Current ESPN pit reporter and NASCAR Now contributor Jamie Little is generating a lot of email and a lot of comments about her interviews of drivers in the Nationwide Series telecast on Saturday.
Little is an aggressive reporter, and she certainly showed that with some of her live interviews on ESPN2. Little pushed Kyle Busch after his accident in the Nationwide Series on several topics, and evoked strong reactions from the fans. Busch kept his cool.
Comments included "she has to know when to stop" and "another (ESPN) question to try and get a reaction." Fans called her interview technique "baiting" and "over the line." Pushy was the word used most often.
Last season, fans watched Mike Massaro continue an interview with Dale Earnhardt Junior after he fell out of The Chase. Massaro looked as if he kept trying to end it, only to have the Producer talking in his ear push him to continue to try and force Junior into some sort of emotional reaction. It was one of the lowest points of ESPN's NASCAR coverage in 2007.
Now, after a high-speed accident on a track where he very much wanted to win, how do you feel Jamie Little treated Kyle Busch? How about the other drivers that she interviewed, including Tony Stewart? His reaction to her question was interesting. What do you think of her on-air style and knowledge of the sport?
If you would like to read the comments of The Daly Planet readers as the original incident unfolded, you can click here.
To add your comment, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the simple directions. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by.
Could someone please give a summary of the incidents? I read that thread Sunday morning, but with live race threads, it's hard to tell what's going on unless you are in it and watching. People are typing in the moment, and there's not a full picture for some incidents.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I gather, Jamie said something like "Come on Kyle you know what happened". Was that in response to the accident?
And for Tony, looks like he said "we wrecked, jamie", but that's all I see.
I need more info and I think others who didn't see the Nationwide race need more as well....I have my thoughts on Jamie's reporting style, but don't want to be unfair and judge her for an incident I didn't see and isn't detailed here.
In the Tony Stewart interview Jamie just asked a lame question.
ReplyDeleteCompare Tony's two post-crash interviews. Krista's questions were more thoughtful and elicited a better response. Krista engaged Tony and got a relatively honest response. Jamie, on the other hand, simply asked, "What happened?" Anyone could have asked that. And Tony, who doesn't suffer fools, reacted accordingly.
Now, Tony's bell was more thoroughly rung after the Cup crash and that may have had an effect on his reaction, but I suspect that Krista's better questions helped returned better information for the viewers.
I don't know whether it's ESPN's direction or Jamie's level of talent, but her questions seem to come from a deck of flash cards and when she doesn't get a good response she starts flailing, resulting in the sub par interviews we see each week.
Jamie ends up being compared with some very talented pit reporters on her own network and the Speed/Fox franchise. The bar has been set high and she needs to step it up if she wants to succeed.
Honestly, I think you guys need to leave Jamie alone and stop picking on her. She is a down to earth person just like the rest of us. She is going to make mistakes, she is human. I want to see some of you make a mistake in front of millions or viewers. Most of you could not handle the pressure.
ReplyDeleteJamie worked he way up through the ranks at ESPN and has truly earned his position as a NASCAR pit reporter. She plays an active role in the sport and has off-track contact with drivers, as a friendship.
Leave the girl alone. She is jsut doing her job. Personally the questions weren't lame, the snwers she recieved was lame. She was just doing her job.
*her
ReplyDeleteBrett, please feel free to offer your opinion of any topic on this site at anytime. However, each person has the right to express their own opinion.
ReplyDeleteIf you agree, that is fine. If you disagree, please make your case. Simply telling us to "leave someone alone" is not going to cut it.
This is the highest national level of motorsports on TV. The on-air announcers and reporters quickly develop a thick skin, or do not last in this business.
This is truly the big time, and when a topic comes up for debate, it comes up for a reason. If you would like to tell us why you feel she is doing a good job, then please return and post again.
JD
Give her a break? Please. She is a mediocre reporter. All she did was try to instigate Kyle Busch into saying something he didn't want to say or believe. "Oh come on Kyle you know you have an opinion". On Tony Stewart, her question was lame. "what happened? Well Jaime I crashed" LOL LOL
ReplyDeleteI think she and the other girl are quota fillers. There are better reporters out there, but they have to have a couple women, so we are stuck as viewers.
Well, this is not a girl beating up on a girl, but I haven't been a fan of hers ever since she said to Danica Patrick at the end of her first season, "well girl friend etc etc etc". So the unprofessionalism began a long time ago. In Nascar terms, what do they call it, oh yes, a field filler.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to my FAVORITE Allen Bestwick and even Dave Burns for their professionalism. I'm not a fan of Mike M, he's vanilla, but Jamie Little makes the hair go up on my neck. I think she takes women back a few steps.
