Crazy like Fox

Is there anything more annoying than the Fox network? It's so full of itself. It burns me up that they have the exclusive rights to the All-Star Game and World Series for something like the next five years, or whatever it is.

Watching the football games back on Thanksgiving, it was not hard to notice the big, distinct difference between the coverage of CBS and that of Fox. CBS occasionally and tastefully tied in holiday well wishes and sentimental acknowledgment of American troops overseas. Fox, on the other hand, made America's military occupations a centerpiece and referenced them constantly. The same thing was done last night, with Michael Douglas MC-ing a display of what I imagine were World War II veterans. (People at our party were still talking rather loudly at that point.)

It's not that recognizing these aging veterans was wrong, but to make any reference between what the troops are doing (and have done) in Iraq and what American forces did against Hitler's Germany or the Japanese empire is misleading. There's no comparison, and to think that it's anything but contrived by a network that has a clear slant to its news coverage and its coverage of our president -- a leader, in Fox's eyes, who can do no wrong.

Thankfully, though, football is over and spring training lies just around the weekend. We're days away from having our frigid northeastern days warmed by the sight of colorful batting practice jerseys shining beneath the sun in Florida and Arizona.

We'll deal with Fox's All-Star game coverage in July, when the telecast will undoubtedly be sprinkled with shots of the stars of Fox shows pretending to watch the game from choice seats close to the field. Then, most likely, they'll immediately vacate those seats for the cool comfort of an air-conditioned suite or, perhaps, exit Comerica Park for an exclusive party ... in L.A. or Chicago. Wrapping up last night's Super Bowl coverage with the final analysis from Darrel Waltrip (to promote Fox's coverage of the Daytona 500 in two weeks) was off-base too. What, they didn't have enough time during the eight-hour pregame show to squeeze in a mention of the NASCAR season?