Before the memories fade of the 2007 NASCAR season, let's try to bring back some of those classic TV moments that really got our attention. They would be divided into two categories, the good and the bad.
The one thing that we require is that both moments must be from a race itself. Later, there will be another column about all of the non-racing NASCAR TV shows. That one should be fun.
So, this is not about the actual racing, or the drivers, or NASCAR as a business. It is about the coverage you have watched all season long on the NASCAR TV partners. It is what pops into your mind when you think NASCAR TV this season.
One example of a good moment might be Mike Joy calling the finish of the Daytona 500. An example of a bad moment might be Mike Massaro pressuring Dale Earnhardt Junior after he had just missed The Chase. Now, I think you might be getting the picture.
If you want some help, just peel back through the archived pages of The Daly Planet to remember Allen Bestwick and Randy Lajoie in Montreal, Brent Musburger in the Fan Zone at Daytona, or Rusty Wallace introducing us to Eric Amarillo. How about hip-hop at Pocono, TNT's Vampire Movie, or the infamous Draft Track? We even got email about Krista Voda's "Britney Spears" hat.
Some folks think Larry McReynolds hanging in there at Sonoma with no voice and sick as a dog was outstanding. But, in that same race we had the TV crew actually play-back an obscenity from Kyle Petty, the TNT in-car announcer. Who can forget that the team prayer came first?
This should be fun and we will be leaving this post up for two or three days to allow folks to come back and add more. All we ask is that in your post, you only name one good thing and one bad thing from the TV race broadcasts this season.
You can always come back and post again, but leave some fun for the others! If you get off-track, we will delete you and ask you to try again.
We had Mike Joy and company from Fox Sports, Bill Weber and his gang from TNT, Jerry Punch and the ESPN/ABC guys, and then Rick Allen and the SPEED crew on the Truck Series. These four groups should give everyone a chance to think back and dig-up two memorable moments for a good comment.
Once we are all done, I will add in my two cents and then try to put together a recap of your comments. This column will stay the lead through Wednesday, when we get to ask Steve Byrnes some TV questions.
To add your comment, simply click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the instructions. We do not need your email address and there is nothing to join. Here at The Daly Planet, we just want your opinion.
59 comments:
Best Overall Race Coverage goes to the ESPN Crew at Montreal. Only a veteran like Alan Bestwick could keep us aware of the craziness that was that race. Randy Lajoie was extremely impressive as an analyst, Gary Gerould and Vince Welch were solid pit reporters and kept on top of stories, and Marty Smith got the Robby Gordon post-race interview and asked just the right amount of questions.
Worst Overall Race Coverage goes to TNT at Sonoma. No one had idea what was going on, no drivers other than the top five were shown for over an hour, the in-race reporting by KP was horrible, Larry Mac was sick, commercials were plentiful, and Wally's distain for Montoya bordered on unprofessional. Other than that....
- The great ending to the Talladega Busch race with the horrible announcing done by the 3 in the booth. No excitement to go along with the great finish that was going on on the track.
- The great announcing throughout the Milwaukee Busch race with Allen, Rusty, and Petree in the booth with no infield studio.
best TV moment of 2007:
Jerry Punch signing off at the end of the Homestead telecast, saying goodbye on behalf of everyone at ESPN. Knowing at that very moment I wouldn't see ESPN covering another Cup race until next July was my favorite TV moment of the year by far.
worst TV moment of 2007:
This occurred in the fall New Hampshire Cup race. During one long stretch of air time during green flag racing, ABC covered the entire screen with either a Monday Night Football or Sunday Night Baseball promo (don't remember which off the top of my head), and that was followed up by a full-screen Google Earth view of where a bunch of baseball stadiums and football fields were located, followed by a visual comparison of where New Hampshire International Speedway was located compared to those stadiums. Following those video presentations Brent Musburger started to ramble on about the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry until mercifully Kevin Harvick cut a tire. At that point the ESPN producer, noticing it was a Chaser having problems and was thus worthy in ESPN's mind of getting airtime for making an unscheduled pit stop, cut Musburger off mid-sentence to cover the stop. I'm sure at that moment the ESPN suits went berzerker, probably saying something like "How dare one of those drivers on that track do something to distract the viewers' attention from our talk show about baseball and football!"
