The email has been running pretty heavy about the Nashville weekend of Nationwide Series action on ESPN and ESPN2.
Since this is a stand-alone Nationwide Series weekend, we will use this one post for discussion of the practice sessions, NASCAR Countdown, the race, and NASCAR Now.
Friday practice contained some interesting soundbites and interviews on a wide variety of subjects. The Friday edition of NASCAR Now, hosted by Nicole Manske, feature an extended segment from Nashville that saw ESPN pick-up on the trend of having TV anchors stand while speaking.
Saturday will feature practice and the race broadcast. Marty Reid will be calling the action while Jerry Punch is on vacation. He will be teamed with Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree in the booth.
Allen Bestwick will host from the Infield Pit Studio (shown above) and be joined by Brad Daugherty on the set and Tim Brewer in the Tech Center. Wallace will also be on the infield set for the pre-race show, which will be one hour in length. Perhaps, this will be to review the qualifying action and then preview the race.
On pit road will be Vince Welch, Mike Massaro, Jamie Little and Shannon Spake. Dave Burns is on vacation this weekend. Welch is an open-wheel veteran pit reporter and worked last season on ESPN's NASCAR coverage in the same vacation relief role.
We welcome your comments about the ESPN efforts this weekend. Please note that the pre-race show and race itself are on ESPN. If you would like to comment, just click on the COMMENTS button below. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page.
The Daly Planet does not want your email address and there is nothing to join. We would just like to know your opinion of the ESPN and ESPN2 coverage of the NASCAR scene this weekend. Thanks again for taking the time to stop-by.
165 comments:
"feature an extended segment from Nashville that saw ESPN pick-up on the trend of having TV anchors stand while speaking. "
JD, I'm sorry, I just don't understand what that could mean. Is it bad that the anchor is standing?
Also, I think it is a good idea to have questions from fans during the race. ESPN will continue the "in-race-reporter" feature anyway. So, why not put fan questions into it. And it is not like the fans will be LIVE by phone or anything like that, so ESPN should make sure that the questions a good and would give informative responses.
And that is a great picture of the Pit studio. I think that is a nice piece of television equipment brought to the tracks. JD, I think you should do any article about the pieces of the Television compound so fan could better understand it.
ok. I had no idea these studios hovered in the air like this? Kind of scary looking.
Did you mean Manske standing or the person at the track? I personally hate the trend of talking heads all over tv STAND as opposed to sitting at the desk looking more relaxed. It makes me feel like they need to walk off camera as soon as the commercial comes because they have a screaming bladder. (sorry, just don't like this "we can't afford chairs for our anchors" nonsense)
;-)
Is standing really this big a deal here? I'm sorry but I don't see why that is so important? If I were a producer, I would worry more about content then if an anchor was sitting or standing. Isn't that what is most important? I feel if we start worrying about such small things, we might lose sight of what is most important. The coverage and what stories are covered in said coverage.
Hey Guys,
Thanks for the comments. I will shortly post some additional pics of the ESPN Pit Center Infield Studio.
What we do here is talk about TV. As you have seen over the past two months with ESPN, they continue to tinker with the on-camera elements as they prepare for July and the Sprint Cup package.
For NASCAR Now, they stood AB, Rusty and Tim Brewer in the Tech Center and filed one complete on-camera segment. You have probably seen the same segments on the ESPN and Fox NFL coverage, where the anchors stand as a group and talk.
One thing to notice is that just like some classic editions of ER, the cameras were hand-held and moved around during the entire piece. The announcers wore wireless mic packs, so they were free to turn and talk and move.
We should watch for ESPN to continue to tinker with this standing or sitting issue as they pump-out a lot of NASCAR content for the ESPN shows and networks.
I will be posting the pics shortly.
JD
IMO standing seems more like a group of people just talking together and we're more a part of the group. Behind a desk is more news anchor or instructional. This kind of helps to counter the more formal feel I get from ESPN. Obviously RaceDay and Trackside need a desk to counter the craziness. It keeps a good balance. I can not remember if the guys wore ties during practice last year (you would think I'd remember since all we saw last year was them and not the cars) but I like the more informal look but can accept the more formal dress on NN especially with the chairs an no news anchor desk.
JD,
As I looked at today's broadcast schedule I was somewhat surprised to see that ESPN is broadcasting a tape delayed edition of practice during the same time slot that the actual qualifying is scheduled. Why would they choose to present the practice in lieu of the live qualifying event? I can't imagine that viewers are more interested in practice versus qualifying especially on a day when there are more than 43 entries.
Appreciate your feedback.
chuck,
I think we will get that question answered in the pre-race show. It should be interesting.
The pictures of the Tech Center and the Pit Studio are posted.
JD
THAT's what was different on Friday-- they were standing. I knew something was different, but couldn't put my finger on it. It was more informal and had a warmer feeling. A big desk gives is rather cold.
I'll echo sophia's statement --- that thing looks a bit scary hovering up there in the air.
The only thing that caught my ear was a tiny little mistake --- this morning's on-track action had best be "qualifying", not "final practice" as was said on the program.
Interesting.. Nascar.com say ESPN is broadcasting the tape delayed Practice. However, I just checked my online guide (AT&T U-Verse) for ESPN2 and it's showing the 10-11 AM CST timeslot as "NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying". I hope that is accurate...
No such luck, and I was also a victim. The PR release said practice and I just thought it was an error.
Hopefully, it the guys read this before the show starts, they can clear-up that one issue right away.
JD
I don't think 1 hour would be enough time to qualify 44 cars, and that was all the time available before basketball.
Just when I think ESPN get't it we have this morning. By all means let's show practice from YESTERDAY when there is nothing on the line and limited availibility to talk to drivers instead of qualifying that is live. To make it even more confusing it obviously was not the original plan because the announcer from drag racing that was on prior said we were going to see qualifying. WHAT?
It's practice right now.
The guys in the booth are being all defensive about the In-Race Reporter fan questions already four minutes into the broadcast - you can tell they know it's a bad idea, because they're trying so hard when they're selling it as a good idea.
They're all "the fans get their say!" and "get some questions from a different perspective!!"
People, these drivers are athletes! This is not asking someone a question as they go to halftime or come back from halftime. This is during a race; caution or not, they still should be on their game mentally.
Actually, it makes them look less like athletes when they can sit and answer fan questions during a competition. Remember how last year ESPN made fun of Dale Jr asking for Redskins scores while (while driving, not in a caution)? They were all, "nice to see he's got his priorities straight!"
It's a bad idea, pure and simple. I dread when they start using it for Cup races. I hope Tony Stewart IS the in-race reporter for one of those and blows the whole concept straight to pieces.
---
daly planet editor said...
"For NASCAR Now, they stood AB, Rusty and Tim Brewer in the Tech Center and filed one complete on-camera segment."
