Friday, May 2, 2008

In-Progress At Richmond: Nationwide Race on ESPN Classic and SPEED


Here we go with another interesting moment in NASCAR TV history.

Tonight at 7PM, both ESPN Classic and SPEED will present their own versions of thirty minute pre-race programs for the same event.

Then, at 7:30PM Eastern Time, both ESPN Classic and SPEED will carry the Nationwide Series race from Richmond. The race will be produced with ESPN announcers, graphics and all of the other ESPN identifiers. SPEED will carry the ESPN production for the entire race.

It will be Allen Bestwick hosting NASCAR Countdown on ESPN Classic at 7PM. Joining him in the Infield Pit Studio will be Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty. Over on SPEED, it will be John Roberts hosting their pre-race show which will be produced as NASCAR Live. Bob Dillner and Randy Pemberton will report for that program.

When the networks join together for the ESPN telecast of the race, it will be veteran Marty Reid hosting the program. Wallace will be the lead analyst, and joining them will be Andy Petree in the booth.

Dave Burns, Mike Massaro, Shannon Spake and Jamie Little will be the pit reporters for the race. This track is very different from Talladega, so the struggles in the pit will be interesting to watch.

This site will host your comments for the Nationwide Series race from Richmond on both ESPN Classic and SPEED. To add your comments, simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. This should be an interesting night.

145 comments:

  1. JD, you did not mention SPEED was time-shifting qualifying. I assume the SPEED pre-race show will collapse into race time?

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  2. anon 7:07:

    I'd assume so. They're pretty flexible with NASCAR Live

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  3. the SPEED pre-race show is nice! its almost like raceday for a nationwide race.

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  4. I've got ESPN Classic and SPEED both recording so I can catch both shows, but I flipped over to ESPN2 on my VCR, and I'm disappointed that they don't seem to be doing anything to indicate the race is somewhere else. Nothing on the ticker (other than on the occasional runthrough), no announcement... maybe at 7:30.

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  5. Sonicad, ESPN has the announcement in the regular ticker run through. It is pointing viewers to ESPN classic for the race.

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  6. anon 7:22:

    Yeah, that's what I meant by "other than on the occasional runthrough", but I can see how that statement was unclear

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  7. this is amazing! history is about to be made. it sure will be interesting to see how this nationwide "raceday" show transitions to the ESPN broadcast.

    1 minute remaining.

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  8. interesting thing: Speed does not have the ESPN ticker. those of you who complain about that can just tune to SPEED.

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  9. same commercials on SPEED and ESPN, but that is to be expected with these kinds of things.

    I saw the transition on SPEED, it was nicely seamless. anyone see what it was like on ESPN classic?

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  10. ok..PLEASE somebody help me...on NASCAR.com it says SPRINT CUP on rt side..scanner and MRN listen now. When I clicked oN NW I saw no list on the rt side like on the front page!

    How do I find MRN for NW race tonight on NASCAR.com

    That site is so convoluted I hope I can understand the answer.

    *Sigh*

    Just talk to me like I am 7 and leave bread crumbs to find my way.

    Thanks :)

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  11. JD,

    Do you know anything about the NBA TV contracts as it relates to the 2nd round of the playoffs? Does ESPN cover the 2nd round, and if so do you think we can expect a similar conflict next Friday night at Darlington?

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  12. Anon 7.31

    That would be me who hates the ticker...i can get rid of it off one smaller tv but prefer to watch in my room from 31 inch tv.

    :)

    Go speed...no ticker!

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  13. Anonymous said...
    interesting thing: Speed does not have the ESPN ticker. those of you who complain about that can just tune to SPEED.

    May 2, 2008 7:31 PM

    I just came here to post that. We were looking to see if there was any difference in quality of the look of the broadcast on our TV (non HD household here) on SPEED and ESPN Classic. They look the same, but SPEED doesn't have the ticker, so that's where it's staying.

    Was there a mixup with opening ceremonies? We could hear the anthem being sung as that last interview with Hamilton Jr was being done, then AB went to commercial and said we'll be back for opening ceremonies even though the anthem was still going and everyone was lined up for it.

    Oh, I see now. They must tape the anthem and invocation for later use because it's on again now. Maybe they always do that and we just never realized it.

    The SPEED pre-race was excellent.

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  14. I would recommend watching this race on SPEED if you have it. There is no Ticker. The ticker on classic seems small but when you turn to SPEED it is amazing how much larger the screen looks without the ticker.

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  15. Was there a mixup with opening ceremonies? We could hear the anthem being sung as that last interview with Hamilton Jr was being done, then AB went to commercial and said we'll be back for opening ceremonies

    Actually what you heard was someone butchering "God Bless America". The invocation and anthem are ALWAYS shown LIVE.

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  16. SophiaZ123, go here to watch the ESPN broadcast:

    http://www.nascar.com/video/
    meta/webcast/busch/
    webcast_video.high.asx


    that will open your media player to the broadcast from NASCAR.com

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  17. Interesting. SPEED just put up a rather large logo bug in the right corner of the screen. I wonder what they will do when the race ticker comes up, since it will conflict.

