Fox Sports Network Sucks

To all my friends watching tennis in the States - do you share my intense, undying hatred of Fox Sports Network?

Here’s the story: I was looking forward to watching the Nadal vs. Nalbandian match all day yesterday,  and I naively assumed it would be part of FSN’s nightly Indian Wells broadcast.

The anticipation grew as I twiddled my thumbs through Azarenka vs. Safina, cheering for Victoria to put Dinara out of her misery so the main event could begin. Yes, finally! The spectacle ended and the ladies trudged off the court.

I got up to grab a snack (it was going to be a late night, after all) and hurried back into the living room for what was surely going to be one of the week’s most exciting and hard-fought...hockey documentaries???!!! (Insert record scratching sound effect here.)

I’ve been restraining myself from bitching and moaning about FSN this week, knowing that doing so would only drive me crazy. But bumping Rafael Nadal for dramatized hockey is a crime against humanity!

At my wit’s end, I feverishly typed this haughty complaint e-mail to the network:

"

I’m very disappointed that FSN network did not broadcast last night’s Rafael Nadal vs. David Nalbandian tennis match at the BNP Paribas Open tournament at Indian Wells. Instead of showing the number one tennis player in the world play one of the week’s most anticipated matches, you showed a hockey documentary. What a joke.

Tennis fans are an enthusiastic and loyal bunch, and Nadal inspires legions of die-hard fans beyond the typical boundaries of our sport. Your network missed out on a huge opportunity by not including this match in your broadcast schedule.

I don’t know the ins and outs of running a television sports network, but I do know that both ESPN and Tennis Channel are much better than FSN when it comes to tennis broadcasts.

Your network’s reputation in the tennis world was already in the dumps after last year’s gaffes; now it’s sunk to landfill levels. Please let me know why you did not show this match.

"

I do feel a little better after clicking “send,”  even though I realize that I’ll be lucky if some unpaid intern skims my message before sending me a form letter repsonse about “scheduling obligation” and “contractual agreements.” But sometimes you just have to speak up, even if no one’s listening.

If you feel like venting, too, click here for the FSN feedback form and let that intern have it!