Friday evening at 7PM Eastern Time ESPN2 will present NEXTEL Cup Qualifying from the Atlanta Motor Speedway. This program is scheduled to run for two hours.
Dr. Jerry Punch, Rusty Wallace, and Andy Petree will handle the announcing duties. Joining them on pit road will be Dave Burns, Jamie Little, and Mike Massaro.
ESPN routinely has chosen not to present practice sessions other than Happy Hour or to originate any additional live programming from the NEXTEL Cup venues. This two hour program is the extent of their on-site coverage for Friday.
This page will host your comments about the ESPN2 coverage of qualifying. Please restrict your comments to issues associated with the broadcast, and review the rules for posting on the right side of the main page.
To add your comment, simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the instructions. Thank you for stopping-by and leaving your opinion on The Daly Planet.
139 comments:
John,
Where is Alan Bestwick? Is he not going to be on pit road, or is he in Memphis with the Busch series. I certainly wish he could be in the booth and call the race. It would be so much better. He, Andy Petree and DJ.
Thanks
Once again, ESPN refuses to show practice or qualiyfing and also refuses to allow SPEED to show them as well.
Nothing like intentionally building ill-will among your viewers.
Anon 7:45
...ESPN is, showing qualifying.
True. Sorry. I meant practices.
If ESPN2 is still interviewing drivers in the studio during qualifying (a good idea but make sure you still show the cars on the track during the interviews), I'd like to suggest they interview Juan Pablo Montoya. I don't remember seeing him in the studio or seeing him interviewed anywhere in quite some time. He finished 8th last week at Martinsville and finished 5th at the last Atlanta race.
I wasn't familiar with JPM when he came to Cup and wasn't sure if I was going to like him, but a friend of mine who likes him sent me some JPM interviews a couple of months ago and he is hilarious (and obsessed with golf).
Most of the interviews were from the newspaper, but one was a youtube of David Letterman. The best part is when the newspaper inteviews ask him about television programs and movies he watches and he is like Roger Ebert or somebody. If he loves your show he loves it, if he hates it he'll talk about how bad it is. (So ESPN, don't ask him about your coverage.) Or maybe they should have him on with the PTI dudes when they have the "What are You Watching Tonight" part.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=_wPgfWuHhy0
Thank you SPEED for having Nascar Live on during practice.
While ESPN doesn't carry practice, SPEED keeps us informed of what is going on during practice.
Chase, Chase, Chase, Chase, Chase. Then the Edwards/Kenseth controversy. Then commercial, then qualifying starts.
Thank goodness for the Internet so I would have some idea what's been going on at the track TODAY. If I relied solely on ESPN I'd be completely clueless.
why is qualifying at night today?
Ugh...Jamie Little makes me CRINGE YET again in interview with Carl.
Now talking to Jack Roush...says he talked to Carls' momy..she has much influence over Carl ???? Isn't Carl a little old for this stuff?
FRANKLY, Roush seems to be out of touch with the tension under his nose.
I don't know what to make of this but still think Carl MUST be an "Eddie Haskell" type...but still, enough already, folks.
Jamie, get her to cover ice skating or something.
I can't believe I even have peeSPN for qualifying. I will just bitch the whole time.
NASCAR has screwed the fans badly.
I am no longer going to just blame ESPN.
Who you gonna blame. Frankenstein (France) or the monster he has created?? (ESPN's lousy coverage_
Such a great track its a *$&*@$&@*&$ rip off ESPN DID NOT ALLOW SPEED to have qual and practice.
If I hear one more time that NASCAR does things for the fan I am going to hurl.
But we did get to see the trucks practice.....
Does anyone else find it humorous that when the Trucks and Busch cars are at the same track the Cup Series is we get all the practice coverage we could possibly ask for while the "minor league" vehicles are on the track but as soon as the Cup cars hit the track the cameras all fold up and the coverage vanishes?
Doesn't that seem a little backwards? Thanks ESPN!
coverage just started!! why are you so quick to put the broadcast down. I for one, WANT ESPN to have a good broadcast. therefore, I will at least hold my judgement till the end or they mess up badly.
Useless information from ESPN's announcers, part 1 (Andy Petree):
Here's John Andretti, he was 33rd fastest in practice.
Well what the hell does that information do for the viewers at home? He's only racing the other go-or-go homers. 33rd might be great if he was the fastest go-or-go homer, or might be terrible if he was 9th or 10th among that group. "33rd overall" means nothing by itself when talking about a go-or-go homer. Please get a clue. Andy should imagine being a car owner again. If he owned that 49 car would he be worried about where his car was overall in practice? NO!!!!!! He would be worrying about where he was among the go-or-go homers. How about relaying that time of perspective to the viewers?
Help us out here ESPN!!!!!!!!
Surprise! Jamie talked with Hornish. :)
Rusty, I'm on your side; but, stop the P1 open-wheel speak!
So far, what I'm seeing of the cars on the track looks better.
it looks like the announcers are in the booth and not in the pit road studio. that could mean less in studio interviews and more track coverage.
Wow. I was just typing that ESPN2 qualifying had gotten rid of all of the omnipresent, cluttering graphics on the side and bottom of the screen, like the driver photo and stats that left the qualifying car as a small screen element. It was just a plain screen with the exception of the ticker at the bottom. it was really nice to see.
That was for the first three cars. But they came back from commercial and the graphic clutter is back and the car image is reduced. Bad decision.
ESPN had to address Edwards/Kenseth. Like it or not it's what people have been talking about all week and Edwards was first out on the track. Good interviews by Little and Massaro.
And now they've removed the graphic clutter again. please continue to leave it off, ESPN.
Aononymous,
It's not too early too start critiquing the coverage.
Their coverage started with a graphic showing all of the Chaser's career average finish at Atlanta. How about replacing that graphic with a "practice speeds" graphic showing all the drivers, not just the Chasers, instead?
How about catching up-to-date on what we missed in practice? How about following up the Edwards-Kenseth controversy with an update on what happened to Kenseth during practice. Did he blow an engine, forcing him to change engines and go to the back? Were there any other incidents in the session?
Brian Vickers qualified. No mention of crew chief Doug Richert leaving his team EARLIER THIS WEEK.
yes THIS IS A GORGEOUS TRACK..be nice if we could SEE IT.
It's great to have that qualifying CRAP OFF THE SCREEN but as I type this, they added it for Reeds car.
ESPN does not learn.
Sick of Carl. WHY is he being interviewed during qualifying??
**** commercial now?
I give up.
This is a beautiful track.
Let us see the track...not the cars in the box.