This 3 or so minute span during green flag racing of the first race in the Chase for the Nextel Cup is the best example of what was wrong with ESPN's NASCAR coverage in 2007.
justin,
I totally forgot about that one. Great pick of Talladega. I think that was also the race where they never mentioned the (Busch) race during the Busch pre-race show. I think I'm having flashbacks!
Favorite TV moment (if I am not confusing the topics here)
My swiss cheese brain does not remember the track or the race specificities (All Star Race maybe??) But the Busch brothers wrecking each out out was a LAUGH out loud moment for me...not being a fan of either but of course, I was happy nobody was hurt!
One of the most painful things to witness (aside from EVERY ESPN CUP eventt) I have to say went to Jr when he became BAD LUCK BOY with engine after engine blowing up..and Massaro not having the good sense to BACK OFF a very pained, Jr. Most of the time, Jr had a good attitude, better than I did when he had a DNF...but Massaro made me wince and almost weep for Jr.
It was ESPN ENJOYING THEIR BLOODSPORT of TABLOID journalism at it's cruelest.
Truly disgusting.
P.S. I have to give Honorable Mention to seconding Stricklan fans favorite moment, the good bye at HOMESTEAD.
No more ESPU until mid summer.
Is that cheating to second somebody else? ;-)
My favorite moment was the last lap of Daytona, the excitement of Mike Joy did match what was happening in the race - the wreck, the non caution all of it.
The worst moment was at Homestead in what should have been total coverage of the race, of our Superbowl, and not getting it. Of missed re set - no idea what was going on. All of it was BAD!!!!
The best TV moment was when the FOX crew signed on at Daytona. It was as if old friends had returned and we would all have fun and excitement together.
The worst moments were BILL WEBER, anytime. His limitless ego and very limited talent were even more painful than all of ESPN's atrocities.
Makiki
I thought that Rusty's hatred of Jeff Gordon was very transparent until race 34. Talk about unprofessional.
I loved the way the media was foiled in the Busch race in Canada. After every incident, reporters always want to stick a mic under a drivers chin so they can watch him have a meltdown. That's been with Petty-Hamlin, Tony-Hamlin, Carl-Matt, ect.
Well they went after Marcus Ambrose, and no matter what question was posed to him, he smiled and put a good spin on the incident with Robby. I don't remember who the reporter was, but he kept trying, and reminding him that if not for Robby, he would have won. But Marcus seamed to have a wider smile with each subsequent question.
Mr. Daly:
The best coverage That I can remember so far - the final ten laps of the Coca Cola 600 when five backbenchers (Mears, Yeley, Petty, Sorenson & Vickers) threw the die and ended up first through fifth in that order. The booth was having a ball and it was delightful to listen to them!
The worst coverage - the Memphis Busch race. Enough said!
Tom in Dayton.
worst moment: draft track at Richmond!
alex,
when they tried to pull that out as the reason Clint Bowyer spun at less than 80mph, I almost fell over.
I second several of the already mentioned ones, so here's a couple of my other bests:
Larry Mac's in-race Subway commercial on TNT in the "race with no breaks"
The look of disgust on Tim Brewer's face when they had to cut away from the Tech Center because of a wreck (not sure about which race)
And because this isn't about pre-race shows, I won't mention Wendy.
The best part of the season was anytime that Larry Mac explained race strategy. I love anytime that he leaves the other commentators in awe by predicting what will happen and the race unfolds like he says it will. Then, the best part is that he gives an big old Alabama "Aw shucks ya'll, anybody could figure that out", and refuses to undercut his coleagues. An example of a great professional.
The worst was Rusty Wallace's outburst regarding Jeff Gordon when he bumped Dale Earnhardt. Absolutely, unquestionably the single worst display of self indulgence by an announcer in recent memory.
The Glowing Puck Award goes to the Draft Tracker, which, if fans are lucky, will follow the Glowing Puck itself into the trash can.
