Fox Ruined My Saturday

by theoriginaljd, Six Pack Sports Report

Most baseball fans can join hands in harmony and agree that there is nothing worse then watching your favorite team on FOX's Game of the Week. Most of the time you're stuck with Joe Buck and Tim McCarver making you seriously think about jamming a pen in your ears just to make their voices go away. I used to think that Buck and McCarver were the worst thing to happen to baseball since Jose Canseco. I was wrong.

This Saturday Fox broadcast the Red Sox/White Sox game with their B team announcers Joe Girardi and Thom Brennaman. The whole thing had train wreck written all over it and that was before Barry Bonds first came to the plate. Yeah you read that correctly the Red Sox/White Sox game became unbearable to watch when Barry Bonds (note: Bonds plays for the Giants of San Francisco) came up to the plate.

Fox proceeded to cut away from the feed of the Red Sox/White Sox game to bring us LIVE coverage of Barry Bonds at bat. Naturally since Bonds is only one home run away from tying the greatest record in baseball we had to see it live. What's that Bonds isn't one away from tying the record? So now we're cutting out of live broadcasts to bring you Barry Bonds getting closer to breaking a record? When will they start this feature with A-Rod? We'll be watching him hit home runs live every time he comes to the plate for three years.

It wouldn't even have been so bad if Fox had used their split screen technology which I know they have because I've seen it in use before. But apparently the split screen technician's internship ran out because whenever Barry Bonds would come to the plate I would lose the Red Sox game altogether and have to watch Bonds NOT break a record while screaming at the TV to bring back the game that you know - I cared about.

After the third time Bonds came to the plate I looked like Chris Farley twenty minutes before he cashed in his chips. I didn't think it could get any worse - but it did. The fourth time Bonds came up he was intentionally walked. You may remember the intentional walk as the one where the catcher stands up with his arm out to the side. It's pretty obvious when it's coming so naturally Fox stuck with the entire process. I'm trying to see the end of the game I pay the cable bill to watch but instead I have to see Barry Bonds not get pitched to, in an attempt to not break a record.

The problem of course was that watching the actual game was almost as painful as not being able to watch the game. I'm not sure if your favorite team has ever had the pleasure of being covered by Joe Girardi but my god. I'd rather have a monkey face rape me than have to listen to this guy for nine more innings. For three hours I listened to him call Mike Lowell - Mikey. I remind you that this a professional athlete (all star caliber I might add), and not a small child in a cereal commercial.

There was literally nowhere to turn to find relief. Luckily right when I felt the urge to hurl a small child into the television screen Fox would cut away from the Red Sox game so I could watch Barry Bonds take a practice swing from the on deck circle. Hmm...maybe that was their plan all along.