A reader emailed me today and asked that I watch a portion of the FOX Sports coverage of the MLB game between the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees.
When I turned on the game, it was quickly apparent why the reader emailed. Never during the thirty minutes that I watched was there an establishing shot of the entire field. Never once was there a camera view of the outfield, so fans could see the "shifts" teams put on for select hitters.
Instead, the production was an endless parade of faces. The camera shots were so tight you could not even see the player's belts. Just chest-high tight shots of batters, pitchers, managers and players in the field.
In a word, it was horrible. The director reluctantly pulled out wide just before each pitch. It was just wide enough to show the pitcher and the batter, nothing more. After every pitch that made it to the catcher's mitt, the parade of endless close-ups began again.
I honestly don't know how baseball fans watched that game on TV. Just like our complaints about NASCAR on FOX, there was no perspective for the TV viewers. It was nothing more than a deliberate attempt to build drama that was not there.
Tonight at 7PM, Chris Myers will again take to the outdoor pre-race stage and go into his act as the bumbling fool. Darrell Waltrip will be alongside and continue preaching his own version of the truth about the sport and everything else that goes along with it. Jeff Hammond will roll his eyes and try to get a word in edgewise.
What began in such a promising manner at Daytona is now falling apart at the seams. Instead of innovating from this new location surrounded by fans, FOX has simply given Waltrip a new pulpit from which to preach. His "Revved-up" segments provide Waltrip the ultimate last word before sprinting to the TV booth for three more hours of telling fans what to think.
Update: Being told FOX is moving the entire pre-race into the Hollywood Hotel due to the high winds at the race track. (6:15PM ET)
FOX is coming off another flat performance at Martinsville that reflected in the ratings. Instead of showing the race as fans in the stands would see it, director Artie Kempner continued to be fascinated by the decades-old technology of the in-car camera.
Texas has the potential for long green flag runs and Kempner may well continue this apparent FOX approach of "hyper-tight" coverage. Last week, Kempner fell apart on the final lap and had to actually replay the cars on the lead lap crossing the finish line. That is the ultimate humiliation.
Kempner's attempt at drama at the finish consisted of showing the winning crew chief take off his headset and climb down from the pit box. Meanwhile, the entire field was racing to the checkered flag with only the first few cars that happened to get in the camera frame shown live.
The disconnect between FOX and the fan base is complete. Mike Joy and Larry McReynolds have been muted. FOX has re-signed Waltrip through 2014 and designated him as "the show." Even the best pit reporters in the business get only moments to spit out a sentence or two before Waltrip passes judgement.
Steve Byrnes, Matt Yocum, Krista Voda and Dick Berggren may need to bring a chair if the race consists of long green flag runs and pit stops where every team takes four tires. Pit stop times might be critical, but without a key mechanical failure or big caution flag period the news from pit road might consist of slim pickings.
Under the lights, this race may take on a new dynamic. That is certainly the hope of NASCAR. There was a big crowd for SPEED's RaceDay show and that is a good sign. There is a strong fan base in the area and the TMS promotions team is very effective in that market.
While David Ragan might be on the pole, viewers know that Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Kyle Busch are two big FOX favorites. With Carl Edwards tied to ESPN, it should be interesting to see how FOX treats Edwards should he dominate.
Ford is also on the verge of a strong race as a brand. It's no secret that Waltrip and Toyota are well acquainted on many levels. Waltrip may have recently added Subaru to his car dealership interests, but Toyota has a soft spot in his heart.
This post will serve to host your comments on the NASCAR on FOX coverage of the Sprint Cup Series race from the Texas Motor Speedway. To add your TV-related comment, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thank you for stopping by.
368 comments:
1 – 200 of 368 Newer› Newest»Wow! DW looks drunk in the pic...
This is one of the view opportunities that I will be watching the NASCAR race live when it’s actually on. (I usually work during the weekends when the race is on.) I love the NASCAR Sprint Cup circuit. It’s the only sport that I follow on a daily basis. I have no other option than watching the races on whatever network on the DVR.
Building drama is good for the sport with much of the close up shots of the racetrack. But there has to be a context of the storyline of the sport. I just wish that there were more contenders than Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch.
TONO
Pamm, that is one of the SPEED Girls on the SPEED stage entertaining during commercial break.
