Like I said in my baseball blog for today, nine hours of continuous sports viewing is apparently over my threshold. I’m ceasing weekly baseball blogging while I still love the sport. I’d stop NASCAR blogging as well, but I committed to doing it this season, as long as I’m able to watch the races (which may end up only being Fox’s part of the season). I hope I’m still able to watch races after this year after writing this blog. Sitting around criticizing a sport is not a good way to become more enamored of it.
This is going to be short, much like the race itself. Fox has canceled their baseball studio pre-game, but kept their NASCAR pre-race coverage.
Unfortunately.
If you love the pre-race, you can probably thank Digger. Were it not for the opportunity to promote and sell the vermin’s merchandise, Fox might have put this one down, too. This evening’s production was decidedly subpar. Digger’s cartoon was a rerun. There was some sort of infomercial segment about Subway. (It worked. It made me want a sub.) And we got a segment on “going green” for Earth Day. First of all, this is NASCAR; sports least “green” sport. Second, why this featured Kevin Harvick and his oil company sponsor, Shell, is completely beyond my comprehension, if for no other reason than surely it ticked off Sunoco and their frickin’ “race fuel” sponsorship.
Earth Day is never going to cut it as a holiday. There’s no gift giving and no over indulgence associated with it, just sacrifice and guilt. It’s like Lent for atheists and green freaks.
Thankfully there were a few driver segments in the pre-race, but by and large the best thing that can be said about it is that it ended. I suffer for this blog.
Fox did learn a lesson from last year and made sure to start the baseball early. It’s hard to get over last year’s debacle, cutting away from the ball game in the bottom of the ninth of a close game to show the start of the race.
There was no Number 8 car in the race. How unthinkable that would been a few short years ago. This is awful. First, Junior isn’t driving the car and now it’s not there at all. I’ve got three #8 diecasts! Now they’re nothing but nostalgia.
On the subject of Junior, I’m implementing a new policy. I’ve determined I’m part of the problem in Junior coverage. Until he either wins, or rolls the car and it explodes, no further Junior coverage or even coverage about Junior coverage.
Well, now no NASCAR fan is going to read this blog anymore. That’s okay. I don’t have much else to say in this entry. I’d like to give some insightful commentary about the race itself, but I was not paying attention for about three-quarters of the event. A few strategy calls mixed things up, but Mark Martin pretty much dominated at the start and at the end.
My favorite part of the race was the scene in Victory Lane. That was a truly special moment, and I was grateful to have witnessed it. Yes, Miss Sprint Cup, Monica Palumbo, got some monster, close up airtime. Her bright, beaming smile (and other assets) briefly lifted my flagging spirits. Thank you, Fox Sports for sharing that with all of us.
Oh, and it was nice that the other drivers came over and congratulated Mark Martin, even though they got in the way of Miss Sprint Cup coverage.
J.
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