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| Remembering when there was regular boxing on television |
Let's face it - almost a year into the PBC experiment, we're all missing ESPNs Friday Night Fights. Sure, a lot of people are blaming Al Haymon for this and I understand that to a certain degree. If I've got this right, we were told ESPN would get (bigger) fights once a month, after all, yet that clearly isn't happening. Last I heard, ESPN wouldn't have boxing on until April. What's more, the PBCs record has been spotty lately when it comes to its premiere (no pun intended) matchups.
Still, it isn't a shaky substitute that we're truly upset about here here - it's the loss of the consistency FNF offered. For FNF was a pretty reliable program, showcasing up and coming fighters on the same network and in a timely fashion. What's more, Fox Sports 1 cards at 11 pm eastern standard time on a Tuesday night aren't filling the void.
The feeling among the decision making set may have been fans would prefer seeing name fighters once a month to "no names" once a week. If true, then that, my friends, was a mistake. If all people wanted to watch were the top dogs, no one would watch regular season football, baseball, basketball or hockey. Sure, FNF may have been second tier, but hey, we all like second tier sometimes. Second tier can be good. What's more, it makes the top tier stuff more special.
At any rate, I think we can all agree it's turning into a tough winter for fight fans. Nothing is happening really, aside from announcements for upcoming matches. No doubt ESPN's April card will probably be good. Yet, in my opinion at least, two months of FNF might have been even better.
When it came to FNF, I think "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" would have been something ESPN executives should have remembered.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree.
ReplyDeleteThe names don't need to be well known or even greatly skilled as long as they are evenly matched. There are great club fights and horrible shitshows in arenas. (Altho nothing beats the buzz in an arena before a BIG fight.)
ReplyDelete> What's more, Fox Sports 1 cards at 11 pm eastern
> standard time on a Tuesday night aren't filling the
> void.
Can't agree more. The FS1 cards are some of the most consistently good shows that AlCo have put on, but they just don't compare to FNF. Maybe it's because of the late hour in EST and the fact that they are mid-week.
Hmmmm, stay up until 1AM on a school night for edge contenders and raw prospects vs. having a drink or three and watching the fights on a Friday night. I vote for alcohol and Friday. I normally DVR the FS1 shows and try - usually unsuccessfully - to avoid the seeing the results on Twitter, and watch the show later in the week. Seeing them not-live like that drops the immediacy of the action a notch.
Bring back FNF! I want to see Joe horrified by Teddy! I want to see a desk report from the worldwide leader on the week's boxing news.
Are we not all firemen?