Sunday, December 04, 2011

Fox Ruins Football, Too

I watched the Vikings-Broncos game today on Fox, as it was broadcast locally here in New York. It turned into a great game between two young QBs who know each other well: Christian Ponder of Florida State versus Tim Tebow of Florida.

Ponder has harrassed all day by the Denver defense, and injured his hip early on. But the kid showed a lot of guts, and set the Vikings rookie record for most yards thrown in a game: 381 yards. He went 29-for-47, with three TDs, two to Percy Harvin. But he threw two costly interceptions.

One was brought back for a TD in the first quarter, and the other happened inside two minutes to play with the game tied at 29. Denver brought the ball down to the five yard line and ran the clock down to two seconds, before kicking the game-winning field goal for a 35-32 win.

A heartbreaking loss for the Vikings, and it was their 10th loss of 2011. Tebow threw two clutch TDs in the second half, and torched the lousy Vikings secondary on both occasions.

But the title of this post refers to the Fox network, who broadcast the game. I knew the network would have to leave the contest if it was still going on by 4:15 PM, as the Giants-Packers game was to follow. TV has those rules about the home market, and that is fine, and I have no problem with that.

The problem I have if that Fox always pulls this crap of not leaving when the late game is kicking off, but BEFORE the game starts, and today they left at 4:11 PM, a full four minutes before the Giants game started. They left the Vikings game just when the Broncos tied it at 32, just inside of two minutes to play. They left to show FOUR BLOODY MINUTES OF COMMERCIALS!! That really pisses me off, as you can read.

I've ranted on this blog about this crap before. (And I'm sure I will again.) Today I was fortunate to have NFL RedZone (which I highly recommend), and I saw most of the plays that ended the game, including the game-winning field goal.

Absolutely no excuse for screwing over fans like this. Only one way to sum it up: Money talks, bullshit walks.

1 comment:

erock said...

Sir, I feel your pain!! I work for DISH and just got my parents set up, and they pulled another odious blunder similar to that of FOX. When I got there to watch the DVR they had recorded for me, of last weeks Bronco's game, they failed to set the recording to go past the game-time, so they missed the amazing overtime win for Tebow against the hated!!! I know it's annoying, and, to be honest, quite tedious in dealing with the endless TV/Sports contractual web. Instead, I watch all of the highlights and live action on the NFL Redzone channel!! They are not bound by such contracts etc., so you can be sure when the game gets to its most intense or crucial point, they will be there broadcasting it for you live!! Yes, it does switch around game to game, but you always catch the most important parts!!! Plus, you save about $250 with DISH (instead of DirecTV), and get a ton of other sports channels!!!