I posted this idea at Grognardia, but not well. I was tired and it was late and I wasn’t thinking entirely straight. (Sounds like everything else I’ve ever written.) However, I think it’s still worth some additional explanation.
The thesis is as follows: Paizo should publish a simplified 3e rules set and then give it away.
First, this is idea is repugnant to the capitalist within me. Not only am I asking a company to give away their product, I’m putting all the work on them. If I was more familiar with 3e and had more experience with it, I might try my hand at it. But the point of this exercise is not to produce another retro clone; it is instead to produce a finely polished product from a respected RPG publisher. The clones are awesome, but they are backward looking nostalgia. They are professional, but not stylish. On a technical note, D20 at its base is probably an easier, friendlier system than the matrix tables of older versions of D&D anyway. What would separate Paizo from the free systems is legitimacy, rather than a technical legality in the OGL.
Why on earth would for-profit company have any desire to compete in the same arena with competitors who give away their product? Computer nerds reading this are now waiting for me to make a Linux analogy. Not quite. I would put it closer to WOTC’s D20. The purpose of opening up the D&D license was to drive sales of the core books. This would be somewhat the reverse. The purpose of a free Pathfinder Basic (I’m not an advertising exec, somebody else come up with a catchy name) would be to create an easy to use system (that isn’t controlled by somebody else), that allows Paizo to concentrate on their core business of producing system extensions, adventures, and settings and to drive those sales. Given enough popularity, perhaps licensing opportunities follow.
Isn’t this the purpose of their current version of Pathfinder? Yes, but the system only appeals to 3e grognards. That’s not a large or expanding audience. The real loyalty of the Pathfinder players is likely not the rules, but the continued ability to play Paizo’s adventures without heavy modification to another system.
Who would be the audience of this Pathfinder Basic? For starters, fans of Paizo’s adventures, if my above theory is correct. If the rules allow and encourage plenty of creativity in interpretation, all but the most belligerent of Old School grognards should approve of it. As I’ve said in another posting, this group needs a published product to rally around. Make the rules simple enough and I think new novice players can be brought into the fold and expand the hobby. Lastly, new 4e players. Stop laughing. In spite of all the rulebooks, RPG’s are not about hard rules, which is what 4e is all about. This group of players may be ready to take off the training wheels, and if they do, I doubt they’ll go back.
Does it have to be free? Over the Internet as a download, yes. In print, it needs to be fairly low-cost, perhaps at cost. The theory here isn’t just to give away the razor and sell the blades, it is to expand the potential audience. A set of expensive hardbacks can be a significant a barrier to potential new players. Beyond the development costs, I do see the other analytical side of the argument; if it’s free, it has no perceived value. The only thing I can think of to combat that is to have plenty of ads and references to Paizo products in the rules. Make the rules look like an advertisement for the rest of the catalogue, which it actually would be.
That brings me to my next point, defining a few parameters of this mythical product. It can’t be a crippled set of rules. You know, like 4e and the way they’re determined to dribble out core races, classes, and monsters. It does have to have the full range of 3e classes and races. It needs to support these characters up to 14th level, the same as the Adventure Path series. (Sell the enhancement for higher level play.) It should contain a full range of classic SRD monsters and magic items. There should be a sample adventure along with a transcript of sample play with a group of newbies.
I would suggest a few other technical specifications. Make the game playable without miniatures. Encourage their use, but don’t mandate it. Strive to create a system that has no more than one modifier per roll. For events outside of standard actions, don’t try to create rules for every situation, just offer some guidelines and suggestions. Explicitly encourage groups to make up their own rules. Seriously consider some sort of simpler alternate to the experience points system. Most importantly, provide a rough conversion guide to the full Pathfinder/3e, as well as some of the retro clones. This will make the product look bigger than it is by providing access to a wealth of published and Internet material. Why not look smart, benevolent, and tolerant of other systems?
The problem with all of this is that Paizo is comprised of 3e grognards. Not to say that they’re snobs about their game system of choice, but 3e is their area of expertise. I’m not sure these are the best people to ask for a simplified rules set. Asking them to hack down 3e may be like asking someone to hack off body parts. They already think they’ve simplified the game with Pathfinder. Selling Pathfinder Basic to Paizo may be the hardest sell of all.
I’m not a business major. This isn’t a credible business plan. Then again, I’m not sure Paizo’s current plan is going to work in the long term either. Pathfinder Basic is worth consideration.
Addendum: I hope Paizo continues to offer the Beta version of Pathfinder as a free download, along with an addendum sheet of changes from the final version. I think WOTC offered a free download of changes from 3.0 to 3.5. This will allow players to try the system without a large monetary investment. Just getting people to try Pathfinder, may be Paizo’s biggest hurdle. If players like it, they’ll want the book.
J.
Monday, April 27, 2009
ALMS Long Beach “Looks like he’s driving a rental car.”
A great comment from someone watching a guy fishtail and burnout. I hang my head in shame that I have again forgotten to get the names of the ESPN commentators for this race so that I can properly attribute the quote. Anyway this maneuver happened during the race after a spinout. I would have awarded points for style, but this is American Le Mans, not a Formula D drifting contest.
