This big track has always had a tough time drawing a crowd in recent years. The NASCAR on FOX crew took the the air with a one hour pre-race show hosted by Chris Myers. This show contained new features and had Jeff Hammond and Darrell Waltrip alongside of Myers in the Hollywood Hotel.
Race coverage was provided by Mike Joy, Waltrip and Larry McReynolds. Pit reporters were Krista Voda, Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum and Dick Berggren.
The event has one yellow for rain, but featured long stretches of green flag racing. Camera angles were tight to avoid showing the rather empty grandstands on the frontstretch. The race coverage had no TV technical problems and delivered solid pictures and sound.
Issues left over from Daytona were what stories and features selected for the pre-race, the use of in-car cameras and the excitement of the announcers.
On this post, we ask you to leave us your opinion of the TV telecast right after the race. To add your comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by!
60 comments:
Had fun everyone all and all i give this race a C+ not bad I enjoyed the finish, sucks Harvick hit the wall. But I didnt care cause Johnson and Harvick are my least favorite drivers but still it was good for a while thought we was gonna have a race to the finish but oh well
Thanks for everything JD
Pre-race show was AWFUL! Race coverage was fine until the finish. Amazing that Fox never wants to copy anything from the other networks until now... and of everything they choose that damn horizontal head shot mess at the finish. And worst of all it's HUUUUUUUGE! And Scott Speed somehow was 10th and 11th.... Lame Fox, lame.
I like the new white flag graphics... don't understand why everyone hates them???
I feel that the Pre-Race show needs more work. FOX should take a closer look at the type of presentation given by TNT in the summer.
The race was good. FOX didn't over-use the Digger animations and for the most part, the commentating was sound. Darrell Waltrip had his moments, but I tend to expect that with him. Larry McReynolds was sound and Mike Joy, as always, provided a great foundations for the trio.
I don't know if I agree with the camera work today. So what if the crowds were sparse. I say show the track for what it is and show that there is great seats available for these great races.
Finally Vortex tally: 5 Mentions.
Fox should just totally be ashamed of themselves for the last 15 or so laps. That is without a doubt some of the worst coverage I have ever watched.
WHY only run a top 10 ticker in the closing laps of the race???????
WHY run a 3 box with 2 drivers wives, that you cant really see any way for 4 damn GREEN FLAG laps????
WHY switch it to a 4 box with a crew chief???? Didn't think they looked like black blurs on the screen enough already?????
WHY switch cameras 4 or 5 times as the cars are crossing the DAMN LINE??
WHY use driver pictures that take up over 1/3 of the screen??? To top it off, not tell your camera guys to readjust their frame to compensate for it?????
Seriously, the race was ok today until the last 15 laps, I am just livid.
I didn't have a problem with the racce calling today. DW toned it WAAY down compared to last week. I tried something new and went back and forth between MRN and the TV and really enjoyed it. I also had twitter going. I think I got a complete picture of the race with that combination and it wouldn't have been as good if any one of those three were missing.. Without all three the race wouldn't have been as enjoyable.
Too much Chad Knaus and RCR wives at the end. Agree that the giant head thing sucks. Pre race show left me disgusted and gave me no hope for good race coverage so I listened to most of the race on the radio and had the TV on NBC for the Olympics until the last restart.
Lets act like we have done this before... Get a towel for the camera, there is no excuse for water staying on the lens that long. I have a 32 inch tv don't want to see a 6 inch screen showing the race and 3 others with people doing nothing.. Grow up Fox act like you have done this before..
JJ won this one purely by luck, but the booth has the nerve to say some of the best racing they have seen? This was a boring race and DW, Larry Mac and Joy really made it that much worse. If not for the Tweeters from Nascar I would not have Known half of what went on today. Hope they get better but I doubt it. They truly love to hear themselves talk.
First, the good: The booth was MUCH improved over last week. Mike Joy was out of whatever funk he was in at Daytona, and was able to help rein in DW (who is still acting like a loon). Larry Mac was also much better this week; he didn't let DW roll over him and was back to his usual mix of useful tech stuff and color commentary on the race. And it's obvious that DW himself at least watches the race, not his monitors, and was commenting on the actual action. Which leads to...
