Update: We are going to leave this post open for your post-race comments. Just click on the comments button below. Thanks fans!
Here we go with a very big challenge for the NASCAR on ESPN production team. The Cup race is going head-to-head with NFL football and it is going to be a tough challenge.
Allen Bestwick will anchor a thirty-minute version of NASCAR Countdown beginning at 1PM ET. Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty will be with Bestwick in the Infield Pit Center. Pit reporters are Shannon Spake, Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Dave Burns. Tim Brewer is in the Tech Garage.
While Jimmie Johnson is the big story, there has been a lot of NASCAR news during the week that involves changes in personnel and teams. It should be interesting to watch what topics and interviews are selected for the pre-race show.
Jerry Punch has to call the action on a very long day at a very short track. That recipe has not proven to be a good one where ESPN is concerned. Punch will no doubt be assisted very actively by Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree as the race goes on.
Action happens fast at this track as the straights are quick and cars side-by-side though the flat corners almost always results in some rubbing. The ESPN team has struggled with both caution and green flag pitstops. This is not a good place to have that happen.
The race off pit road may well wind-up deciding the event and missing the action for full-screen coverage of only one car is going to make the TV team pay a high price. ESPN needs to hold the triple-split all the way through the caution flag stops and put all green flag stops in a double video box so the race can be seen.
There is real potential for things to get confused very quickly on TV as ESPN keeps the spotlight on the Chase drivers regardless of what is happening on the track. This should be a fascinating race to watch from a TV perspective.
We welcome your comments on the race. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by.
503 comments:
«Oldest ‹Older 401 – 503 of 503The 44 is a rolling debris dispenser today.
Caution for TAPE!!!! Time for another Jimmie Johnson win.
JJ for the win.
JPM's spotter did..
Tx Sally...i knew some left early but Gluck made it sound like Mass Exodus ;-0
Did Dennis hear or see something that caused him to look over at the camera?? as if he knew it was looking right at him LIVE ... ;-)
If you see the stands, its a big change. Wonder why other than Jr?
T, you can hear the motor in the camera when it pans left and right.
Will the 24 "Punt" the 42 ?
I forgot my room mate got me an early btday present yesterday...Stewart calendar for next year.
Do we have a date for TNT's first coverage! :-)
Wow between MRN and short clip of TV, not only two different races but two different universes!
Thank you online website of radio. xoxoxo
Paging Scott Speed's brain, paging Scott Speed's brain
Ok when they WRECK on MRN they IMMEDIATELY give the "DRIVERS NAME" not just the number.
And they show concern...wow..just saw replay on tv. Hard lick
JD, my guess would be that many of the fans don't really see anything changing as far as who will be leading the crapshoot, don't really care, and are heading out to beat traffic rather than watch the final laps?
Wow what a MESS of a car
Should have RED Flagged the race with 6 laps to go
boy, 82 just set the bar for driving it in hard
Gonna get ugly here again. This is the last payback track of the year.
Who will have the most aggressive GWC restart? Four fast cars and three axes to grind.
wow! knaus would've been happy w/a 2nd place finish?!?
Thats twice Im disappointed NASCAR held the yellow until the last second.
CRAP! Car wrecked into wall?
OMG!! AGAIN that car sitting there VULNERABLE at finish!! WTH???????????
bad call
Another race where a car is sitting at the SF line and NO caution ?!?!?
why was there no yellow when there was a car in the middle of the track at the start/finish?????
24 and Letarte are mystified.
Jeff said "what do they want us to do?
dear god in heaven, WTF nascar!?! another car crossways at start finish, stalled, and still no flag thrown? hey hoots? can you say " driver safety first"?
From The Daly Tweet:
"Anyone know why they did not red flag for the cleanup?"
Race Control is getting as lazy as the ESPN production truck?
