Force interview

[Shaggy]

Did anyone give it a thought that maybe Forces rant about Fox News was just a comparison with the NHRA Broadcast and the fact they have been trying to make up their own drama instead of the things they should be covering?

 

[Mooseman]

Did anyone give it a thought that maybe Forces rant about Fox News was just a comparison with the NHRA Broadcast and the fact they have been trying to make up their own drama instead of the things they should be covering?

I remember a comment force made a while back when he was asked about something controversial that had happened and his only reply was something like "I know what you guys are trying to do trying to boost ratings"

 

[Rajunz]

Dunn's list started two weeks ago. It is basically his opinion (which in most eyes has some merit), of the 5 current and 5 past best raw talent as drivers, taking the cars out of the equation. So far, past are James Warren, Ongias and Glidden. Current are Dixon, TPed and Force. Dunn even gave an explanation for his picks.

 

[twostep]

Did anyone give it a thought that maybe Forces rant about Fox News was just a comparison with the NHRA Broadcast and the fact they have been trying to make up their own drama instead of the things they should be covering?

I did indeed, especially after reading 50 opinions of the incident here and other places. Fair is fair. But I'll tell you this much. In the state of mind Force was in, whatever that was, I honestly believe he was angry about the list being incorrect. Calling out ESPN as 'liars' because he felt Mike Dunn deliberately put the wrong names at the top of it. Now he might still have some anger over Dunn calling him on the table over the Indy deal, but if he's still pissed at Dunn, why then would he invite him out for a funny car drive - naked?

Thanks, Lance, for explaining Dunn's list to us. It had slipped my mind.

The whole thing is just too weird for words. Maybe it is indeed better to just make up our own list, forget theirs and let this blow over. And keep our clothes on.

 

[Huge]

I'll probably get knocked for this but here's my defense of Force

1.) He can bring in the sponsors and keep them happy like no other
2.) The fans love him (for the most part) and he does a damn good job keeping them happy.
3.) He brings exposure to the sport unlike almost any other. Does the scooter miles and cat stories get old? of course but the man and his team have given NHRA more exposure than most of the field combined.
4.) He wins, his wins and titles should do the talking, he and coil are arguably the greatest driver crew chief pairing ever in any sport.

All those things make the guy worth his weight in gold and if he goes off on a rant every now and then well I'll let it slide. Than again I did sleep in a John Force race car bed when I was a kid so maybe I'm biased.

Good defence. Case dismissed.

 

[.]

Force said FOX news, Glenn Beck, and Hannity are liars and crap.

Gonna have to disagree on that one.

 

[N/A]

Please forgive me for being older and maybe slightly cranky, but I personally have had enough of the ESPN /John Force Family love affair. That and having to listen to Paul Page murder each broadcast he anchors is making it increasing more difficult to watch the "Big Show" on television.

There are a couple of things that I would like to throw out.

1.) Why in God's name would ESPN want to show Mrs. Force's look of astonishment , or freight, what ever it was at her daughter doing nothing more than two stepping the throttle during a qualifying run?

2.) John's response to the Mike Dunn poll on being the third best driver of all time (taking the car out of the equation), and then starting in on a tyrad of Dunn being like Fox News and Sean Hannidy and Glen Beck and spouting lies!
Where the hell did that come from. Your entitled to your opinion Mr. Force and God Bless you for it. One thing come to mind with that " People in glass houses....." (Indy 2009) My opinion.

Paul Page was the voice of the Indy 500 for many years and when he did that duty he was as good as it gets, however to me he has never gotten the true feeling of drag racing and to me it shows in his announcing. He still seems to be like a fish out of water, and has never really become comfortable with the job. Put Dave Reiff into the lead seat. I also feel that it is really time for ESPN and the NHRA to take a long hard look at the coverage. Instead of wondering if the Force camp is going to service liver or fish for the team meal that night, or how many mile JF puts on his scooter during an event. I think ESPN should show all the professional cars. Even the underfunded ones, cause they make up the show too. Those guys are working just as hard to make the race as the uber funded team give them some love too.

