Update #2: I will be joining Dave Moody on Sirius Speedway Wednesday afternoon at 4:40PM to talk about some NASCAR TV topics, including the one contained in this story. Please join us on Sirius Channel 128 at 4:40PM Eastern Time for some live conversation.
It was February 26th when reporter Terry Blount appeared on NASCAR Now with "breaking news." His news was so important that it was the first story on the program with a big "breaking news" graphic on the screen.
It was only hours later when his "news" was revealed to be completely full of holes. The link to the column that appeared on The Daly Planet that day can be read by clicking here. Nothing that he reported was anything more than bad gossip and ridiculous speculation.
Blount reported on national television that California Speedway President Gillian Zucker was seriously considering tearing-up the racing surface after the disastrous rain-plagued weekend. Blount reported Zucker was considering installing high banks and making the Speedway a restrictor plate track.
Needless to say, it took the International Speedway Corp. about five minutes to issue a terse release saying there would be no changes at "their" speedway in California. It took less time for other analysts and reporters to point out that any experienced NASCAR journalist would never have gone on-the-air with that information.
Such is the fine line that NASCAR Now has only crossed once or twice this season. The one where hardcore reporting and expert analysis give way to the dark-side of NASCAR journalism that most reporters detest. Gossip and unfounded allegations that are rushed to the national TV airwaves before common sense is allowed to prevail.
Monday, Allen Bestwick led a panel of three through a one hour version of NASCAR Now from the Bristol, CT studios. There was no dark-side reporting and no unfounded gossip. Instead, there was fun and conversation and the one thing that NASCAR Now has been trying hard to build since February's Daytona 500. That is credibility.
Host Nicole Manske led Tuesday's NASCAR Now directly to Mr. Blount once again. This time, Blount had been assigned the task of trying to sell magazines for ESPN. In all of the hype that fans witnessed on this TV series in 2007, there may have been nothing to top this effort.
Suddenly, Blount was revealing that Jack Roush found a Roush-Fenway part on a Toyota car in the garage area. Roush alleges that it was a part that his company created, and suggests in so many words that it may have been stolen. What a NASCAR bombshell. Imagine, a story this big breaking on a Tuesday afternoon.
Unfortunately, here is the reality. This story was not breaking and had nothing to do with Tuesday's NASCAR news. It was simply planted in NASCAR Now to sell ESPN the Magazine.
Like a fifth-grader trying to make enough money for the big class trip, Terry Blount was at your door and really needed you to buy it now. Twenty-six issues of ESPN the Magazine for only $26.
The line in ESPN-owned Jayski.com says it all. "ESPN the Magazine has an interesting and potentially explosive quote from Roush-Fenway Racing co-owner Jack Roush as part of its 10th Anniversary issue, which is on newsstands this week."
Imagine that. You can buy ESPN the Magazine to see the actual article that talks about the two-week old quote from a car owner who is still steaming at Toyota for comments earlier in the season. Surprisingly, the Roush story is about Toyota allegedly doing bad things to him.
There were thirty-four comments on the ESPN.com page about this story late Tuesday night. Fans suggested that the stolen part may have been an oil-cooler lid or perhaps the gas pedal from the 26 car, which apparently is missing. Words like "sour grapes, whining and even pre-school" were featured in the ESPN comments.
After a Monday of wonderful NASCAR conversation and information, this story caused me to turn-off this program for the first time in two years. Going from Bestwick, Marty Smith, Brad Daugherty and Andy Petree to this reporter selling junk once again as truth did me in.
Regardless of how slickly Blount worded his script and regardless of how delicately he skated around the timeliness issue, this was a planted story aimed at selling magazines. Regardless of the actions of Jack Roush in the future on this issue, it was presented to try and drive NASCAR fans to another ESPN property.
Over at the SPEEDtv.com message boards, one reader said very clearly what many people were thinking. "If Jack actually made these comments at Atlanta why did no media outlet other than ESPN The Magazine report it? They had no problem reporting the rest of his accusations against Toyota, why not this too?"
