By Ryan
FOX announced that it is taking Digger, its NASCAR Gopher Cam mascot, to disturbing new levels beginning with this Sunday’s Daytona 500. The Adventures of Digger and Friends, a collaboration between FOX Sports chairman David Hill and country music star Keith Urban, will premiere during the race, with five two-minute vignettes featuring the furry characters that will be repeated throughout the NASCAR season, long after we’ve all stopped watching. Says Hill:
The first time I saw Digger pop out of his little tunnel I thought we could really have some fun with this and make our races more entertaining, especially for younger fans. I really got to thinking about all this when the online effort to name him was so overwhelming. From there we came up with the idea for the vignettes and using him during races as we do Cleatus, our NFL on FOX robot.
Right. And everyone just loves Cleatus. Digger sounds like one of those all-too-common cases of underlings indulging the big bosses’ crazy whims. But wait, there’s more:
Annie is Digger’s adorable teenage love interest. Inspired by Hill’s 14 year-old daughter of the same name, Annie, like many teen girls, is bouncy, cheerful, scattered, willful and preoccupied by her many interests, which don’t include racing. Sometimes Digger’s ceaseless chatter about NASCAR goes in one ear and out the other.
Someone please call Carl Spackler.
My Husband & I really love Digger but we haven”t seen him lately. WERE IS HE He makes the show??
Sorry, FOX retired Digger from its NASCAR coverage.
Digger is so cute! I think it’s funny and will help to draw in younger viewers. Plus the theme song gets stuck in your head, hehe.
The furry thing popping out alongside the track is cute, but making it a mascot, is (IMHO) a wasted effort. I think the merchandising of the mascot is a major turnoff to fans that have been watching NASCAR for years, and that the sales of “Digger” hats and T-shirts will reflect this. I say cut your losses before you embarass yourselves further. Thank you.
Digger sucks.
Please take it away.
I think as far as Digger burying NASCAR, there is no chance that will happen. I happen to like the little guy and think it’s a neat way of reaching out to a new and younger generation of NASCAR fans. Good job NASCAR
It’s horrible! What horrid waste of time. Another way to dumb down the broadcast. It will never last…really should have never been brought on.
I have two small boys that have rewatched the new Digger episode about 20 times and I found this because we were doing a search for Digger online, as far as burying FOX I don’t think so.
DIGGER is a asome name for a cartoon gopher and cleatus is a reatarded name for a gopher
“Digger’s ceaseless chatter … in one ear and out the other”
Could apply equally to ESPN’s Digger Phelps
And who knew the NFL robot was named Cleatus? Now that’s a name that actually sounds better suited for NASCAR