ESPN THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX.
CRIPES.
Google shot to show the car AND the track on this ******* BLACK CLUTTER.
Screw you ESPN.
Thanks for NEVER LISTENING.
Did Doc just say "The sun is setting to the east of us here." Huh?
"That was for the first three cars. But they came back from commercial and the graphic clutter is back and the car image is reduced. Bad decision."
I disagree. I like all the live information these graphics provide. I do think, however, those graphics shouldn't be keep on the entire broadcast.
That whole qualifying and go or go home stuff is worse than japanese calculus. now intervewing Truex so we can't see the car.
Then again, they may as well just show a picture of the car on the track since we have no sense of perspective with just a CLOSE UP of the qualifying car.
ESPN go look at your old tapes and get the excess graphics all the screen.
man, they suck for qualifying. The camera shot is so tight the car could wreck and we will never know where on the track the car was.
ABSOLUTELY no sense os perspective.
Well, my hopes were dashed. I was so happy to see the boxless cars on the track. I'm not happy now. ESPN is toying with me and that is not nice!
We're going to have Carl in our faces all weekend. Just brace yourself.
Go or go homer Dale Jarrett qualifies 2nd so far with a fantastic run. "Chaser" Martin Truex Jr. runs a very poor 7th out of 12 cars.
If you aren't watching TV right now, which driver do you think ESPN chose to interview?
Yep, that's right, they interviewed Truex. Gotta be a Chaser or Dale Jr. to get TV time.
Stricklanfan
Last I saw on SPEED the 17 was leaking oil wasn't it? some serious issues with that car.
Not that we will learn here. I am in such a bad mood and this is not helping watching all the clutter on the screen. Geezus.
It must be fine for those of you with 60 inch tv. Mine is a 30 inch. I would rather the whole screen be the car instead of shrinking it...not to mention, we can't see the GOREGOUS track and the stands that makes it more fun to watch like when SPEED shows it.
did we see Brian Vickers' run?
Lisa
I agree. I love seeing the whole screen with the car AND track. ESPN is nothing but a big tease.
We want to see the track. why clutter up the screen with that stuff? how about TELLING us what is going on with the drivers.
Ugh.
I gotta get off this thing. I am just too cranky.
Anonymous said...
it looks like the announcers are in the booth and not in the pit road studio. that could mean less in studio interviews and more track coverage.
October 26, 2007 7:27 PM
I take that back. they are not in the booth.
Yes ESPN showed the 83's run. It was during this time they missed an obvious opportunity to inform the fans about Doug Richert leaving Team Red Bull this week... but of course he's not in the Chase so any information about that team in irrelevant in the eyes of ESPN. The viewers at home don't know that anything has changed.
Wait a minute, Mike Skinner's in the 36 car? What happened to Jeremy Mayfield? Does anyone at ESPN know? Apparently not, they just act like there's nothing unusual about Skinner driving that car. (Yes I'm being sarcastic, I know Mayfield moved to the 66 car, but I'm sure a lot of people without the Internet are clueless right now).
Hey, I like ice skating and have a family friend that's on the US senior tour ... Do NOT send Jamie Little to ice skating ... Send her to football or basketball ...
Sam / Kasey - STOP talking to Jamie BEFORE you go out to qualify ... She's a big fat jinx ...
Those HD pictures are just beautiful, especially at night. It really makes it hard watching anything in SD anymore.
Carl's gonna be the in-race reporter for the Busch race?!?!? Way to go, Mickey Mouse ... Contempt for the fans much??
Bad idea to have Carl in the studio during qualifying ...
I heard a car in the background of ESPN's version of Trackside and thought someone must have had a problem.
But of course that wasn't the case. ESPN missed the ENTIRE RUN of Ricky Rudd and didn't put him on camera until he shut the car down after his run. You have to be kidding me.
It's bad enough that ESPN is talking to Carl Edwards about Matt McCall and the Mephis Busch race instead of talking about the qualifying session, it's a thousand times worse when the cameras are focused on the announcers and Carl the whole time!!!!
GIVE ME A BREAK.
Man these guys are idiots...
DJ is locked in the field after Skinner's run and not a single word from the people supposedly covering qualifying.
They're too busy cutting up with Edwards and not even paying attention to anything on the track.
I would say why do they even bother but then we wouldn't get anything but the races since they won't show a single live practice this weekend.
It's kind of shocking because Punch usually has somewhat of a soft heart for the older drivers but Dale Jarrett being locked into the field with only 20 cars or so is a pretty big story they have totally chosen to ignore...
Dale Jarrett being locked into the field with only 20 cars or so is a pretty big story they have totally chosen to ignore...
October 26, 2007 7:59 PM
Not true. ESPN did mention the 44 was locked in during the 55's run.
Jamie Little told Greg Biffle he had 3 more chances to be a "spoiler" and win a Chase race... I wonder which of the 4 races left she's giving Biffle no chance of winning? Probably Homestead, LOL.
Yeah, Biffle hates Homestead with a passion ... and Jamie doesn't have a bloody clue ...
Can we send her to MSNBC??
Dr. Punch: "Good to have Jeremy Mayfield back here with us here in the Nextel Cup Series".
HA!!!!!!!! Does he have any idea he's been in the Cup Series all year... even as recently as last week?
stricklinfan82 said...
Dr. Punch: "Good to have Jeremy Mayfield back here with us here in the Nextel Cup Series".
HA!!!!!!!! Does he have any idea he's been in the Cup Series all year... even as recently as last week?
October 26, 2007 8:10 PM
I'm sure he meant "back with us full time". Because, well, he has not been in races full time.
Lisa Hogan:
"We're going to have Carl in our faces all weekend. Just brace yourself."
I am. Someone at both SPEED (Trackside) and ESPN2 (studio) - or maybe just some excellent Roush PR reps who are earning their salaries - are bound and determined tonight that we are all going to continue to like good ol' Cousin Carl and the "incident" will be forgotten.
If Jamie McMurray wants to know where he stands on the Roush totem pole, he can look at ESPN talking to Carl while he's on track and only saying a sentence or two about Jamie's qualifying run at the end of their conversation. Maybe that's why he was whining about how Carl is never going to be his friend.
Carl does have a future ahead of him as an analyst, though. No mistake about that.
Carl is also practically the only driver to escape the ESPN In-Car reporter crash and destroy jinx. We'll see if that holds up tomorrow.
Well, ESPN is consistant. Viewers complain about too many people on the qualifying coverage; so, they put another "announcer" in for a total of four. Whatever we don't like, they give us more of.
