Fox’s new channel can give sports fan welcome second outlet

Published 11:43 pm Wednesday, March 6, 2013

By Chris Parry

Thank the heavens for Rupert Murdoch and Fox.

We will soon have another sports outlet during the day that will take me away from ESPN and its incessant, repetitive and nauseating coverage of first Tim Tebow and then Tony Romo/Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys and now Los Angeles Lakers.

Oh and anything at all to do with the NFL.

I will no longer be forced to watch Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless arguing over LeBron James for the umpteenth time.

Yesterday, Fox Sports Media Group made an official announcement about their plans to bring a new multi-sport network to our television screens called FOX Sports 1. It is set to debut on Saturday, Aug. 17.



The big thing for sports fans is this will be a 24-hour sports network.

Unlike NBC Sports, which shows outdoor programming until 3 p.m., Fox Sports 1 will have its own SportsCenter-like show that will run during the day.

I hope Fox learns from ESPN and will go back to what made SportsCenter so good in the first place — knowledgeable anchors that provided highlights with a little flourish. Guys like Dan Patrick, Keith Olberman, Rich Eisen, and yes, even Chris Berman.

Needless to say, every name I’ve listed above was shown the door by ESPN except for Berman.

There was not a debate session every two seconds with “experts” talking about the headlines. That might happen once per show, but the majority of SportsCenter was not about debate.

ESPN has become its biggest enemy.

I remember as a young Houston Astros fan that my game’s highlight may not come until late in SportsCenter, but it eventually arrived.

Forget it now. Unless you’re a fan of the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox, you are not guaranteed a chance to watch your team’s baseball highlights.

You have a better chance of seeing a middle schooler hit a half-court game winning shot in a meaningless game in podunk Indiana than watching the highlights from the Pacers, a team with the second-best record in the Eastern Conference.

Talking about what could happen in sports or what might happen has become more important than what did.

He tweeted what?

Well, let’s spend 20 minutes on whether or not LeBron and Dwayne Wade’s relationship is being affected based on a tweet he did the day before.

Fox Sports 1 has a big opportunity because although ESPN still packs in the viewers, there are many like myself that have grown tired of this.

Also, Fox Sports 1 will already have a built-in, carry over rabid soccer audience from its other channels (Fox Soccer, Fox Soccer Plus). It was like pulling teeth for ESPN anchors to even acknowledge the sport, without a wink and a chuckle.

Now, mainly because it has to, ESPN gives the sport a cursory glance.

Hockey, on the other hand, has been relegated to the back of the pack ever since ESPN stopped broadcasting games.

The bottom line is I want the games, themselves to matter once again.

Please, Fox Sports 1:

Show sports. Not debating about them.

That is what we crave and why we watch. It will be nice for a network to once again satisfy that craving.