Crap ending ! ! ! NASCAR should have " Red Flagged" the race with 6 laps to go and let them race
Why didn't Andretti stay up by the wall? Affected the outcome of 2-XX I think.
the guys at the top of Nascar need a brain scan, immediately
I see why folks don't like the flying heads...props to Hamlin...but in the great scheme of things...Johnson extends his lead.
Bet we don't hear The Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" in the bumper music rotation.
Thanks to all the merry Planeteers for their insights.
Dot, the caution should have come out. I cant blame Andretti there.
JPM, throw out Charlotte and it'd be a decent points race...
200 back going into Dega. I need JJ to have a bad day.
Ive noticed the last few weeks that Dave Burns has been using a Wireless microphone and using an earpiece instead of a headset like the rest of the reporters. Anyone know why this is?
I thought under the green/white checkers rule that the race ended immediately if another yellow was thrown so I guess Nascar wanted them to race to the start/finish line. Obviously John Andretti was expendable
I muted MRN too soon as they were a minute behind tv after seeing the crash long after it happened...wonder what MRN thought about the LACK of caution.
Disgusting..all the manipulation NASCAR does and twice in a couple months a driver sits there HELPLESS at the finish.
I do not understand...now back to MRN after JPM interview
Did Jimmie have to mention the plane crash??
I'm sorry but this is really tiring ... Dale Jr doesn't bring up his dad's accident everytime they go to Daytona ...
Ok. You can tell us what the points would be if the race ended now.
ESPN-please explain why a caution is called for a piece of rubber on the track but not a car sideways at the start/finish line. Oh... I forgot....this is ESPN
@ David, since the pattern has been not to throw the yellow during the last lap, drivers need to stay as far away from the racing groove as they can.
NASCAR didn't throw the yellow until Andretti MOVED away from the inside wall.
Then they had to put it out.
what was Chad complaining about up top the pit box @ the end of the race??? Was it cause they didnt throw the caution at the end?
I cannot believe Nascar did not throw the caution. All their talk of "safety first" is just blowing smoke when it comes to "the show".
anyone else just go black
Dang why is TV promo showing a bunch of WRECKS!! Crap...oh, Dega promo..had tv muted.
Caution is called for gum wrappers or hot dog wrappers and not for sitting duck car.
VL & Twin should mention this..and WTunnel
DPE what do u think?
Yes, Jonathan. That's what he was complaining about. What did you think he was upset with?
maybe it is because of the proximity to good race coverage from yeasterday, but I do think this was one of the worst efforts ESPN has given this season, except...for the omission of 'if the chase ended now' for one race they ditched that nonsense
evidently we lost the feed from the track
Exactly Terri.
Double standard by NASCAR. They waited and waited and waited. It should have been out when it looked clear Andretti wasn't going to get gone by the time the field got to turn 3.
Sorry Dot but if someone gets spun off 4 coming to the line unware Andretti is sitting there, its no better that way either.
The caution should have been out much MUCH sooner. A pathetic end to a rough day. Action on the track was good but from the production truck and NASCAR it was an F grade.
trl: i respectfully disagree. they HAD to put it out as soon as he came to a stop against the inside wall and couldn't get it started again.
with cars racing back to the finish, they're not looking down low like that and would have no reason to think a car is stopped there and nascar didn't throw the yellow. the 24 had NO idea what nascar wanted them to do: maintain position? race for spots?
they also put andretti in a horrible position by not throwing the flag: either sit there and pray no one runs in to you at speed or do your damnest to get it rolling so you can get out of the way.
GWC was created to prevent exactly that sort of situation and protect the drivers. for the second time this season, nascar has abdicated their responsibility.
in my world -- inexcusable.
Red did you go black and then eventually get commercials too. Not sure if it was the local that went down or if they lost the feed temporarily
Amen Red!
what dumb question did the BWIN ask MMartin halfway thru his interivew??? by his response I just caught it was stupid..had tv muted until then
dueling MRN & TV tough after race
I can only 'assume' that NASCAR thinks the spotters have time to warn their drivers about something like that...but I agree, Andretti was the sacrificial lamb for the 'show'.