These three also stood while previewing the Nationwide race last Friday on NASCAR Now, but a lot of people may not have seen it b/c it was late night. It's probably just going to be the way when they preview the NW race.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I feel completely mislead by ESPN2. My Dish program guide tells me that this scheduled time should be qualifying. I had no reason to believe otherwise. I would rather see as many qualifying runs that they can fit in an hour (why not show the rest on Classic?), than anything taped. No indication by this broadcast that I'm watching a tape. I actually woke up after staying up late to watch the Formula 1 qualifying (which is another arguement for "live" broadcasts) expecting to be watching Qualifying LIVE. Again I say, BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
With it showing up in people's TV listings that it would be qualifying, and it's actually tape-delayed practice, in the last week or so, ESPN came to the realization that qualifying would take longer than an hour to complete with the window they had to work with. The NCAA women's tourney is important to espn2, that they don't want anything to cut into anymore than it has to. A 60 minute practice session obviously fits into that hour window perfectly.
Let me add, there should've been a little more coordination months ago between the network and the speedway in setting up their event schedule, so that qualifying could be televised. Considering the Nationwide series is the only thing running at Nashville this weekend.
Mike @ 11:28AM,
I can understand that. This is actually the only time of the year that college women get any real TV coverage. However, where was that communicated to us viewers? And I'm not talking about searching for it here, Jayski or elsewhere on the interwebs. I'm talking about a direct communication at the beginning of this broadcast. An apology/explanation would go a long way towards cooling my jets. And, like I said I understand the necessity of the women's tournament, but would rather see half of live qualy instead of whole taped (iverson tone) "practice" (/iverson tone)
Erik said...
I don't think 1 hour would be enough time to qualify 44 cars, and that was all the time available before basketball.
March 22, 2008 10:44 AM
That the exact reason we're seeing practice right now. If they showed qualifying, they would have to leave the air before the pole was determined. Traditionally they let live events spill over into the next event, but they're not going to let a qualifying event that has no real signficance take priority over one-and-you're-done NCAA basketball tourney (let face it, whoever goes home was going to be a start and parker anyway).
They're going to get complaints either way - while some would be OK with them leaving in the middle of qualifying, many would cry foul - so they chose the easier path of airing practice.
Not saying it's the right thing to do. just saying I can see the reasoning behind their decisions.
Agree with Mike @11:28 that better coordination with ESPN around NCAA tourney time would be a good thing for NASCAR scheduling team.
My programming guide, NASCAR's website, and ESPN's website all say a practice session. That hasn't changed at all.
Patrick,
I understand what you're saying. However, if they would've only shown an hour of qualifying and then left for basketball, there'd be more upset people than there is now. They would've been most likely be cutting off qualifying at about the the go or go-home cars would've been qualifying. That wouldn't have set well with too many people.
Great pics of the tech center, JD...thanx.
Soooo...lemme get this straight so I can set Tivo, no Quals being broadcast and the pre-race and race are on ESPN, right??
Tom in Bristol...still can't get my Google/Blogger password sorted out
This is just another reason not to get excited for ESPN coverage.
I have 5 ESPN channels on Dish Network, you would think they could find one to broadcast a live event. What a joke.
This is just another reason not to get excited for ESPN coverage.
I have 5 ESPN channels on Dish Network, you would think they could find one to broadcast a live event. What a joke.
If they put qualifying on Classic, you'd have another bunch of people moaning and groaning they can't see it because they don't have ESPN Classic.
I just turned on the DVR to watch live qualifying on ESPN2.... and they're replaying Happy Hour from last night? What the hell is that all about?
I understand that an hour is probably not enough to get in 45 cars of qualifying since the Women's college basketball game is on espn2 at Noon and the Not-in-Tournament men's game is on ESPN at Noon, but there were two easy solutions here:
1.) What the hell is Speed Channel doing today? Back-to-back-to-back re-airs of some show called "Setup"? It sure would have been nice to pre-empt 2 hours of that for live qualifying. What happened to the cooperation between these networks?
2.) Are Billiards from 2004 and Bowling from 2000 really so important that they couldn't move the end of qualifying to ESPN Classic at noon or just air the whole thing there starting at 11:00 AM?
JD, I know you were giddy about ESPN's "commitment" to this stand-alone event but so far it looks like the race fans are getting the shaft to me.
Next up:
- college basketball game running long and forcing Countdown to move to Classic or to be delayed until the end of the game
followed by:
- ESPN using caution flag time to ask Carl Edwards questions from viewers at home. Obviously they're going to do the In-Race Reporter on more than the usual one caution flag the In-Race Reporter gets since they're hyping it so much so this is going to be terrible. I actually like the idea of having a driver answer questions from the fans... but NOT DURING THE RACE! Save this for NASCAR Now, or ESPNEWS, the Countdown show, or the post-race show. Don't waste time during caution flags when you should be using up your commercial inventory!
Less green flag racing in return for more In-Race Reporter = VERY BAD IDEA.
No TV coverage of qualifying = VERY BAD IDEA
Marty Reid instead of Allen Bestwick in the booth = VERY BAD IDEA
Not looking good so far that's for sure.
From following the Live Leaderboard (please bring back the popped Java window with a real leaderboard with time to the thousandths (.001)), i t looks like we could've been shown the locked in drivers and would've missed the go or go home crowd.
Mike, I was too busy composing my rant to see your 2nd post about the coordination between ESPN and the track.
My programming guide, NASCAR's website, and ESPN's website all say a practice session.
Time Warner online digital cable guide shows qualifying - right now. ESPN obviously changed it to practice within the last 24 hours.
Easy to understand that NASCAR and ESPN websites would be up to date; also easy to understand that some cable/satellite guides wouldn't. Not all of those can make quick changes like the parent websites directly related to the race.
I tried to suggest ESPN Classic for live quaifying, but instead it should be an extended recap on the pre-race show which is going to be one hour long for a stand-alone Nationwide Race.
Remember, the coverage shifts to ESPN for the rest of the day.
JD
You got it Stricklinfan82
ESPN is committed when they have time.
My programming guide indicated practice a week ago when I checked to see what was going on this week. It hasn't change.
People, these drivers are athletes! This is not asking someone a question as they go to halftime or come back from halftime. This is during a race; caution or not, they still should be on their game mentally.
Actually, it makes them look less like athletes when they can sit and answer fan questions during a competition. Remember how last year ESPN made fun of Dale Jr asking for Redskins scores while (while driving, not in a caution)? They were all, "nice to see he's got his priorities straight!"
March 22, 2008 11:17 AM
It's really rather ridiculous. One could make the point that Tiger Woods could answer fan questions as he walks from hole to hole. He has the time.
The question is should he be asked to do it? That answer is no. I'd like to see them try it, though. Tiger is a even-keeled guy, but he is deadly serious when playing, which is why he is one of the greatest of all time. The person who tried to mike him to answer a "fan question" during a round would probably get punched. Same with M. Jordan on the bench on the basketball court.
Sad that ESPN/NASCAR would do this.
erik there was obviously a change at some point the NHRA announcer ended with a promo for Nascar QUALIFYING coming up next.
