It is all around us and has been a part of our society for a long time. Bigger is better. Larger burgers, bigger pizzas and the super big-gulp. The biggest pick-up truck with the most towing power pulling a nice big boat.
Over in sports TV land, bigger has been a theme for a long time as well. The Super Bowl TV coverage runs all day long. SportsCenter is repeated on ESPN every morning and afternoon for hours. The 24 hour world of cable TV sports is available on several channels.
Three years ago, the TV coverage of the All-Star race was expanded by SPEED. This year, the pre-race show came on-air at 4PM. The wrap-up show was scheduled to end at midnight. That's a lot of TV around a non-points race with a limited field.
RaceDay tried to fill three hours, but it was a bit rough at times. John Roberts, Jimmy Spencer and Kenny Wallace did their act on the SPEED Stage, but that trio ran out of content after about an hour and then looked and sounded like three guys completely out of gas. Humidity and hype took a toll on this group.
Wendy Venturini and Hermie Sadler once again teamed-up to provide the real content of this program. From Venturini's "Real Deal" with a flip-flop clad eventual winner Tony Stewart to Sadler giving the Coke-sipping drivers a hard time, this duo has been very important to SPEED all season long.
Rutledge Wood is still figuring out who to be and how to present himself on national TV. A solid job of interviewing the notoriously difficult Kevin Costner mixed with an aimless wander through the infield concert crowd to reinforce this issue. SPEED has bounced this on-air personality around more than almost any other. Someone this popular with the drivers and teams should be presented as more than a just a clown.
The burnout contest was a mess. Judges who had no clue, rules that made no sense and drivers who tried to be as polite as possible in their remarks about this thirty minute TV filler. Even with a charity attached, it did not make for compelling TV.
Once again, no NACAR fans appeared on SPEED. The very people keeping the sport in business appear to be nothing more than background scenery to the network. Try as they might to say fans have a meaning, there is virtually no fan input on these SPEED TV shows.
RaceDay brought along a lot of fluff and every single piece was needed to make the three-hour show work. By the end, it was almost a relief to get to yet another thirty minutes of pre-race programming. This time, the big guns came out.
It was Krista Voda and a smiling Jeff Hammond who joined viewers inside the Hollywood Hotel to set-up the evening. Voda really has a knack for hosting these types of programs and it showed. Hammond was without Darrell Waltrip and he certainly took the opportunity to shine. No goofy jokes and no personal references, just good racing commentary from someone who has been there.
The NASCAR on Fox crew handled the race. Mike Joy has been down this road before and once again kept things in order. The pit reporters were muted because of the format, but the interviews and updates were on target. What was not on target was Waltrip's perspective on Kyle Busch.
Larry McReynolds offers great technical updates and treats every team equally. As the feature race progressed, Waltrip's singular enthusiasm for Busch was simply out of place. It came at the expense of the other teams and drivers in the race.
It certainly is his right to offer his view of things as he sees it, but that viewpoint now seems to involve a fascination with the young driver. TDP spoke about this last year as the Fox portion of the season wound-down. Waltrip's screaming during the All-Star race just reinforced this view.
As usual, SPEED made great pictures and sound. HD video works well under the LMS lights and the network offered four additional cameras to fans at the NASCAR.com website. All-Star Buddy worked well and was a reminder of just how much fun the full RaceBuddy service will be during the TNT portion of the season.
It certainly was lucky that NASCAR brought back the final ten lap sprint or this season's All-Star night would have been remembered as rather bland. Nothing beats a feel-good story in NASCAR and Stewart delivered down the stretch.
Perhaps, the last couple of laps of exciting racing will be what many fans remember, but for those who watched eight hours of NASCAR TV on Saturday, there was a whole lot of fluff mixed-in with a smattering of actual racing.
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92 comments:
Ok, where do I start. As usual I did not watch much prereace. I started at the burnout deal. That was not all it was hyped up to be, although I did enjoy the 29 burnout.
Voda and Hammond were the biggest difference I noticed in tv race coverage this evening. I thought it was great to see real conversation about racing without the lame and fake of chris m.
And what a difference in the race with Mike J and comparing that to espn with Jerry P. espn should watch and suffer as we all have.
I missed some of RD to go grocery shopping. I usually don't miss any of it. It didn't need to be 3 hrs long.
Since DW didn't have his other buddy Digger to blather about, we got the extensive SDDD coverage from him. I really like DW but, not when he goes on and on about SDDD.
The All Star Buddy was a bust for me. I never could get real pictures of any driver. Just psychedelic swirls. Thought I was having a flashback. No sound either. RB was so much better.
KV and Hammond make a great pair. Where was Myers? And, how come JP never gets time off?
I noticed the gopher appeared once on the screen briefly during the race. I was surprised it was only one time. I watched a lot of the pre race and it was pretty forgettable. Way too much fluff. My four year old son liked the burnout segment though.
Was it me or was the driver and crew member introductions just completely subdued? It was almost useless. But then again almost all the pre race stuff is useless nowadays.
The Fox booth guys to me just seem out of gas and just calling it in. Mike Joy is one of the best but makes more and more mistakes and seems to mindlessly read some of those lines for companies like a brainless drone.
DW has used up his usefullness in the booth in my opinion. He's horrible.
Larry Mac's act is also so tired and used up. Please Fox refresh, rehash, or develop new booth talent for next year. There are a lot of equally qualified people to announce Nascar Cup races that could do a much better job than your current crew. OK, I'll say keep Mike anyway.
The TV coverage of the All-Star race could was something akin to saturation bombing. It's been a standing joke in our house for weeks, and it as as sickeningly overhyped as well as executed.
SpeedTV needs to rethink this thing, good grief.
Great last sprint, tho, and DW was outstanding as usual.
DW felt bad for Kyle's getting booed so badly when he won a race. He's overcompensating. We get the drill.
The interesting thing is that DW can often attenuate some of the other extremes in the broadcasts, but he's caught in a loop on this one.
I was off and on tv all day with the rain delays at indy and then the SPEED RD and shows. Like Dot, I had to make a quick run to the store and decided to take my time. We still had a long evening ahead of ourselves so I was not going to get sucked in to ALL the pre race madness/hype.
