Free Sports Smorgasbord Seems Tasty
Fox Television is promoting tonight’s heavyweight fight between Mike Tyson and Buster Mathis Jr. as the “free TV event of the decade,” which begs the question: Does anyone at Fox know about that low-speed Ford Bronco chase?
Oh, well. The fight is on free TV, and it’s definitely an event, so forgive Fox its hyberbole. What’s important for boxing fans is there’s no need for cable, HBO or pay-per-view.
In fact, every sports fan in the family could be satisfied by this weekend’s offerings on free television. Besides the Tyson fight, there are five NFL games, a college basketball game between Indiana and top-ranked Kansas, a couple of golf tournaments and two figure skating competitions.
The Tyson fight tonight is the event of the weekend, simply because it’s been so long since a major heavyweight fight has been broadcast live on network television.
The fight itself may not be much of an event. After all, the only reason it’s on free TV is Tyson’s last fight, an expensive pay-per-view offering that lasted all of 89 seconds, left viewers feeling as if they’d been scammed. Mathis is perhaps a more worthy opponent than Peter McNeeley, but experts are predicting another mismatch. DNA testimony might seem action-packed by comparison, but at least fans won’t go to bed believing they’ve been ripped off.
The Tyson bout comes at the end of a daylong festival of football, figure skating and fighting - all for free.
Gender-equity could be the theme of the weekend, because almost all the football goes head-to-head with skating. Because of its popularity among women, figure skating has emerged as one of television’s biggest ratings winners. Certainly any talk of the free TV event of the decade would have to include Nancy vs. Tonya at the Lillehammer Olympics.
CBS’s two-day coverage of the Ladies Riders Triple Crown pits Wasilla, Alaska, skater Rory Flack Burghart against the world’s reigning ice queens, including Oksana Baiul and Katarina Witt.
We already know the results of the tape-delay competition. After a dazzling performance at the qualifying competition in Chicago (that aired two weeks ago on CBS), Burghart sprained an ankle and finished eighth in the eight-woman finals in Boston. “We all fell apart in the finals,” Burghart said with a sigh.
Even if she’s not at her best, don’t pass up this chance to watch a skater who is seemingly on the verge of becoming a household name.
Also today, Scott Hamilton and Michelle Kwan headline a team figure skating competition.
If you prefer spikes to sequins, there’s football aplenty.
Many more weekends like this, and cable could become obsolete. (Hey, if Fox can exaggerate, so can we).