John Kernan please read (1 Viewer)

[hellfirejim]

John, this is not directed at you but more a hope that this will get back to the people producing the shows.

The most important point is to remember there are more people racing out there than the ones in the count down. Stop devoting close to 90% of your coverage to them. Yes I agree that they should extra coverage and I have no problem with it but really, Doug K had to win the whole thing before he even got a finish line interview.

I think it is a matter of priorities. What does YOUR audience want to see? Not what YOU think they want to see but what THEY want to see. First they want to see the winners of the races. These people have earned the right for their TV time. THEN if you have the time do the back round stories and other prominent people. I have no problem with these other stories and in their place can be interesting and intertaining but not at the exspense of the people who earned the right by winning their race. I am curious by what criteria do you judge who gets the top end interview? What guidelines are used where the looser is more important than the winnner not even getting mentioned????

Do I really think this will make a difference, maybe not but I feel alot better now.

Thanks
jim

 

[DrRocket]

Interview the Skoal Girls too!!

 

[2lwife]

John, this is not directed at you but more a hope that this will get back to the people producing the shows.

The most important point is to remember there are more people racing out there than the ones in the count down. Stop devoting close to 90% of your coverage to them. Yes I agree that they should extra coverage and I have no problem with it but really, Doug K had to win the whole thing before he even got a finish line interview.

Do I really think this will make a difference, maybe not but I feel alot better now.

Thanks
jim

I agree 100% --- There was a little teaser about Bazemore yesterday that Paul Page mentioned -- he is out of the countdown but what does the future hold? We will find out next AND THEN THEY NEVER INTERVIEWED HIM! They came back from commercial and went into the JFR "tribute" piece. At that point I turned it off until they got back to racing. I am JRF'd out! I understand he had a horrific crash and I am relieved that he will be OK, but there is other news in drag racing! Just my rant for the day!

 

[Professor Dave]

John, this is not directed at you but more a hope that this will get back to the people producing the shows.

The most important point is to remember there are more people racing out there than the ones in the count down. Stop devoting close to 90% of your coverage to them. Yes I agree that they should extra coverage and I have no problem with it but really, Doug K had to win the whole thing before he even got a finish line interview.

Do I really think this will make a difference, maybe not but I feel alot better now.

Thanks
jim

I gotta agree with Jim. We know who the Championship is in Comp Eliminator this year, but the rest of us are going to be racing our butts off at the remaining races. On CompetitionPlus, there is a rumor that Kalitta is so upset that they are going to skip the last two races. Who would blame them if the only people getting coverage are those in the chase?

 

[Terry]

I agree 100% --- There was a little teaser about Bazemore yesterday that Paul Page mentioned -- he is out of the countdown but what does the future hold? We will find out next AND THEN THEY NEVER INTERVIEWED HIM! They came back from commercial and went into the JFR "tribute" piece. At that point I turned it off until they got back to racing. I am JRF'd out! I understand he had a horrific crash and I am relieved that he will be OK, but there is other news in drag racing! Just my rant for the day!

And considering news on Shelley Anderson's crash was used just for a lead in to a piece on the Safety Safari, and referred to by Paul Page as a "fairly big crash" they didn't see fit to update us on Shelleys condition at all! I hate to say it, but injuries to some sure seem to be much more important than injuries to others.

 

[vegasnitro]

Allow me to play Devil's Advocate.

ESPN is in a tough spot. As a media provider, you have to go where your stories are. This week, the stories are the sport's biggest star is in a hospital in Texas, the progenitor of the sport's passing, and the countdown to 1 contenders.

If ESPN concentrated solely on the race yesterday, everybody would be on the Mater today cry-babying that they did not update John's condition, made no mention of Wally Parks and that they didn't concentrate enough on the Countdown guys.

We can't have it both ways.

 

[Terry]

Allow me to play Devil's Advocate.

ESPN is in a tough spot. As a media provider, you have to go where your stories are. This week, the stories are the sport's biggest star is in a hospital in Texas, the progenitor of the sport's passing, and the countdown to 1 contenders.

If ESPN concentrated solely on the race yesterday, everybody would be on the Mater today cry-babying that they did not update John's condition, made no mention of Wally Parks and that they didn't concentrate enough on the Countdown guys.

We can't have it both ways.

Point well taken, Chris, and I do realize that devoting air time to Wally Parks and his legacy was obviously the right thing to do--my complaint stems from the fact that after showing Shelly's crash, no mention was made of the fact that she was eventually air lifted out and I had to find that out on the internet this morning. I have no problem covering force's recovery, etc. because truly is the sport's biggest star. I just feel there was time for at least a follow up on Shellys condition after using her crash as a teaser intro to a piece on the Safety Safari.

 

[Suzie Q]

Thanks for bringing up the Shelley Anderson crash Terry. Any update on how she is doing?

 

[brian]

Thanks for bringing up the Shelley Anderson crash Terry. Any update on how she is doing?

Shelly was taken to a second hospital for further testing as she was experiencing some discomfort. Last word was that she was going to be released today around 12:00pm, all appears to be well, just lots of soreness.

 

[stanman]

I want to know how it is that the John Force interview/saga was 3 times as long as the tribute to Wally Park?

Am I wrong in thinking that the passing of guy who invented organized drag racing is/was way more significant than the recovery from non-life threatening injuries by sports biggest name?

 

[Suzie Q]

Shelly was taken to a second hospital for further testing as she was experiencing some discomfort. Last word was that she was going to be released today around 12:00pm, all appears to be well, just lots of soreness.