All the good will and outstanding content generated by the Monday show now has a black could hanging over it from this repeat of the dark days of 2007. Erik Kuselias and Doug Banks may be distant memories in the minds of many fans, but Terry Blount has drawn the short-straw this season.
The "hype" he has been offering may serve once again to motivate fans to simply skip this TV program and go directly to the Internet for their NASCAR content. NASCAR Now needs to understand that a direct alternative to their efforts is at the fingertips of every fan, and does not require them to tune-in at 5:30PM.
Update #1: Here is the link to Dave Moody's blog story that some of you have been asking about. His original words are the ones I listed from Jayski in reference to this topic. Just to make sure we are all on the same page.
The Daly Planet welcomes comments from readers. Simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy directions. The rules for posting are on the right side of the main page. Thanks again for stopping by, and sharing your opinion.
49 comments:
JD, I disagree. This was an interesting story. Your wording makes it seem as if the story is a complete lie. No other agency reported it because Jack R. did not repeat these words in the media center. he only said it to a few people. ESPN the magazine was the only one with the story. So you have to wait until the story is coming out in print before you can report it on TV. For you compare this to some of last years shows that had strait out lies, is a little harsh.
This column has nothing to do with the truth or non-truth of the story. It has to do with it being at the top of the show on a Tuesday to sell magazines.
It could be 100% true or 100% false. The reason it led this show Tuesday, and was not mentioned in the one hour on Monday is that ESPN "placed" this story to sell magazines.
I hope you understand my point. If we get caught-up in the Roush issue here, we miss the big picture. Why did this story suddenly appear on only ESPN on a Tuesday?
My blog is TV related, not racing related. Roush can say anything he wants. This time, he maybe said something two weeks ago that gave ESPN time to write a story for the magazine, get it published and then reveal the story so folks would buy the magazine.
It is nothing new, but step-back and look at what we got on Monday. That is the comparison I am trying to draw.
Thanks again for your comment.
JD
Terry Blount has a history, in my view, of sloppy reporting. IF the alleged Roush allegation was made, then it should have been reported when it was made - not saved for a couple of weeks for a related publication. IF it is news, it should be reported when it is new - if it is a rumour, it should be reported as such. Apparently the alleged Roush comment was not deemed of much importance or it would have been reported in a timely manner.
In 2007 about 24 hours after Dario F. appeared live on Wind Tunnel and in a live interview said explicitly that his wife had never said anything to him about being concerned enough about his safety in IRL that he should consider going to the safer NASCAR, on N-NOW Blount reported exactly the opposite, which would appear to be either sloppy or lazy reporting.
The thing that surprised me about both these stories was how obviously bogus they were. One would have thought the architects had already been engaged from the gravity imparted to the California story.
As I listened the them prolong the discussion about the threatened lawsuit today, I wondered if anyone at ESPN had checked with any attorney to see whether there was a viable theory on which to proceed. If Roush-Fenway had enough sense not to appeal the Edwards penalties, then surely they have enough sense to figure out whether they might have a case before the run to the courthouse.
Since the story didn't include any information about what the item was, and no one even seemed to be clear what a "proprietary" part was, it was a pretty shallow story. Any one, and particularly Mr. Roush, can proclaim, “Sue the bastards.” But to make that news, a few weeks later was lame.
If it was a real story, they would have rushed to scoop, not stick it in a basket for some editor to pick up a few weeks later and stick in a magazine so a page was filled.
"This time, he maybe said something two weeks ago that gave ESPN time to write a story for the magazine, get it published and then reveal the story so folks would buy the magazine."
JD
Why is that a big issue? Monday was a discussion day. No time for reports. The Monday show just has a completely different format that this type of information does not fit into. So, since this interesting racing related story is just now coming out in ESPN the magazine why not report it now, on Tuesday, when we have time for reports? I see it as this, as a large company, you have to draw people to other parts of your company. Now I guess some consumers are offended by that, but cross promotion is a fact of the industry.
