Live Blogging Sprint Cup Series From Kansas (ESPN - 1PM ET)

If the Saturday Nationwide Series race was any indication, this could be the best race of the year. With a lot on the line, the Sprint Cup Series races at Kansas up against the afternoon NFL games on TV once again.

Nicole Briscoe will open the telecast with Rusty Wallace and Brad Daugherty from the Infield Pit Studio. The choice is to tell the story of the race or concentrate on the Chase. It should be interesting to see what topics are selected to discuss.

Allen Bestwick will call the race with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree alongside. This trio is having a good Chase, with Jarrett fading into the background. Petree is much more opinionated and often the telecast finds Jarrett agreeing with his points over and over again.

Dr. Jerry Punch, Jamie Little, Vince Welch and Dave Burns will be on pit road. These four will probably being saying the words "fuel mileage" a lot today. Tim Brewer will be in the Tech Garage.

ESPN made a wholesale change in the Saturday race. The network focused on the Nationwide Series regulars and did not interview big names like Carl Edwards and Danica Patrick until the end of the pre-race show. The actual telecast was also different.

The coverage looked like a Camping World Truck Series race on SPEED for the first half of the event. Cameras stayed wide, aerial shots were uses and the director chased the best racing on the track instead of staying with the leaders.

In the second half of the race, the "Hyper-tight" coverage returned and immediately missed a key incident on the track. While the finish line coverage was outstanding, ESPN still cannot resist continually zooming-in on one or two cars at a time. It's a curse.

The weather is great, the stories are good and ESPN has all the bells and whistles to make this an outstanding telecast. Media types have picked Carl Edwards as the car to beat.

This post will serve to host your comments about ESPN's coverage of the Sprint Cup Series from Kansas Speedway. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for stopping by.

Live Blogging Nationwide Series From Kansas (ESPN2 - 3PM ET)

Just when the Nationwide Series was about to fall off the map, changes have brought it back to life in the media. Reed Sorenson, pictured above, was fired over the phone earlier this week. Sorenson says it was over money, his owner Steve Turner says it was over performance.

Vince Welch from ESPN will speak with Mr. Turner in the pre-race show, college football time allowing. This dismissal of the third-ranked driver in the series and the subsequent insertion of Brian Vickers into that seat is a hot topic.

As the sponsorship woes continue on the Sprint Cup Series level, some Nationwide Series sponsors have migrated up one notch due to the ability to get more for the same money. Clint Bowyer joined MWR for 2012 and took Rusty Wallace's 5 Hour Energy sponsor.

Wallace is on the pre-race show with Brad Daugherty and host Nicole Briscoe. Daugherty has been useless this season and it should be his last. Wallace continues to be riddled with conflicts of interest every time he speaks. It will be very interesting to see how he approaches the topics in the new today.

Marty Reid will call the race with Dale Jarrett and Andy Petree. We asked ESPN to bring in a second set of analysts for this time of the year, but instead Jarrett and Petree have been doing double-duty. This does not allow them time to prep for the Nationwide telecasts and it shows.

Dr. Jerry Punch, Welch, Jamie Little and Dave Burns will be on pit road. Depending on who is covering what teams, it could be an interesting day to watch the activity of these reporters. Instead of another Cup dominated event, now there are stories to pursue.

Kansas makes for good racing with the normal struggles to pass. Restarts are outstanding and the layout of the track allows TV to make great pictures. ESPN has all the tools for a good one, let's see how it goes.

This post will host your comments on the ESPN2 telecast. To add your TV-related opinion, just click on the comments button below. Thanks for stopping by.

Taking A Moment For Steve Jobs

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose."

That was Steve Jobs in 2005 delivering a heartfelt commencement address at Stanford University. Jobs lost his battle with cancer on Wednesday, surrounded by family members.

Every day I interact with people who send me text, pictures and videos from their iPhones. My favorite songs are neatly arranged on playlists in my iPod. My Christmas gift to my 80 year-old mom last year was an iPad.

Let's take a moment for Steve Jobs. Here are some comments on his passing and legacy.

From his family:

Steve died peacefully today surrounded by his family.

In his public life, Steve was known as a visionary; in his private life, he cherished his family. We are thankful to the many people who have shared their wishes and prayers during the last year of Steve's illness; a website will be provided for those who wish to offer tributes and memories.

We are grateful for the support and kindness of those who share our feelings for Steve. We know many of you will mourn with us, and we ask that you respect our privacy during our time of grief.

This from President Obama:

Michelle and I are saddened to learn of the passing of Steve Jobs. Steve was among the greatest of American innovators - brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world, and talented enough to do it.

By building one of the planet's most successful companies from his garage, he exemplified the spirit of American ingenuity. By making computers personal and putting the Internet in our pockets, he made the information revolution not only accessible, but intuitive and fun. And by turning his talents to storytelling, he has brought joy to millions of children and grownups alike. Steve was fond of saying that he lived every day like it was his last. Because he did, he transformed our lives, redefined entire industries, and achieved one of the rarest feats in human history: he changed the way each of us sees the world.

The world has lost a visionary. And there may be no greater tribute to Steve's success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented.

In our little NASCAR world, it seems ironic that just yesterday on Twitter we had an extended discussions about the pro's and cons of the new iPhone. It is a device that is all over the garage, grandstands and TV compound at every race.

While the word "visionary" was used repeatedly in many news stories, Jobs really influenced our entire culture with some of the innovations that made their way into our lives. It was a fascinating life.

Happy to have your comments on Jobs passing and what thoughts it brings up in connection with the changes in your life, technology-based or not. Just click the comments button below to add your thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to stop by.