This is the first post of the new season asking directly for opinions of the NASCAR On FOX coverage of the Sprint Cup Series. The Daytona 500 was the first race.
Mike Joy, Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip were the trio calling the race. On pit road were Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren. Chris Myers and Jeff Hammond were stationed in the Hollywood Hotel.
This race started under cold conditions and ran with few problems until being stopped for a pothole on the track that developed in a turn. After a long delay, the racing started again at 5PM. The same problem reappeared and the race was stopped again. The final restart was at 6:35PM ET.
The problem with the track had nothing to do with the TV coverage. Issues like this arise from time to time. We are looking for your comments on the NASCAR on FOX team.
We offer this opportunity to post your thoughts immediately after the race and before we publish our column about the TV coverage. This is the most widely read post in our weekly line-up and has been credited with helping to get fan viewpoints across to the TV networks, NASCAR and the teams.
To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to stop by The Daly Planet.
150 comments:
D.W. yelling Go Junior go was overboard
Fox is bar none the worst of all of NASCAR TV Partners. Mike Joy is a NASCAR suck up. DW is annoying as heck. Fox is horrible at working in commercials. This direction in the production truck is horrid. Fox should just give up their races so someone that knows how to broadcast races can take over.
The comments on Twitter re Fox were grossly negative and unfair, as if some could do a better job!!! Thanks to Fox for handling an extremely difficult situation well!!!
One of the WORST broadcasts I have ever seen Fox do. Mike Joy was so totally off his game, I couldn't believe it. There was practically NO PXP on this race.
DW needs to get a grip and act like a professional. Cheerleading is OUT and completely inappropriate, so is hating on a particular driver, like Larry Mac did with the 24. It is totally uncalled for.
The camera work was terrible. They were slow on following the action, too much in car coverage at stupid moments.
Commercials were way over the top, too many of them and at terrible times. Going to commercial with 20 to go during green flag racing is just stupid.
In short, I am terribly disappointed with the coverage of this race by Fox.
Next up is the race at Caliboring. I doubt that I will watch even if the weather is terrible in NJ next Sunday. I'd rather take a nap on the couch than waste 4 hrs of my life.
FOX got lucky. The last lap was worth the previous 6 hours.
Ken, you must have not watched the same race on fox as the rest of us. Definitely worse than normal
DW is one of the least professional people on TV. Broadcasts need to at least pretend to be objective. I'm sick of all Waltrips!
Ken, what's up with that? Everyone has an opinion. Yours included. How about leaving us your comments on the coverage? Thanks.
I'm not the biggest Jamie fan but it was nice to see him win. Nice to see the emotion from him in victory lane.
I understand the fan criticism of DW yelling for Jr. as he did, but part of what makes DW great is his enthusiasm.
Jr. was making an amazing run, and I would bet dollars to donuts that the ESPN crew would have missed even seeing Jr. coming through the pack.
The 'White Flag' graphic must go.
oh wait, one more thing. The MRN radio feed actually gave me information on what was going on in the race, something I wasn't getting from Fox's coverage.
Overall it was a good race. The hole incident was bit of drag, but overall it was a good race. Coverage was a little bit of a drag, but again, overall it was a good race. I like the new 3 attempt GWC finish.
great last lap for the 1 car. and good coverage of it and the issue w/the 24 at the end . good finish and coverage of the 88 from 10 to 2. enjoying the interviews w/the drivers after the race
Taking your comments on the NASCAR on FOX coverage of the Daytona 500.
Ignoring the patch failing when all of the car scanners were reporting it is inexcusable. What else could it be other than fox bowing to nascar by not reporting anything negative - that is just dishonest to the viewers - and you can't hide it anymore with technology like twitter.
DW was terrible, he was cheerleading for Harvick and after he fell to the back he started yelling for JR. He needs to shut it. You can be a good color commentator w/o rooting for someone to win. Reid>Joy
I cannot believe that a network would allow a person behave in the manner that Darrell Waltrip does. He is the most uncouth, uneducated person that can be on television. His behavior should be unacceptable to the network. He needs to be suspeneded for the rest of the season that Fox carries. I have been a fan for over 25 years and not one announcer on any of the other networks that have carried the races ever have come close to the circus that Darrel Waltrip blubbers out of his mouth. I am not a Jack Roush fan, but he is right on how the networks are letting certain announcers with their agendas cloud what NASCAR is trying to put out as sport. He is an embarrassment to NASCAR. I could go on, but somehow nothing will change. I thought that NASCAR is making this year the year of the fan, then they need to listen to us fans and get rid of him.
FOX struggled. Mike Joy struggled until 40 to go, DW was full of hype, the ads were overkill, poorly timed commercials, cameras missing or catching wrecks after the fact, just in all a cluster. Not to mention they ignored the hole until AFTER they red flagged the field, then ignored its degrading condition until after the caution for it. Those are unforgivable mistakes.
I think dw would have "rooted" for any car that came through like that, i don't think it was only a "junebug" thing..it was an amazing move with a push from 00
I didn't care much for or about FOX, for that matter, today. I was jumping back and forth between the top-running HotPass drivers.
Jamie really deserved this one. And most of the top 8-10 represents the next generation of the Cup Series. How often do you see names like McMurray, Truex, and Bowyer winning the biggest races of the year? These will be the drivers of the 2010's, if they can carry what they did into the following races.
One extra hauler I will stop at this July. Too bad Bass Pro Shops is VERY hard to find in NYC. Good luck trying.
The biggest problem I had with the Fox coverage was they were late with everything. 7 or 8 seconds before they cut away to a wreck in progress. Twitter was showing driver complaints about the pothole about 8 minutes before Fox mentioned it, and even then Fox only mentioned it once the red flag was out.
DW's professionalism certainly lacks. The big problem with Mike Joy is that when he explains things he talks down to you, treating you like you are a stupid 5 year old.
I thought Fox did a miserable job of covering the race. They constantly missed much of the action on the race, the in car cameras and close shots got terribly distracting. I don't believe they once gave a full 'thru the field' rundown. It took them forever to restet the field after pit stops. It makes it very difficult, watching at home, to make any sense out of the race at all. I'm not saying the race was bad, but the coverage certainly was. The guys in the booth have to spend less time trying to bench race, and just tell fans what is happening on the track. Lots of talk and very little useful information. Mike Joy was off his usual good game, and DW just never shut up. Wxtremely disappointing, especially after ESPN upped their game for the Nationwide race. It's going to be a long stretch till TNT is back if this keeps up.
The Fox guys were also not being honest about the pothole problem. Writers on twitter knew it was coming. They should not have hid the problem.
You guys did a great job today, this was by far the best race I have seen in a long time, even with the red light problems because of the potholes. KUDOS TO JAMIE FOR WINNING TODAY,HE SO DESERVED THIS WIN. And my favorite driver finished SECOND, what could be better than that???? Daytona has always been exciting, but with the new rule changes the excitement level is now where it kept me on the edge of my seat. Thanks Nascar and the announcers for making the race so much more entertaining this year.
Forgettable race, poor broadcast.
FOX had plenty of adversity to deal with today. The 52nd Daytona 500 did not live up to the hype and intense racing after the Gatorade Duels, Truck race, and Nationwide race. There were 2 red flags for the track falling apart.
That said, the FOX team dropped the ball today. Mike Joy was not his energetic, witty self. At points he was stating the obvious. Darrell Waltrip was an embarassment the last lap. There is a certain level of professionalism that a broadcaster should follow.
It should be interesting to see the commercial count for this race. Commercials were crammed down our throats, including a few movie previews. Commercial and caution timing was horrible.
Camerawork took many steps backwards from the Bud Shootout. There was an excess of tight shots and in car cameras. The booth would notice a wreck, and the production truck would take serveral seconds to change the shot. The announcers were amazed by the racing, but all I saw was the manufacturer logo on a bumper cam.
I was disappointed in FOX ignoring the track patch problems. I was getting constant updates on Twitter while FOX was ignoring the situation. I'm sure everyone else will fill in anything I left out.
** / ***** (2 out of 5 stars)
The show was awful - from digger to dw - just awful. What is even worse is that David Hill said in press conference his talent would not schil for NASCAR - yet FOX talent met with NASCAR executives this week - sole purpose was for NASCAR to convinve booth talent to say only good things about NASCAR on the air - at least they got that right.
What happened? I don't understand.
I tuned in with great excitement to watch excellent, comfortable, truthful FOX coverage of years past.
I must have missed the memo:DW is now the pxp, the color man, the only voice for the race.
FOX scrapped Mike Joy, all the experienced Pit Reporters, and the rest of the team for DW's ramblings. untruths, yak-yak.
Why, FOX, would you change a winning scenerio for this crap?
The only time I didn't have to hear DW was during the endless and poorly placed commercials.
Tell me what happened.
Makiki
Honolulu
It looked like Fox and ESPN traded broadcast teams except for the booth in the off season. How can one network improve so much while another falls in such a short time?
Looks like it will be a long winter in racing coverage.
This was pathetic. Way too much in-car camera towards the end. Horrible reaction on the crashes. D.W. showed way too much favoritism. Hated how he sucked up to Brian France. Mike Joy really struggled today which was sad to see. Larry Mac wasn't bad.
I was really looking forward to this race, especially after the abysmal coverage from ESPN last year. FOX managed to disappoint me.
