What Brian France Could Learn From the NFL, but Won't.

RowdyBusch

RowdyBusch

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It took 51 super bowls to get arguably the most memorable and impressive playoff comeback of all time.The Patriots didn't get referee interference or score resets when they were down 25 and it was looking like a blowout... The game played out naturally and that's exactly why it will never be forgotten. Special moments are special because they don't happen every game, every season, or every super bowl. For all the whining Nascar fans did when a driver they didn't like ran away with a championship, they were always back the next week/year tuning in.

A few short years ago Peyton Manning and the Broncos got their clocks cleaned from start to finish against a small market Seattle team. Were fans disappointed? Yes. Were ticket buyers angry? Sure. But life goes on and everybody is back in their EZ chair with a beer when the new season starts. If captain Brian was in Goodell's seat after that game in particular, how many gimmicky rule changes would have been implemented to make sure a super bowl came down to the last 2 minutes every year? And how many years would it take before moments like we had on Sunday are par for the course and fan interest declines?

In conclusion, Tony Stewart for CEO.
 
RowdyBusch said:
If captain Brian was in Goodell's seat after that game in particular, how many gimmicky rule changes would have been implemented to make sure a super bowl came down to the last 2 minutes every year?
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Do you know how many times the NFL changes their rules? In the past couple years alone, they moved kickoffs to discourage returns, moved the PAT line to force teams to go for two and they change the rules every year to make the game more favorable for quarterbacks.

Basketball implemented a three point line. Baseball is currently working on a series of rules changes to increase the pace of the game and has even implemented a pitch clock in the minors.

Sports evolve all the time. Sometimes, fans gripe, but not anywhere close to the levels NASCAR fans gripe.

Football isn't going back to leather helmets and playing at high school football fields. NASCAR isn't going back to racing pure stock cars at fairgrounds racetracks, even though those tracks would put on a much better show than The Brobs.
 
They said we need TV timeouts, because all the other big boys have them. They said motorsports needed to "get with the times" and introduce more "drama" so the TV product improves. They said sports are a made-for-TV world now. Gotta give the networks what they want or else. We've gotta commercialize the sport even more they said. Everyone else is doing it!

NFL Looking at Reducing Commercials to Speed up Games

NHL Commissioner: "Drag us Kicking and Screaming" for jersey ads.

"They" were flat wrong.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Do you know how many times the NFL changes their rules? In the past couple years alone, they moved kickoffs to discourage returns, moved the PAT line to force teams to go for two and they change the rules every year to make the game more favorable for quarterbacks.

Basketball implemented a three point line. Baseball is currently working on a series of rules changes to increase the pace of the game and has even implemented a pitch clock in the minors.

Sports evolve all the time. Sometimes, fans gripe, but not anywhere close to the levels NASCAR fans gripe.

Football isn't going back to leather helmets and playing at high school football fields. NASCAR isn't going back to racing pure stock cars at fairgrounds racetracks, even though those tracks would put on a much better show than The Brobs.
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They don't reset the score after each quarter and eliminate players during the game.
Imagine if boxing or MMA wiped the score cards after each round.
This is precisely why NASCAR is failing.
NASCAR used to be a unique sport, now they're trying to turn it into a ball game.
It's isn't working.
 
AndyMarquisLive said:
Do you know how many times the NFL changes their rules? In the past couple years alone, they moved kickoffs to discourage returns, moved the PAT line to force teams to go for two and they change the rules every year to make the game more favorable for quarterbacks.

Basketball implemented a three point line. Baseball is currently working on a series of rules changes to increase the pace of the game and has even implemented a pitch clock in the minors.

Sports evolve all the time. Sometimes, fans gripe, but not anywhere close to the levels NASCAR fans gripe.

Football isn't going back to leather helmets and playing at high school football fields. NASCAR isn't going back to racing pure stock cars at fairgrounds racetracks, even though those tracks would put on a much better show than The Brobs.
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It's ridiculous honestly and even the drivers alluded to this. Hands down NASCAR has the most stuck in their ways fans in sports. We're seeing a ton of great young drivers enter the sport and I think the quality the last few years has been top notch. It's okay folks, the sport will keep going
 
Mispeedway15 said:
It's ridiculous honestly and even the drivers alluded to this. Hands down NASCAR has the most stuck in their ways fans in sports. We're seeing a ton of great young drivers enter the sport and I think the quality the last few years has been top notch. It's okay folks, the sport will keep going
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What good does it do to have good young drivers if less people are going to the track and watching from home?