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  18. Anon

    thanks a lot but I can see the race on SPEED...I guess I thought radio was free tonight but see it's pay on nascar.com.

    I finally figured out the 'radio launch' thingie I think.

    Thanks for the direct link though...appreciate it!

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  19. SophiaZ123, in addition to the link I gave you can also go to the NASCAR.com homepage, look at the bottom middle of your screen with out scrolling, you should see the word "live" in big letters, click it and you will see the stream. if you dont see the word "live", scroll down very slowly and look for it in big letters on the bottom of your screen. that will take you to the video.

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  20. Speed freezing up briefly on Rusty talking in car to Harvick. Did anybody notice any glitches on quals on SPEED? Happened here and they went to commercial a couple of times but I never heard the booth address it?

    Hope it doesn't happen during the race...Some storms went around us earlier but not at the time of the issues then, or now.

    I am in Ohio with TW digi cable

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  21. ok SophiaZ123, i didnt see your post before i posted mine.

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  22. Sophia if you are looking for MRN on Nascar.com it's not free this week you need Trackpass. Sorry they were only giving it away last week I guess.

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  23. ESPN Classic looks better for me, but it's on digital, as opposed to SPEED which is on expanded basic... but SPEED has no ticker. I think I'll probably go with SPEED because of the ticker, and just because of how weird it is to see ESPN stuff on SPEED

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  24. Hey JD. Quick Question. Does ESPN have to split moeny with SPEED now for commercial revenue? Since now SPEED may be losing money since they are not showing their own commercials?

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  25. I had Speed issues too, lost picture and cut to commercial and the jumped back. Thankfully everything ok now

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  26. nrf

    Thanks for the SPEED glitch info.

    anon

    thanks for the LIVE info on nascar.com. It apparently does not work with Mozilla browser. I even turned adblocker off that page and nothing...but thanks anyway...i thought I would try it in case SPEED had a glitch.

    Thanks for taking the time to respond.

    Ok I thought JD was going to turn off this word veri thing during the race?


    hmmmm

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  27. Sophia - It's solar storms that are causing interference with the satellites ... i.e., cable tv, cell phones, etc ...

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  28. Thank you for reminding me, the verification is off for tonight.

    As far as I know, this is a favor from SPEED and no cash is changing hands. They are certainly getting a lot of good publicity for free.

    JD

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  29. Why did they bring back the "Full Throttle" on the first lap??

    Plus, they need to KILL the heavy metal on the "bumpers" ... Not everybody likes to hear that stuff ...

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  30. This is the time of the year when solar interference, called "sun spots," briefly affects the satellites that deliver everything from cable TV to Blackberry signals.

    The break-up begins slow, becomes complete (most networks default to a black screen) and then comes right back.

    Usually does not last more than three or four minutes.

    JD

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  31. I didn't see Carl Edwards in the in-car cam lineup That is rather surprising.

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  32. Cut away car and brake rotors on the split screen WHAT

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  33. The solar flares / storms / spots have been causing problems all week ...

    I wish I had a list of which channels are on specific satellites ... to see who's gonna have problems ...

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  34. Anon and JD

    Thanks for the solar flares explanation.

    JD,

    Thanks for turning off the word veri thing....even though it was less distorted than last week (which was ludicrous!) but it's nice not to have to fight it DURING a race.

    :)

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  35. I'm multi-tasking & listening more than watching, but I tape it too. I've seen folks here mention no ticker on Speed. I'm see one...

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  36. pammh:

    They have, but very sparingly, and only to inform people what's going on. It's not on all the time.

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  37. pammh - People are referring to the bottom ticker that ESPN uses ... and Speed does not (except during the "Speed Report" show) ...

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  38. That is about the third different size /location for SPEED's logo. The first two were running off my screen, like it was the HD broadcast with the sides chopped off.

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  39. Why do they need those lame bumpers with the guys & a car in some badly lit room ??

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  40. sonicad & anon 8:10-thanks for the clarifications!! :)
    And I agree, why show Tim in a split screen w/a tire glow??? wth-show the Racing!!

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  41. That was a rather akward update for those watching the basketball halftime show on ESPN2.

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  42. erik explain, I didnt see it.

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  43. Did we ever see the spin that caused the first caution?

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  44. JD, Speed might drop in its own spots or institutionals if NASCAR lets them override an ESPN institutional or PSA for that purpose. I would assume the feed comes in with them in place. A couple of those are clearances for your satellite or cable company to insert their own paid spot or institutionals. (You can tell on those because it will be a regional advertiser most of the times, or a promo for other cable programming if your cable company didn't sell the spot.) If I had a list of the clearances I could show you which those are. When I was in the booth at a local affiliate carrying CBS network baseball -- this was a *long* time ago -- they were listed thusly: before top 2nd inning,before top 5th inning, before top 8th inning. They might not be called "institutionals" any more.