Long Beach is probably about the worst case scenario for processional, lock step street course racing outside of F1’s Monaco race. I have to give ESPN credit for making the venue actually look a bit like Monaco as well. I’ve watched a couple of Long Beach races before and place always looked cheap and trashy. Maybe that was because they were Champ Car events. The overhead and aerial views were beautiful. While the yachts weren’t quite as spectacular as the European race, the Queen Mary is a more than impressive replacement.
For such a beautiful day and a race full of cool cars, the crowd was just so-so, like yesterday’s baseball game. What are all these SoCaler’s doing on the weekend? Perhaps if the state legalizes weed, they’ll be more willing to show up during the day. If watching paint peel while you’re high is fun, just imagine the additional excitement of being at a race. I appreciate blowheads. They make me feel better about my own sad life. They’re a group of people I can look down on.
Good news and bad news to start the race. The GT1 Corvettes were back, but only for a final engagement. No comment on whether it was lack of GM funding and/or lack of competition from somebody like Aston Martin. They will be back in the GT2 class later in the season and be joined by the new Jaguar team. So, GT1 goes away I guess, but the competition heats up in GT2.
The commentary from the race was well done again with plenty of detail information on the cars and the tires (worth noting, since there several different brands in use). There seemed to be a careful nod to explain things to new viewers. Being new fan-friendly for a lessor known series like this is a must. Kelli Stavast (the only member of the broadcast team whose name I can ever remember) was still a little shaky in presentation at times, but her knowledge and reporting were well done.
There was more “green” crap. I don’t know what they were measuring with their “green” challenge amongst the teams, and I don’t care. Right now, this is all hype and no substance. I can say this safely, because nobody ever makes a compelling business case for “green,” only an environmental one. These competing technologies are not trying to compete in the marketplace. They are hoping to be anointed the winner by government regulatory mandate. And wherever government is involved higher cost and inefficiency follow.
It was great to see fan icon, Boris Said, enter the race. It sucked that as soon as they pointed it out, he was involved in a crash. A short time later, Said was on camera again, as the cabin of his Corvette went up in flames. That was scary to watch. I’m sure it scarier being a participant. Boris was okay and, just as importantly, his ‘fro was okay afterward as well. I love those vettes, but between watching this firestorm and Dale Earnhardt Jr’s from a couple of years ago, I think I’d shy away from wanting to drive a car prone to spontaneous combustion.
This race may not have been ALMS’ finest hour. A potentially bad call by the officials in the pits cost the Patron team the race. Said’s late race crash caused the race to finish under yellow. Because the race was timed, a potentially exciting restart got scrubbed. I think got my time’s worth from the sights and sounds of the race anyway.
Best commercial: Acura’s classically themed promotion. Unfortunately, I couldn’t identify the music.
J.
Long Beach is probably about the worst case scenario for processional, lock step street course racing outside of F1’s Monaco race. I have to give ESPN credit for making the venue actually look a bit like Monaco as well. I’ve watched a couple of Long Beach races before and place always looked cheap and trashy. Maybe that was because they were Champ Car events. The overhead and aerial views were beautiful. While the yachts weren’t quite as spectacular as the European race, the Queen Mary is a more than impressive replacement.
For such a beautiful day and a race full of cool cars, the crowd was just so-so, like yesterday’s baseball game. What are all these SoCaler’s doing on the weekend? Perhaps if the state legalizes weed, they’ll be more willing to show up during the day. If watching paint peel while you’re high is fun, just imagine the additional excitement of being at a race. I appreciate blowheads. They make me feel better about my own sad life. They’re a group of people I can look down on.
Good news and bad news to start the race. The GT1 Corvettes were back, but only for a final engagement. No comment on whether it was lack of GM funding and/or lack of competition from somebody like Aston Martin. They will be back in the GT2 class later in the season and be joined by the new Jaguar team. So, GT1 goes away I guess, but the competition heats up in GT2.
The commentary from the race was well done again with plenty of detail information on the cars and the tires (worth noting, since there several different brands in use). There seemed to be a careful nod to explain things to new viewers. Being new fan-friendly for a lessor known series like this is a must. Kelli Stavast (the only member of the broadcast team whose name I can ever remember) was still a little shaky in presentation at times, but her knowledge and reporting were well done.
There was more “green” crap. I don’t know what they were measuring with their “green” challenge amongst the teams, and I don’t care. Right now, this is all hype and no substance. I can say this safely, because nobody ever makes a compelling business case for “green,” only an environmental one. These competing technologies are not trying to compete in the marketplace. They are hoping to be anointed the winner by government regulatory mandate. And wherever government is involved higher cost and inefficiency follow.
It was great to see fan icon, Boris Said, enter the race. It sucked that as soon as they pointed it out, he was involved in a crash. A short time later, Said was on camera again, as the cabin of his Corvette went up in flames. That was scary to watch. I’m sure it scarier being a participant. Boris was okay and, just as importantly, his ‘fro was okay afterward as well. I love those vettes, but between watching this firestorm and Dale Earnhardt Jr’s from a couple of years ago, I think I’d shy away from wanting to drive a car prone to spontaneous combustion.
This race may not have been ALMS’ finest hour. A potentially bad call by the officials in the pits cost the Patron team the race. Said’s late race crash caused the race to finish under yellow. Because the race was timed, a potentially exciting restart got scrubbed. I think got my time’s worth from the sights and sounds of the race anyway.
Best commercial: Acura’s classically themed promotion. Unfortunately, I couldn’t identify the music.
