3/12/04
What's on your mind? Add your opinion to the mix. Send your email for publication to response@dragracingonline.com. Unsigned letters will not be published.
TV OR NOT TV?
They say great minds think alike. It must be true, because Jok Nicholson and Darr Hawthorne each independently wrote columns this month about the ESPN coverage of the NHRA POWERade drag racing series. Editor Jeff Burk decided that both columns were worth running. We have already gotten so many letters that we decided to run them in a special letters section devoted entirely to one subject. We're sure to get more correspondence, so check back. Here you go. . .
I just read the story on DRO, and COULD NOT AGREE MORE! I, like you, am so tired of the fluff, and announcers, and constant ads, I'm almost losing my desire to make sure I watch. Sportsman racing gets almost no coverage at all, and watching some wheelstanding action in the sportsman's is far more exciting for me than hearing some personal interview about how some Top Fuel crew went playing golf in the off hours...I DON'T CARE about that. I want to see racing, and not just the pro's. What's wrong with showing the finals of Super Street, etc.?
If you get some other folks that think as I do, I hope you'll fire them to whoever at ESPN can make a difference. I enjoy the 30 minutes of drag racing news on Sunday morning almost as much or more, as putting up with 2 hrs of BS during the entire broadcast event. Thanks for letting me vent and I agree with your opinion.
Jim Dos
Sportsman racer
(Darr Hawthorne's) column on the state of drag racing's television (and daily print media) coverage of the sport was right on the money. Can't see it changing though. In the 30-plus years I have written about racing and been a Sportsman racer and car owner, it has only gotten worse, not better. Problem is, drag racing has become entertainment, not a sport.
Keep up the good work. I enjoy it.
Brian Cour
Darr, Great article. My fellow racers and I have been saying the same things for a long time. You hit all the nails right on their heads. It's gotten so that we don't care if we watch it or not. And the sportsman shows are just as bad, focusing on all alcohol. They can't even take a few seconds to scan the other sportsman finalists on the starting line to showcase closer the diversity of the cars/drivers and their sponsors etc.
I'm sure this would have a greater effect on getting someone new, identifying with cars they can or may have, going to a race track to explore for themselves drag racing. As for the announcers, for whatever reason I see this stuff in big business all the time. The idiot at the helm is stupid and tries to baffle them with bull, but every time they need info, they go to the knowledgeable guys in the trenches whose knowledge make the idiot look good. Kind of a form of plagiarism.
Bill Stephen's is so cold it's a wonder his lips don't freeze together. He/They have taken NHRA2Day to a lower level as you point out. Lastly, I can't believe that with all the technology out there they can't capture the noise at a level that will give us the ferocity of the cars and speed without the distortion.
Just some of my quick 2 cents.
Thanks,
Sam Murray
Regarding (Darr's) column on the current TV coverage, I can only say two words: HELL YEAH!!!
Why has our sport gotten so. . .what's a good word. . .scripted?
|
ADVERTISEMENT  |
I went to the Hot Rod Reunion in Bowling Green last year, and thought I was in heaven. Heck, I actually walked across the staging lanes, looking at cars, and didn't have some jack-booted blue shirt POWERade official yelling something about life imprisonment for being there without the correct pass. I hate their pompous, nose in the air attitude. If I wanted that, I would go to an F1 race!
I actually got to talk to some racers, without hearing, "we have the Budiller, Luctrol, Mac-on, Jegumitt, Mopawrench car running strong today," and similar crap. Yes, corporate money has helped to see 4.4's and 330's, but I was just as excited, maybe more, by seeing side by side 5.40's and 250's. I 'bout wet my pants when Mike Boyd wrestled the Express through the lights at 200!
Always enjoy your column.
Don Richerson
Darr, I am not a very big fan of critics, and I go out of my way to avoid adding another voice to the popular sport of follow-the-leader NHRA bashing that is so predominant these days, so in some respect you've got a tough critic in me. However, I just wanted to tell you that I think you did an excellent job in your article about NHRA's TV shows. It was spot on, and without being an attack. They would do well to call you for that lunch date. If they'll listen, I'll buy.
Regards,
Henry Walther
Darr: I thought I was the only one that dislikes the coverage of NHRA. You have hit the nail right on the head. The only one I like on their broadcasts is Mike Dunn. If he ever leaves they are in a world of hurt.
I remember when you would at least see the finals of the Sportsman classes. Now they make no mention of them. It's like they don't even exist. Where do they think some of these guys running pro cars come from?
Anyway, great article and I hope NHRA gets the message.
Al Ullo
"Boring - boring - boring ... Same old - same old - same old ..."
Now tell us how you really feel! As an old drag racing fan I can't wait for the next race on TV and here I thought it was just me expecting more, but no, they are really blowing it. From the old days at Union Grove in the late fifties watching the "Chizler" and early Don Garlits now at Moroso in Florida I lived and breathed drag racing. They need to look at the ratings and see that they need help.
I really appreciate this online magazine and only wish it was weekly! But you keep telling it like it is. Hopefully someone will hear you at NHRA. By the way how do you get in to their events? I doubt they give you a press pass!