The bad: The camera work was once again horrendous. At one point, they cut from six-wide racing to the leaders breaking away single file, a full-screen replay, and a replay of Hamlin spinning that we missed BECAUSE of the previous replay. In-car cameras were abused, and now they've stolen ESPN's awful flying heads for the end of the race, which take up far too much of the screen and make it hard to see the finish.
Finally: The ugly. The racing was simply not good today. At some tracks, lackluster racing isn't a huge issue, but here they can't fill the stands to even halfway? At some point, NASCAR needs to admit defeat and move one of this track's dates to another one. It's embarrassing to see those mostly-empty stands on TV.
Stunning that after 9 months of meetings and planning after a horrible 2009 the only thing Fox decided to change about their coverage was to fill over 1/3 of the screen with a giant WHITE FLAG graphic when the race was being decided.
First:
Pre race STANK! That 'skit' with Jeff Gordon aimed at immature idiots. Loved the booth in the race. Bill said the rest for me. Ending laps camera work &^%$#@!?
The wives/crew cam made me want to throw shoes at the tv's. Cam work from Fox directors WORSE than last years. Just. plain. sad.
(The booth & crews should watch what WE SEE so they understand)
February 21, 2010 6:57 PM
Blogger Bill said...
Fox should just totally be ashamed of themselves for the last 15 or so laps. That is without a doubt some of the worst coverage I have ever watched.
WHY only run a top 10 ticker in the closing laps of the race???????
WHY run a 3 box with 2 drivers wives, that you cant really see any way for 4 damn GREEN FLAG laps????
WHY switch it to a 4 box with a crew chief???? Didn't think they looked like black blurs on the screen enough already?????
WHY switch cameras 4 or 5 times as the cars are crossing the DAMN LINE??
WHY use driver pictures that take up over 1/3 of the screen??? To top it off, not tell your camera guys to readjust their frame to compensate for it?????
Seriously, the race was ok today until the last 15 laps, I am just livid.
Race just ended and I really enjoyed the coverage today. DW was the DW he should be. A lot quieter then his performance during the 500 last week. Loved the top 10 being shown only during the last 10 laps or so. During the last laps, the top 10 count. Maybe with the Chase, the top 12. But overall really enjoyed the coverage from Fox.
I didn't watch the pre-race show so can't comment.
Well done Fox on the race broadcast, nice recovery from Daytona.
The booth was improved.
The camera work was not. It was downright awful. Maybe they were limiting themselves waaay too much by trying to not show the empty stands. Booth saw the action way before it got shown on tv far too many times
Camera work at the end was especially horrid. Please PLEASE show us cars finishing instead of crew members jumping up and down. That thing across the top is horrid. It blocks the cars racing for position - that is when you do show the cars - and it isn't even right or timely.
p.s. didn't watch much of the race flag to flag. was doing other stuff & listened to online radio of the race. but had the booth on enough to enjoy them.
No excuse for cam work. Glad others are seeing THIS IS a huge PROBLEM
Just saw the last 30 laps as we had company over until then. Husband kept asking "Why the hell are they showing the wives, all they are doing is watching the monitors?" I had no good answer for him. Perhaps the answer is, "Fox is lame"? It would have been nice to see Speed and Vickers racing for the line.
2010 continues to be disappointing.
- The racing at California Speedway was poor as usual. Even with all the ticket discounts and changes, the stands were over half empty.
- Bumper cams and in-cars were overused as usual. A lot of action was missed and had to be replayed.
- Good to see Mike Joy back to his usual self. The booth seemed better today.
- The booth would notice a wreck, but the production truck was slow to change cameras...as usual.
- FOX tried as long as they could to avoid the obvious rain. They lost.
- The last 15 laps were a mess. If FOX is going to stay with the leaders, let the ticker run through all the positions. Cars 11-43 don’t exist at points.
- The multiple boxes with cars & wives served no purpose. Neither did the quadruple boxes. Neither did the white flag grapic that covered the top third of the tv.
- The checkered flag should not be complicated. Keep 1 stationary camera at the finish line watching the cars finish. Instead the cameras keep changing and half the field is ignored to watch the 48 crew jump up and down.