J.
Phoenix Cup Race: A Labor of Love
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.
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.
Baseball: Rockies vs. Dodgers
Boy is this tough. After my nine-hour baseball/NASCAR double header, I now know the limits of my endurance for TV viewing. The last thing I want to do at the moment is write about my odyssey of armchair paralysis. I no longer care what happened or what my thoughts are on the subject of either sport.
And with that out of the way, let’s get down to it.
For TWIB this weekend, I don’t know if the presentation made the show great, or if the subject matter was great and all they simply needed to do was show it. This was a special episode. First, brief tours of New Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I like the Mets’ new crib. Anything that reminds me of Ebbets Field and the Brooklyn Dodgers might be enough to make me forget that I hate the Mets. The Jackie Robinson Rotunda was appropriately impressive, as benefiting the man.
Baseball is about history. The montage of past Opening Days could not fail to bring a smile to any fan’s face. Memorializing the passing of Harry Kalas and Mark Fidrych were likewise a celebration of their contributions to the game. I’m sure in fine Philly fan tradition, Harry got a standing “Booo!” from the home crowd at his service at the ballpark. (Just kidding. Philly fans are a running gag with me.)
TWIB is going to have a hard time topping this show for the rest of the season.
On to the Fox baseball pre-game proper with Chris Rose. This guy has a hard job in speed reading the week’s news and trying to make it relatable. Rose seems to do better off script, as shown with his interview with “Headquarters,” Orlando Hudson. The kid’s childhood nickname came from his head looking too big until the rest of his body caught up. I don’t want a bunch of numbers in my baseball broadcast. I want stuff like this.
A somewhat more excitable than usual Dick Stockton and Eric Karros were calling the game. Thank God. These two work pretty well together, though my favorite memory of these two came when they were separated during a potential playoff spot clenching game a couple of years ago. Dick went down to clubhouse and Eric had to call everything for an inning. The Padres’ Trevor Hoffman failed to close out the game and Dick had to go back up to the booth. Eric made the observation that play-by-play was harder than it looked. It was hard on the audience, too. Dick wanted the Brewers to go ahead and win the game because he didn’t want to have to run back down the clubhouse to cover the celebration. Trust me. This is what baseball is all about. Funny stories.
I kind of wanted to see the Yankee game to see more of the new stadium. Judging by the crappy crowd in LA to see the Dodgers and Rockies, I wasn’t the only one. At first, I thought it was the typical SoCal crowd arriving late and leaving early, but even the Fan Cam segment had to be shortened. As it turned out, I think capacity New York crowd would have switched places too. No matter how great the new stadium is, 22 to 4 game against your team would have been painful to watch. Nick Swisher did not pitch. Girardi wants to save his arm for next blowout.
“Looking for a few good women,” said the giant ballpark sign. I think it said it was sponsored by the LA County Sheriff’s department, looking for recruits. (Jerry starts writing something that will only get him in trouble and then quickly deletes it.) I’m not quite so picky. I’m looking for a few good-looking women, regardless of their morals. Thankfully there a few behind home plate, but Fox’s score board kept intermittently blocking one of the better looking ones. She still managed to wave to me while she was talking on her cell phone. Yeah. Hey, babe. Call me. Is it just me or does it just not seem like Dodger Stadium without the guy in the Panama hat behind home plate with the radar gun? What ever happened to him?
I want to like the Dodgers, but they’ve replaced the Giants as the team I’m rooting against solely because of one player on their team. In the Giants case, it was Barry Bonds. Watching him lose the World Series to the Rally Monkey is one of my most cherished baseball memories. With the Dodgers, it’s Manny being Manny. I don’t have his full box score, but what I saw was: HR-Dropped fly ball-HR-bad attempt at diving catch, two runs scored-Walked and scored. Again, thank God, Tim McCarver and Joe Buck weren’t covering this game. They would not have shut up about those fielding errors for the entire game.
So what do we take away from today’s game? KFC is now offering a grilled chicken meal according to their commercial. I must investigate this further.
I’m going to put a hold on further baseball game blogs for at least the time being. I’m obviously not qualified to write about this sport. Even for all my years of watching, I still don’t know what a slugging percentage measures. If I feel compelled, I’ll put something up, but I don’t want watching baseball to become a labor for me. Speaking of laborious, Event Two of the double header is on deck.
J.
And with that out of the way, let’s get down to it.
For TWIB this weekend, I don’t know if the presentation made the show great, or if the subject matter was great and all they simply needed to do was show it. This was a special episode. First, brief tours of New Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I like the Mets’ new crib. Anything that reminds me of Ebbets Field and the Brooklyn Dodgers might be enough to make me forget that I hate the Mets. The Jackie Robinson Rotunda was appropriately impressive, as benefiting the man.
Baseball is about history. The montage of past Opening Days could not fail to bring a smile to any fan’s face. Memorializing the passing of Harry Kalas and Mark Fidrych were likewise a celebration of their contributions to the game. I’m sure in fine Philly fan tradition, Harry got a standing “Booo!” from the home crowd at his service at the ballpark. (Just kidding. Philly fans are a running gag with me.)
TWIB is going to have a hard time topping this show for the rest of the season.