World-wide leader?
Yeah - they mentioned DJ being locked in about 20 minutes after it happened when they decided to actually pay attention to what had happened in the past 30 minutes...
WTH?? A freind just dropped by briefly and CARL is STILL in the booth...from reading here they are ONCE AGAIN NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO THE QUALIFYING.
ESPN is a big fat P U. I wish I could put my Skunk photo here. This is putrid, pathetic "qualifying" coverage.
I am sick, SICK of Carl Edwards and I guess this is some PR spin.
Wow, I kept telling myself NOT to watch this show but I love Atlanta.
Stricklinfan, this is fricking unbelievable but why are we surprised?!
I guess I didn't miss much in the last few minutes but aggravation. Now I have to go to jayski and see who I missed qualifying.
Won't hear it from the GOONS in the booth. WHY is the qualifying going on in the background??????????????????????????????
#%!&^#!%^&!%*&!%%$*!&%!*&$&*!
FALSE ADVERTISING..this is a TRACKSIDE WANNABE show with car noise and NO FUN AT ALL.
I am so sick of Carl edwards. He is the Jr for this week I guess. All Carl, all the time.
Anonymous @ 8:14,
I hate to break it to you but Jeremy has been a full-time driver this year. He was driving a car outside the top 35 in owner's points so he failed to qualify for some races. That doesn't make him a "part time driver", sorry. If Jeremy was a part-time driver this year does that mean you consider Johnny Sauter, Brian Vickers, and Dale Jarrett "part-timers too since they haven't qualified for every event either?
Uh oh - Blaney just wrecked.
It will be interesting to see if qualifying extends past it's alloted time since they have a football game scheduled after this.
Oh, sorry ice skater fan.
maybe we can send Jamie to the Space Station. ;-)
CRIPES this stinks.
They should rename this coverage.
But I can't post it here...JD would ban me.
MEOW HISS.
Enough Carl. I am not buying his Opie act. Wasn't carl on some tv shows? Maybe he should be an actor but I ain't buying it tonight.
Thanks for spoiling qualifying for those of us watching the TiVo style broadcast on television!
There's always one idiot in every group.....
stricklinfan82 said...
Anonymous @ 8:14,
I hate to break it to you but Jeremy has been a full-time driver this year. He was driving a car outside the top 35 in owner's points so he failed to qualify for some races. That doesn't make him a "part time driver", sorry. If Jeremy was a part-time driver this year does that mean you consider Johnny Sauter, Brian Vickers, and Dale Jarrett "part-timers too since they haven't qualified for every event either?
October 26, 2007 8:17 PM
I said he has not been IN races full time. which is true. I could word it differently like saying he has "failed to qualify" but to me they both mean the same thing. I did not say he is racing part time.
Why would they list the GOGHers by car number?
Anonymous said...
Uh oh - Blaney just wrecked.
It will be interesting to see if qualifying extends past it's alloted time since they have a football game scheduled after this.
October 26, 2007 8:18 PM
how do you know?
how did the person on here know BLANEY wrecked before we saw it on tv.
i would say dont' spoil things for us, but hell, if folks in the KNOW do not post on here, we are not going to hear what is going on with ESPN ok, he wrecked and SUDDENLY is in the garage? How are they doing this ?? TIVO?
Where online can you find the LIVE LISTINGS..I forgot to go to jayski in the last few minutes...I take it his list is ahead of the tv.
I hate sounding stupid but just learned about what tivo meant a few weeks ago
Lets see if ESPN hits the fast forward button on the Tivo now to get past the accident.
Sorry. I assumed everybody followed online since nobody would be crazy enough to rely on ESPN for all of their qualifying information.
Once again. I wholeheartedly apologize...
Enough Carl too!
It's really a shame. As much as ABC/ESPN paid to broadcast Nascar, just like the races ... qualifying is MUCH better on the radio! (Even though it's on PRN this week)
Because they are following a leaderboard someone beside ESPN..
Ok..just saw the other comments,
Yes, please do not SPOIL it for us watching tv about wrecks.
BUT how the heck does one know that??
Does ESPN ALWAYS have this TALK SHOW DURING QUALS?? I have not watched them in WEEKS! the last time I watched quals was when SPEED had the all day Friday thing at Dega.
How many inspid things can they ask Edwards?????
SophiaZ123
Everything is Tvio
I'm at the track and qual. basically over.
Sophia,
They were using the TiVo style qualifying format so the TV broadcast is on a 10 minute or so delay. As usual, there was one idiot that decided to tick off all the NASCAR fans on this blog by spoiling the fact that we're about to see Dave Blaney crash in a few minutes.
This blog is meant to critique the TV broadcast, so that person is either not watching the broadcast (in which case he/she has no business posting here, since the whole point of this is to critique the coverage) or was just looking for a perfect opportunity to tick us off and found it when Blaney crashed (and cleverly disguising their intentions by relating it to the 9:00 college game on ESPN2).
I'm sure it's the latter, because a real fan wouldn't spoil things for their fellow fans. As I said, there's always one idiot in every group and we found our group's for the night.
I hate idiots like that spoiling things for all of us.
Anonymous spoiler,
If you made an honest mistake then I'm sorry for calling you an idiot. Most of the antagonists on this blog are named "Erik" or "anonymous" so when you post anonymously it's easy to assume that you're one of those people.
There are a lot of people that only watch the TV broadcast so please don't spoil things for us in the future. Thanks.
We just turned this on so missed most of it. Hubby is more interested in the SciFi channel so that's what I have to put up with no Nascar most of the time!
Look - I apologized. I was wrong.
Like I said, I assumed everybody was following online since there is no way I would trust ESPN to fully cover qualifying.
Plus, my comment was made as part of commenting on the TV coverage since my point was whether or not the coverage would run long.
I should have said "Following online there has been an incident on the track. If it takes a while to clean it up coverage could run past its alloted time."
I admit - It was stupid to mention the driver. I am not an idiot - but that was a very poor decision by me.
Ok, I LOVE BOBBY LABONTE!!!! Finally got rid of Carl but honestly...what's the aim of this show's presentation again.
Oh, yea, ESPN "BAIT AND SWITCH". TRY to see qualifying but instead FORCE FED INTERVIEWS by the three guys in the booth and ugh, more Carl Edwards.
Glad to see Bobby in a good mood, though. :-)
Geez, bring up jr's bad season again. Jr, just tell them you have a headache and go on vacation.
Don't you guys use Trackpass to monitor qualifying? That's in real time so you see the info long before it airs.
