The mainstream sports media still doesn't get it...

ToyYoda

ToyYoda

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With NASCAR being more prevalent in the mainstream sports media this week due to Denny's injury and the Logano-Stewart scrum, I gotta say I'm amazed at the level of ignorance about our sport still being displayed by these guys. One of the guys on the ESPN radio show "Coach and Co." today commented that the majority of NASCAR fans just wanna see a wreck. Around the Horn's Woody Paige referred to Fontana as "Fontucky" when someone addressed the track as being in the LA area. Even one of the sportscasters on a local affiliate (which nevet covers NASCAR by the way), said "Kyle Busch won the race, but the fight is all anybody really cares about". I'm juat kind of amazed at the ignorance and lack of respect that still exists. Just my $0.02.
 
I don't see why you are surprised by this. Even on this forum all we have talked about are the accidents and the fight, mostly. Maybe we should look at ourselves and see what kind picture we are sending to non NASCAR fans. Just like hockey what do you see on the news the scoring or the fights people look at NASCAR fans as a bunch of redneck assholes and we aren't from what I have seen since joining her there are a lot of smart people that can raise a good conversation . And that's just my $0.02 !!!!!!!
 
pistolshooter said:
I don't see why you are surprised by this. Even on this forum all we have talked about are the accidents and the fight, mostly. Maybe we should look at ourselves and see what kind picture we are sending to non NASCAR fans. Just like hockey what do you see on the news the scoring or the fights people look at NASCAR fans as a bunch of redneck assholes and we aren't from what I have seen since joining her there are a lot of smart people that can raise a good conversation . And that's just my $0.02 !!!!!!!
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To be honest, when it comes to hockey...you see a lot more about the scoring, which is how it should be since that is what actually matters. The only way we'd be talking about the winner this week is if someone off the wall won, such as Casey Mears, Aric Almirola or Bobby Labonte.
 
ToyYoda said:
With NASCAR being more prevalent in the mainstream sports media this week due to Denny's injury and the Logano-Stewart scrum, I gotta say I'm amazed at the level of ignorance about our sport still being displayed by these guys. One of the guys on the ESPN radio show "Coach and Co." today commented that the majority of NASCAR fans just wanna see a wreck. Around the Horn's Woody Paige referred to Fontana as "Fontucky" when someone addressed the track as being in the LA area. Even one of the sportscasters on a local affiliate (which nevet covers NASCAR by the way), said "Kyle Busch won the race, but the fight is all anybody really
cares about". I'm juat kind of amazed at the ignorance and lack of respect that still exists. Just my $0.02.
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won't get any argument from me, been going on all my life..on all forms of motorsports. Guess that is why I bleed sarcasm whenever I hear a so called expert comment. Most of them go home and watch the game or golf. Very few media people have a clue and their ignorance shows every time they open their mouth. They want to categorize Nascar as a bunch of mouth breathers, but in fact, some of the most successful people in the world are involved in the sport. Lets face it some of their interviews with stick and ball people, they can hardly speak complete sentences and would be in jail if they weren't a sports star. bwaaa.
 
Some of those "fights" in hockey are so blatantly set up, it's not funny. When there are three fights in the first two minutes of a game, you can pretty much know that it's been set up.

I don't see anything wrong with what the sportscasters said. A lot of people do only watch NASCAR for the wrecks. "Fontucky" isn't a new term - NASCAR fans in California and in general TBH have been using it for years. And the fight did overshadow Kyle Busch's win. Normally, when Kyle Busch wins (no matter what race or series), there are at least four threads on here proclaiming him the greatest driver in NASCAR history. Nobody cared about Kyle's win because there's one driver who's possibly going to be sidelined for weeks or months (if not the full season) and two other drivers on pit road fighting each other.
 
Brent said:
To be honest, when it comes to hockey...you see a lot more about the scoring, which is how it should be since that is what actually matters. The only way we'd be talking about the winner this week is if someone off the wall won, such as Casey Mears, Aric Almirola or Bobby Labonte.
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BS. We wouldn't even be talking about the winner then. Anyone remember how much press Regan Smith DIDN'T get when he pulled off the upset win at Darlington because Krylie Busch decided to wreck Kevin Harvick under caution triggering a feud?
 
