Kudos to the NBC crew.

[devilmaster]

I was curious how the Nascar NBC crew would do. Very impressed.

Much better than last year.

Too bad they aren't all season. :irked:

[DagoFast]

Yeah,

From showing a graphic early in the race showing Bordais in the lead, to not interviewing the second place finisher it was as comforting as yer old grandma's cooking.

[devilmaster]

Yeah,

From showing a graphic early in the race showing Bordais in the lead, to not interviewing the second place finisher it was as comforting as yer old grandma's cooking.

still way better than last year.... :laugh:

[Dr. Corkski]

Ryan Diesel FTL.

[TKGAngel]

Count me in with the 'they did a good job' vote. Dallenbach and Beekhuis have enough racing knowledge to allow Weber to concentrate on the 'hosting' aspect of the show.


From showing a graphic early in the race showing Bordais in the lead, to not interviewing the second place finisher it was as comforting as yer old grandma's cooking.

I did notice the incorrect graphics but they fixed it quickly. I did like how towards the end of the race they put up a clock showing the time remaining. Maybe extend that throughout the race for future broadcasts? If you're announcers are going to keep repeating that its a timed race, maybe clue in the audience as to how much time is left.

[TrueBrit]

Was Derek "I've never actually won a race by meself begorrah" Daly calling the race?

No?

In that case it was fan-*******-tastic!

[TravelGal]

I thought it was the worst I've heard in years. Way beyond the Marshall Marcus stuff. At least when we heard that we knew the driver. Just loved the way they had no clue who was in what car. Not a freakin clue. The McDonald's colors. Got real tired of hearing that. "Oh, wait, the car we were saying was so impressive was Junquiera." Yes, it was a wonderful job. Can't wait for the next NBC broadcast. :saywhat:

[JoeBob]

No Daly is a good thing. This was the best sounding broadcast crew in a very long time. Did they have every detail perfect? No - but for half of them, it was their first ChampCar race.

Bring on Long Beach!

[devilmaster]

I thought it was the worst I've heard in years. Way beyond the Marshall Marcus stuff. At least when we heard that we knew the driver. Just loved the way they had no clue who was in what car. Not a freakin clue. The McDonald's colors. Got real tired of hearing that. "Oh, wait, the car we were saying was so impressive was Junquiera." Yes, it was a wonderful job. Can't wait for the next NBC broadcast. :saywhat:

tg, have some more beer and come back when you are happier. That is, pick your spots to complain. This ain't one of them. ;) :D

[grungex]

I turned the sound off on the TV and listened to Jeremy Shaw, James Hinchcliffe, and Oriol Servia on RD. I also had Neil on the radio. My viewing was enhanced, albeit slightly out of sync with the audio.

[theunions]

Anyone else remember Wally Dallenbach telling Winston Cup Scene, unprovoked, that he "couldn't care less about Stefan Johansson?" That alone should've banned him from calling Champ Car races for life.

[STD]

Pre race was unbearable though the hockey recap was cool.

The inside McDonald's team meeting didn't look too rigged. "This is Vegas."

"The steering wheel now has paddle shift on it." (Ron Popeil?)

Overall the whole deal across the board felt really disjointed.

In need of much more beer.

[Sean O'Gorman]

Anyone else remember Wally Dallenbach telling Winston Cup Scene, unprovoked, that he "couldn't care less about Stefan Johansson?" That alone should've banned him from calling Champ Car races for life.

Didn't Dallenbach actually race in CART at one time?

[formulaben]

Anyone else remember Wally Dallenbach telling Winston Cup Scene, unprovoked, that he "couldn't care less about Stefan Johansson?" That alone should've banned him from calling Champ Car races for life.

WTMF??? Did you just admit to watching Winston Cup Scene?! :saywhat:

[theunions]

WTMF??? Did you just admit to watching Winston Cup Scene?! :saywhat:

No, reading it.

[Brian_R]

Thank god Jon was there, although you know the current state of ChampCar is a little blenderized with drivers and teams when even he had some issues with which driver is in which car. Gotta love at the end when Weber said "See you next week in Las Vegas." Guess he doesn't want to leave :laugh:

[theunions]

Didn't Dallenbach actually race in CART at one time?