Sophia - RacingOne.com has a live qualifying tracker (The link's on the front page before it starts) ... Some of us knew there was a problem with Blaney because there was a bit of a delay when he should've been on the track ... The page auto updates, so one can figure out "who" has on-track issues & "who" has some other problem ...
Rusty! LISTEN to what's on the air!
Then you won't have to follow Junior's radio conversation where he says he didn't like the run by saying, "I bet he's pretty happy with that run."
No I do NOT use TRACKPASS. Cost enough for digital to get SPEED.
I would not give NASCAR.com a NICKEL for their site.
Sorry.
We should be ABLE to COUNT on tv. Workds on SPEED when they qualify but ESPN ENJOYS HISSING OFF the fans.
Jeez, this blog is turning into the "Hater Planet" instead of the Daly Planet!
I do think it was a little cheesey to have Carl as a guest announcer during qualifying. Carl must have a great publicist.
I like the qualifying graphics, but I am an engineer so I like geeky things like that. My feeling is that the two dimensional pictures delivered by TV takes away depth perception, so the graphics allow you to see real time how fast the car is running in relation to the fastest qualifier. Without the graphic, you really have no way of knowing until the lap is over.
I think it is funny how Rusty is trying to be nice to Jeff Gordon now. Someone must have really chewed him out. Of course he still can't say anything nice about Jeff, only that his car looks nice.
Did I hear this righ - did they just say that the DE #3 won Atlanta in 2001?
I think it's kinda silly to have to wait for you folks who are only watching on TV to catch up 15 minutes later before we can post about whta's happening right now...
A lot of us use the television; hence the amount of confusion when they don't actually cover qualifying, the race, etc. as advertised.
here is my opinion: we all know ESPN wants to cater to the casual fan. well, I know causal fans who have said qualifying is boring. so ESPN wants to make is less boring by adding all these interviews into the program. that is why ESPN does this.
Anonymous said...
Did I hear this righ - did they just say that the DE #3 won Atlanta in 2001?
October 26, 2007 8:49 PM
LISTEN. He corrected himself seconds after.
I would not give NASCAR.com a NICKEL for their site.
Sorry.
We should be ABLE to COUNT on tv.
Maybe we should, but we obviously can't.
I'll give NASCAR.com my money to hear my driver's scanner traffic plus animation of his car (since he's not in the chase and I won't see him on TV).
If I went only by what we see on ESPN, I'd have no idea what happened during most of the race.
That's not good enough for me.
Anonymous said...
I think it's kinda silly to have to wait for you folks who are only watching on TV to catch up 15 minutes later before we can post about whta's happening right now...
October 26, 2007 8:49 PM
Uhhhhh
This is a place where we comment about TV coverage, not internet coverage.
SPEED and TNT have a better set of graphics for qualifying ... with the "track" and where the car is on the track, so we get a better guage of where the cars are gaining or losing speed ...
ESPN's graphic is too hard to see on a 27inch tv ... Too many lines to try to follow ...
With all of the resources that Disney has ... The really should've been able to come up with something better than they did ...
Maybe Pixar can come up with something ...
well, they compacted in to fit their schedule...horrible coverage & the Carl lovevest was pretty sickening. I'm glad these folks listened to our complaints & acted on them-NOT!!!
Anonymous said...
ESPN's graphic is too hard to see on a 27inch tv ... Too many lines to try to follow ...
October 26, 2007 8:54 PM
I watch on a 19 inch TV with no problems. I like the graphics. they provide all the information I want.
Thanks to those of you taking time to explain things to me and to tell me where to find things online.
I accept anon's apology about the blaney wreck. Thanks for trying not to be a spoiler about things.
Still, 9 minutes to go and the quals are over but we did not see everybody because they were all busy playing talk show hosts in the booth.
I wish Biffle would share wedding pics. i saw the one of he and his wife...i want to see the dogs in the wedding party. Rumor has it "gracie" caught the bouquet.
Folks, remind me NOT TO "WATCH" this bait and switch qualifying on ESPU.
SPEED DESERVES to show it EVERYWEEK.
My god is Jamie wearing heels tonight?? She is taller than all the guys. How about a taller camera man for crying out loud. DILNER doesn't look this tall on SPEED.
ESPN. So much to learn.
So little time.
Such litte MINDS
And no desire to change.
Sad for those of us who LOVE THIS SPORT.:(
PammH said...
I'm glad these folks listened to our complaints & acted on them-NOT!!!
October 26, 2007 8:55 PM
Going back to what i said earlier. ESPN wants to cater to the casual fan.
Going back to what i said earlier. ESPN wants to cater to the casual fan.
How insulting, then, to the casual fan.
"You're too dumb to get this, so we'll just gloss over it."
I enjoyed how ESPN went to commercial after Mark Martin ran and didn't bother to tell us he was the last car and Biffle had won the pole.
Anonymous said...
Going back to what i said earlier. ESPN wants to cater to the casual fan.
How insulting, then, to the casual fan.
"You're too dumb to get this, so we'll just gloss over it."
October 26, 2007 9:00 PM
Its that they think those fans are dumb, its that a lot of them say qualifying boring.
ESPN still doesn't get it about the go-or-go-home cars. Nemecheck was the last one out of the GOGHers and his run sets the field ... but we don't even get to see it. Not even with Tivo.
The other thing ESPN doesn''t get is that lots of us are fans of drivers who didn't make the Chase ... but are fighting to make tonight's race, or the top 35.
This page is for the reviews of ESPN2 coverage, NOT Internet coverage as Lisa, and maybe others have pointed out.
I do not want to pay to watch "animated" graphics on nascar.com
MRN radio works well to fill in but for the next two races, we are stuck with the inferior to MRN, PRN but hopefully, they will tell us more than ESPN.
If this blog is about the TV critique, you all with Internet stuff can talk about that on any message board.
JD pretty much wants to talk about the stations he mentions in a column.
Yes, it was negative as the Carl saturation was just too much. I also foolishly thought they would 'show more quals' and less yapping.
Look at the comment count for this atrocious coverage.
And no, they are NOT all Stricklanfan and me, LOL.
I don't think the causal fan cares for the GOGHers. Therefore ESPN may not cover them.
Ok, that was ME thanking everybody for explaining things but it came up as one of the latter "anons" instead.
I must have hit the wrong button.
Thanks again
I do not want to pay to watch "animated" graphics on nascar.com
Your loss.
If you'd rather miss the action--'cause ESPN sure isn't listening to us--that's your right.
Me, I'd rather know what's happening. You learn a lot more by listening to the drivers and crew chiefs on their radio than by hoping someone tells you what's going on.
