So instead of getting basic cable like all sane people should, I shell out 65 bucks a month just so I can watch a full season of F1 for the first time in 4 years. But the new qualifying format is so boring, its all I can do to keep myself from smashinhg the TV. I can’t believe I was so excited about this crap…waking up in the middle of the night to watch sloths climb up a tree would be more exciting. Combine that with the MOST INSIPID commentary this side of Jupiter, and its just a win-win situation. I know Speed Channel isn’t exactly ESPN, but can’t they get one person who shows more emotion than a zombie.
Murray walker, where are you???
Ah, the good old days of 12 lap qualifying.
At least Schumi’s sucks this year - that’s some consolation.
Yeah - I’ve been pondering these last few years exactly what happened to F1, and have come to the conclusion that its present shitness is entirely due to the lack of Murray Walker. The dear old soul may not have had the foggiest what was going on at times, and occasionally delivered himself of the most astoundingly daft utterances, but by God he made it sound like he was excited, and made you believe it too. Who are the commentators you get? In the UK we get Martin Brundle and that other guy whose reason for existence - I mean “name” - eludes me. Martin’s alright, he knows his stuff, but good lord he could put a pill freak to sleep at a rave.
Here am the Brit when you need him. Resist. Resiiiiisssst…
I have no clue who the commentators are…but I’d rather watch it with mute on - at least it will be less frustrating. The likes of Murray Walker are not likely to be seen again - which reminds me, have you ever chanced upon this site. It is rolling-on-the floor-laughing funny from the first quote.
As a fan of another much maligned-Euro sport: cycling, I can commisserate.
I’d love to shell out an extra $30 a month for OLN, but they’ve decided to cut back their entire cycling coverage back to an hour and a half a week, even during the Giro! What’s worse, I have to listen to those boring pip-squeaks Phil and Paul talk about Lance, Lance, and more Lance. “Lance Armstrong decided not to start today’s race because he doesn’t like a little drizzle, but let’s take 20 minutes out of the hour for some in-depth coverage of his newest saddle sore.” Well screw them.
Cycling.tv, it’s the wave of the future. Hopefully a lot more internet-TV will be available over the next year.
Isn’t James Allen the other guy? My friend (an ardent F1 fan) agrees he’s a tool. Not that I’ve watched a race in ages - it used to be a big thing for me, but now I’ve got better things to do. I can’t really comment on whether it has got more boring in the last few years, because that may be a symptom of “it were better back in my day” syndrome - like kids’ TV, for example. However, this is the common perception, often fuelled by a dislike of Schumacher’s dominance. However, I like Schumacher (don’t ask).
I think Moto GP has some good racing, but I don’t have any particular affiliation to any of the riders, so it lacks that essential appeal. BTCC used to be really good in the 90s, but that has also gone shit. Nascar? Champ car? Nah. You guys just go round in circles .
That’s the bunny. I wouldn’t say he’s a tool as such, he’s just … blah. Very, very blah. He doesn’t even rate a milli-Murray on the old Murrayometer. And he’s too damn keen. A wannabe, if you will, and he would.
Incidentally, I feel I should congratulate you on your username in a morbidly fraternal kind of way. Roadkill of the F1-admiring world unite, or something like that.
Ah, classics. We’ve got a magazine in the UK called Private Eye which runs a recurring column called “Colemanballs” which was dedicated to just such commentorial utterings (it’s named after a British athletics commentator who while not endowed with quite the same level of endearing daffiness as Murray, was at least his equal in nonsensical blather). Back in the day, Murray could be relied upon to constitute a good 50% of the submissions. Great days, great days.
Yes, I was a little harsh - your description is more accurate.
Ta - I didn’t realise I’d have company when I picked this. It was more on the lines of “curiosity killed the…” than roadkill, being as we’re fighting ignorance ‘n’ all.
The commentators on Speed are former F1, sports car, and Indy driver David Hobbs, former F1 crew chief Steve Matchett, and Bob Varsha, who once said at the start of an F1 race (I am not making this up) “The drivers have one foot on the gas, one foot on the brake, and one foot on the clutch.” (I sent this in to the compilers of “The 637 Stupidest Things Ever Said” books, and they used it.)
Despite Bob’s occasional slips (and I’ve noticed they’re much rarer now than they were a few years ago), I like him, and I like Hobbs and Matchett, too. Particularly the interesting technical details Matchett brings up.
As for the racing, I think the idea of making one set of tires last the whole race is idiotic. For me, changing tires at pit stops is integral to professional racing, and its absence is just bizarre (especially since they still have these huge pit crews swarming around the car, most of them doing nothing). And the two-races-per-engine rule is just as dumb. If they wanted to slow the cars, why didn’t they just restrict the aero packages? It all seems to leave too much to chance. I don’t think the guy who’s best at saving his tires and engine should win races. I think the fastest guy should win.
But at least Michael’s not winning every race.
hawkeyejo: Where do you live that it costs $65/mo to get Speed? Ouch! On my cable system it’s included in the basic package for around $30. (I think. I pay $150+ for all the movie channels, HD, a DVR, and Internet.)
That’s fine, but they really need to make us believe they are acutually interested in the proceedings. I remember in the second qualifying for Malaysia, there were a couple of drivers who jumped up places, and these morons were droning on and on about fuel loads. That’s just not cricket I tell you. (Not that it’s not interesting, but a time for everything and all that).
Speaking of technical information, the pre-race shows they have are really good…I like those for sure.
North Carolina…a friend of mine in Denver gets it for 40 bucks :dubious:
The thing I dislike about NASCAR is that the drafting and driving in packs gives leading a random quality that doesn’t seem to have much to do with the skill of the drivers. If you’re leading a train of five cars, and the second-place guy pulls down below you and everyone else follows him, number one becomes number six in about two seconds.
The problem at the superspeedways is that without restrictor plates the races get very spread out and boring. . .almost as boring as an F1 race!
So, what you said happens, but there is still a lot of room at plate tracks for driver skill, and better engineering to make itself known. I mean, for a few years there, DEInc. won just about every race at Daytona and Talladega, and finished 1-2 in a lot of those. Hendrick has caught up, but that just means that now it’s either DEI or Hendrick.
The plate tracks have about as little randomness in who wins as there is, and where else can you find 3 and 4 wide racing?
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