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  45. newracefan - I don't think so ... But, since he was a backmarker, they may not have caught it ...

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  46. Oh, it was just the play-by-play announcer referencing Stewart Scott.

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  47. The ESPN Classic bottom line reports that Texas Motor Speedway's Eddie Gossage is offering $100,000 to Dale Earnhardt Jr. if he runs the IRL race at his track in June.

    First of all that's a ridiculous notion because I think we all know there's 0% chance of that happening. Second of all I must say I'm a little bit surprised ESPN considers this publicity stunt as relevant news.

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  48. What a difference Marty Reid makes! I'm multi-tasking and have to look up every few minutes because he gets so excited and you can hear it in his voice. Coming back from commercial, I thought something major had happened to Harvick based on Marty's reaction, but it was just the tire getting loose. What a welcome change to be so excited about calling the race!!! Of course, Allen should be in the booth, but Marty is a welcome change tonight!

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  49. Use a grain of salt with my last post @ 8:25. It's been 25 years since I've been in a booth. And I meant to say network radio.

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  50. The Speed logo is being adjusted to be okay with the ESPN ticker. It will take a couple of tries to get the logo where ESPN is okay with it and Speed is oaky.

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  51. Do we know why DJ and Doc are off again this week? I'm missing DJ

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  52. Newracefan, can they not take a week off with family?? they have a whole season ahead of them. let them have a rare vacation now, and not in the heat of the season.

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  53. Anonymous said...
    JD, Speed might drop in its own spots or institutionals if NASCAR lets them override an ESPN institutional or PSA for that purpose.

    Being that this feed was setup at the last minute I would not think Speed will be running there own breaks.
    This require a good deal of communication between ESPN in Bristol and Fox out in LA. Speed would need to know exactly when ESPN is going to and coming back to the race. Speed would also know how long the breaks are. There are a great deal of timing issues involved.

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  54. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  55. I'm not denying them a weekend off but as you recall they were not there 2 races ago. I was wondering how it is decide what races they will miss as in their choice or ? Mexico I can understand but Richmond on a friday noght not so much

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  56. That was not so much don't know where the gh came from

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  57. OK, because I am a TV geek, I have to clear things up. These are not solar flares. They are sun transit outages. 2x per year for a few weeks in mid-afternoon the sun, the satellite and the receiving satellite ground station are in a perfect line. The sun's electromagnetic power overwhelms the satellite to the dish and causes a loss of signal for a few minutes.

    If you want to know more: http://www.spacecom.com/customer_tools/html/sun_outage.htm

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  58. Wonder what is going on with Reut was in top 7 snd now dropping like a rock already down to 15th. On another note if I see that Planters nut commercial one more time I'm going to scream

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  59. SPEED gets to cover some promos, everything else stays as planned. This is a favor for NASCAR.

    DJ (and possibly Jerry) are over at the Kentucky Derby for this weekend. Big Brown (I kid you not) is the favorite horse.

    I was on Sirius Speedway with Dave Moody today and we talked about the fact that Marty Reid is a veteran. He knows two networks and a big audience is watching tonight. He will do the best he can all race long to impress those watching and the TV execs.

    JD

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  60. Brakes not cherry red !?!? That's just not possible, Brad ...

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  61. IPingUPing said...
    OK, because I am a TV geek, I have to clear things up. These are not solar flares. They are sun transit outages. 2x per year for a few weeks in mid-afternoon the sun, the satellite and the receiving satellite ground station are in a perfect line.

    The sun outage time for the spring has already passed. It was back in early March for North America. I have 90 services up on 10 different satellites and have not had any issues this week. The hits you saw were on the back haul feed directly from the track. ESPN was up on the satellite at the same time and they did not have any issues.

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  62. Thanks JD never thought if the Derby. Marty is much better this race than he was the last one. So is Shannon Spake for that matter

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  63. Big Brown isn't gonna win tomorrow ... He's the favorite & the favorite doesn't always get the job done ...

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  64. why can't SPEED make their logo transparent (that goes for ALL stupid tv bugs but especially during a sporting event) or even *GASP* get rid of those stupid things.

    Some stations run sentences in white to hype a show for days or weeks on some stations...sigh

    I have noticed during a SPEED show Erik, the SPEED logo in the upper rt corner, or rt into the corner, or off my screen. You think they could figure things out by now but it's annowing. They are one of the few HD stations that still goofs up on the 4.3 ratio...course, I realize i am NOT watching the HD station which I thought should be a separate issue.

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  65. Rut just spun. Caution is out

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  66. "course, I realize i am NOT watching the HD station which I thought should be a separate issue."

    sophia, technically you are watching the HD feed. SPEED is just compressing it and changing the format so you can see it on your regular TV. SPEED's priority right now is with the HD audience, which is good because thats where the audience is going now.

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  67. I'm stoked that they are actually doing a "through the field". Without it, I though I wasn't going to hear anything but Harvick/Edwards all night, with Stewart/Kahne as the break once in a while.