I just heard Jimmie Johnson will donate his winnings to fire relief in San Diego. I think ESPN should have mention this.
I had no problem with Carl in the booth with them because he actually does TV. Whether it was a PR stunt or not, I don't care, he is actually a useful person in the booth. Carl actually tried to pay attention to the qualifying (silly Carl) but ESPN's "talking-heads" and "script-writers" couldn't care less. That wasn't what they were there for. They were all there to have a sit-down interview with Carl, with race cars as background noise. The show, once again, had no focus. It again illustrates the inability of Dr Punch to lead and guide the coverage properly.
He said it in an interview before he made his run.
9:08 anon-geez, "casual" fans do NOT watch quals!! Only hardcore fans watch & I know what I speak of. So please, gauge it for US!!
I must add...some of you think that all the anon posts are from 1 person. they are not. there are many different people who post under anon.
PammH said...
9:08 anon-geez, "casual" fans do NOT watch quals!! Only hardcore fans watch & I know what I speak of. So please, gauge it for US!!
October 26, 2007 9:13 PM
Well I don't think ESPN knows that. because they continue to cater to those fans.
Can you imagine if they covered otehr sports "for casual fans"?
"Well, you see, that's what we call a foul ball. Now, let's explaian what that is. But first, music video by REO Speedwagon.."
Anonymous said...
I must add...some of you think that all the anon posts are from 1 person. they are not. there are many different people who post under anon.
October 26, 2007 9:13 PM
We know. That's the reason we address anons by the time stamp.
Good night all.
I'm going to shut down and go pout.
I enjoy reading all the different viewpoints.
Jamie Little can't help being six feet tall. The drivers who are shorter can't help that either.
I did see Todd Bodine get on a stepstool or something like that in the garage to talk to Dilner today. He laughed and said that he was vertically challenged so he wanted to get on the stool. So maybe a few drivers are sensitive to it, but I don't think most care. The ones that do -and viewers that do - need to get over it. Jamie Little shouldn't have to hunch over to make them feel better about themselves.
We thought qualifying was good tonight, but we don't pay as much attention to critiquing qualifying as the race(because the mistakes on race coverage wears us out) so we switched back and forth between this another show, Great American Band, on Fox. From what we saw of qualifying, it was a good, relaxed show except that was weird that they showed Biffle at the end but didn't say he was the pole winner until they came back. But we didn't have a problem with the overall program and found the parts we saw enjoyable.
Labonte and Edwards are good. Another commenter is right, Edwards did seem to want to switch the focus back to the cars on the track sometimes when Punch didn't and his transitions (hints) were very skillful. I hate to say this, but he could probably switch places with Rusty today and do a good job.
Anonymous said...
Can you imagine if they covered otehr sports "for casual fans"?
"Well, you see, that's what we call a foul ball. Now, let's explaian what that is. But first, music video by REO Speedwagon.."
October 26, 2007 9:15 PM
that is true, but the general consensus in bistol, CN is NASCAR is new to most of the contry while football and baseball are not. Even with 70 million fans that is just what some people continue to think.
Anonymous said...
Can you imagine if they covered otehr sports "for casual fans"?
"Well, you see, that's what we call a foul ball. Now, let's explaian what that is. But first, music video by REO Speedwagon.."
October 26, 2007 9:15 PM
~~~~~~~~~~~
OMG!! LOL. I SO needed that laugh after whining and sucking my thumb all night. Thanks for posting this.
I sure am going to miss MRN this weekend and all the "Moody-isms".
I missed the Reutimann is missing the race!
I'm with Lisa...i got me some pouting to do. :-0
I sooooooooooo miss SPEED in the booths on FRIDAY showing us the practice and quals. AND PAYING ATTENTION TO BOTH.
(Did you happen to see THAT Mr. Byrnes!! We miss you guys)
I missed the Reutimann is missing the race!
And THAT is why I use TrackPass.
Well, I could've done with more Labonte in the booth and cuz Carl.
Besides, Bobby was in a good mood talking about walking with some pep in his step. Plus, he is just easy on the eyes and been around in the sport long before I started watching NASCAR (04) And Bobby has been much improved lately and appreciates it.
To the person who enjoyed the show tonight, it was because you were half watching it. It do make a difference to NOT pay attention.
The entire country has grown up with football and baseball. For the most part, only the south has grown up with NASCAR. Brian France wants to expand NASCAR to the masses and ESPN is duely following his lead in the way they are conducting their broadcasts. While hard core fans may have to put up with something obvious to them, its for the good of the sport to do whatever is necessary to appeal to the new fans out there.
Well I went to Jayski and found out for free Reut missed.
PLUS I was interrupted briefly with company and when I came back to the computer, was too busy being aggravated to read the ticker at the top of my screen.
:-)
BUT on SPEED, they would've made a comment.
I don't think the guys tonight even talked like there was qualifying going on.
Glad YOU enjoy Trackpass.
Some people love HOTPASS or whatever it is on DIRECTTV only watching 5 racers during a race.
Not my cup of coffee
MRN and the tv, is...
There are plenty of other shows out there where the casual/new fan can watch interviews. Qualifying broadcasts are for qualifying. If they must do interviews, show the cars on the track and let the interview be audio only. SPEED seems to be able to do this, why can't ESPN?
Oh yeah, ESPN is the world-wide leader in screwing up sports broadcasting. That's why.
I normally follow qualifying on FOX TRAK and frequently note that PRN can be a driver behind FOX TRAK, but don't notice MRN being behind.
MRN and the tv, is...
You'll probably become a harder-core fan eventually and want more info than what you can get from those sources.
Do you use a scanner at the track/
rick said...
There are plenty of other shows out there where the casual/new fan can watch interviews. Qualifying broadcasts are for qualifying. October 26, 2007 9:41 PM
Again, I have heard casual fans say that qualifying is boring. I AM NOT saying it is, I'm saying what some think. so, this is ESPN's way of making it more interesting.
While hard core fans may have to put up with something obvious to them, its for the good of the sport to do whatever is necessary to appeal to the new fans out there.
Reading the boss's memos off his desk again, huh, Erik?
I was not home to see qualifying but did tape it to watch later but I see it's the same old ESPN qualifying. Interviews and not showing the cars on the track guess I can skip that part of the tape and just watch the Speed stuff instead. Thanks for the heads up
Anonymous said...
rick said...
There are plenty of other shows out there where the casual/new fan can watch interviews. Qualifying broadcasts are for qualifying. October 26, 2007 9:41 PM
Again, I have heard casual fans say that qualifying is boring. I AM NOT saying it is, I'm saying what some think. so, this is ESPN's way of making it more interesting.