Do you think Nascar can continue to exist in a meaningful form if they continue to lose fans? What type of things will make more fans tune in?
 
I am going to give the new format a chance but trying to understand the points is like me trying to understand cricket or rugby
 
ToyYoda said:
I don't think that increasingly complicated rules is the way to attract new fans. What used to take a couple of sentences to explain now takes a couple of pages. You're not likely to attract new fans if the long-time fans can't even figure out what's going on.
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I agree and I just don't see new fans being enticed by the new system anyway as it is like being served food you are not interested in on 3 plated instead of 1.
 
A year, maybe two, NASCAR, and the “stake-holders,” will be pleased to announce the formula for their finally-perfected system. They will admit to the goal of entertainment taking the lead role over competition.

Patrick’s 2018 retirement will force them into it.
 
Revman said:
Whew. MMA has no business in any conversation about sports IMO.
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And the thing with me is that Nascar has no business in any conversation as a sport as it is some sort of hybrid to me.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
And the thing with me is that Nascar has no business in any conversation as a sport as it is some sort of hybrid to me.
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I'd agree. Donovan McNabb never pissed me off. Not saying I agree, but I have never really thought about whether or not NASCAR drivers are athletes.
 
29-4 said:
http://www.espn.com/racing/nascar/story/_/id/18631598

Finally some logic from a reporter on this topic. "A gamble that reeks of desperation."
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The changes in the championship format add complexity, but they restore the relevance of the regular season, add major emphasis to full season excellence, and take a step towards rewarding race winners adequately. These are the important changes, and they are good changes IMO.

The race stages are much less important to me, but are a response to fan complaints that the middle portion of races are boring. Such complaints are rampant, including members here at R-F. Go back and read "Rate the Race" threads.

When the format changes were announced, Steve O'Donnell recited the key complaints from the long-time fans. It's obvious the fans had been heard. He claimed the changes were guided by that and by competitor preferences. I agree with his claims.

As a practical matter, doing away entirely with the postseason was never an option. There could have been simpler solutions. But the championship is better and more legitimate now than before these changes.
 
LewTheShoe said:
The changes in the championship format add complexity, but they restore the relevance of the regular season, add major emphasis to full season excellence, and take a step towards rewarding race winners adequately. These are the important changes, and they are good changes IMO.

The race stages are much less important to me, but are a response to fan complaints that the middle portion of races are boring. Such complaints are rampant, including members here at R-F. Go back and read "Rate the Race" threads.

When the format changes were announced, Steve O'Donnell recited the key complaints from the long-time fans. It's obvious the fans had been heard. He claimed the changes were guided by that and by competitor preferences. I agree with his claims.

As a practical matter, doing away entirely with the postseason was never an option. There could have been simpler solutions. But the championship is better and more legitimate now than before these changes.
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Refreshing to read that someone gets it.
 
ChexOrWrex said:
Rusty Wallace has been saying it for years. The problem isnt the points or race formats. Its how uniform these cars are and how lame the ontrack product has become.
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I was never ever a Rusty Wallace fan....... and never heard he said that...... but.... if he did....... I now have a new admiration for him because he is 100 percent correct.
 
dpkimmel2001 said:
Refreshing to read that someone gets it.
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The million dollar question is will the average Joe that doesn't watch Nascar today check it out later this month and will he likes what he sees enough to stick around? Obviously that answer won't be known definitively for a while but the trends will interest me.
 
LewTheShoe said:
The changes in the championship format add complexity, but they restore the relevance of the regular season, add major emphasis to full season excellence, and take a step towards rewarding race winners adequately. These are the important changes, and they are good changes IMO.

The race stages are much less important to me, but are a response to fan complaints that the middle portion of races are boring. Such complaints are rampant, including members here at R-F. Go back and read "Rate the Race" threads.

When the format changes were announced, Steve O'Donnell recited the key complaints from the long-time fans. It's obvious the fans had been heard. He claimed the changes were guided by that and by competitor preferences. I agree with his claims.