    Oh....it was just a top 10 run through. Sucks on that.

    I wish they would pay more attention to the Nationwide regulars. I realize that the Cup guys are more popular. But there are a lot of good stories in the Nationwide series. Mike Bliss is working on his 4th straight top 10 driving for a single car team, and he barely gets a mention or two.

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  68. I wonder if we'll see Reut's spin :(

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  69. Ok tech geeks.

    is HD and WIDESCREEN the same thing??? I thought not?

    Thus why do things run off the screen sometimes? I know what compression is but for instance, on RACEDAY, some filmed interviews look normal on my tv..other times STRETCHED and FAT...so on an HD TV to they look even FATTER?

    Also I don't notice it now but on some races, I think at the end of last season, sometimes the cars look 'stouter' in some shots than others...meaning the cars looked like they were stretched wider.

    Course, now we have the COT which is wider but that's another story.

    Also different cameras can have different looks (Normal or stretched) and cameras on pre race will be out of sync with audio..but in another camera, things will be IN sync.

    I notice this a lot on the truck races but sorry for getting off topic JD.

    SPEED bug in red back on the scrreen. :(

    is nice NOT having the bottom ticker tho :)

    Finally Reuts spin.....bummer

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  70. There we go w/David's spin!! Good work!

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  71. Sammy's had problems with Reutimann last year ...

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  72. I am also weary of the focus of the CUP drivers in the middle series...it seems to be getting worse and I feel for the full time NW drivers.

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  73. Sammy was a lap down and Reut wasn't hmmmmmm. Reut doesn't get mad often but I bet he's dangerous when he does.

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  74. "is HD and WIDESCREEN the same thing??? I thought not?"

    to be simple: HD normally uses widescreen video but widescreen video is not always in HD. the two are so closely related in how and when they are used but are very different at the same time.

    I dont know what you are talking about by "fat" video, but normally it is not "fater" on an HDTV, infact you will see more picture to the left and the right of the normal picture.
    hope that helps.

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  75. Kenny Wallace is 40 some laps down do we know why

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  76. Yeah I seem to recall Hornish trying to dump Reutimann at either Atlanta or Texas in the Cup race.

    If Jamie Little is correct that Hornish admitted on his radio he wrecked him on purpose I'm quite surprised NASCAR didn't penalize him.

    So much for trying to earn respect as a rookie huh?

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  77. 3/4 mile track and they miss who dumped Kasey ...

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  78. Several cars out or in the pits and we don't know why but all in all I think the broadcast is ok considering that RW is in the booth. I still think that the Nationwide series needs their own broadcasters but that's only a pipe dream.

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  79. SophiaZ123 said...
    Ok tech geeks.

    is HD and WIDESCREEN the same thing??? I thought not?

    Thus why do things run off the screen sometimes? I know what compression is but for instance, on RACEDAY, some filmed interviews look normal on my tv..other times STRETCHED and FAT...so on an HD TV to they look even FATTER?

    As HD takes hold the TV signals are sometimes "upconverted" from what is called SD (serial digital) to HD. (High Def)Which means they go from 4X3 to 16X9 thus it looks stretched. Other times they are "down converted" which means they go from HD to SD.

    Also, not all the cameras on site are HD so this would add to the different looks.

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  80. Way to have no footage of the kahne spin.

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  81. What's with the news and notes under the top ticker. I'm watching on Speed

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  82. What was with the news and notes UNDER the ticker about Kevin Harvick announces drug testing??????? Why is that necessary during the race.

    TOO MUCH JUNK on the ticker as it is but that's disappointing.

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  83. Ten laps, commercial break. Ten laps, commercial break. No coverage of Kahne's accident. Rusty in the booth. This is horrible. A monkey with a hand held camera could provide better coverage.

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  84. with Stewart/Kahne as the break once in a while.

    I'm a knucklehead. I meant "Hamlin/Kahne". I look at that #20 car and can't help but think "Stewart".

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  85. Under 4 minutes left in the basketball game. Can't wait to get HD back.

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  86. "Under 4 minutes left in the basketball game. "

    if you ever watch basketball, you would know that is actually about 30 minutes in actually time.

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  87. cncspeed

    Thanks for the explanation...I have also read of the 'godzilla' effect of download or upload times of audio and video not the same..thus lip sync issues can vary on a show, even on older tv's.

    NRF

    I posted about those stupid news and notes too...was that from ESPN or SPEED? I was answering an email and just looked up to see the end about Harvick drug testing.

    Still...too much stuff on the screen...the tickers COULD be lots smaller and basic imo with more readily numbers.

    I miss the old days of clean screens when watching tapes of races back in the olden days. That's one good thing about F1 races...not much junk on the screen....course, I prefer oval racin'

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  88. Rusty's doing a better job ... He's feeding Petree leading questions to get him more involved ...


    Sorry, but Brad really needs to be given the boot ... He just does NOT add anything to the broadcasts ... And he can take Jamie & Shannon with him ...