Felling a bit philosophical . . . Our sport is tied to the rails and the FOX train is a coming, but we can't turn away from the carnage that will surely ensue. But alas, we will remain to pick up the pieces and carry on.
Why?
Good question.
Nice comparision with the baseball coverage JD.
Too windy, prerace show moving indoors
wow, that's a strange picture of DW! So, Fox is going to cover all sports EXCEPT football in hyper tight? What does it prove?
I won't be watching the pre race stuff -- I don't feel like I've missed much by not watching it and I don't want to waste 2 hrs of my life. I will probably be watching the race, such as Fox is going to bother to show me and as usual using this blog, trackpass, twitter and radio to actually FOLLOW the race.
I feel badly for the pit reporters not being able to do their job but I guess they get paid whether anyone talks to them or not, but it is the fans who get the shortest end of the stick here.
Watching racing on Fox has become as painful as a sharp stick in the eye.
Thanks for the pre-race info.
Happy Race evening, all!
Got an interesting call from a friend who workks for Chevrolet (I did like "Chevy" and always have; I like the way "Chevrolet" sounds and feels coming off the tongue)
But anyway, she says, while it ain't exactly panic at Chevrolet there is "concern" about how good the F-9 engine is and they do not currently have, what she called, "a match," and if a Ford wins tonight it will not be good for Chevrolet.
Then she add that at the Barrett-Jackson today they sold to Hendrick a 2012 concept or dvelopement Corvette whose primary attribuet was "its appearance package and not its enginering." I did not see this, but as a 2002 Lincoln Blackwood owner I grasped the concept...
Anybody else know if she's right? BTW do not know anything about Chrysler on this.
We will see only what Nascar wants us to see. FOX does not control the broadcast.
Watching baseball on WGN. About as interesting as watching paint dry, usually. But it makes noise.
Took a chance and turned over to FOX. The band is on. Whoopee.
Turned back to baseball.
Will tune in to FOX when the race preview starts, just to catch up on the issues.
What really chafes me is the fact that NO FM radio station in my area, Lexington, NC, NOR the HEART of na$car, Charlotte, NC, has the rights to MRN or PRN on race days/nights....In the HEART of na$car, IMAGINE!!!!....BZF is asleep (as if he was EVER awake?)..
alright everyone lets get this party started :) This is going to be one hell of a night and I cant wait!!!!! Hope you all have fun time watching this race! FOX do what you did the last half of the race in Martinsville and I will be happy! Please keep the in cars to a MINIMUM and keep the wide shots a plenty and all will be happy!!!! Woohoo lets do this
....and DW has gotten on my last nerve with his mistruths and radical misinformation....Faux loves him though so....I attempt to interpret what happens in replays, simply because the director has his head stuffed solidly up.....Oh well....Planeteers know of what I speak!!!!
Anon 6:18PM,
Actually, it's the opposite! FOX bought the rights and can show the telecasts any way they want.
Just have basic limits on commercial time and some sponsor elements.
Mr Editor -
Interesting that SPEED Raceday can handle outdoor setting, but FOX cannot do so for RaceDay ...Myers continued goofiness insults viewer - new or long-time fans ...DW certainly appears to have tied-one on ...too much time to tailgate, I guess ...thankfully, the mute button does work ...at least two PXP pros will work races tomorrow - Bob Varsha (F1) and Bob Jenkins (IndyCar) ...F1 camera work is always amazing and IndyCar may well overshadow the FOX effort
Walter
How about that pink tie and shirt!
If Nascar does not control everything, why do we never hear the truth from reporters, drivers, owners, etc. Because they get chastised by Nascar. You do not think that is control. It goes from the booth and throughout the garage. FOX has the rights and Nascar says this is how it will look. feel and sound.
JD, have you seen what was posted on Speed.com in midweek concerning DW?
http://nascar.speedtv.com/article/cup-darrell-waltrip-is-nascars-spokesman-for-fans-through-fox/
I don't know how to describe the article except that it presents a view of DW and the FOX broadcast team almost exactly the opposite of this site's. (The few comments, however, side with JD.)
Also, why has no one yet groaned in "anticipation" of NASCAR on FOX's annual Texas silliness?
In a broader perspective, I agree that the TV partners could do a much better job or representing reality and ease up on selling the sport.
Just saying that NASCAR cannot stop pictures, cut cameras or tell pit reporters or booth announcers what to say or not say.
Z, make no mistake. DW is proud of his role and feels he is invested in the sport.
