Idiots Write About Sports

Ya know what I hate?

Fox Sports Net.

Ya know why?

No, it’s not because our regional branch of the Fox Sports juggernaut continues to employ Barry LeBrock, a sportscaster whose Bob Saget-meets-Jason Hervey visage I find so distracting that it’s difficult to concentrate on the one part of their coverage I care about, the score ticker.

No, I hate Fox Sports Net because at the end of each broadcast day, FSN brings into my San Diego home the Southern California Sports Report; with comprehensive coverage of all your favorite Southern California teams, including the Dodgers, the Angels, the Lakers, the Clippers, and… well, that pretty much covers it.

Now, wait one cotton-pickin’ minute! Last time I checked, San Diego was officially part of Southern California. Maybe we haven’t been added to whatever archaic Aboriginal map Rupert Murdoch has access to from his makeshift hut in Manhattan, but surely somebody in the Los Angeles offices has a Thomas Guide.

Just because approximately 30% of our current residents were living in Mexico yesterday does not make us an extension of Baja. That same 30% will be residents of Los Angeles tomorrow, and you can bet the Dodgers will still make the highlight reel.

Or perhaps FSN simply thinks the Padres and Chargers organizations are too rinky-dink — and their standard of play too subpar — to warrant nightly coverage. To which I say, well, I can’t really argue with you there.

But the least you could do is tack us on to the end of the broadcast as comic relief. Play the wacky blooper reel music over the top if you must, but at least acknowledge that we’re down here, plugging away for the nation’s amusement and derision. Just outright ignoring us is the cruelest cut of all. Didn’t you people see The Breakfast Club?

Anyway, that’s why I hate Fox Sports Net.

I can't answer about the Chargers, but I do think that the main reason that the Padres aren't on FSN is that they aren't on FSN. They only want to push the teams that play on their channel.

Still you'd think that San Diego would have their own channel.

Just be glad you've got teams worth covering. FSN North is Wisconsin, which means the Brew-ha-has, the Bucks, and- well, yes, the Packers, but last I checked, they primarily play on the network, not the cable channel. As does the rest of the NFL. And when my cable operator gets around to adding one or two channels and raises the rates exorbitantly for it, the NFL Network will likely be included, making FOX Sports Net more useless.

And then there's always the Grab Bag O'ESPN, which I watch above Fox Sports Net anyway. I don't even know why I haven't removed Fox Sports Net from my dial entirely, come to think of it.

You left off the biggest reason to hate FSN: it has the same lowest-common-denominator tone to it as every other Fox commodity. Truly nauseating. Once the PAC-10 basketball season is over, I watch very little of FSAZ until PAC-10 football season starts. The worst, though? They run ads for Phoenix-area businesses constantly during University of Arizona sporting events. Guess what, guys? I'm not driving from Tucson to Phoenix to patronize your advertisers. You'd have a bit more luck if you threw in some local ads once in a while. There is a person or two outside of Maricopa County--especially among those of us who tune in for UA sports. It's bad enough that the politics of our state sees most of the tax money taken from Tucson residents spent in the Phoenix area; don't insult us while we try to take refuge in our Wildcats.
Oh, yeah...I hate FSN.

I thought the Pads were on Cox? I mention it because last time I checked, the Padres had damn near 100% of their games on HD, something I've chided the Dodgers and Angels for. The only HD broadcasts those teams get are either the odd national broadcast on Fox or ESPN, or in the Dodgers case, about a handful a year.

It's always struck me as not a little ironic that Southern California seems to end at the San Diego County border, though.

Nearly every Pads game is indeed shown on Cox, and I believe most of those are in HD. This has its positives -- we get to see every embarrassing loss, in stunning digital clarity -- and negatives -- if the bar you're getting drunk in to soften the blow of the next embarrassing loss has a satellite feed instead of cable, you ain't seeing no Padres game. This could arguably be seen as another positive.

However, my beef with FSN is not they don't air Padres games, since this would only render the games more teethgrindingly awful to watch. FSN's blind spot for San Diego during the so-called Southern California Sports Report is more than enough to make the sweet, sweet hate flow freely.

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