Fox Soccer Report mess up … again! Sat April 18, 09.

So we are shown Chelsea scoring two goals, and Arsenal scoring only one goal in the FA CUp semi-final game held at the new Wembley, but announcer Terry Leigh (who is she exactly – and what credentials does she have to mispronounce players’ names?) misreads the autocue and says “Arsenal win this – um, Chelsea win this 2-1.” Is she confused? Because we certainly are: the gigantic graphic informs us of the score: Arsenal 2 – 1 Chelsea.
We will look forward to the FA Cup final, then – can Chelsea, or Arsenal, or whoever the finalist might be, beat Manchester United or Everton or Matlock Town FC or Kyoto Purple Sanga or whoever their opponents might be?
Moral of the story: don’t rely on Fox Soccer Report for, er, anything factual.

Fox Soccer Report gaffe 9 April 09

Yet another typo on the Fox Soccer Report graphics:

PSG 0 – 0 Dyanmo Kiev

Don’t they have simple spell-checker software? Like Microsoft Word? C’mon guys, not even Gmail?

New-Look Fox Soccer Report

Changes in the look of the Fox Soccer Report program. The new background showing a stadium full of fans is better, and having the two main commentators facing fewer cameras is also an improvement. Why another announcer is separated frpm these two, and why s/he has to stand, we don’t know. A demotion for those guys?

One of the weakest areas of the program – the graphics – remains, however:
- the graphics are huge. Even if the producers feel the titling has to be large to cater to the visually-challenged viewer, the graphic extends above and below the writing. These large graphics cover up the video of the action on the pitch!
-even worse, the graphics are rarely accurate. It’s as if the person responsible for them has some sort of beef with the channel and deliberately messes them up. Is it true?

Because the commentators, most of whom appear to new to the sport of association football, also make mistakes on a regular basis, we cannot be sure if the information we are given is correct.

Today’s problem: can you work it out? The graphic tells us that this weekend’s game is Houston Dynamo v New York Red Bulls. Great! I’m booking my flight to Houston right now. Oh, hang on, the commentator (Carlos Machado) tells us New York are at home to Houston! Twice! While the graphic remains on the screen informing us that Houston are playing at home.

What Fox Soccer Channel have to do:
1. Sack the commentators, apart from Bobby McMahon. Replace them with people like Bobby who know the game.
2. Revamp the style of the graphics, and have some sort of quality control of the text.