Wednesday, September 30, 2009

The Race Reporters: Interview Comments


Tonight at 7PM Michael Knight will host his Internet radio program called The Race Reporters. Among the guests are former Yahoo! Sports NASCAR writer Bob Margolis and yours truly. I will be on live at 7:30PM ET. Click here for a direct link to the Internet radio location.

I have limited my interviews this season on radio and Internet podcasts. Last year things got so busy that it was tough for me to keep life balanced. This season has been working quite well in terms of time management. I enjoy the guys over at Rowdy.com and watching them develop that website over the last three seasons has been fun.

Wednesday night is my first time on The Race Reporters. Knight is a veteran of Indy Car, NASCAR and many other racing series. He is a talented journalist with lots of experience in motorsports public relations and marketing.

Once the interview is over, I will continue to talk about those topics and take your questions and opinions in the comments section of this post. To join in, just click the comments button below. Thanks for listening to the interview and for stopping by to chat.

31 comments:

  1. John, you started strong, but I turned you off when you left Mikey off of the Truck Series announcers and then trashed Digger. It's your opinion, I know, but it's not everyones and is a good way to lose followers.

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  2. He's named Michael Knight, eh? What, did you do the interview in KITT? XD

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  3. peggyann, Michael Waltrip is not a favorite of mine and Digger is the worst thing to happen to NASCAR TV in years.

    If you disagree, you should offer your reasons why rather then flee.

    JD

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  4. I thought you were excellent. You could have bashed JP a little more for my taste. Loved the Kyle Petty stuff. I totally agree. No love for Andy Petrie? I like him. No moving AB to PxP?

    Michael Knight is a Philly boy with that accent. Unmistakeable.

    Overall, I'm glad I didn't miss the broadcast. Again, excellent.

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  5. Sonic,

    He has been around a long time. Signed the first CART deal for the IndyCars way back when.

    Smart guy, asks good questions.

    JD

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  6. Karen, not enough time for the second in the booth topic. That is the enemy of live stuff. Thanks!

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  7. I missed the first half darn it..is there an archive of the podcast! I enjoyed the statement you ended with & that should be a mandate by NASCAR TPTB (mention ALL teams during the races & show them) For those that say tough, make sure your drivers are in the top 10, well some of us love drivers that NEVER finish in the top ten and all deserve RESPECT or at least a MENTION for their sponsored cars.

    I missed the MW bashing tho I am no fan of digger...everybody thought that was OVER DONE..except Mr. Hill.

    Tough.

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  8. I listened to you. Very good job. Was neat to hear what you sound like. You do a good interview.

    Wish they had more time to talk to you.

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  9. Super show- exceptionally thoughtful. A must-hear for me now. I was amazed , fascinated, and thrilled to finally hear someone criticize that insightful commmand "Talk about," which alone would have made the show for me. I was most impressed with the quite diplomatic way in which you cut to the heart of matters. Thank you.

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  10. So far, three really fine racing programs this week - two on television and one on radio!
    Kudos to you for filling in the additional slot!
    Thanks for giving us the heads-up to Knight's broadcast website!
    (did you know you sound a lot like the filmmaker Michael Moore?)

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  11. Thanks guys, Sophia this is Internet radio so you can click on the "episodes listing" button and replay it anytime.

    JD

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  12. As usual another great interview JD. That half hour went just way to fast. could have filled the whole hour w/you. Question, since this was a live program, did you have any advance notice on the questions Mike would ask?

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  13. Nope, MK just had me call in a couple of minutes before the show and we did it live.

    He is a super journalist and very hard hitting sometimes. I like that style, what a surprise!

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  14. Great comments JD. It was everything we had been saying.

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  15. I'll have to click the replay and listen.

    JD, I want you to appear on TV so we can see what you look like. :)

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  16. Dot, that would require a NASCAR TV partner to actually have a TV show that talks about issues...

    JD

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  18. Very good job, I appreciate hearing an opinion that seemed to be geared towards the fans and not the franchise. I appreciate the fact that Nascar is a growing community, but that does not mean it has to turn into a gimmick. Ratings are down, because some of us are TIRED Of the Jimmie Johnson show. Ratings are down because people are interested in variety and they are not getting it. There are millions of race fans there are typically 43 cars starting each week, We dont all bleed 48, we dont all bleed Mark Martin, give the people what they want. There can not be 43 winners any given Sunday (or Saturday night) but there are 43 extremely talented people out there fighting for their jobs, and trying to show off for their sponsors, give them a chance.

    Everyone has an opinion, but mine is get back to smarter ideas...There are certain things that are fun and dont take away from the show, but seriously DIGGER...come on.

    I cant seem to figure out what the magic is with race commentators, sometimes they make me so angry and other times I love them. I love Allen Bestwick and I miss Wally Dallenbach...I can do without DW he makes my brain turn into MUSH...but strangely it does not mean I dont miss his occasional ability to burst into song.

    Nascar needs to stay smart...make sure key people are right where they need to be each week in order to maintain the integrity of the sport.

    Ok, I know you guys have talked about this to death, Im stepping off my soap box now.

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  19. I'm not really sure which galls me more - the laziness of commanding someone to "Talk about....." - or the impoliteness of not at least saying Please. I guess I just showed my age.

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  20. Dot, if you go back to the website and click on newsmaker, some info about JD is there. Then click on more ... up pops a picture of JD.

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  21. Thank you for going to bat on behalf of the great unwashed masses, JD. Michael shut you down just as the interview was delving into the main issues we have here. Were you two about to step on some toes in Daytona?

    This captcha thingy is hard on dyslexics.

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  22. J.D.,

    I hope your readers here stayed tuned because the second guest was AWOL and you filled another segment.

    Usually I tune out when he goes to drag racing, or some other circuit as I don't have any interest but this time I was AFK, and was just about to tune away when I realized you were back for another segment.

    West Coast Kenny
    Alameda, California

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  23. Karen

    WOW, thanks for your info. How the heck did you know what to click on? I use FFox and could not see if and IE was totally lost..went back to FFox and STUDIED the site and sho nuff, up came a picture of JD!

    JD I always wondered what you looked like. You should put your picture here. It's GREAT to see the face with the name and I've never found a blog (well at least the few I READ) that did not INCLUDE a photo of the blogger....(well, except for the one about Life in the Witness Protection Program..but I kind of understood that guy :) )

    Really helps to personalize this site.

    I'm a visual kind of dame or maybe it's just my generation.

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  24. If anyone happened to listen to both "The Race Reporters" and PRN's "Pit Road Reporters" tonight the difference was stark and indicative of the focus of the bulk of the so-called NASCAR media. The prevailing subject on the PRN show, in my view, seemed to be cutesy - how many borderline funny wisecracks could the panelists make, rather than seriously addressing NASCAR issues on and off the track.

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  25. WCK, I didn't know JD did two segments. Have to go back and listen.

    Sophia, dumb luck on my part.

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  26. Yep, I stayed since Michael could not get the phone hook-up to work with the NHRA driver.

    So, there is an extra segment with me after he first says goodbye.

    This is still new to him and I think the scripted nature of the questions right now will slowly transform into allowing for follow-ups.

    All in all, fun time.

    JD

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  29. Is this the same Michael Knight who managed Nigel Mansell at CART Newman-Haas?

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  31. Wow, those CART days were a long time ago...for all of us!

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