Aikman to Fox: Patch up those holes in the head
09/18/08 11:56 AM
By ED BARK
Troy Aikman spiked his regular Thursday morning segment on "The Ticket's" Dunham and Miller show with an unsolicited hot sports opinion aimed at Fox's sports overlords.
Aikman, who joins Joe Buck on the network's play-by-play A-team, carped about not getting to call Sunday's Dallas Cowboys-Green Bay Packers game. It instead will be the property of NBC's Sunday Night Football.
He wondered how Fox could let that one get away. Meanwhile, Aikman and Buck are stuck with the Denver Broncos-New Orleans Saints game during Sunday's daytime hours.
Aikman's frustration is understandable. But under the terms of its deal with the NFL, NBC isn't allowed to "cherry pick" any games until the final six weeks of the season. Even then there are restrictions on shifting a Sunday afternoon game to NBC's prime-time showcase. NFL schedule-makers made Dallas-Green Bay an early season night game, which automatically made it the property of NBC, not Fox.
Aikman also wondered about co-host George Dunham's mental makeup after asking whether it's true he's actually a fan of Fox's new Japanese import, Hole in the Wall.
Basically, contestants try to shape themselves into various cut-out holes coming at them from a moving wall. Those who fail are fated to land in a pool of green water. It redundantly happens over and over again, but maybe at some point they'll add excrement to create extra excitement.
The easily amused Dunham, also known as the planet's last living tiddly winks player (wink-wink), has embraced the critically reviled Hole in the Wall as a veritable Masterpiece Theatre.
"You've gotta be kidding me," said Aikman, who views the show as virtually the final fall of western civilization.
The Hall of Fame quarterback marveled that it's come to this on Fox. What a great way to educate our children, he cracked. Let alone some of the adults tuning in.
Dunham gamely tried to distance himself while his on-air colleagues of course piled on. No penalties were called.