Speedvision coverage

[D. Ferguson]

Hey guys, just wanted to say that I finally watched the 2001 Runoffs FC race last night. Dave had a right to be mad -- there is defending your line, and there is driving in your mirror. Dave had the run, and he deserved to be given racing room.

The only thing I didn't like was all the comparision to Trans Am -- other than the fact that the announcers race Trans Am, they have nothing to do with open wheel racing.

[robbie ferstl]

agreed on both points

[Purple Frog]

Having crewed for Dorsey in the past... let's just say TV doesn't allow his true personality to shine. He is a real racer.

The memory is going, but he was quite an open wheel racer a few years ago.

I thought they were trying to make the story relate to the average NASCAR fan just tuning in. But being it was a SCCA event, they didn't dare say NASCAR. So what's the next best thing (in terms of wheel banging, paint swapping fun)...Trans-am.

A lot of folks thought the GT-1 race was more entertaining... for all but Cowen.

[Phulkrum]

You would have thought they would have mentioned the penalty and final standings. Not like they didn't have the time to edit that in since mid September.

[BrooksHall]

I thought the GT1 race was easily the most entertaining race of the weekend. The best thing about the FC race was to see some of the guys that post here in action. I also have to agree that Dave W. didn't get the room he was allowed and had a right to be mad. But I wonder how that ruling would have gone if this had been Dave's first trip to the big show? I watched every race (still have them stored on my TiVo) and whole lotta people did a whole lotta bumpin' and rubbin' and didn't get penalized. Overall though this year made me a bit sad because it's the last year we are going to see this on TV.

MH

[montfort]

Maybe next year the price of the video will be affordable if they dont show it on TV. It was my understanding that they were still going to show it though.

[BrooksHall]

Here's the deal through some friends at Fox that deal in network acquisitions. The reason that the runoffs were shown in "Tape Delayed" format was to make them as difficult to see as possible. This way the network can say the ratings were down and it is not worth running. Having said that those same people were not sure of the contracts that were written, if any, before Fox bought out the rest of Speedvision. Chances are we have seen the last of the runoffs on Speedvision/channel. Your right the cost of the video will be less but so will the quality because we won't have the professional broadcasters there to tape it.

As far as F1 is concerned this is how I see it. The Speedchannel has CART (which will self destruct by years end) so they have a "premiere" open wheel series. ABC/ESPN has only the IRL; they have lost NASCAR and CART so they will have more to gain by adding F1. They will also have a larger amount of money to spend to acquire F1. The Speedchannel is probably trying to get F1 and will if Bernie is willing to settle for much less than what ABC/ESPN is going to offer. Also keep in mind that the USGP was shown on ABC because it's a broadcast network and not cable. ABC is in every home in this country while Speedvision is in approx. 45 million. I hope to god that ABC looses and Bernie looks at how that networks covered CART. If he does he may demand that ABC shows the post race interviews and doesn't cut away to golf the second the checkered flag falls.

Michael Hall

[DaveW]

I have to say that the incident, as shown on the video, was not obviously bad enough (from that angle) to penalize Arie. However, what didn't appear on the video was all the weaving and blocking that preceded that incident. This was (at least) the fourth time that he had blocked me and the second time that we made contact. I (obviously) thought that the officials acted properly. What I really was mad about, though, was not being able to see if I was fast enough to give Mike a run for his money, as he was obviously the class of the field.
That said, however, some of the incidents that were shown in some of the other races were more obvious, but may have been the only incident between those two competitors, and maybe that's why they did not result in penalties...
Back to FC... I and most of the drivers I have raced with don't block by weaving on the straights and driving with their mirrors. I believe that we should drive agressively, take the corner when we think it's ours, defend our position by driving down whichever side of the straight suits us, etc., but don't put ourselves and our competitors in more danger than necessary by intentionally trying to block a move that the other guy has a right to make and has already committed himself to. I. e., I like to drive hard and have fun but I try not to do stupid stuff on purpose.
On a separate subject, the Runoffs was a good week for us - mostly great weather, no car problems, and after the last two years of having weather and races that sucked, really a lot of fun.

[ December 08, 2001: Message edited by: DaveW ]

[ December 09, 2001: Message edited by: DaveW ]

[butchcfc01]

DW,Put everything in it's proper perspective.
Saw the run you had on TV,HATS off to you!
Great to view your response.
Would've liked to seen if you could've run to w/mike.
ButchCFC01