez's first at-bat in his second game back from a drug suspension, an insert from the Dodgers-Padres game.

But it was the second part -- breaking into the telecast to show Ramirez bat -- that made Tim McCarver stew then spew. And what a magnificent spew.

"It's almost as though Manny Ramirez is being treated as if he'd been on the disabled list for 50 games. ... Why all the adulation for a guy who has served a 50-game suspension when guys like Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Rafael Palmeiro and A-Rod served no suspensions, yet they're branded?"

McCarver wasn't done. He knew that the answer was in large part right there, surrounding him: TV. TV makes no good value judgments; it just sells anything and anyone, good or bad, worth a ratings point and a buck. Beyond that, TV desperately panders to the worst acts, its executives and voices frightened to risk being called unhip, or old-fashioned, or racist, or, heaven forbid, anything less than "edgy."

And so modern media -- not just TV -- excuse vandals as graffiti artists; the career-long selfishness of a Manny Ramirez is explained/rationalized/admired as individualism.

McCarver next noted that Dodgers-Padres wasn't originally scheduled to be shown by FOX in the New England market, but the return of Ramirez changed that. "We jumped right on the wagon, too."

Apparently, McCarver hadn't received a copy of the plan, the one ESPN and FOX have been working from: We're all supposed to love Manny Ramirez, unconditionally.

The Mets Police

What was the point of showing me Manny Ramirez at bats. It was his second game back, and good job out of McCarver on calling out Fox on hyping the return of someone from susupension.

Lehigh Valley Live

On the Fourth of July, while many Americans were sitting outside with charcoal in the air, ice cold beers in hand and burgers on the grill, Fox Sports was giving Manny Ramirez national coverage in his second game back since being suspended for violating Major League Baseball's Substance Policy.

Did I miss something or wasn't Ramirez suspended 50 games for being a cheater?

It's not like he suffered an injury and everyone was thrilled to have him back in the Dodgers' lineup.

[...]

Fox, which nationally aired the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies, did in-game looks at the Dodgers-Padres game from Petco Park in San Diego showing Manny's every at-bat. Even broadcaster Tim McCarver questioned Fox's coverage to his partner Kenny Albert, with neither having an answer.

Manny wasn't one home run away from being the sport's all-time leader, nor was he playing in an unprecedented number of consecutive games, but he was just playing -- hopefully with no foreign substances in his body.

So why the different and preferential treatment in the media and from the fans compared to the others who are basically blacklisted from the sport? You tell me.

Have I made my point yet or do I need to go on even more with this? While I'm pretty sure that all of my wonderful, regular commenters have more than gotten the point, if there is just one person remotely associated with Fox Sports reading this, then it's not enough. They must know what hypocritical, biased, unthinking bastards they really are. I'm not done.

Sports Media Watch

Like so many things in baseball over the past decade, the national curiosity surrounding Manny Ramirez' return from a 50-game suspension appears to have been purely artificial.

Regional MLB coverage, featuring live, national cutaways to Dodgers/Padres during Ramirez' first at-bat, drew a mere 1.7 overnight rating on FOX Saturday afternoon, down a whopping 50% from a 3.4 for coverage on the comparable date last year.

Keep in mind that Saturday was the Fourth of July. The last time FOX aired MLB coverage on the holiday (1998), the net drew a 4.2/12 overnight.

The View from the Porch

Phillies and Mets fans were given a common cause on the Fourth of July, when millions must have blurted the same question, in unison: WHY IS MANNY RAMIREZ ON MY TELEVISION? Then, if everyone else is like me, they used the opportunity to spend a penny, pick a tomato, pull a weed, jump in the pool, get a beer, join the party, and missed not only Manny but also an inning or two and a whole bunch of sponsor commercials. Oops.

As the Philly Inquirer noted today, Fox cheated Phillies fans. And Mets fans as well. And everyone else tired of having Manny Ramirez shoved down our throats.

If there is anybody out there who works for Fox or knows someone who works for Fox Sports and ask if they are truly ashamed of their network's coverage? For what happened on Saturday, was beyond media bias, on the same day that Lou Gehrig gave his impassioned speech, Fox trumpets the return of this cheating, rule-bending, media whore. So please, ask them. And if you really want to be my hero, you can email me the results of your conversation at FireAndyReidNow@gmail.com. I promise you that you will remain anonymous. Just let me know that Tim McCarver is not the only one disgusted by Fox's outlandish, ridiculous, absurd coverage of Manny Ramirez.

This paragraph is already quoted in my below post entitled, "Thank You, Keith Olbermann", but it's the best paragraph to end with for I don't want anyone to forget this.

let's take you out to San Diego where Manny Ramirez is just back from a 50-game suspension. For cheating. For cutting corners. For breaking rules. For lying. For deception. For letting down his teammates. For contributing to suspicions against every honest player. For raising a giant middle finger to sportsmanship. For abusing the fans. For risking that for which Lou Gehrig would've given anything - his own health.

[...]

Manny Ramirez and Alex Rodriguez and the others of the PED era did not belong in baseball today, and that they did not show the requisite awareness of their own shame, only makes it worse. Lord, send us a 'roider who has the presence of mind to say: "On this day I do my penance; I don't yet belong on the field even with just the memory of this man, I hope you'll forgive me and I can again earn your trust."

Any and all emails to those I addressed above will be greatly appreicated.

Will The Real John Mayberry, Sr. Please Stand Up? (UPDATED WITH BETTER VIDEO!)

Aside from the fact that I utterly refuse to talk about Brad Lidge's 9th inning choke job that allowed the Yankees to win 5-4 in the bottom of the 9th, I have to share this video with you. The Phillies brought up John Mayberry, Jr. from the minor leagues and in his 2nd major league at bat, he hit a home run in Yankee Stadium. So naturally, seeing as his dad was a former major leaguer, Fox was eager to catch dear old Dad's reaction to his son's first homer. Perhaps they may have been too overeager, seeing as the person they thought was John Mayberr, Sr., wasn't exactly John Mayberry, Sr......(the payoff is a lot sooner in this version and not only is it better quality, but you get a lot more of the awkwardness afterwards which just absolutely killed me)



Oh.....my.....God! I was literally in tears cracking up at that! So, so funny! They had the wrong John Mayberry! And they showed this guy over and over again for a long time afterward as well! It was not a right away instant correction, this went on for what had to have been 20-25 minutes real time before Buck came on and said "Yeah, we got the wrong person".

Fox was not completely off here, the real John Mayberry, Sr. was in attendance at that game and he was eventually interviewed by Ken Rosenthal. And keeping with the theme of the comedy graphics over the situation, when they started the interview, the graphic read "The Real John Mayberry, Sr. We promise". Too funny!