On to the Fox baseball pre-game proper with Chris Rose. This guy has a hard job in speed reading the week’s news and trying to make it relatable. Rose seems to do better off script, as shown with his interview with “Headquarters,” Orlando Hudson. The kid’s childhood nickname came from his head looking too big until the rest of his body caught up. I don’t want a bunch of numbers in my baseball broadcast. I want stuff like this.
A somewhat more excitable than usual Dick Stockton and Eric Karros were calling the game. Thank God. These two work pretty well together, though my favorite memory of these two came when they were separated during a potential playoff spot clenching game a couple of years ago. Dick went down to clubhouse and Eric had to call everything for an inning. The Padres’ Trevor Hoffman failed to close out the game and Dick had to go back up to the booth. Eric made the observation that play-by-play was harder than it looked. It was hard on the audience, too. Dick wanted the Brewers to go ahead and win the game because he didn’t want to have to run back down the clubhouse to cover the celebration. Trust me. This is what baseball is all about. Funny stories.
I kind of wanted to see the Yankee game to see more of the new stadium. Judging by the crappy crowd in LA to see the Dodgers and Rockies, I wasn’t the only one. At first, I thought it was the typical SoCal crowd arriving late and leaving early, but even the Fan Cam segment had to be shortened. As it turned out, I think capacity New York crowd would have switched places too. No matter how great the new stadium is, 22 to 4 game against your team would have been painful to watch. Nick Swisher did not pitch. Girardi wants to save his arm for next blowout.
“Looking for a few good women,” said the giant ballpark sign. I think it said it was sponsored by the LA County Sheriff’s department, looking for recruits. (Jerry starts writing something that will only get him in trouble and then quickly deletes it.) I’m not quite so picky. I’m looking for a few good-looking women, regardless of their morals. Thankfully there a few behind home plate, but Fox’s score board kept intermittently blocking one of the better looking ones. She still managed to wave to me while she was talking on her cell phone. Yeah. Hey, babe. Call me. Is it just me or does it just not seem like Dodger Stadium without the guy in the Panama hat behind home plate with the radar gun? What ever happened to him?
I want to like the Dodgers, but they’ve replaced the Giants as the team I’m rooting against solely because of one player on their team. In the Giants case, it was Barry Bonds. Watching him lose the World Series to the Rally Monkey is one of my most cherished baseball memories. With the Dodgers, it’s Manny being Manny. I don’t have his full box score, but what I saw was: HR-Dropped fly ball-HR-bad attempt at diving catch, two runs scored-Walked and scored. Again, thank God, Tim McCarver and Joe Buck weren’t covering this game. They would not have shut up about those fielding errors for the entire game.
So what do we take away from today’s game? KFC is now offering a grilled chicken meal according to their commercial. I must investigate this further.
I’m going to put a hold on further baseball game blogs for at least the time being. I’m obviously not qualified to write about this sport. Even for all my years of watching, I still don’t know what a slugging percentage measures. If I feel compelled, I’ll put something up, but I don’t want watching baseball to become a labor for me. Speaking of laborious, Event Two of the double header is on deck.
J.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Vacation
I'm on vacation next week. While I plan on writing, I won't have Internet access to post anything.
I'd like to put up a link to my previous blog on MySpace, but I don't have access to it at the moment. I'm Jerry in Las Cruces, New Mexico, if that helps you track me down there. Warning: there are some very opinionated political pieces there.
I also post under jdh417 at an Archie Comics fansite. I've posted reviews and even a short fanfic in the forum in their respective board categories. Why am doing reviews of Archie Comics? That might require a blog entry in itself.
http://www.archiefans.com/
I'd like to put up a link to my previous blog on MySpace, but I don't have access to it at the moment. I'm Jerry in Las Cruces, New Mexico, if that helps you track me down there. Warning: there are some very opinionated political pieces there.
I also post under jdh417 at an Archie Comics fansite. I've posted reviews and even a short fanfic in the forum in their respective board categories. Why am doing reviews of Archie Comics? That might require a blog entry in itself.
http://www.archiefans.com/
Monday, April 13, 2009
NASCAR Off week: Flashback 2005—Newsflash: Fontana, California
NASCAR's most popular driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was virtually eliminated from the "Chase," the racing series' playoff, as of Sunday night's race. However, in a bid to satisfy his legions of fans, NASCAR has ordered that all ten drivers who do make the Chase to change their names to Earnhardt Jr., adopt Budweiser as their primary sponsor, and to change their car number to #8. When NASCAR president, Mike Helton, was asked if this move might create confusion among the fans watching the race, he replied, "After a few Bud's, most NASCAR fans are seeing double or triple anyway.
Current championship leader, Tony Earnhardt, Jr. (formerly known as Tony Stewart) was his usual outspoken self, "I don't like it and it kind of sucks for my regular sponsor, but my merchandise sales have really taken off. As long as they get my name more-or-less right on the trophy at the end of the season, I really can't complain though."
******
And here I am recycling material. I am a “green” blogger. Yes, I really did write that four years ago. I like Junior, but Junior fans are such an easy target.
After I posted this (on my then current blog), my friend Sandi, made this rather earnest reply:
“Now, this doesn't seem right to me. If he didn't make it, then it's his problem. It kind of takes away some of the glory from the people who did make it, in my opinion. Bottom line. I think it's kind of a pussy move. I now officially don't like Dale Earnhart Jr.”