It wasn't changed in the last 24 hours, because I posted Thursday in the separate "ESPN Nationwide from Nashville Effort" blog entry that the broadcast would be practice, and not qualifying; I found out by looking at espn.com's TV listings page. However, it must've been changed in the last 10 days. Even racefantv.com was still showing it as qualifying. My Dish Network program guide still had it listed as qualifying, and the TV guide that came with my paper last Sunday showed it as being qualifying.
I never liked the inrace reporter except during a red flag especially with Matt Kenseth in Pocono (that's the only time I really wanted one but unfortuntely it wasn't him). Now ESPN has taken it to a entirely new level and it isn't a good one.
We can usually see qualifying for the trucks. We can usually see qualifying for the cup cars. Seems we only have problems seeing qualifying for the Nationwide cars. There are a few of us that do watch qualifying (arranging) of the cars. Listed in a program guide or not, IMO it should be on TV.
I hate I've missed the news about the in car reporter. Sounds like I would not like it. Leave the drivers alone in the car. They all give plenty of interviews. They have a job to drive a race car. Let them work.
Hmm. Ruben Pardo posted no qualifying time. It sure would be nice to know what happened to him. Did he withdraw? Did he crash? Did he suffer a mechancial problem?
It sure would be nice to be able to turn on the TV and find out what's happening right now! I keep waiting for the 2000 bowling match to disappear on ESPN Classic so I can watch qualifying live but it looks like the 8 year old bowling match is here to stay, what a joke.
Is anyone in the ESPN truck reading this blog today? If so would you mind telling us what happened to the #36 car? Thanks.
Well my TW guide also said qualifying and I was too lazy to turn on the laptop and see what the deal is.
Wow...can't believe ESPN backslid so quickly over this decision. As they went off the air they said ESPN would bring the race "later today" with no TIME GIVEN or station? My guide says ESPN.
Odd Speed could not cover something as important as qualifying. At first I thought maybe weather messed things up but apparently not.
Geez, it's like one day later from all the GREAT COMPLIMENTS, we are back to talking of ESPN as if it were last year.
Geez, what's next SPEED Channel have tons of audio/picture glitches?? Fox only using a ticker for 10 ten cars and selling T shirts for their stupid "new camera" rather than run down drivers? Oh, wait, that really did happen!
:-o
By listening to the live-read promos and the use of the "in-race reporter" it sounds like ESPN's focus for the broadcast is going to be on Carl Edwards. No one's going to be interested in watching the 37 Nationwide-only drivers. Have to see who gets talked about during the hour-long pre-race show.
I think it is great that the SPEED crew all get a weekend off. That being said, practice/qualifying is soooo much better on SPEED.
After watching most of yesterday’s coverage and some of this morning’s taped final practice, it seems to me that ESPN still thinks that practice/qualifying is their opportunity to feature lots of air time for their talent and to play their stock of videos, no matter how old.
I do not enjoy Mr. Reid, he sounds like Dr. Punch. They both have the same monotone speech. I know that Bestwick can’t be in the booth, pit studio, and pit road at the same time. It would make coverage much more enjoyable for me if he could.
Seems as if the pre-set story lines for this weekend are Carl Edwards and concrete! :)
Okay, I brought this up on the Monday NASCAR Now post and it obviously fell on deaf ears so I'm going to try again:
Hey ESPN, THERE ARE ONLY 43 CARS IN A SPRINT CUP OR NATIONWIDE RACE! 43. Not 44. Not 45. Not 46.
Yet AGAIN, the bottom line starting lineup crawl includes the cars that DNQ'ed as starting on the outside of row 22 and the inside of row 23.
This happened all year last year on ESPN with finishing results and starting lineup bottom line crawls and still hasn't been fixed. What is so hard about figuring out the concept of only 43 cars starting these races?
This is about the most boneheaded mistake a graphics department could make and it happens EVERY SINGLE WEEK. Enough already.
Hey - before you go praising SPEED check out the schedule for next week at Martinsville. All we get live is Cup qualifying because of the stupid car auction.
SPEED is also only commited when the have time...
AB, It doesn't take that long to come up with a reason why limiting full time cup drivers to 10 races. Fewer people than they already do would bother to show up without the cup guys in the races, and fewer sponsors will be willing to put up money for no name, minor league drivers.
Funny how Allen says we could talk about this (Cup whackers) all day long but we're about to go green flag racing!
When he said that, green flag was almost 50 minutes away.
Interesting quote from Jeff Burton, if you don't want to see Cup Whackers, go to an ARCA race.
Also struck me the Cupwhackers either said they were racing for fun or they didn't want to sit in the motorhome on Saturday and do nothing, where Hamilton Jr wisely pointed out - this is his living. Obviously the Cupwhackers have forgotten what it's like to be scraping by.
And Carl, AAA baseball players don't get to play in the major leagues. Just in case you didn't know that. So not everybody gets to compete in any series they want.
Good job hearing from Stephen.
S Leight, what a great kid someone needs to give him a full time ride. Excellent interview. Stremme too, he worked so hard to get that cup car into the top 35 and now look, guess they are re thinking that one. Did they give us any info on qualifying I was unloading groceries and missed the beginning
OK enough Carl already this is getting old
It's funny to hear guys like Hamilton complain. If the Cup drivers weren't in the races the purses would be a lot smaller - so he'd probably finish better but still make the same money.
Hey back-
I will praise SPEED because the norm for them is to have good coverage of practice/qualifying. For ESPN to have good coverage of practice/qualifying is an anomaly. :)
They have an HOUR prerace yet fail to start off with the qualifying lineup on screen sometime in the first half hour. (Ran as a scroll on the ESPN ticker). No mention of who the polesitter is. No highlights from qualifying. Two showings of the top 10 in points but no mention of the lineup today.
That was not good, ESPN.
I have no problem with the Cup guys running Nationwide, but when you have stand alone races like this and nearly 90% of the field is made up of Nationwide drivers, this is the perfect opportunity to introduce people to the Nationwide drivers and focus on them!
Anyone see a wrap-up of qualifying or a run-down of the starting grid?
JD
The ticker is the only lineup I've seen.
Anonymous said...
They have an HOUR prerace yet fail to start off with the qualifying lineup on screen sometime in the first half hour. (Ran as a scroll on the ESPN ticker). No mention of who the polesitter is. No highlights from qualifying. Two showings of the top 10 in points but no mention of the lineup today.
That was not good, ESPN.
March 22, 2008 2:36 PM
JD, there's your answer for you.
Also, I just found out that Kyle Busch is on the pole b/c the first couple of times they ran the scroll I missed the beginning of it. The only way I knew Mike Bliss was on the front row was that Jamie mentioned it at the end of his interview.
Puzzling that AB and the guys would be that shortsighted not to insist on more qualifying news being discussed.
These guys are a little off-balance today in the pre-race.
They're almost making it sound like qualifying didn't take place at all. Maybe qualifying didn't take place and that's why they put on practice for us instead this morning.
