FOX SPORTS NOTES, QUOTES & ANECDOTES
by FOX Sports
McCarver & Goren Preview Look Ahead to MLB on FOX Season
NASCAR on FOX Heads to the Lone Star State for Sprint Cup Racing Sunday
MLB ON FOX SET TO THROW FIRST PITCH THIS SATURDAY — The multi Emmy Award-winning FOX SATURDAY BASEBALL GAME OF THE WEEK returns for its 13th season on Saturday, April 5 (3:30 p.m. ET) with live regional coverage of three fierce division rivalries. NL East foes battle in Atlanta when Mets All-Star 3B David Wright leads New York to take on Braves mainstay Chipper Jones at Turner Field. Meanwhile, Jim Thome and the Chicago White Sox look to stake their claim as AL Central contenders when they take on the pre-season favorite Detroit Tigers and new addition Miguel Cabrera. In San Diego, new Dodgers manager Joe Torre takes his ball club into PETCO Park to do battle with the Padres.
This season, for the first time ever, all MLB on FOX games are being produced and broadcast in state-of-the-art high definition. Game coverage is preceded by the Emmy Award-winning pregame show, with host Jeanne Zelasko and analysts Kevin Kennedy and Mark Grace. This week's show features up-to-the-second news with MLB on FOX reporter Ken Rosenthal live from Turner Field and a profile of one of MLB's most electric players: Mets' shortstop Jose Reyes.
PLAY BALL! — FOX Sports President and Executive Producer Ed Goren joined FOX Sports' Emmy Award-winning analyst Tim McCarver for a press conference call today to preview the 2008 MLB on FOX season. Topics covered include the national appeal of some smaller market teams, projections on division races and sales/ratings updates for the MLB on FOX season. Some transcribed highlights are below. For a full replay, dial 719-457-0820 and enter 1443077 when prompted.
Goren on the state of MLB on FOX this season: "The sport has probably has never been healthier. Our regular-season sales have never been better. We are virtually sold out for the regular season and as far as the All Star Game at Yankee Stadium, we have never been better sold for an All Star Game at this point of the year. We are about up to 80% sold for the All Star Game."
McCarver on Joe Torre's move to Los Angeles and the Dodgers chances in the NL West this season: "The move surprised me. I didn't think Joe Torre would manage this year. When the Dodgers came calling I think it not only piqued his interest, it flattered him. When you look at the winning that Joe Torre did with the New York Yankees for 12 years, what better guy could you hire? What better guy can be hired for any team? If he was a good hire for the Yankees in 1996, think about how much better of a hire he is for the Dodgers in 2008. The Dodgers have some good young players but it really has to be seen what they can do this season. To me, Arizona is the best team in the NL West but they are not head and shoulders better than the Rockies, the San Diego Padres or the Dodgers. I don't think it's as strong as the American League Central but it's a very, very good division."
Goren on the value of the regular season Game of the Week on FOX: "I think you go back to the glory days at NBC, the Game of the Week was certainly different because you didn't have cable broadcasts, you didn't have a lot of regional coverage and you didn't have interleague play. It has changed. Through all 14 years at FOX Sports, I think the most consistent ratings year-in and year-out have been the weekly Saturday Baseball Game of the Week. Since we started, the total viewership hasn't really changed much where as in other areas of television there has been greater erosion. I think you're really seeing this tremendous growth and appetite for the game of baseball today whether it's on the FSN regionals, on the FOX Network, in corporate sales for MLB, in channel that they are going to launch next year with 50 million homes or more. We are very grateful to have the package we have."
NASCAR ON FOX ROARS INTO TEXAS — The NASCAR on FOX 2008 Sprint Cup Series returns to Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, April 5 (1:30 p.m. ET). Current points leader Jeff Burton looks to notch his second win of season and increase his lead with drivers Kevin Harvick, Greg Biffle and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in close pursuit. Prerace host Chris Myers and analyst Jeff Hammond bring fans all the news and features from the Hollywood Hotel, FOX Sports' traveling prerace set. Once the green flag drops, race announcer Mike Joy will be alongside analysts Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds to call all the twists and turns on the track. Dick Berggren, Steve Byrnes, Krista Voda and Matt Yocum patrol the pits for up-to-the-second reports on teams and pit stops. On this week's prerace show, Hammond and driver Clint Bowyer shift gears to go behind the wheel of monster trucks and NASCAR on FOX cameras are there when driver Jimmie Johnson meets with Dallas Stars' Mike Modano for some skate drills with the Stanley Cup-winning center.
HAMMOND FOCUSED ON NOT DROPPING THE GREEN FLAG — NASCAR on FOX prerace analyst and former crew chief, Jeff Hammond described his emotions after getting to wave the green flag at the start of Sunday's race in Martinsville. "To finally get up on the flag stand and see how exciting it is was both an honor and a privilege," said Hammond. "I was as nervous as a cat on a hot tin roof! All I could think about was 'DON'T DROP THE FLAG — DON'T DROP THE FLAG!' Trust me, fear is a great motivator!"
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