The Sunday afternoon Sprint Cup Series venue was the Kansas Speedway. Allen Bestwick led the TV team onto the air with the NASCAR Countdown pre-race show.
Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty joined Bestwick in the Infield Pit Studio. Tim Brewer was in the Tech Garage. Jamie Little, Shannon Spake, Dave Burns and Vince Welch reported from pit road.
This was a fast race with lots of excitement on the track. There were many pitstops under both green and caution flag conditions. Several cars had mechanical failures and were out of the race, including Dale Earnhardt Jr.
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79 comments:
This was the most confusing coverage I can remember. If not for this blog, I wouldn't have had any idea what was going on. I heard a lot of talk but very little information. The director apparently has ADD and the skipping around to different pictures left me totally confused.
Dreadful coverage as usual. No smoothness to the race. Can't comment on the audio-never listen anymore. Only to radio..
Q. How do you get seasick in the middle of Kansas?
A. You watch the hop, skip, jump camera work of ESPN.
No flow to the words and pictures. Felt as if I were riding a camel across the desert --- rocking and rolling.
Please refer to all my other posts from previous ABC/ESPN races....with that I say DITTO! I am mostly tired of Jerry Punch's spot on impersonation of Ben Stein in Ferris Bueller's Day Off!!! That is about as exciting as he can get about anything!!!!! I need a drink!
We had DirectTV Hotpass and Joey Logano on and what a great broadcast that was. One problem was they were interviewing Matt after he went out of the race and we had to turn the volume up but then were blown out of the room when Joey's radio came on during it. I think that's the way to go during these ESPN's telecasts just watch the Hotpass.
The Good:
- Got 1 round of pit stops right
- Andy & Dale attempting to do some play-by-play & display excitement
- Speeds at the line
- Allen Bestwick's pre-race show
The Bad:
- Play-by-play: Jerry Punch's job for the day was to read promos and stats. Barely any play-by-play all day. Just monotone sentences & heavy sighs.
- Last 100 laps: Just awful. No play-by-play, resets, recaps, 0. Suddenly the 83 & 88 were in the garage. We got no coverage of what was happening at the moment, just speculation about the future. Single car shots, commercials, double video boxes, triple video boxes, points as of now, Brett Farve filling up the screen.
- Usual ESPN issues. The same tech center NASCAR 101 lessons that everyone has already seen. The same old video packages, the 'points as of now' on the ticker instead of showing the laps and intervals, the same old disaster at the checkered flag with flying heads & changing camera shots.
Every race seems to start out fine, but drops like a rock around halfway. There is no flow, recaps, or excitement.
Overall Broadcast:
* 1/2 / ***** (Poor)
Overall Race:
*** 1/2 / ***** (Good)
My FIRST comment was race coverage. The ABC prerace was good with a tear invoking package on Victory Junction Camp. That was awesome!
No flow. In a race where some teams that have struggled all year ended up with top twenties and other 'chasers' had bad days was a fact never really covered or discussed.
Of all the pit reporters today Jamie was actually the best. The infield has stopped helping the booth keep its feet and it shows.
Everything else was its usual uninformative, unwatchable coverage. The fact that the ticker can't seem to keep up or be consistant with intervals, and laps down makes it impossible to know where anyone is anymore unless they are in the top ten.
Also see my previous posts on this. Watched 90% of race on MUTE & listened to MRN. Did not even TRY to ENJOY ESPN anymore. Sat on patio for awhile listening to MRN.
Lather, rinse, repeat.
France should be concerned but it's obvious he is not.
something POSITIVE
The PRe RACE segment on VJ should be put online for public domain use so anybody with a blog/messageboard/site can post it. Very powerful story and would encourage lots of folks to contribute to a great cause.
Best segment on VJ I've seen...Emotional without being maudlin and drove home that this is indeed, a dream from Adam that his parents continued, even after his untimely, premature death.
I am totally shocked that they are doing an expanded post race show. I'm hoping we hear from Reut.
I paid attention to the race by using Foxtrax and Trackpass scanner more than using the TV.
I listened to MRN and since Jeff's channel was behind MRN flipped to that for pictures regarding accidents and just to see what was happening until Crazy got home.
I wish TPTB would do more stories like VJGC and provide hanky warnings as needed.
We need those and not rehashed no new information stories or Tim telling us what a tire is!