Coverage: ** 1/2 / ***** (2.5 out of 5)
Race: * / ***** (1 out of 5)
Nascar on Fox is the worst coverage.If I wanted to hear Back in the Day stories. I would watch a program about that When Iam watching the race I want to know what's going on at the track..and what up with only the top 10 cars on the ticker for thlast 15 laps..
Well since I only watched the end, I also agree about the camera work. Not good and the graphics are getting way out of control.
I did notice that DW was somewhat quieter than normal. Junior was way out of it so I guess he didn't have a favorite to root for.
California is just a boring, not regular boring mindnumbingly boring. The Nationwide race was only good in the last laps. Same with the Cup race. Nascar does not see that and will not do a thing about it. If this was an east coast track their second race would be long gone.
Fox can't do anything about the follow the leader racing, but they can do a much better job in the production process.
I didn't think the booth was bad at all today with one glaring exception. DW, your precious "Vortex Theory" has been debunked by real scientists, it does not exist, please stop feeding us that line of baloney.
The truck was still way too late cutting away to incidents on the track. I don't remember if it was the Keselowski or Kahne spin that they were way late for, but they did drop the ball on that when the booth called it and it took several seconds to get to that.
At the end of the race the biggest problem was with the graphics package. For a while the scroll just showed the top 10. At a minimum at least all the cars on the lead lap should continue to be shown, preferably the scroll would show all the cars still running. The white flag graphic is annoying and adds nothing to the telecast. The decision to cut away from Harvick and Burton's side by side battle for 2nd 3 or 4 seconds earlier than necessary to show Johnson crossing the line by himself was unfortunate.
On a positive note I appreciated the shout outs from the booth to guys like Regan Smith and Scott Speed while they were in the top 10.
I agree with most. The booth was
better. The in-cars again overpaid their homage to the
advertisers. The director who thinks the subterranean camera is neat has no comprehension of how
to show racing. I couldn't believe
it when they went sub surface during the last laps.
Just a couple of things from me. I hate it that they have fun in the booth, I didn't like that they showed so little of the dark clouds that were kept away by the vortex and most of all i hated that alot of drivers during interviews after the race either had their coke bottles turned or their hand over the label. I did like the idea of showing the standings of the top ten towards the very end of the race two or three times and then the entire field.
I wasn't exclusively watching, but...overall, it looked better than last week for sure. DW wasn't as annoying, Joy was more his usual self, Larry had some technical adds (and seemed to be correcting Darrell on some of his theories). There were still some issues with the camera angles, and I didn't like the top ten ticker--in my mind, if there are battles going on in the top ten,, unless it's for the lead they should be trying to cover them as a part of broadcasting. The wife cam is annoying, but at least it wasn't overdone too much.
I decided I wasn't going to post on any empty stomach, so now that I've been fed, here's my take on the Fox broadcast.
The pre-race was absolute garbage.
Mike Joy did a much better job than last week, but there is still too much DW and he is not adding anything to the broadcast these days.
It seemed to be a little less boring a race than usual at Fontana, but the direction of the cameras was still not what it should have been. The cameras were behind -- the booth was calling the action and the fans at home saw way too much of this race in replay mode.
Why is there a graphic that covers up half the screen - and I have a big screen TV for the white flag lap? Show the field crossing the finish line - it's why I spent 4 hrs of my life watching the race - to see the field take the checkered flag (even if the guy I'm so tired of watching win did)
Better than Daytona, but only marginally.
Its been 10 years of broadcasting NASCAR for Fox -- the same old shtick has worn thin. Time for a reality check - cameras should show the race, the booth should call it, a little truth and reality and a lot less opinion and "everything is beautiful in Nascar-land" would be welcomed by this race fan.
Okay, I know I'm going to upset some people here, but if you are knowledgeable enough about the sport to know when the announcers aren't saying enough, are saying too much, or are making stuff up, then why listen to them? PRESS MUTE.
I see the same images they do. I can see for myself when a car is loose.
I can see for myself when it blows up.
I can see the flat tire.
If a driver is out of their car and being interviewed in the garage area during a race, I know they're chance of winning and a good points day is gone. It doesn't matter to me what part failed. And after watching this sport for well over 35 years, I know whatever the driver is saying about the situation has been said many times before.