JD I think the pre-race show is doing a good job today. And Rusty is doing a great job in the studio. Allen is keeping it all together and I like Brad's enthusiasm. I loved the discussion about the nationwide-only drivers racing against cup drivers. To me it was a good show. Hope the race is fun too.
Anyone see a wrap-up of qualifying or a run-down of the starting grid?
JD
JD, they've completely ignored qualifying on the pre-race show, other than a few drivers commenting about their qualifying runs during their interviews.
They've been showing a starting lineup crawl on the bottom of the screen but it's completely inaccurate because they have 45 cars starting the race. ESPN's graphics department in Bristol has made this mistake for 2 years now when NASCAR stats are on the bottom line during pre-race shows and NASCAR Now. There are only 43 cars in the race! There is no row 23! I could forgive them if this was a one-race typo but as I said earlier it happens EVERY SINGLE WEEK when more than 43 cars attempt to qualify.
Finally it only took them an hour to tell us about qualifying
Marty Reid apologized for not showing qualifying as they had scheduling conflicts. But still no full on-screen rundown of the starting order.
Marty Reid:
"We wanted to show you qualifying but there were scheduling conflicts on all our networks."
HA! I'm sorry but I don't consider ESPN Classic re-airing 2004 Billiards and 2000 PBA Bowling from 11:00 AM - 1:00 PM SCHEDULING CONFLICTS.
I can at least understand the basketball commitments but re-airs of old pool matches and bowling tournaments from several years ago are hardly more important than live NASCAR qualifying.
While I'm at it, thumbs down to Speed for not cooperating with ESPN and making a deal to cover qualifying after they decided that re-airs of bowling and pool were more important than live qualifying. Also, MAJOR thumbs down for the BS lack of coverage Speed will be giving us at Martinsville thanks to some stupid car auction.
Someone should keep a timer going on how much Edwards is shown over the course of these 225 laps. LOL
Ya know ESPN, just because you don't film qualifying doesn't give you have the right to ignore discussing it for an hour. It's sort of the most important news of the day. No harm in putting the results on the screen. The polesitter should also have been interviewed early in the show, not right before the prerace is almost over.
Vince Welch isn't impressing me. He seems to talk too slowly in getting his questions out. Then he interviews Kyle Busch and calls him snakebitten at the beginning of the interview and then ends the interview by saying Kyle has finished an average of something low -32nd? - for the last two races. Sometimes I think these drivers have every right to trash these reporters on air, but Kyle just smiled and moved on.
Good job of going back through the field to find a battle for position going on, even if it was for 18th.
Love seeing the battles on the track where ever they are, BUT they need to always keep an eye on the leader to avoid missing a pass for the lead or a mishap involving the leader. ESPN went from Lap 3 to Lap 7 and we didnt see the leader.
Split Screen would keep everyone happy !!
Split screen should be mandatory for showing replays UNDER GREEN flag with leader in one box and replay in the other.
I figured with an hour prerace show they would give us at least 5-10 minutes of qualifying coverage. I couldn't believe they instead chose to replay the piece about Cup drivers running in the Nationwide series and interviewing Carl Edwards. Wait - I knew they would spend at least 15 minutes with Carl Edwards...
Wow....this is a long caution for just an engine blow!
Carl Edwards getting covered :
More power to him for giving us the coverage that allows us fans to really become part of the action.
For a long time I have said, driver / crew audio is going to keep viewers and gain viewership. If Carl Edwards is one of the FEW driver who will allow this access, I say thank you Carl.
This is similar to the Kyle Petty / TNT thing they tried. But, having a "contender" for the win allow us to listen makes it a bit different.
Is it risky due to profanity being aired ??
Thats where NASCAR needs to step in and let these drivers and crews know that this audio element is IMPORTANT....and if they are found using profanity on the mic... issue major, and i mean major penalities.
Way to go Carl and thanks for steppin up and giving us the inside scoop.
Erik,
I will take care of keeping the comments in line on this blog. If you would like to talk about what you like and what you do not like, you are welcome to stay.
If you are going to continue to try and be some sort of ESPN PR rep, I am going to continue to delete your comments.
What we want is your own comments about the coverage.
Thanks,
JD
How about this idea - feel free to comment.
With the "Lucky Dog" being such a big player in today's NASCAR racing...
How tough would it be to HIGHLIGHT that DRIVERS NAME on the scoring ticker ?? Highlight the driver that is currently the one who would be awarded the Lucky Dog.
Choose a color....I dont care what color you use to highlight, just let us know what driver will get it.
I found it interesting that Carl said that having the new in car camera placement the way it's angled for that full view of him was "weird", and that it made him nervous and he felt like they were watching him all the time. Rusty broke the slight tension with a nice joke, but still, the message is now out there. If Carl Edwards, one of the most PR/broadcast friendly drivers in NASCAR (notice how he flipped his helmet up to talk) thinks it's weird, I don't think it will go over well with some of the other drivers.
ken michigan said...
"Thats where NASCAR needs to step in and let these drivers and crews know that this audio element is IMPORTANT....and if they are found using profanity on the mic... issue major, and i mean major penalities."
Why a driver should get issued a penalty for something in his car he didn't want or ask for is beyond me.
"For a long time I have said, driver / crew audio is going to keep viewers and gain viewership."
I would rather hear slightly taped delayed audio communication between driver and spotter or driver and crew chief than basic questions or questions asked by fans that may not have anything relevant to the race action we're seeing.
Driver Audio -
I'm saying that driver's and their respective crew would have to agree prior to the race that their audio "could be" used at any time.
Alot of drivers won't allow this, but for those that DO... they get added sponsor time.
Triple Pits :
Great idea, But, the cameras being used focusing on the 3 cars should be getting 3 MORE cars as well.
Those cams started on 3 cars at the entrance of Pit Road, thats fine, but when those stops are done, as the cameras are following those cars AFTER their stop....the camera needs to quit following THAT car and pick up another car thats still in the Pits.
does that make sense....??
takes a little coordination and some camera creativity... but it would help tell the story of pit stops better.
I found it interesting that Carl said that having the new in car camera placement the way it's angled for that full view of him was "weird", and that it made him nervous and he felt like they were watching him all the time. Rusty broke the slight tension with a nice joke, but still, the message is now out there.
Yeah and Carl brought it up, after he answered Rusty's question. He looked nervous or uncomfortable - I could see it in his eyes. That's pretty wild when you can make Carl Edwards look nervous!
He's trying to for four wins in a row I think they should give him a break and try that camera again at a less pressure Busch race.
I enjoy the driver audio during the race but I would rather they bleep out what should not be aired instead of making the drivers be on their best behavior. If the have to be worried about what they say they won't push the button and share and the sharing is what makes it fun.
Forgot to add that I think that bringing it up was Carl's ultrapolite way of saying of new camera and in race view that "this is not cool". I don't think he would complain openly.
WOW! I forgot about the race due to unexpected long distance call. I can see here I have missed little. Pre race did not discuss the qualifying we never heard about and not all of us can multitask all day long to get answers the TELE should give us.