We are all not blonde and bounce our hair back and forth. I googled her, she has the web site I expected to see.
I felt the same way watching Jamie on IRL as I do on NASCAR only now she has gotten more annoying.
ReplyDeleteHer chastising to Kyle as if he were a school boy made me cringe..his answer wasn't to HER liking so she says "Come on Kyle, YOU KNOW what happened?" What was that, a cross examination. I have NEVER seen that before in my life with a driver unless they were joking around.
People say 'give Jamie time.'?? She has been a reporter for years but sadly, JD, I feel like every NASCAR race is her first day on the job.
She doesn't get it and/ or has horrible questions being said in her ear.
Bad interviewing style. Period.
I was wondering who at ESPN wanted to get her hit upside the head by a driver by putting her in there in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI need more info and I think others who didn't see the Nationwide race need more as well....
ReplyDeleteI do, too. Why write a blog like this without giving us a description of exactly what happened instead of making us go search for it and never find it. We've had specific descriptions of the Mike Massaro/Junior conversation several times. How did the Kyle conversation start and how did it end? If you can write us a description of the reaction, you can write us a description of what happened, right?Otherwise, it's basing a lot off of hearsay.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteGive her a break? Please. She is a mediocre reporter. All she did was try to instigate Kyle Busch into saying something he didn't want to say or believe. "Oh come on Kyle you know you have an opinion".
March 3, 2008 11:23 AM
So an Interviewer tried to get an opinion for the person being interviewed??!!! Is this not the whole purpose of the interview????
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ReplyDeleteI thought that Jamie's baiting of Kyle Busch was definitely out of line.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why ESPN seems to believe that their reporters should take an adversarial role towards their interviewees. But that seems to be their company policy and I think that degrades their ability to get the real story.
For comparison, can you imagine Jamie getting the kind of access, intimacy, and candid responses that Wendy Venturini routinely gets for her Real Deal interviews?
funny you should mention it . . . i am no fan of busch but i was flat out stunned when, after he clearly stated 'no comment', she pushed back with something like 'oh, c'mon, kyle. you have an opinion.' seemed like she wanted that sound bite too much to respect when an interviewee says the sacred 'no comment.' we all know busch and i was impressed that he was trying to bite his tongue on this one. if she wanted a comment from him about the tires, she should have followed up with something like 'how has the tire wear been for your cars this weekend?' a second 'no comment' would have made the point. the boy was trying to be good but if you let him loose a second time, he's likely to come out with something that mike helton will not appreciate. and that's exactly what happened. bad interview technique created a problem for the driver: inexcusable. and, i reiterate, i am not a fan of kyle busch. but fair is fair.
ReplyDeleteas for the post-infield care center question put to tony? i could see that one coming and was already cringing before he even spoke. body language says quite a bit and stewart was clearly already in his 'take no prisoners' mode. add a cliche question ('what happened?') and you get that answer that folks now use to say that "tony's so rude." actually, it was just an incredibly weak question put to someone who everyone knows is not gracious in those cases. a better question may have been "tony, obviously the right front blew: how had your tire wear been all day?" or "tony, you looked a bit rocky getting out of the car: are you ok?" or "two in two days, tony. how are you feeling?" granted, stewart could have blown those off as well. but "what happened?" is such a weak, weak question that i dislike hearing it asked. the reporter should show some level of knowledge by putting the incident in context and let the interviewee agree, disagree, or add information.
by the way, contrast that with the post-race interview of dale jr by dilner. he also asked about the tires but did it in such a way that dale was able to talk about how testing at vegas earlier didn't really help with the tire decisions b/c the track was green and that maybe now, right after a race, would be a better test and then a softer tire could be brought next time. much better information and all because a good, solid "how were the tires for you today?" was put to the driver.
i have no knowledge of ms. little's background or qualifications but i was startled and disappointed at the poor choice of questions she posed. it has nothing to do with her gender and should not be excused or tolerated because of that. just came across as trying too hard w/busch and not being comfortable asking the questions to a notoriously tough interviewee, tony stewart. (i mean, hey! i love tony but i'm not certain i would have wanted to be handed that particular interview . . .)
No one is going to "get trashed" on this blog. Jamie has been very nice to The Daly Planet and has been in contact with us.