I should have a TV/Cable again soon next year when it's BSPNs turn I'll be listening to the radio and using them for pictures or whatever they decide to show.
We should be able to say how much we enjoyed the coverage at the end of the day not scream about frustrated we are!
No coverage is perfect even FOX and TNT have their moments but the list is no where as long as it is for BSPN.
a half hour of really good follow up, did the director/producer go home already and leave the mice to play?
Did the MRN producer mug the ESPN/ABC counterpart? The post-race coverage is reasonably compelling--the pit reporters are asking questions that fans would (not the how do you feel variety so much), and they are asking enough to fill to the top of the hour...this could/should be a habit with the Worldwide Leader.
As for the race coverage...the Planeteers will be certainly up to the task of dissecting it.
Inexcusable not to have a Reut interview.
If not for TDP, N.com leader board and Twitter I would have no clue about what happened in KS today.
If you have DirecTV, why would you watch ESPN/ABC anymore? They show the race and ESPN camera work in one box with MRN audio plus a driver and crew chief's audio as well. It's basically MRN and the race with no commercials and when MRN does go to commercial, there is a backup DirecTV announcer to cover the breaks.
I would honestly pay for that service and it's FREE for DirecTV!
Brad gave kudos to Reut at the end of the broadcast. However, it would have been great to see Reut instead of the 13th place finisher Keselowski.
J.D.,
I echo most of the other comments.
Although a number of Planeteers have mentioned the Victory Junction feature on Countdown, I didn't see any comments about the Clint Bowyer feature. I don't recall seeing that one before, and thought it was excellent. What I liked best was it was long enough to show more than just a couple of people who knew Clint. I liked the visit to the Ford dealership where he worked in the shop, and I especially liked seeing his employee name badge.
Watching the race with the Planeteers was fun. Wish the coverage was better. I especially like the way you all fill in details which aren't covered on the racecast. I listened to the MRN on a stream from WTQR-FM.
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
As usual I watched most of it on the computer the TV was too confusing.
@anon 6:06--When I get a TV again I'm going to call them first before re-hooking up cable. I think that there might be an issue due to the trees but if there's anyway they can get a signal I'll be one happy Camper!
I think there's just enough of an opening to get a signal. This is my guess based on the apartment in the next building over and their placement.
That's why I had MRN on through Trackpass and used Jeff's channel for pictures when necessary until Crazy returned. When Crazy got back I put it back on his channel since he has DirecTV and puts it on Jr.'s channel. After Jr. fell out we got Kasey :)
The world has really changed. I remember when WTQR went on the air and is still the # 1 or 2 radio station in the Piedmont Triad (NC) market, but they don't carry N-wide races anymore for some reason.
I continue to believe the EESPN race coverage would be better if the booth team were allowed to call the race by looking out the window, rather than calling what the tech folk in the truck fling up on the screen.
I have been a Nascar fan for a lot of years, and use to stay glued to the TV, except for a fridge, or bathroom break. The only way I can keep up with what's going on now is reading TDP comments. I don't have a laptop, so don't have all the things running like you guys. ESPN has ruined the broadcasts that I use to enjoy. The only telecast I enjoyed this year was TNT, and it was just a few weeks.
OT: Red, your mention of Eight O'clock coffee took me back 50 years. The only place to get it then was at the A&P, and it was in a corner of the store where the tobacco,snuff, etc. was sold. There was a machine there, and I ground the coffee for the customers, which was a move up from bagging groceries.
JD, Since most of this is OT, you can delete after a short time if you wish.
The only way I found out about why Dale Jr was two laps down, was getting on the Daly Planet and scrolling down all the comments. (Took me a while). I was surprised that they acually interviewed Dale Jr after his car was out of the race!!!!!!!!!
I agree the coverage was confusing, and lack of intervals on the ticker was distracting. Hard to tell where everyone was.
Marilyn
@ Debby, I heard Brad give a shout out to Reut. A little bit of nepotism there since he's connected to MWR. Glad someone noticed though.
@ Gymmie, I hope "Crazy" is an endearment. JD would delete me if I told you my endearment for Dan.
Excuse my ignorance, how does Hotpass work? Is it just driver in car, or does it show any racing?
Nice to see ABC sticking around until 6:00pm, but TSN in Canada bailed out at 5:35pm for SportsCentre even though they were scheduled to stick with NASCAR coverage until 6:00pm. I switched to ABC to get the rest of the post-race interviews.