I can see who was at fault for a wreck. I can tell by facial expression if a driver takes or lays the blame. I don't need to hear it. Even after a shoving match related to the incident. All these wimpy drivers do today is talk a bunch crap making empty threats that they might carry out from the safety of their race cars in the next race. These guys all know where each other lives. I say if they really have beef then follow their adversary home and kick his ass on his front lawn. I don't need to hear anything else. PRESS MUTE.
I've gotten to the point where I can't stand pre-race hype, so I don't watch any of that. All that matters to me is initial green to checker. I don't care who was fastest in practice. That was two days ago and in the morning when the race is at night. Who cares?
I'm sick of the anthem being butchered by the musician-that-desperately-needs-publicity of the week. I'm sick of hearing some preacher praying for the safety of people who are willing participants. Who do it with an eye for fame and fortune, but mostly because they're nuts. You want to pray, then pray for people who have misfortune dumped on them without their asking.
The hype is the same every week. I try to guess when the actual start will be.
As for the booth monkeys, I'll turn off MUTE briefly for the first broadcast I see with Joy, McReynolds, and Waltrip. As soon as I hear Larry say "Pull those belts tight...." and then D.W. spit out his idiotic "Boogity, boogity nonsense, I press MUTE again figuring it will be the same as it ever was.
I never liked that combo anyway. It wasn't all that long ago NASCAR wanted to shed its Southern Redneck image. Yet FOX chose the grits and gravy combo of McReynolds and Waltrip with their heavy southern dialect and terminology. Okraphonics I call it. So much for expanding out of the confederacy.
Look, my point is there are plenty of places to get your NASCAR knowledge. You don't need to torture yourself by listening to on air personalities who more often than not think it's all about them. PRESS MUTE. If you miss the sound of the race cars, then record the next "crank it up" part and put it on endless replay.
Booth monkeys....a classic.
The term "redneck" came from farmers working out in the southern sun and getting sunburnt - and is a term of pride for many. Thank goodness there is a place for different points of view. Real diversity embraces all.
Richard - coming from a farming family myself and very proud of it, I'd like to point out that not all rednecks live in the south. Some of us are yankees!
It isn't DW and Larry Mac's accents or manner of speech that bother me, it's the way they cover the race.
Generally, I think FOX was victimized by Auto Club Speedway and the poor quality of racing it gives. FOX did pretty well all considering. I would personally like to see the track disappear from the schedule all together, but FOX did a good job for such mediocre racing.
My take is from a whole different perspective...DirecTV's Hotpass. I 'rode' with several different drivers and guess what? I wasn't troubled by the 'booth monkeys' (1$ to LookButDontListen!) since the volume from FOX is kept below that of the in-car engine sounds and team scanner chatter.
The picture shows two boxes, the smaller is the FOX feed and the larger is one of 3(?) in-car cams; roof, rear bumper or driver view and when the field strings out as normal at Fontana, ya don't see a whole lotta other cars except during re-starts. I bet it'd be a lot more fun at the short tracks.
When the Tweets began to complain about the ticker being just top ten, the one running in the FOX box was *always* showing full field. Is it technically possible the ticker is shown differently in that box than what goes out over the network?
Another oddity that some tech could probably explain is that the Hotpass coverage was *always* 5 to 7 seconds ahead of the FOX box...noticed this first when MM gave the lead back to JJ after getting his 5 bonus points.
Do I like the current version of Hotpass as well as the pay version of two years ago? No. But it's free and frees me from the 'booth monkeys! LOL
Tom in Bristol
"Southern Redneck" is a term I copied from an article I read I years ago. I can't remember the publication.
It was about how NASCAR was courting more Fortune 500 companies to get involved but often kept coming against the same view that NASCAR was still a regional sport operated by, participated in, and followed by southern, drunken, uneducated, rebel flag waving whites.
NASCAR tried very hard to change that misconception by showing that it is now a coast to coast, border to border and even beyond, sport.
So think about when a marketing exec who has spent the bulk of his career in NYC, never owned a car and either rides in some taxi or the subway, finally agrees to tune in to his first race and the first thing he hears is "Awe shucks, Jethro, boogity boogity, we-ins gonna haves us a good race today bydoggit!"
