Nov. 19, 2008 - TV Talk

So everybody in NASCAR is weeping over ABC's decision to switch the Phoenix race to ESPN2 because ABC's prime time schedule was in jeopardy. Stop blaming ABC and put the onus on NASCAR where it belongs.

Starting a race on the west coast is dicey because of the 4 time zones. That race should have been green flagged at noon EST. Every week they have to run a prerace show that extends as long as 90 minutes. Why?  The same drivers race every week. How many interviews with Jimmie Johnson are really needed. Then, of course, they have to overplay The Chase every week and you know how exciting that was ... again!

Last summer, one of the Pocono races didn't get the green until 2:30. This is a 500 mile race. Then they had a rain delay and the race ended before darkness. Pity the poor fan (which NASCAR never does) who, after fighting post-race traffic, has to drive home and go to work the next day.

The races run too long. It's getting harder for a guy to drag his wife and kids to the track with the race being so long. The folks at NASCAR wonder why attendance and TV ratings are down. It's easy to blame the economy. If you put on a great show, they will find a way to come.

Nov. 13, 2008 - It's In The Cards

Well the final nine were lined up, ready to go. Tension is high. The huge crowd is buzzing. It's the end of a long season. Am I talking about NASCAR's Chase? Hell, no. It's the World Series of Poker.

Now all the NASCAR mouths are making a big deal of the Chase and how hard everybody worked to get to the finals. Jimmie Johnson will win over $6 million plus the purses he made in the 36 races and his souvenier sales. To get there, it took hundreds of employees from Hendrick Motorsports and millions of dollars in hardware. NASCAR tries to sell itself as big money.

So now we have the Poker tournament. Peter Eastgate of Europe prevailed and he won an incredible $9.1 million in cash. While Jimmie Johnson risks life and limb in his hot smelly race car, Eastgate sat comfortably at a table to get his win. Owner Hendrick had put millions on the line to put No. 48 on the track, Eastgate only had to pay an entry fee and his lodging and incidentals. He had to beat hundreds of other card players but poker players can always find a game somewhere. A race driver can't come into town and race.

So those who bought go-karts for the kids so they could grow up and be rich racers like Jeff Gordon, instead, buy a deck of cards for two bucks!

Score Keeping . . .  In our fifty states, there are virtually thousands of neighborhoods where all of us came from. In every instance there was one person who grew up and became famous. Well I am from New York City, actually a section of Queens County called Rosedale. My local hero was Herb Score, who died on Veterans Day at the age of 75.

Score, who attended P.S. 38 before I did, became a big story in the 1950s. A hard throwing lefthanded pitcher, he threw for the Cleveland Indians. He won 20 games in 1956. He was so gifted that the Red Sox offered a million dollars for him. The Indians turned it down. That was a lot of money 52 years ago.

I never got to meet him. My brother went to school with him. He lived three blocks from me. I was watching a game in 1957 when Score was pitching at Municipal Stadium. Gil McDougald of the visiting Yankees was at bat. He hit a line drive that struck Herb in the face. You could even hear the sickening sound on the TV. He broke several cheek bones and was out for the season. He came back the next year but altered his pitching style so he wouldn't be vulnerable to line drives. He hurt his arm and was traded to the Chicago White Sox. He was done as a player by 1959.

He then became the Indians broadcaster, a job he held for 34 years. He was well liked and respected. He retired in 1997. Herb was involved in a bad car accident and was confined to a wheelchair.

Herb Score's story would have made a good movie. I wish the biggest star in my old neighborhood had been a race driver, but racing was not a high priority in Queens. The last track there, Dexter Park, ran from 1951-55.

Well, thanks Herb for putting Rosedale on the map and glad someone from P.S. 38 had 15 minutes of fame.

Oct. 15, 2008 -  Boob Tube

Why must this sport, which is in the midst of its biggest popularity put up with so many unqualified people talking about it, mainly on TV.

All the other sports have professionals talking about it. Even "ex-jocks" like baseball's Tim McCarver and golf's Johnny Miller are excellent, without formal training. Yet, we are stuck with illiterates who can't say a sentence using proper grammar or are bad reporters afraid to ask topical questions.

I agree with Mike Kerchner. Jerry Punch is the worst. He wasn't even a good pit reporter, now they have him anchoring on ABC/ESPN. He is fixated with the word "overall." No one is "ninth fastest." he is "ninth overall." His kiss up of Coach Joe Gibbs is nauseating. He can't speak a sentence with his chuckle. No one is laughing.

The most annoying has to be Michael Waltrip. He must know somebody. when Clint Bowyer said he was the worst driver in NASCAR, I was afraid he'd quit and take a full time TV job. I really hate watching the truck series as Mikey is one of the commentators. All he does is overplug himself and his sponsors.
It so happens one of his sponsors also underwrites the Lucky Dog award. Mikey has to mention it 40-50 times a telecast.

Mikey has been on the "Inside" NASCAR show for many years. I was hoping a pro like Dave Despain would save that show. Speculation is that NASCAR got tired of hearing Despain say that restrictor plate racing sucks on his Wind Tunnel show and was replaced by another NASCAR butt kisser, Steve Byrnes. The Monday night show is almost unwatchable, it is dominated by Byrnes and Waltrip giggling over their little in jokes.

I watched it for the first time this year last week because I wanted to hear what Mikey would say about the ruling against Regan Smith at Talladega. Like he always does, Mikey kissed up and agreed with NASCAR. I wonder if he agreed when NASCAR in the same situation, let Johnny Benson win a truck
race despite the same out of bounds move.

Another useless voice is Dale Jarrett, another one who never dares to go against NASCAR. On NASCAR Now, he took Mikey's stand. Yet on Inside Cup, Greg Biffle had the stones to say NASCAR was wrong. I'm beginning to gain a lot of respect for Biffle.

I dont watch anything NASCAR anymore. It is a joke to hear Jimmy Spencer being critical about drivers when he was the biggest thug on the track.

Maybe I'll get out my old tapes of Bob Jenkins and Larry Nuber. The races were better too!

Sept. 18, 2008 - Seeing Clearly

Since I complain a lot, I hear from many about their gripes. While NASCAR heads the list, many are upset that they pay premium prices to see the World of Outlaws and then have the victor win  from the pole. As several have told me, they can see a good race every week where the winner comes through the pack and pay a reasonable ducat fee.

This goes back to when Ted Johnson started the W of O. In order to guarantee support from the elite, Ted put on a driver friendly show, placing the hot shoes in front. In short races, this often produces a mundane show.

I have suggested more than once, that the Outlaws should not start a driver who, in the last calendar year, has either won an Outlaw "A" feature or a feature at the host speedway in the first two rows. This should make for a better show than the typical wire-to-wire runs that occur so often. It has fallen on deaf ears from Johnson and the current Outlaw owners.

• Feb. 17 is six months away. Hopefully, you are prepared for the big changes in the broadcast industry. All television shows will be presented digitally. Therefore if you use an antenna, you will be out of luck. Adapters will be available, but you might as well take the plunge and get cable or a dish.

HDTV is continuing to grow. Most everybody should be able to receive it by Feb. 27. I have two HDTV's. They are worth the upgrade and prices continue to drop. Sports shows certainly benefit from it. In addition to racing, baseball and golf are quite stunning. As far as entertainment goes, CSI Miami on Monday night on CBS has the most vivid color I have ever seen.

I recommend you get a TV with at least a 42-inch screen. Now if they make HDTV potato chips, everything will be right!