There are other stories out there to cover, or they could do an occational human interest story on, young up and coming drivers, scratching and clawing doing everything they can to get seat time in a fuel car, like 2nd generation driver James Day, or how all the Strasburg brothers are all members of the Bonneville Salt Flats 200 mile per hour club in different cars. At least it is something different.

As I stated as I get older I might be getting a little more sinical, however it is my opinion and was just seeing if anybody notices.

You're not alone. 100% in agreement.

 

[flapjack]

I'll probably get knocked for this but here's my defense of Force

1.) He can bring in the sponsors and keep them happy like no other
2.) The fans love him (for the most part) and he does a damn good job keeping them happy.
3.) He brings exposure to the sport unlike almost any other. Does the scooter miles and cat stories get old? of course but the man and his team have given NHRA more exposure than most of the field combined.
4.) He wins, his wins and titles should do the talking, he and coil are arguably the greatest driver crew chief pairing ever in any sport.

All those things make the guy worth his weight in gold and if he goes off on a rant every now and then well I'll let it slide. Than again I did sleep in a John Force race car bed when I was a kid so maybe I'm biased.

Everything stems from #4. Without winning, he would have no fans to keep happy, and no sponsors, and no attention from ESPN. I don't like the fact that attention is diverted from other stories because ESPN's attention is on him, but he cannot help that. And attention focused elsewhere would be to his benefit. The less focus on him, the less likely someone is going to catch him having a bad moment.

 

[HEMI6point1]

I'll probably get knocked for this but here's my defense of Force

1.) He can bring in the sponsors and keep them happy like no other
2.) The fans love him (for the most part) and he does a damn good job keeping them happy.
3.) He brings exposure to the sport unlike almost any other. Does the scooter miles and cat stories get old? of course but the man and his team have given NHRA more exposure than most of the field combined.
4.) He wins, his wins and titles should do the talking, he and coil are arguably the greatest driver crew chief pairing ever in any sport.

All those things make the guy worth his weight in gold and if he goes off on a rant every now and then well I'll let it slide. Than again I did sleep in a John Force race car bed when I was a kid so maybe I'm biased.

Well said! I'm still a Force fan.

Force said FOX news, Glenn Beck, and Hannity are liars and crap.

Gonna have to disagree on that one.

And I'm going to agree with John! Hannity and Beck are two lying loony-tunes! And to avoid this being moved to the politics room I'll stop there.

 

[twostep]

The less focus on him, the less likely someone is going to catch him having a bad moment.

Which makes better sense than most everything else here tonight.

 

[RJM323]

I have not seen what John said, but I have read about it in many different places today and my take on it is this...

John has a very large personality and speaks his mind on anything and everything which is one of the reasons people (including myself) love him, last time I checked it was a free country and people are free to say and do whatever they want, If you have decided to not be a John Force fan because of what he said today you were obviously not a very big fan of his in the first place.

Also if you decide that you don't like somebody based on their political views GET A LIFE... there is more to life than politics. I cant stand people like you who politics are your world and you are so wrapped up in it that it changes your opinions of people just because they don't believe the same thing that you believe.

that concludes my rant for the evening

 

[Fast Al]

I got the impression that John thought he was being dragged into the WJ- Tasca "What's harder to drive" fiasco. He was clearly confused as to what was going on .
But secondly, I really got a kick out of the "poll" that showed TF was the hardest car of the Pro's to drive. They didn't even list Pro Mod?
(Sorry for the Hijack)

 

[twostep]

that concludes my rant for the evening

I'm afraid your rant's a bit skewed, bro..

You've missed the target as to your political reasoning. Bashing Fox News wasn't the problem. Bringing it up at all was. What would you think if John Force were to come up to Dunn and Page's 'penalty box' - tell Dunn what a respected announcer and driver he is - and have Mike tell Force that he's nuts, that no way is he a top announcer, that he's lying just like Fox News, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity - and oh, by the way, would ya like to get naked and drive funny cars? Would that be OK with you, in the name of Free Speech? Would you be fine with that, ESPN2 employees discussing politics in the middle of a sporting event?

