Normally aspirated ?

[fatcat]

Was stunned to find out I never knew what normally aspirated meant ? Wow ! Pretty much as I figured, without Dunn to keep the technical side straight, the downhill slide of coverage has started. Good luck Tony. Graham Light got rid of a burr in his saddle, at the expence of first class reporting. Yeah I'll watch, what choice do I have ?

 

[JB3]

Was stunned to find out I never knew what normally aspirated meant ? Wow ! Pretty much as I figured, without Dunn to keep the technical side straight, the downhill slide of coverage has started. Good luck Tony. Graham Light got rid of a burr in his saddle, at the expence of first class reporting. Yeah I'll watch, what choice do I have ?

While we're on the subject of misinformed ... you may want know what you are talking about before ranting and acting like a scolded child.

1. Find a tape of Mike Dunn's debut. Then come back and make a comparison. Not fair to Tony, it was his first show. He and Dave clearly need more time together to gel. No big deal.
2. Graham Light had nothing to do with what happened to Dunn. You have no clue why Dunn was not brought back. But your dislike for Mr. Light clouds your thinking and you just drop things conveniently at his feet.

It's OK to rant ... just be rationale about the whole thing. That first show was not the best, I agree. But IT WAS THE FIRST for the new duo. Do they get a chance? Tony was clearly to me a little nervous. It will improve quickly I am sure.

 

[PJ]

Not a Tony fan, but it's a bit unfair to blast him on his first attempt.

Yes he made a few errors and was clumsy and awkward at other points. To me it seemed to be from nerves and inexperience and not from lack of talent. He will improve. If we get into summer and it's still like tonight, then you can blast away. I wouldn't expect a new employee to know everything the first day, you can't expect the same from a first timer in the booth either.

 

[Rajunz]

In Tony's defense, it was actually Rieff who said they were no longer Naturally Aspirated.

 

[JB3]

In Tony's defense, it was actually Rieff who said they were no longer Naturally Aspirated.

Bingo Lance !! But many of the Mater faithful never let facts get in the way of a rant here.

 

[fatcat]

I know it was Rieff, and Tony can be forgiven for not correcting, he's trying to fill a big pair of shoes and it was his first day on the job. The only smart move I've seen in this transition so far was bringing Bruno on board.

 

[Butch]

Be thankful we don't have a stick & ball announcer . Or someone referring to the start-finish line.
I'm sure by today Tony and crew will be feeling at ease, and doing a better job.

I'm not a Tony fan, but willing to give him a chance.

 

[Dave]

I have uploaded the 2002 Winternationals on YouTube already if you guys wanted to see Mike Dunn's first event. I knew Tony would have a few stumbling blocks, I don't fault him. Dave Rieff started with TNN at least as far back as 1997. After 19 years of covering the sport, you think he'd have it down by now. It's mostly his performance as a lead that is disappointing.

Yes I would rather have a stick and ball announcer. Just like bringing in a new crew chief that had no prior automotive experience. They don't have any wrong information or bad habits they bring in with them. You teach them fresh from square one all the right things to do.

Go watch the old NHRA on NBC shows with their "non-motorsports" guy doing coverage. Not one name was wrong and not once did he say something dumb or out of line. If you choose to play the "well its a post production show" card,, Friday night's show aired over 3 hours after qualifying was done, and Saturday night's show aired 6 hours after qualifying was done. Mistakes could have been edited.

Did I expect the production to be perfect in the first show? No. Was a lot of the hype and buildup about getting a fresh start from ESPN maybe a bit much? Yes. Should the same crew that worked with ESPN that moved over here make the same mistakes they did while on ESPN? Yeah why not.

As an aside to the tv coverage, I also loved that Lewis' first stat was that all of John Force's career records were wrong because they missed a race that he went to. How does NHRA as an organization, and even John Force himself, not know what race his first event was? And let it continue to be wrong for 38 years? In every published media and stat guide? Kinda makes you wonder what else they will uncover. Kudos to Bob Frey for pointing it out.