A couple of items I remember about this past year that really got to me - Jerry Punch stating when a driver had a flat tire - the tire is completely gone - when the camera showed the car the tire was still on. Then he mentions - oh well it's only flat on the bottom!!! I can't believe a professional would do this - Rusty mispronouncing so many names - Kenseth, Aric Almarillo (sp?), Gilliland to name just a few. I believe the Busch broadcasts were much better than the cup ones too. Someone above mentioning the Daytona 500 and Nascar not throwing a yellow that final lap.
Worst NASCAR TV announcing: Rusty Wallace.
This man doesn't know what's happening on the track (until it appears on the monitor in front of him); can't remember which driver is in which car, and when he does, is just as likely to mis-pronounce that driver's name; believes his son never, ever makes a mistake on the track--all those wrecks were someone else's fault; continually refers to drivers "driving their brains out" (which, apparently happened to Rusty himself) or "driving the wheels off" their cars; still doesn't get that saying "Cars of Tomorrow" is incorrect; clearly favors certain drivers over others; and spent far too much airtime during one Martinsville qualifying broadcast protesting that, back in '97, there was NO WAY he could have jumped the start three times when he was leading the race.
His reward should be to have the opportunity to watch the 2008 Cup season's races from his couch at home.
Correction: "Car of Tomorrows"
See--I couldn't even get it wrong on purpose!
Best: Final lap of the Daytona 500. Mike Joy has always been one of my favorites, and he helped to make this finish more memorable.
Worst: ESPN cutting away from Greg Biffle when HIS CAR WAS ON FIRE to show Chad Knaus upset that the caution was out at Texas in the fall.
The best by far is "Car crash, here they come, checkered flaaaaaaaaaaaaaag...HARVICK!"
Worst...hmmm, too many, and none stand out at the moment. If one does, I'll come back and post.
The best: the overall enthusiasm of the Fox broadcast team. While they go "over the top" sometimes, all appear to be excited about just being at the race.
The worst: no formal retrospective and good bye to Ricky Rudd as he retired. To totally ignore a historic driver who gave much to the sport is unforgiveable.
Geez, talk about a target rich environment! Where to start for the worst moment?! I agree with all the ones I've read from you guys so far. So I'll try to add one I don't think has been listed yet. My worst race broadcast moment is DW at the start of the Daytona 500 doing the "boogity, boogity, boogity" crap again. DW, it was ok the first few times, but after hearing you do that for years now, GIVE IT A REST ALREADY!! Every time I hear him do that now I want to strangle him.
Best TV broadcast moment? Any truck race that Speed broadcast. Take your pick. They were all so much more professionally broadcast than the Cup and Busch races.
My 2 cents.....
worst moment of the year at the start of the Martinsville truck race on Fox - Darrell's "truckity truckity truckity" call
best moment was Atlanta when Mark Martin yelled at Mike Massaro "what kind of question is that!?"
- I believe the coverage of the final lap of the Daytona 500 was outstanding, so much action occurred and Fox covered it well.
- The worst moments were all on ESPN:
1. Rusty Wallace claiming that – “he got aero-loose” on a short track?
2. The fall race at Talladega, and Gordon’s pass for the lead was totally missed.
3. The fall Busch race at Texas, where the final 2 laps were covered from Edward’s in-car camera, while ignoring the rest of the field crossing the finish line.
4. Rusty Wallace commenting on Gordon’s bump of Earnhardt Jr. and calling Earnhardt Sr. as “the old man”
Need your best and worst, not comments about other posts...leave that to me!
Worst - ESPN not interviewing Reutiman after his first win.
Best - Truck races on Speed
It wasn't the absolute worst, but it certainly ranks up there: "The fuel lives at Sonoma. Montoya wins!" This still has me scratching my head trying to figure out what that means.
I'd agree that the best was Daytona. Aside from Mike Joy calling the race, it meant we had a whole season of racing to look forward to (broadcasting issues aside)!
jhd,
Sonoma certainly stands-out in my mind for several reasons. I hope some other posters mention the things that I remember about that one.
JD
Worst:
-Not interviewing Reutiman after his first win.
-Cutting away from Biffle's car when it was on fire.
-Draft Track.
-Most anything Rusty Wallace worked on.
Best:
-Daytona, especially the last lap.