I know that's an extreme exaggeration but Larry and D.W. don't exactly convey a worldly sense either. They can't help their accent, but it does nothing to squash the stereotype either.
Like I said though, I don't listen to it anymore, so who am I to argue?
The prerace show sucked mostly, I liked the thing about Riverside that was cool, the Jamie Mcmurray piece was really good too. The rest of it was just stupid.
The fat guy with a beard bit with Gordon was just stupid & completely insulting to NASCAR fans. I can't believe Gordon would allow himself to be a part of that kind of garbage. As a fan of #24, I'm really disappointed in him for doing that bit.
I hate how Fox always promotes their race by showing the city. Um what does surfers, the beach, & Hollywood have to do with racing? I don't think the track is even near those things? Maybe part of the reason their ratings are down (along with the horrible COT bastardizing the races) is they spend too much time promoting crap like the city, and not enough time promoting the drivers? Next week is Vegas so I'm sure it will be all stupid gimmicks, but not much showing off the drivers. Then they cry about ratings. Well no wonder!!
Why cant the prerace show do more interviews with the drivers/crew chiefs? I want more pieces like the McMurray one, that one was really good, & very heartfelt. I liked the thing about Riverside. I didn't like the recap of the 500. Um its been a week, we all know what happened, its been all over ESPN for a week now, and we all know about the pothole!!!! Seriously what kind of ground were they breaking?? It was just rehashing what we all have heard for the last week! And the Fat Guy with Gordon was just insulting to me.
The race coverage was ok, except I dont get the fascination with in car cams or that rodent cam. It tells us nothing!! The only thing it is kind of cool for is seeing a car spin out over it, but just showing it during the race accomplishes nothing. I bet David Hill makes them use it though so that stupid rodent gets his air time.
Mike Joy was great, he is the best thing about Fox. DW was ok, I dont mind him really, but he sucked last week and was much better today. Larry McReynolds is awesome. I really wish we could hear a race with just Mike and Larry, with no DW. I bet it would be much better. The pit reporters gave us all sorts of good info as usual, Fox has a great group of them, but they dont allow them to chime in enough IMHO. Chris Meyers is just an idiot, he serves no purpose, he must have naked pictures of David Hill cuz there's no other reason for him to be on the air. Hammond adds nothing. The prerace show is just a joke, really they would be better off cancelling the whole thing and just go straight into racing each week.
They are always late getting to the action, like missing wrecks all the time. They somehow always seem to be go to commercial right before a crash. They do a good job with pit stops, but way too many commercials during green flags. Those stupid little things with the drivers doing silly activities always get in the way of green flag racing. I really liked the childhood photos of Jimmie and Kevin, but why did they have to come during green flag??? Those are the sorts of things that should happen during yellow flag conditions.
This is just my 2 cents, or maybe more like 22 cents :)
Boy JD that was a rough race to watch. The pre-race aside from the McMurray piece was worthless top to bottom, Meyers continues to be a "character" that is old and tired. Either show off the skills that got him his own show on FSN or give him the boot. He is better than this. Gotta do a better job staying ontop of action, DW can't be screaming wreck every single time and the camera "breaks" in 5 seconds after the fact. Missing spins showing replays is also unacceptable.
What was good: Joy is getting back into his swing of things, pit road updates were okay, not great but reasonably solid. A+ on the crew guy interview, that was neat of them to do! Also pretty good job catching guys that fell out though Ambrose being glossed over 2 weeks in a row is a HUGE question mark.
How about NASCAR confiscating the #66. Hopefully FOX or SPEED will make mention at Vegas.
Didn't catch the end, hopefully they didn't drop the ball.
One more thing I have to say:
I completely disagree with this being a boring race! The racing was actually INCREDIBLY good!!!! Harvick, Burton, Tony Stewart and Biffle ALL got to the top 5-8 again after coming from the back today. How many times have you ever been able to say that at California?! Harvick said it best on his MRN interview: "I shouldn't have even been here after my mistake" He finished 2nd, in the past if you got in the back here you were toast, yet guys passed several cars, we had multiple wide racing on many times, Johnson and Harvick had a great duel for the lead midway through, and it sounded like quite a race at the end. FOX did a horrid job with horrid choice with camera cuts which I really do feel makes these races look worse than they are.