LOL! Dot! I need to find out his real name but he's one of the streamers on the J and that's part of his channel's name.
Yes they have about 6 driver channels I believe and it's their in-car audio and you "drive" with them. So you see the race from their view via their cameras in one window and their telemetry info. And in the other it has the race broadcast which normally is FOX/TNT/BSPN but since the "it's not a playoff" playoffs began the MRN/PRN audio has been played in lieu of BSPN.
When a driver falls out they'll bring someone else in. Crazy has it on Jr.'s channel and when Jr. fell out they put on Kasey.
The in-car audio isn't on all the time just whenever the spotter, CC driver or someone else talks. But you can still hear the broadcast audio.
I'm not sure how it worked before when they had Wendy, Hermie and all doing the drivers in the older version. Bevo or someone can help :).
How can you not like The Chase??? You had 10 Chase-racers in the top 11 positions! I'm sorry, but under the old system I just don't think you'd see that intensity of racing for every single position, especially if your overall leader had a 200+ point-lead, as Tony would.
Great racing today and proof that The Chase has improved the on-track product!
Thanks Gymmie. So you were piggybacking with Crazy. I thought that was your significant other's endearment nickname.
Thanks for explaining Hotpass.
Some of the pre race on ABC was outstanding. The pieces on VJ Camp and Clint Bowyer were reminders of how well EXPN/ABC can do their job when motivated. It was especially nice since it wasn't yet another rehash of the same 'news' we've already heard all week. Unfourtunately, the race itself was, once again, one of the most frustrating experiences for someone trying to keep interested in the race. The camera shots kept jumping from one 'chaser' to another, usually in closeup. The occasional wide shots were kept just long enough to tease that I'd be able to gain some sort of perspective on the overall race, only to be snatched back to a tight shot of one or two cars. The booth was very late in getting information on any problems, and the inability to reset the field after pit stops or cautions until at least one lap is run is extremely frustrating. If TV doesn't have access to Nascar timing and scoring any quicker than that, something needs to be done. I realize that Nascar and the media have decided that the fans should only be interested in the top 12 drivers and the pseudo playoff for the 'champeenship'. However, since the fans in general don't seem to be as enamored of this as the powers that be, perhaps more than a passing reference to the other 2/3 of the cars in the field would help boost those ratings. Brian france tells fans that the racing has never been better. I certainly have a hard time believing that judging from what I'm being shown on my TV. Post race was outstanding. Lots of interviews with lots of drivers. This should be the standard after every race. Perhaps the earlier start time had something to do with this? HINT. If I can't enjoy each individual race, it's difficult to expect me to take much interest in who 'wins' the title, don't you think?
This coverage - ESPN/ABC SUCKS!! worst ever - if they can't cover the races, then let someone who can, do it.
Example: someone twittered me what happed to Jamie Mac - not a clue - he was running top 10 and then??? laps down reason?? nothing from TV
This is HORRIBLE for this sport & will cost them fans. Let someone who gives a s&&t about the sport cover it TNT is my fav Fox is 2nd.
Allen, Rusty and Brad show a lot of enthusiasm about their subject (Holy Cow, I am saying something nice about Rusty!), but when the race coverage goes to the booth the enthusiasm level dies. Monotone and dull. Thank goodness for Hot Pass, which, with all of its bugs and buggaboos, is worlds better than ABC/ESPN coverage of anything.
Actually, I thought that this was an improvement from past broadcasts. I really liked when Dave Burns gave us an audio of a tire leaking. I could hear a screech in it, which could have been avoided with better sound board techniques, but that was cool. I was tired today so I slept through most of the race, but I enjoyed the start and end of the race.
I watched some videos from the good old NBC/TNT days, and I still would like to see Bestwick and Punch switch places, but I think ESPN is taking some fan suggestions....so keep saying what you want!
There's a VJC feature on ESPN's site - I didn't see the prerace but I'm assuming it's the same one.
Thanks Adam, we will keep bringing it!
I'm not sure how it worked before when they had Wendy, Hermie and all doing the drivers in the older version. Bevo or someone can help :).
Gymmie,
For the first two seasons (Bevo?), Hot Pass had a pair of dedicated announcers for each driver channel.
Rick Allen and Phil Parsons were the announcers on the Junior channel. According to Wikipedia, the others included Wendy Venturini, Hermie Sadler, Doug Rice, Adam Alexander, and Pat Patterson did the majority of the stints, with Steve Byrnes, Larry Mac, and DW among the guest announcers.
