“During Thursday night’s Game 4, Fox cut to the crowd 222 times. It cut to the inside of the Detroit and St. Louis dugouts 153 times.
“That’s 375 images away from the field.”
— Richard Sandomir, New York Times
In many ways, sports television went downhill when they began to treat coverage like a television program rather than a sporting event. Damn Roone Arledge. “Ruin” Arledge, if you ask me.
But at least NewMexiKen didn’t have to watch all those crowd shots in high definition. Our local affiliate lost its over-the-air high definition signal midway through Thursday night’s game and still didn’t have it back before the World Series ended Friday night.
Oh, and while I certainly didn’t see all 222 crowd shots Thursday night, or as many Friday night, I saw enough to wonder why St. Louis didn’t permit any people of color to attend the games.
Well I’ve heard a host of sportscasters offer dozens of explanations on why this year’s World Series had the lowest viewer ratings ever, but the one reason I have yet to hear them state is that Fox does a lousy job broadcasting the World Series.
It would be in Major League Baseball’s best interest to shop the broadcasting rights around. Giving a multiyear contract to the highest bidder isn’t always in the best interest of the game.
Tim McCarver needs to find another way to make a living. Joe Buck needs to take a vow of silence for a year to learn to appreciate it.