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  89. News and notes was from ESPN don't know if they created it for this special occasion or was already planned

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  90. Sophia - The top tickers are from ESPN ... SPEED's only throwing in that one at the bottom telling people they're watching ESPN's broacast ...

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  91. I also feel it was poor timing to decide to run a generic "NASCAR News and Notes" crawl filled with old news items from the last week or two on the top of the screen.

    Danica Patrick talking to Roush Racing at Phoenix last month and KHI implementing drug testing should not be scrolled right below the scoring crawl as breaking news with 70 laps to go in live coverage of this race.

    That should be saved for the pre-race show and put on the bottom-line crawl, in my opinion.

    Also, I've seen the glowing brake-cam on NASCAR TV for years and I don't think the shot as ever looked this bad before. The whole shot is completely black until the rotors light up in the middle of the turns, and then goes right back to nothing but a black screen.

    Very poor when you compare this shot to the old Martinsville brake-cams ESPN started in the 90's.

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  92. SophiaZ123 said...
    cncspeed

    Thanks for the explanation...I have also read of the 'godzilla' effect of download or upload times of audio and video not the same..thus lip sync issues can vary on a show, even on older tv's.

    If you are watching on Direct TV you will always see lip sync issues on Sporting events. They have been off for years and years. The audio is ahead by 2-3 video frames but it just bugs me. Other times the video is actually ahead of the audio which by the way is very hard to do and it is not easy to slow the video down to match up with the audio.
    It does not matter how old the TV is, it is what is going into the tv that matters.

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  93. Basketball game is over. Race is on ESPN2 HD now.

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  94. Will Speed do the post race show?

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  95. the race in now on ESPN2 in HD!

    will espn2 replay the race after the end, for viewers with out SPEED or classic?

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  96. You know what this race is missing? Commercial breaks and lap by lap updates on Kyle Busch.

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  97. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  98. Hope they got a camera trained on Kyle ... 15 laps & fresh tires = Yikes!!

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  99. Apparently I felt double strong about that statement.

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  100. ESPN2 did take about 5 minutes to wrapup and do a post-game interview with Lebron James before switching over to the race.

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  101. I am not sure how appropriate it is to talk to the leader with 15 laps to go. Don't you think he is kind of busy. I really do not like the inrace reporter concept

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  102. Boy I wonder how happy the NASCAR fans without ESPN Classic and Speed Channel are now that they are showing the last 22 laps live after the basketball game, instead of just airing the race in its entirety at 9:30 as the ESPN TV networks indicated they would.

    I know if I was in that boat I would have been avoiding all websites and sports TV stations until 9:30 when I thought I would get to watch the race in its entirety.

    If I had tuned in and been greeted with live coverage and told that the full race re-air will start after we show you the finish live I would have been pretty upset.

    These viewers simply had no alternative but to have the outcome spoiled, and maybe I'm alone but I would have been furious if I was in that position.

    In my opinion I would have preferred the full race re-air starting at 9:30 as advertised on TV, but again maybe that's only me.

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  103. CNCSpeed

    Have TW regular tvs and digital. Sometimes the issue is just on digital tv but when I watch the same station on the regular tv the issue may or may not match at the same time. It's intermittent. Weird.

    Course, don't even ask me about the new Navigator/mystro upgrade for the digital boxes!! YIKES. I am glad I do not have a DVR as it's causing major issues (just google TW Navigator) Somebody is coming out Tuesday to see why it takes 7 seconds to change the channel and the tv guide sometimes disappears. My tv in my room still says Passport and I am told it's due to the older style digital box (only had both for 16 months) I prefer Passport as its' quicker, cleaner and easier to read fonts and colors. Navigator was made in house and it looks cheapy and you have to have really good eyes to read things from across the room. &^%$#@~?

    I won't go to satellite due to horrible weather issues from friends who have have DISH and DIRECt. even on SUNNY DAYS they lose an entire game.

    Well, after NW at Dega I just can't get into this race..thus the meandering off topic about tv issues..sorry, JD.

    I agree the brake rotor cams are bad. I used to like those but after a couple times, it's enough.

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  104. Good point about race spoiler, STFan.

    NRF I am so over the in car cam myself.

    Clauson spun and didn't hit anybody!!

    CRIPES...3 laps to go and a caution..

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  105. I am just happy to be able to see the finish live in HD.

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  106. Is it me or LOTS OF EMPTY SEATS at RIR? I thought this was a popular track?

    or the economy?

    Rusty saying the roll cage was messed up on Dario's car...one of the worst wrecks he's seen and they hardly mentioned it on the air.

    That makes me mad all over again, lol.

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  107. I'm sticking with Speed I dislike the ticker more than I like HD

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  108. Hello Fox did you see the finish!!!!!

    Wow Kyle and Steven that was interesting.

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  109. "get out your wallet dad"

    Now THAT'S a funny line. Good times!