One was in the booth and the other was on pit lane and would interview the crew chief, or a member of the pit crew. Some of the best coverage included detailed accounts of what happens in the pit box after the pit stop, such as what the tire specialist would do, showing how they burned off the melted rubber (picked up on the track) so they could measure the actual remaining depth of the tire and pressure. They also opened up the crash wagon to show the tools.
They would also talk to the driver before and after the race and during yellows if the crew chief permitted it. In the beginning you had your choice of three audio channels: the network audio feed, the driver audio (which is the spotter, crew chief, and driver) only, and the Hot Pass audio which was the driver audio and the Hot Pass announcers.
The video feed came from one of four sources: in car through the windshield, out the rear window, overhead showing the car and adjacent cars, and the blimp view. There was also an overhead camera for pit stops and a handheld "wild" camera used during pit stops and for other activity in pit road.
AT times there were even three images, with two along the top and a wider one at the bottom which showed the distance between the featured car and the car ahead or behind.
During commercials you still saw the video from either overhead or through the windshield on one screen, while the network racecast showed the normal commercials. If you chose the driver audio, you didn't have to listen to the commercial audio, you would still hear the normal scanner channel. The Hot Pass audio channel had the commercial audio.
This means you would know about cautions before the network returned.
One of the more annoying features was a slight delay to accomodate the subscribers who were shocked, SHOCKED!!!!!!!! that their driver might use words not welcome in church. The delay was annoying not just because of the censorship, but because it always seemed to be a beat behind, and thus if Dale Jr. was complaining that his car was "******' loose," sometimes I heard the profanity but not what he was actually complaining about!
I had to move to an apartment in a building where dishes are prohibited. Yes, I know that's not legal, but I don't want to make waves. I can hardly wait until I move again because I miss my DirecTV.
I hope this helps.
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
Just wanted to pop in and say that I forgot to set my DVR before going to the (fantastic) Titans @ Jaguars game. And I think I got more info from NASCAR.com's mobile lap-by-lap than I've gotten from the ESPN booth during the last five races. Not a good sign.
I was bad in my comment in the beginning. Pre-race w/AB & gang was excellent! The VJ piece was fabulous. Glad it's able to be seen elsewhere.
@Dot--YW! Nope no significant other here but I am accepting applications if you know anyone who wants to apply :)
@Kenny--TY :)
@ WCK, thanks for the expanded explanation. Way back when, my cable company had a similar thing. I liked it but, Dan would crab that he couldn't see the race.
Now that I'm bundled with my friend in the digital age, I can't switch to Direct TV. Not to mention, Dan would have to relearn the channel lineup. He's not too big on change.
abc/espn could solve alot of problems by putting Allen Bestwick in the booth. jerry punch is horrible as a pxp announcer.
I read elsewhere that there is an 8 second delay on ABC during the race. BSPN, none.
I bring this up because during the race comments, someone mentioned something happening and it was before it was on TV. I thought I was behind due to a previous pause (I hit the FF button to make sure), I was having a senior moment or the person was a clairvoyant. Glad to know my brain is fine (for the most part). Is there a delay on the radio coverage or Hot Pass?
I had the best time in recent memory watching the race today. Why? Because I watched the entire race on HotPass. Even watching JR's troubles didn't mar my experience. MRN was awesome.
When MRN was up on the chip about 3 or 4 guys fighting for a position the ESPN screen had a single car for what seemed like forever.
I think there were only 4 short commericals the entire race...incredible. I am emailing Directv and thanking them profusely. I hope they can do this next year.
I did switch to ESPN when the race was over to watch interviews. Can't believe one of drivers hasn't punched a pit reporter out of sheer frustration for asking such insipid questions. Not advocating violence...just saying.
Now to read the posts to see what I "missed"...LOL!
TIRED!
I'm just tired of what is being offered by the broadcast group that proclaims itself to be "the worldwide leader in sports".
On your other broadcasts of stick & ball and football, you hold your own, due to the nature of baseball and football, but, in NASCAR, you've got the wrong people in your "on-air talent" to do the right job and, after three years, you've got to get it right soon!
I've been in racing most of my aware life. starting in 1962, with my father racing in SCCA and getting to meet so many people, not only racers but support people who have gone on to on-air people and I find it intolerable that the ESPN organization can't find the chemistry from melding a group of people into their on-air talent that does the job with your viewers to keep them solely with your broadcast. Instead, we multitask in order to follow the race - less with TNT and with FOX - and the time ESPN has with the NASCAR races is the buildup to the championship!