Thanks for the blog, it provides a great forum for discussion.
Breaking News!!!!!
From the Race 2 weeks ago.... You can read all about it in a magazine coming out in another week.
Thats the type of content we have come to expect from ESPN. The good Monday shows were a fluke, move along folks nothing to see here.
Only thing that could have made todays show any better, would have been the K man making a special guest hosting.
This is more of an indictment of ESPN's "journalistic" practices than anything else. For a reporter to hold onto potentially damning information on one of the biggest teams in NASCAR, not to find out if there is truth to the story or investigate it, but to use it to sell his magazine is to me, unforgivable. The NASCAR guys like Bestwick, Petree, Smith, Manske, and Wallace should be not be held accountable for the way their bosses do business. This is just something we will have to tolerate with ESPN. On a related note, think this may be a reason Marty Smith is now a reporter and not an "insider"?
JD-
You're right on about this "story". They went on and on about this on Sirius Speedway Monday and Tuesday. They even compared it to the F1 scandal last year. It amazes me how many people don't have the ability to ask some basic questions when they hear something like this, it's even worse when journalists who are supposed to be skeptical fall hook, line and sinker.
In the Mercedes F1 case a search warrant was served and the evidence was recovered by the police. In the Rousch case there was no report filed with authorities. The trail of evidence is non-existent.
Management types though love it when they can use "synergy" and boy ESPN is nothing if not synergistic.
Later on the show, Andy Petree commented that the whole 'story' had more to do with Jack Roush and Lee hite than anything else. He gave it the 'attention' it truly deserves. Maybe I've just become so used to pushing product as huge part of Nascar that I don't find myself as offended by this as you, JD. If Fox can push 'Digger' T shirts, I'm not surprised that SEPN is trying to sell magazines. Although, with Dale Earnhardt Jr. on the cover (or so I've read), you wouldn't think they had to worry so much.
The only problem I have with this story is, as JD rightly pointed out, it being held for two weeks. I am not sure Blount is to blame-he didn't do the interview. It very well could be he first saw the story within the last few days. I do agree that this was an ESPN setup, designed soley for slow news days and magazine sales. The story itself is very newsworthy, but it should have been reported at the time it was made.
Tom
Inverness, FL
JD, I'm a little confused. When did ESPN ever stop using NASCAR Now to sell other ESPN product offerings. I mean, just this Monday they had Danica Patrick on selling ABC/ESPN coverage of the IRL. They could have used that time to talk more NASCAR, but there was Allen B. telling everyone that the NASCAR community would be watching the IRL.
Over on SPEED, if you want to watch one hour of a NASCAR program, your going to have to sit through 25 minutes of commercials for other SPEED programming.
It happens all the time in one form or the other. The difference this time is that it involved a magazine instead of TV program. I'm not saying it is ever right; I'm just wondering what set you off this time?
I have to say that although NASCAR Now has certainly improved from last year, I still can't find myself completely enthralled by it and this sort of thing just makes me shake my head and ask myself why I bother to watch? This info was on the internet yesterday morning -- I tivo the show because I don't get home from work in time to watch it live. When I watched it and it was shown as breaking news, it made me snicker to myself since I had already read about it AND since it was something that had been said 2 week before, I didn't get the breaking news idea at all. As one of the other posters said though, if you watch any NASCAR programming, including races, you get a HUGE amount of hype and not always a lot of fact. It's a shame really -- and considering that Jack Roush has something of accusing others of cheating, I'm not sure that I believe anything he says anyway. Well, if the plan was for me to buy their magazine, it failed. BTW, I'm not buying a Digger shirt either!
This just in....Disney Corporation has purchased the rights to the board game CLUE. In other news, Terry Blount is reporting that the culprit behind the missing part was Professor Plum, in the Atlanta Garage Area, with the proprietary shock. Disney also announced today that a new NASCAR Version of CLUE would be released shortly...stay tuned! Dennis (RaceTalkRadio)
This is exactly why ESPN has jumped the Shark... Stop trying to create news and tie in every other ESPN/ABC/DISNEY thing you can. It is really sad when we are starting to know what the carwash at ESPN is. ESPN for all their great work this year still does not get it..