I don't know how to handle next week. I watch the 500 and by the time the 600 starts, its just too many miles of racing. How long will Race day be next week? 4 hours??:-)
SPEED must stop the hype though the station does it with everything.
@Dot
I think the dayglo pics you saw on RB was a commercial before the actual driver videos began. :)the swirly black light dayglo thing (commercial escapes me but have seen it on tv or during the races)
BUT who the heck wants to watch an IN CAR CAM the whole time. Hello, isn't this what we complain about during races..too MANY in car cams/bumpercams,boring driver cams (remember the 3 minutes of the in car cam showing us last week Mark Martin knows HOW to steer a car? )
Last year TNT's Buddy cam gave us great wide shots and some pit stops and even mood shots of the track (remember the SPECTACULAR SUNSETS one evening??)
With such a big weekend next week of racing, I feel I am on NASCAR over load already.
Thank goodness Tony won. A breath of fresh air this season sorely needed.
Along with NASCAR fatigue is Shrub fatigue and the bromance all the media has with him. ENOUGH.
sigh
P.S. Last I read Kyle would not come out to talk to anybody after the race, once again. Is he still sucking his thumb somewhere? Meow OUCH !! hiss. I really want to like and appreciate his driving style but I can not.
I enjoyed the race and the broadcast. The excitement in the booth was amazing, especially in the last ten laps. I know some of you dont care for the whoot and hollar of Larry Mac and ole DW but it makes it exciting for me. Nothing gets me more fired up then when something exciting happens, and the booth crew acts bored (ESPN YOU LISTENING!)
All the race, practice, qualifying coverage SPEED did all weekend was great. I really think they dragged the pre-race out today for no reason. Three hours of raceday on top of another 30 minute pre-race show was not needed. I understand SPEED pulls out all the stops for this event since its the only regular season NASCAR event they broadcast, but there was too much fluff and unneeded coverage this weekend.
I would love to see SPEED Channel become a basic cable channel so then perhaps we could see FOX/SPEED team up someday and split the races.
I think Kyle is alot like Tony was 10 yrs. ago. A whole lot of talent and a whole lot of attitude and temper to go along with it.
It took Tony years to start to mature and even as late as last year, there were still flare ups for him.
I think this is how Kyle is going to be. The phrase Kyle being Kyle needs to become more common because that is what it is. It is Kyle being Kyle.
"Notoriously difficult" Kevin Costner? Obviously you haven't read any of the interviews Kevin's given or you wouldn't write such a description.
Just like a lot of the racers were experimenting with new set-ups at Lowe's before the 600, it seemed like FOX was doing the same. Can someone tell me what was happening in the control room during the first three segments of the race? Aside from the restarts, the images on the screen were completely random! They would show two cars vying for position for a half-lap, then cut to another random car with no one around it. Joy would start to talk up the images and they would randomly cut to someone else on track. It made no sense and the first segment especially was nearly impossible to follow at all.
Second - this one really really really really bothered me. Okay: so after a month or more of hearing about the $1,000,000 prize to the winner, and how it's 1-million-or-lose and the drivers really go for broke because if they aren't first it is worthless, and oh boy you better bet no one wants to come in second and not get that $1 million dollars, yadda yadda yadda all month long...
...and then during the race DW says "Hey, he'll get $225,000 for second place, not bad!" WELL EXCUSE ME, but with that information isn't everything that is supposed to make this race so special just now a complete LIE? I mean the whole "million-or-nothing" angle is now pure fiction, a pure marketing gimmick based in falsehood. They either need to really make this a race where the winner gets $1 million and everyone else loses or else they need to change the marketing angle, since SPEED seems to make that purse a central element of the promotion of this race.
>Once again, no NACAR fans appeared
>on SPEED. The very people keeping
>the sport in business appear to be
>nothing more than background scenery
>to the network.
With all due respect, I just don't understand this at all. At all. I don't recall seeing baseball fans onscreen during the MLB all-star game, despite those fans "keeping the sport in business" during some lean times. And, also with all due respect, I really don't want to see the fans on my TV. I want to see the drivers and the participants of my sport, not others who love it as I do.
And the idea that the fans are "keeping the sport in business" is ludicrous - especially give that you have already made the point a million times about NASCAR's super-fat TV contract, and meanwhile the stands at Lowe's looked less than half-full to me from the blimp cam.
Hey, I love NASCAR and one of the things I love about it is that it is a community environment. But when you want the television coverage to show the fans during all-star events, I just don't get where you are going with that.
I have one more comment about the broadcast: It is mid-way through the pre-Chase season and SPEED STILL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT SIZE SHIRT DW WEARS!?
Look at DW during any of the booth segments? He's wearing a blue SPEED shirt, and he's been forced to roll the cuffs of the arms (which are obviously way too long for human arms) back under his sleeves several times. To further accentuate that his shirt doesn't come close to fitting him, the left bread pocket on his shirt sits on his lower ribs, and his SPEED logo is about 5-6 inches lower than his on-air colleagues.
Meanwhile, poor Mike Joy has been stuffed into a shirt that is skin tight and none-to-flattering on his figure and he's forced on air in this abomination with no sportcoat!
Listen up, SPEED: Men's clothes are awesome: if you get the right size, anyone can look great. You can put a big huge fat guy in a suit jacket and he looks like normal. My god, can you imagine what John Madden would look like if you put him in a skin-tight dress shirt, then told him to tuck it into some chinos with a belt and go on-air with no jacket? He's look obese! Instead, when have you ever seen John Madden not looking professional on air?
I felt so sorry for Joy in his outfit that looks like it was shrunk in the dryer and DW in his shirt that looks like it was stolen from LeBron James' closet.
RIDICULOUS!
of course i was referring to DW's "left breast pocket" not his "left bread pocket". Stupid no-edit comments.
Over-hyped race, grindingly long pre-race coverage, saved by a thrilling final segment.
I love Mike Joy but the last month has really shown wear and tear IMO. He has made tons of verbal typos and fortunately Larry Mac has been there to catch them. Still VERY impressed with DW though. He has stepped it up in the past few months as well really looking out the window and catching alot of things that the cameras have missed and he's really starting to give the DW type info that made him a fan favorite. Toning down the "marketing" DW and getting more of the guy we had tonight calling the race is a major plus by this group.
Hopefully the down time after Dover will allow Joy to look back on some of his performances and SPEED will reconsider using Mike all weekend for events outside the race.