Posted by Sandi on Monday, September 26, 2005 at 2:19 PM
Obviously, Sandi doesn’t follow a lot of NASCAR.
Okay, my problem isn’t with Junior, nor with his fans. My problem is with the continuous Junior coverage, regardless of his position on track.
So what? He’s NASCAR’s most popular driver; he should get more coverage. I’m okay with giving Junior an extra update or two during a race, even if he’s out of the top ten all day. But, the consistent amount of coverage he’s getting is at the expense other drivers, who are doing just as well, if not better in the race.
So what? Those drivers aren’t as popular. Okay, how do you explain to a new fan why the network continues to inexplicably update a mediocre driver throughout the race? And, surprisingly, all drivers have their fans. Why should those fans keep watching if their driver’s status is never getting updated, but Junior’s is?
This argument could probably be made about any of NASCAR’s more successful drivers, that the networks spend most of their coverage on them. But, the qualifier there is “successful.” The networks should give the majority of their attention to the drivers doing the best in the standings and, whoever’s performing best in individual races, regardless of their popularity.
More than just highlighting winning drivers, it’s in the broadcast networks’ best interests to give coverage to all the drivers they can. Like I said, all drivers have their fans and their sponsors (or are looking for them). Not to mention, who knows when somebody’s going to get on a hot streak or pull off a surprise win. This way, the network isn’t completely caught off guard by unlikely circumstances.
I wrote at the end of last season that NASCAR’s biggest problem was Junior not winning. (I would recycle that blog as well, except I just discovered that had posted it, but never saved it elsewhere, and I can’t get back onto my old blog at the moment. Oops.) People would still be complaining about this and that, but they’d be generally happy, and the sport would probably still be growing.
NASCAR is a very personality-driven sport. The sport tied itself to Junior and as his fortunes have risen and fallen, so has the sport. If he starts doing better, great, but you can’t count on Junior stepping it up. The sport and the networks, need to start seriously grooming and promoting more star drivers. They’ve already got a villain in Kyle Busch. It’s time to start auditioning heroes to see if anybody clicks. This all boils down to, if Junior wants screen time, he needs to get up front and win. Otherwise, the spotlight needs to move along. Risking the alienation of Junior Nation seems a small price to pay for the long-term survival of NASCAR. If they’re just Junior fans and not NASCAR fans, you were going to lose them at some point anyway, even if he wins championships.
Don’t believe me? I used to watch the NBA all the time. The Bulls were my favorite team. As it turned out however, I was just a fair-weather Michael Jordan fan. I was willing to watch after he retired, but whatever stars they promoted afterward seemed one-dimensional (Shaq), or didn’t win (David Robinson). Then the thugs and the jerks became the face of the sport, and I drifted away. Keep in mind, every time the Bulls won a championship, I jumped up and down and was completely insufferable. I got to celebrate six championships with my favorite player and team, and the NBA still lost me as a fan. I don’t even know what’s motivating all these Junior fans right now.
Besides, given the pit of despair most Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans are in during a race, it’s really kind of cruel to keep teasing them with repeated views of their favorite driver nowhere near being in contention for the win.
J.
Current championship leader, Tony Earnhardt, Jr. (formerly known as Tony Stewart) was his usual outspoken self, "I don't like it and it kind of sucks for my regular sponsor, but my merchandise sales have really taken off. As long as they get my name more-or-less right on the trophy at the end of the season, I really can't complain though."
******
And here I am recycling material. I am a “green” blogger. Yes, I really did write that four years ago. I like Junior, but Junior fans are such an easy target.
After I posted this (on my then current blog), my friend Sandi, made this rather earnest reply:
“Now, this doesn't seem right to me. If he didn't make it, then it's his problem. It kind of takes away some of the glory from the people who did make it, in my opinion. Bottom line. I think it's kind of a pussy move. I now officially don't like Dale Earnhart Jr.”
Posted by Sandi on Monday, September 26, 2005 at 2:19 PM
Obviously, Sandi doesn’t follow a lot of NASCAR.
Okay, my problem isn’t with Junior, nor with his fans. My problem is with the continuous Junior coverage, regardless of his position on track.
So what? He’s NASCAR’s most popular driver; he should get more coverage. I’m okay with giving Junior an extra update or two during a race, even if he’s out of the top ten all day. But, the consistent amount of coverage he’s getting is at the expense other drivers, who are doing just as well, if not better in the race.
So what? Those drivers aren’t as popular. Okay, how do you explain to a new fan why the network continues to inexplicably update a mediocre driver throughout the race? And, surprisingly, all drivers have their fans. Why should those fans keep watching if their driver’s status is never getting updated, but Junior’s is?
This argument could probably be made about any of NASCAR’s more successful drivers, that the networks spend most of their coverage on them. But, the qualifier there is “successful.” The networks should give the majority of their attention to the drivers doing the best in the standings and, whoever’s performing best in individual races, regardless of their popularity.
More than just highlighting winning drivers, it’s in the broadcast networks’ best interests to give coverage to all the drivers they can. Like I said, all drivers have their fans and their sponsors (or are looking for them). Not to mention, who knows when somebody’s going to get on a hot streak or pull off a surprise win. This way, the network isn’t completely caught off guard by unlikely circumstances.