ReplyDeleteOur post is about the race and the interviews. Some seem to think Jamie was being pushed by the production staff or put in bad situations.
She did a lot of interviews in this race and had a lot of on-camera time. We are just looking for opinions.
JD
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ReplyDeleteAnon 12:17 - JD is not MAKING you give your opinion about Jamie Little if you haven't seen what he is talking about. If you've seen it and you have an opinion to share, then do. Otherwise, don't.
ReplyDeleteI don't see an issue with that.
Anon 12:17PM,
ReplyDeleteWould you drop me an email at editor@thedalyplanet.tv when you get a chance? Thanks.
JD
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ReplyDeleteThe reason I defend Jamie is because I am a huge fan of her. I someday want to be a pit reporter for NASCAR. I admire her because she worked her way up through the ranks at ESPN and achieved her goal at a very young age. I loved watching her when she covered the X Games and the IRL. I was very happy to see her join NASCAR.
ReplyDeleteYes, perhaps she did make a mistake. But like I said before, she was just doing her job. I think I understand what she was trying to do. Fans at home don't want to hear "No Comment". Fans want to hear what is on the drivers mind, and it was a little tough to get that out of Kyle. Its not like she was asking a hard question. She asked his opinion on the tire situation.
Bascially I like Jamie. She deserves to be covering NASCAR. She worked hard to make it to where she is today.
brett: respectfully submitting that ms little is not a "girl" at any level. using that language sends up red flags to many of us b/c it sounds patronizing, intended or not. i'm certain you didn't mean to imply that "she's just a girl so don't be hard on her" but i need to observe that, for me at least, that is exactly the way it read. ms little is a professional and so is subject to the same level of scrutiny and comment as her colleagues.
ReplyDeleteplease do not misunderstand me: i am NOT implying or saying that you were, in fact, trying to say that ms little should be held to a lower standard when you wrote "leave the girl alone." however, i wanted you to know that the use of the word "girl" in that context sends that very message to some of us.
had it been "leave her alone" or "leave the woman alone", it would certainly have not carried that conflicting message for me. for me, it similar to saying "leave the boy alone" about a black male reporter. girls are females under the age of puberty; after that point, the term should be 'woman' -- unless one knows for certain the person in question is, in fact, a "lady'!
I think there are a couple of factor's at work here. One is the habit of creating drama and conflict that saw on NN last year. Jamie was probably being told the gist of want the truck wanted her to ask to get the desired reaction.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they were hoping to have Tony rip into whomever he thought cause the incident but he wasn't buying it. And Kyle didn't buy into ripping Goodyear on the tires either.
The second factor is the Tony vs ESPN issue. After they tired to roast him with the"I'm going to open a case of Pabst beer" comment last season.
He made no bones about the fact he was not happy with them, and you can still see it in his interviews with ESPN. Curt and to the point to say the least. When interviewed on Speed, He's a different guy altogether. Much more at ease. JMO of course.
Brett,
ReplyDeleteRelax, my friend. No one is saying anyone did anything wrong. There is nothing to defend or get angry about.
Again, what your post is missing is your opinion. There is a transition going on in NASCAR from the old school announcers to the new group, and Jamie is a part of it.
What did you think of her interviews? Victory Lane, Infield Care Center, garage, pits, etc...
If you like her style, just tell us. If someone disagrees, understand they have that right. I thought she handled the end of the race quite well.
That raises the question of if she was being pushed to keep going after Kyle? He certainly was patient.
JD
Im clam. Im not mad. I just telling everyone what I know about her. I like her style. I've been watching her for years now. I liked the interviews. I am also excited that they are now using her on NASCAR Now as a reporter. She seems really excited when she is on NASCAR Now.
ReplyDeletePerhaps in a few years I would like to see Jamie in the Pit Studio to fill in for Allen Bestwick if needed.
Im not angry ay anyone. I was just tell you guys what I know about her and that I like her style of reporting. I think I have dug myself into quite a hole. I didn't means to make anyone mad or or affend anyone.
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ReplyDeleteI have never thought much of her as a reporter especially how she treated the winner after the IRL Homestead race a few back in regards to the death of Paul Dana
ReplyDeletegeez: great observation about tony's reaction to espn questions and non-espn questions. when i think back to this weekend, that difference is clear to me as well. wonder what, if anything, espn can/would want to do to change that dynamic. i certainly believe that a driver is entitled to treat different reporters or outlets differently, based upon his experience with said reporter or outlet. if espn is, in fact, going for the drama and pushing for a hot sound bite, then i would encourage drivers to answer politely but briefly. leave "the good stuff" for the media outlet which treats the driver with more respect.