Do what you used to do in covering NASCAR racing - you were the best when you covered the field and gave us, the viewers, the race! Homestead is coming and,in that race, you can concentrate on the race for the Cup since that's your "Superbowl" but until then, do what ESPN did the best prior to 2000 and give us a race!
Not a whole lot to ask from racing broadcast professionals...
The coverage was the same old, same old except there was a lengthy post-race segment. A number of the questions gave the impression that they were scratching for what to ask after they dispensed with the obvious questions. Shannon and Jamie continue to struggle. Junior threw an oil pump belt. I chuckled when Jamie asked him to comment on his "power outtage"!!! What was annoying all weekend was the fact that they'd erase the crawl at the top of the screen half way through the field for position as well as practice speeds. I don't think any changes will occur until the next broadcast season.
Again DirectTV/Hot Pass presented
an exciting version of the race.
MRN described racing going on all
over the track while the BSP'n
cameras were transfixed on single
cars for lap after lap.
Just think; we've got 5 or 6 more
years of BSP'n thanks to Brain
France. He should call "actions
detrimental" and cancel their contract.
It was too nice a day to sit inside and be mad at ESPN/ABC all afternoon, so I tuned in via MRN and "watched" the race through their words. Much better and I wasn't angry all day.
I came inside for the last 30 laps and wound up having to mute the tv because in just that short a time, Jerry was making me crazy. The cameras did a decent job in those last 30 laps following the racing and whether Jeff could catch Tony or not. I watched the end of the race and then because ESPN has produced a "conditioned response" in me - that there will only be a short post-race coverage, I went back outside, so until I read it here, I didn't know there was an extended post-race deal. Sorry I missed that, but ESPN has only itself to blame.
Plus, quite honestly, I'm completely over the whole chase deal. I don't really care who wins the 10 race chase for the chumps.
First the positive.
1) The Victory Junction pre race piece was excellent. I'm not a big advocate of lengthy pre race coverage but if they keep doing pieces like that to show, it's worth it. SPEED had a good one too, Flock.
2) Stewart win! and actally attempting lengthy post race coverage, even though Tony was trying to bolt for the door and ESPN seemed at a loss to figure out what to say next. I was all set to blow up if scheduled coverage ended before 6pm, but it didn't and I appreciate the effort. Anyone know what happened to Kurt Busch? Thought they would interview all the Chasers. Guess he declined. I think I saw Pat... Shouldn't have missed a Reutimann Top 10 interview unless he also declined.
Now for the bad... well nothing new there. My son reports a serious audio problem with ABC HD that began about mid race and made the rest of the telecast unbearable. There was some kind of echo on all the audio. He switched to radio, which I use anyway, so I didn't notice the problem until the post race. Yeah, the HD audio was very bad and must never happen again. I contacted the local affiliate in case it was just them, but haven't heard back. The standard TV audio was clear, I checked it post race.
It's a toss up between Yawnsas Speedway, and ESPiN's coverage.Kinda hard to lay blame on one specific spot, but I'll try: Kansaslandautoclubmichigan Speedways are detrimental to exciting racing. Throw in awful coverage, with the Good Doctor reading from the phone book, and it's a classic example of mind numbing boredom. I believe that the reason they jumped around so much, was to give the effect of "alot" happening. The one surprise for me was that they actually showed a non-chaser going into the garage. (Matt Kenseth).
JD, maybe one day do an article on Raceday Built by The Home Depot. It's literally unwatchable. Yesterday, my favorite (insert sarcasm here) co-host Kenny Wallace actually said (butchered speech)
"Jeff Gordon won this race with alot of top top ten's in 2001"
WTF? How many top tens are attainable in one race by one driver? Anyways, yesterday's coverage is the same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, etc.
I thought this week's broadcast was better, but Alan should be in the booth. He is a fan favorite and would do a lot better job than Jerry Punch. The thing I appreciated most about the race was that the stands looked full. NASCAR should look at the tracks or markets that sell out seats and base their schedule on that. I would love to see the Iowa Speedway get a Cup date.
"But other than Reutimann's strong run, Kansas was a Chase bonanza. Brad Keselowski even drew a request from NASCAR officials to be cognizant of his surroundings after he traded a little paint with Chase driver Juan Montoya early in the race."
