NICE MENTIONS OF USLMRA TRACKS IN LABELLE AND AVON PARK, FLORIDA!!!!
Commentary: Are there any sports that AREN'T on TV?
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By DAVE GEORGE
Palm Beach Post Staff Columnist
Monday, June 16, 2008
Sure, you've been worried, and why not?
After spending all that cash on a flat-screen TV and surround-sound speakers, the possibility that even one hour might pass without an overstocked schedule of sports entertainment is downright terrifying.
We're talking about a major investment here, and a lifestyle commitment reflecting your passion as a sports spectator.
Satellite dish, check. Double-wide recliner with built-in cupholder, check. Golf glove to be worn on dominant hand for reliable and rapid control of the remote, check.
The question is can the networks keep up, especially now that the programming doldrums of summer have arrived and the ultimate Olympics blitz is still almost two months away.
Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate combined to give us an extra day of U.S. Open drama. And that was welcome, because already this year ESPN has brought us live coverage of the National Spelling Bee, which doesn't really have anything to do with sports. That distinction ceased to matter, however, the moment that Jason Taylor's dancing suddenly had everything to do with football.
Fishing and hunting shows have long served a vital national purpose, too, giving sedentary fans something to watch during the three or four hours a day when the World Poker Tour isn't on the air.
With all the classic sports channels and college football replays from seasons past, there remains hope that no rec-room Bubba will ever be reduced to watching relevant news programming like 60 Minutes, unless, of course, Jose Canseco or Roger Clemens are on to confess or deny something.
God bless those who see the potential gaps, though, on the competitive landscape, and busy themselves buying up exclusive broadcast rights for ultimate fighting and prime-time golf and anything else that freshly conceived. That's how we get tape-delayed action from the U.S. Lawn Mower Racing Association on Speed TV.
Folks have been buzzing around on store-bought and modified grass gobblers for years right here in Florida. All that's needed are technical inspectors to make certain the cutting blades have been removed, plus actual championship venues in which to perform, like the Hendry Mowersports Park in Labelle, or the Avon Park Mowerplex.
From there it's a natural progression to the epic battles of the USA Rock Paper Scissors League Championship.
Fox Sports Net is taping that event this month from the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas with the actual broadcast scheduled Oct. 6 as a special presentation of the Best
Sports Show Period. I've got the press release if you don't believe it.
Rock. Paper. Scissors.
Not exactly Tinker to Evers to Chance, but hey, it's in high definition, so it's got to be good.
Years ago, when dinosaurs roamed the earth and TV shows came in glorious black and white, it was a much bigger deal to watch a live sports event.
Fewer channels meant fewer choices. As a result, people sometimes left their homes on a weeknight to catch a game, be it high school or Little League or even church softball, just because it was fun to get out in the fresh air for a few hours and howl at both the umpire and the moon.
Who knows? If the Marlins had been around then, people might have left their homes to watch them play in person every so often.
Silly, though, to sit around dreaming of a lost era. This is the day of sitting around and watching highlights packages and live cut-ins and words crawling across the bottom of the screen to keep all viewers simultaneously apprised of all things in the world of sports.
There's no real need to worry there in the comfortable cave of your home entertainment center. ESPN and its ubiquitous spinoffs and competitors aren't going anywhere. Neither, most nights, are we.
Hey, when you find out which network has the Full-Contact Hopscotch Finals, will you please text me?
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