John Force is one of the most colorful individuals in professional sports and arguably the greatest drag racer that ever lived. I'd say the same thing if he were an avowed Communist. And this afternoon he acted like a pure idiot.

I trust I've gotten my point across.

 

[Old Guy Rookie]

From what I remember from the interview, he was upset at being that high on the list and didn't think he deserved it. I don't think he understood that it was a list of today's drivers, and not of all time.

 

[RJM323]

I'm afraid your rant's a bit skewed, bro..

You've missed the target as to your political reasoning. Bashing Fox News wasn't the problem. Bringing it up at all was. What would you think if John Force were to come up to Dunn and Page's 'penalty box' - tell Dunn what a respected announcer and driver he is - and have Mike tell Force that he's nuts, that no way is he a top announcer, that he's lying just like Fox News, Glenn Beck and Sean Hannity - and oh, by the way, would ya like to get naked and drive funny cars? Would that be OK with you, in the name of Free Speech? Would you be fine with that, ESPN2 employees discussing politics in the middle of a sporting event?

John Force is one of the most colorful individuals in professional sports and arguably the greatest drag racer that ever lived. I'd say the same thing if he were an avowed Communist. And this afternoon he acted like a pure idiot.

I trust I've gotten my point across.

I suppose I see your point... I did just now watch the interview and John CLEARLY was confused about what Dave was talking about... I think maybe he was under the impression that it was something Mike Dunn had just said randomly and not that it was something that was a large planned out list that ESPN was doing...

and being around the TV business I know that Dave Rieff is to blame for not making sure that John knew exactly what was going on prior to putting him on TV, Shame on you Dave it is the reporters responsibility to make sure that you do not put anybody on the spot...

 

[twostep]

Being around the TV business I know that Dave Rieff is to blame for not making sure that John knew exactly what was going on prior to putting him on TV

Quite possible; I've heard it mentioned more than once.

I guess I've ragged on poor ol' John about enough. He wins Denver tomorrow and these discussions will be ancient history.

 

[Huge]

I remember a comment force made a while back when he was asked about something controversial that had happened and his only reply was something like "I know what you guys are trying to do trying to boost ratings"

I remember that interview also. It doesn't matter if everyone likes Force or not. He is a household name and a great marketing tool. When you drive thousands of miles a year in one of these race haulers or rolling bill boards from coast to coast you meet a lot of people and get asked a lot of interesting questions. The number one question asked is do you have a nascar in the trailer. Then when you tell them it is a nitro funny car the second question is do you run against John Force. It dosn't matter if I'm in a small town in Alabama or a big city like New York city, just about every one knows who John Force is, and nhra is going to use this to there advantage until something better comes a long.

 

[Mooseman]

It seems so much is expected from the drivers that when they don't live upto an expectation they get trashed. If they say the wrong thing they get trashed if they win to much they get trashed if they do the wrong thing they get trashed if they miss a fan for an autograph they get trashed if they go out of the way to get some space and alone time and unintentionally miss some fans they get trashed. If they win alot then suddenly lose they are called has beens if they are too old people say they should retire. I mean they are only human they aren't gods.

 

[Huge]

It seems so much is expected from the drivers that when they don't live upto an expectation they get trashed. If they say the wrong thing they get trashed if they win to much they get trashed if they do the wrong thing they get trashed if they miss a fan for an autograph they get trashed if they go out of the way to get some space and alone time and unintentionally miss some fans they get trashed. If they win alot then suddenly lose they are called has beens if they are too old people say they should retire. I mean they are only human they aren't gods.

William I can tell by your post that you take this thread to heart. If you are a fan of John Force then you are a fan of the best. We had to run John a lot this year and people would say that sucks, but we like running him because if we ever beat him we will know we beat the best. I live about 10 miles from Force and not only does he do a lot for drag racing, but he also does a lot for toys for tots and the city of Yorba Linda Ca.

 

[Mooseman]

I have alot of passion as a fan for this sport to me it is right up there on par with the olympics. To me the guys that drive their vehicles at the events are racers and sportsmen you could say mechanical athletes.