I wrote at the end of last season that NASCAR’s biggest problem was Junior not winning. (I would recycle that blog as well, except I just discovered that had posted it, but never saved it elsewhere, and I can’t get back onto my old blog at the moment. Oops.) People would still be complaining about this and that, but they’d be generally happy, and the sport would probably still be growing.
NASCAR is a very personality-driven sport. The sport tied itself to Junior and as his fortunes have risen and fallen, so has the sport. If he starts doing better, great, but you can’t count on Junior stepping it up. The sport and the networks, need to start seriously grooming and promoting more star drivers. They’ve already got a villain in Kyle Busch. It’s time to start auditioning heroes to see if anybody clicks. This all boils down to, if Junior wants screen time, he needs to get up front and win. Otherwise, the spotlight needs to move along. Risking the alienation of Junior Nation seems a small price to pay for the long-term survival of NASCAR. If they’re just Junior fans and not NASCAR fans, you were going to lose them at some point anyway, even if he wins championships.
Don’t believe me? I used to watch the NBA all the time. The Bulls were my favorite team. As it turned out however, I was just a fair-weather Michael Jordan fan. I was willing to watch after he retired, but whatever stars they promoted afterward seemed one-dimensional (Shaq), or didn’t win (David Robinson). Then the thugs and the jerks became the face of the sport, and I drifted away. Keep in mind, every time the Bulls won a championship, I jumped up and down and was completely insufferable. I got to celebrate six championships with my favorite player and team, and the NBA still lost me as a fan. I don’t even know what’s motivating all these Junior fans right now.
Besides, given the pit of despair most Dale Earnhardt Jr. fans are in during a race, it’s really kind of cruel to keep teasing them with repeated views of their favorite driver nowhere near being in contention for the win.
J.
Baseball: Astros vs. Cardinals
I’m not sure about doing a baseball bog all season. Even though I’ve watched baseball all my life, I’m not any sort of expert. For this opening weekend, I’ll give it a shot. To start this off on the wrong foot, I’ll mention that I tuned into the coverage a half-hour early because I didn’t have the right time written down. It was a happy accident, as I watched an animal care show hosted by a woman that looked just like Charisma Carpenter. Still not sure if it was an actual show or an infomercial for their sponsor. (I wonder if this phenomena will become more common in the future.)
Speaking of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” (Charisma was on both shows), I am unfortunately reminded of Fox baseball coverage in years past. They always started the game too late in the afternoon to finish before Buffy came on in the evening (a couple of times, even running over into “Angel” which came on afterward). I missed half the series finale of Buffy that way.
I have a few more complaints. Fox has stridently insisted on showing only the same six teams in regional action all season long. This culminated for me one afternoon as I watched the same two teams, starting the same pitchers, that I had seen two weeks before. Only in the change in venue prevented complete déjà vu. They also used to start coverage about midway through the season. By the end of the season when most of the division races were finished, Fox would stop showing games altogether until the post season. That was still better than CBS’ ill-fated baseball coverage. By the end of their contract, they had stopped showing weekly games altogether, replacing them with college track and field meets and such.
The last year I got the changes I wanted. They started the games earlier, covered the full season, and showed plenty of out-of-region games. That last point backfired on me. I didn’t count on them spending every Saturday showing a Yankee/Red Sox game if they were playing each other, which seemed like about every other weekend.
Well, Fox is back to the later start time. So much for watching full episodes of “Legend of the Seeker” in the evening. We’ll see if they completely revert to type as the season goes on.
Let’s get down to the actual coverage. I’m going to throw “This Week in Baseball,” in as part of the pre-game (mostly because there wasn’t really a pre-game). TWIB was a lot more low-key than in previous years. Even the show’s sponsor, Pepsi, produced a fairly sedate commercial. That’s good, given that it will be played ad infinitum over the season. There seemed like some attempt to make the show look classier. I’m not sure Buzz Brainer (if I’m spelling that right), the voice of the Disney Channel, is the right guy for the announcing job, if that’s the case. Whatever, as long as the “How About That,” segment with the great plays of the week is still in.
Like I said, there was no in-studio pre-game show. This was an expected budget cut. Instead, one of the game announcers (didn’t recognize him offhand, sorry) and Ken Rosenthal spent five minutes recapping the week in baseball, before passing out from not taking a breath for that period of time. This segment will probably need some work, especially as the season wears on and controversies and scandals appear.
I was glad to get the regional game I wanted, Astros and Cardinals. I was less thrilled to get Joe Buck and Tim McCarver calling the game. Oh, my head. Where to start?
In spite of his fine baseball broadcasting lineage, Joe is bored by the game. I can tell because of his incessant desire to “punch up” the game with false drama or, worse, trying to add to the drama. Nothing like watching the same “controversial” play ten times on replay with Joe’s questioning commentary each time. I know it’s him and not the director, because this doesn’t happen with the other broadcasting duos, at least not as annoyingly. Thanks a lot for helping to institute instant replay. The game really needed to be slowed down some more. I can’t wait for the MLB to expand this “feature” at your insistent behest.
Oh, when there’s game-on-the-line situations on the field, I’m sure I don’t need someone to go into detail about it. I can see it and hear it in the crowd for myself. Sometimes, less is more.