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  110. Nice camera work at the finish line. Again, I ask the Fox production truck, would that be so hard to do? ESPN held off a few seconds to show the field cross the line and... imagine this... still had PLENTY of time to show jumping pit crews and a driver celebrating AFTER the field finished. Please take notes.

    As for the Kyle Busch - Steve Wallace incident, I think ESPN should queue up the last lap of the Martinsville Truck race incident where Busch blatantly wrecked Johnny Benson on the final lap and called his pit crew cowards for going at him while he was strapped in his car.

    I'm glad Steven didn't put up with Kyle's crap, and boy he was quick to jump away when Steven was ready to go. Only when the pit crew jumped in did Kyle get tough again.

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  111. TV was a little late giving Denny the que to get out of the car.

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  112. Hopefully ESPN will play Kyle Busch's comments about Steven Wallace he said during the break

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  113. Those deliberate threats from Kyle SHOULD bring a penalty ... IF there's any sort of fairness left in NASCAR ...


    I wonder how that incident will affect HASS avocado sales this weekend??

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  114. One can only guess how many times that incident is going to be replayed the rest of the year in those promos.

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  115. What did Kyle B say on the radio? anybody here?

    If necessary, log in under anon to tell us.

    I want to know. Personally, KB smacks of rich, spoiled punk and I would like to see somebody take him behind the wood shed...


    ok not really folks...just chill.

    Good for Denny winning at home track!

    STRICKLANFAN,

    Don't hold your breath on FOX showing us the finish. :(

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  116. Great TV with the Busch and Wallace interviews. Amazing that Busch called Wallace childish when he was the one going after a driver strapped in his car (the exact same thing he called out Benson's pit crew for doing to him at Martinsville).

    Amazing how short some people's memories can be, and my only disappointment is that ESPN didn't bring back the file footage of Busch dumping Benson at Martinsville and his comments that followed. I'm sure AB and the NASCAR Now guys will be all over it on Monday Night though that's for sure.

    I think Steven Wallace just won a lot of fans tonight.

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  117. How did you guys hear "Kyle's threats?"

    NASCAR scanner?

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  118. I realize that the blood was probably pumping, but Rusty has go to talk to Steven about "TV time". I couldn't understand but 10% of the words that came out of his mouth. MumbleMumbleMumbleSponsorMumble

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  119. Ok..if Kyle said threatening things on radio..why DOESN'T NASCAR do something?

    I take recant my last comment about the woodshed!

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  120. Steven needs to go to Dale Carnegie like DJ did it would help a lot although with what just happened with Kyle he did pretty good. Last year he would have said all kinds of unwise to say on tv stuff

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  121. Sophia - It was in Kyle's post-race interview with Jamie Little ... What he said can be construed as direct threats ...

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  122. photojosh - After you've listened to Stephen awhile, you learn to decode what he's saying ... ;-)

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  123. Ok, I half listened to Kyle as I gave a cat a snack and was answering an email again...I did appreciate Steve W's answer.

    Ugh..Kyle is on Trackside. CLICK. I am so tire of him. Hot or not he is most unlikeable.

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  124. Theme of the race for ESPN, brakes, brakes, brakes. ESPN did not show replays and show why cautions came out on caution 1, 3, 6, 7. On caution 3 the replay was not shown until 9 laps later. Caution 5 the replay just showed the end of a spin.
    Rusty talked brakes going away and it could hurt the cars and I did not see that happen. Rusty also talked about car 1 Bliss after he had his left front damaged and said he would be loosing 1 second a lap because of it. I did not see this happen. Car 1 finished 8th.
    Was nice to watch a race without the ticker at the bottom. Only saw the ticker when Speed used it.

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  125. Guys, you have to be easy on Steven Wallace because he has some kind of disorder that causes his eyes to blink rapidly and causes him to stutter his words at times (I think some form of Terret's [sp?] if I'm not mistaken).

    It's not like doesn't know how to talk, he has a physical ailment that is beyond his control.

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  126. Charlie

    Good points though i was totally distracted tonight...all NASCAR partners have problems with huge gaps in information don't they?

    But yes, the lack of a ticker was TERRIFIC. ESPN really needs to lose that for the race.

    If they can put a man on the moon and do robotic surgery from across a room, ESPN can figure out how to turn of that totally overused, annoying, ticker.

    It's ruined many a races for me, too. IRL or Truck race, etc.

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  127. Steve Wallace has Tourette's syndrome that he does handle amazingly well!!

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  128. While SW has a mild case of Tourettes, considering the adrenalin rush one normal person gets when racing, he is amazing to speak at all.

    Here is a blurb about the milder forms of Tourette's and the "tics" you might have noticed. How a race driver handles this is pretty compelling if you know how the brain works and the stuff the happens in a car at high speeds.

    ~~~

    What are the symptoms?

    Tics are classified as either simple or complex. Simple motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements that involve a limited number of muscle groups. Some of the more common simple tics include eye blinking and other vision irregularities, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking. Simple vocalizations might include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds.