Wide shots, we need more of them. If the camera is zoomed so close it can only see one car how do you think your going to think the racing is? Your going to think it sucks, we've been saying it for going on 4 years now which is about as long as they've been doing this HD zoom-in crap. Goodyear brought a good product, drivers are happy with the racing, genuinely.
Camera work NEEDS to get their act together.
The racing was maybe the best I've seen from Cup on that track. I hope they are moving in the right direction.
I also noticed they did not show the grandstands very much during the coverage.
My only complaint was a few times the 2nd place car would catch the 1st place car and there was a setup for a lead challenge... then the TV people would cut to some useless stuff they could do later. The one glaring example was early on when they cut to Jeff Hammond talking about the fin on the car... when a lead change was setup and about to be attempted. They came back from the yip yap and told us about the lead change! If I wanted to hear about it, I'd listen to the radio.
It got better later on tho', coverage wise.
Dear FOX, we know you have to pay the bills, but the incredibly ill-timed commercial flood is going to kill your presentation and the ratings!!! It seemed like every time the race came back on, something had happened that viewers deserved to see LIVE. We already knew about it from other sources!! Quite DUMBFOUNDED that the picture on TV and the "picture" from other sources presents 2 completely different perspectives of a race. And FOX is the bad one.
We've sadly come to the conclusion that poor ole DW has early onset dementia. Some of the stuff he was saying was just plain INACCURATE! So are some of the graphics!!
Chris Pizzi, you are a very nice guy. But please stay BEHIND the camera, bud. You made us almost want Digger back. Choke!!
Jamie McMurray's piece was very well done. We wish him well with his season, but all good things... you know the cliche.
For Feb. Fontana, the race itself was very good (when gathering info from radio, twitter, scanners etc) and it had a really good finish!! Too bad there weren't more fans to see it in person.
For the 2nd time, and maybe all season and it kills me to say it, I will miss analysis from TWIN. Again, would've been interested to hear Chad & Biff's take. Speaking of Biffle, I thought he did pretty good with his pre race bit. Think he'll be fine on a weekly basis... certainly better than Burton's attempt last year.
2c cha ching
We should be racing in Rockingham right now. Great racing, and they would have better attendance.Poor race, poor race coverage, poor, oh, what the heck. At least I was able to finish up some chores around the house, like watching paint dry. Way more exciting than the race. Coverage was better than last week, but as long as David Hill is in charge, expect more of the same lunacy every week.
I thought Sunday's coverage was pretty good. I guess I don't notice the white flag graphics like others do. But one complaint was showing a split screen with the wives toward the end. It would have been something if two drivers that have never won had been battling for the win. But this was not the case.
I agree as most have said w/the camera shots/coverage being bad. Was kinda peeved at Harvick for being overzealous hitting the hall hurting his chances to go after JJ. As JJ won AGAIN, I just turned off the tv, same old thing.
But I disagree about "A Slice of Pizzi"! I thought it was funny as hell, would you rather watch Digger? I thought it was neat that Jeff was showing his comical side. They were out in LA & hopefully some producers caught it. Maybe ppl want to show their versatility & have opportunities outside of Nascar.
Hubby and I noticed that the camera on the prerace show was bouncing up and down which we found quite unusual.
Kudo's to DW and gang for trying to make a typical boring Fontana race somewhat entertaining. I wonder how many new fans garnered at the 500 were lost by the racing at Fontana.
Pre-race was as well-produced as a high school talent show. I still don't understand the "Pizzi" sketch and what was up with the bizarre looking down angle of the woman singing the national anthem. Really had no ambition to see the top of her head. Had she forgotten to wear pants? The less said about the race coverage the better. I learned more about the race from the radio broadcast in my ten minutes in the kitchen getting dinner ready than I did the other three hours plus spent in front of the t.v. Already looking forward to the TNT switch
@Tom, I'm with you on the down camera angle of the anthem singer.
I know in the "movie directors world" a down angle is ment to dimish the person/character. Make them look small and unimportant. A up angle is ment to praise the person/character. Make them look larger then life, therefore important.
However, this isn't a movie, so I don't get it either.