The above comment comes directly from Nascar.com. If this doesn't say something about Nascar and their stupid Chase, nothing does. I would love it if the bozos on ESPN/ABC would comment on this quote. So what the powers-that-be in Nascar are saying is, if you're not in the Chase, don't you dare race hard and try to win and screw it up for the Chasers. Is that fair?
ABC/ESPN has provided us with one extremely bad race after another and found ways to reach new lows even when they had good tracks to broadcast from like Bristol, they constantly show they cannot handle it and are clueless to what real race fans want and deserve.
But I have to say for this 1 race, I thought this was the best job ABC/ESPN has done this season, but before I turn all glowing, let me say I still thought it sucked. I still thought it was boring. I still thought Jerry Punch, Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree are the most mind numbing announcers ever to broadcast a race.
Maybe I found the camera shots to be better this race. And if ABC needs to bounce around to make due, I think its better than showing 1 car all by itself and riding around endlessly and being shown just because he is a Chaser.
Maybe I felt they talked just a bit more about non-chasers. Maybe there was just a little bit of drama for awhile on who was actually going to win this. ABC seemed to do less to mess it up than they usually did. But they still sucked.
What should be apparent at this point is a Hendrick (or associate Hendrick) car will win the Chase (3 for 3 so far). The only question is which one will it be? Johnson, Martin or Stewart. Which I think is bad for the sport. Hendrick has been smelling this sport up for awhile now and it seems to be getting worse.
Can someone tell me why that "Hollywood" guy in pit road for Robby Gordon's team is being shown every week? I'm sorry, I get nothing out of seeing a tire changer change 2 tires for the 15,000th time.
Am I the only one who doesn't care for "Through the field"? It seems to be more fluff like "The guys were feeling really good coming into this race" than actual info "Jeff is tight and they will adjust the track bar next time in". It just seems like trying too hard to look like you're giving us info which turns out to be mostly worthless anyway. Usually followed with a commercial once done. Its just not good coverage to me. I'd rather see live commentary on a driver and alternating to other drivers during various times during the race rather than a 1, 2, 3, 4....driver format. I'm just hearing about the same people they've been talking about the whole race anyway.
Anyway, the bar for me was low. Anything better than dung would have been their best and I think that's all we got. The best ABC can do still award-winning-sucks and falls way below the WORST Fox and TNT do.
Oh yes, thanks darbar for saying something I forgot. When a driver needs to be reminded that he is around Chase drivers by Nascar so "take it easy".....This just confirms that Nascar is falling to WWF Wresting levels and it's credibility is coming into play. If a non-Chaser has to "watch it"...That's just as good as tampering with the outcome and that really stinks in my book. The Chase is the worst thing that ever happened to REAL RACING!
I did not watch the race because I know the telecast would be horrible.
It just shows how NA$CAR and E$PN for that matter does not care about its viewers or fans. If I could cuss I would. It makes me f---ing sick to my stomach to see such a good thing turn into a bad thing so quickly.
From Sports Business Daily, the race drew a 2.6 overnight rating, down 16% from 2008.
Did anyone see the Clint Bowyer interview in the bus lot after the race? In the background someone's dog was running around in the grass, then started to do the "poop walk". A couple of seconds later the dog got right down to business. It was a perfect shot right in the center of the screen. I was dying laughing.
Between ratings in the tank and dog poop, we pretty much summed up the Chase so far on TV.
OMG, I just about fell out of my chair laughing at the dog pooping during the interview!
Well, JD, perhaps France and all the rest don't give a dog's pooh that the ratings tanked. After all, in their precious Chase, you can safely say that half of the Chasers are no longer in contention, so these races will become even more boring. And, if viewers see that Nascar is admonishing the non-Chasers for racing hard and trying to win, the fans will leave their TV sets off of ABC for the duration.
BTW, I find it interesting that Nascar failed to admonish Jeff Gordon for bumping Denny Hamlin. So I guess if you're a Chaser, you CAN ruin a guy's day, but beware if you're a non-Chase guy who wants to win a race.