"Tilladiga"
Thanks Rusty.
NRF: yeppers: went black then got the station logo then back to the coverage. when it became clear they were going to just do the usual drill, i turned it off in disgust.
imagine that: i'm now angrier at nascar than i am at espn.
remind me again why i love this sport?!?
Amen Red!
MOST DISTURBING decision by NASCAR. WTF indeed!
how to the excuse that
@ glenc1, agree.
@ David, another Rustyism.
ABC with some extended post race here in upstate NY (WIVT-TV).
@ Anon 5:27 PM--Maybe Burns wants to hear what is going on around him so he can pose a better question rather than rely on perspective (or lack thereof) in the truck. The wireless mike is no big deal. The others are what's called RF mikes, which use another channel to get the sound back to the audio folks in the truck.
Will we be on the air until 3/6?
Where did JJ say to JPM could he have some tacos? On camera or off.
Glad to see JPM laugh that stupid comment off. but I've missed everything this weekend.
When did the blond bwins ON ESPN dye their hair darker?
@ dear Sophia, maybe they think darker hair makes them look smarter.
I tell people "don't let the blonde hair fool you".
When Letarte warned JG there was a car stalled on the track coming out of turn 4 and no caution flag just like a previous race, I had to chuckle when JG replied "and yeah, it's the same car too".
Soph JPM asked what he thought about the taco comment said he didn't care then said he could say he was out eating Tacos but he wasn't he was racing and JJ heard him and asked if he could save him some.
@Dot
horn rimmed glasses and a stack of books in their arms might make them look smarter....
naw, who am I kidding!? ;-)
Tear down lesson from TB. Were we denied a Tech segment during a GF run?
@glenc1: that is a MIGHTY dangerous assumption by nascar. mighty dangerous.
look, i know nascar sincerely cares about protecting the drivers. i mean, for heaven's sake, we're suffering w/the COT because it IS so much safer. so i know they aren't being cavalier about driver safety.
but let's look at it objectively: there was a car STOPPED mere feet past the start/finish line, the race is in a GWC situation and the pack is bearing down at speed to the finish. seems like the safest thing to do is throw the flag!
would they have taken a face full of crap from fans? probably. but this fan would have supported the decision to protect a vulnerable driver over a battle to the finish every time.
and let's not forget: the second place car was the dread jimmie johnson, who folks have been complaining is winning too many races and stinking up nascar. so throwing the caution, having hamlin win AND protect andretti shoud have made everyone happy.
can't wait for my nascar fan council survey this week!
NewRaceFan
Thanks so much for the answer...it's exhausting trying to multitask when tired to begin with.
tx again :)
Sophia - Since Shannon's got some buns in the oven, she's not really supposed to be coloring her hair ...
Going to keep post-race comments right here. Low numbers of fans and users....
@ JD, you can thank BSPN for your low numbers. Good thing you don't depend on revenue.
Comments here? Okay.
You know what? I'm done.
I respect Johnson; I really do. His crew chief is another matter, but this run Johnson is having is one of the most amazing things that this sport has ever seen. He's just as dominant as Petty, Pearson, Yarborough, DW, Earnhardt and Gordon were in their primes. He's a lock for the Hall of Fame and he's all but certain to win an unprecedented fourth championship this year. This could be leading up to one of the most important moments in the sport's entire history. And even if Johnson stumbles, it will be an even bigger story for the driver who stopped this crazy run.
And ESPN just plain does not care. Sure, they fawn over Johnson, but they do it like they're talking about a neighbor's new power saw. No emotion, no substance, and no recognition of the importance of what Johnson's doing.