Hey Folks,
I provided a link to Dave Moody's blog on the main page as requested.
Again, the Roush allegations and the bickering between the egos of big NASCAR personalities is not the topic we are talking about.
As I mentioned in my column, this is a fine line. ESPN has been working to cross-promote product for years, including product that must be purchased from T-shirts to instructional videos.
That push, however, when disguised as news affects the entire program. Unlike RaceDay, that contains entire segments of off-beat antics and openly promotes the sport, NASCAR Now has been working this season to become THE news source for NASCAR fans.
Let's hope the folks decided that sponsored driver interviews and thinly disguised hype have no place on this TV series. The reason why is very simple, fans can now turn-off the TV and turn-on the Internet for the exact same information.
JD
Was Terry B clueless or what? How embarassing was that. Shame on NN for that interview. The show is still better than last year. Maybe this was just a blip.
Lou
Kingston, NY
Why didn't they cover David Reutimann's comments Monday in Richmond about his personal take on the Nationwide series? When a Nationwide driver running for a NW title, who happens to drive a Cup car as well, says the NW series needs to limit the NW championship to NW-only regulars and pay them more of the money, that kind of talk is not only altruistic, it's news. Cup drivers, including Kyle Busch, were saying interesting things in Richmond where they were testing NW cars.
I used Tivo for NN last night - guess I won't bother to watch. Thanks for saving me time.
How much of a wall is there between ESPN the Magazine and ESPNews the News Network? If I were a big shot at ESPNews the News Network, I would be plenty angry that ESPN the Magazine had this incredibly important allegation that could shake the very foundation of auto racing as we know it, and sat on it until ESPN the Magazine was printed. Doesn't it make ESPNews the ESPN News Channel look a little silly when ESPN the Magazine breaks a story on ESPN2 the Other Network before they report on it.
Or, does it really not matter since it's just Jack Roush blowing more hot air that no one cares about or believes anyway? He makes it really hard for me to root for any of his teams. I hope Biffle escapes before it's too late.
Hmmm. John, you did something similar to Terry Blount a few months back. You have "BREAKING NEWS" with a logo. You told us about the changes at ESPN, but your facts were wrong until the actually press release came out. Your article here about Terry is so Hypocritical. You do the same thing.
Perhaps the core issue/question here is whether or not there is such a thing as "sports journalism". I sugeest that the category does exist, but it is a very narrow forum in which to work. In my opinion, personality profiles in the scores-a-day world do not qualify.
And "news" is "news", meaning that it is information to be verified as TRUE and then released as quickly as possible. In the case cited by JD, either the story is not "news" or the editorial execs at ESPN don't know what constitutes real "news". I think its probably the latter.
I quit watching NASCAR Now in March of 2007 and I'll never watch the "worst sports show on tv" ever again!
Anon 11:07AM,
Do you mean the story about Rusty Wallace not returning to the play-by-play position that everyone criticized me about for months?
I think that leak was the reason ESPN held the info about the changes until just a couple of weeks before Daytona.
Is that what you are talking about?
JD
Mr. Daly, I get your point about having hard news on NASCAR Now, and not artificial "breaking news" for the benefit of selling magazines. What Blount did definitely crossed a line, but racing broadcasts have been inching up to that line for years.
The reason that this is happening is that an environment of acceptable cross promotion has been created throughout most racing broadcasts and the result is that cross promotion has become acceptable to racing fans. You say that Blount crossed a fine line, but I say the line isn't fine at all. There shouldn't even be a perception of crossing a line, but that is what happens when cross promotion is constantly allowed.
The cross promotion problem is happenning across all NASCAR programming, regardless of network. We are considered loyal and brand conscience so everybody wants a piece of us.
Cross promotion is why this site is so popular. This is nothing wrong with cross promotion. It is all around us, get use to it.
