First, some background. I love Fox's NASCAR coverage. The announcers seem to actually enjoy their job, which is a huge advantage over the Buzzkills at NBC and TNT. But sometimes the fun goes a little too far.
Fox has a camera in the track, sort of like the home plate camera in baseball. Great idea, it gives a different view of the track and some cool footage at times. Then, they made a cute little graphic of a gopher to show every time they switch to the in-track cam. That's a little annoying, but not surprising given the graphic saturation of a NASCAR broadcast. Of course, the gopher needed a name, which launched a months-long contest that ended with the obvious (and uninspired) choice of "Digger."
At this point, I thought that Fox had gotten all of this nonsense out of their system. They could pop up the "Digger Cam" graphic approximately 20,000 times a race, what more could they want? Much more, it turns out.
At the Daytona 500, Fox debuted a Digger theme song by country superstar Keith Urban, which is every bit as awful as it sounds. I don't know who at Fox has incriminating pictures of Urban that they threatened to show Nicole Kidman, but it's good enough blackmail material to make him whore himself out like this.
As if all that wasn't bad enough, they also premiered the first episode of the Digger show. Each week during the pre-race show, there is a 2 minute animated short featuring Digger and his crazy band of buddies running around a racetrack trying to avoid a police wolf or something like that. It's like Tom and Jerry without any kind of imagination or sense of humor and with some NASCAR branding thrown in. See for yourself:
Oh, and there's also a Digger Store at foxsports.com where you can buy t-shirts and a $10 beer coozy.
I know, I should have expeced this when I decided to watch a NASCAR pre-race show.
Update: With Leather beat me to it
14 Responses:
My kids and I happen to love the Digger cartoon and music. How old are you anyway? You sound like your'e an old fart.
you are right on about the fox team. they really add to the excitement. but digger seems harmless to me, and you've got to love it when they start telling digger to "look out!"
I happen to enjoy the Digger cartoons and the song is very cute and funny! I think it is great that Keith Urban took the time to write the silly little song; he has a great sense of humor apparently something you do not!
Holy Christ Digger is annoying. My kids are 18 months & pa more attention to the race, not some crappy cartoon
Digger is the worst thing on TV. Kudos to the person above
Digger is cute. What's the big deal? And for what it's worth, Keith Urban only did the music. David Hill actually wrote the lyrics.
Your choice of NASCAR over the PGA disappoints me. Why you wouldn't want to watch golf played in the most beautiful place on earth is beyond me. Or perhaps I think that because it took place 10 miles from my house and I'm still trying to justify living in the desert.
At least we have warm weather already. Have fun digging out your car in the morning!
I guess Fox and Nascar are trying to expand their demographics but you have to wonder what the target market is for "Digger". I doubt anyone is tuning in just to see Digger. I'm with you Brien. I could live with a little less cute.
For the record, I'm 27, but sometimes my tastes run a bit to the "old fart" end of the spectrum.
I'm sure the target market is kids and families (a HUGE demographic for NASCAR), but the cartoon took things a bit too far, IMO.
And I'm glad to hear that Keith Urban didn't write the lyrics, that salvages a little of my respect for him. The song isn't good, but the lyrics make my ears bleed.
Jesus Hector Christ... Terps have a big win on the road and you guys are posting about NASCAR? Are you making a concerted effort to ruin a snow day (excusable "work" from home) which is downright impossible? If you want to discuss a Digger discuss Digger Phelps and why noone in his personal or professional life has clued him in on how to say words like Vasquez and I can only assume quesadilla.
"A Digger theme song by country superstar Keith Urban..."
And I beheld a pale green horse, and he that sat on him was called Death, and Hell followed with him.
If FOX Sports wants to do their Digger garbage, leave it only in the pre-race show and keep it out of the coverage during the race. The Digger schtick is going too far when Digger pops up and distracts you from what's happening on the track. Furthermore, FOX has done overkill on this. It brought me to the point where I had to turn off the FOX Fontana and Las Vegas race broadcasts and just listen to the races on the radio. I can't put up with them anymore. I know I'm not the only one that has disdain toward FOX because of this. If FOX wants to continue this garbage and lose their viewers, then let them (FYI, FOX's viewer ratings of the broadcast of the Fontana race dropped 25% from their broadcast of the Fontana race from 4 years ago).
Good grief! What a bunch of sour grapes! I know a lot of people who have kids that never came near the NASCAR races on TV until they started showing the cartoon "Digger." I like it too, and I don't mind a little break of frivolity during racetime even though I love NASCAR races. As far as Keith Urban is concerned, I think he did a wonderful job during his pre-race performance, certainly a lot better than the artist who sang the National Anthem. He just happens to have won every award that Country Music has to offer, and today he has a No. 1 hit song out of his newest album. Sing on, Keith! It's hard to soar with eagles when you have to sing to a bunch of turkeys. There are millions that love your music whether these people do or not.
Seriously, you're watching cars drive in circles for four hours I would think a graphic any graphic would be an upgrade. The only thing more boring than watching cars drive in circles for four hours would be watching the same no talent people sing crappy songs for an hour 3 nights a week... Wait a second....
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