Has anybody been listening ti Siriua/XM today? (Monday) They seem very condescending toward callers. They don't want to hear any more negative stuff about California attendence. the quality of racing etc. They seem like an extension of the NASCAR / ISC PR departments. It has always bothered me that most are MRN announcers and get their paychecks from ISC.
Wanna know how bright and "fan friendly" Gillian Zucker is? At Auto Club Speedway you cannot even stroll the vendor and souvenir area without an admission ticket.You would THINK that maybe if a casual fan showed up they may buy a T shirt or hat or race program and then just maybe even a ticket. Is this ludicrous or what?
Richard From N.C and GinaV24:
The term "Redneck" doesn't come from getting sunburned out working in the fields. It was originally used to identify union organisers and mineworkers from the mine owners and their union busting thugs. This was way back when when coal miners were first getting organized. The union people all wore red bandanas so their fellow workers wouldn't shoot them by mustake. The mine workers unin activities were actually more violent then UAW organising in Detroit.
Greg
Yep - Bagley was very defensive today and Rick Benjamin and Chocolate Myers are always short with callers they do not agree with.
Greg, Ask.com gives both definitions for "redneck".
Anon 11:31 - haven't had the radio on yet today, but this news doesn't surprise me at all.
I quit listening to the morning drive a year or so ago as it didn't seem wise to raise my blood pressure so early in the day or get road rage driving to work. The last time I listened to Moody and his gang on the ride home, I found myself really upset at the condescending attitudes I heard from them as well.
I like MRN for the race coverage when I'm at the track and have used it more and more at home rather than listen to the "booth monkeys" (love it) on Fox or ESPN, but I find that my sirius radio in the car is tuned less and less to the Nascar channel. Considering that the main reason I subscribed to sirius in the first place was to listen to the races when I was driving, I am strongly rethinking the value I get from having it.
I just don't think it is wise on the part of the NASCAR media personnel to constantly insult the fan base ala Kenny Wallace and others. It turns me off - I don't watch Raceday or the prerace trash much any more.
It's usually a good idea to be "nice" to your customers, assuming you want to keep them.
Greg -- I appreciate the history lesson - it's always nice to learn something new, but quite often the derogatory remark about "rednecks" is used to mean something other than the one you referenced - at least in NASCAR. Thx though.
Actually the term "redneck" goes back much farther then the coal miners. It happend that way, yes. But the orgin of the word is traced back to the 16th century in Scottland. The Scottish wanted to break off from the Church of England and those that signed the petition signed in their own blood and wore red cloth around their necks to make it clear to others they had signed the petition. The term was "Redneck". Then the Scottish heavily immigrated into the South here in the States. Indentured servents were then called rednecks for all the time they served in the fields getting sunburnt. The coal miners in West Virginia labeled themselves as "rednecks" and wore the red bandana just as Greg said. But the orgin of the word is about 500 years old and comes from Scottland. For those interested, that's the orgin. Not the current definition, but the orgin.
I have no idea if the race at California was exciting or not. I DO know that what I was allowed to see on my TV certainly wasn't, until the last 20 laps or so. Too many close camera shots of cars running all alone...was there no close racing on the track? Guys in the booth would call attention to a problem on the track, and it took the guys in the truck way too long to switch to the action. Often viewers could see a pass being set up, only to have a commercial break! Then, live racing was put on hold so we could watch what happened...on REPLAY! That sort of direction does not keep viewers glued to their sets. It's hard enough on a track that lends itself to long runs of strung out cars (except for about 10 laps after restarts) to keep an audience's attention. The sort of direction and camera work that fox has exhibited so far isn't going to help their ratings at all.
So, the race at Fontana may well have been one of the best ever, but certainly wouldn't know it from watching the race on TV.
I view the showing of the wives as a rather condescending nod to women---the idiot directors seem to think that we women actually want to see the wives and that we tune in just to watch them. NOT !!!! We don't give a rip about the reactions of the wives or chickie babes of the drivers. We want racing, darn it.
As for Sirius, I'm becoming less and less interested in channel 128 due to the simple fact that their announcers just cannot treat their callers with respect and allow them to voice their opinions without a condescending attitude or nasty treatment. So what if we don't agree with Chocolate or Moody or the others? Don't we have a right to express our displeasure with Nascar and their ruining of the sport without being treated like the bastard child at a family reunion? I've long had a problem with Moody's terrible treatment of callers and his making fun of them, so I've pretty much stopped listening to 128 except for race coverage. And unless Nascar can get it's stuff together, I may give up on Nascar entirely.