-The last few truck races. Announcers did a good job of keeping the championship race updated but still reporting on the other drivers.
-Anything Allen Bestwick worked on.
JD-
GOOD- blimp shots of racing, which they never seem to use enough of.
WORST- TNT's REPLAYING Kyle's swearing at Sonoma. I am still convinced that the un-edited audio was replayed on purpose to embarass Kyle, and possibly try to eliminate him from the booth. Even TNT cannot be so inept to have done the un-edited replay by accident.
Best: The "Wide Open" coverage of the Pepsi 400 on TNT. No national commercial breaks meant more racing, which is always a good thing for race fans.
Worst: TNT's coverage of the final lap of that same race. Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach said "the 5 is your winner" just before McMurray passed him and won the race. It was priceless.
I guess it's all in your perspective. I thought one of the best moments of 2007 was DW's 1st Boogity-Boogity at Daytona because it meant racing was back, and the Dec.-Jan. drought was over.
Hmmmm can I add NOT INTERVIEWING Reut's win to my worst moments...ESP U RAN off the air.
Also, I gotta say, for we who gripe after sitting through HOURS of horrible conversation and lack of info during the race, DW Boogity boogity boogity call is over in 6 seconds and GONE for the race.
As opposed to repetive BS and nonsense and LACK OF RACE PERSPECTIVE on peeSPN.
I also LOOK FORWARD to Daytona!!!!
I'll list some not mentioned but I agree with most of the others. Best- First Martinsville race with DW and company getting all excited to see if JG was going to push JJ out of the way "He's gonna move him, He's gonna move him!" (Chad was telling JJ "Here he comes get ready" it was fantastic) or any race called by Mike Joy
Worst- No interview with Reutimann at Memphis and then Punch forgetting he ever won one for Toyota during the Homestead race and no one correcting him
Best: Purchase of a 57" HD televison and hooking it up to a nice surround sound system.
And Montreal
Worst: Not using this stuff very much over the last 17 Cup races due to shoddy camera work and horrible commentary (except for Bestwick).
I don't think that I can pick a best moment due to how I watch the races.
The worst moments for me were not following up on drivers that were involved in crashes or left the track due to mechanical issues.
Worst: keeping the in-car camera on David Ruettiman after he hit the wall and before anyone knew if he was ok.
Best: still working on that
Best moment - Larry Mac predicting the winners at both Dover (Truex) and Pocono (Gordon) well before the races were over
Worst moment - everytime ABC/ESPN left the track without interviewing the Top 5
Every time Rusty couldn't be bothered to have enough respect of courtesy to pronounce someone's name correctly. To think, he knows a lot of these people personally.
With a nod towards broadcasting diversity, I would like to tip my hat to the SPEED ladies, Wendy Venturini and Krista Voda. They fulfilled their respective rolls professionally and were always informative.
On the negative side, ESPN's Jaime Little mastered asking the obvious cliche' with a challenging demeanor, as if stressing a perceived flaw connotes good journalism. She should watch tapes of Wendy's interviews over the off season. Or, better yet, switch to baseball.
BEST: How the Daytona 500 ended. The excitement and chaos was well covered.
WORST: Three-way tie: the cut-off at Michigan to show a vampire movie (TNT), the short shrift given to Ricky Rudd and Robert Yates on their final day in NASCAR (ESPN), and the blabbing on about ESPN Sunday Night Baseball during the first Chase race (ABC).
Best moment: The last second of the last telecast 8 years from now, when ESPN hands over the broadcast coverage to Speed2....
Worst: Let me count the ways.....
Mike Massaro asking "how much of your body absorbed the impact, Mark?"
Best Answer:"What kind of a question is that?"
Worst pit reporting:
When they DIDN'T HAVE ANY!
Best "Give the fans what they want" coverage: Wide Open Coverage
Worst "explanation" of Give the Fans what they want: When Rusty said he has fans come up to him all the time and tell him how much thay LOVE Draft Track.
Best coverage from a booth announcer regarding tragedy: Mike Joy having to announce to the nation that Bill France Jr. died.
Worst coverage by a booth announcer not knowing what to do when a car is on fire, with the driver (Biffle)is still in it: Jerry Punch
Worst kept secret on the real reason ESPN paid all that money to broadcast racing:To promote stick and ball sports.