Thanks for the update Brian. I hope all is well with Shelley.

 

[hellfirejim]

Allow me to play Devil's Advocate.

ESPN is in a tough spot. As a media provider, you have to go where your stories are. This week, the stories are the sport's biggest star is in a hospital in Texas, the progenitor of the sport's passing, and the countdown to 1 contenders.

If ESPN concentrated solely on the race yesterday, everybody would be on the Mater today cry-babying that they did not update John's condition, made no mention of Wally Parks and that they didn't concentrate enough on the Countdown guys.

We can't have it both ways.

I don't want it both ways. I agree that there were some important stories that need covering but don't you think that it could be done in 3 hours.

It is the responsibility ot the media provider to cover the big stories AND provide the coverage of the race winners. This is why they are there. Will there always be somebody not satisfied?? You betcha, but at least give a more balanced coverage.

Remember this is their job, what they get paid for. It is my opinion that they went way overboard and did not give the winners their due. Stop and think about the ramifications of these actions if it continues. If the only people getting coverage are the count down teams, you are going to get into the problem areas the the UPS team and RUMOR has it Kallitia team have and that is lack of coverage....

So by your defiinition it should not be listed as race coverage but more a news show. I don't know about you but I watch to see coverage of that race and when time permits I do want to see all side interest stories.

Again I want to point out this is supposed to be a race coverage show not a news show. So which is it????

jim

 

[Sean D, shondoo]

I want to know how it is that the John Force interview/saga was 3 times as long as the tribute to Wally Park?

Am I wrong in thinking that the passing of guy who invented organized drag racing is/was way more significant than the recovery from non-life threatening injuries by sports biggest name?

Amen, brother!

Sean D

 

[PJ]

I thought the Wally tribute was nice and very much needed. I wouldn't mind seeing them put together a 30 or 60 minute show on his life and the birth of nhra.


I thought the Force deal was overdone. Yes I want an update on how he is doing. I thought that it would be nice to hear a QUICK interview. But judging from his condition it was very uncomfortable and sickenly voyueristic to throw him up on tv like that. The tribute seemed out of place. It should have been a weekend for Wally, the other 22 races are already about Force. That segment could have been held for later in the season or in a year in review show.

 

[Kelly]

What did Dave say they were going to cover on NHRA Raceday on the 21st? I don't remember.....but he said it was going to be a special show about _______ , since it was an off weekend.

 

[vegasnitro]

Remember this is their job, what they get paid for.

So by your defiinition it should not be listed as race coverage but more a news show. I don't know about you but I watch to see coverage of that race and when time permits I do want to see all side interest stories.

Again I want to point out this is supposed to be a race coverage show not a news show. So which is it????

jim

I did not define it as a news show. "Their Job" as you put it, is to cover the stories that people want to know about as they pertain to NHRA Drag Racing. 2 of the big 3 stories of the week had nothing to do with what was going down on the track. The third story represented a fairly small sampling of the competitors that still had a shot at the countdown to 1. That is not ESPN's fault.

What we "hard core" or "true" fans sometimes get blinded to is that ESPN has to produce a somewhat vanilla show to appease as many as people they can. It has to be somewhat dumbed down with enough back story and fluff to educate new fans and hold the attention of casual fans, which make up a much larger percentile of the viewing audience than us hard core guys and gals.

Think of the Olympics. The Gold Medals get the coverage and barring anything interesting happening, the rest of the coverage is going to be devoted to the athletes from the big countries like Russia and the USA.

Drag Racing is very similar, winners are going to get some decent coverage. The rest is going to be devoted to the big guys, like Force and DSR.

Do I think the broadcasts could be better? 100% Yes. My complaints are mostly production complaints (crappy time slot for east coast/flyover state folks, show is too long I think it could be done in 1.5 to 2 hours, too many replays of the same run over and over which becomes tedious, particularly in the first round of TF and FC, and TOO many interviews at the top end that are entirely too redundant).

 

[Buddy]

I hate to say it, but injuries to some sure seem to be much more important than injuries to others.

They have probably given JFR an hours worth of coverage because of his crash with Bernstein... I have yet to see Scott Weis on TV talking about how he has been out for half of the season... I suppose there is a "in crowd" everywhere in life... Sad, because Scott has a great personality...

CJ Curtsinger

 

[Bobby]

I agree 100% --- There was a little teaser about Bazemore yesterday that Paul Page mentioned -- he is out of the countdown but what does the future hold? We will find out next AND THEN THEY NEVER INTERVIEWED HIM! They came back from commercial and went into the JFR "tribute" piece. At that point I turned it off until they got back to racing. I am JRF'd out! I understand he had a horrific crash and I am relieved that he will be OK, but there is other news in drag racing! Just my rant for the day!

I thought I was developing alzheimer's or something. I wondered why I couldn't remember that interview. Thank You!

 

[__]

I want to know how it is that the John Force interview/saga was 3 times as long as the tribute to Wally Park?

Am I wrong in thinking that the passing of guy who invented organized drag racing is/was way more significant than the recovery from non-life threatening injuries by sports biggest name?

What did Dave say they were going to cover on NHRA Raceday on the 21st? I don't remember.....but he said it was going to be a special show about _______ , since it was an off weekend.

Good call, Kelly. That show will be dedicated to remembering the life of Wally Parks.

 

[Kelly]

Oh, dang.....you'd think I would have remembered that! <sigh> I think I was a little sleepy Sunday morning?