There was no energy that I could find in the booth. It didn't sound like they were calling the race ... it sounded like a group of guys sitting around watching and talking about whatever popped into their heads.
I got more information from Twitter than I did from the FOX coverage, and that's sad. I heard about the hole in turn 2 on Truex's radio, MRN, and on Twitter about 10 minutes before FOX even thought to mention it.
Way too many commercials during green flag racing, and they were doing full screen replays during the green flag as well. No network should be doing full screen replays during green flag racing.
They seemed to be slow to show wrecks when they happened ... especially the wreck at the end of the race w/ Jeff Gordon.
Overall, FOX really disappointed me. I expected so much more from them. ESPN really made gains in their coverage. Why did FOX fall behind (or were they this bad last year and I just blocked it out?)?
Wow - what a let down FOX.
1st - how can you go to commerical with 20 laps to go after almost 2 hours of Red Flags. Guess your commericals are more important then laps 20 - 17 of the biggest race of the season.
How many pit stops can you possibly ignore and then you call pit stops but don't show us them - oops mr director - and your pit clocks were wrong more then right
10 Yeas into this and Chris Myers is still missing what it's all about
DW - guess mr france got to you because i have never heard a analyst whom from minute one was clearly on NASCAR payroll
Digger cams - ug - what is worse 1 of them was completley cluody and the director kept putting it on screen
Historical packages are always interesting uless the COVER UP GREEN FLAG RACING!!!!!
Everyone in the stands knew about the patch issue because scanners keep the sport honest - but you hid it from us for quite a bit of time FOX - Why? Oh that's right - Mr France told you to only say good things.
Really Bad!
DW was a little over-the-top with his blatant cheering for Jr. It would be different if he was actually RELATED to Jr, like when Ned was cheering for DJ, that was heart-warming, this display was nauseating.
BTW Congratulations to Jamie McMurray for winning.
FOX coverage has declined severely. DW has gotten worse and needs to go. They missed the track situation and refuse to report anything negative about NASCAR.
They missed several wrecks and were yelling "wreck" but the camera missed it.
Grade = D
I've had it one most of the day. Fortunately, as I'm a McMurray fan :)
I pretty much agree with David's assessment, plus even though the 1 was running well all day...yet he barely got a mention cause they were so busy pushing Harvick, etc.
The commercial timing at 20 to go freaked me out a bit...could not believe they did that after all the delays.
Surely by the time we got to 20 to go, NASCAR on FOX had fulfilled all their commercial commitments for the broadcast during the hours of red flags. Why go to commercial there?
We had been sitting around all day waiting for the finale and then just as the racing was heating up, they cut away for a commercial.
When you watch an NHL hockey game that has multiple overtimes, once they've aired all their commercials, they just stay with the broadcast in overtime. Wish FOX would have done the same.
Nothing but good things to say about Dick Berggren though. I sat beside him on a flight to LA a couple of weeks ago and it was a real pleasure to meet such a professional and knowledgeable pit road reporter.
that should have said, I had it 'on', not one.
oh, almost forgot...putting the race in the small box, and Jimmie heading to the pits in the big box...that was so WRONG....I could barely see what was going on.
Enjoyed the broadcast very much. The red flag interviews were very informative and abundant. Great Speedweeks Fox.
FOX was dismal, but if you have DirecTV, you have to like all your shots in-car, a few seconds ahead of FOX, and prefer the commentary of spotters, crew chiefs, and the drivers themselves drowning out the FOX guys, even if the spotters get a little repetitive ("2-wide inside, still inside, still inside") for HotPass.
Sorry for shoving HotPass down your throats, but this is my first race watching on that service.
Anyway, it sucks for Jimmie Johnson to be the chosen victim of "THE HOLE", but his final radio call was hilarious.
"It's that hole again, and it's ******* huge!"
Then Ch 797 pulled his plug and switched to Truex for the final restart.
Watching lead battles from Kahne and Hamlin's cams were infinitely better than what FOX was doing.
If you don't have DirecTV, I suggest you switch now.
The broadcast was kinda iffy but the race was outstanding!!!!!!!!!!
58 Lead Changes among 22 drivers (one of the most competitive Daytona 500's ever)
Dale, Jr. went from 10th to 2nd almost beat Jamie Mac to the finish
All in all a great day for NASCAR
Hopefully it will not be a bait and switch
Dang it dumb blogspot error lost my post!
Very disappointing to hear that FOX was so off their game. Being TV-less had MRN on.
I saw the tweets & was sad to hear it was so disappointing for so many :(. Since I'm doing everything via phone until I have a 'puter again not sure of MRNs timing. FOX is usually so on top a shame they were so behind.
MRNs coverage was good. While they were waiting for drivers to be free they had several segments on Michigan speaking to a state senator(?).
Unless my memory is failing they didn't have anyone official until Joie Chitwood was on abt the last 20ish minutes of the 1st red flag.
Hope FOX gets their mojo back otherwise it's going to be a long journey to Summer & TNT.
BTW thrilled for Jamie! that car was awesome all of Speedweeks and he definitely had an incredible welcome back to Ganassi with that victory. As happy as he was Montoya was pretty disappointed that final run (thats your update Branden) no help.
batchief,
Abundant is a great word!
JD
If you don't like the coverage blame the director, not the cameraguys. They have no control over what the director puts on.
Taking your comments on the Daytona 500 coverage on Fox.
Did you hear DW almost cry when Dale Jr. pull into second place? He is such a Homer. Makes me sick!!!!
Did somebody put Nyquil in the announcer's coffee? They were so dull and listless until the last red flag was over.
A lot of action shown was horrid. Cloudy digger cam shots, though in general it wasn't as overused as when they first got it. The little rodent was confined to dancing during sponsor plugs until the very end. That WAS an improvement.
Lots of missed action on the track. The sleepy announcers were even saying wreck and the screen stayed on the lead car. The announcers would talk about one driver but it would be another driver on the screen.
Totally bad job for which there is no excuse: ignoring the pothole until the race is red flagged for it.
As Kevin Sorbo says as Hercules "VERY DISSAPPOINTED!!"
I thought FOX did a good job. I am obviously in the minority here, but they had an awful lot of time to fill and did it well. I also watched DirecTv's HotPass and it had the funniest moment of the race with Dale Jr ranting to Lance McGrew at the start of the red flag. I thought McGrew was going to have a heart attack when the pit reporter walked up. The first words out of his mouth were "He didn't say nothing!"
Congrats Jamie!
D.W. was on Wind Tunnel and I could have sworn he said Jamie won his first race with Ganassi back in 2002 filling in for Sterling Marlin and he now won his first race after reuniting with Ganassi.
Actually, it was Jamie's 2nd race with Ganassi in 2002 that he won, not his first.
Not surprising, I guess, after the day of misinformation he had on Fox.
FOX didn't create the hole, and they dealt with it about as well as you could expect them to. In total, they filled 3.5 hours of live television on short notice. That is extremely difficult to do, and I think they did a great job considering the task at hand.
I especially liked the low profile of Digger. Maybe Dave Hill listened to the Fan Council, too.
Here is something that needs to be fixed: the scroll that shows position. For the last part of the race, no driver past 35th was even on the track... but that slow-as-molasses scroll has to run down 35th thru 43rd before it gets back to first as tells us important race positions.
I would be much happier if the top of the screen had all 43 numbers of the cars, and the order of the numbers switched in real time. It would be much more effective than the CNN-scroll they use. Think about it: if at some point your driver is 10th, or 20th, how long does it take for the scroll to get to them? Probably a full minute. You should just be able to glance up and see if they've made the pass or improved their position. Fix it FOX!
"Junebug". Seriously-if I was Dale Earnhardt Jr. I'd allow Waltrip one more chance to call me 'Junebug', and at that point make sure he had a lot of time to think about how he should never call me that again while his broken jaw was wired shut. As if the "BBB" wasn't stupid enough.
Dumbest, most annoying booth announcer in professional sports. Bar none.
Let me say this: the broadcast was 10 times better than any Cup race ESPN/ABC did all last year...
However, we all hold high standards for FOX's broadcasts, and today surely lacked. I thought there were too many commercials and did not get why they would go to break with 20 to go right after the second red flag.
I felt like Mike Joy was not himself. Not sure it was opening race jitters or something but he was a disappointment to me.
FOX in general is getting like ESPN with too many in-cars. We get it. In-cars look great in HD. But there's another thing that looks great no matter what: wide shots!
DW and Larry Mac were getting on my nerves towards the end. Their favoritism (well, really DW) towards Junior on the last lap, and the two basically bashing Jeff Gordon for causing the second GWC, when the whole inside line was backing up and it was a chain reaction wreck. I liked how a couple minutes later Mike Joy mentioned that and the two immediately backed off their comments.
Note to FOX: lose the stupid "White Flag" graphics. It is way to huge and was more of a distraction than anything else. Just keep the regular running order at the top, where it updates pretty much automatically whenever passes are made. That's all we need.
Overall, a D for the coverage. Again, better than any Cup race on ESPN last year, but after ESPN's coverage of the Nationwide race Saturday, FOX better get on their A game and quick.
Oh, and congrats to Jamie. Awesome emotion in VL.
Folks, Fox's director has always been slow to change cameras when there is a wreck happening that's not on camera. It has been this was since their very first race. Nothing has changed.