And that's just the "cherry" on top of the the past three years of continually awful coverage, with the worst camera work and broadcasting booth of the decade, and no improvements. NBC and TNT used to have this honor, but they listened to complaints. They changed. And ESPN has changed in other sports. When people started complaining about Monday Night Football, ESPN fixed it. Their coverage of The Masters is top-notch. College basketball is always intense. College football has its ups and downs, but mostly ups considering how many games they have to cover, and they have fixed some of the worse booths. Yet they continue to foist this nonsense on us, week-after-week, year-after-year. ESPN does not care enough about NASCAR to change anything.
I'm not going to complain (much) about ESPN's forcing stories and scripts onto the broadcasts, because they do that in every single sport they cover. But there are many glaring issues that none of the other sports share:
One would assume that after three years, the pit reporters would know what questions to ask; which are intelligent and which are not. Apparently that is asking too much.
We have also asked to have the simple production staples that FOX and TNT use - three-box pit stops, coverage of everyone crossing the finish line, searching for racing in the field, in-car cameras reserved for replays or very long green-flag stretches, and no Tech Center full screen under green flag racing. And we have gotten nothing.
And we have begged them to put Allen Bestwick or Marty Reid in the booth. No dice.
ESPN has taken what should be an incredibly exciting event and turned it into the public stereotype of NASCAR - cars making left turns for four hours. And that's just sad.
I, personally, am done this season. In fact, I'm done with ESPN so long as Jerry Punch is in the booth. I have better things to do than waste four hours of my Sundays being bored out of my skull. Even if my football team is getting killed, the NFL broadcasters can keep the game interesting. And if Mark Martin begins to come back in the points, then I shall find some way to listen to MRN or PRN. But I refuse to watch another minute of this dreck on ESPN.
Hopefully things will get better quickly. But if not, I'll see you all in February. I'll deal with Digger in exchange for an good broadcast.
6po
well she SSTILL has streaks in her hair..and trust me the color to make your hair DARKER is smellier than the bleach..to add lowlights..I do it..but I get ur point.
Jamie's color is mostly brown with blonde streaks, too...just like Shannons :)
Another late race "caution" to give Jimmie Johnson another shot at the "double file, shoutout style" restart..ugh..NO CAUTION when Andretti's car is a sitting duck at the CHECKERS!! How dangerous. It would be a whole different story if a bunch of cars crashed into him. What was Nascar thinking? The lines are so grey. Best of all I survived another ESPN/ABC broadcast. Fan do deserve lots of credit this year. See ya next week, friends
A hot-dog eating 7 footer--Doc is layin' the smack down to Brad D. The only entertaining moment from the entire booth. Sad.
Burns finds Hamlin's mom and dad--cool.
red, I agree with you. It's the only reasoning I could make in their favor, but it's pretty weak.
Comes to mind...I was at an ARCA race at the Glen some years back (it was the worst race I've ever seen, hands down.) But anyway, some guy got stuck off the track and they wouldn't throw the yellow. I happened to catch his radio transmission, and he was mad, going on about how if he was Frank Kimmel they wouldn't have left him out there...but in this case, I don't think the driver made a difference...obviously, a road course is a totally different animal though.
Don't know what else to say about the coverage. It's awful, too many bumper cams-they were abit better today. And not throwing the caution at the end of the race was just stupid & dangerous.
Andrew
I understand your point on JJ. do you have access to MRN? I do in cup races either local radio or online.
It beats getting ticked off at ESPN who as WE ALL KNOW, no longer cares.
PERIOD.
The end.
I've turned on Bengals and don't even care for Football!!
Hopefully depending on things, I might get out next weekend and not even have radio or tv..and you know what?
Dega is one of my favorite tracks. as is Daytona.
NOT TO WATCH on tv though..know why?
Yep, you guess it ESPN's camera work RUINS ALL RACES.
Are they in practice? Qualifying? Bristol? Dega?
Who knows..who cares?
Not the guys in the truck.
so yea, it's shameful what's happening and we can thank the NASCAR ESPN Contract.
More like a Hit contract on racing since it's killing the sport... Wonder what ratings will be tomorrow.
Wish I knew what MRN ratings are in comparison?
