Posted on January 29, 2008

ESPN Heard You, But Can We Now Stand To Watch Them?

by Ron Thornton About The Author	Email   Print

How many times did we cringe at ESPN's coverage of NASCAR last year?  Too many to count, I think.  As irritating as some might find Darrell Waltrip's "boogity, boogity, boogity" commentary to open a race, I must admit to a yearning to hear him and his FOX crew once again.  Those boys and girls seemed to have a much better handle of providing additional excitement and less irritation for the television audience than their ESPN counterparts.  

As much as I have found myself writing less than complementary things about the ESPN outfit, I do think they might be on the right track as they prepare for the 2008 campaign.  Gone is Rusty Wallace from the role as lead analyst, which comes not a moment too soon.  Not every cat can jump from their hot rod and just plain be the man who can carry the commentary of a race.  Ned Jarrett had it.  I think Dale Jarrett might.  I know Rusty did not.  

Wallace now heads down to the ESPN Infield Studio, where he might actually shine.  Last year, Suzy Kobler and Brad Daugherty warmed two of the three seats. I have my suspicions as to why they were selected to be there, but it would be politically incorrect of me to state them.  Kobler did not really add a thing to the party, and while Daugherty came across like a fish out of water early on, it was evident that he was working hard to improve.  I enjoyed his feistiness as he and Wallace did some verbal sparring along the way.  I think the chemistry between them will actually raise their game to the next level.  Kobler is out, replaced by Allan Bestwick, who is best known to many as bringing some of the fun to the old Inside Winston Cup show on SPEED that was lost with his departure. It remains to be seen, but the trio of Wallace, Daugherty and Bestwick might actually turn out to be fun to watch.

Tim Brewer is fun to watch.  He isn't exactly polished, coming across as more like your mechanic uncle than an accomplished television performer, but that is part of his charm.  The only problem with his Tech Center segments is the repetitiveness of them.  I mean, if I see that broken valve graphic one more time I'll blow my own gasket.  With my background in television production, I am pretty confident Brewer isn't the guy at fault here.  I suspect the blame belongs to some twit in a suit demanding to get more mileage than it deserves from something they shelled out a bucks for.  Like the recent campaign of Wendy's commercials, some concepts have a mighty short shelf life.

That brings us to the that daft "Draft Track" someone insisted on flogging on us all of last season.  Now, let  us be clear about it.  If Dale Earnhardt could not really see the air, ESPN sure in blazes can't either.  It is just a contrived, convoluted, and over used make believe graphic that, in Rusty speak, was just plain bad enough to make FOX's not ready for prime time little graphic hot rods appear positively high tech.

As for the pre-race show, who cares?  The SPEED trio of John Roberts, Jimmy Spencer, and Kenny Wallace have a lock on providing entertainment and information prior to the event.  Shannon Spake becomes ESPN's pit reporter, but while others think a lot of her, I would need to carry around her photo to recognize her. Now, if someone could pry Wendy Venturini from SPEED, they would really have something.  In my opinion, she is the best when it comes to working the pits, even better than Dr. Dick Berggren, and that is saying something. She has the background, the knowledge, the personality, the people skills, and the fact she isn't hard on the eyes all contribute to her success. If I were looking for someone to fit any number of roles in my racing broadcast, she would be one of the first people I would be contacting.  However, I don't work for ESPN.

Dale Jarrett now does, at least he will be getting very busy once he retires and action swings to the latter half of the season.  His dad did not exactly have a clear, strong broadcast voice, but Ned Jarrett more than made up for it with his obvious passion for the sport.  A race did not get boring when he was behind the mic because he loved what he was doing and what he was part of, and wanted you to feel the same.  His son would do well to remember that lesson, and I think he will. Jarrett, Dr. Jerry Punch, and Andy Petree all hail from the same neck of the woods in North Carolina, are within five years in age of each other, and were working on cars together nearly thirty years ago. I'm not completely sold they have the royal jelly just yet, but if any trio should have some chemistry you would expect it from these three.

When I flew down to take in last year's Daytona 500, it wasn't just the expected warm weather that I missed, which ended up feeling more suitable for Green Bay than Daytona Beach.  I missed the team of Waltrip, Berggren, Larry McReynolds, Mike Joy, Jeff Hammond, Chris Myers, and Steve Byrnes taking me through the race.  I never missed the ESPN crew.  Not once. Maybe that might change this season.

You can contact Ron at thornton@speedwaymedia.com

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