As bad as ESPN's coverage was last fall, I was looking forward to something else to start the year. The Fox guys seemed to be a bit off, especially Mike Joy who I consider to be the best PxP guy currently covering NASCAR. Even with them being off, it was still better than ESPN ever put out last year.
@Chris in NY
If you had been with DirecTV 3 years ago when they first offered HotPass, you wouldn't think it was so great now.
HotPass had been the only thing keeping me with DirecTV. I am about to bolt to U-verse so that I can get ESPN Classic for all the delayed Nationwied starts in the fall withOUT paying for the premium sports package and Universal Sports for the figure skating (NOT available on DirecTV in any package, even the $ports). And oh yea, I can Versus, too and I don't have to worry about rain.
HotPass isn't even worth the free price anymore. You still have to wait until the broadcast comes back in order to find out why the caution came out.
i was at a now-traditional daytona watch party with hardcore fans and a handful of newbies. in this environment, we don't really listen to the tv but use it solely for the visuals. so, i can't comment on what was SAID until the last 20 laps, when we were down to 6 of us and were able to actually listen to the broadcast.
but i do have some observations:
1. i received excellent updates and info from twitter throughout the entire race. my laptop was invaluable in keeping everyone informed and engaged and i was able to answer questions about what was happening in real time. not sure i could have said the same if i had relied on tv for information.
2. after the second patch job, a relatively new fan & i both realized that the camera angles being chosen by the director appeared to be avoiding showing the patch. it was through twitter that we were kept informed as to whether this bondo-patch was holding or not. fox wasn't doing a good job in keeping us informed.
3. during the first red flag, the race was relegated to the back burner & the olympics were turned on. i kept on eye on twitter and online streaming to let us know when the race was coming back on. but even in a crowd of race fans, the olympics held the remote until the finish of the nordic combined event. not a good sign for nascar.
4. dw stating that fans weren't leaving was just flat out wrong (at best.) twitter photos were making it abundantly clear that fans were leaving the track in droves. misleading viewers is unethical. if dw was truly that misinformed, someone should have stepped in and clarified. if it was a deliberate misleading of viewers, well, that's pathetic b/c . . .
5. fox needs to recognize that twitter & other social media sites are a major part of how fans now "view" the race: tv is no longer the only choice. so either partner with these sites or -- at the very least -- be aware of what's being said/shown online.
6. going to commercial under green flag with 20 laps remaining was inexcusable. at that point, the few viewers remaining had earned the right to watch the remaining laps without commercial break. in addition, fox literally had 2 extra hours of air time in which to give sponsors all the time they paid for -- and more.
overall, i didn't miss listening to the booth today. i used alternate sources and i believe i had more accurate information than when i was finally listening to the fox broadcast team.
How soon we forget! Upon discovering the hole in the track, ESPN would likely have switched to a rerun of a lacrosse match in Bolivia.
I thought Fox did a good job. Just as we expect the drivers to "be themselves" on camera, we should have similar expectations for the TV personalities.
wow. watched the 1st wreck before leaving house to hear great music for 3.5 hrs. Bar had tv on mute. No cc. Finally called home to ask what happened for long red flag.
Very disappointed to read of all the in car cams. Got home in time to listen/watch last 20 laps. SHEESH, thought race would never end.
Sorry to read such negative stuff but will delete off DVR..eyes bothering me anyway.
SHAME to hear in car cam junk continues to screw up the race.:(
Oh to make things worse, lost my FM MRN station :( I found the race in the car to listen to on way to gig and on way home.
If this camera work is how the suits ant it, I'll wait and watch TNT.
p.s. My house mate only saw bits & pieces, not the whole race so no input. AMAZING TWITTER told news of the pothole before tv.
CONGRATS to Jamie!!!
The bad, DW. I mean come on, I turned off the Nationwide race as all I was hearing was DW say I I I I I Danica Danica I I I I I Danica I I I I I I. Today, just an annoying shill, over the top, Toyota pluging, completely biased announcer. Why can't the TV guys figure out that both Waltrips are a big part of what is wrong with the broadcasts!!! Well, that and the directors, how long does a booth boob have to yell wreck before they show it to us?? The answer, it seems to be once the cars stop moving. How long does it take a car to go 200 - 0. A LONG TIME.
I did actually enjoy the red flag filler, I found if you Tivo it and fastforward thru the booth boobs talking and just listen to the interviews it was pretty good. Ohh, what the heck was with showing a history piece after a commercial when pitstops are going on?? They said right before the commercial they were going to them to get back in time for the pitstops. I guess that ment after a stupid history piece and the pitstops were mostly done.
So overall, Mike Joy now just does commercials as the race is going on,the digger prick now shows up on cloudy cameras(that rodent needs to be shot and NEVER shown again), Waltrip just being completly annoying, idiodic, and distracting(Waltrip needs to join Digger in being shot and never shown again), then the directors need actually watch the race, not just cut from camera to camera aimlessly, at least that seems to be what the are doing. Many times I found myself confused from all the camera changes and hacing no clue what I was looking at. I guess ESPN needed some competition for the worst broadcast partner!!
I have mixed feelings on the race. Some moments were well done, others I found very irritating. The race itself was pretty darned good with quite a bit of excitement mixed in.
While DW can be a little too much at times, I cannot fault him for openly supporting Junior. DW watched Junior grow up and it's obvious that he loves him and wants very much to see him succeed-especially at Daytona.
Anon 11:07PM,
The FOX pit reporters do not wear firesuits and are not in areas where those are required.
Voda must wear clothing that the network assigns her to wear on race day, just like any other on-air announcer for Fox.
On SPEED, she is allowed to use her own wardrobe on the truck series and studio shows.
I would be happy to provide you an email like to Fox if you would like to suggest the pit reporters wear firesuits.
Email me at editor@thedalyplanet.tv anytime.
Thanks,
JD
ok, fine, how about just replying with that information instead of deleting my comments. geez.
OHHH almost forgot, Mike Joy here is some advice: never ever for any reason say "It's Katy bar the doors" again!!!! it souns just stupid, doesn't really fit, and after listen to a Waltrip all day, just not a good idea.
One more word of advice, if your two comrades in the booth start making such obvious straigh up shots at anyone like they did Jeff Gordon, beat the crap out of the. I can't ever remember two annoucers taking such personal vindictive shots at someone for something that happened six months ago in the way they did. Politicians careers are ended for things like this, there broadcast career should be too. It was just wrong.
I don't know who was controlling the shots in the truck today but they need to have a faster finger when it comes to switching camera angles for a crash. It was a good 5-10 seconds after we were told about a crash that we were actually shown a crash.
I also was very frustrated that on THE LAST LAP FOX decided to go into an incar shot of Dale Jr. we were unable to see the pack racing down the back stretch on the final lap because we were in a car. VERY VERY FRUSTRATING.
In-Car shots on the final lap of a race, especially the Daytona 500, should be outlawed.
Okay, allow me to say this: They filled dead time wonderfully during the red flags, BUT that is no excuse for the first 120 laps where they seemed disjointed and clueless!
I've always DW and Larry Mac were overrated in the booth, gets a little worse each year. What makes it stand out this weekend even more is the huge strides the ESPN made since the end of last year, while FOX took another annual step backwards. Joy could be okay with the right people with him.
Well, I may be the contrarian but I believe the 500 on FOX broadcast was ok, with some facets needing improvement (kinda like bringing a new race car to the track and taking it home afterwards to tweak it better). Mike Joy seemed to not be on his normal game and DW was just being good ol'DW. A few things to improve on but this FOX group has done it(as previous years TDP columns have noted).
I believe that, in part, the comments displayed so far in this column reflect a point-counter-point over our collective amazement on the vast improvement of an ESPN telecast of a NASCAR race since the fall 2009 efforts of that network. There seemed, in my belief, that nearly all of the pieces missing with ESPN up through Homestead now had fallen into place and, on Saturday, we were treated to what we had expected an ESPN telecast to be when the new contracts were announced (although it took three years and an offseason to get there).
I'd just ask my fellow Planeteers to sit back and watch the next few races on FOX, compare and contrast them with the ESPN Nationwide race telecasts and constructively make suggestions that can improve both FOX and ESPN's coverages, so that we are not going to efforts to multitask as we've been forced to over the past couple of years. Simply watching the race on TV is such a joy.
Just my opinion
Oh, by the way...race announcers, if they have ties or close friendships with racers have, in the past cheered for certain cars whether its been Ned Jarrett, Benny Parsons or Dale Waltrip. Sometimes the emotion coming to the checkers is what I want rather than a neutral "no dog in this fight" announcer. Again, just my opinion...
Ann_Ominous, I agree HotPass isn't what it used to be. But, the price is right.
My only complaint is you are no longer able to switch audio feeds on HotPass. The simultaneous audio feed during the racing and the lack of car radio during commercials is annoying. There was one point late in the race under caution where you could see Dale Jr being very animated while talking on the radio but all you could hear was the Old Spice commercial.
Why not give us the option of audio during the race and force feed the simultaneous during commercials? That way you would still hear the entire car radio feed and sponsors would get their feed as well.
I really thought I had read here and other places that Digger was dead. Guess he's like a Phoenix and always rises form the underground. He just won't stay dead.
I was excited after watching DW on Speed during the Twins.
Wow, was I wrong about that. He was really bad during the 500. A broadcaster constantly rooting for one driver after another is really a sad situation.