Tim, I apologize for blaming you solely for the bad coverage all these years. It was mostly your partner. On the other hand, I’m sorry you’re not a baseball manager. Really sorry. Because I’m sick of you trying to manage the teams from the pressbox. Tim, the outfielders can’t hear you up there trying to position them for the next batter, and if they could, they wouldn’t listen. Your fixation on the smallest of minutia of the game, little individual player actions, is insanity inducing for those of us who aren’t players or coaches.
You’ve gotten a bit better over the years. At least you’re not a stream of endless criticism anymore. I can’t tell you how tired I got your “special” praise. Somebody makes a clutch hit; it was because the infielder didn’t listen to you and play slightly over to his left. Somebody makes a great play in the outfield; well the batter just got under it because he wasn’t listening to you tell him to choke up on the bat and go the other way with it. I’d hate to be your kid and have you be my Little League coach. I’d be hanging myself by the end of the season.
Why do I put up with these two? Because I love the game, and I’m willing to suffer for it. Vin Sculley and Joe Garigola (boy, did I just date myself) could make blowouts interesting with their knowledge and banter, and they knew when to be quiet and let the drama unfold on the field. The Fox director really needs to tell Joe and Tim to “Just call the game as it is. Stop nagging and stop trying to manufacture controversy.”
Whew! I’ve been holding that in for the last few years. If I do another baseball blog, I’ll try to be more fair and call the broadcast as it currently is.
Okay, the game itself. What can I say?
There amongst the sea of red in old St. Louis
In the shadow of the grand Arch
There the hitting monster
In the guise of a man
Crushed horsehide
And the spirits of his foes
Beneath his mighty bat
Yeah, Albert Pujols beat the hell out of the Astros, pretty much by himself. The final score was 11-2, or if you’re scoring at home Pujols 7, Cardinals 4, Astros 2.
It was kind of a sad sight. Albert comes to bat with the bases loaded. Roy Oswalt stretches out, runs to the dugout, grabs a batting tee, puts it and the ball up at home plate, and tells Al to swing away. For his next at bat, I have never heard such a deathly quiet in a stadium, as the crowd collectively held its breath before he hit his next home run. St. Louis is an amazing baseball town. I did love that little story about the Cardinals having a designated rookie that has to carry Albert Pujols’ checkerboard with them on the road.
A few quick hits:
It was great to see Pudge (Ivan Rodriguez) with the Astros. It was a bit of a surprise. My $8 season preview didn’t see that coming. I proclaim it already completely out of date.
I liked the new, smaller game update graphic. The full screen ticker style never worked for me with baseball. Did this mean Fox couldn’t find a sponsor for it?
Ever so happy to see that two things never change in a baseball broadcast. One, shots of players picking their noses in the dugout. Knowing baseball players, if they knew the camera was on them, they’d stick their fingers in other places too. Two, the d*ck with cell phone behind homeplate waving to the camera. I swear, it’s the same guy at every stadium.
Fox didn’t have a player or celebrity read the lineup card. Did this have something to do with sponsorship?
It seemed like there were shorter commercial breaks than usual for a ball game. That can’t be right. There didn’t even seem to be the overwhelming over-promotion of any other Fox TV shows. I’m sure they’ll make up for this during the playoffs.
Twitter. The broadcast team is using Twitter for updates. Twitter. Seems like an appropriately named service for all the people that use it.
I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist that.
I wish Fox would consider switching to another game in case of a blow out. There were better games going on. They did this last year in their last regular season game, switching amongst several games to keep up with the division/wild card races. Just a thought.
There wasn’t a post game show, not even a little chat with the man of the hour, Pujols. Then again, considering what I think of the broadcast crew, less may have been more.
Next week, an MLB/NASCAR old-fashioned Saturday double-header. Can Jeff Gordon keep his hitting streak alive in New Yankee stadium? Will Derek Jeter’s risky tire/fuel strategy payoff in Phoenix? I can hardly wait to find out.
J.
Speaking of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” (Charisma was on both shows), I am unfortunately reminded of Fox baseball coverage in years past. They always started the game too late in the afternoon to finish before Buffy came on in the evening (a couple of times, even running over into “Angel” which came on afterward). I missed half the series finale of Buffy that way.
I have a few more complaints. Fox has stridently insisted on showing only the same six teams in regional action all season long. This culminated for me one afternoon as I watched the same two teams, starting the same pitchers, that I had seen two weeks before. Only in the change in venue prevented complete déjà vu. They also used to start coverage about midway through the season. By the end of the season when most of the division races were finished, Fox would stop showing games altogether until the post season. That was still better than CBS’ ill-fated baseball coverage. By the end of their contract, they had stopped showing weekly games altogether, replacing them with college track and field meets and such.
The last year I got the changes I wanted. They started the games earlier, covered the full season, and showed plenty of out-of-region games. That last point backfired on me. I didn’t count on them spending every Saturday showing a Yankee/Red Sox game if they were playing each other, which seemed like about every other weekend.
Well, Fox is back to the later start time. So much for watching full episodes of “Legend of the Seeker” in the evening. We’ll see if they completely revert to type as the season goes on.
Let’s get down to the actual coverage. I’m going to throw “This Week in Baseball,” in as part of the pre-game (mostly because there wasn’t really a pre-game). TWIB was a lot more low-key than in previous years. Even the show’s sponsor, Pepsi, produced a fairly sedate commercial. That’s good, given that it will be played ad infinitum over the season. There seemed like some attempt to make the show look classier. I’m not sure Buzz Brainer (if I’m spelling that right), the voice of the Disney Channel, is the right guy for the announcing job, if that’s the case. Whatever, as long as the “How About That,” segment with the great plays of the week is still in.
