Fox Sports One and Two: My Lasting Impressions

So for those who haven't noticed, Fox cable group is undergoing a huge overhaul.

It all started on Saturday with the departure of FUEL and SPEED into heaven (or should I say, 'hell'). Then it was Fox Sports 1 and 2 entering the United States cable/satellite landscape. I see that Fox Sports 2 is still on the same DIRECTV channel for FUEL (618), while FS1 moved from SPEED's 607 to 219, between Golf and NBCSN. FS1's day would be headlined by the National Guard 200 at Michigan as well as the UFC Fight Night at Toronto Dominion Garden Boston, headlined by the knockouts of Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua and Alistair 'The Reem' Overeem, two PRIDE favorites. The big capper was the Chael Sonnen promo welcoming us to the NEW Fox Sports One.

As the live UFC card segued to Fox Sports Live, there was Charissa Thompson, who is marking her return to the Fox Sports family. She did some sideline reporting for some of the NFL on Fox telecasts before bolting to ESPN. A big scoreboard wall (sponsored by Audi 'Vorsprung durch Technik'!) is there, and I have to say, this is miles ahead of SportsCenter already!

After Charissa introduced the panel, including Gary Payton and Andy Roddick, a segue to two of the best studio hosts in sport television-Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole. Remember, this Onrait-O'Toole pairing has gone a long way, for years on TSN's SportsCentre. The first installment of Fox Sports Live, marked their US debut!

A reminder that FSL is what sports news TV ought to be: relaxed and fun. The old Fox Sports News used to do it. CNN's old series, Sports Tonight, also used to be this way. Even SportsCenter for certain years as well.

I also see that FS1 and FS2 will get great programming. AFL and NRL football from down under airs live (and semi-live on FS2), and FS1 will carry Golden Boy Live, beginning tonight on selected Monday nights, and competing against the likes of Under the Dome, Siberia and Monday Night RAW.

ESPN, NBCSN, CBS Sports Network, now you got a competitor. Now when will Sky Sports come to the states?