ToyYoda said:
One of the guys on the ESPN radio show "Coach and Co." today commented that the majority of NASCAR fans just wanna see a wreck. Around the Horn's Woody Paige referred to Fontana as "Fontucky" when someone addressed the track as being in the LA area. Even one of the sportscasters on a local affiliate (which nevet covers NASCAR by the way), said "Kyle Busch won the race, but the fight is all anybody really cares about". I'm juat kind of amazed at the ignorance and lack of respect that still exists. Just my $0.02.
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I get what your saying, but there is a fair amount of truth to two of those statements, and if I'm not mistaken, even the locals affectionately refer to Fontana as "Fontucky."
 
:einstein:<------------- little einy lol awesome,........hey I like the wrecks, but I like good races and strategy races aswell. A good ole fashion fuel win is one of my favs, leaves me on edge of the seat sometimes.

I live for moments like Daytona when Jr went low to try and win,....and you could almost see Mark Martin sit on top of wheel and grin as he dove in on Jr's bumper,.......haha Mark was gonna push him to win, cool moment for me.:dirtbike:
 
the truth is exposure to the sport is created with the wrecks and the feuds. but i would guess most of us on this forum, and others who are long time fans, follow the sport for the actual racing and competition between our favorites and villians. that's why we tollerate racing at the cookie cutters and the mass media only gets involved at the short tracks and restrictor plate races.
 
StandOnIt said:
I think 50% of the race fans at the track leave when JR wrecks. they are not there to see THAT wreck.
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I'll never understand why people leave a race early. You spend all that money to go and so what if Ky Busch is leading by 10 seconds, all it takes with a few laps race is a "debris" caution and boom you get an exiting ending. I understand leaving during other sports when there is a big lead, but with racing it can literally change in a second.

Anyway, back on topic
 
guess you could say 100% of the fans like wrecks if you want to throw figures around. the same 100% would probably say they like to watch racing too. But many of the so called experts on stick and ball sports shows are being forced to know something about NASCAR, but it is hard to say anything about something you don't care about.
 
EI2IC said:
I'll never understand why people leave a race early. You spend all that money to go and so what if Ky Busch is leading by 10 seconds, all it takes with a few laps race is a "debris" caution and boom you get an exiting ending. I understand leaving during other sports when there is a big lead, but with racing it can literally change in a second.

Anyway, back on topic
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Driver Hatred/loyalty incredible motivator. shoot your damn toe off for it.
 
EI2IC said:
I'll never understand why people leave a race early. You spend all that money to go and so what if Ky Busch is leading by 10 seconds, all it takes with a few laps race is a "debris" caution and boom you get an exiting ending. I understand leaving during other sports when there is a big lead, but with racing it can literally change in a second.

Anyway, back on topic
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ha ha me either, I don't get it
 
Well for me it's the racing. I don't watch for the wrecks for be its more exciting to watch 4 wide racing or drivers going 200 mph touching bumpers. All the bs media wants to talk about are wrecks and fights.theres a hell of a lot more to racing than crashes and fights....
 
I will admit when I went to Daytona for the summer race last year I was hoping to see at least just one big wreck. I've been to quite a few tracks the last couple years and never saw a "big" wreck. I like the side by side racing and some bump action as much as anyone, but when I was down there I wanted to see a little more.

I never want anyone to get hurt, but it was pretty neat seeing Denny go sideways and collect a few cars right in front of us. (Bad timing on the Denny reference)
 
pistolshooter said:
Well for me it's the racing. I don't watch for the wrecks for be its more exciting to watch 4 wide racing or drivers going 200 mph touching bumpers. All the bs media wants to talk about are wrecks and fights.theres a hell of a lot more to racing than crashes and fights....
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Years ago at Texas speedway I was at a truck race. Kurt Bush and Greg Biffle were in it. You could walk around the track back then. I got by turn one right up close to the fence for a bit. Kurt and Biffle would come around that corner and I have never heard tires make that noise I heard. It wasn't like a squeal. It was the sound of chunks coming off the tire I think it was. kind of a high pitched thup thup thup. that, along with all the wind blowing up all the dirt and the ground vibrating, ...good stuff if you are a fan. bunch of noise and dirt if you weren't I guess.
 
I would say we are not the majority. We are all fans of nascar and always will be. Nascar doesn't have to recruit us. they need these people who don;t know much about it. The bait is the wreck or a fight. those always make the news regardless of who wins. and thats my 4 cents worth(inflation):D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Yeah my sister is a big stick and ball fan, hockey, golf, football you name it, talks about tiger like he lives with her. She knew that Danica was in the Daytona race, and she saw on ESPN that there was a big wreck and a fight, that's about it from her.
 
