THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 24, 1996 TAG: 9610240568
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: LARRY BONKO
LENGTH: 67 lines
Fox Sports' coverage of the 1996 World Series has been generally superb. The commercials aren't half bad, either.
I particularly like the Home Box Office spot in which Jane Goodall's chimps spout famous movie dialogue. A chimp doing Don Corleone!
The dolls that come to life in the Nissan commercial are so watchable they delayed my between-innings trip to the fridge.
I hate to miss a minute of Fox's World Series coverage. Even the AFLAC trivia question is worth waiting for. But I must say that Fox's promotion for its new spookfest, ``The Millennium,'' is excessive.
Fox has an easy-to-take team in the booth (27-year-old Joe Buck and former major league catchers Tim McCarver and Bob Brenly), sharp and crisp camera angles and on-screen graphics that are so complete you can enjoy the game with the sound off, if you so choose.
I love the ``Fox Box,'' that tidy bundle in the left-hand corner of the screen. It gives you the score, inning, number of outs, and the ball-and-strike count at a glance.
Marvelous innovation.
Fox introduced the ``Fox Box'' when it spirited the NFL contract away from CBS, and of late has brought it to hockey and baseball. I wish ABC and NBC would adapt the ``Fox Box'' for its NFL games as has TNT and ESPN.
ABC needs it badly for ``Monday Night Football,'' because the three blabbermouths in the booth do not give the score often enough. I tend to tune in late.
Fox's marvelously complete coverage of the 1996 World Series is a wonder because this is the network's first year on Major League Baseball. The crews in New York and Atlanta didn't miss a play or blow a shot in the first three games. And the the directors sending out the pictures deserve applause for their split-screen wrinkle.
On one side of the screen, it's the runner on base. On the other side of the screen, it's the catcher itching to throw him out if he tries to steal second. Also great is the shot from the dugout that picks up the runner, pitcher and first base coach.
I wish Major League Baseball had approved Fox's request to put microphones on the first and third base coaches. Even without that, the Fox broadcasts have been fresh and fancy. There's the ``Hit Zone'' graphic, which shows viewers what pitches the batter likes and where he likes them.
There's also the display that shows the players coming to bat in the next inning and what they did in previous at-bats. And there's the graphic that rates the umpires, including what kind of temper they have. Good idea.
Fox's cameras don't point away from the field very much, but when they do, it's generally a shot worth getting - Brett Butler, cancer survivor, chatting with home run king Henry Aaron, for instance.
The three men in the booth - Buck, McCarver and Brenly - were hardly a well-oiled machine in the playoffs leading up to the World Series. Brenly talked too much at times and not enough at others. McCarver seemed to be overpowering Buck.
This week, the team is clicking.
Buck's an old pro at 27 with a good, strong voice, and McCarver is McCarver, serving up insights to the game that even the most devoted fans overlook. McCarver will tell you that errors committed with no outs generally fuel big innings. He correctly predicts pitching changes.
Brenly is competent handling the replays when he isn't explaining inside baseball such as how the suicide squeeze is supposed to work. He also tosses in just the right amount of lingo such as ``high gas.''
Fox baseball. It's a delight.
Now, will somebody please tell me who came up with the gawd-awful idea of slapping the World Series insignia on the side of the players caps? That looks awful. by CNB