Disappointing..and I would rather hear tape delayed car audios of different drivers than an overly used IN CAR CAM. nothing against Carl but the in car shots are way overused but I just joined this race a few minutes ago and caught up on things here (Thanks, JD and everybody)
It is mixed bag having CUP whackers but I also wish they could've taken the weekend off but I realize this issue is multilayered deel. Sponsorships and out of control costs are making it tough for the little guys though. Even tho I only read it here, I am not sure I am happy with Burton's comment if you don't want Cupwhackers, watch and ARCA race?? Seems rude.
Then again, I AM disappointed the cut back of ARCA races but I guess it didn't bring in the ratings of Pinks, and Unique whips....*sigh* with the right marketing, I think ARCA races would be watched, the Humpy show would be a success and the Monday night show that we "useD" to love could return. But if marketing is the lower knuckle draggers that want women in skimpy outfits......
I just hope a full time NATIONWIDER WINS this race. And frankly, I am so over Carl Edwards...he is the new "jr" as far as over marketing goes....I know Jr never asked for it either but. . . .
I have a question for Carl, Were you asked to be the in race reporter or were you told
newracefan -
The driver audio is a much needed element for many of us.
But I think all these drivers are grown up enough and living quite well, therefore, be on your best behavior for 3 hours during the race.
I cuss around my buddies, but I dont do it in front of my 6 year old at home.
The drivers can turn off the profanity if it means sponsor dollars and exposure.
Did it ever say anywhere why the new emphasis on the in-car reporter answering questions? When they asked Carl about it in final practice, he knew nothing about it.
JD
Ken your not going 200mph and getting cut cut off by a lap down rookie
Even tho I only read it here, I am not sure I am happy with Burton's comment if you don't want Cupwhackers, watch and ARCA race?? Seems rude.
----------------
He said - I mean no disrespect towards anyone - before he said it. But it was still rude. He said it was known that Cup drivers sell tickets and bring viewers in to NW races, so if you don't want to see Cup drivers in NW, go to an ARCA race. (I don't know if that's so true anymore, didn't Labonte run an unsponsored car and JGR say they didn't have sponsorship for Hamlin/Busch/Stewart to run a second car?)
As Jeff has acknowledged in the past, his wealthy father subsidized his beginning racing career. It makes you wonder if some of the drivers simply don't understand the struggle of some of the others.
With Kyle Busch's tire issues at Vegas and Atlanta ..
How is his RIGHT FRONT tire wear?
some say he is over-driving...
curious to see his RF Goodyear.
Pit stops coming !
I was asked by several folks to comment on the Jeff Burton statement, which I found to be very out of character for him.
It certainly was to the point.
JD
The In-car race questions has been advertised on espn.com NASCAR page for the past three days, you could submit your question in advance right then anytime. That's a shame if Carl Edwards didn't know about it.
It says:
Would you like to ask a NASCAR driver a question during a race? Now with ESPN's in-race reporter it is possible to ask one of your favorite NASCAR drivers a question during caution laps! Simply submit your query and then tune in to see if it is used during the in-race interviews.
ESPN will be using the in-race reporter throughout the NASCAR season. So be sure to keep sending in your questions throughout the Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series seasons.
This week's driver: Carl Edwards!
While I do not enjoy Mr. Reid, he does a better job than Dr. Punch.
Sophia, Burton's comment was part of a longer answer and he has made basically the same comment since Daytona. I didn't take it as rude. But, I like the Burton brothers. :)
I wonder a little bit about context with Jeff's comments. I would be interesting to hear the entire thing from start to finish and I am sure he was answering a question which we did not hear either.
There quite a few comments on Marty Reid going to the booth today.
I really like the way ESPN is working Allen Bestwick in today. He is playing a big role today even though he's downstairs in the pit studio. Gives relief to the booth guys and as always, Bestwick is proving he is one of the very best in the business.
Good job ESPN and AB !!
Thanks for the feedback to my comment on Jeff Burton. Anon thanks for the history of Jeff's rich daddy funding his cars in the early years.
Frankly that does smack of elitism in my book (no matter how one spins it) and what about these less than rich guys that dream of driving in NASCAR and race all over their area on dirt and short tracks? Must they ALWAYS have an uphill battle against the Corporate Giants (multi car teams, compared to one team players)
Thanks to all who responded.
P.S. I LOVE hearing AB more today, too, considering he is not 'in' the studio, but deserves to be!!!
The tapered spacer 2008's broken motor, give it a rest please
ken-michigan said...
"newracefan -
The driver audio is a much needed element for many of us."
I couldn't disagree more. It's a nice bonus for us TV watchers. If we really want to hear audio, we can buy or rent a scanner or use TrackPass or HotPass for home use. When you use those, you know that you might hear bad language. (At least it's that way on scanner and TrackPass, I don't have HotPass.)
And ALL drivers curse. (My brother has a scanner.) From the corporate spokesman jeff Gordon to the baby faced Kasey Kahne (I can't even tell you how much he likes to use a certain word when things aren't going well). It's the heat of the moment. they're racers going 180 mph inches away from other racers. There are no six year olds on the track. If you're listening on scanner or TrackPass, you understand that.
They also say lots of funny or informative things, which TV can use and has used, tape-delayed, in the past.
It's not our right as TV viewers to tell drivers how to behave in their own cars during a race.
I have to say that ESPN is doing a good job, this isn't the most exciting race I ever watched. There are only 11 cars on the lead lap. At least it isn't a wreck fest that would be worse
I was also dismayed at Jeff Burton's comment about cup guys driving in the nationwide series. And I wish Nascar would listen and take notice of Bobby Hamilton Jr's comments, but we've been hearing this for several years now and I don't think Nascar is going to do anything about it. Rusty is aware of it now being a nationwide series full time owner.
Wow! Some VERY interesting posts on this thread. I watched some of the pre-race coverage and also enjoyed the interviews with Steven Leicht and Cale Gale. There was a lot of 'Carl Edwards this' and Carl Edwards that' most definitely. He's one of ESPN's Golden Boys, you know, so it's no wonder we are subjected to it past the point of ad nauseum race after race.
I disagree with the person who thinks NASCAR should start policing what the drivers and their crew guys say over the scanner. IF this ever happened, the scanner rental and sales companies would probably go out of business. People who pay to listen to their drivers via TrackPass on the computer from home would probably cancel their memberships and people might even stop going to races.
Being able to listen to our favorite drivers and their crews say whatever they want is part of what makes our sport unique. I like that our sport is not 100% PC and all squeaky clean and I know I'm not the only fan who feels this way.
If the networks and some of you fans have a hard time with the sometimes colorful language heard over the scanners, then either DON'T listen to the scanners, or, for you t.v. peeps, EDIT it and then air the audio.
The network that aired Kyle Petty's colorful comment last season admitted that it was THEIR fault, too. They failed to air the edited version.
I thought drivers could not be fined for what they say in private on radio? And if some jughead plays it on the air and can't hit the dump button, well that is most unfortunate.