Loved the Voda/Hammond combo. Balance rocked.
NASCAR: Please reduce the overall laps of this race for next year, 60-80 laps is a perfect distance. Keep the final 10 and also add that twist to the Showdown.
Called Tony winning, that was awesome to see! Bummed he had to sit in the car and wait around for NASCAR to set up their "stage" and such. Too many "production" elements taking some of the excitement out of these post-race celebs. Glad to see Tony didn't lose any of that excitement once he finally got to enjoy it with the rest of the team though!
Give tonight a 7 because the showdown coverage was a total mess, and on that 50 lap opener we could have used at least one trip through the field. From there they seemed to be on it the rest of the night. Wee bit less leader stuff and more following the action for next week please!
All-star buddy...oh dear it was nice to have during commercials but nothing like race-buddy. disappointed we didnt have a choice of a track camera to follow or "battle cam"
I thought the Race was a bore until the last 10 laps. W-A-Y too much pre race hype for this race. Likewise,RD was too long. I was also distracted by what looked like hair transplants on Kenny Wallace. Like others here, I've overdosed on Nascar's Trivial Pursuit Expert ( Mike Joy). It was fun to watch how 'creative' Kyle could be in getting around cars separating him from the lead. He isn't a gracious loser, the comparisons to a young Stewart are appropriate, but he doesn't berate/slug people like Stewart has or grabbed people by the throat in Victory Lane like Edwards did when Junior turned him on the final lap of a Nationwide race a few years ago. Last night's format was good. Contrast that with the pathetic 600 mile snoozer coming up this weekend.
I watched most of the pre-race coverage, which I thought was pretty good. However, they did have to come up with too much filler for a three hour show. Especially since there were less drivers available for most of the program.
My biggest gripe is DW's total love fest with the shrub. I really want to like Kyle Bush, but DW blows it for me every time. I mean first he stays out on old tires, then gets passed by the 24. DW shouts "Oh no, somethings wrong with the 18!" Ya, pretty obviously, he needs new tires! It's as if DW can't conceive of anything going wrong for the 18 unless the engine has failed.
Then there is the wreck Kyle pretty much causes in the last segment when he forces a three wide and not even he can keep the car under him. I thought poor DW was going to die of heartbreak.
Kyle is a great driver who needs time to mature. But having an announcer following him around with a "I want to have Kyle's first child" tee-shirt really grates.
I can definitely live without DW trying to give a race to Kyle Bush with every word that comes out of his mouth. I don't like the punk and the last time I checked, there were 40 or so other competitors on the track with him and the last ten laps were of course the best laps of the race and i am happy to see that they brought this back.
I spared myself most of the pre race hype by watching the Preakness Stakes...more racing with less horsepower. I can't comment on the two 20 lap segments, as I drifted off to sleep somewhere after the first one began, and 'rejoined' the race with 8 laps to go. Speed, Fox, and Nascar shoot themselves in the foot with the non stop buildup...no race could possibly live up to that much hype. DW really needs to gain some distance from Kyle Busch as his head cheerleader. Mike Joy and the booth managed to spot action that eventually made it on camera. All in all, the coverage was as much overkill as the pre race hype was.
Rewind the tape.
Larry Mac could only pronounce one drivers name--Jamie Mac, during the whole first race to get in.
I can see DW's enthusiasm for Kyle, he passes high, low, in the middle, creating excitement, unlike the less than bland one win wonders like Mac & Truex.
Isn't Larry Mac the one who records the weather channel at home while he's on the road, so he can see it when he returns! Something's not right there.
Goodness, the pre-race show was way too long we didn't watch too much of it. Jimmy & Kenny really really annoy me. I couldn't watch the last 5 laps of the race as I was so nervous worrying about a crash about to happen. DW spouts off way too much for KB like others had said. I really enjoyed RB guess I wasn't expecting a lot, but I felt like I was truly driving the car like an IMAX movie on a roller coaster and that feeling. The all the weeks and weeks hype couldn't make it a hit but I wasn't expecting much and got it!
DW definitely shills for Kyle, but the guy definitely gets it done. To those who complained about it on this thread, I ask if they would complain if DW gloated endlessly about Junior???
I think that Krista Voda needs to take over Moe Ron Myers position permanently. She was much better at the position, truly funny and not forced like Myers, and more professional.
The varmint was shown at least twice. Twice too many times. This was supposed to be a Speed "product", not Fox. So they should've used the Speed commentators instead of Fox's "B Team".
As soon as Shrub took himself out of competition, DW quit cheerleading for him like he had most of the race and jumped on the Kenseth-Stewart bandwagon. Dale Jr. was lucky to be mentioned. I guess the "love affair" between DW and his "June Bug" is over.
Outside of the actual race, the rest of the coverage was pretty much like the rest of the Fox coverage. Boring. If Fox doesn't start listening to the fans soon, they'll find themselves in an even deeper ratings hole than they are now and have more problems trying to sell commercials.
The All-Star Race was on Speed last night? Man, I guess I missed all the advertising, countdown clocks, 3 hour Race Day, repeated All Star specials, look backs, etc that Speed put on. (note sarcasm) I know it's their only race, but man, they sure did overhype the heck out of it. As for the race, I thought it was dull until about the last 10 laps or so...Voda and Hammond were way better than the usual Fox pre race crew.
Did anyone notice the restart at the end of the race where the camera was looking down on only the painted grass next to the S/F line? Not a race car in sight. The restarts are typically the most exciting segments of the race and the Booth is fascinated by painted grass!?
Skipped the pre race due to KW/JS.
DW started the qualifier by annointing Blaney (Parsons/MWR car?)
I agree that the director was more
concerned with aesthetics than racing, i. e. in-car, ground- level, roof cam. Guess he is trying for another Hollywood award
rather than a good product.
I flipped over to RaceDay a bit while watching Qualys at Indy. Granted, it's a lot better than the bad old days with Chad Little and Barry Dodson, but there's frustratingly little actual content. Wendy Venturini and Hermie Sadler do a great job, but other than that it's pretty painful to watch.
The Race broadcast itself still suffers from several maladies:
Why DW can't bring the insights and analysis he has in his radio interviews and columns to the race is beyond me. He has interesting things to say, he just doesn't when he's on TV.
