News About Rusty Wallace and ESPN

kelloggs5TLfan

kelloggs5TLfan

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http://dalyplanet.blogspot.com/2007_10_17_archive.html

Over at the AOL Fanhouse they are reporting that Rusty Wallace will not be returning to the ESPN/ABC NASCAR package in 2008. The details are sketchy, and I am going to post this page to document the progression of this story over the next several hours.

Wallace has been struggling on the air, and his Charlotte comments about Jeff Gordon really rubbed some ABC executives the wrong way. On the Busch side, Rusty has been stepping away from running his son Steven's team to do the telecasts, and often expressed frustration with some of the incidents and decisions made in his absence.

So, here we go. This will be the Rusty Wallace news thread:

1:15PM Eastern - AOL Fanhouse goes with the "Rusty fired" story. No details on when, how, or why. Just a brief blog report of a "source" telling the Fanhouse Rusty is done.

1:39PM Eastern - Second confirmation Rusty will finish the season and then step aside. No one named as his replacement.

2:30PM Eastern - Waiting for any official comment from ESPN. Last heard by email Rusty finishes the season and then moves in a new direction. Two emails do not make an official confirmation, so we are still waiting for something from ESPN.

2:51PM Eastern - I just want to add that Rusty has always been professional in our TV contacts, and he has a great sense of humor. No one here "wants" him to stay or go, this site offers opinions, and then lets fans offer theirs. We are merely following a story that was reported earlier.

4:00PM Eastern - No answer from the ESPN Media Relations group and the NASCAR contacts we have been using all season.

5:00PM Eastern - "Rusty Wallace is our guy. We have a long-term contract with him. He's the voice of NASCAR on ESPN." This from Norby Williamson, ESPN VP of Studio and Remote Production.

Thus ends another exciting afternoon of chasing Internet "Silly Season" rumors. I have a feeling we will be visiting this issue again soon.

As we update this page, please feel free to add your comments. To post your reaction, please click on the COMMENTS button below, and then follow the instructions for posting. Thanks again, this should be an interesting story for The Daly Planet.
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They always deny the rumor, then it's bam. :D
 
Could be just a lot of wishful thinking on the part of disgruntled fans, but everywhere I read articles which had comments after them, almost all had negative comments about Rusty. Many of those were on ESPN's and Nascar.com's sites. We do hear lots of deny, deny, deny, and I agree we should keep an eye on this one.
 
That is true. They won't admit to anything while they are still in the middle of it.

What did Rusty say about Jeff during the Charlotte race? I recorded it and zipped through some of it.
 
I prefer Rusty to Benny Parsons but other than that I don't have a lot of nice things to say about him as an announcer. I'd much rather see Kyle Petty or dale Jarrent in the booth.
 
ajk112802 said:
I prefer Rusty to Benny Parsons but other than that I don't have a lot of nice things to say about him as an announcer. I'd much rather see Kyle Petty or dale Jarrent in the booth.
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I like KP. NASCAR better give all the ESPN races to TNT or something since, obviously, TNT (on cable) has brought in more viewers than ABC (on air, cable, basic TV, internet, etc, etc).

If they don't show a wreck and/or lead change because they're showing an effing replay of Junyer passing someone for the 23rd position one more time, I'm going to kirk!
 
I have noticed ESPN's production is starting to resemble Fox's production each week. I know they are not using the same director because Fox's directory is on the lead team covering the NFL. But some of the camera angles and how slow they are to show a wreck reminds me a lot of Fox. Fox is the only one I've seen that puts a camera behind the stands on the back stretch of any track. For the last two weeks, ESPN has done the same thing. They're also using the camera placed high in turn 3 that is a non-HD camera that's bumped up to look like it's high def. NASCAR must be running this more than we know.
 
NASCAR IMAGES...

MRM said:
I have noticed ESPN's production is starting to resemble Fox's production each week. I know they are not using the same director because Fox's directory is on the lead team covering the NFL. But some of the camera angles and how slow they are to show a wreck reminds me a lot of Fox. Fox is the only one I've seen that puts a camera behind the stands on the back stretch of any track. For the last two weeks, ESPN has done the same thing. They're also using the camera placed high in turn 3 that is a non-HD camera that's bumped up to look like it's high def. NASCAR must be running this more than we know.
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... is about 50% of the cameras seen around the racetrack.

Besides, TNT had HD on board cameras.

ESPN's picture is really crappy for being "HD." I think all together, it's broadcast in 480p or 720p because it ain't 1080p HD.

The music's the only thing I like about ESPN. I love the instrumental they use during the Countdown and when they're rolling their advertisements. That's a plus for ESPN. I love that tune.

Other than that, they still suck.
 
No one broadcasts in 1080p even tho you can buy 1080p TVs. The highest is 1080i, fwiw.
 
ESPN does theirs in 720p. They and Fox prefer that because it has less motion blur than a 1080i picture does.

Again, what did Rusty say about Jeff during the race? Did anyone catch it?
 
I remember

Rusty saying something like.. Gordon may be the best driver of all times.. Not his words zackly but he was way up on Jeffy's ability.
Betsy:D
 
It was when Jeff hit Jr. He said if I was Jr I wouldn't take that. If Dale Sr were here bla bla bla
 
Exactly! He couldn't let it go! He said HE WAS MAD...so if he was, Jr must be really mad. He kept talking about it over and over again. He bet Jeff was SCARED of Jr! I can't remember how long he kept bringing it up, but it was ridiculous.

He has a really hard time saying anything nice about Jeff, for the record. Most people think he's holding a grudge from the days Jeff bumped and ran and beat him then went on to outshine him. There's been a flap about it all over the boards. Even a Jr board has started a petition to get rid of him. I was sort of surprised since Rusty really favors Jr., but then that just shows how fans can be more classy. :) Like I said before, his job as an announcer is not to show his bias for or against any driver. Just call the race, Rusty. Oh yeah...he also needs to remember who's in which car... it's on the paper in front of him. :D
 
That must have happened while I was doing laundry or something cause I completely missed that. But you're right WNY, his opinion of drivers should not come through in his broadcasting.
 
I don't care for Rusty in the booth, but if this is something that is bothering people, I say BUNK! I like someone in the booth that talks for the drivers and not for the series or the network. That's why I like Wally Dallenbach. Benny Parsons did that for a few years before either he was instructed to toe the line, or he just decided that he needed to back those in the tower, either network or series. I'm sure that Rusty was just remembering what it was like while he was behind the wheel. Listening to JR. during the race, it was clear that his team didn't forget about the incident throughout the race.
 
TexasRaceLady said:
I never miss The Daly Planet.

As far as Rusty goes, I'll wave bye. He just rubs my fur the wrong way.
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Yeh me too, just something about his tone on the air, he lacks the ability to really capture the audience and hold their attention. Maybe with more experience he would be ok, but personally i wouldn't miss him.
 
AndyMarquisLIVE said:
... is about 50% of the cameras seen around the racetrack.

Besides, TNT had HD on board cameras.

ESPN's picture is really crappy for being "HD." I think all together, it's broadcast in 480p or 720p because it ain't 1080p HD.

The music's the only thing I like about ESPN. I love the instrumental they use during the Countdown and when they're rolling their advertisements. That's a plus for ESPN. I love that tune.

Other than that, they still suck.
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Back in the 80s and 90s it seemed they were much better, i'll have to say that all the Networks are pretty much the same.
 
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