Fox Sports 2015 U.S. Open Thread (Joe Buck, Greg Norman)

[Golfingdad]

Joe buck in Golf? I've now seen it all.

Have you been to the Great Wall of china? And have you seen a grown man satisfy a camel?? Alrighty then ... ;)

[Hammer 4]

Only 2 good things I've seen on Fox, are Motocycle roadraces, and the UFC. If you like commercials, you'll get em every 2 mins.

[3putter]

Have you been to the Great Wall of china? And have you seen a grown man satisfy a camel?? Alrighty then ... ;)

The grocery store by my old place called "Great Wall", it's pretty big, does it count? As for the camel, I'm just speechless

[boogielicious]

My issue with Buck is his delivery is very condescending at times.  I have not really heard Norman broadcast, but he tends to relate everything to himself in other conversations.  The announcers really need to avoid both of those tendencies.  The Fox broadcasts in the NFL are weaker in my opinion due to this.

[nevets88]

I wonder what the streaming situation is going to be like with Fox. They don't stream MLB or NFL games, do they with NASCAR?

Doesn't the stream come from the usga website? Memory is failing me.

[ChrisP]

I put money on Thom Brennaman and Charles Davis so I was wrong.

On the bright side, no Chris Berman starting next year so look at it that way.

On the negative side, I thought NBC's done a very good job with the US Open since 1995 and I was surprised the USGA didn't give NBC a chance to counter offer Fox's deal. I really like Hicks and Miller together and Rolfing, Koch, and Maltbie have been great on-course announcers.

I have no issues with Joe Buck. I think he's a decent announcer. Not as good as Al Michaels, but a hell of a lot better than "Hello Friends" Nantz. It will be interesting to see what the television schedule is. I've heard Fox Sports 1 is going to cover the first two rounds, a network that really  hasn't been doing all that great since it began. Also be interesting to see who some of the other announcers will be.

[BallStriker]

I like watching championship golf on TV that is well produced ....don't care too much about who is talking about it, quite franklly...much bigger stroy IMO is how the camera work and production comes off....Chambers Bay not the easiest place to pull this off either.....US Am in 2010 that was held there was not really visually effective for TV viewers, although there were obviously much less camera infrastructure.....but it looked a lot like the Open Championship productions 15-20 years ago when they could never follow the ball.....

anyway.....

[Hammer 4]

They should bring Dougie and the crew over from the Eruo tour...

[jamo]

Doesn't the stream come from the usga website? Memory is failing me.

ESPN did coverage the first two rounds last year, so you could get those through WatchESPN. Not sure what the USGA website offered.

[Chris223]

wow why do so many people hate Jim Nantz?  The Masters wouldn't be The Masters without the voice of golf!  I don't think I like the sound of Joe Buck though doing golf.  I'm not his biggest fan, I can tolerate him doing baseball and NFL... but golf????

[MS256]

One thing I can predict with confidence. The announcers won't even come close to satisfying everybody. ;-) Maybe they will be like Vern and Gary doing college football. They are the only announcers I've ever seen that at the end of the game every single fan from both teams will swear that Vern and Gary were pulling for the other team and hate their team. It's fun to go to each team's sites and read the exact same comments coming from opposite sides. I don't pay much attention to what announcers say anyway. There's always the Mute button.

[ChrisP]

One thing I can predict with confidence. The announcers won't even come close to satisfying everybody.

Maybe they will be like Vern and Gary doing college football. They are the only announcers I've ever seen that at the end of the game every single fan from both teams will swear that Vern and Gary were pulling for the other team and hate their team.

It's fun to go to each team's sites and read the exact same comments coming from opposite sides.

I don't pay much attention to what announcers say anyway. There's always the Mute button.

Well, the problem with the announcers is they're going to be new and probably never have done golf announcing before. It's one event a year. Therefore, you know you're going to get rusty, new talent that won't have the chance to develop. ESPN at least has Judy Rankin, Mike Tirico, Terry Gannon and Paul Azinger who had experience prior to when ESPN went to one event a year so there's isn't as bad. The US Open will be Buck's and Norman's first ever event, and the following year's US Open will be their 2nd ever event. This is my biggest issue with Fox having the rights to the US Open is they've never done (and have no plans to) cover any other golf event.

It will be interesting to see who will do the coverage for FoxSports 1 on Thursday and Friday. If it's Gus Johnson, I'm going to be begging for Chis Berman back because Johnson is horrible.

[Spitfisher]

other notations of the transaction, looks as thought its the USopen, womens,  senior, and national amateur- the open is the cash cow the others not so much. Perhaps this is why NBC balked.

Fox maybe a newbie to golf, but not to major sports, like the super-bowl for instance. I am confident that they will do a good job, much better than ESPN. Don't be surprised if the they offer sub contracts to the usual color commentators- I doubt you'll see Joe buck. I could be wrong though.

The United States Golf Association, the governing body of the game of golf in the United States, and FOX Sports, the No. 1 network for sports television since 1997, today announced a comprehensive multi-media agreement that makes the FOX network and FOX Sports 1 the principal domestic media partner of the USGA and the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open Championships, as well as the USGA’s national amateur championships and other live content, beginning in 2015. The landmark, 12-year agreement, which runs through 2026, brings premier major championship golf for the first time ever to the FOX broadcast network, home to the country’s greatest sports events, including the Super Bowl, World Series, Daytona 500 and World Cup.

[jamo]

Fox maybe a newbie to golf, but not to major sports, like the super-bowl for instance. I am confident that they will do a good job, much better than ESPN. Don't be surprised if the they offer sub contracts to the usual color commentators- I doubt you'll see Joe buck. I could be wrong though.

See: [quote name="iacas" url="/t/69068/fox-sports-to-take-over-the-u-s-open-in-2015/0_30#post_981307"]News came out today: Greg Norman and Joe Buck are the announcers.[/quote] [quote name="Spitfisher" url="/t/69068/fox-sports-to-take-over-the-u-s-open-in-2015/30_30#post_987924"]The United States Golf Association, the governing body of the game of golf in the United States, and FOX Sports, the No. 1 network for sports television since 1997, today announced a comprehensive multi-media agreement that makes the FOX network and FOX Sports 1 the principal domestic media partner of the USGA and the U.S. Open, U.S. Women’s Open and U.S. Senior Open Championships, as well as the USGA’s national amateur championships and other live content, beginning in 2015. The landmark, 12-year agreement, which runs through 2026, brings premier major championship golf for the first time ever to the FOX broadcast network, home to the country’s greatest sports events, including the Super Bowl, World Series, Daytona 500 and World Cup. [/quote] If you're going to copy-and-paste something, please put it in quotes and source it.

[albatross]

Joe Buck is calling the US Open now. It's a sad day in professional golf broadcasting.  I can't believe that we're moving from the solid team at NBC to Fox.  Really unbelievable.

Let's send it down to Tony Siragusa who's standing with Phil Mickelson.  Or how about Pam Oliver or Troy Aikman?

[Gunther]

C'mon, Buck is the premier announcer of this generation. I have no doubt he'll adapt well to golf. I know he'll put in the work.

[albatross]

C'mon, Buck is the premier announcer of this generation. I have no doubt he'll adapt well to golf. I know he'll put in the work.

That's an opinion that I don't agree with.

[ChrisP]

I don't mind Buck. He's a good announcer. I'm worried about them using Gus Johnson. I'll be begging for Chris Berman if they bring him in to do the Thursday/Friday coverage.

But I will miss Hicks/Miller and the NBC team. I think they're the best golf team out there hands down. It's a shame but nowadays you go where the money goes.