ReplyDeletejd: if ms little was "being pushed" by the truck, then someone needs to step up and explain why it was felt necessary. otherwise, it is reduced to what geez posted: "the habit of creating drama."
I posted at the time, but would like to add that when the 'talent' is being pushed around by the guy in her ear, her own career ambitions or just isn't familiure enough with the drivers and their 'patter' to accept an answer for what it is; they are not getting the job done. I put this on ESPN trying to manufacture the kind of story they want, as they tried to do with races last year. Kyle's answer was a non answer that most fans could read between the lines. Wendy and Krista would know and except that, but the ESPN crew except for AB won't let it be. The pit reporters on FOX and SPEED TNT and NBC got very good at not purposly walking a driver or crew chief into a minefield after a werck or bad call. We have all witnessed pit reporters saying to somone "Ahhh...wait, why don't you watch the repaly" before you put your foot in your mouth. SPEED works hard at this and it is the kind of respect that gets them access and not ESPN, I think Jamie could be fine, if she learned more about racing, and pushed back at the producers. I have to ask myself if, and that's a big if, Wendy or Krista were pushed to do that kind of 'gottcha' stuff, I believe they just wouldn't and take the heat later. That's the beauty of integrety, credabillity is built in.
ReplyDeleteI will never bash a reporter like Jamie Little for asking "What happened?" after a wreck, because that's their job. I will never defend a driver like Tony Stewart that snaps back with some comment like "well we wrecked obviously Jamie". It was Jamie's job to ask Tony what happened so she did nothing wrong there in my opinion. The only issue I had with the Stewart-Little interview was Jamie asking him "are you okay?" right after Tony finished saying he banged his foot but other than that he was alright. It didn't seem like she was listening since she asked a question that Tony had already answered.
ReplyDeleteThe only issue I had with her was the Kyle Busch interview. I didn't have a problem until she responded to Kyle Busch's comment that he had no opinion about the tire situation by saying "yes you do Kyle, what is your opinion?". That was extremely rude in my opinion and completely uncalled for. Kyle was obviously biting his tongue and trying to avoid trashing Goodyear for bringing bad right side tires to the track and Jamie was obviously prodding him and trying to get him to say something controversial.
It is a reporter's job to ask drivers what happened, it is not however a reporter's job to constantly prod someone and try to force out a controversial response that is obviously buried beneath the surface of someone that is trying to use the "no comment" route.
If someone remembers another incident with Jamie Little where something this inappropriate happened let me know, but I don't remember another one that sticks out so hopefully this was an isolated incident and won't happen again. Mike Massaro did the same thing at Richmond last fall so it's not like it's unprecedented.
I hope this was just a mistake and she will learn from him and never be that rude to a driver again. NASCAR fans are very passionate about this sport and when an "outsider" comes in and appears to disrespect this sport or any of the people in it it's going to elicit a very negative response. I just hope she can put this incident past her and maintain a level of mutual respect with the people in this sport that she has to work with every week.
The context for Jamie's questions were the continuing tendency of the tires to chunk and/or blow-out. (These were the causes for both the Shrub and Stewart crashes.)
ReplyDeleteIn the Shrub interview, Jamie was trying to get him to talk about his opinion on the tires Goodyear brought to Las Vegas. Shrub clearly didn't want go there. My impression (and maybe I'm reading too much into it) was that they had been talking about this off-camera before the interview.
I think her interview with Shrub was reasonable. She probably could have framed the question better.
Her interview with Tony wasn't handled well. Some guys you can toss an open-ended question and they'll run with it. Tony needs thoughtful, focused questions. Hence the "What happened?" - "I crashed, Jamie" exchange.
I don't think she was rude. I think she was trying to deeper reporting. I respect her for that.
I do think she needs re-think how she formulates her questions. Stick and ball athletes are free to gripe about field conditions. Nascar guys have to be a lot more careful when griping series sponsors.
-RichZ
I have met Jamie and she seemed very nice and respectful. That being said, the one thing that stuck, in my opinion, is that all the ESPN pit crew seemed to end their interviews one question late. By that, I mean, the interview should be over but they have to get in one more question and it seems to perturb many of the people being interviewed. Does anyone else see it like that?
