You Asked For It! ~ "HERE COMES TNT"
I bid
you welcome gentle readers, to a column I promise you is read by NASCAR. At
what level is entirely up to you and how interesting you can make the
conversation following the topic. Please remember that interesting is not
synonymous with insulting; name calling and personal slurs will be
deleted. As always, we extend a warm
welcome as well to our assigned reader, somewhere within the Fan and Media
Espionage Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.
As these
words begin to appear on the screen, we have said, "good-bye" to the
Month of May; the double has been done at Indy and Charlotte; school has come
to a close in many parts of the country, and though not yet
"official", summer, for most of us, has begun. With the changing of
the seasons comes another mile marker, as the Monster Mile marks the end of the
NASCAR on FOX broadcasts for 2014... and... here comes TNT.
A couple
days before this writing, your scribe read a rather simple and straightforward
piece on Yahoo Sports in which it was stated that TNT begins "its 32nd
consecutive year of exclusive NASCAR Summer Series coverage." Hello,
Yahoo?!? Lay away the whacky tobaccy guys and gals.
TNT coverage began with the "new contracts" in 2001, serving back
then as the cable affiliate for NBC, which at that time had none of its own.
You do the math. Prior to 2001, sister station and original Turner Broadcasting
System network, TBS, broadcast selected NASCAR races, mostly those from
Charlotte and Richmond, neither one of which hosted summer races. As a very old song says, "Little
Things Mean a Lot."
So then,
let us proceed with some of those little things. TNT, over its tenure, has
provided a summer break if you will... a six-pack of varied races after FOX
departs for the season and before ESPN gallops in on its great
white steed, known to most as the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Indeed, the
summer schedule was changed to accommodate the return of ESPN, which wanted to
debut at Indy rather than Pocono. Oh yes, in case it has slipped any minds,
this year is the swan song for ESPN, the network we once loved so dearly but
didn't think enough of stock car racing to even enter a bid on the new
contracts. No harm done though, as that network is only a shell of its once
great self. Farewell, adieu, adios, auf wiedersehen,
ciao, sayonara and good-bye. Don't let the door hit ya!
Your
scribe is aware that many feel exactly the same way about TNT, and yes, in some
ways they have failed, but not as badly as you might think. That network is
simply the second child of Ted Turner's dream, and as second in line, they have
lived with hand-me-downs since day one. Recall, when TBS aired the races, it
was with the likes of Ken Squier. TNT gets Adam Alexander, who fails to excite
this scribe on several levels. With Double A at the helm, the ship really never
leaves the dock... in my humble estimation. The color commentators are also
hand-me-downs of a sort, with Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach
Jr. each being the son of a far more famous racing father, NASCAR's King
Richard Petty and long-time Indy/Car and CART racer Wally Dallenbach
Sr., who also holds records in the Pike's Peak Hill Climb and is an inducted
member of the Colorado Motorsports Hall of Fame.
Still,
Kyle and Wally bring animation to what would be totally colorless and inert if
left in the hands of Alexander. Some don't care for Kyle's straightforward, no
nonsense approach to all things, but I love it. He reminds me of me, in that if
he thinks it, he says it, and doesn't care who's
listening or who doesn't like it. I hear younger "fans" demanding to
know who Wally thinks he is and what credentials he brings to the broadcast
that make him capable of intelligent thoughts on racing. Well kids, though his
NASCAR stats might not be as stellar as some, I'd wager they are far better
than yours. Then of course, there is that famous father. Might I suggest that
you cool it and listen for a while? You just might find that Wally does indeed
know whereof he speaks, and explains things very well thank you. Doing
technical duties again this year will be the familiar face of Larry McReynolds,
who is decidedly not a hand-me-down, and kids, if you don't like Larry Mac,
then you just don't like racing. You might want to check out soccer, or maybe
chess.
Serving
this year as the voices from the pits will be Ralph Sheheen,
Marty Snider, Matt Yocum and Chris Neville, each of
which is experienced and capable of giving a shining performance in that
capacity. No hand-me-downs in that group folks! At this point, I must say that
it's always seemed a shame that Ralph Sheheen, who
has handled booth duties for several other series, is stuck in the pits while
the automaton that is Double A is calling the races.
The TNT lineup
this year includes races at Pocono, Michigan, Sonoma, Kentucky, Daytona and New
Hampshire. Four out of six isn't too bad. As for Kentucky and New Hampshire...
well... Bruton, you should be ashamed of yourself. Again, gentle readers, that is merely my opinion. Your results may vary.
Sister
station TBS was, I believe, the first station to bring us "side by
side" commercials, and TNT has done them each year in one NASCAR race per
season, usually the Firecracker 400 at Daytona. Why not the other five? I have
no idea, but after New Hampshire this year it will no longer be relevant
anyway. And speaking of commercials...
TNT, I
know I speak for everyone reading this and those who aren't as well, when I say
that we never, ever want to see another KFC commercial during the Kentucky race
involving some young snot physically assaulting his elderly Granddad, or maybe
vice-versa, as they argue the age old question of whether to order mac and
cheese or mashed potatoes and gravy as a side to that horrid bucket of hot
grease KFC calls chicken. That should have been the end of your involvement
with racing, then and there.
Well,
it's now 2014, and as Dover fades into the sunset, taking FOX and its crew
along with it, here comes TNT, with a lame duck offering of six races presented
with a "we don't have to care" attitude, as they have been for the
past two years. Ah, but on the bright side, gentle readers,
there won't be a "Boogity" to be heard during those six races.
Now it's
time for our Classic Country Closeout. It's so difficult to pick one song out
of the thousands that fall into this category. Today, I've selected a couple of
very old "Cowboy ballads" from the cobwebbed corners of my aging
mind. First, here's Vaughn Monroe doing his smash hit of 1949, "Riders in the Sky." Please enjoy:
And
finally, one from that great story teller... and racer... here is Marty Robbins
singing "Little Joe the Wrangler",
a story-song done by probably every singer that ever wore a Stetson.
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~
PattyKay