Fortunately I was at the race and was able to see Dan Wheldon win. Unfortunately I was able to watch the tape delayed showing of the race Sunday evening so I could see Danica finish 4th.
ABC = Atrociously Bad Coverage or Always Broadcasting Crap
Hmmm... where to start.
First... how about that HD broadcast? Or should I say LACK OF an HD broadcast. If ever an event screamed for HD... the Indy 500 is it.
Second... Missed on track action. This is where ABC really struck out. How many times did ABC go to commercial during a yellow to come back and either miss a restart or a set of pit stops? Way too many! That is just unacceptable when covering auto racing.
Sitting in the NW Vista, I can only see half of the track, so when I see things like Tomas Scheckter in 11th at the start, and 7th when he comes back around the 4th turn in the first lap, I figured he made some great passes in the first 2 turns. When Tomas later started 17th on a restart and was in 11th by the time he got to me in turn 4, I got excited about seeing that later that night. Too bad ABC missed both and didn't bother to show either.
For 2 laps, Kanaan battled Hornish side by side... for 2 full laps... It was some of the most incredible racing I had ever seen at Indy. ABC showed Hornish passing Kanaan in turn 4 at the end of those 2 laps. I witnessed no fewer than 25 side by side passes in turn 4 on Sunday. It was phenominal. Yet ABC totally missed some of the best on track action I've ever seen.
3rd... the booth. When ABC gave Paul the boot this year, I had hope. They kept Mr. Excitable (NOT!) Goodyear as their analyst, but they brought in new blood in Todd Harris. Now I actually long for Page to return. Todd Harris is AWFUL. Not only does he scream 100% of the time, but he actually compared Danica Patrick to Sally Ride and Amelia Earhart.
Which brings me finally to the Danica Story on ABC.
I can understand ABC focusing on Danica... she was their lead story. And the interest area for non racing fans. But give me a break. ABC had features on Danica's Mom, Danica's Dad, Danica's Fiance the Masseuse, Danica's Dog, Danica's Cat, Danica at the age 1, Danica at the Age of 2, Danica at the Age of 3, Danica at the Age of 4, Danica at the Age of 5, Danica at the Age of 6, Danica at the Age of 7, Danica at the Age of 8, Danica at the Age of 9, Danica at the Age of 10, Danica at the Age of 11, Danica at the Age of 12, Danica at the Age of 13, Danica at the Age of 14, Danica at the Age of 15, Danica at the Age of 16, Danica at the Age of 17, Danica at the Age of 18, Danica at the Age of 19, Danica at the Age of 20, Danica at the Age of 21, Danica at the Age of 22, and Danica at the Age of 23. Enough already. Some do watch the IRL for the racing.
Dan Wheldon ran a great race, claimed victory, was incredibly emotional over his radio, performed no fewer than a dozen donuts, yet ABC focused on Danica's car during Wheldon's victory lap, they focused on Danica getting out of her car, Danica getting a hug from Bobby, a hug from Letterman, a hug from everyone of her crew, then Danica taking her helmet off, then an interview with Danica, an Interview with Bobby about Danica, and an interview with Dave about Danica. ABC cut away from Danica just in time to see Dan get out of his car, hug Michael, answer 2 questions from Jack Arute, take a swig of Milk. 5 minutes of Danica and 2 minutes of Indy 500 Champ Dan Wheldon. All the while missing the donuts and the emotion of winning Indy entirely.
Fortunately after a commercial, ABC asked 2nd place Vitor Meira 1 question, then turned to Rahal to ask him more questions about Danica. At least Bobby complimented Vitor, before answering another 5 minutes of questions about Danica.
There was a little bit of good in the broadcast. Dr. Jerry Punch and Vince Welch are excellent Pit reporters. I wish they would have put those 2 in the booth.
Fortunately for the IRL, ABC's audience was up 40% this year. 39.9% of that can be attributed to Danica. Unfortunately for us race fans, we can expect to be seeing even more Danica coverage the rest of the year. I hear ABC has petitioned the FCC to change their ABC to ADC... All Danica Coverage.
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3 comments:
I wonder if Danica will get a deal with The Gap or something. This reminds me of "Spaceballs - the movie poster! Spaceballs - the doll!" :)
Of course, no racing prodigy has *ever* gotten similar uneven media coverage, especially recently. (cough cough...Jeff Gorden...cough cough..anyone with the name Earnhardt...cough cough)
While I don't agree that Danica coverage should have outshined the actual winner (or even those in 2nd or 3rd place), it's a great story to see a young person and a female succeeding in the racing world. I'm rooting for her.
I also think that Robbie Gordon has not only a fat ass (like me), but a fat mouth which he should learn to keep shut. I'd like to see him try to maneuver his car if he was 105#.
And one more thing - any woman who participates in a sport in which her weight is a major factor (and thus her weight becomes public knowledge) should get a friggin' Medal of Honor in my book.
didn't see much of the race on TV but I can imagine the over-exposure
it reminds me of the Olympics and all the "human interest" stories going on and on and on.
I heard someone call into a radio show once and said "the problem with the announcers is that that they just don't know when .. to .. shut .. up"
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