ReplyDeletestricklandfan82: one point of disagreement. yes, it is a reporter's job to ask questions and get answers. however -- the way the question is phrased is important. my position is that "what happened?" is not a solid question to toss out there, especially to someone like stewart. it's cheap and quick but doesn't lead the interviewee into an intelligent answer. that's why it gets the "we wrecked, jamie" sort of answer -- and what in heaven's name is the intelligent follow-up to that? there's a way to ask "what happened?" without using that phrase.
ReplyDeletei would also contend that, like it or not, the reporter does have to modify how he/she asks the questions. for example (taking busch and stewart out of the argument for now): bobby labonte answers questions differently than, say, denny hamlin. and dale jarrett brings a different take on a wreck than, oh, ryan newman. a good reporter who covers a sport fulltime knows the personalities and understands how a question should be framed to get the best answer.
it's not -- or shouldn't be -- just about sticking the mic in someone's face. language matters.
I think Tony's response was based on his relationship with ESPN and not so much the question asked.
ReplyDeleteKyle on the other hand, looked like she was trolling for a " I don't know what Goodyear was thinking" type of response.
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ReplyDeleteI tend to think that Jamie was given a specific direction to probe from the truck. Even though she is not one of my favorite reporters, but she has not been bad so far this year - until Saturday.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the Tony ESPN issue is over. Towards the end of last year Jamie had intervied Tony before the beginning of an ESPN CUP race and he was "messing" with her while she was beginning the interview. He has also been cordial in the other interviews done with ESPN so far this year.
I have no way of knowing whether she is being pushed by producers when she asks questions, however I would rank her as less than effective with regards to her reporting.
ReplyDeletePit reporting (not that I am an expert on such things) seems to be mostly instinct. Being in the right place at the right time and knowing what is going on without having to think through it. She just doesn't seem to be able to pull this off, or at least it comes across that way on TV. The result of this is that she tries to overcompensate by pushing the drivers.
I don't know if this is really what is going on, but it just seems that way.
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ReplyDeleteI don't care what Jamie Little says. She is so attractive, I find myself not really listening to her. I am watching her, though! Seriously, I think she is a great reporter. Crossing the line every once in a while is no big deal as long as it isn't a habit.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous @11:49 said:
ReplyDeleteIf you can write us a description of the reaction, you can write us a description of what happened, right?Otherwise, it's basing a lot off of hearsay.
I hope this doesn't become a TDP trend. It's poor writing and fact gathering for an opinion report, in my view, especially when JD tells a poster: "This is truly the big time, and when a topic comes up for debate, it comes up for a reason."
If so, the topic should be fully fleshed out in the original entry before putting it up for such a public debate.
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ReplyDeleteMy own personal troll is out today, so I apologize for the deleted entries.
ReplyDeleteIn life, some participate and some judge. Those who judge are usually scared or unable to participate.
This topic was listed today for comments because of lots of email. It gave readers a place to post.
We have all kinds of views from all kinds of people from all over the US.
If you saw these moments on TV and have a view about it, go ahead and express your opinion.
If you need to judge or create wild stories, you comments will just continue to be deleted. Please feel free to email me anytime with your concerns.
JD
Jamie Little and Shannon Spake did the same type of interviewing last season which is a big part of why I rarely watched any race coverage on ESPN. They ask stupid questions and try instigate crap from the drivers just like a couple of manipulative gossip mongers. I honestly think the only reason they are on the air is to provide some eye candy for the male viewers.
ReplyDeleteThey are a waste of t.v. time as far as I'm concerned and neither of them can hold a candle to Wendy Venturini or Krista Voda.
Anyone who watched the IRL races a few years ago saw the same type of questions asked by Jamie in that series. She got the same reaction from some of the drivers over there that she got from Kyle and Tony this past weekend. So I do not think it's the guy in her ear piece prodding her, it's just her style of asking questions.
ReplyDeleteIt takes skill and good timing, plus a basic knowledge of the sport and the characters in the sport to ask a good interview question. Anybody that knows Tony knows that you don't ask him "what happened?". You can get a good interview with Tony and Kyle if you ask them intelligent questions. I have not seen Jamie ask an intelligent question yet. JMO
I'm pretty shocked that people are upset at Jamie for the Tony and Kyle questions.
ReplyDeletefirst off, none of us where in her headphones, so not one of us knows if it was a producer asking her to ask, or maybe as I suggested on saturday, could Jamie have maybe heard a conversation between Kyle and a crew mate before the interview started where he stated exactly what he thought happened.
I think she's doing the best she could, interviewing petulant drivers like Tony and Kyle who are notoriously GRUMPY interviews after wrecking out of races.