    Complex tics are distinct, coordinated patterns of movements involving several muscle groups. Complex motor tics might include facial grimacing combined with a head twist and a shoulder shrug. Other complex motor tics may actually appear purposeful, including sniffing or touching objects, hopping, jumping, bending, or twisting. Simple vocal tics may include throat-clearing, sniffing/snorting, grunting, or barking. More complex vocal tics include words or phrases.

    Perhaps the most dramatic and disabling tics include motor movements that result in self-harm such as punching oneself in the face or vocal tics including coprolalia (uttering swear words) or echolalia (repeating the words or phrases of others). Some tics are preceded by an urge or sensation in the affected muscle group, commonly called a premonitory urge. Some with TS will describe a need to complete a tic in a certain way or a certain number of times in order to relieve the urge or decrease the sensation.

    Tics are often worse with excitement or anxiety and better during calm, focused activities. Certain physical experiences can trigger or worsen tics, for example tight collars may trigger neck tics, or hearing another person sniff or throat-clear may trigger similar sounds. Tics do not go away during sleep but are often significantly diminished.
    top

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  129. ESPN2 has their race day episode of NASCAR Now on tomorrow at 7am pacific ... They will play up the new battling Bickersons (Kyle & Stephen) ...

    I wonder if they'll find the footage from last year where Reutimann was causing problems for Sammy ... Hmmmm ...

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  130. This was a long way from ESPN's best effort.They were short cameras tonight.The NBA game must have needed them.How else to account for the caution replays? Add to that some loon took control of the time interval with 72 to go.It was replaced with the weekly news roundup,followed by a car manufactsurer's listing for the drivers. All this under green. Time interval returned with 40 to go.To top off the night, we got Rusty's patented "Im so excited" routine.For ESPN not a good night at all.

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  132. How did you guys hear "Kyle's threats?"

    NASCAR scanner?

    It was on the back haul feed which is directly from the uplink truck at the track and there are no breaks on the feeds.

    Kyle said that "Steven was a boy playing in a man's world" (Kyle is a year older than Steven) and he would fight him if that is what he wanted. The crowd at the track let Kyle now that the comment was in poor taste.

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  133. Okay, now that I've settled down from the state of bewilderment Kyle Busch's actions and words put me in, here are my thoughts on the overall coverage:

    - Solid job from the guys in the booth

    I didn't hate Rusty last year like many fans seemed to, so I had no problems with him filling in for DJ. I think Rusty got a bad rap and seemingly got blamed for the awful Draft Tracks that got thrown in his lap. Granted DJ might be a little better at play-by-play, but I've never had a huge issue with Rusty like so many others have.

    I was very critical of Marty Reid after Nashville but I feel I am fair in my commentary and will now give credit where credit is due. He's done a solid job in the booth in his last two appearances and I had no issues with him at all. Yes, I still think Allen Bestwick is a better play-by-play man, but that doesn't mean Marty Reid is terrible just because I would prefer AB.

    Andy Petree is quietly putting together some very strong performances despite still being very new to this gig. I enjoy Brad Daugherty in this role, and AB is still the man at ESPN from my point of view.

    - Great finish line camera work

    I am very happy that one of the NASCAR TV networks actually understands that NASCAR fans care about more than just the race winner on the last lap. I am so thankful that my hours worth of investment into the ESPN broadcasts is actually re-paid by allowing me to see all the cars finish LIVE.

    I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Fox will make some behind-the-scenes changes in philosophy and we can actually enjoy a solid broadcast tomorrow, and not have to deal with another "It's all about Fox and nothing about the race" broadcast like we had last week. No more T-shirt sales, no more production crew eating food, no more overkill of gimmick camera shots, and seeing the entire field finish... boy what an enjoyable night that would be!

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  134. cncspeed

    thanks for letting me know what Kyle said. His sense of entitlement is what gets to me with that kid. He is a punk..sorry folks. imo he is. I am glad the crowd let him know that was not a cool thing to say. he is on a hot streak so probably thinks he is a better human than anybody else...he is sadly mistaken.

    SW has taken so much heat from his dad over the years..yes I know he has wrecked a lot but I once saw and interview where they wanted to know what dinner time was like at his house..and Steve calmly and honestly said, his dad yelled at him all through dinner about the things he does wrong. That's so sad.

    I hope he has a better year this year. Imagine having to listen to those rantings while you digest food. That enxiety can provoke his illness, too.

    Poor Steven.

    How is it with all the punches we have seen over the years, well, never mind...won't go there....I wonder if I will watch tomorrow's race...may just tape and listen if I can get mrn.

    ESPN did seem lacking in cameras..it was no NW Dega race. Tonight it was like a little 'teacup race.'

    :-)

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  135. Stricklanfan said

    - Great finish line camera work

    I am very happy that one of the NASCAR TV networks actually understands that NASCAR fans care about more than just the race winner on the last lap. I am so thankful that my hours worth of investment into the ESPN broadcasts is actually re-paid by allowing me to see all the cars finish LIVE.