Larry Mac's analysis has been shoved into a tiny box, and he seems surprised when called upon to speak. Compare his work on TNT to Fox and it just makes you wonder why he is used so awkwardly.
I don't envy Mike Joy. He is the premier TV race caller, yet he spends an inordinate amount of time reading promos. This has killed all the rhythm and chemistry in the booth and made a mess of the broadcast.
I'd like to see some changes for next year, but I doubt we'll see any.
If it had'nt have been for Krista & Hammond, that coverage would have been quite subpar. Those announcers screaming at the top of their lungs is soooo unacceptable. I'm all for some enthusiasm, but they were way overboard last nite, suggesting that the rest of the races are way too long and boring. The 600 will be a real snoozer for the 1st 500 miles, and those with a good chassis will finally do some serious racing. F-1 racing has a 2 hr. limit, and that seems to be an acceptable format. I'm sure most of you know why Waltrip is so in love w/ Kyle, because he was just like him (getting booed and a huge mouth) during his driving career. Even tho I'm not a big KB fan, he is much more real than DW ever was. Let's lose DW and Rutledge ASAP.
Anon 1:56AM,
You are missing the correct meaning. Costner is not a public guy and is tough to get to talk on camera. He rarely does talk shows and is never going to be a reality TV star.
Rutledge did a good job to get the answers from him in an informal and uncontrolled setting like the LMS infield.
When Costner was named to be associated with NASCAR, many of us scratched our heads. He knew nothing of the sport and still only appears in scripted commercials. I saw his band at Daytona and he never mixed with the fans after the performance.
After this season, it should be interesting to see if he continues to be involved.
JD
Anon 3:27AM,
I am not quite sure how much TV you watch, but try turning the channel from SPEED.
The cable news networks are immersed in viewer interaction. Current TV is an entire network created by fans.
From Bonnie Hunt to the Today show, the fans are actively involved in everything from suggesting topics to telling us how far they came to see the show or which family member is having a birthday.
Kenny Wallace tried to get something like that going in RaceDay, but the producer put the whammy on it.
The best stories in the sport and the most interesting comments do not come from the same TV talking heads or familiar 43 drivers. They come from the fans.
Opening SPEED's NASCAR shows to be fully fan-friendly would change the on-air dynamic and create a feeling that the sport is reconnecting with those of us who spend our time and money to watch it.
JD
Skipped the whole prerace. Cannot believe Logano was the fan's choice,I guess there weren't enough Toyotas in the race. Thought the first 50 laps were boring. I watched raceview/listened to Jr and guess they realized they did not have the car to win, so they used it for a test session. I think I heard Jr say we need to remember this for next week at least 3 times. I wonder how many others used it as a test session. I sure think the broadcasters were. A lot of the camera work seemed to be the work of amateurs. The booth trio were what they are; the three stooges without the slapstick. I won't miss digger at all. Missed the burnout completely. Oh well, on to the 600 next week and I am afraid more of the same horrible coverage. I read a blog/article this week about paying to watch the races without commercials and think that may be a better solution to the whole broadcasting mess we are stuck with now. At least we could hit the mute button and just watch the race. Of course we probably would still only see the few in front.
Could have been WORSE , MILEY WALNUT could have been voted into the RACE , then DW would of had more comments other than KYLE and the #18.
Talk about bottom of the barrel scrapping " RICK FLAIR " to announce the VOTED IN DRIVER WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO ,
Time to change the ANNOUNCERS , remember the old days , no EX DRIVERS , CREWCHIEFS commentators , cameras showing the ENTIRE track not just JIMMY JOHNSON and the #48 or CHAD on his pit box.
I didn't watch the pre-race, knew it would be boring. The last 10 laps were the best. DW's slobbering over Kyle is getting ridiculous! And could someone tell Jimmy Spencer to shut up!! I think I need a Dale Jr. win to get me interested in watching all the racing again.
The pre-race stuff was too long. They need to get rid of the 50 lap segment. All of the action came in the last 10 laps so I'd like to see 5, 10 lap segments. But that's just me.
As for the race coverage, I must be the only one that liked it. I have no problem with DW's man crush on Kyle. Everyone keeps complaining about how boring the races are and Kyle's the only one that tries to bring any excitement to them. Checkers or wreckers, right now Kyle is the show.
Just think of how boring the race would have been if he wasn't in it. You thought the first 50 laps was a snoozefest? How about the entire show without Kyle? So I can understand why DW would talk so much about him because he's the only one worth talking about.
"Once again, no NACAR fans appeared on SPEED. The very people keeping the sport in business appear to be nothing more than background scenery to the network. Try as they might to say fans have a meaning, there is virtually no fan input on these SPEED TV shows."
-------
SPEED wouldn't dare put a REAL FAN on TV, they might happen to speak their mind about NASCAR and we ALL know it wouldn't be the NASCAR Company Line!!!
ALL this PRE-RACE is BS!!!
We hear and see the same thing week after week!
We need 30 minutes before the races, except Daytona 500 and 15 minutes after the races!!!
You are comparing NASCAR to Current TV? Al Gore's bore-fest of a web channel? You must be joking!!!
Or Bonnie Hunt's daytime talker for housebound housewives? Or the Today shows?
These are your points of reference for how NASCAR should improve the interactivity of the All-Star race?!
You must of been DEAF , it was JIMMY JOHNSON , JIMMY JOHNSON , JIMMY JOHNSO, The #48 , the #48 , the #48 , CHAD , CHAD , CHAD until he lost the LEAD , then JEFF GORDON until he wrecked the KYLE.
Seems if your not LEADING your not in the RACE or at least not MENTIONED.
DW got his DIGGER dig in when he mentioned the DIGGER CAM.
At least COUSIN CARL was not mentioned 321 times like a normal race , nice to see TONY win.
DW needs to be removed from the broadcast booth. He thinks he is a stick-and-ball commentator with the local broadcast team, thinking it is acceptable to be an outright homer for Kyle Busch. His lack of objectivity, and continued focus on Kyle has made Fox broadcasts unwatchable. If DW returns, I will not watch another NASCAR on Fox race again.
>My biggest gripe is DW's total love
>fest with the shrub. I really want
>to like Kyle Bush, but DW blows it
>for me every time.