This is the big issue that makes it so different from many other pro sports.
Folks on TV actively involved professionally with the sport making money and working for sponsors.
Mr Editor -
That's not exactly what I thought is meant by color-coordinated ...pink tie, pink shirt --- pink nose, pink cheeks ...nuff said ...actually looking forward to PRN tonight vs. MRN's top-shelf production
Walter
JD, DW is invested all right. financially and personally, just like Rusty, Brad and others.
I'm just wondering - was it the same when Buddy Baker, Ned Jarrett and Benny Parsons were calling races?
Cut camera in-car shots and tight shots of 2 cars - agree. Do you really think Dale Jr won the first Nationwide race in the new car with all his hidden talent. Nascar car is WWE on a race track. To kick off the year a rookie wins the biggest race - sure. Feely good. I am only stating what everybody does not like about Nascar. They are all about the Benjamins, not the real fans.
Different sport back then. Ned gave advice, but I don't remember him having a role in a team or with a brand.
Benny was a wonderful guy, but I did not know him outside of TV very well at all.
thanks for the info, JD. Yeah, it was a simpler time and we actually got to SEE the races.
AP NASCAR reporter Jenna Fryer seems to be watching from home on TV tonight. Last time she did that all heck broke loose.
Be interesting to see her reactions as the race coverage goes along since she is usually at the track in the media center.
LOL, I always enjoy it when the reporters have to watch it from the cheap seats - in front of their TV sets - instead of from teh press box.
I only wish that the NASCAR management would have to do the same. Maybe the Fox booth crew should do that too - they might gain a little perspective then.
Would it hurt Fox to spend a few minutes to review the Nationwide race last night? Its almost like that series does not exist according to Fox.
So, if I make a basket, Durrl will go away? I can only dream...
Agree, plus Myers interview with Hamlin was a waste. Use someone who has a clue!
Never watched the pre-race before. Shouldn't they be telling us what makes this track unique and the stragy used to beat it? Wouldn't this be a good time for those "garage" tech-talks that they interrupt the race with?
So far I've seen a 30 second recap of Martinsville that said nothing and ten minutes of Hamlin playing basketball and telling us how tough he has it. From his home on the lake with Michael Jordan on speed-dial.
What's the temperature, is it still windy? Any potential tire problems?
Let's face it, the Nationwide series is a joke and is flailing at best. No one attends the race, the winners are almost always from the top series and it will likely continue to die a slow death. It makes sense for Fox to ignore it in my mind.
20 minutes and they have totally ignored the polesitter. SPEED did too. I like how the networks always avoid the elephant in the room.
"The disconnect between FOX and the fan base is complete."
Yes, it will be a total Charlie Foxtrot trainwreck tonite. There is no need for anxiety as we await the impending doom. The only conclusion I can reach is that this is a network strategy commanded from the top.
Is it because of, or in spite of the liberal arts majors in the employ of Fox-a suspected cultural clash for the ages.
Well, I saw Ragan on SPEED but it would be nice to hear from him on this telecast.
Loudmouth, lost me on that one!
Hi all
So DW says the car is safer, the track is safer, yet the racing is dangerous.....
Its gonna be a long night.
The questions asked to DW in the pre-race, weren't they the same points he discussed all week on twitter.
Front stretch grandstands look reasonably full, or Eddie Gossage does a very good job of mixing in the empty seats among sold seats to make it look full.
It's amazing that they have been talking half an hour and haven't told us anything of substance.
"It's all about me"
Reader on Facebook ID'ed DW's tie as Pepto Bismol pink!
He said they had a good crowd, RaceDay was packed.
Osbornk, it was a little light on the meat and heavy on the fixins!
Lose the hat, Jeff.
Lose the pink, Darrell.
Oh, and it looks that the browsers are having the same trouble they did last week. No joy getting Nascar.com on Google. Have it on Safari this week. Did the techs not work on this at all this week?
Yep, nothing about the polesitter, nothing about the weather conditions. Just fluff.
Going to be a long night.
But I bet this national anthem will be done right.
My kind of Anthem!
Now there's a classy National Anthem. Bruton's tracks seem to get it right (except for Billy Ray)
Texas is usually full up for this race, if the weather is good.
Eddie usually packs them in, we lived in Plano TX and always went.
Very fan friendly venue as long as its not triple digits.
And the anthem the way it should be!