I don't want the f bombs and such being shown to little kids in a ambush situation either, but I for one love to hear the individual audio.
That was one of the things I missed when they screwed up the SPEED monday night show I no longer watch...not only did they dump talking about the race the day before (cept for 10 minutes) but last year, I heard MANY amusing or enlightening things on INC audio replays.
It often helped me to understand something that happened or the attitude a driver had. And many were FUNNY! :-)
But I don't want to pay EXTRA money to hear audio but don't think I should be punished for that..we have heard audio for years on TV though THESE DAYS it seems the commentators YAK on top of it which is a bad habit..and all stations are guilty of that in NASCAR and IRL.
And it also seems the more high tech we get, the more common sense or paying attention goes out the window (Listening so one knows when to hit the bleep button) I remember one year a delayed broadcast of Tommy Lasorda throwing a HISSY fit in the locker room after a game...there were more bleeps thant regular words (practically) which made it funnier than if I had heard the bad words, LOL,
Sometimes the guys in studio will listen and let US listen to the car radios and clarify if something is out of context.
What a break for ESPN as they now have a story all the way through the end of the race.
Unfortunate for Kyle, but this should be the theme for a while.
JD
It was a really bad move to go to the Tech Center during green flag racing earlier in the race while showing a split-screen with a single-car shot of Carl Edwards riding around all alone. Couldn't they wait for the caution for the Tech Center bit and follow some actual racing under the green?
Also, there seem to be issues with pit reporters talking over each other or not talking at all when they should be talking. Any idea what's with that today?
Once again, they missed the LEADER's intial trouble while another camera was looking at a 20th position battle.
The story line could be real soon, who can make it on fuel?
Do you guys think that ESPN may reconsider Marty Reid for the next race relief role and move Allen Bestwick into that spot?
We know Mike Massaro could sit in the infield studio for AB. Reid is a little slow on ID's and calling the action in this series.
Originally, ESPN said AB would stay in the infield studio all season, but he seems to be almost doing the play by play from the infield anyway.
What do you think?
JD
Tech question concerning crew audio...
why is the Formula One crew audio so crystal clear and the NASCAR audio is still so crummy ?
You'll notice it if you DVR tonights F1 race
AB has brought it back from nearly every commercial break and I'm cool with it.
On another issue, I think it's a slap in the face to the Nationwide Series that Punch isn't there for every race.
Time Off ?? please
Marty is doing OK but I agree AB is carring this show to some extent. Put him in the booth the next time Doc is off!
AB should be in the booth every week, both in NW and Cup, and put Punch or Reid in the Infield Studio.
I would love more AB in the booth...I will probably get Marty watching IRL races.
Anytime I can get more AB is a good thing for me.
What about fuel capabilities of the rest of the cars on the lead lap??
Marty is doing a good job (but you're right about him ID-ing cars), but Allen is doing a lot of the work from the Infield anyway. May as well use him for stand alones like milwaukee and Mexico City and Montreal (where he was great handling the RGordon-Ambrose situation. I still recall them cutting his play by play out that night on the replay since NASCAR was trying to pretend Robby didn't do what he did, so they couldn't have allen calling it as it happened and right after the checkers fell.)
Per Jeff Burton from Wikipedia:
"Burton began driving a handful of races in the Busch Series in 1988 in car number 69 owned by his father John Burton. He competed in the full season for Busch Series Rookie of the Year in 1989 in the Burton Autosports Pontiac #12."
His dad owns a construction company founded by Jeff's grandfather, which Jeff's brother Brian now runs. His dad built Jeff a shop and hired people to run it when Jeff started running Late Models.
From JeffBurtononline:
"Dad made it (possible) for Jeff to do nothing but race," recalls Ward, the 2002 Daytona 500 champ who made only three starts in 2006 but has returned to Nextel Cup action this season driving the No. 4 Chevrolet for Morgan-McClure Racing. "He didn't work for the family construction company. Dad had me working on the job site when I was 13 years old. I took Jeff out to work one time, and he got the truck and left at lunchtime. Jeff was lucky to have the foundation that Dad set for him, and he's taken advantage of it."
Ken,
I think Dr. Punch should get some time off here and there, otherwise he'd be working pretty much every weekend from Daytona to Homestead. No other TV package has ever required a network to carry the entire Nationwide/Busch schedule while also carrying the entire Cup Schedule from August-November. It's better that everyone gets their time off now rather than during the Cup portion of the schedule.
I think we all wish we knew the structure of all these ESPN announcer contracts.
Maybe AB only agreed to pit studio work and the "monday" show.
For what it's worth, I'll take Marty Reid over Punch in the play-by-play chair.
Punch belongs on pit road OR at home taking more time off.
Daly Planet Editor said...
Do you guys think that ESPN may reconsider Marty Reid for the next race relief role and move Allen Bestwick into that spot?
We know Mike Massaro could sit in the infield studio for AB. Reid is a little slow on ID's and calling the action in this series.
Originally, ESPN said AB would stay in the infield studio all season, but he seems to be almost doing the play by play from the infield anyway.
What do you think?
JD
--
JD,
Beginning next week, Mary has his day job to do, and it would certainly seem difficult to use him for relief at all during the month of May.
AB is the obvious choice to move topside, and either Massaro or a Nascar Now host in the infield.
But . . . once the IRL gets going they also lose their relief help on pit road.
David Wimmer?? oh boy and no one corrected him
Will Kyle Busch hang around to tell us why he messed up in turn 4 ??
Or will he run for the tunnel again ?
Will anyone pursue him ??
ok..now I REALLY do not like Burton after reading what his own brother said. Guess I was right about elitism.
Hope Wimmer can win...been a long time but this fuel thing is getting nerve wracking.
Poor Reut that sucks after last year I really wanted him to win this race
I bet Kyle runs to his RV crying like a little girl.
JUST KIDDING, folks and any Kyle fans...just couldn't resist such a question.
ken M's fault for the open ended question. :-)
Daly Planet Editor said...
Do you guys think that ESPN may reconsider Marty Reid for the next race relief role and move Allen Bestwick into that spot?
We know Mike Massaro could sit in the infield studio for AB. Reid is a little slow on ID's and calling the action in this series.
Originally, ESPN said AB would stay in the infield studio all season, but he seems to be almost doing the play by play from the infield anyway.
What do you think?
JD
JD, as you may remember I bashed ESPN here on Wednesday for choosing Reid over Bestwick for this booth assignment so certainly I'll agree that ESPN should change their minds next time and put AB in the booth.
On Wednesday though you were pretty dismissive of my thought that AB should be put in the booth, saying:
"stricklinfan,
The studio role is Allen's permanently this year. He is the anchor for the studio coverage both at the track and on the Monday NASCAR Now show.
Networks create roles, and it is not like swapping positions in a pick-up basketball game. It is all contractual and organized before the season begins. That includes vacations for the staff."
Now after seeing this broadcast you seem to be completely changing your tone on this issue and suggesting it's a legitimante possibility for ESPN to all of a sudden make the swap I talked about previously.