Where is the DW I saw during the Twins?
There was about 15 minutes of technical issues with Fox about lap 90. Constant still pictures, lost video ect. I checked my other channels to make sure it was not Comcast. It was not, it appears to have been Fox.
The crappy track surface was not Fox's fault. That's Nascar's fault for not re-surfacing that bumpy crudely surfaced track a long time ago. I'm surprised they were able to fill that much time. However, personally, during that break I got to see the US take a Silver metal in the Olympics.
What a long day, but it wasn't Fox's fault about the hole. I felt it took Fox too long to get a rep from Nascar to come on air to explain the situation with it. Joy was not on his game either and DW talked too much. One point during the race, they stated they would do some comemrcials before the green flag pitstops started, but when they came back the cars were already pitting so we missed some of them. Maybe next week's race will be better.
Ned Jarrett didn't cheer for DJ to win the 500 the way Waltrip was cheering for Earnhardt! Time to take his "booger" nonsense and go sit on the porch!
Fox is the worst of the 3 networks that broadcast Nascar. They need to talk about racing. Teach people about the sport. Not bookety bookety!
Was not very happy with the broadcast. Mike Joy did seem off, perhaps the first race and all, but he was not what I have come to expect. I also couldn't help but feel that no matter how much Gordon got smeared, NASCAR could do no wrong. We were repeatedly told how they had "fixed" everything, and at the end we were even told we "had" to like the race or we weren't race fans! Aside from track issues, I thought the race was as good as a restrictor plate race can be. Camera coverage was what I would consider "unresponsive". I even saw the start of a wreck, announcers yelling about it, yet we still focus in on 2 cars.....not sharp.
Given what we saw from ESPN last weekend, FOX may want to take a serious look at what and how things are done.......this was not impressive
Tom
Inverness, FL
Tom Said - "and at the end we were even told we "had" to like the race or we weren't race fans!"
I'm with you 100%. I heard that and it made my skin craw. I forget if it was Larry Mac or Jeff Hammond. Someone will remember and hopefully let us know.
But, this is not the first time the announcers have insulted the fans directly to their faces in this manner. It's almost like saying "my way or the highway". It's happened many times before. Some of these announcers need a large dose of training in manners and how to be etiquette in what their saying.
I thought FOX was doing a great job until the wheels came off during the first hole epsiode. Yeah they where using to many in cars, schilling movies and the stuff is normal. The wheels came completely off during the first 1 hour 40 minute mess. DW was doing everything he could to take every wheel of and puncturing it with a knife. The knife of his constant butt kissing of NASCAR and everything to do with NASCAR. The most over the top moment occured when a NASCAR official was finally shown on Camera after 45 minutes or so. What a joke, Chris Myers was totally useless during this time as well. If it wasn't for the racing after the delays the broadcast would have never gotten back on track. The FOX guys did a good job but DW was awful!!.
Boy, I must be a complete moron. I actually enjoyed the FOX coverage. What I saw turned out to be a pretty "quiet" race up until the red flag. So, if MJ, Larry Mac and DW were not meeting some fans' expectations, perhaps it wasn't all their fault. And when the red flag came out, their fill-time was informative and insightful. I don't know why they didn't have more info on the hole, but I have a feeling we out here don't have all the info on that one. The driver interviews are fantastic.
Yes, Joy wasn't at his best, but Mike Joy on a bad day is hands down preferable to Jerry Punch's lame efforts in the booth this past couple years.
I have a question for the DW haters out there: if he is so bad, how come Dave Despain gave a huge portion of Wind Tunnel over to DW after the race? I always find DWs observations to be worth hearing. I'm sure if I was a rabid fan of a particular driver that DW singled out for criticism during a race I'd hate him too. I didn't think his Gordon remarks were out of line, especially considering what Jeff had done earlier in the week. He backed off when it was appropriate to do so.
Lastly, I'm not a Junior fan, but I was yelling "GO JUNIOR" too when he made his move. I did so as a racing fan, not a Junior fan. Those moves at the last lap were vintage Earnhardt, and I couldn't help myself because it was so incredible to watch. FOX's camera work at those times is BAR NONE superior to anything else out there.
In summary, I enjoyed the VAST majority of the broadcast, despite the fact that it had flaws. I was also watching Twitter here & there. I dunno, maybe I don't follow the right people, because to me the Twitter coverage didn't help all that much.
Lastly on DW I realize he's a polarizing figure, but he's been that since he was busy winning more races than most anyone else on the planet except for Petty, Pearson and Allison. I appreciate his opinions for what they are: just about the most authoratative available today. He earned the nickname Jaws for his mouth way before his TV booth days. I think he's a hoot!
Twitter CRUSHED Fox...hole, fans leaving, cars parked.....Big Thanks to the media who get it & no love for Fox & Nascar who are WAY behind the times.
You are not alone!!
I am back to being late to the party here. So many of my fellow Planeteers have made great comments, both pro and con, about the coverage that I will not repeat them. I do have two other bones to pick that I don't see mentioned yet.
One thing that bothered me through almost the entire telecast was that those in the booth seemed to act like the race was about to end right then and there whenever somebody was noticed moving to the front or getting shuffled back in the pack. Even my girlfriend knew this was ridiculous at Daytona and she knows very little about racing. This went on as early as when DW and Hammond were jawing back and forth about their picks to win the race very early in the event which leads me to my second point.
Other than when DW decided so painfully early to celebrate that his chosen driver was leading, I thought that this might finally be the year when the Fox crew would put away the schoolyard-like shtick where everybody has to make fun of one another. Sadly, that did not last and, probably to nobody's surprise, it was Myers and Hammond who started it back up. It might have been "Fox edgy" in the first years of this team but it is just pathetic now that they are still making old man jokes about Berggren and that, after all this time, Myers has still managed to learn nothing about NASCAR (which bodes badly for the upcoming Showtime program). This is an area where Fox really needs to grow up.
Overall and very briefly, the telecast seemed miles ahead of what we got out of ESPN's coverage last year but still lagged well behind TNT. Any appearance of Digger still made me grind my teeth but he was thankfully much less intrusive as promised. Now that the rust should be fully shaken and the series moves on to a more normal track, I hope to see further improvements.
I think the excess of in-car shots
and bumper cams are pay backs to
the sponsors for commercial ads.
Why else would show an in-car with
a logo when they are running
in the back? Has anyone ever done a relationship study between the in-cars and the regular advertisers? Scripted?
I think the announcers were worn
out from all the speedweeks activities, and I aslo think DW was
out of line about folks leaving when you could see a line of tailights outside while he was
jabbering.
Moose135 said...
Ned Jarrett didn't cheer for DJ to win the 500 the way Waltrip was cheering for Earnhardt!
Really? Ned could hardly speak afterwards because he was so choked up.
He was screaming so high He almost sounded like a girl because he was so happy his Son was going to win THE DAYTONA 500!!!.
What have I come away with after reading all of the above comments?
There should be no announcers in the booth, period. Human beings are full of emotions, they have no place in a broadcast.
If an announcer is deemed critical then Stephen Wright needs to be in the booth.
The actual video going out on the air needs to be directed by a fan committee. Nothing hits the air until all members agree what should be seen.
If that fails just give us a 12 panel mosaic and let me pick which camera to watch.
Personally I had no issues with the broadcast. I judged it against my usual reaction during an ESPN race.
I did not find myself yelling at the TV because of what someone said, because I could not see what was going on, did not see what happened etc.
Caws and Jaws doesn't have the commercial breakdown yet, It will be interesting to see that and compare it to the complaints.
Dave in Milwaukee
Dave,
Last season the Fox announce crew set the standard for the other two Sprint Cup Series TV networks.
Earlier, the exact same on-air crew called the Bud Shoot Out and the Gatorade Duels. They were excited, focused and made those three races fantastic for TV viewers.
Sunday, Mike Joy was unable to raise his voice above a monotone until the final restarts. DW spoke continually about anything that came into his mind and Larry Mac continued his new approach of following the NASCAR line.
The comments here have nothing to do with the hole in the track. They have nothing to do with NASCAR as a sport. They have nothing to do with fans being negative.
What they do reflect is a puzzled fan base wondering what happened to the guys who used to "bring it" and not couldn't even "find it" for the biggest sports broadcast of the season.
Movie promos, endless billboards and poorly timed commercials made many parts of this event horrible to watch.
On the final lap of the race, the Fox Director Artie Kempner took Junior's in-car camera so that every single TV viewer missed his pass into second place.
Everyone here, including you, are welcome to their own opinion. But when you step outside of that box and try to criticize others, get ready for a reaction.
JD
I didn't hear the comment about "the fans have to like this or aren't real fans" since I had turned off the TV by then, but I'm not surprised at it although I'm really tired of it and I intend to make that point by sending my comments to NASCAR.
I guess I'm not a real fan because I thought the race coverage was terrible. The finish was the usual crazy crap that always goes on at RP tracks, so I was sitting on the edge of my seat, mostly because I was hoping that MY driver would survive the carnage and come out of the race with a good finish. There's an article that says the big run that the 88 had at the end made up for all the rest of the lackluster 500. Well, I guess, but I sat and watched the TV for 6 hrs yesterday and wound up disappointed in what I saw. I was happy for McMurray, but the rest of it, not so much.