Finally a National Anthem that isn't an insult to Americans like the ones from all of the "country" stars attempting to sing.
I am so fired up for the green flag now! I hope FOX makes it as great a race as it should be!
Where was The Hoff when you need him? Miss that big hunk of a man....NOT!
Great anthem! DW is wearing pink but it doesn't look too bad . . . .
I watched Race Day and the Fox pre race show. Nothing's changed,didn't expect it to. If only Hammond was as big as his ego. Every time he's at Texas,he makes fool of himself. Remember the pink shirt and bandana with two yards of material a few years ago? I have no idea why the networks allow Chris Myers anywhere near a Nascar camera and microphone. I'm hoping we have a good,clean race tonight.
If this is good coverage and a good race, it could turn the entire season around.
Lots of eyeballs right now.
JD, remember several years back they had the "local singing sensation" at Texas and was she terrible! That band was great.
Other sports offer a replica cap or jersey to get the youngsters interested. How can anyone take racing seriously when we're marketing plush toys?
I agree with one thing that DW said a few minutes ago about Junior looking/acting uncomfortable in his interview during driver intros. Wasn't a 'game face', he looked uncomfortable. Just mentioning it. Totally expected it, but after last week, the Media is fawning all over Junior.
Steve Byrnes tweeting from pit road during the race. Hope he starts responding to fans questions. Break the wall.
Excitement building moment there.
The iconic "start your engines" command, everyone revving their motors, getting the blood racing....and right to a Geico commercial without a wheel ever being turned.
Since JJ complained, FOX is supposed to show the speeding technology live tonight on camera.
same ol' - same ol' ...mute button works - nice
Could DW's questions be more stupid?
Junior's HOTPASS Channel has nothing on it. The other channels work fine.
Music a bit loud when trying to hear what the in car reporter was saying.
I'm expexcting to get some serious nap time in tonight. By 3 laps after a restart cars are usually so spread out that Fox's tight shots are even more useless. Don't know how long I can stay awake.
OMG! Dick Berggren lose the hat ...you look as goofy as Myers sounds
Isn't there something ironic that the teams know exactly where the timing lines are on pit road, and no one has a clue as to where they are on the track that determines how cars are lined up after a caution?
If I hear anyone say "The Closer" one more time, I think I'm going to puke. They wore out "Five Time" and I guess are looking for a new cliche (?)
Aaand more movie promos...
Fox Sports appears to have been hijacked by a group of people who have never sat in a university classroom or for that matter ever worked at a television station before. That is what my reference to the cultural class refers to. Sorry.
OK, we just missed a lot. Hello FOX! Of course....replays.
W17Scott when we were walking thru the pit area back back back in 2000 we saw Dick Berggren and I didn't realize short he was!
@Anon 7:44 - try the SD feed from hotpass for JR. They are having problems, they announced on Twitter. They are working on it
Loudmouth, got you loud and clear on that one.
turn that background music down! It's too too loud!
Anyone else dizzy?
I never liked Junior's daddy. he was a bully. I never liked Junior. He's overhyped.
But I respect him for not banging into Harvick like his Daddy would have. After last week I've seen his humanity and how he is struggling with his own need to win versus the requirements being placed upon him. in general, sports hide the humanity of their participants and builds them into superhuman robots, it's good to see some reality.
I like Junior more now. But he was overhyped again all week. I still think he's a mid-pack driver. I saw all of this with Kyle Petty, he'll never come to peace until he becomes his own man.
Man, it needs to be so much wider to help us understand what is going on. What I would not give for RaceBuddy right now.
Don, two very different eras in the sport for sure!
Back then, drivers hated each other. Now, they go over each other's houses and drive go karts!
So I guess timing pit stops no longer happens, eh?
There was some action on pit road. Key replay #2 of the race.
Without replays what would Fox do.
Don, I don't think Jr wants all this attention, he just wants to race whether he's running up front or mid-pack. He needs to be left alone and be able to race with just him and his crew. Sort of like others toward the back that don't have the same attention.
Told they waved off the Harvick penalty. Wonder if we will get an update?
@ Charlie....show us 1 car in close up all race long.
Thanks for letting me know about Junior's channel. I found it on the SD Channel.
OK. Betweem thereplay os the 17 incident and the ads, have they gotten the crawler through the full field yet after pit stops?