You obviously know a lot more about this kind of stuff than I do so I'm honestly genuinely curious as to why things are suddenly different then they were Wednesday? Is this really an option, or not an option? I certainly hope it will happen immediately that's for sure.
Glad wimmer won but they COULD"VE shown more cars CROSSING the finish line. But no, they had to go to the happy dance of the crew.
Usually I don't personally care about showing all the cars cross the line.
But . . . when there are fuel mileage issues it is really important since you never know who might run out!
Talk about B team. Shannon is in victory lane. Oh my this could be interesting
We only saw 2 lead lap cars cross the finish line before we had to see Wimmer's pit crew celebrating and Wimmer's cool down lap.
I'm assuming the "B Team" of ESPN production crews were working this race and the "A team" got the weekend off, and obviously the "B Team" never got the memo of how to properly televise the finish of a race.
Terrible terrible terrible.
Get Massaro in Victory Lane. !!
come on
I'm still irked over the finish line deal? they couldd've at LEAST gone back to show a replay a few seconds later.
OFF DAY indeed....
I echo stricfans sentiments.
Evidently Massaro might be the one to talk to Kyle Busch
ESPN has 25 minutes to use for post race. Plenty of time to talk to the drivers who helped play the story in this race, including Kyle Busch.
stricklinfan,
I was relating what ESPN said about AB's role. While they want to keep him in the infield seat, I do think that his familiarity with the Nationwide drivers and pesonalities really became an issue when Marty Reid struggled with names and facts. No slam on Reid, this is not his job.
It seems that as the race progressed, AB established himself as the authoritative voice and I do not think that is going to be lost on the ESPN execs.
JD
Why did Vince Welch get the chase down Kyle Busch assignment?
and obviously the "B Team" never got the memo of how to properly televise the finish of a race.
Or before the race. The interviews on the preshow were excellent and varied from the get-go (especially the emphasis on Nationwide regulars). But it was easy to forget all of that because they neglected to tell us who was in the race and how they lined up.
They basically forgot one of the more important elements of the upcoming race they were previewing. For 60 minutes.
So I can't give them better than a C or C+ for today.
I have to agree with what many of the talking heads have said. I've never seen a driver mature more from one season to the next than Kyle Busch has. Vince Welch asked the right questions, and Kyle handled them with class.
Looks like Shannon didn't even know she was suppose to be in VL she was still running to it when SW got out of the car. The Kyle interview was rough that should have been a 1 and done interview. Clint looked pretty disappointed too.
Happy for Scott Wimmer.
Wishing JD and my fellow posters a Happy Easter!
nrfan
I noticed Clint looked very disappointed as well....not the least bit pleased (body lanquage wise) for wimmer..but I realize they don't all have to be buddies on the team.
Still, I thought Clint's face SCREAMED (I vant to be left alone) ;-)
"They basically forgot one of the more important elements of the upcoming race they were previewing. For 60 minutes."
So I can't give them better than a C or C+ for today.
March 22, 2008 5:40 PM
And that WAS the A team in the pre-race, so blame really can't be placed on the B Team.
The A team of producers, along with Allen, Brad, Rusty, takes the blame for this one. I can't believe SOMEONE didn't say, "we need a rundown of the qualifying order and a graphic with who did not qualify and we need it at the top of the show." Especially when qualifying wasn't shown earlier that day!
No excuses.
Kyle must have been late for something.
He seemed in a big hurry.
I'm sure his sponsor's appreciate the "walk along" interview.
Nice to see Hamilton Jr looking grateful to be in 10th place and thanking his crew! His hometown and all.
On track pass, the scanner is on a delay of about 30 seconds. They edit out the bad/offensive language. Case in point, I was a Daytona and heard everything. I came back and was talking to friends and they commented that they couldn't beleive that the driver was so quiet after an incident. I had to tell them that he wasn't quiet and he actually did say quite a lot, he just needed to be censored. I'm not sure what Hot Pass does.
SophiaZ123 said...
nrfan
I noticed Clint looked very disappointed as well....not the least bit pleased (body lanquage wise) for wimmer..but I realize they don't all have to be buddies on the team.
-----------------------------
Sophia, one of the funniest lines on Inside Nextel Cup came from Kenny Wallace talking about RCR drivers. He said "I says to Richard: Richard, why do you always hire guys who are mean?" And Michael, Johhny and Allen burst out laughing.
I don't think any of the RCR drivers are all that likeable.
Oh God I hope they don't put Allen Bestwick in the booth. There's nobody as in love with their own voice as him...
Marty Reid did a great job today.
For me, I did not see the pre-race show.
I'm no longer watching any of the pre-race shows and I dont think i'm the only one tuning them out, regardless of network.
Anon
Thanks for the comment from the late, great, IWC show!
Some truth there and I am seeing it more and more!!
No excuse for Rusty's on-air stats mistakes concerning Scott Wimmer in the closing laps.
Homework Rusty - Homework !!
On track pass, the scanner is on a delay of about 30 seconds. They edit out the bad/offensive language.
I subscribed to TrackPass for 2006 and 2007 and heard F bombs a zillion times on trackpass. In fact, sometimes people listening with me were a little surprised about what comes out of driver's mouths. But usually think it's funny. If they were on delay, they still let F bombs go through.
I don't have it anymore, so if they changed it it must be new this season.
You know, I certainly enjoyed the fact that Rusty got another shot at the play by play, but I kind of missed the hilarious Randy LaJoie.
I'm still hearing F-bombs on Trackpass this year
The only good thing about this broadcast was ESPN not following through with their promise to ask Carl Edwards questions from the fans DURING THE RACE.
It definitely seemed like a Minor League effort today. I'm assuming the "B Team" was used in the truck today and the broadcast definitely suffered. The pre-race was a fairly disorganized mess, and they completely blew off talking about what happened in qualifying today (which they chose not to televise because of "other commitments" as Marty Reid put it, which meant 2000 bowling and 2004 pool were more important to ESPN than live qualifying).
I'm glad Allen Bestwick was there to keep some kind of order to this broadcast. I like Marty Reid and think he's a nice guy but it was obvious he was a fish out of water trying to call a race for a series that, as I mentioned on Wednesday, he most likely hasn't seen in person or on TV to this point this year. I mean even if Allen Bestwick was suddenly thrown into broadcasting next week's IRL race, don't you think that would be uncomfortable too?
The lessons learned here today from my perspective were as follows:
1.) The "B team" of behind-the-scenes people that I assume work these non-Cup companion races has a LOT of work to do. (JD if I'm wrong and the "big boys" were there producing/directing this race please let me know, it certainly didn't seem that way)
2.) Allen Bestwick should be in the booth! First of all he should be the #1 announcer in my opinon, but if Dr. Punch is going to get that spot because of his tenure at ESPN I can understand that. But at least let Bestwick be #2 and go to the booth when Dr. Punch isn't there!!! I voiced these concerns on Wednesday and I repeat them again. When the #1 NASCAR announcer isn't there he should be replaced with the #2 announcer that arguably should be #1 to begin with, NOT with the #1 IndyCar announcer.