Best excitement in the booth:Craftsman Truck Series race at Homestead on the last three laps.
Anyone seeing a trend here?
Well, anyone other than the fans????
BTW, John-Has Jayski quit linking your articles? Haven't seen them in two days on there.
Mr. Daly:
A couple of others.
One of the best - the final laps of the fall Texas race with the duel between Kenseth and Johnson. The booth was really getting into it and it seemed to me that they (the announcers) were conveying to the audience their thrill of watching racing wide open, especially when the #17 fishtailed coming out of the turn!
The very worst - Sonoma. I went back and watched it last night, fast-forwarding it. TNT's constant breakaways to TNT commercials, watching Montoya & Harvick finish (but no others), the terrible audio problems, Weber's constant shouting for "MATT", poor sick Larry Mac, etc. Rewatching that race made me realize that, despite ESPN's overall poor coverage, TNT at Sonoma was simply the WORST!
Just my ramblings...
Tom in Dayton.
Worst: Having Rusty try to have a conversation with any driver while he's on the track. Hey, Rusty! He's a little busy right now! I can't count the number of times the driver was talking with his crew chief and couldn't answer Rusty's call. At first I thought it was disrespectful of the driver's to apparently ignore Rusty, and then it just got comical because Rusty, as a former driver, should have told ESPN that it was bad idea.
Best: Learning that my ISP offered free TrackPass, including the audio so I could follow the last races of the season. I really, really tried to stay true to my TV, but after reading about so much that I was missing, I finally listened to the whole race without the TV for the Phoenix and Homestead races. My enthusiasm for my sport was instantly increased! I only wish I had listened to the races sooner in the year.
The best: Bestwick, if he was still back with Fox! Even at ESPN he still shines better than the entire production.
The worst: Knowing that 43 cars were on the track at the green flag only to find out that only 5 cars "actually" ran the entire race and not knowing by the TV coverage whatever happened to the other 38 cars.
Another good = ESPN rewarding Jerry Punch for being a good soldier.
More bad - Jerry Punch and Allen Bestwick not used in the right spots by ESPN.
The booth should never be allowed to have a conversation with any driver on the track while the drivers are attempting to establish race strategy with their crew.
The best racing is Talladega & Daytona
The best race all season is always Talladega.
the booth should never be allowed to ask drivers silly questions while they are about to start the race.
Why Kyle Petty is allowed to make comments is beyond me when was the last race he won
Best: RaceView/TrackPass/Scanner supplied by NASCAR.com so we could actually follow the on-track action.
Worst:
Multi-way tie for all the races broadcast by ESPN, whose staff clearly does not understand the sport, nor does it wish to do so.
OK, here is my worst. Kyle Petty finishing third at the Coca-Cola 600 driving the Coke Zero car live on national TV under the lights...and Fox only showing the winner cross the finish line. Even as the crowd was going nuts for Kyle, all we saw was inside the winner's car, his crew chief, and his crew jumping around. After watching TV for four hours, we missed every single other car cross the line. I was actually screaming at my TV...and that takes a lot. I will add my fav in later.
JD
The best 2007 moment was Mark Martin almost winning the Daytona 500.
The worst was (and I cant remember the exact race) the ESPN crew franticly trying to to post race interviews as the drivers were trying to leave the track in helicopters.
I have to say that TNT had the most disappointing television coverage of NASCAR this year, the teensy bit you got to see in between commericials.
Best: Mark Martin, reposnding to a stupid ESPN question....."What kind of question is that?"
Any interview by Wendy Venturini> Pertinent questions, without any attempt to make the interviewee look bad.
Worst: Wow...so much to choose from, so little space.
Rusty Wallace and his ability to mis-pronounce most any name. Do your homework Rusty!
Draft Tracker......follow the glowing puck into the TV history of bad "innovations."
Boogity, Boogity, Boogity. OK...it was cute the first 50 times. Now, not so much. I like Darryl, but not that catch-phrase.
ESPN completely missing Gordon;s pass for the lead on the last lap at Taladega....and their 'where did he come from' tone and statements. Look at the track guys....that's where the action is!!!