The "what happened" question to tony, was simple, "WHAT HAPPENED", did he hit something? did the tire just blow???? You know, WHAT HAPPEND tony??
Hows jamie sposed to know? She wasn't driving the car was she???
Mercy....
I think she can be pushy, but for the most part does a purdy good job on the whole....
And I have a question for the person who thought Jamies web site was "just what i thought it would be"; Did you check the site out? or just make a judgment on her front page?
Bet I know the answer...
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ReplyDeleteI think Jamie does a little better with the actual pits stops she gives me the information I need although how much of it she actually understands is questionable. This lack of understanding may be why she has some trouble framing her questions properly. I cringed during her Kyle interview but I do agree that perhaps she overheard a conversation with Kyle and his team but did not understand enough to ask the right question so Kyle could answer without getting himself in trouble. I had less of a problem with Tony until the are you OK? That would be a no Jamie he already said he was not. This makes it look like she wasn't even listening to the answer, how can you ask the correct follow up question if you do not listen to the answers. I am not ready to say go away to Jamie I do believe she has potential. I honestly believe she needs to watch as much Nascar as she possible can including old races, Nascar Performance, etc and talk with people like Ray, Andy and Dale to learn Nascar technically and work as closely as she can with AB for everything else.
ReplyDeleteAnon 7:18PM,
ReplyDeleteIf you will email me at editor@thedalyplanet.tv I would be happy to address that issue. Open comments is not the place to address issues like this.
If you do not want me to see your personal email address, why not get a gmail or hotmail address?
JD
First, I didn't like Jamie Little in IRL and I don't like her any better in NASCAR. What I didn't know about was her beginnings broadcasting the X-Games. This is a fundamental problem with ESPN's NASCAR broadcasts. They seem to believe that knowledge of NASCAR is irrelevant in order for a NASCAR broadcaster to get over with fans. For years, we have become accustomed to broadcasters like Allen Bestwick who cut their teeth in MRN and know NASCAR. We can tell the difference. We know Jamie Little doesn't have a clue. And as long as ESPN continues to attempt to force someone like her on faithful NASCAR fans, our reaction will not be pleasant. That being said, ESPN is also looking for a "sensational" story and no doubt were in Jamie's ear to use a cattle prod to get a controversial statement from Kyle Busch. He wisely didn't take the bait as it would have cost him a few bucks.
ReplyDeleteActually, the X-games was just something ESPN had her do once she worked there..
ReplyDeleteShe came up through the "Supercross" series, to then be hired by ESPN to cover the X-games and the IRL.
Its not like she hasn't worked hard to make it to where she is today, last season was her rookie season, she's just learning this NASCAR deal. I think her and Shannon will do fine and get better through out their sophomore seasons, comparing them to Wendy V and Krista who have been at this awhile is unfair to both IMO...
Why should Kyle Busch get a pass on answering a question about what caused his tire failure or Goosyear in general? Just because he didn't feel like answering? I say good for Jamie for challenging Busch when he CLEARLY knew something (or thought he knew something) about Goodyear's tires. I sure would like to have known if this was an issue we should have watched for all Saturday and Sunday. We all know that Kyle Busch has an opinion on everything, and Jamie knew it too and was trying to get it out of him, maybe trying to expose more of that personality NASCAR has been searching for. So I say good for her!
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't matter if Jamie Little got started broadcasting X-Games or Supercross or World's Strongest Man (just kidding). The point is she doesn't know NASCAR and we know it. On the other hand, Shannon Spake knows NASCAR but is an inexperienced pit reporter. She'll improve with time. Jamie Little represents a fundamental flaw in ESPN's thinking about who should be a NASCAR broadcaster. They've learned their lesson to a point but will likely have to make more changes. It shouldn't be necessary for her or any other reporter to use a cattle prod to get an opinion from a driver but I'm sure the persistance was Neil Goldberg motivated. Her inexperience showed and that's the difference between Jamie Little & Wendy Venturini. Wendy grew up with racing and instinctively knows what questions to ask.
ReplyDeleteIn the future, when we move to a stand-alone website, there will be an easy way to address topics in a forum style.
ReplyDeleteI completely understand how some readers are off-track because a topic for comment is posted where normally a full original column would be.
Because of this issue, I am going to refrain from posting topics for comment other than live events until the forum is open.
Once there is a designated area for open discussion, rather than specific comments on one topic, things will be much smoother.
Thanks to all who expressed their views and did not get off-track.
JD