FOX Sports Goes On-Location to Pearl Harbor in December
The sudden attack of United States military installations on the Hawaiian Islands on Dec. 7, 1941, which saw almost 2,400 lives lost, catapulted the country into World War II and united all Americans in a groundswell of patriotism. Later this year, FOX Sports, with the help of the four branches of the United States military – Army, Marines, Navy and Air Force – pays solemn tribute to those who tragically fell that day, in that four-year conflict and the sacrifice of today’s uniformed personnel around the world in a weekend-long remembrance.
Using sports as a backdrop, FOX Sports is honored to call Pearl Harbor home Dec. 4-7, 2015, paying tribute to the nation’s military while enlightening Americans about the world-altering events that occurred there almost 75 years ago on “a date which will live in infamy.” Activities and events associated with three of FOX Sports’ core sports – Major League Baseball, National Football League and college basketball – are planned throughout the extra-long weekend.
“FOX Sports is honored to call Pearl Harbor home during this year’s commemoration, an extremely fitting location to show our respect to the men and women of our nation’s armed forces, past and present,” said FOX Sports President and COO Eric Shanks. “We appreciate the military’s cooperation with this endeavor, and we hope to return to Pearl Harbor in 2016 to pay solemn tribute on the 75th Anniversary.”
Leading off on Friday, Dec. 4, MLB on FOX game analyst Harold Reynolds teams with a contingent of baseball superstars, including Kansas City Royals starter Jeremy Guthrie, Baltimore Orioles third baseman Manny Machado, Boston Red Sox outfielder and native
Hawaiian Shane Victorino to host a clinic for children at a local school, followed a day later by a similar event at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for children of active military personnel. The baseball stars also plan to visit a local children’s hospital and wounded warriors at the base hospital.
On Saturday, Dec. 5, FOX Sports 1 uses a set on the bow of the Battleship Missouri Memorial as home base for the day’s studio programming. Event programming that day includes college basketball and FOX broadcast network’s evening presentation of the Big Ten Championship football game, live from Indianapolis.
The following day, Sunday, Dec. 6, in what is sure to be its most special broadcast ever, FOX NFL SUNDAY presents a special two-hour edition live from the deck of the Battleship Missouri Memorial, with the poignant USS Arizona Memorial as a backdrop, as the sun rises over Pearl Harbor. The USS Arizona was among the first ships bombed on Dec. 7, 1941, losing 1,177 crew members in the greatest loss of life on any U.S. warship in history, but it was aboard the USS Missouri that Gen. Douglas MacArthur accepted the Empire of Japan’s unconditional surrender on Sept. 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay which officially signaled the end of World War II.
Curt Menefee, Terry Bradshaw, Jimmy Johnson, Howie Long and Michael Strahan, in the most reverent of settings, prepare football fans for the day’s action while offering a unique look at the surprise attack of Dec. 7, 1941, both battleships, and their unique place in U.S. history. FOX NFL SUNDAY (12:00 PM ET/6:00 AM local time) has often paid tribute to our nation’s military, including live broadcasts from the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman while on patrol in the Mediterranean Sea in 2000 and a U.S. military installation in Afghanistan in 2009.
FOX has a solid NFL doubleheader scheduled on Sunday, Dec. 6, highlighted by early regional game coverage that includes the San Francisco 49ers at Chicago Bears; the two-time defending NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks on the road against the Minnesota Vikings; and Carolina Panthers visiting the New Orleans Saints. In the national game nightcap, the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots host the Philadelphia Eagles in AMERICA’S GAME OF THE WEEK.
Following a morning ceremony on Monday, Dec. 7 marking the 74th anniversary of the 1941 attack, FOX Sports 1 coverage from Pearl Harbor culminates with its presentation of two college basketball games played in Bloch Arena, located on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, which withstood the 1941 Japanese bombing. FOX Sports 1 offers live coverage of Oklahoma vs. Villanova (2:00 PM local time/7:00 PM ET), followed by Navy vs. Oregon.
