It was interesting
to finally see the Nielsen ratings
for NHRA's show; didn't surprise me much.
The show is boring, really booor, sooze, ing,
it doesn't, and never has, fully captured
the reality of drag racing, the sound, the
excitement and the speed, let alone the competition.
If I see one more segment showing Del Worsham's
baby carriage I'll NEVER tune in to another
NHRA broadcast. Are they nuts? Whoever is
the producer of this show is, (he or she)
needs a major education about this sport.
This isn't Martha Stewart Living...but that's
another subject.
Last month someone at Drag Racing Online
mentioned featuring one of the Sportsman racers
as a filler to the competition, I couldn't
agree more! The folks sitting at home have
no concept of what grass roots racing is all
about, they probably think EVERYONE is a John
Force, or a Del Worsham (complete with baby
carriage). You don't have to go into extreme
detail about Sportsman racing to develop a
great and interesting story line, keep it
in simple but interesting terms. The entire
show needs to be rethought or the ratings
will continue to drop.
Your take of sitting a producer at the starting
line is a good idea; maybe then he or she
will begin to comprehend the magic this sport
embeds in those of us who ARE "Hard Core"
types.
Bob Mendenhall
HOW correct you
are. Bring back the days of TNN's coverage
when you would actually see all the cars attempting
to qualify not just the top 10! How will a
new team ever attract a sponsor if they cannot
even get a sniff of air time? I miss the old
days. Send Marty Reid back to monster trucks
or wherever he came from.
Moe McChesney
RE: Drag racing,
television and you Jeff, I just read
the above article and the biggest drawback
that I can see with the television package
IS this television package. When ESPN started
doing NHRA, qualifying was on at a reasonable
hour (8 or 9 in the evening) and eliminations
were run in the late afternoon. Since then
the time has gotten later and later where
those of us that have to get up in the morning
cannot watch the coverage any more.
Has it ever occurred to the powers that be
to feature something during the broadcast
like Fox networks "Crank It Up" during NASCAR
races, where the talking heads just shut up
and allow a race run by a pair of Top Fuelers
and/or a pair Funny Cars at top
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volume.
Those of us who attend live events would just
love it.
Nothing against the current broadcast crew
but how many times must we see an engine get
torn down and rebuilt? We have the idea now
that these crews are fast under very trying
circumstances.
Also, when is someone going to get the idea
to broadcast the U.S Nationals live? NASCAR
really didn't take off until the Daytona 500
was broadcast live in 1979. It could be done
as some NASCAR races run the same amount of
time it would take to run 4 rounds of eliminations.
I realize it would take some intestinal fortitude
to do something like this, but no what we
get was the show pre-empted by a meaningless
Yankees-Red Sox game like last year. I sent
ESPN an irate E-Mail which did not merit a
reply.
I cannot speak for other races but I just
attended the Gatornationals and the attendance
was huge, the most I had seen yet in the years
I have been going there. The fans are there;
the sport needs to package itself better.
ESPN's coverage of NASCAR became staid and
unimaginative until the network lost their
coverage. Unfortunately, the NHRA doesn't
have a Fox or NBC wanting to cover the sport
in a better, more innovative way. Such a pity.
Thank you for your time.
Earl Reams