I think the two races they showed on the highlight reel amounted to Wally's total CART career.

[SteveH]

I thought it was the worst I've heard in years.

Totally agree. They improved some as the race progressed but not knowing how to pronounce the drivers names is inexcusable. Remember how we roasted Bob Jenkins a few years ago for that? As they went to commerical early in the race they showed a graphic that had Bordais as the leader as well as announced the same. He was dead last at that point. The incar from Wilson's car was worthless with all the graphcs at the top of the screen. Since CC is paying for this, they should ask for a refund.

[nrc]

Ryan Diesel FTL.

He may want to just go with that. :)

[TravelGal]

tg, have some more beer and come back when you are happier. That is, pick your spots to complain. This ain't one of them. ;) :D

:rofl: :rofl: (I'd have more but the limit is 4 total and you have two too).

Touche!!!

edit: SteveH is on my side but your comment is priceless.

[chop456]

The incar from Wilson's car was worthless with all the graphcs at the top of the screen.

Yep - that was great, huh? Look - a nosecone! :gomer:

Take a lesson from F1 - timely info with less cheese, done unobtrusively. It sounds like I was fortunate to have watched almost the whole race with the sound off.

[Hesketh]

I turned the sound off on the TV and listened to Jeremy Shaw, James Hinchcliffe, and Oriol Servia on RD. I also had Neil on the radio. My viewing was enhanced, albeit slightly out of sync with the audio.

Probably the best decision. Shaw is professional and knowledgeable. I haven't heard the other two call races, but they can't be any worse than anyone on TV.

[Ziggy]

That announcing crew blew goat wang.

There are thirty guys on message boards who could do a better job.

Wally Dallenbach Junior is a dork huffing gomer

[Andrew Longman]

Production-wise there was a lot I liked. It looked professional and very "network-like." The speed shot coming out of the tunnel towards 11 was awsome.

The crew sounded good but seem unrehearsed at times. Their T&S misinformed them at times. I suspect they may have been thrown together much like a lot of the grid. Still, they need to know how to pronounce names correctly. Jon good as always though.

They definitely should have interviewed the entire podium if they want to promote the new drivers, not just the ones we already know.

Finally... HEY!!! A new Bridgestone commercial!!! My head doesn't have to spin round and round anymore! Actually it looked like they actually sold quite a few new spots and advertisers for this.:thumbup:

In all I expect it to be a bit smoother next week.

[Boatdesigner]

The announcers were terrible, they missed much of the action including who was in the pits and when. The whole thing looks like it was thrown together at the last minute. I hope the next race is better. By the way, did the gal on the announcing team actually get any air time at all? I don't remember seeing her after the introductions. Didn't Paul Tracy move to South Florida last year? I thought his hometown was in Canada?:shakehead

[Andrew Longman]

Didn't Paul Tracy move to South Florida last year? I thought his hometown was in Canada?:shakehead

Tracy's "home" in LV. His hometown is West Hill (TO), ON

Agreed the announcers got a number of things wrong but I think the T&S was telling them the wrong thing and/or their spotters were. Don't think it was their fault, but they clearly need more time working together and with the series.

[Spicoli]

Didn't Paul Tracy move to South Florida last year? I thought his hometown was in Canada?


I think maybe PT isn't sure where he lives anymore.:laugh:

I think on the broadcast even PT himself said it was his hometown race (after pimping that nasty shti Monster drink :puke: ) I just hope that beautiful FCR paint job doesn't go all gomer monster paint on us...


http://i11.tinypic.com/2e1c3sm.jpg


But, I suppose a sponsor is a sponsor, and these guys appear to do a good job in what they are sponsoring so far...with bikes, motoX and SCORE and stuff.

Oh, and they got girls too. :wave:

http://i13.tinypic.com/30cy7q1.jpg


girls are always a good thing.