I simply don't understand this at all. DW is excited for winners who make things happen. Think about last night's race. Think of all the crazy moves Busch pulled. Now imagine last night's race without Busch. Sorry, but it would have been 10x more boring.
And if Busch were to drop back to mid-field and Dale JR, or Jeff Gordon, or anyone else, were to go on a hot streak of agressive driving and good results, DW would be yipping and yollering about them, too.
For all the talk that the All-Star race is unpredictable and the drivers really go nuts for the win and drive much different than when points are on the line -- it seems only Kyle Busch got the memo.
Maybe I am missing something, but can someone tell me which other driver on the track (aside from Busch) was driving like no points were on the line.
Frankly, most of the drivers seemed to be driving like it was an exhibition, not like they were going nuts to get to the finish line.
The Anon above is right - take Busch out of the race is it becomes wholly unmemorable. I don't think you can fault DW for calling what he sees. And he saw what I saw: one driver on the track making things happens and forcing you to watch what he does next: The 18!
I fortunate enough to miss the race broadcast and actually attend the race in person. My date was is big Jamie McMurray fan, and her excitement at seeing him come from 32nd to 2nd in the shootout race was priceless. I'd like to thank Kurt Busch & Jeff Gordon for actually racing each other in the first segment of the All-Star race; other than that it was a real snoozer. The last segment was great, though. One comment from someone who was there... LMS needs to teach it's track workers how to put down and clean up speedy-dry and do it in a reasonable amount of time. My old blind grandma could have done a better job in less time.
Thanks to mother nature for defying a 70% chance of rain and giving us nice weather for a Saturday night shotout.
Anon 12:24PM,
Did you watch the race? Sprint went to great lengths to include NASCAR fans and Sprint users only to have SPEED not even allow the drivers to introduce them.
The only fans that crept onto the TV telecast were introduced as a part of the infield festivities.
In case you missed it, four fans even gave the command to start engines.
As TV begins to fail and Internet technology like this blog becomes the norm, almost all TV networks have become suddenly aware that there are mere mortals out there who have a clue and an opinion.
Al Gore created Current TV to give plain old folks a media platform. Talk shows (like TBHS) have become interactive and even old stalwarts like Today have bent over backwards to make sure their viewers are included.
Rick Sanchez on CNN keeps a huge Twitter monitor right in front of him all show long for viewer comments from around the world.
What was SPEED's level of fan interaction? Kenny Wallace one time in three hours yelling "who is from out of town?"
Spin the dial once and check out how ESPN is trying to use viewers and fans in almost every show.
That help a bit?
JD
First of all, CurrentTV has been a major failure since the day it was launched. It's only saving grace is that it has an insane amount of VC money behind it because of Gore. It is a money loser and has never caught on.
TBHS is just another syndicated daytime talker that will be replaced in two years like all the ones before it. It is searching for an angle about interactivity (like Jimmy Fallon is), and that is fine, but let's not pretend that it is a) revolutionary or b) a model for NASCAR.
But let's get back to the NASCAR All-Star race. They let some fans call the start engines. Fine. That's just about enough for me. I don't want to tune in to see fans, I want to tune in to see drivers and cars.
I understand your larger point about the move towards increased interactivity becoming the norm, and that this is driving broadcasting decisions. Fine. I am all for that. But where I draw the line is when the fans suddenely become the show.
In my mind, asking drivers questions "from fans" or having a reporter with a microphone in one hand and a hot dog in another interview some dude in the bleachers is a gimmick. It's not "real" interactivity any more than you are really interacting with Hammond when you read his Tweets. But if they want to do that, great... but I don't care about the fans. I am not a fan of the fans. I don't tune in to see fans. I tune in to see racing.
What would you have had SPEED do? Have some dude in his 24 hat get on the stadium mike and yell out "The driver of the number 24 Jeff Gordon!" IT would be a disaster. You want to see profiles of fans? Segments devoted to fans? Forget it -- I want to see drivers.
Back to Digger I know he showed up at least twice and the All-Star Race definitely had more Ask.com questions than last week and it was over 200 laps less
People here sometimes just don't get it but it's usually a gripe fest. Bitter old fans. If you don't like the prerace stuff......DON'T WATCH IT!
Fox will never change their on-air talent because of what fans think. Hill even said pretty much the same "tough". Deal with it.
Anon 1:19PM,
Your examples have nothing to do with the point I was trying to make and you know it. Why did you include them?
Let me get this straight. In three hours of NASCAR TV the fans should be ignored because they are all rednecks who are going to yell their driver number?
You may remember when SPEED first dipped their toes in the NASCAR water. They originated TV shows from the infield but had no idea what to do with the fans.
Have you ever been to a race? There are amazing stories all over the infield and the stands. It only takes someone reaching out to get them told.
Humpy Wheeler tells the story of two fans who drove from Alaska in a pick-up truck to see the Coke 600. Some families have had the same tickets and the same campground for years.
Your refusal to accept that intereacting with the fans would be an addition to the coverage rather than a distraction is interesting.
As I mentioned before, this has nothing to do with the racing. ESPN has a link up for fans to send email and videos to NASCAR Now. They run polls and even measure the blogger stories on SportsCenter.
SPEED has tried very hard to work the SPEEDtv.com website to get fans interested, but that has simply not been able to make it over to the TV screen.
If not for Dave Despain and his one hour on Sunday nights, no fan presence would be seen or heard on the network.
IMHO, I think it's a big mistake.
JD
After watching the entire event a second time, (the open and the allstar events). I noticed a blopper, after the open race, Sam Hornish and Jamie McMurray go to fuel pumps to top of for the allstar race, and Darrell Waltrip explaining this process. ( the two drivers that raced there way into the allstar event tops off with fuel) imediatly a wide angle shot shows Joey Lagano there? (three cars in a line for fuel) this tells me that Joey knew he was in the allstar event probally before the open race? NASCAR cover up Naa..... what a sham
I brought up those example? You did! I didn't mention the Bonnie Hunt show as a model for NASCAR, you did!
Second, I don't care about the stories in the stands. Yes, there are lots of interesting stories. But the All-Star race is what I want to see. I am a fan of NASCAR, not of NASCAR fans. (not that I don't like NASCAR fans, but I don't tune in to see them).
