I love NASCAR and I particularly love the start of the season and the Daytona 500. I normally like FOX’s coverage of the sport, but not today.
FOX did a horrible job of keeping viewers informed. In a dramatic and exciting race, the boys in the booth blew it. Early in the race when Jeff Gordon appeared to pass Tony Stewart just before a yellow caution, NASCAR gave Gordon the lead, then took it away when their tape showed the pass had not been complete when the yellow flag dropped. FOX’s Mike Joy, Darryl Waltrip or Larry McReynolds didn’t mention it or even seem to have noticed it happened.
With 5 laps left, Gordon passed Dale Jr. but the FOX boys were talking about a pass for 5th or 6th place, only later did they say “Gordon has made a pass”.
In one of the most exciting finishes in Daytona 500 history and I wonder if Joy, DW and McReynolds even saw it. It’d be like the play-by-play guys in the booth of a dramatic 7th game of the World Series with 2 out, bottom of the ninth and the guys talk about what brand of bubble gum the backup shortstop is chewing.
Come on guys! I felt like they were cheering for Dale Jr. or any of the DEI cars to win the race and when they didn’t, they lost interest. I’ll be glad when NBC’s coverage cranks up mid-summer.
By the way, full squads are reporting this week in Florida and Arizona for major league baseball’s spring training. This is my favorite time of year. I especially love the last week of April. You’ve got the NCAA Final Four one weekend, the start of baseball the next week and the Master’s golf tournament the following weekend. For a sports junkie like me, that’s the best of the 52 weeks.
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