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Scanner Static : NASCAR Fans Speak Out
'Rescue Me' From All Those Commercials · Jess Nicholas · Wednesday June 14, 2006
Q: I’m sure glad I needed to know 1,000 times that "Rescue Me" was coming on FX, because Fox is apparently determined to tell me that until I get that show’s stupid theme song stuck in my head. Roger
A: The song, by the way, is "Come On, Come On" by the Von Bondies. Since you’re our leadoff comment of the week, I’m sending you a free copy so you can listen to it over and over and over and over and over"¦
Q: People need to stop complaining so much about the commercials because: (a) They’re no worse than they are for any other show—it’s just that racing doesn’t have commercial timeouts like stick and ball sports; (b) The only alternative is pay-per-view. And there’s no way most fans could afford the money for that. M.B. Voelker
A: I think if they could get televising the restarts down, it would cut complaints by 90 percent. Or, if they would commit to cutting back to live action whenever there’s an accident. That used to be the norm on some networks during auto racing, and I think NBC did it last year. There is another alternative: split-screening the commercials with the racing, as ABC did the Indy 500, but I’m sure that affects the price of the ads, so Fox won’t consider it. (By the way, M.B. Voelker wrote a very nice, well-researched but unfortunately too-long-for-this-space response in last week’s comments section. Read the full question by clicking http://www.frontstretch.com/jnicholas/3704/ and scrolling down).
Q: Regarding all the commercial time "" don’t the advertisers realize the people watching do other stuff during the breaks; i.e., bathroom break, fridge raids, anything but watch commercials. I’m so sick of seeing the same commercials that it really turns me off from using that product. I, too, listen to the radio and mute the TV, and I’ve found that there are really 43 cars in the race and not just 10. debbi
A: I keep coming back to this point: when people exit the race, I’d like to know it, even if it’s Terry Labonte or Kevin Lepage. Maybe I was just out of the room, but I never heard explanations of either problem. I also think someone missed a story by not noting that Cal Wells’ car stayed on the lead lap all day and Travis Kvapil brought that car home to a nice finish.
Q: When is Scott Riggs going to stop crashing people? He’s obviously a very fast kid, but I wouldn’t want to be racing around him. He still drives like a rookie. Wasp Star
A: I don’t know what’s more strange "" finding someone agrees with me on Riggs, or finding that the someone who agrees with me on Riggs named himself after an obscure album by XTC. My response to your question comes after this one"¦
Q: It can’t be too long before Ray Evernham fires Jeremy Mayfield. Mayfield just doesn’t fit in there. He’s not young enough, he’s rarely fast enough, but most importantly, he doesn’t wreck enough people. No wonder he hired Scott Riggs; Kasey Kahne needed someone to take the spotlight off him! Greg T.
A: I hadn’t thought of it that way, but you may be onto something. Aside from the All-Star race, though, Kahne seems to have improved quite a bit in the way he controls his car. Riggs is still sloppy. Really fast, but sloppy. He’s also young, handsome, and Valvoline loves him. That’s why Ray hired the guy.
Q: What do you think of the whole Casey Mears situation? I think he did Chip Ganassi dirty. G.Ruhl
A: I’m not a big fan of guys jumping horses in midstream, but in Mears’ case, I don’t really blame him. Ganassi left Mears to twist in the wind last year. He kept him hanging until the end of the year as to whether he had a contract or not. Then, he toyed with the idea of starting a fourth team, the No. 39, and putting Mears in that car and leaving him to fend for himself in qualifying. On top of that, he dropped Sterling Marlin in favor of David Stremme, a move that hasn’t really worked. You reap what you sow, and since Ganassi didn’t bend over to commit to Mears, it’s hard to blame Mears for not being loyal to Ganassi.
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