[RaceGrrl]

I thought it was the worst I've heard in years. Way beyond the Marshall Marcus stuff. At least when we heard that we knew the driver. Just loved the way they had no clue who was in what car. Not a freakin clue. The McDonald's colors. Got real tired of hearing that. "Oh, wait, the car we were saying was so impressive was Junquiera." Yes, it was a wonderful job. Can't wait for the next NBC broadcast. :saywhat:

Yep.

The announce team sucked, IMO. Jon was frequently correcting them or clarifying for them. I wonder if he knew he was going to be babysitting.

[extramundane]

There are thirty guys on message boards who could do a better job.

Yeah, but do you really want to hear "Any half-decent autocrosser would kick ass here...this is just glorified club racing" every 5 minutes?

It wasn't broadcast utopia by any means, but I have to wonder if those calling this the worst broadcast ever remember Bob Jenkins and Spike TV.

[stroker]

I don't think it was as good as last year's broadcast. Looked like somebody spent more money, but the execution was "fair" (as compared to good/great) at best.

[Chief]

If Bill Webber doesn't get the "Bob Jenkins Announcing Award" no one should. I cringed everytime he opened his mouth....so much so I turned on RD and got the International Feed audio which is 1,000,000,000,000,000 X better than anyone since Paul Page called CART back in the good old days.

Nit pick 2.....good broadcast but some camera angles blew big time. They opened w/ a wide shot of the yet to be populated main grandstand and barren desert behind it. NICE! :thumdown:

Frankly, I could do with less fluff for the 1st half hour and more green flag stuff. Or, yellow flag stuff as it turned out.

[TKGAngel]

I think on the broadcast even PT himself said it was his hometown race (after pimping that nasty shti Monster drink :puke: ) I just hope that beautiful FCR paint job doesn't go all gomer monster paint on us...


Is Monster a PT personal sponsor, or an FCR sponsor? If its a team sponsor, I wonder how Jerry's handling having two competing products sponsoring different facets of his organization.

[Hard Driver]

Mediocre but I will try to cut them some slack. I think they had it pretty hard because they were also dealing with a lot of unknowns. How do you make a call if you can't predict any pit stops because you have no idea how much fuel they have. How do you call when you don't trust the push to pass time. How do you know what is going on when the telemetry you put on the screen doesn't register throttle and only shows an updated RPM every 20 seconds.

However, they didn't give too how much time was left at all earlier, of course maybe the clock they had could not be trusted either.

They certainly missed some of the issues. I saw Tracy sliding aroundcorners with his red tires obviously going off and there was no mention. Missed some of the "action" of the driving. Missed some of the speed of the car, the "violent" comment was OK but just saying they pull G's when turning and stopping would be enhanced by saying they pull 3 G's etc.

[Warlock!]

Frankly, I could do with less fluff for the 1st half hour and more green flag stuff. Or, yellow flag stuff as it turned out.
Indeed... that first half-hour of trying to make it seem like we were gonna see a truly spectacular event when the reality was much less was painful to watch. 10 minutes before the green flag is plenty for this show, and that even leaves 5 minutes for a winner interview during a 2 hour time slot. A big plenty. :D

[robot9000]

I give them a big thumbs down. I bet Jon felt like he needed a shower after that broadcast.

They butchered half the driver names during the Starting Grid thing. They could not think of a thing to talk about in the first 45 min.

Is his name really pronounced Figgy?

[oddlycalm]

WTF is up with this, it's like the CCWS management team woke up early last week and remembered they have a race to run. CCWS is writing a big check for the broadcast production yet I was left feeling like the people in the booth got the call to show up the same day Dominguez did.

It's like CCWS closed down for the winter and went on vacation until late March when they remembered they have three races to put on...:confused:

oc

[cameraman]

Too bad they can't just use Jeremy Shaw, Hinchcliff and Oriol.
The international feed is quite good.

[pferrf1]

WTF is up with this, it's like the CCWS management team woke up early last week and remembered they have a race to run. CCWS is writing a big check for the broadcast production yet I was left feeling like the people in the booth got the call to show up the same day Dominguez did.

