Where Are My Lineups, Fox?!?!

Dr. Z of Sports Illustrated brought up a very interesting note in his "Inside the NFL" column, Fox Sports has stopped showing the starting lineups at the beginning of their NFL games. That kinda shocked me. Dr. Z had a conversation with David Hill, Chairman of Fox Sports and midway down page 2, you can see how that fruitless conversation went, but here's a snippet:

"You want to know who's in or out?" [David]Hill [Chairman of Fox Sports] said. "The announcers will give you that in their stand-up. I don't want the screen cluttered up with that."

But the announcers did not give me that. Yes they did, he said. No they didn't, I said. Yes they did. And the argument raged. When our conversation was over I called Fox's PR department and asked them if they could send me a tape, so I could see for myself (I hadn't saved my tape of the pre-game). They said they would. Coming right up. They never sent it. You just can't win, folks. When you're dealing with corporate America, you just can't win.

Ladies and Gentlemen, starting lineups have been a mainstay in football broadcasts since I can remember. They've even progressed, in this digital age, from just pictures to the actual players announcing themselves! We the people need this just so we know if say Santonio Holmes is playing or if his backup is in because Holmes pulled a hamstring!

Ok well you and I don't necessarily need this because we play fantasy football and know the lineups a half hour before the start of the game, but most people don't subscribe to those services that tell us that. In any case, its tradition! Its how football has been broadcast since the dawn of football being broadcast! You cannot change this! TELL FOX WE NEED OUR LINEUPS!

Here's their feedback page if you really want them back...but who else misses them like I do? Is it just clutter or do you like them like Dr. Z and I do?