I am proud to say that I grew up in the area in southern WV where the mine wars were fought in the early 1900's (way before my time), but I'd never heard the term redneck until I came to NC - so from my experience the union connotation did not survive in everyday language. And yes, there really was a Hatfield-McCoy feud, part of which carried over to the mine wars.
I detest the "wife" camera (or the CC camera) RUINING the green flag coverage/and especially GYPPING US of the END of the race! Why should fans invest in all that time to not "see the end" at home? I just detest the camera decisions in general.
I also am not a fan of synchronized swimming (except in OLD movies, love it there!) or ice skating. So that said, I hope I don't lose my "I'm a girl card" :)
Again for me, I like the guys on the tv voices just fine.
My entire beef is camera direction.
is this David Hill ruining the races or some other suits?
SMH Soph
At least I have a way to watch the race without being counted as a FOX statistic: HotPass. At least they choose the right drivers that are usually up near the front in the middle of the race.
I saw the Pizzi/Gordon thing on The Speed Report. Pizzi had to have hammered the Crown Royal chest, because a pre-race show is no place for that kind of idiocy.
Speaking of, to answer Sophia's question, he's still up to no good. After all, check out the upcoming Speed show called "Fast Track to Fame". Obviously his act, no?
Chris in NY
Speaking of Sophia he's up to no good.
Who?Where? I said somebody's up to no good? I missed something...or my D Hill comment? Still don't know specifics of exactly what does David Hill do to the tv shows. I know he invented Digger. ;-D
Oy, that Pizzi guy with Jeff Gordon and the whole digitizing his rear end thing, if that segment had been a horse, woulda had to shoot it. I never heard of this guy and hope to NEVER see him again.
Yes, sir that 'plumber pants humor" really classes up the joint.
I love Jeff Gordon but WHY indeed, did he do that segment?
#WillNeverunderstandNASCARTVSuits
And I'm free, free falling....
Those aren't just Tom Petty lyrics. Thats the TV ratings continuing to plummet. I didn't think they could go lower from last year's drop off. But, I guess, they can.
NASCAR in California.
Expecting the worst.
Expectation confirmed.
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Awful, Awful, Awful camera selection - this was no surprise. As much as Fox has been praised in prior years, we might recall that they were the network that was the first to replace the 'race' with the 'show.'
Doesn't anyone in the truck 'GET' it? Yes, they 'get' it, from the suits.
Is there a Director in the house?
Apparently not, but this is no surprise - cash the $,$$$,$$$.00.
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Wide, Wide, Wide camera selections work, FOX. We can then SEE the race - how novel! USE THE WIDE SHOTS. Informative narrative works.
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Perhaps - heaven forbid - sell fewer in-car camera sponsors.
In-car cameras were unique high-tech gadgets two decades ago; now they are mere aggravations and distractions for the viewer. Got it?
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In my opinion, I just wish FOX would just Leave Mike Joy Be, and let him call the races.
[Just view and listen to the work Mike, Dick B, and Bob D did on last year's 1st Modified race at Bristol.]
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Were Larry McReynolds and Darrell Waltrip absentee students in GRAMMAR school and High School? (Sorry, had to add that. It's just a re-diatribe of days gone by, recycled by many posters here, and recycled too many times.)
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My first trip to Stafford Springs, CT, Speedway [as a tyro from Long Island] attending the very first Spring Sizzler for Modifieds (the ONLY real racecars), had me asking, "WHO is that announcer? He's Terrific!"
It was Mike Joy.
'Nuff said.
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Word veri: 'alofis' -
Used in a sentence, "The aloof director was taken to the infield care center, suffering from aloftis."
When JJ & others pitted, FOX said nothing about how they came out. When I saw JJ pass the pace car I had to ASSUME he beat the pace car out. THe replay & explanation came after the commercial break. I put up with the booth monkeys because I expect them to keep up with what is happening.
Spokybob
LookButDon'tListen I would like to subscribe to your newsletter. Brilliant posts! So true.
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