Dr. Jerry Punch as a lead announcer. He's a great pit guy....keep him there.
Alan Bestwick, hidden in the broadcast. C'mon guys....he's much better than anyone else ESPN has....get him on the show!
ESPN's in abaility to stop a stupid announcer story to get to a wreck on teh track. How about a lead announcer that interupts with a "trouble in turn 3" like Mike Joy? It's TV, not rocket science.
The poorly hidden hostility on the TNT broadcasts. Group counseling anyone?
There are more......but you get the point. Most of the worst belong to ESPN......hands-down.
One of the worst things about the races this year? It's actually two, in my book.
No Benny Parsons with his silly jokes and insightful tidbits and no Bobby Hamilton in the truck series. I really miss seeing them do what they did so well.
WORST MOMENT OF 2007: ESPN, enough said. I like Jerry Punch and always have, but he can't handle play-by-play. I understand ESPN was trying to be loyal to a very loyal employee, but he belongs on pit road. Their refusal to interview Reuitumann just (as Rusty would say) "flat out" pizzed me off.
If I had heard "tem four fresh tires" or "clean air" one more time, I would've screamed.
ESPN ON ABC SUCKS!!!
THE BEST MOMENTS: TNT. Enough said. Minus Weber at Sonoma, they were awesome! Love the "Wide Open," graphics and the music. We need more TNT and FOX and less ABC.
FOX did a very good job with the Daytona 500. I was expecting better from TNT at Daytona, Kyle and Wally saying Kyle's got it and McMurray pulled it off. I was rolling.
The best was Mike Joy calling the last lap at Daytona.
What made my skin crawl was anytime a broadcaster said a guy had "quietly made his way up into the top 10" - all that means is he didn't wreck anybody and you didn't care enough to talk about him anytime earlier in the race.
Best:
1. Mike Joy calling any race.
2. Wendy in full-on interview mode.
3. The ESPN video of the race to the airport from Nascar Now - what made it hilarious was that Burr played it straight in his intro.
4. That Rusty minimised the use of the word "hotrod".
5. Shannon Spake (for cuteness).
6. That time on TNT when Larry Mac got the strategy right and everyone else got in wrong. I'd have rubbed Weber's nose in it - a lot.
Worst:
1. Bill Weber. Worse than anything ESPN came up with.
2. Draft Tracker
3. Musberger / Kolber / Kuselias - three people who *really* didn't want to be there.
4. The decision not to put Bestwick as lead play-by-play guy.
5. The decision not to put a window in the Dish Tech Center.
6. Whoever decided to hack around the graphics on the International Nascar feed, and ends up not showing half of them.
The worst of 2007 is actually characterized by a single event at the Busch race at Homestead. Rusty was asked to look back on the season and all he talked about was what his team went through.
They all have to stop having guys in the booth who have ownership positions in the teams.
The best of 2007...realizing through Daly Planet that I was not alone in questioning the horrible coverage.
Best - Fox broadcasts of the Texas and Atlanta spring races. The side by side battles for the lead were entertaining, and the crew was on their game.
Worst - ESPN and TNT take the cake on these.
Worst broadcasts
TNT - Sonoma, obviously.
ESPN - I'm surprised no one has mentioned it, but the thrilling end to the busch bristol night race cut off with three laps to go. I haven't been so upset with race coverage in my life.
Worst Gimmick
Draft tracker - The aero loose thing at richmond really got to me, hopefully no one fell for it. If you need draft tracker to understand how the draft works, it probably doesn't matter anyway.
Worst announcer
TIE
Jerry Punch - This guy had no idea what was happening half the time. It was embarrassing to watch.
Brent Musburger - This drama momma at Kansas with Tony Stewart and his gas saving. Geez, we get it already.
Worst call
After holding off Jimmie Johnson for an eternity, Matt Kenseth is finally passed at Texas. Jerry Punch then states "let's see if Kenseth can get back by him on the last lap!"
Er, he wasn't being passed because he was faster Jerry. This happens a lot, but this one sticks out in my mind.
And Finally...
Worst of the Worst
Bill Weber. I just can't stand that guy.
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