By Chris Cosci

This past Tuesday night was Major League Baseball's annual All-Star Game, which was broadcast on FOX. There were a number of things wrong with this year's broadcast. For starters, before the game was what is becoming a staple of any event on telelvision -- the pre-show. Everything has a pre-show. The Super Bowl. The Oscars. Even the series finale of Seinfeld had a pre-show. The obvious joke here would be that it's getting so bad that even the pre-shows have pre-shows. Unfortunately, this was actually the case with this year's Super Bowl, which I think had more pre-shows than there were episodes of the original Star Trek series.

Anyway, this pre-show had announcers who acted as though this was the most important event in the history of baseball. It was so over-dramatic that one announcer (and I swear, I am not making this up) said you would "look back and remember where you were when Cal Ripken, Jr. played in his last All-Star Game."

Thankfully, this display of excess came to a close in time for the singing of the national anthems. Which brings me to my biggest gripe: Before the game, FOX went to commercial. When they came back, you heard a woman's voice over the PA system at Safeco Field, which is where this year's game was held (more on that later). The woman was Diana Krall, and she had just finished singing the Canadian National Anthem. They cut her singing in favor of commercials and made sure to come back in time for the AMERICAN National Anthem. Now, I am not Canadian, I don't have any family or friends in Canada, and I don't plan on moving there any time soon. However, Diana Krall took time out of her schedule to appear at this event and sing O Canada. I think it's a slap in the face to not show her performance.

Instead, they come back in time so that we can watch current pop star Mya deliver a lackluster rendition of The Star Spangled Banner. Now, her performance was still better than Sheryl Crow's dreadful, out-of-tune shredding of the song during the World Series, but I probably would have enjoyed Diana Krall's performance more. Will I ever know? No. Shame on Fox for their poor broadcasting.

I finally got tired and turned off the game after two innings. I reportedly missed baseball commisioner Bud Selig stopping play in the sixth inning to give retiring players Cal Ripken, Jr. and Tony Gwynn awards. Can you believe this? Interrupting the play of a game for an award ceremony that they EASILY could have done before the game?

Imagine if they interrupted a soccer game in England or Brazil for an awards ceremony. The award presenters would have to be carried off the field on stretchers after being mauled by irate fans who came to see the game.

Now, I will turn my attention to the name of the stadium in Seattle where the Mariners play and this year's All-Star Game was held. Safeco field. This, folks, is corporate America at its worst. Everything has to be an advertisement. The world is just becoming one big billboard for companies. Stadium names used to mean something to the team or the city it was in. The Astrodome. Three Rivers Stadium. Shea Stadium. These were names people recognized and had some sort of connection with. Now, everything is named after the company with the highest bid. Safeco Field. Pac Bell Stadium. Cynergy Field.

Even watching a game on TV has become horribly commercial. Everything is sponsored by somebody. "Let's take a look at the Toyota box score." "Here's your Bud Light out-of-town scoreboard." "It's time for the Delta fly-away fifth inning." "Let's look at the Jeep pitching match-up for today's game." Soon I won't be able to watch an instant replay without having a company logo thrown in my face.

In conclusion, America's future seems to be America's pasttime being drowned out by America's present.