StandOnIt said:
Yeah my sister is a big stick and ball fan, hockey, golf, football you name it, talks about tiger like he lives with her. She knew that Danica was in the Daytona race, and she saw on ESPN that there was a big wreck and a fight, that's about it from her.
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Oh yea how could I forget to add DANICA to that list . LOL> :oops:
 
When you think about it , people who don't understand a sport , any sport , pick one part of it and over simplify it and run it down . If I said "a bunch of idiots in shorts chasin a little white ball " , you'd know I was talking about golf ,right ? But think about how we would describe cricket , or rugby , or lacrosse , knowing nothing about the sport . Just sayin.
 
Jameswnh said:
I get what your saying, but there is a fair amount of truth to two of those statements, and if I'm not mistaken, even the locals affectionately refer to Fontana as "Fontucky."
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Guess I wasn't aware of the "Fontucky" thing. I've been to that area a few times for business (Ontario, which isn't too far from there) and never heard anybody refer to Fontana that way. However, 3 business trips to SoCal doesn't make me an expert on the region.
 
ToyYoda said:
One of the guys on the ESPN radio show "Coach and Co." today commented that the majority of NASCAR fans just wanna see a wreck.
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Never heard of the show but the guy isn't really that far off. I mean when I'm at a race and there is a wreck at the track I don't turn away. I watch it unfold. Many at the track are standing and pointing in that direction for others to look. If I'm at home watching a race and a wreck happens, many times I'll rewind the DVR to see what exactly happened. Heck, I might even call another family member into the room so that they can see it. I don't think that's really any different than most NASCAR fans out there. They may not want to admit it but they do the same things. All of that being said, that isn't the reason that I watch the race, it's just a moment within a race. I don't have to see something like that happen to make it a good race. How much better would last weeks race have been if Joey/Denny were able to continue out of turn four, side by side, fighting for the lead with Kyle coming up the outside to make it three wide for the finish? That would have been a finish to remember.

Flashback to some non NASCAR fan on his/her way into the office on a random Tuesday morning. Maybe even that guy from ESPN's "Coach and Co." on his way to the ESPN studio for his radio show. All of the sudden the traffic stops in front of him in the southbound lane. He's slowly inching his way over the next mile in three lanes of traffic only to see an accident across the median on the northbound side. Does he look? Why sure he does, just like everyone else before him. Heck, just like a NASCAR fan. :cool:
 
typically you dont have fights with a clean finish lol..if drive A wins by 5+ seconds cleanly, there probably wont be any media attention

the fights and storylines come from good, hard racing..the storyline to me was the amazing racing the final 10 laps.
 
If this is the same show that used to be The Coach And Coleman, these were the same geniuses who said Michael Vick electrocuting, drowning and beating dogs to death was no different than deer hunting.

And for all the times I've been watching during the last twenty laps hoping against hope that no one wrecks to ruin a great run or a great matchup of certain driver(s), I guess there must be at least a few of us who are different.

This is not to say wrecks aren't interesting and yes they're the parts of the race that you rewind and slo-mo but in my case anyways it's to see what happened/who's at fault/how they reacted and not to revel in blown tires, bent metal and compressed vertebrae.
 
harkin said:
If this is the same show that used to be The Coach And Coleman, these were the same geniuses who said Michael Vick electrocuting, drowning and beating dogs to death was no different than deer hunting.

And for all the times I've been watching during the last twenty laps hoping against hope that no one wrecks to ruin a great run or a great matchup of certain driver(s), I guess there must be at least a few of us who are different.

This is not to say wrecks aren't interesting and yes they're the parts of the race that you rewind and slo-mo but in my case anyways it's to see what happened/who's at fault/how they reacted and not to revel in blown tires, bent metal and compressed vertebrae.[/quote]
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what he said
 
EI2IC said:
I'll never understand why people leave a race early. You spend all that money to go and so what if Ky Busch is leading by 10 seconds, all it takes with a few laps race is a "debris" caution and boom you get an exiting ending. I understand leaving during other sports when there is a big lead, but with racing it can literally change in a second.