Okay… I am a little lost here. If Jack Roush claims that a part was “stolen” from him by a Toyota team, is that, or is that not, important news? I read it for the first time on the internet yesterday so NASCAR NOW was not the first to break it, however it was relatively new news. But let me ask you, if another media outlet had this story and NN did not comment on it, would you have not been all over ESPN for ignoring a breaking and potentially hot story? I admit, Terry Blount fumbled all over himself during his interview, but I did not get the feeling that he was pimping for ESPN The Magazine. If he really wanted people to buy the magazine, he would have hinted about other exclusive things in the story and if we wanted to find out what those were, we would just have to get our hands on this issue. He basically told us exactly what was in the story – not exactly a good way to sell magazines
The one thing that I do agree with you is that this is really a non-story. If Jack Roush thought he really found Toyota doing something illegal, he would have filed a police report and leaked when the warrant was going to be served. He would then be on every camera telling us how he told us it was a mistake to let Toyota in to this series. It seems as though Jack has let his personal vendetta against Toyota overrule his good judgment… Kind of like you with NASCAR NOW.
Too bad you turned it off. Andy Petree pretty much laughed off the whole Roush/Toyota thing and they had a really good interview with Kelly Bires.
Nicole just keeps getting better and better.
Anon 11:45AM,
There is a reason that it pays to read some of the stories on this blog before you leave a comment.
NASCAR Now has been the best show on TV this season, and this blog has been the leader of the band.
Even the previous story about Monday's one hour program might have given you a clue that your comment was a bit off-base.
Now, if you only visited us last season...that would be another story.
JD
Anon 11:49AM,
I really did turn it off. What did Petree say about this issue and how seriously did he approach it?
JD
Unfortunately, I did not see NN yesterday, so I have a few questions. In his report, did Blount have any statements to back up his allegations? Did he say he spoke directly to anyone at Roush/Fenway? Did he provide any information that he spoke to anyone at Toyota? If not, then this was certainly nothing more than sensationalized hype, similar to seeing the headlines on those supermarket tabloids that say things like "See Angelina and Her Alien Baby". Might grab your attention, but completely without merit. For some reason, this whole "Breaking News" thing is prolific in journalism. Our local TV station has gone so far as to use the term, "In Breaking News from Last Week". It's just gotten totally out of hand. And if Blount did not provide any evidence as to the veracity of the report, in terms of directly speaking with the parties involved, it makes it look closer to elementary school journalism rather than what one expects in terms of professionalism from a company like ESPN. While I cannot say his report was done to sell magazines (the issue referred to by JD is no longer available as the new issue has taken it's place as of yesterday), it certainly does point to very unprofessional journalism on the part of Blount.
Okay, took a lunch break and decided to hit the Tivo to watch NN from Tues. night. Yes, Darbar, Blount said he'd contacted Toyota (I believe he said two people with Toyota), who were taken totally by surprise, and said that they thought Lee White would have some comment about it at Martinsville on Friday. But as of the time of his question (Blount's), they hadn't any inkling of the story. NN didn't spend an inordinate amount of time on the story, and I got the feeling (totally from my own gut) that NN was reporting it because the magazine was, and they felt they had to air it, not use it to sell magazines.
Petree basically had to stop himself from laughing over it. Said White and Roush have been going at each other for ages. Said he didn't know what "proprietary" meant, but that Roush was a always using big words like that.
The Kelly Bires interview was great. Shannon Spake, not so much with her report from Richmond, which is a shame, because I like her. Why didn't she have Reutimann's comments, which were on the local news?