    I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Fox will make some behind-the-scenes changes in philosophy and we can actually enjoy a solid broadcast tomorrow, and not have to deal with another "It's all about Fox and nothing about the race" broadcast like we had last week. No more T-shirt sales, no more production crew eating food, no more overkill of gimmick camera shots, and seeing the entire field finish... boy what an enjoyable night that would be!

    ~~~

    I would say from your mouth to God's ear...or to the ego driven Producer/Director/Coffemaker/WWE mindset..but that wouldn't be very nice.


    What is a back haul feed line with no breaks?

    I love learning this tech stuff.

    Anybody know when JD is going to get a message board..JD??

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  136. P.S. I forgot to add I turned off trackside because SPEED guys were talking about DIGGER! Between that and KB being a guest. CLICK.

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  137. If you have seen any of the current message boards relating to NASCAR you have also probably seen a lot of things we do not have.

    Profanity, anger, hate speech and a wide variety of bells and whistles on people's personal posts that contain all kinds of stuff.

    I have been evaluating the "text only" forums currently available, and will be making a decision about the changing dynamics of this site shortly.

    Changing over to a website is a bit like opening a new deli on the block. You have to be able to handle the $ if no one comes by, and you have to be able to have enough "stuff" to serve everyone if a whole lot of folks come by.

    I can tell you it takes a lot of money for big websites like infieldparking and rowdy and others to go down the road.

    There should be some choices made soon.

    JD

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  138. JD could switch from a Blogspot setup to a Wordpress install and then install their forum software. It integrates pretty well.

    *sigh* I spend too much time thinking about forums. But that's my job, web communities guru.

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  139. See JD, I am so out of touch...I don't know why you can't have this site and a free message board like something Hostingboard has? Simple. Easy to have folks help moderate. If you have an adblocker you NEVER SEE THE ADDS on the page.

    I don't know why one would put out money for one..especially lots of money. The free ones and the ones with big bucks and have problems and be offline for a couple days if there is a major server problem.

    So I would not put out a lot of money and gamble either. Heck I have a site for some fellow patients that we love and it's free.

    But yea, you have to be careful who you let in to control the insanity.

    Otherwise it's chaos. So if you let anybody join, well, then I can see where the fun we have here would be out the window.

    I guess what would help here is the occassional "Off topic" blog thread to discuss tv tech stuff and various off topics (no politics or hot button issues) So, I guess I am used to very controlled environments.

    Actually I rarely post at any message boards except a couple heavily monitored and one is mine, lol.

    But if you are having to shell out bucks, I' say skip it.

    just my two cents.

    :)

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  140. p.s. JD

    The sites that are only about busy signatures with tons of photochopped moving pictures makes me dizzy (not that there is anything wrong with it! as Seinfeld would say!)

    But a place where we might post a link to some photos or an article would be nice.

    But I am not a bells and whistles kind of gal. So many sites have too much flash and sizzle and no real substance.

    Now that I think about, why the hello do you want a MB???



    = : - O

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  141. JD, just look at what Speed did with their boards recently and do the opposite.:)

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  142. geez,

    I was an original member of the SPEED boards way back when, and got tired of all the other people who seemed to live there with no lives.

    Then, things went downhill fast and a bunch of us left and started our own sites. It is a shame to see what is left over there, it could have been so good.

    That is why I am being so careful, the problem is about limiting access and keeping folks from taking up residence on the boards.

    I have worked very hard to not allow anyone to push anyone else around because they are some kind of "veteran" member. A first comment should carry as much weight at the one thousandth.

    Unfortunately, Google has been flooded with spam bots and the blogspot business is a mess. I will be moving shortly to my own standalone website once I finish all the fun legal paperwork.

    JD

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  143. JD- Thank you again for The Daly Planet. I keep coming back for 2 reasons - (1) your insight and (2)the grown-up tenor of this site. Too many others that I have visited, even David Poole's, often turn into food fights. Thank you.

    How much do you think the reported increased ratings for the Talledega N-wide race had to do with ESPN's flexibility in handling the Richmond N-wide race and allowing SPEED to simulcast it? Also, I would be intrigued to know how involved setting up the simulcast was from a technical standpoint.

    Thanks again and have fun with the lawyers.

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  144. Richard,

    While ESPN Classic has been acceptable for part of a NASCAR race due to an over-run of a live event on ESPN, ABC or ESPN2, it was not acceptable to NASCAR as a network that would show an entire race.

    ESPN was in a bind, and SPEED was a solution that helped to solve the problem for all parties. Along the way, it gave SPEED some great publicity.

    The ESPN2 commercials airing on SPEED should be interesting to follow-up on as SPEED will be providing information to ESPN that helps the network get paid.

    In today's digital environment, the technical problems were easily solved by the professionals at ESPN and Fox. That was so smooth, no one ever noticed a thing.

    What helped the best was a good race telecast, regardless of the struggles on the track to pass and run two-wide. A good show always helps.

    JD

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