It's like CCWS closed down for the winter and went on vacation until late March when they remembered they have three races to put on...:confused:

oc

IIRC - The crew selection was mandated by NBC. I suspect that Jon's presence was required by CCWS to add some Champ Car knowledge.

I guess NBC needs something to have their racing guys do. Quite frankly - Allan Bestwick would have put Bill Weber to total shame. He's a complete pro.

[Rogue Leader]

IIRC - The crew selection was mandated by NBC. I suspect that Jon's presence was required by CCWS to add some Champ Car knowledge.


I'd say Wally Dallenbach has just a bit of ChampCar knowledge as well.....

[theunions]

Is Monster a PT personal sponsor, or an FCR sponsor? If its a team sponsor, I wonder how Jerry's handling having two competing products sponsoring different facets of his organization.

Personal sponsor.

[nrc]

I give them a big thumbs down. I bet Jon felt like he needed a shower after that broadcast.

They butchered half the driver names during the Starting Grid thing. They could not think of a thing to talk about in the first 45 min.

Is his name really pronounced Figgy?

That's the way I always remember it from Atlantics. As in, "Figgy hits his teammate!" or "Figgy in the wall!"

Anyway, "Diesel" is way better than "Deeall".

[Sean Malone]

That announcing crew blew goat wang.

There are thirty guys on message boards who could do a better job.

Wally Dallenbach Junior is a dork huffing gomer

I was thinking these exact words. Weird.

Sorry DM.

[devilmaster]

Sorry DM.

You've changed man. I used to be able to count on you to have my back with your old name..... ;) :laugh:

I think its just that after the past few years of productions that looked like high school projects, yesterday looked like a more professional show. Maybe it would have been even better with an announce booth that knew CC more....

[Sean Malone]

You've changed man. I used to be able to count on you to have my back with your old name..... ;) :laugh:

I think its just that after the past few years of productions that looked like high school projects, yesterday looked like a more professional show. Maybe it would have been even better with an announce booth that knew CC more....

Jon is a perfect fit for CC. Jon with Varsha and hmm, say TK (as long as he hasn't been out all night before the race) would be cool.

[TravelGal]

Hey DM, I agree the production values looked at least some better. But your thread title says the CREW was better. That's what I took issue with.

[devilmaster]

Hey DM, I agree the production values looked at least some better. But your thread title says the CREW was better. That's what I took issue with.

Well, in classic I can change my mind nyah nyah nyah style, I gave it some deeper thought (based on how polarized this discussion has become) as to what I liked about the show.

I still believe the production was waaay better than the past couple years, even with its flaws. Because of the production of the past, Benji and Daly were just not going to excel.

Now that being said, CC needs a broadcast 'face'. And I'm willing to look at anyone who's been in the business and who's never done a CC broadcast before. Just like every other fan in the world, I'd love to see Varsha, but that isn't going to happen anytime soon. I still don't think Weber was that bad once the race started. He screwed up saying names that a half hour of practice woulda corrected.

Like someone else said, I would have liked to see how Alan Bestwick would have done - but he's in the pits for ABC Nascar.

So in the end, I stick by my original statement - better than previous years, but still room for improvement.

As for disagreeing with me - nobody should, but if everyone always agreed with me i'd be real nervous - or I might start a cult. Play your cards right Gal, and you could be wife number 34. ;) :D

[mueber]

Wally: "I don't know why they would stop now."

Jon: "Because they can go the rest of the way on just one more pit stop, Wally." (You moron).

Put me in the "unbearable" camp. The least Dallenbach could have done is had a little chat with his dad before the broadcast. As it is, it seems he knows less than nothing about Champ Car.

[RHR_Fan]

The one thing I didn't like was that when things would happen in the pits or on track that was NOT on camera we were never told. I see Dalziel running in the top 7 and then 10 laps later he's 7 laps down. What happened? I now know he was in the pits for a while for repairs, but it would have been nice to know that during the race.

We also didn't find out what happened to Halliday until he was interviewed, which wasn't until we were well into the race. If you can't interview him until then, that's fine but at least acknowledge it. Having the word "out" by the name doesn't cut it.

[Hesketh]

Ok, finally had a chance to watch the tape.