Anon #2 5:49,
I disagree with you about Allen being obsessed with his own voice; maybe you just perceive it that way because of his unique voice.
I'd consider Rusty as "color analyst", not really play by play.
But if you're going to be one of the 3 people in the booth upstairs... do your homework Rusty. Sure seemed like Petree was on the ball more than Rusty today.
By the way, Where was Dale Jarrett?
He's not doing anything anymore, wasnt he going to be part of these Nationwide races?
Needs Time Off ??
ESPNEWS just said they will have post-race news conferences from Nashville coming up.
Wow, if this is true how great is that?
oops, I am sorry. Meant to say that Rusty got another shot at the color position. Remind me not to multi-task!
JD
ken,
There is a master schedule for the remote events, NASCAR Now and also for the support programming like ESPNEWS and SportsCenter.
Expect to see ESPN try to break the crews in April and June, because once July hits, they will be on a non-stop roll in both the Cup and N'wide Series all the way through November.
JD
To the person who said TrackPass edits what the drivers say, I don't think they do. All last season and so far this year, I have heard many a colorful conversation from my #1 favorite driver, his spotter and crew chief.
TrackPass better not start editing the audio, either, or I WILL cancel my membership.
JD,
I'm sorry if you answered this already either today or in the last few days, I haven't had a chance to read the entire comments section for any of these last few entries.......
Is Monday's NASCAR Now still going to be the Allen Bestwick hosted roundtable discussion or will it be a "normal" format show with Burr or Manske hosting?
ESPN still has a long, long, LONG way to go.
Since today was ESPN's chance to really shine and get it right, I tuned in to see how they'd do and I was not impressed at all. The one thing that did surprise me was that they actually covered the whole race and didn't put it on another channel because of basketball or billiards. (That's a first!)
The post-race interview with Kyle Busch was the same as the last one. Kyle was obviously unhappy with how he did but a reporter had to get right in his face and ask him anyway, didn't he? No giving Kyle a few minutes to cool down and decompress or having the decency to ask Kyle if he'd even like to talk before jumping on him with the camera.
Look, I call as I see it and to me the ESPN reporters are, at times, egging the situation on trying to get a negative reaction out of someone. I can't help but think they continue to go after a driver who is a known hothead hoping that he'll blowup on camera so that they will then have a tabloid gossip-like story to blow out of proportion and spend the next week feeding on.
In response to Jeff Burton's comments about people who don't like Cup drivers in the Busch race...maybe he said that because he's fed up with the media making so much of it. Or maybe he said that in an effort to get people to start attending races at the smaller tracks.
stricklinfan,
My column for tonight will be talking about the Monday show. It will be the full hour with all the bells and whistles.
I will rundown the line-up and topics when I post tonight.
JD
lisa,
Happy Easter to you and everyone else. This is our second Easter with The Daly Planet and it should be interesting to continue to watch how things progress.
I don't want to rain on anyone's parade, but the TNT watch has already begun. Maybe that thought should wait till after the holiday.
JD
Thanks JD, and Happy Easter to you and yours as well.
I wish you hadn't brought up that 3 letter network. I've been working very hard to put those 6 weeks of hell we endured last year out of my mind, LOL.
I know I lot of people think I've been among harshest critics of ESPN and at times Fox/Speed, but I didn't find this site until last fall so I wasn't around here to comment on TNT last year. If you guys think I've been outspoken about ESPN and Fox/Speed, you haven't seen anything yet if TNT dares duplicate the same type of "coverage" they gave us last year.
Ahhh. TNT. The reason I have Hot Pass on DirecTV...
Stricklinfan,
I, for one, can not wait for your critiques of "the 3 letter network". LOL
Happy Easter to all. Strick, your not the only one who did not find this site during TNT's races. I can only hope they learned from their many mistakes like ESPN did but I do not hold out much hope. Did ESPNNews have any Nashville coverage I left to make a cake and just got back. Don't know if I should watch it or move on and do something else especially I am not a BB fan
Anonymous said...
Why did Vince Welch get the chase down Kyle Busch assignment?
March 22, 2008 5:40 PM
Shannon did try to interview Kyle. It was on the back haul feed during the break which most of you will not see. Kyle blew her off and Vince picked him up outside the gates on the way to the hauler.
Kyle is really blowing a good chance at reclaiming his image with his on-track success this year. If he keeps treating reporters like this the tide will turn...
I'm a huge JGR fan and have really tried to like Kyle but it's getting harder and harder the way he is treating the media.
I thought ESPN really blew a chance at gaining goodwill with NASCAR fans this weekend. For those of us who live for racing, this was it this weekend. To throw out a substandard product from the self-proclaimed "worldwide leader" is inexcusible.
I understand some of these people work 36 weeks a year to cover NASCAR, but I work 50 weeks a year so I don't care about people wanting a "week off". Plus my job doesn't entail great seats to every Nationwide race and Cup race.
My column for tonight will be talking about the Monday show. It will be the full hour with all the bells and whistles.
I will rundown the line-up and topics when I post tonight.
JD
Is there going to be a column about this race? I don't think ESPN did a very good job today, from the mixup with qualifying through the end.
If not that's fine. Thanks.
"Kyle is really blowing a good chance at reclaiming his image with his on-track success this year. If he keeps treating reporters like this the tide will turn...I'm a huge JGR fan and have really tried to like Kyle but it's getting harder and harder the way he is treating the media."
See this from post earlier. I was going to describe what I saw a minute ago (we're replaying this race from when were out earlier -watched the end and now going back to the beginning) but I see the basics above already. ESPN and Vince Welch have no one to blame but themselves IMO. Welch talked about how bad Kyle was running and inferred that he was jinxed to Kyle's face just minutes before the race. Why would Kyle want to talk to Vince, Shannon or anyone else after that awkward conversation before the race? Shrub handled himself pretty well both before and after with Mr. Welch.
Here's that post:
Vince Welch isn't impressing me. He seems to talk too slowly in getting his questions out. Then he interviews Kyle Busch and calls him snakebitten at the beginning of the interview and then ends the interview by saying Kyle has finished an average of something low -32nd? - for the last two races. Sometimes I think these drivers have every right to trash these reporters on air, but Kyle just smiled and moved on.
March 22, 2008 3:23 PM
WOW! If stricklanfan wasn't here for LAST years TNT, better put up an ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK for in progress comments, LOL. (Just kidding)
I have to admit, I LOVED their Pepsi 400 coverage where the commercial was a picture in a picture. Some STILL complained about that but I LOVED IT!! And the commercials were fun.
I think many races or all should go with that presentation...even better than the Indy Side by side imo.
In regard to Marty Reid, you don't know what you have if you don't try them out - and Allen B can only do so much, and he might have to wash the trucks.
JD- does the announcing team have a spotter or spotters? If so, might the regular spotter for the play-by-play announcer have gotten the weekend off, so that Marty was working with the back-up spotter?
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