October 26, 2007 9:53 PM
We heard you the first time.
What I am saying is that the casual fan does not watch qualifying. A new fan that wants to be more of a fan and is watching qualifying, wants to see qualifying the way it should be done, on the track and not in the booth with a bunch a bobbleheads flapping their jaws.
ESPN
Exponentially
Stupid
Pontificating
Neanderthals
Sorry, that's what we have with this network. My football buddies feel the same way about them.
Ok, what is FOX TRAX? Never heard of that one. Is that another "internet" pay deal?
I don't like their animated car thingie from last season either.
I think it should be a FEDERAL LAW that all cities carry an MRN station! We just got one this year that's consistent with CUP races.
:-)
Ok, what is FOX TRAX? Never heard of that one. Is that another "internet" pay deal?
It's Fox's no-frills live qualifying blog/stas page.
Yes, it is on the internet. jut like this page.
No, it doesn't cost anything.
In Floridatoday.com today it was reported that Julie Sobieski, ESPN VP, said that not only does ESPN need to attract viewers, it needs to keep them, and while the numbers for the coveted younger demographics are up, the numbers for the older fans are not, and that's not a trade-off the network is comfortable with. But then the proof is in the pudding - and ESPN's appears to be spoiling.NASCAR is now much more than regional - as demonstrated by the fact that a driver from NC has NOT won a Cup race yet this year.
Actually, watching the internet coverage AND the tv coverage is a GOOD thing ... The internet coverage (RacingOne.com and/or Nascar.com) help to point out the flaws in ESPN's coverage ... It also fills in the blanks of stuff that ESPN might have missed or glossed over ...
ESPN did say that Reutimann DNQ'd as well as the other GoGHers ...
It was expected that Carl would be in the booth with Rusty / Punch / Petree as Carl is the "hot topic" of conversation this week ... That's also why he was on "Trackside" on SPEED ...
Since no one source is 100% perfect ... A lot of people turn to the radio with MRN/PRN/IMS and others turn to the internet ...
I like RacingOne because I can see the qualifying order lineup as well as the speeds/times of the current qualifier and those who have already gone out ... By watching the list, I can also guage which of the GoGHers has a shot of getting in the field based on their qualifying order and the speeds of the other GoGHers ...
But, I also watch qualifying on tv because I want to see which lines the guys are running ... as well as who has trouble and who gets the pole and WHY someone won't make the race ...
Sobieski also said, "If you make somebody a fan, there's nothing about this sport that is going to make people say, 'I just don't care anymore,' and turn it off."
...which is funny, because it often appears that ESPN is trying very, very hard to disprove that statement!
Anon 8:14:
*Carl does have a future ahead of him as an analyst, though. No mistake about that.
It's amazing how good some of the guys, even the younger ones, already are when they are guests in the booth for qualifying or as a guest for Busch races (in past seasons). Not all of them, but some obviously have real talent. Carl Edwards is one, Kurt Busch is another, Clint Bowyer. David Ragan surprised me with his detailed commentary when he was studio guest.
Now some, like Tony Raines Johnny Sauter, Casey Mears and Kasey Kahne, aren't cut out for it. I haven't seen Jeff Gordon or Elliott Sadler in the booth but based on their other TV experience, they would probably be talented. And of course Ken Schrader is great.
On race day, with ESPN/ABC:
-Video: TV
-Audio: MRN/PRN
-Telemetry: RaceView
-Scanner: NASCAR.com Scanner
with FOX:
-Video: TV
-Audio: TV
-Telemetry: RaceView
-Scanner: NASCAR.com Scanner
Anon 9.52
No, do not use a scanner at a track as I have never been to a race. Not option due to medical issues.
Do many of you here use Sirius? A friend offered to get it for me for my birthday once (Satellite radio) but that's when NASCAR was switching from XM to Sirius and I thought it was a rip off.
What's to say NASCAR will stay with Sirius AND how many hours of QUALITY shows are on the radio?
If you live in a cloudy, snowy climate, does it have signal issues. Not go get off topic, but, just curious
And the recievers are EXPENSIVE and in this house, we have umpteen TVs on for the races so if I go from room to room, it's there and I can take the boombox for MRN. who can afford Sirius in multiple locations??
But I just read online Moody's radio show is everyday from 3-7. A friend of mine is retiring from radio business in Dec and is on 3-6. I would LOVE something to listen to in his place but it's an expense.
i know of NOBODy that has Sirius. Is it over rated??
Sirius is an excellent investment.
Sophia - FoxTrax is on FoxSports.com ... Click on the "Nascar" heading and then you'll see it in the pull down as well as the bar near the top of the page ...
LOL, some of the multi tasking you all do DURING the race wears me out just to READ it! Ha. That's a lot of work.
It would be nice to have MRN for the busch races.
Anonymous 10:10 wrote:
It was expected that Carl would be in the booth with Rusty / Punch / Petree as Carl is the "hot topic" of conversation this week ... That's also why he was on "Trackside" on SPEED ...
But both of those shows (except for Jamie Little's interview with Carl, where he seemed quite candid) completely danced around the subject and I was embarrassed for them. It was the elephant in the room nobody wanted to talk about and they compensated by being extra jovial, which seemed fake.
If you think about it, Carl Edwards was on air tonight for almost two solid hours (about 30 minutes on Trackside, and about 90 minutes on ESPN2). About 2 minutes of that two hours was devoted to the very thing that got him all that airtime.
Interesting that Elliott Sadler who sat next to Carl and kidded around on Trackside is quoted on thatsracin.com tonight: "I don't really believe in the ‘aw shucks’ attitude either.”
But he didn't ask Carl about it tonight. (And I sort of sympathize with Carl who said today that he's finding out all these people have bad things to say about him now that's it's a popular topic, but never said it to his face.) It makes you wonder if there were orders from up high at SPEED and ESPN that Carl is one of "our" guys, so we won't mess with him. Can't imagine the mood being so lighthearted if Robby Gordon or Tony Stewart had,for example, interrupted an interview with Kasey Kahne or Jeff Burton and fake thrown a punch at one of them while the cameras were rolling.
Oh for Goodness sake Erik, this is not 1995 or even 2001!! NASCAR is coming off a 6 year TV contract that has featured FOX and NBC covering the majority of NASCAR races. THAT was supposed to "grow" the sport. ESPN is supposed to continue it, not start over. Did you see the Martinsville ratings are down 10%? How's this catering to new fans workin for ESPN? And btw, Truck series broadcasts, you know, the one's "hardcore fans" watch are UP 18%.