I'm sure there are great stories in every row of the stadium. But if that's what you want - profiles of people, then maybe you should stick with the Bonnie Hunt show, because they have that covered with their regular-people guests. But again, I tune in to the NASCAR all-star race to see drivers and cars. I think the there are fascinating stories to be told about the drivers, and I would rather see those than stories about the dude sitting in Row 21.
I'm still not a fan of the Rutledge gimmick. I'm sure he's a nice guy that's just doing what he's told and could be a very effective part of their coverage if he was used properly. I just personally have no interest in his current role of "let's go completely off-topic now and go to that guy goofing around in the infield for no apparent reason". I just change the channel when he appears.
Same thing with the fan participation on Speed. To me it works perfectly on a show like Wind Tunnel, NASCAR Now, or Sportscenter... not so much when they are at the track trying to cover a race. Speed went the fan interaction route when they dumped Tradin' Paint for the fan trivia show. In my opinion that was a terrible mistake and I no longer watch. ESPN tried "interactive practice coverage" at Nashville earlier this year and the results were a complete ignore-the-track train wreck.
In my personal opinion being interactive doesn't mix with covering a live sporting event on TV. When the cars are on the track I want to see the cars and hear about the cars. I don't want the cars ignored at the expense of poll question results or viewer e-mails. When I'm watching pre-race shows I want to hear from drivers, owners, crew chiefs, and the on-air talent.... not from random fans at the track or video questions submitted from webcams. When I turn on the TV for Kyle Petty's weekly 30 minutes of TV time I want to hear some analysis and commentary of substance, not to see him playing a trivia game with a fan.
I enjoy interacting with other fans and reading blogs and message boards as much as the next guy. When I turn on the TV for those precious few hours a week to watch a sporting event though I don't want fan interaction to divert the attention from the event. If I choose to interact with fans on blogs, chat rooms, or Twitter during an event then I have plenty of avenues to choose from. If I just want to sit back and relax and focus solely on watching that event on TV though I personally don't want the ingore-the-event fan interactivity forced on me.
As for the race coverage, I'm glad the cartoon element was kept to a minimum but still wish it would be done away with altogether. I'm disappointed that the out-of-date scoring crawl technology was brought back. I sure was confused, for example, to see Brad Keselowski scored as a lap down for almost the entire first segment and then suddenly find out he was never actually lapped. Fox's methodology to yellow flag pit stop and finish line camera work continues to be a head-scratcher to me. I'm glad they've fixed the issue of covering up the overall perspective of pit road... but why not go the extra step and use the triple-pit split instead of a single-pit split on the left half of the screen? I'm also glad they've fixed the problem of completely ignoring everyone but the winner at the finish line... but why not use a wide shot instead of the limited-view flagstand 'speed shot'?
I'm glad Fox has finally recognized these two major flaws in their coverage, but why they only choose to put a small band-aid on them in the name of "still being different than everyone else" instead of completely fixing them is beyond me.
I must say I disagree with your statement that the All-Star Buddy worked well. It seemed to me that it was something they threw it all together at the last minute. Compared to the RaceBuddy last year, it wasn't even close. I pray that they don't turn RaceBuddy into this. As Sophia said, I don't want to see in-car cams. its alright once in a while, but not the whole race. I would rather see four camera views that don't center on a certain driver.
I hope they keep Rick Flair out of the sport. He just doesn't fit.
Also, I hope Speed doesn't start promoting Digger as well. I can't wait until Fox takes the hint on Digger. Its just a camera angle. ESPN had it first, then FOX brought it back and made a big deal out of it.
Kyle,
It was just 4 cameras with natural sound streamed online. Tough to mess up.
Stricklinfan,
The choice is whether to fill three hours of pre-race with talking heads and fluff pieces produced days earlier or take some time to offer select fans stories.
It was not suggested that it interfered with the racing, which is why that Anon makes no sense.
SPEED has tried to use their announcers in every way to fill the pre-race time with limited success. Poor Spencer and Wallace looked like they both needed a nap.
The length of these pre-race shows is never going to go away. Showing some fan signs into and out of commercial, getting an opinion or two and continuing to expand the most colorful fan theme will yield positive results IMHO.
JD
I think part of DW's deal is he tries so darn hard to 'predict' everything. Then, when/if it happens, he looks like a genius. Such as 'Kyle Busch is checking out'. That's all well and good, but a few laps later he'll be saying 'Matt Kenseth is checking out'. Enough already. let the racing tell the story and unfold, without DW's fortune telling.
IT WOULD BE REALLY REFRESHING if this next week, Fox showed some actual journalism in the Mayfield situation (something really, really stinks in this situation...NASCAR is looking like they may have some explaining to do). But alas, I'm only assuming Fox will continue to be NASCAR's lap-dog when it comes to real news.
JD,
I certainly respect your own personal taste in NASCAR TV but I personally respectfully disagree and lean more towards the anonymous poster's thoughts that Speed Channel should not increase the level of fan participation on TV at the track.
I don't disagree that the fans have great stories to tell. However, there are 43 or more Cup drivers, about half as many Cup car owners, and hundreds upon hundreds of crew members and other team personnel in the Cup Series who also have stories to tell. On top of that there are thousands of people that work in the Nationwide, Truck, and other NASCAR regional and national touring series who I'm sure have great stories that remain untold as well.
I'm just saying that I personally as a TV viewer, given a choice, would much rather see and hear more stories about the people in the sport during pre-race shows like Raceday than I would see and hear about my peers who are on the outside looking in. (and for the record while the cars are on the track I don't want to see any off-track stories about anyone, I just want the focus to be on what is going on on the track right then and there)
As a fan myself I concede that it would be the thrill of a lifetime to get to be on national TV. You previously mentioned the ESPN Fantasy NASCAR Segment 1 winner that got to be on NASCAR Now last week. I nearly won that thing myself, and while it would be a great honor and I certainly wouldn't turn it down, if I had won and ESPN decided to have me on their Nationwide pre-race show this week I'm not sure the viewing audience would really have much interest in watching it. I know I personally wouldn't want to hear from an Fantasy NASCAR Champion during an ESPN, Fox, TNT, or Speed pre-race show anyhow.
All I have to offer is my personal preference, and that is that I would not prefer an increase in fan participation on the race broadcasts and their respective pre-race shows.