Post race coverage absolutely atrocious. Not so much as a word from the booth, the infield, or the pit reporters about the unsafe finish. ESPN too busy with cuddly stories, getting obligatory and predictable sound bytes from top finishers, pimping out a Chase that's over, and creating false drama about the unknown at Dega vs. addressing NASCAR's hypocrisy. The booth throws a caution for safety reasons when "debris" is on the track but is willing to leave a driver helplessly exposed as the full field comes barreling down for a finish. Not sure if its ESPN's call or by NASCAR to avoid the discussion - but its inexcusable either way.
I had the tv muted but did NOBODY catch the Irony of a wreckfast commercial of many cars, looked horrible, and as I turned on the sound, some dramatic talk then I think they mentioned Talladega...Ouch.
Then today, a driver sits motionless as the finishers bear down.
shaking my head. . .
Andrew is on the money.
I find myself watching less and less of the race and listening to more and more of JPM's radio. Thats the only source of entertainment I can find. Since I can't stream both, but will probably attempt to for Dega (though the delay of the radio call will drive me bonkers) its been a fun Chase when you listen to a guy running in it.
There are TONS of great stories, but at the same time talk about the facts. A car was stopped, hell Casey Mears was going to use ALL the track and had to virtually STOP coming off turn 4 which easily cost him 2 or 3 spots depending on how NASCAR rules that finish.
Ive long stood behind a premise that if the wreck is behind the leaders, you can sit and wait out the result and let the race unfold some, but when someone is stopped or wrecked where the leaders will inevitably come through at full speed, you MUST throw the flag. They were lax today at best and John nearly paid a price for it had Mears not stopped in time.
Hopefully that will get discussed by other networks the rest of the night and into tomorrow.
ESPN? What can I say? Andrew said it all.
it's all been said before, every last word.
if espn truly wants feedback? they have plenty to work with already.
if other media folk want to gauge fans' reactions? they also have plenty to work with already.
if nascar wants to know what some fans are thinking as the race unfolds on tv? they have that as well.
there's nothing new to be said.
not. one. word.
I feel bad for all of you that got stuck watching ESPN ruin a race. After reading the comments, it sounded like there was racing, just ESPN did not want to show it. Just MRN for me for now on.
Since I did not get to watch the race, I am going to do an experiment. Instead of wasting 4 hours of my time watching ESPN, I will watch Nascar Now and TWIN Monday and just catch the highlights. Much less stress.
Since I'm retired, I can usually dedicate race day to the complicated procedure of muting the TV, listening to the radio and following Twitter and JDs blog, I'll say that it makes even the most boring race go really fast, doing all those things.
Today I had some other stuff going on while I watched a muted TV, listened to MRN and read Twitter a few times. And it was exhausting! MRN is ahead of ABC, usually i look up when they call something exciting and see it on TV eventually. TV wasn't getting it today. I couldn't believe some of the stuff they showed. The pit stop reruns during position racing at the front of the pack was a real coups.
And then NASCAR, why do you want to kill or maim John Andretti and ruin the end of a Chase race?
Guess I committed a major ESPN HD error, too. I realized at the end of the race that I had the non-HD ABC channel on, never noticed.
I was tempted to watch a rerun of Bridezillas during the post-race interviews. That was kind of my mood, too.
I'm usually pretty sorry to see the season end. This year it can't be soon enough. On the brighter side, the Extreme Home Makeover build this week is near where I live; there's special stuff on TV now. Glad somebody is happy!
Well, I spent the day watching my beloved Steelers kick some Favre butt, and loved every minute of it. How nice it was seeing Mr Waffle eating turf so much. I just finished watching the race, via DVR, and while the race itself was pretty interesting, the coverage was the same old, same old, and Nascar's decisions were terrible. But what I got a laugh out of was the comment at the end when one of the booth guys said something to the effect Dega will tell and could cut into JJ's 118 point lead. Then Brad said one of the most intelligent things he's said all season, that JJ has already won this championship. You got one guy trying to put some kind, any kind, of interest into the next race while Brad is basically saying, call it in, Jimmie's the champ.