As a practical matter, doing away entirely with the postseason was never an option. There could have been simpler solutions. But the championship is better and more legitimate now than before these changes.
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The championship is more legitimate now than before but wouldn't it be nice if we could simply have a legitimate championship?
 
There were some good NFL playoff games this year and some clunkers and in the third quarter it looked like the championship game was going to an awful game. I am just glad the league didn't make changes between the two conference championship games that would have changed the Super Bowl. Good or bad I hope Nascar can live with these changes instead of coming up with something new right away.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
The championship is more legitimate now than before but wouldn't it be nice if we could simply have a legitimate championship?
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We're never going to get back to that era again. The Chase, by any other name, is here to stay. If they're going to have it then they need to make it the best it can be.

Having the regular season point leader be rewarded for their efforts is a good thing IMO. That's something that I wanted to see happen.

I'm one of the fans that wanted to see the regular season mean more. Having those guys/gal race for those points throughout those individual races that can be carried throughout the Chase will do that. Perhaps getting that early season win and experimenting throughout the season will be a thing of the past? Those that make the Chase are going to need every point they can get to help them down the road. If they really don't think those points will matter, they just need to ask Carl Edwards..... if they can find him.

The new stages don't bother me as much as a caution clock would have. While basically the same thing, the points make the difference. The advantage is not going to be lost. Advantages will be earned.

Hopefully, what was stated about this benefiting the home viewer by giving us more televised, green flag laps comes to be. That'll be easy enough to tell as those numbers are reported in great detail each and every week after the race. At the same time, I can almost hear the complaints now the first time that they go to a commercial under green.

I see a lot of +'s to the announcement over what we've been subjected to. Many more, especially on here, do not. Opinions differ. Nobody's going to change anyone's mind on here.

Heck, I loved the idea of the new qualifying method when it was announced. I thought it would be a great change. A few weeks into its practice, I hated it. These changes could produce the same results for me.

Skoalbandit33 said:
The million dollar question is will the average Joe that doesn't watch Nascar today check it out later this month and will he likes what he sees enough to stick around? Obviously that answer won't be known definitively for a while but the trends will interest me.
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Yeah, that's a big question.

Doing nothing is certainly not the answer though. I don't know what these changes could possibly do to create new fans for the sport.

I can only think of it in my terms. For me, they went in the wrong direction the moment the Chase was announced. They alienated a majority of their fans with that announcement. While many stayed that first year to see how it would play out, ratings/attendance numbers show that they then begin to leave the sport en masse. They've never been able to recover. Remember that old statement that if you take a friend to a NASCAR race you'll create a fan for life? Well, if there's nobody there to take that fiend, you end up where we're are at.
 
Points for position throughout the event could be awarded without stopping the action.

The segment process is a phantom debris/caution clock artificial means of bunching up the field. Additional restarts add to the probability of additional wrecks some want to see.

The segment thing will work so well they’ll add another when the switch to timed events is made.

Commercials are a minor annoyance to those who don’t watch by appointment.
 
Skoalbandit33 said:
The championship is more legitimate now than before but wouldn't it be nice if we could simply have a legitimate championship?
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There are no absolute truths about it. There are only opinions, and they cover a wide range.

IMO, Nascar has *never* had a championship format designed to crown the most deserving team. The Latford points scale was an abomination that under-rewarded winning and encouraged a "coast and collect" points racing mentality. And as a result, the wrong guys won the crown multiple times.

The chase format from 2004-13 addressed some of the flaws, but made others worse, IMO. The points scale became even flatter than Latford, and the win bonus into the chase was a paltry three points. Both of these provisions should offend the sensibility of anyone who thinks winning is important.

The 2014-16 elimination style playoff almost totally divorced the regular season from the championship, and over-emphasized the importance of avoiding racing misfortune during the chase. While advancing through the playoff rounds was a stern test of driver and team excellence, this format ignored the regular season too much for me to embrace.

I believe that part of my resilience as a Nascar fan, despite the evolution of the sport over the 50 years I've been there, is that I never accepted in prior decades that Nascar was nearly perfect. The cars and the racing weren't. The administration of the sport wasn't. The media wasn't. The championship wasn't either. So many fans look back upon those times with such rose tinted glasses. There have been plenty of mistakes made throughout Nascar's history. But doing nothing to evolve the sport would have been an even bigger mistake, despite the opinions of keyboard warriors who think they have all the answers.
 
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