The networks are going to have to get a grip on the "new media". People can now know what is really happening at the track, we'll see how long it takes them to change their culture.
Its just like NBC claiming that west coast viewers want tape delayed Olympic coverage. At least with tennis, they show it live during the wee hours and then repeat it during the day or evening, so the viewer has a choice.
Horrible coverage by Fox. Since this blog is concerned with the race coverage and not the race itself or the pothole here are my thoughts.
1. Mike Joy was merely a guy who set up commercials. I always considered him the best PxP guy but he never did that yesterday.
2. DW and Larry Mc took over the race. To make matters worse very little of what they said was informative, it was just two old guys babbling on.
3. Next to nothing from the pit reporters during the actual racing. We had no idea what was going on with the teams. They did plenty of interviews during red flags but that was the extent of their contributions.
4. Camera work. I'm sure the actual camera operators know their job, this isn't directed at them. The choice of shots was ridiculous. Viewers want wide shots with occasional tight shots for battles or to illustrate damage on a particular car. We also expect quicker cuts to action.
5. Graphics. Get rid of the White Flag thing, too big.
6. Anyone who compares DW yelling at the end with Ned Jarrett needs to go back and listen to it. He was not yelling at the top of his lungs. The reason he couldn't talk was because he was crying. The only reason he made the call was because the director told him to do it. To this day when asked about it he apologizes saying he regretted it because it wasn't the professional thing to do. What DW did was embarrassing.
Not even going to waste my time with the commercials.
First off, the pre-race was embarrassing. I had people over and I literally had my hands over my face in shame. The A-Team movie promo? Oh my God. I couldn;t find a rock big enough to hide under. People were asking me if this occurs every week. I told them it was all David Hill's fault. They asked, "Who's this David Hill, and why is he employed?" Well, they actually said something else, but I don't want my post deleted.The forced, contrived, canned, and totally inappropriate DW shilling for the race in the beginning was, man, I can't even start to say what I want. My friends were asking why are the drivers singing and dancing, and boxing gloves? Really? Shameful. I was so embarrassed, I kept offering excuses to my guests as to the races are really good, honest. I felt like a school kid in the third grade. I have never felt so dumbed down in my life. I thought after Digger last year, it couldn't get any worse. Then I realized that David Hill still works for FOX. It got worse. Man, did it get worse.
JD,
I have my Big Boy pants on and it's OK if I'm criticized for as you say stepping out of the box.
I do feel that some of the criticism of the Fox crew is warranted to a point.
but, to say "Fox is bar none the worst of all NASCAR TV partners" is a little over the top.
They had a less than steallar broadcast, No argument there.
I just believe, looking at their body of work that the harsh comments like I quoted above are too much.
Is it too much to ask that every broadcast be stellar? Maybe, maybe not.
We all have our good and days. And yes I've had bad days when my performance at work was critical and I blew it. I look back and say what the heck was that all about? I've been doing the same work for over 15 years. I'm not alway's at the top of my game. When I'm not I have to step it up the next time.
If after 2-3 races the same type of performance is mailed in, I'll jump on the Fox bashing bandwagon with baton in hand.
DW is DW, Larry Mac is Larry Mac, I guess the only solution to many is get rid of them.
And replace them with who?
I for one am not ready to start sifting through the pile of resume's just yet.
Dave in Milwaukee
Dave,
Nothing could be further off-base than to try and suggest that the Fox announcers should be removed.
The on-air personalities follow the lead of the producer and work for the Coordinating Producer.
This telecast was for Fox, while the Duels were done for SPEED. If this is what the NASCAR on FOX executives want, than that is what we will get.
We have been touting FOX as the best TV crew for three years now. The only question is what happened to the guys we know?
JD
Well...remember everyone, it's better than ESPN! I thought they did OK with the fill for the red flag. Perhaps next time they should utelize DW & Ken Squier to discuss "back in the day" stories to also help fill time.
Director is still behind when trouble happens. We are hearing trouble from announcers and still looking at the lead pack for quite a while. That needs to be fixed...
MUCH LESS of the annoying Digger Cam this season=GOOD. Although one cam was foggy and should not have been used at all.
It was bad for DW to say people were not leaving the race, we could see they were! Also bad to make jokes of "we kinda like this halftime" not amusing!
BAD - BAD - BAD to go to commercial in the last 25 laps. We had HOURS of red flag coverage, that should have been brought to us commercial free!
Finally, GREAT FINISH and CONGRATS to Jamie Mac! It was nice to see genuine emotion and thankfulness in victory lane. He gained me as a fan.
JD raised the point I was about to. Where is the crew that did the Duels and Shootout? Mike Joy did not forget how to do PxP in 2 days. What happened? Something did. Is it a different director and crew? Was there some sort of underlying issue we did not know about?
John,
Well I was quite displeased with the TV broadcast the race made up for it. You know I kind of forgot about all the red flags and everything once the race ended.
IMO ESPN did a much better job with the broadcast of the nationwide race than FOX. I never though I would say that!
I don't understand why they went to commercial with 25laps to go! I was listening to TMD this morning and they had Chris Myers on. He said the reason they didn't have many commercials during the red flag was b/c they didn't want to lose the audience. Kinda makes sense, but you know they had a whole lot of time to show commercials during the red flag and not during the last 25 laps of a awesome race!
One more thing.. Do they really have to take so long to switch cameras when there's a wreck or a pass for the lead? It seemed like it took 30secs for the cameras to be switched. Nothing more irritating then hearing the guys talking about a wreck or a pass for the lead and it takes 30secs to switch to the camera!
Great race! Crappy TV!
I prefer FOX coverage over TNT anyday! I like to see DW get excited at the end of a race and what a great race it was. I thought they lagged showing wrecks until they were over, but it is the 1st race of the season. Let's see how they do next week.
The sad thing is when the inevitable low ratings come in, FOX will be able to blame it on the red flags instead of the early start time.
Thankfully, the pothole allowed the Daytona 500 to finish under the lights as it should.
I'm all for the "consistent start times" (I think I saw a commercial about it) for the run of the mill races like Pocono, New Hampshire, Dover, etc. that just keep coming at you Sunday after Sunday, but the special events should still be an exception.
I think the early start might have been part of why Joy was off until later in the race.
Also, Steve Byrnes has been ruined by TWIN. Now, all of his "pit reporting" has degenerated into nothing but attempts at humor. Sad.
First, let me say that I like DW. I also like Larry Mac. When they started doing this 10 years ago, I really enjoyed the combination of driver and crew chief commentary during the race.
However, I didn't hear much calling of the race yesterday. I heard speculation and lies. It was horrible. I think Fox could have provided better commentary by putting microphones in ramdomly selected sports bars where people were gathered to watch the race.
Some examples of the worst:
* DW suggesting that Dario Franchitti's Indy Car success came from his brief time in NASCAR. And then he repeated it.
* DW and Joy stating that no one had left the track when there were obviously fewer fans in the stands.
* DW praising NASCAR and Brian France in an unbecoming way.
* No mention of the track coming apart again after the first repair when scanners and twitter were full of talk about it.
* Too much attention on a select few drivers. Little coverage of those not up at the front most of the race. As a fan, I want to see the racing throughout the field. I want to know why the guys in the back are in the back.
I want to see the race. I want to hear professional reporting of the action on the track and in the pits. I don't think I got that from FOX yesterday.
My biggest complaint would be the constant commercial interruption. I went and did something else during the pot hole repair, but when I came back to watch the race when it re-started the commercials to me seemed to come at the most inapproapiate times. I became so frustrated I gave up watching and relied on Tivo when I heard something happening. I'll give it another go next weekend, but if they can't figure out how to time commercials, I just might be done watching the race on TV.
To what extent has NASCAR expressed their "opinion" about what should be reported as well as how it should be reported? Larry Mac's continual "NASCAR Love" was obvious, as well as DW's fawning over France. The pothole was underreported until blatantly obvious as well as the reality that fans were leaving when it was said they were not.
Have the "talking heads" been taken over by NASCAR?
DW was aweful. I am a 88 fan and did not like DW yelling Go Junior. Then blaming the 24 (not a fan) for dumping the 9 when it was clearly a chain reaction deal even after watching the replay. ESPN beat Fox hands down.
While I am being critical of DW, what about his love fest with Mickey. One of best plate drivers ever? Come on.
I haven't read many of the other posters because there are so many. Count me as someone who was very confused. This same group did a fine job on the shootout and Duels but something happened with the 500. Mike Joy wasn't the PXP man I have heard him be on many occasions, my question is what changed. Different way to get information, lag time on their screens, didn't feel well, some idiot told him not to talk so much? I don't know something was off and DW seem to feel he was the one to fill in the gap. DW doesn't usually bother me but yesterday I noticed on more than 1 occasion that he had to finish his wandering all over the place point when something was going on, before he would stop and they would shift to cover what ever the issue was. I'd say they were just rusty but the non-points races were fine. Because he has been the voice of Nascar for so many years for me I am willing to let it go for Mike Joy, I just hope it's not a trend.
FOX as a whole had other issues, as usual there were too many bumper cam shots but they have been worse. The extended movie promo's on the other hand where another story. WHF, I understand the need to make money but really. This is not stick and ball where there can be a TV time out, and to do them under green. OMG I just about had a stroke especially after the first red flag. I can handle DW's cheering someone on because he will cheer anyone on that does something like Jr did yesterday. Fox still insists on just talking about the top 5 but that is a little difficult in a plate race, maybe that was the problem no one stayed in the top 5 for very long and they could not feed Mike the info fast enough for him to do PXP. Plate races are not my favorite because too many cars get trashed. I just pray the next race is better because this 1 just made me sad, except for Jamie winning, it was just wonderful to see how much it meant to him.