Like I said, there was no in-studio pre-game show. This was an expected budget cut. Instead, one of the game announcers (didn’t recognize him offhand, sorry) and Ken Rosenthal spent five minutes recapping the week in baseball, before passing out from not taking a breath for that period of time. This segment will probably need some work, especially as the season wears on and controversies and scandals appear.
I was glad to get the regional game I wanted, Astros and Cardinals. I was less thrilled to get Joe Buck and Tim McCarver calling the game. Oh, my head. Where to start?
In spite of his fine baseball broadcasting lineage, Joe is bored by the game. I can tell because of his incessant desire to “punch up” the game with false drama or, worse, trying to add to the drama. Nothing like watching the same “controversial” play ten times on replay with Joe’s questioning commentary each time. I know it’s him and not the director, because this doesn’t happen with the other broadcasting duos, at least not as annoyingly. Thanks a lot for helping to institute instant replay. The game really needed to be slowed down some more. I can’t wait for the MLB to expand this “feature” at your insistent behest.
Oh, when there’s game-on-the-line situations on the field, I’m sure I don’t need someone to go into detail about it. I can see it and hear it in the crowd for myself. Sometimes, less is more.
Tim, I apologize for blaming you solely for the bad coverage all these years. It was mostly your partner. On the other hand, I’m sorry you’re not a baseball manager. Really sorry. Because I’m sick of you trying to manage the teams from the pressbox. Tim, the outfielders can’t hear you up there trying to position them for the next batter, and if they could, they wouldn’t listen. Your fixation on the smallest of minutia of the game, little individual player actions, is insanity inducing for those of us who aren’t players or coaches.
You’ve gotten a bit better over the years. At least you’re not a stream of endless criticism anymore. I can’t tell you how tired I got your “special” praise. Somebody makes a clutch hit; it was because the infielder didn’t listen to you and play slightly over to his left. Somebody makes a great play in the outfield; well the batter just got under it because he wasn’t listening to you tell him to choke up on the bat and go the other way with it. I’d hate to be your kid and have you be my Little League coach. I’d be hanging myself by the end of the season.
Why do I put up with these two? Because I love the game, and I’m willing to suffer for it. Vin Sculley and Joe Garigola (boy, did I just date myself) could make blowouts interesting with their knowledge and banter, and they knew when to be quiet and let the drama unfold on the field. The Fox director really needs to tell Joe and Tim to “Just call the game as it is. Stop nagging and stop trying to manufacture controversy.”
Whew! I’ve been holding that in for the last few years. If I do another baseball blog, I’ll try to be more fair and call the broadcast as it currently is.
Okay, the game itself. What can I say?
There amongst the sea of red in old St. Louis
In the shadow of the grand Arch
There the hitting monster
In the guise of a man
Crushed horsehide
And the spirits of his foes
Beneath his mighty bat
Yeah, Albert Pujols beat the hell out of the Astros, pretty much by himself. The final score was 11-2, or if you’re scoring at home Pujols 7, Cardinals 4, Astros 2.
It was kind of a sad sight. Albert comes to bat with the bases loaded. Roy Oswalt stretches out, runs to the dugout, grabs a batting tee, puts it and the ball up at home plate, and tells Al to swing away. For his next at bat, I have never heard such a deathly quiet in a stadium, as the crowd collectively held its breath before he hit his next home run. St. Louis is an amazing baseball town. I did love that little story about the Cardinals having a designated rookie that has to carry Albert Pujols’ checkerboard with them on the road.
A few quick hits:
It was great to see Pudge (Ivan Rodriguez) with the Astros. It was a bit of a surprise. My $8 season preview didn’t see that coming. I proclaim it already completely out of date.
I liked the new, smaller game update graphic. The full screen ticker style never worked for me with baseball. Did this mean Fox couldn’t find a sponsor for it?
Ever so happy to see that two things never change in a baseball broadcast. One, shots of players picking their noses in the dugout. Knowing baseball players, if they knew the camera was on them, they’d stick their fingers in other places too. Two, the d*ck with cell phone behind homeplate waving to the camera. I swear, it’s the same guy at every stadium.
Fox didn’t have a player or celebrity read the lineup card. Did this have something to do with sponsorship?
It seemed like there were shorter commercial breaks than usual for a ball game. That can’t be right. There didn’t even seem to be the overwhelming over-promotion of any other Fox TV shows. I’m sure they’ll make up for this during the playoffs.
Twitter. The broadcast team is using Twitter for updates. Twitter. Seems like an appropriately named service for all the people that use it.
I’m sorry. I couldn’t resist that.
I wish Fox would consider switching to another game in case of a blow out. There were better games going on. They did this last year in their last regular season game, switching amongst several games to keep up with the division/wild card races. Just a thought.
There wasn’t a post game show, not even a little chat with the man of the hour, Pujols. Then again, considering what I think of the broadcast crew, less may have been more.
Next week, an MLB/NASCAR old-fashioned Saturday double-header. Can Jeff Gordon keep his hitting streak alive in New Yankee stadium? Will Derek Jeter’s risky tire/fuel strategy payoff in Phoenix? I can hardly wait to find out.
J.
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