I have to disagree with the interaction crowd here. I don't watch the FAN channel, and I wouldn't if one were created. Probably why I never have heard of Current TV if that really exists.
I'm a race fan, I want stories about racing, drivers, crew members, owners, race tracks, etc. etc.
I agree that taking out Trading Paint and replacing it with the new "Smarts" program was a big mistake. We don't learn anything about the fans, and we get the same two "personalities" every week. That was a mistake, and hopefully Speed brings back Trading Paint soon.
Sticklin speaks for me as well.
Fan participation is good, but in the context your proposing JD, Im just not a fan of it.
Trackside minus the commercial aspect of it has that balance between letting fans interact and getting stories right from the horse's mouth IMO.
I have to respectfully disagree on more fans on my tv. I am not a fan of waving signs, screaming fans, drunken fans hollering so loudly I often turn OFF Trackside (guess Speed isn't allowed to tell them to be quiet or they will stop taping?)
Like STLanFan I echo his comments ala
We don't hear about ALL 43 drivers and teams or the mid or Truck series. We NEED to hear more about them.
If you wanna make more email participation or something on RACEDAY have at it. That show is also too long and too many waving signs.
If you want human interest fans at the races interviewed, I am ALL FOR THAT but make is interesting. and if SPEED wants to SEE the fans, how about turning the chairs around so the fans are not staring at backs and fannies in the seats???? (sorry could not resist the pun !)
ALso the trivia show is good idea but POORLY excecuted but I did enjoy half celeb version with Schrader on it and part of the one with the kid from the Make A Wish foundation..he was having fun and Rutledge was good with him.
If in all the puff and junk on RDAY they want to get organized and offer fan in put that is not distracting to the tv screen, more power to them.
But unless all the teams in ALL the series get more tv face time, fans won't have to worry about their voice being heard as those series may no longer exist. :(
with all the prerace shows on SPEED, there 'could' be a way to interview some fans for a segment. Just make it organized and well edited as opposed to some guy yelling "Hi Mom" or waving at himself yapping on a cell phone on tv.
:-)
Shame Kenny Wallace's idea got shot down if he had a good one for fan participation. RD is just too long to sit through in it's current state, imho.
p.s. just remembered VL was 30 minutes last night. Should be that short each week OR maybe use that time to add fan input, questions, interviews of how far they travel, fave drivers, etc.
Sophia, Inside the Headsets from last night as on at 8:30 after Victory Lane. Cameras we didn't see and radios we didn't hear, so they say.
Karen
Saw that inside the Headsets and wondered what it meant? :)
NASCAR fans on a NASCAR fan blog calling other fans names and stereotyping them even as they want to make their views known by typing them.
That gets my attention.
the post was on target about the burnout...
if it was such an important event it would not have been on cable..speed where not everyone can get it.
without chris myers hammond sounded like just another crew chief..no big time feel on the studio ..and krista voda does a decent job as a pit reporter..her voice does not hold up well in the host role...
boy ! did mike joy miss the regular fox crew..
yes he had dw and larry..but he was not up to speed..too many mistakes..
and the myers haters should have taken notice..
he brings a professional appeal to the fox broadcast..
for an all star event..it felt like just another ho hum drawn out show without him..
i agree..too much technical talk..we get enough of that....chris meyers brings personality to the fox broadcast....speed has too many people that are on too long that say nothing of substance beyond four tires or two tires !
and i enjoyed the kevin costner interview 1
i thought the actual race coverage was good...but the announce team seemed a bit off..and krista voda tried to be too cute using cliche's leaving hammond looking like just another talking head crew chief.....
i like krista...but in small doses as a pit reporter..
her voice strains over the stretch of a show....
myers brings credability from other sports that nascar could use right now..especially in an event like this.
and i don't kid..but i do care !
Five musketeers at it again.
chis myers does not need to be defended..
his body of work speaks well and nascar is fortunate to have him...
i skipped the prerace show when i saw krista and no d.w. or myers....
and stop accusing costner of being difficult..he is trying to help a good cause!
speed over-saturated the all star event..
they do the same during daytona speed weeks...
i am a fan of nascar, kevin costner and chris myers...
krista was decent..but there is a reason myers handles the fox show..they are number one on the nfl pre show with the same style !
why the dw bashing...he at least speaks with passion and enthusiasm...mike joy slows him down..hammond and myers fire him up on the fox prerace show...
sorry speed ..was not feeling the flavor !
Why would you show up on this site and use eight nicks to offer eight different posts on the same subject?
Please cut that out in the future.
Getting to be a weird night in TDP land.
i do not mean to insult speed..but they tend to water-down everything..so i find myself tuning in late and getting what i need....at least when fox or abc carry a race they have a concise prerace show and when i tune in i get the best they can offer....
and i like the fun dw, jeff and myers have before a race..they make it informative and fun..
I was at the race, so my comments are based on what I heard of the broadcast through my scanner. DW's love affair with Kyle Busch is nauseating. I can tell you that I, along with a large majority of the fans in the stands, don't share his enthusiasm. Fans of any driver who was closing on the 18 were being loudly cheered on by all the fans in the stands. The burnout contest was better watched from the stands as I did, but I agree about the clueless judges and rules that made no sense. It is nice this was for charity but really it was silly. DW made a fool of himself there too by driving back to the start through the grass --there were people there! I hated the wrestler guy as emcee for teh all-star stuff -- yuck! I finally got tired of listening to all the idiocy and switched my scanner to MRN much as i do when I'm at home rather than listening to the TV drivel.
Hey...next time...how about....thinking about things in advance...and then adding some punctuation...on a single....post?
I think Rutledge may have the toughest job on SPEED - going from clown to reporter and back.
I well remember DW when he broke into NASCAR and was Jaws, the outsider. I see a lot of similarity in Kyle B today and DW back in the day.
I was not impressed with Buddy and it was at least 30 seconds out of sync with MRN, which made it even less impressive for me. It reminded me of driving home on the Interstate at night. As much as I hate them, I sure do wish Dale, Jr. had worn his white gloves last night.
I really did enjoy seeing Victory Lane right after the race - and I think it would be interesting to interview a couple of the civilians in V-Lane.