Man, I hate to be a broken record but these tight shots have made us miss every single thing important so far. FOX replayed them all.
Wonder what the point of this really is, makes no daggone sense!
hey jd! in re: harvick penalty: delana gave the update on twitter. let me know if fox follows-up on it on-air, ok?
but i'm not gonna hold my breath. . .
did fox happen to mention that the 99 hit a bird?
Also told Tony Raines is back on track. Loose oil line maybe?
JD, maybe NASCAR listened to DW say it wasn't fair because there wasn't room behind him
I'm satisfied with the wide shot for the first three cars but now its time to show us who else is in the race.
When they switch the camera to the cars coming at you, they do it to late.
If they're not going to show the field, they need to speed up the scroll a lot.
Radio saying motor problems for Denny. Seriously.
Denny had to switch ignition boxes per PRN and Twitter. Faux? mention it? hmmm
Double boxes! Much better.
From DeLana Harvick: nascar called us for a tire violation but quickly corrected the call as they realized we did not have one.
Gotta give FOX some credit. Great coverage of the 3 way fight for the lead, camera wise that is. Im listening to PRN instead of All Waltrip tonight.
point is, jd: has fox updated the "tire violation" story for the 29 yet on-air? ditto on hamlin possible engine issue.
i know you get my point but when i consistently get more & better info from twitter than from tv, i have to ask: why watch?
so i don't.
Each race usually has one or two shots all the way down the straight with the cars coming at you. I agree that it's a good angle and they should show it at least as often as the gopher cam.
So far, I'm reasonably happy with the camera work in this race. Still too much attention to the front of the pack but good angles and distance. The booth needs much more work.
Wow. The camera actually found the wreck before the booth...
Larry Mac in the tower to show pit road speed stuff shortly.
I am still having trouble remembering that it is Kez in the 2, not the keebler elf
oh look a long shot of coming off pit road
20 and 00 make contact on pitroad.
and one of our homeboys, David Starr, we haven't seen him on air yet, they need to show him but then again, he's not in the top 5 in points!
Spin on pit road and no one says a word and they go to commercial anyway.
Then a late shot of Ruetimann's car beat up.
*sigh*
Let's see what they do out of break.
This bodes rather wall so far. Cup race that's, aside from the self-important shenanigans in the booth, turning out to be pretty decent.
F1 early tomorrow morning, and the weather forecast calls for Bernie not having to turn on the sprinklers...
Toyota-on-Toyota violence - Durrl must be heartbroken.
Read a good article on NASCAR.COM - Lone Stars Highlight '71 race - that said a lot about Texas drivers and tracks and how it all connected back to Starr. It's too bad we can't get more relevant info like that instead of foolishness with cowboy hats and fluff pieces.
We went to Texas Motorspeedway and witnessed DW win by over a lap over Schrader & Earnhardt!
wow, look a long shot -- shoot I couldn't even type fast enough to make it work
My God, Logano can't catch a break! Budweiser's commercials are usually outstanding. Did you just see the one with the GI who calls his family to tell them he's coming home. He comes home, finds no one until he finds the surprise party in the barn. He must be the only GI who didn't have anyone meet him at the airport! Sorry, but I thought it was phony. The Fords are looking strong. The Hendrick cars are hurting.
It's ridiculous when you have to stare at the crawler (so aptly named!) to see if you can find where most of the field is running. Nothing about who is moving up, moving back...nothing useful from the booth at all.
Gonna be fun when it really gets dark.
sheesh, i'm watching the race through the lowe's in car camera. Wow, just what i always wanted. Not.
What a waste of cameras.
Debris in turn 3 being debated.
re: the crawl
That's where radio really excels. Since they lack video, they really keep you connected to the entire field and every fight for position.
I was so excited to get my (first) new HDTV - these camera shots are making me nauseous.
@anon 8:29...the Fox choice of camera shots leave most of us nauseous all night.
Thanks goodness for the 'Deadliest Catch' marathon. I have something to watch during these interminable commercials.
@Sally -- motion sick and just plain sick!
During break: one camera following Father-of-the-Year all by himself, while the other sits atop JimBot's roof. Ooohh...
Mike Joy working very hard to keep things on track. Not easy.
Don, thanks for the headsup about Meyer Speedway in Houston. My husband said he could hear the cars racing from his house in Sharpstown during that time!
