One of the more eye-rolling trends on sports telecasts (or anywhere now really) is showcasing random tweets from viewers during coverage. Yes, because we really care about what cutting-edge insights someone with a Twitter handle like @_DEEZ_N8TZ has to share with the world. In the age of social media engagement, it’s what we’ve had to deal with. And at the very least, it’s led to some awkward/uncomfortable/weird moments when a tweet that shouldn’t get through the proper filters actually does and makes it on air.
With that in mind, we’re not quite sure what to make of what we saw on FS1 last night with the studio coverage for Game 5 of the NLCS between the Cubs and the Dodgers. The network was showcasing tweets from viewers at the bottom of the screen while Kevin Burkhardt, Alex Rodriguez, Pete Rose, and Frank Thomas were all on air. And Fox shared multiple tweets bashing Rose as an analyst with one even saying he is a “trainwreck” on television.
FS1 has no chill @AwfulAnnouncing pic.twitter.com/Je1ZgAozBR
— Jeff (@jamfan40) October 21, 2016
at least the tweets are strong pic.twitter.com/kSf1vCLXns
— Dylan Goforth (@DGoforth918) October 21, 2016
FS1 has always seemed to be in on the act that Pete Rose is just a different guy and not your prototypical studio analyst. He’s there for some kind of off-kilter mixture of generating publicity, comic relief, and also being one of the greatest baseball players who has ever lived.
But we just can’t help but wonder whether this was some kind of innocent mistake, whether Fox truly has no filter, or if they’re trolling their own analyst because that’s just the kind of weird thing that FS1 does these days. Maybe we’ll be treated to Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe AND Jason Whitlock and Colin Cowherd debating Pete Rose’s television performance today on FS1.