---Sobieski also said, "If you make somebody a fan, there's nothing about this sport that is going to make people say, 'I just don't care anymore,' and turn it off."
Mike Joy said that, not Julie Sobieski. Thanks for the article, richard in n.c.
It's always surprising to me that the people who are heavily involved in NASCAR often don't see the issues like "outsiders, also known as fans" do. Even smart people like Joy swallow the PR line NASCAR hands out, line and sinker. I saw this last year when ratings were down. People like Mark martin and Jeff Burton just said they thought the sport was more popular than ever and they couldn't understand why the ratings were down.
Mike Joy also said:"I'm not worried about it. I think the hard-core, legacy NASCAR fan is still there and he is cheering for Dale (Earnhardt) Jr. and Tony Stewart and Bill Elliott and Ricky Rudd and Kyle Petty because that's the NASCAR he remembers and that he loved growing up as a kid."
Of course SPEED and ESPN danced around the whole Carl v Matt issue as that was how it was planned ... Carl being on Trackside and in the booth during qualifying was strictly a PR move as an attempt to rebuild his "Aw Shucks" image and bury the "Dr Jekyl/Mr Hyde" image that surfaced on Sunday ...
Carl was not originally scheduled to be on Trackside ... But, they're usually jovial on that show & don't always try to go for the jugular like some people would do ...
Jamie Little = NOT the queen of tact ... Anyone remember her at the IRL race at TMS in 2005 where she chased down Dan Wheldon & grabbed his shoulder to which he spun around & almost decked her?? And she still proceeded to ask him stupid questions ...
Carl knows that people don't like him ... and that some don't believe his whole "Aw Shucks" image ... His interview with Jamie showed no remorse, other than being caught on camera on Sunday ...
I think Tony knows better than to mess with Kasey ... since they are good friends and Tony helped Kasey get his NASCAR ride as well as running in Kasey's charity race at Skagit ... Plus, Kasey's mom would have no qualm about putting her black leather boot in Tony's rump ...
It would've been nice IF ESPN had talked to Sam Hornish Jr AFTER his qualifying run ... to find out why he's having trouble with qualifing in Cup as opposed to ARCA and Busch ... Are his teammates (Kurt & Ryan) offering him any assistance & tips with the car & track?? How much has the testing helped him get to learn the cars??
Someone really does need to remind ESPN that the world of NASCAR does not revolve solely around those 12 guys in the bloomin' Chase ...
I don't think the poster was suggesting that Stewart would or would not take a shot at Kahne in real life, or if their real life status of friends/enemies even matters. More the poster was making the point if "bad boys" like Stewart or Robby Gordon accosted ANYONE like Edwards did and it was played on YouTube for days, it wouldn't be handled as gingerly and friendly on Speed Channel and ESPN as it's being handled with "good boy" Edwards.
The best thing about qualifying was the pared down nature of it. No interjections from another studio crew, etc. I truly don't have anything against Suzy and Brad, but when they're not there things just seem to flow a little more smoothly. I don't think it's them personally, it's more having too many fingers in the commentating pot.
@anonymous 9:22p--Bodine was standing on a tire :)
@anonymous 10:14 yup that's pretty much how it works! I haven't upgraded to Raceview yet even though I would get a discount (I currently have Trackpass free from the promo years back).
J.D.
I have to agree with the others about the "clean screen" format of qualifying, it's much easier to see the driver inputs and the small twitches of the car. The entire right hand side of the screen is wasted static info - which could be shown below in the ticker.
ESPN did a poor job of covering the field of cars. I'd guess about 25 to 30 of the 49 (or so) cars that attempted to qualify were even mentioned.
Carl Edwards will be doing a "media penance" marathon this weekend, to repair his desired persona. I did like the way he plugged his SPEEDTV show while being interviewed on ESPN!
Did you catch Jerry Punch referring to Kevin Harvick as the "substitute driver" for Dale Earnhardt, Sr. in 2001? I couldn't believe my ears.
I thought the best part of the show was the Bobby Labonte segments. It was done well end-to-end. One of the worst parts was omitting any mention of the Dave Blaney mechanical problem, yet the camera and pit reporter were just outside the garage area.
Imagine how different qualifying would be if it was based on time instead of owners points. I believe the 40 fastest cars should make it, 41 and 42 would be owner's provisionals, and 43 should be a champ's provisional first, and then another owner's provisional if a champ doesnt use it.
Reutimann, Lamar, and Hornish would be in, Elliott would be in on time instead of P.C.P., and Burton, Skinner, Raines, Mayfield, and Blaney would be out.
ESPN's problems covering our sport can be best summed up in 120 seconds of air time during Friday Night's qualifying session:
It's 8:39 PM EST. Kevin Harvick has just completed his qualifying run which leads to the most important moment of the qualifying session. Joe Nemechek is rolling onto the race track. He is the last go-or-go-home car left to run. David Reutimann, whose emotions on qualifying days this year have been well documented, is on the bubble with a 29.371 second lap, 29th fastest on the board right now. Nemechek completes his warm-up lap and takes the green flag, gets through turns 1 and 2, looks like a good run. Through turn 3, off of turn 4, let's see... YES! Joe turns a great lap of 29.234 seconds and makes the field. What a great moment for the Furniture Row Racing team, but at the same time what a heartbreak for David Reutimann and the entire Michael Waltrip Racing team.
Great TV drama, the thing NASCAR fans tuned in to see, right? Well yeah but there was one major problem:
Once Harvick completed his run at 8:39 ESPN showed us a video of Bobby Labonte's 2003 win at Atlanta, followed by a full-screen graphic showing his career stats at Atlanta. That lead into a discussion between the ESPN guys and Bobby Labonte from the Pit Studio. The cameras stay focused on the Pit Studio for 2 straight minutes, listening to (AND SHOWING ON THE ENTIRE SCREEN) Bobby reminice about the days with the Joe Gibbs team and how things are working with his new crew chief. Then, at 8:41 PM EST the camera focus FINALLY turns to the race track, where Nemechek is coasting on the apron, about 15-20 seconds after completing the most important lap of the qualifying session.
That's right, ESPN was showing us the mugs of Dr. Punch, Rusty Wallace, Andy Petree, and Bobby Labonte in the pit studio DURING THE ENTIRE LAP OF JOE NEMECHEK, WHICH WAS THE LAST GO-OR-GO-HOME CAR TO RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you imagine being Michael Waltrip or David Reutimann sitting in their truck watching the TV broadcast to see if David would get that last spot, and the whole time staring at nothing but the faces of Rusty Wallace and Bobby Labonte yapping inside of a little pod (that I'm sure has enough gadgets in it to land a space shuttle on the moon, in case you didn't hear ESPN tell you that before)??????????????