BTW, JD, did you know that some TV ratings are now including DVR numbers? I just read an article that said some programs are adding as many as 3 million viewers when they include those who watch on DVR. I wonder how much Nascar's ratings would go up if they extrapolated DVR's into their ratings?
J.D.,
Although ESPN coverage of this year has been horrendous, the coverage of today's race was the worst in combination with Jerry Punch's lack of Play by Play.
Do you know how many races today's Director and Producer have done this year? I would have to assume that they have done more than one race this year. In my opinion, today's director's work has been the worst I feel this year of all the Races ESPN has done.
Does ESPN management ever review these productions? If they do, how is that they allow today's Director and Producer cover these races?
I'm sorry I missed the end of the race sounded something but I'm watching the Speed Report and Krista says there will be some exciting news tomorrow on TWIN. I wonder what that is.
I lasted 45 minutes with ESPN today before giving up and listening to MRN. Before the last few weeks I thought the worst NASCAR coverage ever was the last season on NBC but ESPN has now taken that honor. The people in charge are absolutely clueless when it comes to covering a race.
Hmmmm ---25 minutes and my post/rant hasn't posted. Maybe the blog expired? Will try again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kind of off topic here, JD, but it is in reference to post-race coverage.
I saw this Tweet from @NASCAR, and right off, it appeared to me to be one of those face-slapping, back-handed compliments to the race winner.
" @NASCAR Denny Hamlin held off Jimmie Johnson to win at Martinsville but with his runner-up finish Johnson increased his... http://bit.ly/3InJYU "
WHY can't the "OFFICIAL" NASCAR storytellers give Denny Hamlin his rightful due, without having to toss out that totally unnecessary "but..."?
WHY can't NASCAR do one story on Denny's exceptional win, where he held off the challengers on several restarts, and then have a second story, lavishing the praises of a driver who didn't win, but extended his lead on the competition.
Denny Hamlin WON, but yet everything still has to revolve around Jimmy Johnson, who DIDN'T win.
NASCAR wonders why attendance/viewership is down? Maybe they should look into how THEY portray their own sport to the sports' fans.
Rant off!
Solak, BRAVO!! Sorry, but Dimmy winning in his home state was NOT in the script, so it has to be blown off..just the way it is these days & it sucks. btw, please post more often here. Your viewpt is appreciated.
Thanks, PammH --- I'm used to trying to do it in 140 or less.
@ Solak, it's all about JJ, or haven't you noticed?
Denny proved me wrong by winning despite having the curse (in race reporter).
I'll admit, I don't see some of the racing because I'm here or Twitter. One thing that irks me that I always seem to catch is the split screen with driver and CC. The driver is a shadow so you can't see him. CC is watching the car go around the track. We need to see this?
There's so many other things but, I'm too lazy to type them. I pretty much ditto the comments before mine.
@ Dot
the OVER used useless split screen w/CC or Wife and the DESPERATELY NEEDED SPLIT SCREEN other times, is what drove me screaming to MRN weeks ago.
SolakNC, yes, post more often..not that ANYBODY is listening.
Ive found sticking with MRN lowers the gripe factor and bad attitude.
Of course this means NASCAR's TV Broadcasts are basically USELESS but nobody seems to care except us.
While the broadcast of Cup races are not what they could or should be, I continue to believe EESPN has bigger, more fundamental problems.
Was it not Dale Jarrett that was driving in a race and he ended up wrecked and stopped on or near the start/finish line on the final lap that brought about the green/white/checker rule.
If that is the case why did we not hear from Dale Jarrett about the call Nascar made for no yellow on this last lap.
Great comments on this race from start to finish and beyond.
Thanks to everyone who took the time to offer an opinion.
This post is still open...
JD
I like how the different announcers all have their own style to bring excitement to the green flag start of a race.