Nicole is getting better every time she's on air. The Bires interview is an example.
mvJD
Your blog is a great forum for all things NASCAR TV and 99% on target with your observations. However, after reading this article on the Roush stolen part story I'm confused. I had DVR'd NN and watched after reading your blog. My expectations were "Breaking News" right out of the box and going direct to Terry. But, Nicole came on with the Starting Grid which led with this story, but also did the whole show content. When she went to Terry (who isn't a favorite of mine) the words "breaking news" were never used. Terry specifically said (paraphrasing).."On March 7th, an ESPN magazine reporter was told "in private"...... I will agree that it's interesting that then it was in private and today it's public. Did Jack agree to let the "private" comments go public to coincide with the release of the Magazine? Not sure that I care. If I watched before reading your blog, I don't think I would have given "selling" the magazine a thought. Maybe it was meant to be subliminal...LOL. Still doesn't have me running to the newstand to pick one up.
Diane
JD I can not quite remember everything Andy P said but here goes. It is prob more about Lee White and Jack Roush bickering with each other than a real theft. Since we do not know what the part was it's hard to tell what happened. If it was small a former crew member could have forgotten it in his tool box and taken it accidentally. Someone could have left it laying around and someone else picked it up. Anything could have happened. He also said something about information gets around the garage some how, I took that as so what's the big deal. He basically made me feel like they should not have bothered to talk about it at all on the show. I wonder if Terry Blount was told he had to do the story, he did say that he tried to get more info from RoushFenway and was told there was no further info except it was a Roush part and a Toyota Team and Lee White will be at the track on friday if you want to ask him about it (can't wait for that interview). I actually got the impression he did not quite believe it either. I haven't quite decided who is using who more. Jack using ESPN the magazine (maybe no one else would bite cause if you were really serious wouldn't you have gone to a bigger outlet let alone Nascar) or ESPN the magazine using NN. Either way this entire thing seems like a big joke to me and Terry Blount's credibility it on the line. I wonder if the Monday guys knew about it and refused to go there (Marty Smith you are a smart man) or if they really saved it for Tuesday after no cup race. It's things like this that make me check Fox/Nascar.com/Speed/and other Nascar sites before believing stuff from NN
I can't get Sirius at work so please give us the scoop after.
JD, can you listen to it online?
Commenting on the SHOW ITSELF -
When Blount mentioned that it was some OTHER ESPN reporter / contributor that went into the Roush hauler, I immediately found it less than legitimate. My first thought was.. " Where is THAT reporter and why arent we hearing from THAT reporter" ??
I also cant understand why these hosts ( bestwick excluded ) have to be so "robotic" when asking questions during an interview. It shows that the producers aren't all that familliar with NASCAR. And why do they ALWAYS have to end the interview with some cornball question to the guest ... i'm tired of it.
As I stated back in February, it's quite obvious that behind the scenes for NASCAR NOW are the latest batch of interns.
The Andy Petree lighting was bad and the editing within the show is not getting any better.
NASCAR fans, me included, will watch just about anything, simply because there isnt much out there for us. But for me, NASCAR NOW will be a MONDAY ONLY watch.
Because of the deal that Turner Interactive has with NASCAR to run the NASCAR.com website, the NASCAR Sirius Channel is not available to stream online. Look for that to change when the Turner contract is up, among other things.
Diane, the whole thing basically smells bad. It was not the "breaking news" treatment of last time, but what it was presented as was news being reported today.
In fact, it was available to ESPN anytime after Mr. Roush said those words. That would be several weeks now. Enough time for the print publication to get done.
The question is, why did it surface as the lead story on a Tuesday after an off-week for the Cup Series? Slow news day?
When is the last time that you have seen an NASCAR Now reporter say that you can read all of the interview by buying our ESPN Magazine? By the way, it is the 10th anniversary edition.
It should be interesting to see what the heck was really going on there.
JD
JD, good points regarding your response to my comments. Guess I'm so shocked at how good NN has become that I'm letting somethings slide...LOL. Thanks for keeping me on the straight and narrow!
Diane
Well, as an espn.com "insider" they give me ESPN The Magazine free.
The magazine is hardly worth the paper on which it is printed. They go straight into the recycling bin...
It's a shame ESPN has become ESPN because they could be really good.
OT, but since you mentioned it:
JD-
When is the Turner contract up on Nascar.com?
That is a site that I once hit two or three times a day. Now, maybe once a month.