This is about as bad as it can possibly get. I am sick and tired of this crap that ESPN is putting NASCAR fans through. To the idiot that defended ESPN by saying we should just be thankful that NASCAR is on TV, guess what.... you can't use that argument when important events like this AREN'T SHOWN ON TV. Some guy in the ESPN production truck actually made a conscious decision to show the viewers at home Bobby Labonte and Rusty Wallace's faces in the Pit Studio and made the conscious decision to completely ignore what was going on on the track. He (or she) saw Nemechek running on one montior and Bobby Labonte's face on another, AND CHOSE TO SHOW THE PICTURE WITH BOBBY LABONTE'S FACE ON IT FOR TWO STRAIGHT MINUTES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is sickening. This is pathetic. THIS IS WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!
JD, I don't know if you got the chance to watch qualifying tonight but if you did can you please consider writing an article that can better articulate what I'm trying to say about this qualifying debacle?
I am hoping the results will be better if a respected person like yourself could point these problems out. I think there are a lot more people that will listen to your thoughts in an article than there are that will listen to one random comment posting by some relatively unimportant fan that goes by the handle "stricklinfan82".
Thank you very much for your hard work in creating a place that gives the fans a voice on TV issues!
Stricklanfan
KEEErist! Where did you get this story that the rest of us missed??
I like Labonte very well but as noted, THIS WAS A SHOW about qualifying? I am a fan of Waltrip and Reut and the latter is so hard on himself lately I would've LOVED to have heard this story.
WHY THE HELL was ESPN yet again, going down MEMORY LANE?????????
Maybe they need to go down memory lane and STUDY THEIR OLD WAY OF HANDLING the racing and the cars ON THE TRACK.
That does it. I was DISGUSTED by tonights coverage but this takes the cake.
Do not, ANYBODY, TROLL OR OTHERWISE, try to defend ESPN's agenda. I do not know what it is but it is this
NEVER GIVE THE FANS WHAT THEY WANT.
But again, Brian france and the ENTIRE NASCAR organization should
be held accountable.
What's next? France goes on tv to tell of the WONDERFUL COVERAGE ESPN is doing in bringing NASCAR into our homes every week?
Thanks for the story, Strick, but I would love to know what you were listening to...was it Sirius radio?
Well guys, I was not able to join you tonight in commenting on the race...I was at a social event.
From the sounds of these posts, I sure hope none of you turned down opportunies to go out due to qualifying...
Just don't let the poor broadcasts ruin your day. Life goes on and there more important things in your life than NASCAR.
Look on the bright side, Speedweeks is just a few months away!
I DVR'ed qualifying and have it on in the background. Why do they stop the qualifying crawl at the top of the screen when they go to an interview? They keep the sports crawl at the bottom on 24/7, but not the qualifying crawl. And it seems like every time they come back to it they start it over again.
After Andretti and Jarrett qualified, they put up a graphic showing both drivers were "on the bubble". Kind of self-explanatory since they were the 4th and 5th drivers to qualify.
Now they've got more go or go homers listed as "in" or "on the bubble". Michael Waltrip is at the bottom of the "bubble" list, but they already said he's the next car to be locked in. Waltrip should be at the top of the "bubble" column. It's a very pretty graphic, but it is not self-explanatory after all. And it has no internal logic. Are the drivers listed by qualifying speed or car number? Shouldn't the fastest driver be at the top in all the columns?
I guess I shouldn't complain. At least they're paying some attention to the cars outside the top 35 in owner points.
And as for the announcers being in the pit studio, guess that means they weren't watching the cars live on the track. They're probably more comfortable watching the action on their monitors. Just like during the race. Just like us at home watching tv. Do you think the announcers get an isolated shot of every car as it is qualifying? If they do, then ESPN should offer us this live feed on ESPN Classic. Or at least put it in a tiny box in the corner of the screen.
Here's a great quote from the qualifying page of Jayski: "Jeremy Mayfield (41st) takes over the #66 from Jeff Green, but to hear the TV guys talks you'd have thought he was in exile all season....." It's under Atlanta Ramblings.
Why call it qualifying? Why not just call it the "We Talk Over The Entire Event Show" featuring people with no sense of timing that need to SHUT UP! Compare how FOX and Larry Mac can explain and show you the cut-off line for making the race, and the gab fest held by ESPN. Might as well just let Speed have the broadcast and not show the cars, but yet hear them in the background. And another "thang". There becomes a time at which a story just lays down and has no legs, but ESPN cant come to grips with that idea -- as they drive the Edwards Kenseth story to the center of the earth. And oh yes fans, you will hear the entire story another 33 times on Sunday as they continue to show you how desperate they are for ratings. I think the best thing to do at this point would be to reenact the event using orgamy hot-dog wrappers from Martinsville in the form of Carl and Matt on the desk of the ESPN broadcast trailer. And oh yes, why not bring in Doctor Phil and let him talk to the participants. You know, its like cracking that almost funny joke for the fifth time among a group of nuns -- it just doesnt work anymore.
I'm Outta Here
Joseph Foster
Racing still has a long way to go as far as the US is concerned. Here is recent Gallup info:
What is your favorite sport to watch: These numbers show that they must court the casual viewer. Not enough "Hardcore Fans" to make it a top sport in USA.
Football
43% 2006
34
37
37 2003
Basketball
12% 2006
12
13
14 2003
Baseball
10
10
Auto Racing
4 % 2006
5
5
5 2003
Golf
3
2
2
3
Ice/Figure Skating
3
3
4
6
Soccer
2
3
2
2
Ice hockey
2
4
3
5
Those numbers make our point.
Despite the fact that they are less popular than NASCAR, TV stations never cut out from golf or hockey before the edvent is over, which they've done with NASCAR.
And the networks showing the less-popular sports of hockey and golf don't treat the viewers like they're idiots, which ESPN does with NASCAR viewers.
Thanks for pointing this out for us.
Life goes on and there more important things in your life than NASCAR.
Sez you!
@anonymous 10:14 yup that's pretty much how it works! I haven't upgraded to Raceview yet even though I would get a discount (I currently have Trackpass free from the promo years back).
It is a very useful service if you have a speedy laptop. It's nice to be able to watch your driver when ESPN deems him unworthy of coverage.
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