ESPN/ABC NASCAR Coverage Sucks
I finally got around to this. This has been building up in my mind, and it's time to vent a little. We used to debate back and forth about which network had better coverage, Fox or NBC. Now that ESPN has taken this over, either of the other two options would suit me just fine.
The announcers that ESPN have managed to line up are just terrible. Some of them are boring, some of them are uneducated about the sport, and some are both. Combined they just stink up the airwaves. The network itself goes to commercial way too often, and won't come back from commercials for important stuff like the other (better) networks.
Their technical segments are just lame. "Draft Track"? Give me a break. Also, the next time a motor lets go and they pan to that same animation of the valve breaking off, I'm seriously going to throw my remote through the TV. Usually, they've managed to go to this graphic before the car is even back in the pits. It's okay to speculate what's happened and say something like "Maybe he dropped a valve" or "The bottom end could have let go" before you really know. The animations are totally unnecessary until you've received some sort of confirmation about what actually happened.
Here's my public outcry to ESPN: Please go watch some of the recent coverage from the other (better) networks. Everything they did wasn't always the best, but it was absolutely better than what you are doing now.
Boogity, Boogity, Boogity.
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Thanks again for letting me add this post.
JD
great post john,i do think that NASCAR’s longtime fans deserve better,why would anyboby want to hear what Sozy Kolber has to say,she makes FOX’s Tino Cervasio seem smart
oh, EXACTLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!
i even have to change channels sometimes, just to not have to listen to these people. they stink !!!
i want boogity boogity back too !!!!!
I think “Draft Track” is great. It is so high tech. I think they pay some kid with magic air seeing glasses to scribble all over a screen with a marker?
boogity boogity boogity
We have just finished watching the Pheonix race and have to tell you that you may as well not bother broadcasting the race with all the back ground noise. Surely, you must have filters to eliminate the track noise so you can hear the broadcaster speak. My husbands hearing is not the greatest, however, mine is quite fine and I cannot hear what is going on.
Just to let you know. We did not have this problem when FOX was broadcasting the race.
Only 7 more years of ESPN to go! “and we’re in this for eight years. We’re already hard at work on NASCAR for next year.” -ESPN (Viewer’s Guide: H’stead) last sentence
Agree! I am a relative newcomer to NASCAR but feel like I already know as much about Rusty Wallace as his wife. Please, stick to the race! And stop with all the commercials.
BBB!!!
ESPN/ABC announcers, with the exception of pit crew announcers, are horrible! And, do I really need to watch an advertisement for Nascar while I’m watching Nascar?? I don’t think so–I’m already a fan. I feel like others, that I’m just missing out on being able to see the race because of excessive and long commercials,horrible camera shots,too many teck garage infomercials, and unnecessary motormouthing by the guys in the booth who aren’t keeping me aprised of what’s happening on the track!!! At least with Fox cameramen and announcers I felt like I watched the whole race!! What a novel idea!! ESPN/ABC, please give up your contract or go back to the drawing board for us fans who actually like to watch all the race –not just what you are prepared to show us.
The coverage of NASCAR BY espn/abc absolutley sucks! Way too many commercials, missed segments of the race,ie pit action, accidents, restarts, etc. And far too many primadonnas giving their opinion that makes race fans sound like they know nothing, all this and whinney rusty wallace to boot. god save us all
boogity, boogity, boogity
I agree even a veteran like Rusty just is awfull. I almost want to turn off the volume and watch it with MRN on the radio.
What was wrong with showing the whole season on Fox? i thought they did a perfectly fine job and i love the announcers. Espn on the other hand is just horrible. The coverage is awful, they show the stupid analysis of why a motor “might” be about to blow up 50 times, and dont even get me started on the AWFUL ESPN ANNOUNCERS!
Please oh please let Fox show the races! i want to hear more Boogity Boogity Boogity from DW. And i am gonna miss Larry Mac
Personally, I”m getting sick of Darrell Waltrip. He spends a whole race damn-near entering Denny Hamlin into sainthood…..his upbringing, his childhood, his parents beaming proudly from the pits….etc. Then, after Hamlin pulls that cheating stunt and stops on the track costing Jr the win, Waltrip becomes tight-lipped concerning his hero. When the news about Aaron Fike using heroin for over a year (a year that he was racing) came out everybody was demanding immediate stepped-up drug testing. Waltrip’s comment was “Nascar’s got a handle on it”. Yeah right. Thats just two examples of Waltrip’s BS.
I totally agree. Last year when FOX was done with the announcing, it was “ho hum” from there. When I would watch ESPN’s feeble attempt to broadcast Nascar races, it always left me with the impression they were out of their league. The chemistry that the FOX team brought always had me “plugged in”, feeling I was truly involved in the Nascar spirit. ESPN does not have the chemistry and should stick to baseball/football. Leave Nascar to people who know what they are doing. I hope someday FOX gets ALL the Nascar races, the announcing team they have is bar none the best. I could do without DW’s “boggity boggity” crap though.
This is horrible. The audio keeps cutting out and we can’t hear the race. ESPN sucks and ABC should divorce themselves from them.
I AM WATCHING ABC/ESPN COVERAGE OF THE LOWES MOTORSPEEDWAY RACE, OCT 11.
PLEASE TELL ME WHY YOU INSIST ON HAVING THE TRACK NOISE DROWN OUT YOUR COMMENTATORS.
I WISH YOU WOULD GO BACK TO FOX, AT LEAST I COULD HEAR THE ANNOUNCERS AND THE COMMENTS MADE BY THE ROVING REPORTERS. THERE IS SO MUCH BACKGROUND NOISE OF THE CARS THAT YOU CANNOT HEAR. MAYBE YOU NEED THE ANNOUNCERS IN THE HOLLYWOOD HOTEL. I DO NOT ENJOY THE CURRENT BROADCAST OF THE RACES. BRING BACK FOX OR WORK ON THE CURRENT PROBLEM.
NAScar is not a sport.
The audio cuts in and out during in car and pit reporting. It may be particular to HDTV broadcast… the audio also is not synched up properly, so it can be like watching a 1960’s Japanese monster movie at times.
A
ll that technology, and they still can’t get clear and precise audio?
I liked it when Speed Channel had the coverage.
ESPN, FOX, ABC… they all suck in one way or another.
There are too many times when no cameras are there to catch a crash or other event.
And Tim Brewer’s Cut-Away car segments suck.
Even my wife finds them waaay too dummied down.
We don’t need them to show the cut-away car to see what a tire looks like - we’ve seen them before.
Don’t show me the push button on the steering wheel, just tell me about how a kill switch works (if you still think I’m an idiot).
As soon as Fox’s NASCAR coverage ends each season, the only bearable way to watch a race is to mute the TV and turn on the radio.
To those that commented on the race noise drowning out everything, I agree 100%…….BUT, if you HAVE to listen to the TV while watching, I found a workaround. Set your TV’s audio from ’stereo’ to ‘mono’. It gets rid of the surround sound effect of all the race noise. (Can’t say how well this will work if you actually have a surround sound system, however.) Just remember to set the audio back later. Yeah, I know, it’s a pain in the butt, but it seems to do the trick.
Please get new announcers next year who are not
Jimmy Johnson fans. These announcer are pathetic!!!
They constantly go on and on about Jimmy Johnson
even when he is not in front-is he paying them extra
money??? There are other race car drivers and even
when someone else wins-all they can talk about is
Jimmy, Jimmy, Jimmy.