Can you give us any hints as to changes?
lisa,
If the NASCAR boys had it to do all over again, I don't think we would be in this mess.
No matter how hard I try, I cannot impress on the Turner guys just how hard that website is to navigate and how difficult it is to use.
About the contract, do not hold your breath. Can you say....years?
JD
Its too bad they had to ruin last night's show with this "reporting", because the rest of the show was fantastic. The Kelly Bires interview was one of the best I've seen this year and the Mark Martin segment was interesting, too.
Maybe if they created a "rumors segment" and reported stuff like this as being rumors AND NOT NEWS it would be a little easier for us to take.
O.K. Taking full breaths here. :)
Thanks, JD.
OK Don't get me started on Nascar.com. It use to be my first stop for Nascar news now it's last right before I go back to Jayski to review all the links to the articles everywhere (OBTW this blog is the first place I go). It's a mess, I can't find anything, it doesn't remember so I can't tell if I read the article already. Not to mention their lap-by-lap. I use to be able to highlight the driver I wanted to keep track of and I could tell immediately where he was, not now. The only thing it is good for is live point standing during a race but you keep having to refresh it since it doen not automatically update. So many people do not realize that NASCAR does not own Nascar.com, it's a shame I do not know of anyone who likes what the did to the site. I'm not real impressed with Speeds new site either but I don't hate it as much.
JD,
I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment of Mr. Blount's "breaking" news and Andy Petree basically confirmed my gut feeling that the item shouldn't even have been aired, but it did leave me wondering why it was ever included in the first place. You connected the dots for me, so many thanks!
I did, however, continue to watch the entire show and you missed a very good tech segment by Tim Brewer. He showed the brake rotors used on tracks where there's not a lot of braking on down to the rotors that will be used at Martinsville where tons of braking is needed. Unbelievable how much BIGGER and HEAVIER the Martinsville rotors are. I'm usually not a huge fan of tech segments, but I've got to say, Tim did a stellar job and got my attention. The brake rotor will stick in my mind this weekened.
I haven't watched NN yet, but as soon as I get control of the TV I will.
My question is, how did this "breaking news" not get out until this week? The garage area isn't like Las Vegas where what happens there, stays there.
What happens to ESPN's credibility when this turns into a non issue?
Dot
FOX Sports FOX Trac will update every 60 seconds or so during both qualifying and races for N-wide and Cup. Unfortunately it does not cover Truck races.
ESPN's reporting of this caliber only reinforces what I've been saying over the past few blogs; that all ESPN is after are tabloid worthy stories that they can feed on for days. They will say anything to create controversy in an effort to gain ratings. Oh, yeah, and sell their magazine.
Before I continue on the subject of the show I must add that I really did like the tech talk part about brake rotors and pads that will be used at Martinsville. THAT was cool. I watched it twice, in fact.
All season long, there has been something about Manske that I have not liked but I wasn't quite sure what it was. I think I finally figured it out tonight. She does not come across at all as being sincere about anything. It looks like she reads questions and stories off of a telemprompter, too. Lots of people do that so it's no big deal but the way her facial expressions and the tone in her voice never change remind me of that song Dirty Laundry by Don Henley. What's that lyric? 'I make my living off the evening news. Just give me something, something I can use. People love it when you lose, they love dirty laundry.' That is pretty much how I perceive Manske, ESPN and their coverage of all things NASCAR. All they want is dirty laundry and they don't care who they step on or what it costs to get it.
One of these days, at the rate ESPN is going and since NASCAR obviously doesn't care about what they do, ESPN will get the story they are after. It will be one of 'great controversy' and it will let them spend weeks feeding on it. They will blow things out of proportion as much as they can in an effort to increase ratings and sell their magazine. It will probably even carry over to other news and media outlets. Regardless of what kind of horse hockey ESPN creates, stirs up and flings onto the wall, it will seriously damage the sport of NASCAR. By the time it's all said and done and the proverbial spin control has been completed, it will be too late.
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