[rave20]

I've been a fan of NASCAR since 1976. I remember many years when I would sit by the radio listening to the race. No I'm not that old, TV was around and even in color, but racing was a "redneck sport" nobody cared about... except me and about 500 other people. Souveniers? I remember them selling these little jacket patches and hideously large ball caps but that was all! Obviously we have come a long way.

Now we enjoy TV each week, the SPEED channel and eventually the NASCAR channel. On FOX sports radio this morning they noted that the Daytona 500 had (I think it was) a 13.9 rating! Huge! They were boasting that they have better coverage than most other talk radio etc. So what's the problem?

After pronouncing themselves the best in coverage they went on to debate whether Mark Martin was in the Valvoline car or the ****** car on Sunday. They were attempting to name Rick Hendrick but kept calling him Chad. They played an interview bit with Bobby Labonte and basically made fun of him. You know I'd expect that from some places but not from FOX! Not after this amount of time and money spent by them on NASCAR .

Just wondering why NASCAR still doesn't seem to get respect when it is a mega billion dollar industry with Neilsen numbers that blow away the NBA! I know the history...obviously better than them. Why is it then that so many people who don't even know the history, still try to hold it down?

Hey Fox Sports... don't bother until you have a clue what you're talking about! Here's a little homework for you. Tell me who these people are. David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Donnie Allison, Junior Johnson. Yes obviously NASCAR does need a hall of fame!

[Lefty Noob]

NASCAR's a big deal, and I think it gets plenty of respect. I think the bigger problem is that media coverage of sports as a whole is pretty poor right now. I'm a huge NFL fan, but I can't stand most of the coverage, especially the in-game teams. Some of these guys frequently butcher names, say things that are completely irrelevant or pointless, misidentify players, miss penatly flags and so forth. I'm sure this is the case with other sports as well.

In terms of the Labonte interview and them trying to make fun of him, again, I think its a global problem. There's this obsession to try and intermingle sports and comedy, and very few are good at it. I think that the Fox Sports NFL pregame show used to strike a good balance between informative and funny, but now it ocassionally tends to force humor. Then you have the Best D--- Sports Show Ever on FSN, which is so desperate to be funny that it has Tom Arnold making fun of athletes.

Ultimately, I don't think it's just NASCAR. Announcers and analysts just aren't that good on the whole anywhere anymore, and networks (especially Fox) just want to try too hard to be funny and don't spend enough time doing their homework and caring about the actual product they're trying to present. That's my humble opinion, anyway.

[rave20]

Lefty I largely agree with you. The difference though is that normally the hosts at least know WHO it is that they are talking about. It's not just a name out there unless it's a relatively obscure athlete. Second, they rarely make fun of the sport as a whole unless it's an Olympic sport like Curling. To me their comments about Mark was like them trying to figure out if Deon Sanders was retiring from the 49ers or the Cowboys. I guess my point is, don't bother unless you have some knowledge about it first or you just hurt the sport overall. Also, I know some of you are thinking "hey at least they are talking about it." True, but is it in a way that's beneficial or harmful? If I'm a marketing agent for Martin, for AAA, for NASCAR or even FOX, I'm thinking, "we're spending millions on this and they don't even have a clue?"

Personally, I wouldn't mind if some people forgot about Nascar...at least I could get tickets again! Then again I might have a hard time finding those EBAY deals! Maybe that's a second question for this thread...has the growth of NASCAR been a good thing for you or a negative?

[Lefty Noob]

I think its a good thing. People on the whole are growing weary of hockey and the NBA, at least here is the States that is, and this gives them a viable option to complement the NFL and MLB. Plus, with so many of the races going down on Sunday afternoons, it benefits NFL viewers by giving them something to watch in the weeks after the Super Bowl. That said, my old man hates it, cause now its the only kind of racing he can ever find on TV. He doesn't get Speed Channel, and he's a big SCCA guy.

[GigEmAgs]

My only surprise is that FOX in particular didn't get on this earlier and harder. They generally market themselves as the all-American network that appeals to the working people, i.e. the common folk who like to decompress after work with a beer and a game on TV, and whose politics leans toward the considervative. Use the term "redneck" if you must (I was raised that way and proud of it). Now, what sport is more "redneck" than car racing? Duh. And let's talk about the, what, 50 million fans, half of them women? That's a big ol' demographic they've been missing out on. It's sad that, now that they're covering it, their guys don't really know what they're talking about...but I suppose there's a learning curve.

If they start covering lawnmower racing and snowmobile competitions, though, I'm so changing the channel. If I can reach the remote.

[Team Yates]

Nascar sold their soul to the media when they signed the television contract with Fox and NBC. In turn, Fox and NBC sold theirs to all the advertisers. Yes, years ago you could barely see a race on t.v., but at least you were able to see 3/4's of the race. And people were complaining about the coverage then, so Fox came about and did a good job to get the contract, they made everybody like the coverage. So, now years into the contract (it's almost up) we only see about 1/4 of the race peppered into all the ads and the announcers are soon out of a job, and they're not going to be airing races anymore it's going to 2 other "stations". NASCAR got their billions and the stations got their's, so the hell with us, the ones who have been lining their pockets for years. Money is all that they care about. NASCAR is too big for their own britches! As far as penalties go, they are very Charlie Brown (wishy-washy). I sometimes wonder if some teams "pay-off" NASCAR to let them slide.

[Sportygirl23]

Whether we like the media's approach to covering Nascar, you must admit the sport would not receive the high ratings without the coverage. There was a time when Nascar fans couldn't find a race on television. Now Sundays begin and end with Nascar and race recaps can be seen throughout the week.


Granted, the coverage is not always accurate, but what sports coverage is completely perfect? Broadcasters make mistakes. They mispronounce names. They speak of cars drivers raced in the past. And yes, sometimes they poke fun at drivers. You know what? Sometimes I do those things, too.

I personally appreciate the commentary provided by the networks, whether I agree with what they are saying or not. It gives us fans something to talk about, and anything that encourages discourse is positive in my book!

[GigEmAgs]

Hi sportygirl23, and welcome to the forum! It's nice to see a lady sounding off here. I for one would appreciate a female perspective on the sport, since my understanding is that the female fanbase for racing is fairly large. I for one look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Cheers,

GigEmAgs

[rave20]

Hey sportygirl. Thanks for your post. I hear you loud and clear. I have no problem with some mistakes here and there either. My problem was that the radio team who were claiming to have the best Nascar radio coverage, didn't know anything! In fact they were getting what little correct info they had from a caller. If you don't know then don't claim to be what you are not. I appreciate that they were talking racing but at least watch a few races FIRST or bring in somebody who does know.

Anyone know how Lion Woods did on the PGA tour this weekend?