Like trying to keep a good grip on a handful of Jello™?
ok...I'm set up now. I'm DVRing yhe race, got the Planet and twitter online, so I know when something happens, and got Fox Racetrax so I know the running order.
think I'll watch the mentalist - maybe ESP will help me figure out what the heck is going on at the track since the booth and the camera aren't doing it.
click, click, click - three different camera shots within 2 seconds or less with 3 different sets of cars.
Makes it a bit hard to follow.
You wonder what would happen if they just backed out and let the cars race a bit so fans could see who was where.
Big,open tracks keep cautions to a minimum. Without frequent pit stops, the cars handling well disappear and the ones not handling drop like rock. It's not clear to me, does Hamlin have a motor problem or was it an ignition box deal?
Mr Editor -
No, 'we' don't wonder ...we know ...the broadcast would be elevated to being tolerable ...but accidents happen ...btw, have we been shown the track from a copter shot yet?
Walter
Denny switched the ignition box during that first long run and reported that it solved the problem.
No, and the aerial shot here is just so beautiful!
The #99 must be watching the Fox broadcast as well...
JD, if they pulled the camera back, the fans would go wild! such a simple concept that Fox and ESPN both are hell-bent to ignore
Debris on the grill for Junior, he is screaming!
twitter tells us the 88 car has stuff on the grille, the temps are in the red & the debate is on about coming in now or on pit cycle.
thought i'd share that just in case you're not on twitter & don't have access to information about the race.
#71 Andy Lalley is the Kevin Conway for 2011.
Tight, tight, tight. I am glad Mike, DW and Larry can see what is going on because I sure can't!
The Texas track really lends itself to wide,overhead shots, especially at night. Thanks JD for the clarification on the #11.
Fox thinks that fans only care about the car in front.
All kinds of team info about handling and what not on radio & twitter & scanners. Fox tells us very little if anything.
Show us close ups show us nothing & then tell us less.
This instant information of world of twitter etc.. now makes us have to figure out what's an acceptable amount of time for something to be reported by the tv guys? Is 2 or 3 minutes too long to wait? would it make the coverage seem to jumpy if they reported everything instantaneously? Before all of this we didn't know how long they were waiting to tell us. Should they have a scroll at the bottom with info they are hearing? twitter comments?
But that car's not in front...
Fox better show the sun disappearing on the horizon shot.
Red - they mentioned Hamlin but nothing about an ignition box.
Once again, the dreaded 'front nose' problems for some drivers. glad they've figured out the back nose!
Gordon on his scanner reporting a vibration -- they may have to come - Jeff thinks he has a loose lug nut.
Is Bevo at the track tonight? Maybe he should be telling us the updates at the track!
Bozo,
We suggested that FOX and ESPN add a social media producer in the TV booth with the announcers.
Instead, Darrell Waltrip keeps his iPad on Twitter during the race. The problem is, he only follows those fans and reporters who "like him." He said that.
Little different than just hardcore news gathering like we do during the races. If they replaced Myers in the HH, that talent could also do Twitter info updates instantly all night long.
Change is very hard when you are well paid, well fed and a star.
waiting for the "must be the team's camber settings"
It is like they only know tight shots and if they have to have another camera view, they are lost.
JD - where is the link to live points on the nascar.com homepage? I can't find it and thinks it is stupid that they hide it! Got them last week from your link you put on twitter.
Why can't fox find the best racing on the track and show it to us instead of the babbling from the announcers and single car shots?
LOL, DW only talks to people who like him? why does that NOT suprise me? Probably explains why he never answers any of my e-mail questions.
Live points might be inside the paid stuff. I could never find it free.
I'm with you Jd, but if they had that person handling twitter is there a way they could feed that quickly to the announcers while not making the broadcast disjointed (not that they are too successful currently with the broadcast). just wondering how good it would really work in practice
JD - Last year they had a link to live points right on the homepage. I really hate their website.
bozo, i'm not watching tonight so i may be WAY off base here but:
fox would be well served to stop trying to do everything under the sun and just broadcast the race. they have access to all the same information fans now utilize, sources i personally wouldn't have relied upon IF i was getting any solid info from the booth.
but i've stopped watching the fox broadcasts, not because of the delay in information but because of the absolute LACK of information combined with flat-out inaccuracies.
i want wide-angles to show me the race, not tight camera shots ad in-cars. i want information presented and followed-up (has fox yet acknowledged that the 29 was NOT penalized for a tire outside the box? someone relying on the broadcast might wonder how he 29 regained position from that "penalty") it's quite easy but not if the truck is intent on using all the toys in the toybox and ignoring the actual event.
i'd accept a reasonable delay IF we were getting a good broadcast each week and if the race was permitted to tell the story,not the booth personalities.
know how frustrated i am? my soccer match is over and i'm STILL not turning on the race.