First of all, during the pre-race show, I got tired of watching Jon smiling and nodding uncomfortably into the camera while the other two were talking.

Second, they had trouble keeping drivers/cars straight --- the guy they said rear-ended someone was actually in front of the car he supposedly rear-ended, but it took them 2-3 laps to figure that out. They made mis-calls like that all day.

Third, as has been stated here, they missed a lot of things that happened on and off camera. And I'm surprised they didn't mention the fact that the on-board starters weren't working when we watched stranded cars wait for ages for the safety team to show up to bump start them. It seemed like they were so busy talking, they weren't paying attention (not a new phenomenon amongst broadcasters, I'm afraid.)

Fourth, what was the point of continuing to call out laps when it was a timed race?

Overall, I wasn't impressed with the crew. I also didn't think much of the tunnel cam.

jmho

[Indy]

You get what you pay for...

[Insomniac]

Ok, finally had a chance to watch the tape.

First of all, during the pre-race show, I got tired of watching Jon smiling and nodding uncomfortably into the camera while the other two were talking.

Second, they had trouble keeping drivers/cars straight --- the guy they said rear-ended someone was actually in front of the car he supposedly rear-ended, but it took them 2-3 laps to figure that out. They made mis-calls like that all day.

Third, as has been stated here, they missed a lot of things that happened on and off camera. And I'm surprised they didn't mention the fact that the on-board starters weren't working when we watched stranded cars wait for ages for the safety team to show up to bump start them. It seemed like they were so busy talking, they weren't paying attention (not a new phenomenon amongst broadcasters, I'm afraid.)

Fourth, what was the point of continuing to call out laps when it was a timed race?

Overall, I wasn't impressed with the crew. I also didn't think much of the tunnel cam.

jmho

While it could've been better, the broadast team so many here love (Speed F1) messes up drivers on the same team as well and then correct themselves.

They did mention the starter issue later in the broadcast (doesn't work with a hot engine).

Laps are still important since it would be tough to say we expect the leaders to pit with X minutes left in the race. So and so has X minutes of fuel left.

And finally, some here joke (and others mean it) that people on this forum could do a better job. What they really could use is one of the forum people to be a part of the production team to inform the broadcast team of errors they made so they can correct them and also relay other information to them. Whoever has that job right now, isn't doing a very good job.

[Andrew Longman]

Anybody find it interesting that there was no interview with SeeBass or Hamson or anyone from NHL given all the trouble they had? Were they just too pissed to talk or were they otherwise unavailable?

[devilmaster]

Anybody find it interesting that there was no interview with SeeBass or Hamson or anyone from NHL given all the trouble they had? Were they just too pissed to talk or were they otherwise unavailable?

Ya know what? I didn't notice that!

There's one more thing I liked about this broadcast. :D

[Insomniac]

Anybody find it interesting that there was no interview with SeeBass or Hamson or anyone from NHL given all the trouble they had? Were they just too pissed to talk or were they otherwise unavailable?

At the very end of the broadcast, I saw Bourdais was still near his car, so I don't think he ever made it back to the pits. Someone else also pointed out Hampson was nowhere to be seen during the N/H/L team "meeting".

[Chief]

I watched the race over again last night.....at 1.35x speed! And , I gotta say, it was much better! Webber didn't seem so out of touch, Wally didn't seem so out of touch, Jon's re-explainations were shorter, and the cars looked real fast. Good race overall and a belated kudos to the NBC crew. :p

[grungex]

Someone else also pointed out Hampson was nowhere to be seen during the N/H/L team "meeting".

I thought I saw him sitting in the back corner, viewer's right.

[Insomniac]

I thought I saw him sitting in the back corner, viewer's right.

Very possible, I wasn't looking specifically for him. I saw Bourdais for sure. :)

[nrc]

I preferred the Atlantics broadcast with Benjamen and Beacus.

[formulaben]

I couldn't help but notice that Jon was looking a little "heroic (http://www.tvcrazy.net/tvclassics/wallpaper/oldshows/greatest-american/greatest-american-hero.jpg)" on that broadcast. :D