Anyway, back on topic
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It drives me insane when people do this, no matter where it is, or who's leading. Not NASCAR related, but a few years at the Chili Bowl, Sammy Swindell had a HUGE lead, and hundreds of people started getting up to leave, effectively blocking my view. Well, Sammy caught the tire of lapped car and went over with 3 to go, resulting in a win for his son Kevin.

Moral of the story is, anything can happen.
 
VaDirt said:
It drives me insane when people do this, no matter where it is, or who's leading. Not NASCAR related, but a few years at the Chili Bowl, Sammy Swindell had a HUGE lead, and hundreds of people started getting up to leave, effectively blocking my view. Well, Sammy caught the tire of lapped car and went over with 3 to go, resulting in a win for his son Kevin.

Moral of the story is, anything can happen.
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I never leave any sporting event before it's over. You never know what can happen.

We see this at every single race that we go to including Bristol a couple weeks ago. It normally starts there with 100 laps to go, then 50, then 10, then a couple. People pick up their coolers and haul their a$$ out of the stands. That's completely asinine IMO. If you are really that concerned about traffic, save yourself money and stay home.

Many years ago I started going to Dover with some friends and one of their fathers. We stayed down in Ocean City and would drive to the track the morning of the race. Every single year that I rode with them we'd show up at the track several laps into the event to avoid traffic and then I'd have to leave with them before it was over to do the same. That used to burn the hell out of me so I quit going with them. Since that point, some 20+ years ago I've never left an event before it was over. Even then, I sit in the stands, relax and let the masses clear the parking lot for me so that I can drive right out of there. :cool:
 
I agree with the assessment that most mainstream media types don't really understand NASCAR.
There are exceptions, of course. Brian Williams is a long-time fan - and was a "studio host" during some NASCAR telecasts.
But even though these guys may not know a lot about the sport, just the fact that they are discussing NASCAR at all is a positive thing! When more people watch, more sponsors will spend more money.

I live in SoCal and I lovingly refer to the track in Fontana as Fontucky. That being said, I truly wish that Roger Penske had chosen to build Bristol West as opposed to Michigan West. But I also understand that he wanted a track that could host not only NASCAR but his INDY cars as well.
 
This thread just cracks me up.

Years ago when my kids were little and money was tight, I used to go to MIS and sit in the parking lot and listen to the race on the radio. About halfway through the race they quit staffing the gates and you can walk in for free. I was generally one of the last to leave so I got my moneys worth and most of the traffic was gone.
 
This thread reminds me of an old joke; "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out".

I really don't care what the mainstream media has to say. I watch races for my reasons, the ball and stick guys watch a 10 second highlight and comment.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
I never leave any sporting event before it's over. You never know what can happen.

We see this at every single race that we go to including Bristol a couple weeks ago. It normally starts there with 100 laps to go, then 50, then 10, then a couple. People pick up their coolers and haul their a$$ out of the stands. That's completely asinine IMO. If you are really that concerned about traffic, save yourself money and stay home.

Many years ago I started going to Dover with some friends and one of their fathers. We stayed down in Ocean City and would drive to the track the morning of the race. Every single year that I rode with them we'd show up at the track several laps into the event to avoid traffic and then I'd have to leave with them before it was over to do the same. That used to burn the hell out of me so I quit going with them. Since that point, some 20+ years ago I've never left an event before it was over. Even then, I sit in the stands, relax and let the masses clear the parking lot for me so that I can drive right out of there. :cool:
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At Eldora I hope we are still sitting there staring at the track with mouths agape in awe 3 hours after its over.
 
EI2IC said:
I'll never understand why people leave a race early. You spend all that money to go and so what if Ky Busch is leading by 10 seconds, all it takes with a few laps race is a "debris" caution and boom you get an exiting ending. I understand leaving during other sports when there is a big lead, but with racing it can literally change in a second.

Anyway, back on topic
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Very simple. Some people are fans of individual drivers, some are fans of racing in general. The ones in the first group make it easier for those of us in the second group to get out of the parking lots.

My father will usually get up when there are a couple of dozen laps left. He didn't used to, but with artificial hips it's easier on him to get back to the car if he doesn't have to worry about getting bumped in the crowd. Sumbich takes the scanner away from me, too!

I can't figure out some of those folks at Bristol. We usually clear the handicapped lot within 20 minutes of the end of the race. I've seen people walking with their coolers five or six miles from the track. When did they get up, halfway through the flyover?
 
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