JUST WHAT WAS THAT?!
Wow, I tuned in to ESPN to watch drag racing, what I got was John and Ashley Force present Family Ties with a little bit of racing thrown in. After 25 minutes of everyone and their brother in the Force family being interviewed and getting Ashley`s take on everything, I thought maybe they will actually show some racing.
What the hell was I thinking? Between the Force family bonding on ESPN and the 8 million graphics on the screen there was no racing to see. A crawl on the top of the screen, crawl on the bottom of the screen, the reaction time graphic hanging in the left corner and John Force running his mouth in the right corner, I had to cock my head at precisely a 32.465 degree angle to see cars on the track.
And who was the marketing genius who decided that a great nickname for Ashley Force is Nitro’s Child? Man, every time they called her that I could feel 2 million eyes rolling in their heads. To say that the coverage of the Force family was ridiculous would be an understatement. Funny but I don’t remember this much hoopla when J.R. Todd made his debut and he has consistently won races.
I wanted to see the new cars, new paint, and the racing, and after 45 minutes of the Driving Force show I turned the channel to watch MASH. By the time I decided that I was fed up and finally turned the channel I had not seen anyone other than the Force family interviewed. When will ESPN get it? Not everyone who watches racing hangs on John Force`s every utterance. We just want to see RACING. I could care less what John Force has to say, let alone his daughter.
And does ESPN realize that there are a lot more pit areas that they can cover besides the Force estate? How about Joe Hartley or Mike Strasburg? These guys are running waaay underfunded ,but there they are.
And I have about had it with hearing about how Ashley Force is only the 52nd woman or whatever she is.. to compete in NHRA drag racing. Shirley Muldowney, Della Woods, Shirley Shahan, and Paula Murphy were groundbreaking; Ashley Force is just another driver. It’s time for the NHRA to get over themselves. It’s 2007 not 1967 and it’s time they got past this women in sports thing.
If this is the way it’s going to be when I tune in to watch racing, you can count me out. I will watch the IHRA coverage where they actually show racing and don’t spend 2 hours kissing someone’s ass.
Oh and I see my man J.R. Todd won again. Now if you want to see a class act, that’s the guy to watch. He lets his driving do his talking and doesn’t have his PR team pushing him in my face. So where is the ESPN crew to interview this kid and his crew chief? Probably interviewing Ashley Force to get her take on J.R.’s win. Or maybe interviewing Ashley`s elementary school janitor.
I think I have had enough. I guess it’s time to start following NASCAR and that’s a scary thought.
Joel Bramblett
Michigan