JD,
I wasn't suggesting that they be removed. Far from it. It just seems that some on the blog are veiling that suggestion with some of the comments I've read.
As I said, I'm not ready to look at resume's.
Based on your last comments regarding the way the duels were handled compared to the 500, the question I have, are the NASCAR on Fox broadcast team robots, that have different software programming for FOX and Speed this season?
NASCAR re-booting the machine when FOX comes on and runs a different software package?
I for one don't subscribe to the black helicopter theory that NASCAR is holding the reins and telling the broadcasters how to present the event, what to say, not to say, show or not show.
I really believe if that were the case, we'd have a Premium NASCAR channel O&O by NASCAR and we'd all be paying extra on our Sat & Cable bills. (well, maybe NOT paying)
Or do we have that already and we're not paying extra for it yet?
I'm in the camp that the entire team had a really bad day for whatever reason and they better get their act together real quick.
Dave In Milwaukee
Poorly Produced, Poorly Directed..... What more can I say....
A 35yr Television Professional and a NASCAR fan
Well am I glad we weren't watching on TV! Lots of unhappy Planeteers.
Listened to FOX on scanner with JR on priority, so just heard bits and pieces of FOX. A couple of observations:
I kept thinking when I heard FOX that Mike Joy wasn't on much. But chocked it up to JR scanner since TJ is talking lots. Guess my initial instinct was right.
First red flag heard Mike say they'll get it patched up and let it cure for 10 to 15 minutes and get back racing. My husband said no way. Too cold and too much moisture. Even I came up with they needed to get the jet dryers out first to heat up track. Not sure why Mike would try to put a positive spin on something he didn't have any info on.
Lots of people left, but quite a few came back in (concessions running out of food and coffee!) after first red flag. After 2nd lots left for good. We had a group of 60+ and only about 15 of us left at the end.
I heard DW yelling "go JR". After race I said to my husband that I didn't know if he had killed his mike....guess not....thought it was weird. But people in the stands were going crazy...all of us screaming "JUNIOR"...LOL! So, maybe DW got caught up in the moment...it was exciting!
If red flags hadn't happened, the weather overall would have been not too bad. Sitting in T-shirts until we lost sun about 3:30 (Sprint tower, top row)...didn't get real bad until about 6PM.
I plan on going back an reading the actual race blog. We thought it was a great race minus the red flags. Sorry if you guys didn't get to experience that. Sounds like ESPN and FOX switched places.
California will be interesting.
On our way to the Keys...praying for some sun. Wiped out and frozen after sitting through NW & Trucks Friday, the 500 yesterday! A good problem to have :-)
I don't think that Mike Joy was as bad as some of the other posters say he was. In fact, his explanation of the pothole that stopped the race twice was outstanding!
I do agree that Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip are weighing down the entire booth. DW's attempt to emulate Ned Jarrett at the 1993 Daytona 500 was pathetic.
Finally, the late-race commercial was unnerving. It is obvious that the ad was sold on the assurance that it would air at that moment, regardless of the previous red flag circumstances.
From the looks of things, ESPN is challenging FOX to step up its game. Let's see if it happens.
Everybody has a bad day now and then. Yesterday was Mike Joy's turn. DW and Larry Mac didn't bother me so much. Let's see how the ESPN group does on the next few races before we praise them too much. If you go back to last year's TDP and read the comments, we were all nauseous by Homestead.
Even with Marty Reid, I expect the last ten races to be all about the Chasers.
The commercial timing stunk to high heaven yesterday, but I'm not ready to throw in the towel on Fox. I enjoy them the most with TNT a very close second.
Digger is still annoying, but it seemed he was confined to just a couple of appearances during cautions. I don't like seeing him when returning from commercials, but then I don't like that robot that bumpers Fox's football coverage either.
I agree with Anon-7:34: DW cheering for Jr. was just way out of line. This wasn't Ned and Dale Jarrett.
What was with that gosh-awful white 'Finishing Order' ticker that slid down on the final lap and blocked about a third of the screen? I thought the retaining wall was coming down on the outside line. It quickly obscured the outside row of cars. Fox, please consider this graphic as one of those 'seemed like a good idea' things. Would you do that at the end of a football game, cover part of the final play with photos of the QB and receiver, or the long snapper, holder, and kicker? How about at the end of a basketball game, and obscure part of the back glass with the picture of the player at the free throw line?
Other than that final distraction, I thought Fox did better job than they usually did last year. Long breaks make for difficult coverage, regardless of the cause.
Until I lost the signal on my Sirius boombox, I listened to most of the race via Jr's channel on Sirius (once the problem was corrected - thank you JD), while following twitter & watching Fox.
More than once, MRN would call a wreck while Fox was at commercial break. One time in particular, a Fox camera was showing a car wrecking with sparks, but they still went to commercial. I counted 4 commercials before they returned. (might have been more, I started tweeting my disgust) Even with the 20 second delay on Sirius, I already knew who was involved and Ryan Newman was the only car that did not leave the backstretch.
Once I lost Sirius, my only source of 'listening' to the race was Fox. It didn't take long to understand the negative tweets.
I started writing down when they broke for commercial and returned. It was an average of a commercial/movie trailer break every 10 minutes, for about 3 minutes.
I can hear David Poole lecturing me about the need for commercials. I understand, but sometimes it seems rather excessive. Considering the network had SEVERAL MINUTES (aka hours) to air said commercials, I was hoping, as one tweet read: fans would get to watch 78 laps of green flag coverage. That was not the case.
Since Fox doesn't cover NASCAR practice or qualifying, maybe they didn't understand how to handle "a race delay." Interviews with drivers is great TV, but so are green flag laps.
As far as the coverage and commentary – it wasn’t the typical Fox Sports product. Perhaps knowing the outstanding coverage provided by ESPN and SPEED the previous days, they tried a little too hard, and the result was lacking.
Just as in life, hopefully this was a lesson learned, and we’ll all forget about it by the time TNT takes over at Indy.
Say, if I remember correctly (and I rarely do), doesn't Fox usually 'treat' us to a bunch of pointless 'Look at us! We're in LA!' filler shots? Sunglasses on the beach, cruising Rodeo Drive, that kinda crapola?
Let me launch a pre-emptive strike and ask they forget that idea entirely this year. Just show blimp shots of the track instead. Oh, and do the same thing in a few weeks in Texas instead of another round of Hammond in his cowboy gear.
Anyone over the age of 10 who thinks Digger is cute or funny should be sterilized for the benefit of mankind.
Yesterdays broadcast was a big disappointment after the good work this same booth crew did with the Duels on Thursday. Makes me wonder how much was the guys in the booth and how much of it was a different production crew.
The directing of the cameras yesterday was bad. The Director was consistantly slow to switch cameras to what was being discussed in the booth. No excuse for having a wreck announced by the booth and then taking 7 or 8 seconds for the cameras to show it.
The pit reporters, usually Fox's strong suit, were nonexistant. Or was that related to the producers/directors?
I'm anxious to see the commercial breakdown, because it sure seemed to me like there were more commercials yesterday. And speaking of commercials, nothing is more annoying than coming back from 3-4 minutes of commercials and then having graphics all over the screen for one sponsor or another. I'm starting to think Mike Joy was spending more time yesterday pushing one sponsor or product after another, than he was actually doing his PxP work.
Way, way too many in car camera shots again. And way too many tight shots. When a car is going 190mph an in car camera or tight shot doesn't show me anything. And the repeated excuse that it looks "cool" in HD is BS. I've got HD and it looks like crap. Also the Director was switching back and forth between different camera views so much that it was dizzying. No flow at all from one camera shot to another.
I'm getting tired of the "good old boy" act that Fox likes to put on. Ned and Benny were good old boys and could still put on a professional broadcast. DW, Larry and Jeff are pushing the good old boy act too far. And it seems to be worse when they are all working together. I've seen them seperately on other broadcasts and they can be very informative and professional.
There was absolutely no excuse for going to commercial with 20 laps to go. That should never have happened.
All in all I thought it was a good race, but we didn't see a lot of it. Bad production/direction, poorly timed commercial breaks and too much "bench" racing in the booth.
Reading up on everyone's comments during the race yesterday, I'm kind of glad I stayed away (prior commitment to another sporting event, though I missed the premier of new UPS Racing commercials). Uncoordinated commercial breaks, too much Waltrip, and odd camera angles? Sounds like an embarrassment of a broadcast.
Like I've always done, if you can't stand the commentary, shut it off. Many of you did just that. I only just found out 'bout what happened (apart from Hole-In-The-Track) today. And upon the overwhelming negative comments, it's MRN next weekend (if I choose to pay attention to Snore-tana)
I am not going to repeat all the common complaints about the commercials/movie promos/poor camera direction, I saw them was appalled just like everyone else.
Poor Mike Joy --- one of the best in the business seemed to be handcuffed by the necessity of pushing said promos. He just wasn't up to HIS usual standards. At times I swear I could hear an apologetic tone in his voice when he had to do those things.
