FOX Misses Mark With Lazy Santa Jokes During Philadelphia Eagles Christmas Win
FOX just couldn't help themselves from mentioning Santa and snowballs during the telecast of the Philadelphia Eagles 33-25 win over the New York Giants on Christmas Day Monday.
"On Christmas Day, we're in the city where they have booed Santa, and pelted Santa with snowballs before," Joe Davis said after returning from commercial in the second quarter.
USA Today
Davis went on to say that either of those acts will get you put on Santa's naughty list, before transitioning into graphics about areas where the Eagles have dipped statistically since last year, suggesting those will also get you put on the naughty list. As the differences were noted, you guessed it, an animated Santa was pelted with snowballs. To say tying the two things together was a stretch would be putting it lightly.
It didn't stop there, though, as the FOX cameras then panned to multiple people in the crowd dressed as Santa, with Davis joking that they should be careful at Lincoln Financial Field.
There was nothing malicious from Davis, who is actually one of the better play-by-players in sports. He was picked to succeed Vin Scully as the television broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017. In 2022, Davis became the No. 1 MLB announcer on FOX, succeeding Joe Buck. Davis immediately made a ton of fans in Philadelphia, as he was the TV voice for the Phillies' improbable run to the World Series in 2022, including Bryce Harper's iconic home run in Game 5 of the NLCS, which he dubbed "The swing of his life".
This is less about Davis, and more about how national broadcasts in Philadelphia are produced. Showing a fish being tossed at Pike Place Market in Seattle during Seahawks home games is lazy. There might need to be a new word invented for the lack of creativity a production team has if one of their angles in Philadelphia, in 2023, is to bring up fans throwing snowballs at someone dressed as Santa in 1968.
A few notes:
- Unless Randy Johnson was in the crowd that day, being hit with a snowball wasn't going to hurt anyone.
- The incident took place on Dec. 15, 1968, not at Lincoln Financial Field or even Veterans Stadium, but Franklin Field. The Eagles were members of the NFL Capitol Division at that time. Richard Nixon had just been elected president. Jack Buck, Pat Summerall and Bill McColgan called the game on CBS. Frank Olivo, the man dressed as Santa, was only 20 years old. Olivo passed away in 2015 at the age of 66. This was literally more than half a century ago.
- There actually is a story to be told on what took place that day, in terms of how Olivio ended up being the Santa on the field at halftime that day and why Eagles fans were so upset. That story has been told locally on many occasions, but there doesn't seem to be interest in explaining it to a national crowd. That's probably because most broadcast production crews didn't bother to learn it themselves.
Above all else, it's lazy. Philadelphia is a city rich with history, and plenty of things to talk about during telecasts other than Rocky Balboa and a guy dressed as Santa during the 1960s having snowballs thrown at him. Life went on then. And it's time that national broadcasts move on too.