Well it was week 3 of King Brians Chase, and week 4 of the NFL. Remembering the past snoozefests at Kansas, I did what I have been doing the past 3 Sunday afternoons. After I got my DVR set for the race, I tuned in to the exciting Baltomorons-New England game. There was alot of excitement as the Ravens kept it close. Then came a few errands in the car where I did listen to the race via MRN, and then got ready for my Steelers Vrs Chargers Sunday night game. I did have to wait untill Monday morning to watch the Kansas snoozefest. Same as years past, clean air means everything. Tony proved that. The coverage is still lame with Dr Jerry Punch calling the play by play. I did like the extended post race coverage as they talked to anyone they could find, even including nonchasers........Wow, nonchasers getting postrace coverage. ABC must have screwed up and allowed to much time for a race. I can't wait for this BORING season to end.
I did not watch a boring race from my seat on the start-finish line at KS yesterday. Sorry if TV made if come off that way; the radio/track announcers sure were excited.
A couple of things you may not know from yesterday: the group Kansas did a concert with crowds allowed on the infield right before driver intros at the race. It was well-received by all ages. And Kansas (as well as Chicagoland) is going to have a new ticket policy in 2010--you will still have to buy the whole weekend package but not all four days anymore. Kansas was very full. A member of management said it was a sell-out, but some fans said they saw empty seats. There weren't nearly as many as at Chiland.
Not looking forward to no more races in person. Thank goodness for Twitter and blogging. And MRN.
OMG! LOL.
That dog going to the bathroom was seen on the TELEVISION?
That proves it we have very FEW quality PRODUCERS or EDITORS anymore..or quality camera men that pay attention.
That's both hilarious & sad.
Think we will see the Clint interview repeated? :-D
Pathetic. Need I say more. The ratings do the talking now.
There really is no depth to ESPN's coverage. The pit reporters were better but still not great, the information given was adequate at times but still relatively late, pit stops multiple times got tanked, flying heads still annoying as always. The only good thing I can say was the hour long post race show!
Just try the AB in the booth experiment ESPN, PLEASE!
same old bad show,especially on Sat. as we saw the steve wallace show again
I have a lot of ambivalence about the chase. The best that can be said for it is this: the reset creates a process of elimination for the twelve contestants whereby the contestant who shoots himself in the foot the least number of times inevitably wins the Cup.
After NASCAR warned BK off for running for the win(!!!!) the racers became mere contestants in some kind of strange event in which-as Tgro stated earlier-in which NASCAR worked to alter the outcome of one of the contestants. So Brad's entry fee doesn't entitle him to race for the best outcome he can arrive at because he is not a chaser? BAH!
As for the telecast, same old same old. All the issues we complain about-they just get worse. Camera cuts courtesy of 80's music video directors, graphics that hide the racing except in a little window on a large widescreen TV. (I bought that to watch THIS? wth). I verge on suffering seizures watching the camera work and listening to the good doctor reading ten thousand pages of service manuals. The booth does a lot more for civic pride in Catawba County than it does for racing, race fans and motorsports broadcasting in general. If you persons of fiduciary responsibility at ESPN would do something to make this all bette---Oh, what am I saying here! Just try some new people!, new faces!, something-anything but the same old same old.
My first post here (long time lurker) and the word veri is the perfect descriptor for this continuing EESPN travesty:
"unatchel"
One only needs to replay the Modified races that Speed did this year at Bristol and New Hampshire. Mike Joy, Dick Berggren and Bob Dillner, about 6 cameras, headlights, and a production crew that cared about the product they delivered to the viewer.
To be fair to NASCAR, ESPN apparently misinformed viewers on the Keselowski thing. Shocker right?
Listening to SIRIUS Speedway today that topic was asked by a caller and Moody had stated from the mouth of Brad K himself, NASCAR asked Brad to be mindful of who he was racing. That was all. They did not tell him to race hard or to ease up on the Chase guys. It was NASCAR telling a rookie to think about who he is racing and how he would like to be raced if the roles were reversed.
They've done it to many many drivers in the past, I just find it disappointing ESPN again stirs the pot to create some controversy as usual.
=(
David said:
"Listening to SIRIUS Speedway today that topic was asked by a caller and Moody had stated from the mouth of Brad K himself, NASCAR asked Brad to be mindful of who he was racing."
There's no need to downplay that warning from on high. That statement by NASCAR is clearer than their rulebook!
I bet if you check the NASCAR bashers in the mainstream press you will find that all the blame for declining ratings is NASCAR's and the COT - with no mention at all of the Evil Empire.
Actually Richard, I think you will find that alot of the mainstream media is blaming Mr. Robot the 2nd (besided MK) JJ...