Ya know, I ain't as rich as yáll. I have a 27" non-flat, non-HD TV set.
When you put all these driver graphics and crawls on my screen, it's hard to actually watch the race.
I don't give a f*** how old Trevor Bayne is or what his hometown is. That's what color guys in the booth are for anyway. You can give me bios in the pre-race show. And if the play-by-play guy actually called the race, I wouldn't need to see the crawl.
If you do the job right, you don't need flash and dazzle to hold peoples attention.
Scoring ticker = TV crutch.
I have to give NASCAR some credit this year. They're actually letting the races play themselves out naturally, without resorting to phony cautions. I think they finally realized last year that the fans weren't as dumb as they thought they were.
bozo, I don't think that the booth could handle that much info and multi tasking. Although with an ADD director in charge, someone should tell us what is going on.
After all, Mike Joy and DW can see the track -- they could call the action and let the idiot director point his camera wherever it suits him. At least then, I could close my eyes and listen -- wait, that's what I do when I use the radio coverage.
How come there is a split screen for rodent commercials and not others?
@James:
That way they sell more plushies...
Am I supposed to know who Jason Whitten is?
Being told Junior's DirecTV channel is working again.
@Anon - Dale JR HD Hot Pass channel is now up & running it was announced on Twitter
An Ol' DW knows all about givin up a little
There you go Vicky, a whole 1/2 second on David Starr before he goes to the garage for reasons that will never be explained.
and carl got a nausea pill, dw... would think pit reporters had the info... twitter had it, which they got off the radios. Fox must have a guy scanning the radios?
An Ol' DW knows all about sellin' out a little
There, fixed that for you...
Night racing is beautiful at TMS. Will we get to see wide shots of it? Packs of cars under the lights -
Jojaye, don't hold your breath
Thanks to DW for saying he hopes David Ragan has a good night. I know that is difficult for DW and I hope he knows how much we appreciate it.
Time to go get a brownie. Glad I thought to bake them earlier today knowing I'd need acrutch to get thru this race.
Sally - I hope you brought enough for the whole class
Would have been perfect coming back from that break Jo. But...no!
I don't think they have talked about Mark Martin yet.
Did he not pay his dues.
The booth talked about Carl's pit stop,but I didn't hear anything about a nausea pill. Not surprised. You'd think that Fox had no pit reporters. Happens all the time. Can't understand it. Just go up the pit box and ASK!
Sally, I've gone for a mike's hard lemonade. Chocolate won't do it.
Say it with me. Almost....halfway!
Wow, Larry mac with an update on the 1's unscheduled pit stop
They talk about the 22 being wreckin loose while they show us pictures of the 33, they are both yellow?
JD - almost halfway! Our one favorite is out so now I need my really big favorite to win!
Nothing personal, but these boys in the booth sound like they just ran out of gas!
At least we have not heard about hot dogs, yet
the booth is out of gas and we'e only halfway through. Sad, sad! How many races left until TNT?
@JD:
You mean, Sonoco Race Ethanol, don't you?
From NASCAR.com's David Caraviello: Carl Osborne tells Edwards he'll get a "potpourri" of stomach remedies on next stop. First time I've heard "potpourri" mentioned over team radio.
Slander, my phone is ringing. It must be Brian France....ethanol of course!
"A lot of 2x2 racing here tonight."
Really? How can we tell?
Mr Editor -
Has DirecTV Hotpass been free every race this year? I hadn't checked it until tonight ...what say you?
Walter
Not one pizza fan favorite pop up shown at the Masters golf match so far this weekend.
Fox knows how to get the message out.
I don't understand what Sunoco uis getting out of this. I used to live in the Northeast and there was at least one station every five miles.
I moved to NC and there are only two stations. Thirty miles from me in opposite directions. I think there are even less west of the Mississippi.
Sure does sounds like the booth monkeys are beginning to run out of Sonoco Racing Fuel™. They're beginning to mispronounciate their words a little.
It is halfway - do you know where your driver is.
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