NASCAR + Radio: Someone Please Explain
Can someone explain NASCAR on the radio to me, please? No, seriously. I'm not trying to be an a-hole. I just don't get it...at all...like not even a little bit.
You see, I just returned from a little weekend roadtrip with the fiancee. We hit up out alma maters, showed each other where some of our formative years disappeared and droned on about all those hell-raising nights we spent tearing up our respective campuses (mo matter that we couldn't even stick around to close out the bar by night two of the tour).
Anyway, this little trek took us through a good portion of upstate New York and a healthy little chunk of rural PA on a lovely Sunday morning and afternoon. And aside from the rolling hills and green for as far as the eye could see, there was one constant - NASCAR on the radio dial. AM. FM. High frequencies. Low frequencies. It was everywhere.
In areas where no identifiable human sounds could be located on the airwaves, the race at Pocono came through in sparkling clarity. So, I tried to listen. Really, I did. Truth be told, I had no choice. I needed some sort of noise to keep me awake and alert. But this wasn't it. I just couldn't take it. And the more I thought about it, the more I want someone to try to explain to me how radio "play-by-play" of such an event could keep one engaged for hours at a time.
This isn't a knock on the sport or its fans. This is not a post dedicated to questioning the entertainment value of what is arguably America's favorite spectator sport. I've been to Daytona, and I can get some of the appeal. I can appreciate how tracks in Watkins Glen and the Poconos are jam-packed come race day. But even if Gus Johnson was manning the mic, my mind just can't wrap itself around NASCAR on the radio. 200 laps of racing. On the radio.
I don't know. They say to each their own, and I completely agree. Heck, I'm sure there are plenty of NASCAR fans who would rather watch paint dry than listen to a baseball telecast on the radio. But if anyone can break this one down for me, I'm all ears.
Labels:
NASCAR on radio,
NASCAR Poconos
4 comments:
This is a knock on the sport and its fans: NASCAR is awful. It is not a sport when you use a machine to ride around in circles 200 times. Where is the athletic ability? Nascar makes soccer look exciting and soccer is like watching paint dry.
Excellent post Cecilio's Scribe. And no I cannot explain it to you. Listening to that on the radio must have had you wishing to be back at work.....
Nascar on the radio is intended for Nascar fans. Just like Baseball on the radio is intended for baseball fans. Country music is intended for country fans (the list could go on and on... rap,talk radio, you get the point). I don't understand why it is hard to understand why it would be on many radio stations - apparently it gets good ratings. I am not a fan of Nascar anymore - the new generation of drivers just doesn't do it for me, but back when Earnhardt, Martin, Gordon, Wallace were all in their prime I'd listen on the radio frequently and I was always pretty amazed at the ammount of detail and organization MRN radio had. I was impressed with the broadcast quite frankly. I'd say the reason it was difficult for you to listen is because you are not a dedicated fan. In other words - try listening to another station you not real fond with (oldies, rap, jazz or symphony music) and you'd probably feel the same after a few minutes
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