Ratings are down because people complain about the racing they see on TV. Your not asking fans at the track what they think of the racing. Everyone I have heard from that has gone to a race this year has been fairly happy with the product on track. TV portrays a different picture. One of single file racing of the top 5 which is all they show. Coincidence?
been thinking about this weekend and wondering what i could add to what's already been said. so here's one positive:
i honestly thought that some of the questions asked by the pit reporters -- especially jaimie -- were solid and interesting. yes, there's the lapse into the "feeley" questions but there were also some good ones as well. and as i posted on the race blog, i find it interesting that the drivers gave longer and more complete answers to the better questions. so that's an improvement.
however, as i've completely given up on espn and only have the tv on for some level of visual to go with the radio, i can't speak to the actual pit reports during the race.
the multi-car pile-up that is espn's coverage continues and seems to get worse as it goes. there is so little concrete information provided during the broadcast that i can't even figure out who is where and why when i attempt to listen to espn. the very basics of race coverage are absent.
and i agree completely with david @11:02 pm: it's not the on-track racing that is so horrible: it's espn's coverage of the racing. and that's the most frustrating aspect of their poor work for me. b/c espn doesn't cover our sport in a knowledgable and respectful manner, fans turn off the race and the numbers plummet. then folks start believing that interest in nascar is dying for a variety of reasons: the cot, the chase, the 48 team/hendrick winning everything, whatever the current thinking.
but what is rarely, if ever, brought to light is the effect of the poor race broadcasts on the ratings. sure would like to read some thought about this aspect from the nascar media.
Hey guys, just figured I'd pop in and see how the coverage was. I skipped the race this weekend, I went grocery shopping then I came home and watched Football. I turned it on for the last 20 laps or so.
I just don't feel like I'm missing anything by missing ESPN's TV Coverage/Highlights
The big thing that ESPN pushes no matter the sport is The Story. The event itself is not compelling enough on it's own to draw viewers in the minds of those in charge at ESPN, they must present a script and all of the actors (drivers, crews and reporters) have to deliver their lines. Technically they have to use interesting "special effects" so we get rapid cuts from in-car cameras, cameras on heads of pit guys and tight shots of the "lead actors" because it's more compelling for the narrative.
When ESPN got the rights to NASCAR again imagine how ecstatic they must have been that Brian France had hand delivered the best Story they could have ever imagined for motersports - The Chase. No series in motorsports had ever had a playoff system to determine their champion for the simple reason that it was not needed. A champion is determined by his/her performance over an entire season where each race is given equal weight in the scoring system. The only reason The Chase was created was to increase television ratings for the end of the season when NASCAR had to go head-to-head with football and the World Series. For NASCAR the company it worked, witness the huge television contract that resulted.
This is where the whole thing breaks down for the fans watching on ESPN. They have their story, script, actors and production elements. The one thing that is absent is this - context. We have no idea watching the race what is going on. What are the different pit strategies? Why is a certain car that was in 39th place all of a sudden in 12th place and closing on the lead pack which we can only tell because of the ticker at the top of the screen? Could it be that the reason why there is an incident between two cars on lap 200 was because of a heated battle over 18th place on lap 120 to 130? We have no idea because ESPN isn't giving us any information about this stuff. There is no context to The Story.
Even the radio guys have fun. For the Talladega Truck race later this month, on Halloween will call the race in costume
I dont know I give up on ESPN. Thanks God for Bud and Budweiser, that actually gets me through this awfull coverage!!!! I do have to thank Direct TV though they have made the chase awsome. Maybe 2 sets of commercials throughout the whole race, and they gave up on the ESPN broadcasters, they play the MRN feed and its great. I switch between HOTPASS and ABC just because abc is full screen and hotpass isnt so its harder to watch the whole race w hotpass but its split 50 50!
Oh and it so funny when I do switch from the Hot pass to ABC, It brings the excitement level down soooo much. A good example of this is when I had on HotPass and MRN was broadcasting and they happened to be talking about the same 3 wide battle that ESPN had on the screen and wow was it exciting I was on the edge of my seat and thought let me just see how ABC is calling this action, I turn to my dad and say watch this is going to seem as if we just steped away from the racetrack and into a funeral! Lol yep as soon as I put on abc it was just like going from Ecstasy to agony... Please give us Marty Reid please please
Thank you for all the great comments. We will be live blogging the race from Fontana next Sunday.
JD
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