For example, Darrell Waltrip has "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity, let's go racing boys."
And Jerry Punch has "This broadcast is available in Spanish by pressing the SAP button on your remote, presented by ESPN Deportes."
I gotta say, both calls really bring a new level of excitement to the start of a race!
Please let me sneak in here with an attaboy for Despain's history of Talladega. It was very well done, and thoroughly enjoyable.
Charlie, it wasn't the final lap, and it didn't bring about a G/W/C rule...the rule they changed was not allowing them to race back to the s/f line under yellow. But yes, it was DJ a sitting duck as they headed right toward him. Actually, though, DJ went on record that year as saying he was against the new rule (lots of the drivers didn't like the 'lucky dog'.) But I think they figured out the 'gentlemen's agreement' wasn't working anymore. But I didn't really expect DJ to comment. I think they know in the booth when NASCAR is going to be po'd at them.
There are a lot of comments about the production of the race and I'm going to re-hash them. Just a few things though:
1. When did Ryan Newman become "The former pole sitter of this race"? Did he lose the pole sometime between winning it on Friday and during the race on Sunday? Last time I checked, he started the race on the pole, so he was the pole sitter for the whole race.
2. It was fun listening try to decribe Martinsville by using any words other than paper clip. If ESPN is not going to show an entertaining race, not allowing the announcers to use certain words sure can make things interesting. I guess I should have participated in the drinking game. I didn't since I was supposed to go somewhere after the race. I didn't wind up going, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway.
3. I nominate the phrase "The Big One" as the trigger for a drink in next week's drinking game. ESPN - there's your challenge.
Even thought they still don't know what to do with it, liked that time was actually devoted to post-race coverage for all scheduled time, ie no early cut.
Yes Denny overcame the in-race reporter curse!
Debris? oh that. Well, it only became dangerous when it started moving... and now we know that Andretti is just as expendable as Allmendinger. Must be the "A" surname. What happens when we get to "B" names? BUSCH bros, Bowyer, Burton watch out next week!!
ESPN has an Ombudsman. An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency (that would be us race fans) while representing the broad scope of constituent interests (that would be us viewers). He is Don 0hlmeyer of Monday Night Football fame. Ohlmeyer has no email address listed on ESPN's website but on his Columnists page at espn dot go dot com a link to a feedback form exists. This may be the only avenue we as viewers and fans can be heard by the egos at ESPN.
I actually recorded the race while I watched some football. I would play the race for a bit, then switch to football. I watched most of the last half of the race after football was over. I can't comment on the whole race since I skipped over portions, but here are some things I saw and some questions.
1. Why is it ESPN has to pipe in cheering crowd noise at the very start of the race? It's almost as bad as CBS piping in bird noises for golf tournamnents.
2. Did ESPN ever show a replay or offer an explanation of Dale Jr's first caution? I heard then mention the caution was on him, but never saw anything else about it. That was when I was in and out so I could have missed it.
3. I became somewhat annoyed with changing shots to cars following each other away from a good battle. This happened several times.
4. Pit reporters offered no real information.
5. Allen Bestwick built up some excitement just before a few restarts to hand over to Punch only to hear several seconds of silence and followed by the usual recap of lap number, car leading, and "back underway".
Not sure there is much else to offer. We say the same things over and over every week. Every week the comment seems to be "this is the worst broadcast of the year". Which means that not only are they not listening to us, they do more things to aggravate us.
Well, not really aggravate me. I am so proud of myself. For three weeks I have only watched HotPass. Miss the car sounds, but at least I get exciting PxP, information on many drivers, through the fields and great pit reporting, just to name a few.
It is apparent no changes will be made this year. While I might understand no booth changes until the off season (if they even do it),it is unexcusable not to fix the camera work...well actually the direction of the camera work. I am sure they are excellent camera people. If that does not get fixed, it won't matter who is in the booth.
I've stopped watching NN, even the Monday show. No ESPN for me, at all!
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