One more comment about the idea of fan interaction-- one thing that really bothers me is that the Speed stage is setup with the panels BACKS to the crowd. It bugs me everytime I see it and even when I'm at the track, I don't go to the stage area because I feel like that disrespects the fans who are there. I agree that interaction with the fans could be done in a way that would make it fun -- besides that idiotic idea NASCAR Stupids? Gameshow.
Anyone who watched 8 hours of speed, got exactly what they deserved. I have no sympathy for them.
dawg
dawg,
You mean memorable programming that will live forever on the DVR?
JD
Exactamundo Gusamoto!
laney, atldude, gerald, terry, anon 8:46, toughguy, ms.emily and anon 9:00, you kid because you care, right? I see one slips in amongst all these good posters every once in awhile John. My fingers are weakening from all this typing.
I never can understand why the announcers get all excited about a driver winning $1 million. Or why they would think that I as a viewer even care. If my driver wins, I dont get a share, the money means nothing to me, rather the victory by my guy makes me happy for a few minutes.
DW seemed more interested in the cash than the dash.
batchief, speaking of fingers I see that a certain ring is on a certain finger this season.
All my best to the happy couple!
Wow - night of the living mults again :)
Hang in there JD, we appreciate the forum you give us.
didn't watch anything of the seemingly endless pre-race: nothing new in that.
but if i may offer this: i am a fan and i have friends who are fans. but it's not their story that i want to hear/learn if i turn on a pre-race. i want to learn about the drivers, the pitcrew members, the owners -- the men and women associated directly with the sport. i want to know more of those folks so that i can deepen my appreciation of the sport. and if i can't get that on an endless all-star pre-race, then when can i?
i have no problems with nascar fans as a group and i can ignore the minority who are nitwts b/c they're likely nitwits away from the track as well! they don't represent me or my friends. but i'm not passionate about our sport b/c of the fans: i'm passionate b/c of the competition, the men and women who make their living doing something i respect and admire and wish i could do and those are the stories i want to hear. that it not a knock on the fans at the track, just a personal preference.
race broadcast itself was better than usual, altho' i spent less time watching it and more time trying to figure out "all star buddy."
as for that piece of technology: how could such a simple concept be so off? the video lagged significantly behind the tv broadcast, the camera angles were random and not connected to the racing and the shots showing inside the greenhouse were dark all night for me. (the screen size issue was apparently not a problem for most so i accept it was just my laptop -- but it was still irritating.)
as i said last night: i only found it valuable in just listening to my driver's engine as he raced and matching what i was hearing with what i was seeing out his windshield. but even that was limited b/c of the switching to the rear camera randomly. for me, "all star buddy" ain't no race buddy!
i thought voda and hammond were excellent together and that dw continues to see action on the track before the truck can get it keyed up so he must be either seeing camera shots we don't see or looking out the window. once again, he called the action and the producer had to follow dw's lead.
speaking of dw: enthusiasm for young mr busch is one thing. fawning is another thing all together. last night moved into the latter. lock 'er down, dw, when it comes to young mr busch, 'k?
last 10 laps made it all worthwhile and i have no problem with the excitement in the booth. i suspect many fans were yelling just as loud at home as dw and larry mac were on the broadcast. great racing and a true "feel good" story in stewart's win.
@richard in re: earnhardt's gloves: i kinda like the skeleton gloves myself!
There is a new post up for your comments about the upcoming Monday NASCAR TV shows.
Thanks as always,
JD
red,
The Turner guys who run NASCAR.com have a massive server that offers RaceBuddy. That is why there were no problems last season, it worked great.
Here is my conspiracy theory. TNT is right in the middle of the NBA playoffs and they offer something similar for these live Turner games.
My feeling is that there was just not enough room for both NASCAR and the NBA to co-exist.
I emailed the Turner guys and hope to get a response on Monday.
How is that for service?
JD
jd, you aim to please -- as always!
but here's my question: why even trot it out in the first place last night? i think your conspiracy theory -- as with so many others! -- has just enough in it to make it plausible. but why offer it at all last night if that was going to be the case? we had accepted that we'd have to wait to play with race buddy this season so we wouldn't have even given a thought to not having its clone for us last night.
it may be that someone thought it would be a great addition to the package but didn't think thru the ramifications and limitations well enough.
regardless, i look forward to whatever info they provide.
and thanks again, jd, for TDP! i learn more from this site about our sport than all the others combined (altho' nascar insiders is pretty high on the list!)
red,
One of the biggest issues for Turner was server size and capacity.
Remember the days of NASCAR.com having huge lag on the live scoring and race tracking?
The exact same group that does the online stuff for the NBA does the RaceBuddy thing.
When I get to the bottom of it I will give an update...without the conspiracy theory!
JD
jd, these days, i wonder if one can be a nascar fan WITHOUT a conspiracy theory!
interesting times, eh?
JD I have massive lag on n.com this year. My live leaderboard used to be live, now it comes and goes and is always a lap or two behind. Last year it was actually a second or two ahead of the actual broadcast. Guess it just figures.
On the Meyers thing since it seems to be such a hit to someone, IF and I mean IF, FOX could take away the "we kid because we care" garbage gimmick that Chris Meyers is "playing" and allowed him to actually be himself and professional and show he knows a thing or two about racing and assumes a host role, I wouldnt mind keeping him. But if that isn't going to change any time soon I dont see a problem with taking a Krista Voda who is arguably being groomed for this exact host role with the last 2 years on SPEED showing clear signs of that, and putting her on FOX.
Aside from that, I concur with the changes with most have suggested with shorter raceday and less fluff
Bigger was a "BUST"
My gosh, SPEED, what the heck are your execs thinking?
BLAH< BLAH< BLAH< BLAH<
How about planning some substance if you are going to try an all day stunt?
I had an all day HD picture -in-picture planned between Speed and the Mecam car auction on HD net. The car auction won.
David, I don't know if Krista is being groomed for that roll. Maybe the fact she has done Totally Nascar, Nascar Nation, truck prerace and many other behind the desk shows makes her good at that and a logical choice when Chris M. is not available.
Bat,
Maybe not being groomed per-say but her experience in this area and the connect with NASCAR fans being there, it's pretty logical to assume if a change were to happen, she would be the person that would move into that spot. How much longer can FOX ride the CM train?
If ever there was an event designed to be recorded then viewed with a thumb on the Fast Forward button, this is it.
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