James Drinkwater
Jok, I liked your latest article on DRO. NHRA/ESPN could do a little more in grabbing the stories that the average fan can relate to and identify with. You develop your fan base and following by giving them opportunities to relate to and 'bond' with the personalities/stories of the sport on their level. Give them something they can really relate to and they'll be hooked, plus it is a catalyst to draw in new motorsports fans to drag racing.
How about the pit crew intern program that Bob Gilbertson's "Trick Tank" Funny Car team has put forward this year? Let's see NASCAR let the average fan work in their Nextel cup pits! Besides the fact that every NHRA ticket gets you into the pits, this pit crew intern program is something that NHRA can really use to set themselves apart and above other forms of motorsports. NHRA seems to pride themselves on advocating that their Pro level of racing is accessible to the fan - this just seems to epitomize it. Someone is missing the boat on this huge PR opportunity. Perhaps you could whisper in someone's ear...this is what just about every race fan can identify with, lust for and get drawn into.
Thanks for your time.
Michelle Read
|
|
Action Required:
Recommendation:
* Amen
* Amen
* and Amen
(Do ya think anyone in Glendora cares what We think?)
Billy Baer
3391 S/C, Q/R
Here here, finally someone has said what needs to be said. I'm a 51-year-old drag racer who has watched NHRA ruin the tv side of drag racing. I can't believe you can do a whole show and not see or hear a sportsman car.
S T Knotts
Flat land musings about TV and such:
The announcing voices drowning out the cars on the NHRA races were always an annoyance but this year brought new lows. Is it just my tv or did someone twist the sound dials the wrong direction? The cars sound quieter and the announcers louder during the stage and run segment. Heck, Pro Stock sounded louder than the fuel cars. That is just plain WRONG.
NHRA announcing: Well...it could be worse. We could be treated to the screamer that does the tractor pull voice-overs. (shudder) I do agree with others that I would like to see faces and personalities other than the usual three or four suspects. Surely someone else has something to say or push.
Why is it, in this day of gee whiz electronics and weather stations, I am treated to "cutting edge" TV with a video image of a piece of cardboard with the track temperature scribbled in crayon? Come on, NHRA. Surely there is a weather station manufacturer that would loan you a read out with their name prominently displayed or you could take some money from the oil-down beer fund to buy one and put NHRA on it.
Eric Medlin: You are fun to watch and will be good driver, plus the TV guys like you but please do not get in the same habit as your boss of sticking your mug in the winners top end interview when you are not the winner. It looks cheesy when Mr. Force does it and I do not think it should become the latest "must do" media exposure schtick.
Phoenix was notable in that it looked like it was going to be an ugly race but turned out better than expected. Did anyone notice that Kenny wasn't shown, if he was there? Did Brandon get his name on the car yet? Hey, even Kurt Johnson smiled. Well...almost.
Dave Koehler
Lots of camera angles of the same slicks, zoomies, smoke filled plastic bodies too. The same angles....
Nice article. I can remember watching for the sportsman results and seeing stop-action of the finalists in S and SS frozen in mid-air with their ET on the screen telling who won... NO RUN, just stop action...it is getting worse.... The SS/AA show has been on several times and that is good in a way....
Thanks.
Dick Butler
Amen brother! I dearly love drag racing, but I would rather watch the local yokels at our dinky track, at least the cars are varied. Listen up NHRA.
Brad Wise
Boy, you hit that nail right on the head. Good job.
Ed Dialogue
BINGO! You hit the nail on the head with this one. I couldn't agree more. I can only hope the IHRA stuff is better this year. That Madusa ought to make it worth watching anyway.
Jok, I will never understand why the NHRA and others don't think ALL the sportsman classes are interesting. A little about myself. I am 45 years old and have been drag racing since 1979. I race in NHRA Super Street, IHRA Hot Rod, with a
|
ADVERTISEMENT  |
I worked for Billy Meyer for one summer but decided it was more fun to race than watch. I have announced at the division and national level and nothing makes me madder than when a supposed seasoned announcing partner tells me that the fans aren't interested in being educated about the racing, just talk about the sponsors and the ET's. Do you know what the most asked question of my wife and I are when we are sitting in the grand stands in our team uniforms at a national event? "Why do those cars slow down right after they start then take off again", and "Why did the faster car lose".
I spend a lot of my time explaining drag racing to the fans when I am at the races. I have said for years, if we don't educate, the fans will lose interest. Look at the grandstands, they are usually half empty at any time, people just don't get it. I have been seriously considering staying home and bracket racing rather than stress over national and divisional points, in any class. I haven't raced for two years, and can't decide whether to build a new car or just race part time for fun.
Thanks,
Raymond D. Gottry
Jok and Darr are both dead-on this month. I was glad to see I'm not the only one who thinks NHRA is missing the mark with their event coverage. I was beginning to feel like I must be missing something because I couldn't believe it had gotten this bad. The only good thing about continued coverage like this would be I won't feel like I'm missing anything when I'm at the local track or spending two more hours in the garage.
Douglas Vincent
| Whaddaya
Think? E-mail Us and Maybe We’ll Print It. No Libel or Slander or Anonymous Letters. If You Don’t Have Enough Guts to Sign Your Name, You Have No Right to Mention Anyone Else’s |
Copyright 1999-2004, Drag Racing Online and Racing Net Source