DW, well what else can be said. *sigh* His nickname is "Jaws" and he lived up to it.
However, I will NOT fault him for yelling when Dale was making his move on the last lap. I was yelling and I bet the fans in the stands were yelling. I would much rather have excitement like that than the drone of the last 3yrs of ESPN's booth.
My goodness, it WAS a thrilling move and something to get excited about!
Wow. Just wow. Glad I have Twitter, scanner and radio access.
Turned off some of the race, in my head, and ignored alot. I was surprised abut the pothole. It just reminded me of the one Martinsville had several years ago. Maybe DIS needs to get the same compound they used to fix the hole. What will happen come July race?
DW irritates me and so does Larry Mac, they always come off as arrogant and know it alls.
Yesterday reminded me why I am so glad every yr when DW is no longer on there. He kills me picking out a driver and giving his opinion as to why they are at the back and then just backpedalling when they come to the front forgetting what he had been saying about them earlier. His view on Jr is out there somewhere.
NO COMMERCIALS during the red flags???? What is up with that?
I got more info quicker from twitter than from Fox.
DW and Larry Mac had a little breakdown when Kasey Kahne crashed....they immediately went #blameJeffGordon on us when it was obvious with even the small amount of time they spent on the crash, that the 9 had to slow down and Jeff couldn't see that he was doing so. Instead, they go nutso talking about Jeff being the only driver to ask NASCAR to prohibit bump drafting in the corners (he was not.) They refused to look at the footage, though Mike Joy, to his credit, was trying unsuccessfully to get them to really look at it.
Only part of the race I liked as far as their coverage was hearing DW cheer Dale, Jr. on at the end. THAT was some true feeling and was fun to hear. Most of the time, DW's man-crush on Kyle Busch and on Toyota gets in the way of good reporting on his part.
FOX needs to go back to the action when a yellow is thrown while ads are on the air, no matter what the reason.
I enjoyed the race because I had HOTPASS on Dale, Jr's channel and got to watch that last, fantastic run of his through the traffic to second place so didn't have to put up with much of the FOX coverage because the scanner covered up their sound.
JD, your reply to Dave covers most of my concerns re. this particular race and what you didn't mention, Bevo did!
One specific problem for me is the dreaded 'Crank it up!'...always means we won't see any actual racing for the next couple of laps and it's worse if they do it at a re-start when I want to see how the cars are doing during the time it takes to get up to speed, especially on a plate track.
Hope FOX gets their producer to synch with the booth calls and that MJ has a whole lotta better days from here on in.
ps, word verif works fine on the work 'puter with MSIE, guess I'll have a second browser open for the next race!
Twitter ruled the D500!
Tom in Bristol
I didn't mind the broadcast in general. I thought some of the camera shots were a little clunky. The boys in the booth did fine - anything looks better than ESPN's coverage. I did think the commercial break with 20 to go was a bad idea. The race itself was fun. Too bad it's followed up with Fontana. Talk about a good momentum killer.
Sue/Seattle.
I kept saying at the end of last year, I can't wait for FOX to come back. We that didn't last long, sorry but DW you need a restricter plate. Mike Joy was obviously having an off weekend, unusual and Larry Mac just irritated me for some reason. After the great performance during the NW race on Saturday, FOX was pathetic. I will give them another chance next week since there were extenuating circumstances..
So let me get this straight: For my race information I'm supposed to take the word of anonymous Tweeters and bloggers over someone who's not only paid to offer his opinions, but actually won races for a living? To me DWs opinion that people were not leaving was just that: an opinion, and I believe it was an honest one.
There were lots of empty seats well before the 1st red flag, as revealed by several blimp shots I saw. Go back and look at the tape. If some here want to ascribe his take on things as catering to NASCAR, then I ask where's your proof? All you have is your opinion, to which you are entitled, but as the old saying goes, "opinions are like..." etc, etc.
PS: I also complained on this blog about going to a commercial with 20 to go, but it wasn't in the 6-hour Daytona 500 broadcast - it was LAST week when SPEED was in charge, and it was either the Shootout or the 2nd Duel, which are less than 100 laps. Somebody has to figure out a way for them to avoid that in the future.
Really, I disagree with what a lot of you have said. I love NASCAR on FOX. They offer a really good atmosphere and unlike certain other TV companies *cough ESPN *cough they are committed to keeping the race on FOX. I would bet any amount of money that at 7:00 ET, the Daytona 500 would have been moved to ESPN2 if it was on ABC or something similar, but FOX was committed to showing the race. FOX kept with Daytona, and they would have kept with it even if it was postponed until Monday for some reason.
As for the guys in the booth, they offer really good insight and opinions. Mike Joy is a trusted individual when it comes to play-by-play, Larry McReynolds and Jeff Hamond know what they are talking about, and DW offers real excitement. Sure, some may criticize DW for a bias toward Jr., Earnhardt, but he is NASCAR's most popular driver, and I am sure we would all have been excited whether it was Kyle Busch, Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick, or any other driver coming from 10th to 2nd to challenge at the last lap. If Jr. didn't get loose at the end of the backstretch, we could have had a 2007 Daytona 500 finish.
Overall, I still love NASCAR on FOX. ESPN seems to have made lots of good improvements, but I will not be satisfied until I see 2-3 cup races on ESPN that were as good as the Nationwide Race.
Still not a fan of Digger, but I think FOX has found a good balance, at least for now.
The 1 other comment I do have to say to all TV partners-if there is a red flag, let's take care of ALL the commercials during that time so we can go commercial free if/when we go back to green.
Adam,
You got the problem exactly. Mike Joy is a trusted individual when it comes to play-by-play He is. It really shows when either he is having an off-day, or he has been handcuffed for some reason. I really believe it was not Mike's fault. Something else happened.
I just can't believe that Waltrip is still on the TV broadcast. He is so bad in so many ways, you don't even know where to start. Wish we had a radio station doing the race. MRN says the Fox outlet is, but they have not done so in my area.
And one other thought - whether it's a "Southern thing" or not, one grown man calling another grown man "June Bug" is wrong on so many levels...
DW was awesome last night, I've watched the last 40 laps of the race just to hear DW's comments again. FOX did a great job as they always do.
I do enjoy the FOX race broadcasts, but Sunday I only got to see the first half or so on TV. What I saw was good - and I do believe DW, Larry Mc, and Hammonds have forgotten more about NASCAR racing than 90% of the media. It always fascinates me that positive comments about NASCAR are often categorized as shilling, while negative comments are categorized as gospel.
I am still trying to find an article where someone in the media has actually tried to do some research on what might have caused the pothole problem and what the solution should have been under the circumstances. All I've found so far is either a recitation of the facts or criticism of ISC and NASCAR on the assumption that the problem was easily solvable. Since mid-January and again this morning I've had to dodge the same hole in the pavement on the way to work, but it has only been "fixed" twice during that time.
I found nothing wrong with the telecast of the Daytona 500. They showed the debris & everything.
If you know me... then you'd know that if there was something to complain about ... I'd be a ranting & raving lunatic.
Maybe I'm too practical, but I would think someone who paid to have their commercial aired during the Daytona 500 would be a little upset to have it shoved into a period went some quit watching, and most weren't paying attention.
The entire production yesterday was complete amateur hour IMO. I felt it was bad for ALL the reasons most have posted here.
Not sure how anybody could be pleased with any facet of yesterdays debacle but to each their own.
Maybe I'm just anal but the disgust started in the pre-race show when they were already talking about points. Things just got progressively worse from there. Not sure which is dumber, talking points before the first race of a long season, or having your "professional broadcasters" imitate the A team in a movie plug.
I think FOX set a record for turning a 50 inch tv into a 12 inch box due to graphics everywhere. Guess they "pity da fool" that have little tvs.
I've got a hundred more gripes but cannot convey them here near as well as other planeteers. Broadcast was a solid F IMO.
Since I didn't have enough time DVR'd on FOX and HotPass I had to wait for NASCAR Now and Race Hub to see the finish on TV compared to what I saw being there.
Obviously there are no wide shots of the last lap. When you have 30+ cars all in a bunch fighting for position why would you not have at least one camera with a wide panning shot. They would have got the run JR had coming out of 3 into 4 as well as others making moves. Plus, not to make it all about JR, but he gained 20 positons in the 2 GWC's and there are no highlights of it.
The crowd started going nuts once they saw JR making that move. How sad that FOX didn't capture any of it.
The same goes for the crash with Jeff Gordon. I still don't know what happened. All I see is Jeff spinning and crashing.
Celebrating 10 yrs on FOX at Daytona. You would think they would have figured out how to show RP raising.
Glad I was there to witness it. Sure wouldn't have seen it on the TV!
late, but my comments during the race should show what I thought. MJ was waaaaaaay off, DW needed to engage brain before opening mouth & Larry Mac-whatever. Too many commls w/all the red flag time, LYING to the audience about folks leaving the track, sucking up to (imo) plowed BF, missing the wrecks for what seemed like forever, the dumb A-Team segment which luckily I only heard while making lunch-it was a grade D broadcast from a B bunch. To say I was disappointed was a freakin' understatement!! I waited 3 months for this??? ESPN's race on Sat was waaaay above this broadcast. -off soap box now-
I didn't think the coverage was that bad. The bad bad part of this race was the hole in the race track in what is supposed to be the "Super Bowl" of Nascar. I wouldn't think there was a problem with coverage if it weren't for this site. I've been watching Nascar on and off for 15 years and I've never seen a camera on a car in 10th place when it wrecks unless they're just lucky. Fox covers the racing well and they have fun doing it. I wish they would have taken some cues from TNT coverage last season, but that said I don't think Fox was bad. DW yelling for JR. was excitement of the race. He did come from no where and any race fan was saying the same thing.
Seems like people only come here to complain and most of them seem to be in the "it used to be better" pack. I bet they think times used to be better for more things than just Nascar.
I really don't understand what people expect. Go watch some old coverage of Nascar on youtube. Its the same as what you see today...
Richard in N.C. said...
If you're interested in a different opinion about the hole at DIS, check out Nate Ryan's article in USA Today tomorrow (Tues. 2/16). He had tweet suggesting repaving might not be an easy solution. (or something of that nature) IMO, Nate seems to step back and look at all possibilities and aspects of a situation - looks outside the box.
Just an FYI.
Shirley B., Thank you. Ryan's article is much more balanced than what I have seen elsewhere, or heard on the radio. I am sure I heard someone on FOX yesterday say that the pothole was, or appeared to be, in the seam between two 12 foot strips of asphalt - but I've seen no one make reference to that in print - or that the freezing weather in Jan. in Daytona might have contributed to the break up. I also beleive Ryan's article might be the only one I've seen quoting a driver other than Dale, Jr. about the need to repave, with which Carl Edwards disagreed last night.
A few things:
* Darrell's comments on Franchitti's IRL title was based probably on their "neighbourly" ties, as both are Nashville-area residents.
* Artie Kempner's slowness reminds me of what he was told about serious crashes.
* You couldn't see the patch much in the shade. Once the lights came on it was far easier to catch the patch.
* Darrell had interest in both McMurray and Earnhardt. Darrell drove the EGR #1 in its initial days, both he and Johnny Morris (Bass Pro Shops) were members of the 2002 Presidential Olympic Delegation at Rice-Eccles Stadium in the traditional Head of State's Box. President Bush was intermingled with the athletes.
When Fox first came to NASCAR, I thought their coverage was pretty shoddy. Over the years, I didn't feel that it ever really got any better. DW has always been the worst guy to have in the booth and still is. It was only when ESPN returned and was so screwed up that some folks had to give Fox the thumbs up, the truth is, they never did get better. This past weekend, ESPN stepped up to the plate and presented a really good program, as did Speed. It was because of the improvements at ESPN that the fans suddenly realized just how bad Fox is and has been for the sport. Mike Joy is usually the only bright spot for Fox, but Sunday he was absent from the coverage about 95% of the time.I had to wonder if Joy was actually ill. If that were the case, Fox should have had a plan in place to replace him, because using DW to fill in will surely turn away fans, and from some of the comments here, he has.
It really was awful television.
How the heck do they drone thru 2 1/2 hours of delay for pothole repair, finally get back to green flag racing AND HAVE TO GO TO BREAK AGAIN WITH 20 TO GO?????
And, as proof that no one at FOX (in the booth or in the truck)was paying attention, how did they miss the fact that on the last lap, Junior was shoved thru the pack to the front by the double zero??
Man oh man, David Hill better forget about worrying about SPEED channel and get back to running his mother ship.......cuz its taking on water
Coverage was terrible! DW and Larry are the worst! Yes we know how much DW HATES Jeff Gordon. He has always made that VERY obvious every week. But attacking Jeff over and over all race long gets old fast! FLAT OUT LYING about the last lap wreck is sick! DW's lying and blaming Jeff when it was obvious Denny wrecked Jeff, is wrong. Announcers should NOT be making up lies like that. I could care less that he hates Jeff, but I just don't want to hear him express that hatred evey race all race long. It gets old fast! He needs to stop showing that much hate for one of the best drivers in history. If he wants to hate him, fine. Just stop showing it all the time.
I thought the fox team did a pretty good job all things considered. I like DW and think he adds some very insightful commentary to the race.
Sure DW has his favorites, but he is a race fan just like us. This is sports, not the news. Root for whoever the hell you want to DW, you've earned the right to!
I have thought for 2 days now how to express my disappointment with the cup broadcast Sunday. I think I've got it.
For the past 2 days I've listened to caller after caller, on Sirius NASCAR radio, announcer after announcer, writer after writer, most of who say they were at the race, still raving about what a great race they saw Sunday.
I have no idea what race they saw, because the one that was on tv was a complete mess. I only know there were 43 cars starting the race because of Pitcommand. There were some on the track that I never heard their name. There was more information on Twitter than Fox gave us.
I don't know what happened to the Fox broadcasts that I saw last year.
Thanks to all who sponsor the races, you are wanted and needed, but if we have to have a commercial production with cars racing in the background I'll give up.
I really don't understand all of this. When did TV networks cover 100% of the race? It's impossible. They never did, never will, and the announcers have always been opinionated and always will be. hell, one announcer, Ned Jarret, had a son in two Daytona 500s he announced. He wasn't called a loser when he rooted for him.
Give me a break.
James wrote
"I really don't understand all of this. When did TV networks cover 100% of the race? It's impossible. They never did, never will, and the announcers have always been opinionated and always will be. hell, one announcer, Ned Jarret, had a son in two Daytona 500s he announced. He wasn't called a loser when he rooted for him."
Well Jimmy boy, you may not be old enough to remember, but in the days of ESPN Speedworld, the production team did a heck of a job covering the entire field. CONSISTANTLY!!
And there's a world of difference between DW cheerleading and the way Ned comported himself in the booth week after week. The fact that he was overjoyed at his son's victory in the 500 is understandable-just as DW's joy at Mikey's 500 victory was.
That's not the issue here. The cmplaints are that FOX doesn't understand the sport or the NASCAR audience, and therefor cannot produce a satisfying telecast. The announce booth was uninspired and uninformed. They missed alot, including HOW Jr got to second place at the end.
And That, my young friend, is the truth
James, the moments with Ned in the booth calling Dale home for the victory were, and always will be, magical and enduring moments in NASCAR history. A father usually doesn't get a chance like that EVER, so the CBS Director knew he'd capture lighting in a bottle if he instructed Ned to call it the way he did.
To this day, whenever I hear Ned's call of that last lap in '93, I get goosebumps.
Comparing those Ned's professionalism to DW's is like comparing a bowl of Velveeta Shells and Cheese to a bowl full of uncooked macaroni with a slice of cheese thrown on top.
There's NO comparison.
P.S.-Dunno about everybody else, but whenever I hear DW say 'DADGUM' when something happens on the track, I feel compelled to throw my remote through the screen.
Get it?
Alright, I get it. It is a bad comparison between DW and Ned Jarret, but my point is that there is always opinion from the booth.
I watched the race again last night to the point of the first red flag. On Sunday I was only half watching the race and fast forwarding from commercial start to racing and grilling and talking an well,you get it.
Last night I watched it without interruption. Some things I noticed -
- When they went to commercial on more than one occasion the leader changed and they announced the leader was still who it was a few seconds before they were about to go to commercial. I guess unknown to the booth the director (or whoever) switched to the leaders and it was obvious there was a new race leader.
- It was a bit over the top when DW claimed that Harvick "let" Kurt Busch have the lead because Busch was racing beside him for too long. Maybe he did, but I don't think DW can read minds, nor can anyone else.
- At one point we went to commercial while Gordon had the lead and when we came back he was all the way in fifth. No explanation of what happened. I do recall they used to come back from commercial and announce what happened if a lead changed.
- After 100 laps the leaders were really racing - the top five was constantly changing, but the booth was covering the field and ignoring the action up front.
- They seemed to cover the field pretty good. I still don't understand what people find so bad about that. They were usually covering the field and missing some intense racing up front. They went from 1st all the way back to 30th at times and reminded folks of what cautions happened when...
- Cautions during commercial - A couple of times we came back from commercial to pit stops and then after they talked a few minutes about those stops they'd show some spin out that we'd missed. I don't know if this is necessarily a bad thing - I'd rather see live pit stops than a replay of a spin out. Missing a spin out due to commercial isn't as bad as missing a spin out during the live action while the booth yells about spin out in turn xx for 30 seconds before the camera change happens - which happened once.
Larry Mac seemed to be ignoring DW and a litter tired, or aggrivated with him. In the past it seems him or Joy would counter DWs ramblings with fact, but they either completely ignored him, or would start talking about a different subject after DW said something.
I was SO happy to hear the "Fox guys" back on the air. I'd hated the ABC/ESPN crowd, but didn't realize how much until Sunday. I'll admit, I only watched the 1st 25 and last 75 laps, and maybe they got old during the long delay. Mike Joy is seriously under-rated. Either he has someone giving him good "feeds" or he really knows cars and the history of the sport. He is right up with Allan Bestwick in my book. I have no difficulty with someone like DW rooting for a driver. He is a FAN, just like us. (Maybe I feel this way because grew up with "old" baseball broadcasts by local announcers like Bob Prince in Pittsburgh). He seems to have eyes in the back of his head, and calls wrecks so very fast. I also liked that, although the race ran WAY over scheduled time, Fox spent about 25 minutes covering Victory Lane AND various top finishing drivers. ESPN/ABC NEVER did that.
My biggest complaint, I never heard about certain drivers near the back, and what had happened. Especially Tony Stewart.
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