What the...SpeedTV has done it again

Actually it ain't that funny because the regular speed commentators (Varsha, Matchett, Hobbs) already butcher the names of drivers and places in Europe.

They can't say Juan (they say "one" instead) nor can they pronounce Villeneuve with a French accent (Sam Posey and Rick the Fool were the worst, I think they made it "Villanuufe"). And don't even get me started on anything German. They're just as clueless.

 

Actually, I dont know how the name Michael is pronounced - is the anglicized Michael or Mikhail?

I like the way Murray Walker says "Wheel-nerve".

And I thought Juan was pronounced as "wan"???

Of course we know how ALex Yoong is pronounced right? "SLooow"

 

MS is more like Mikhail and JPM is Chuan, not One. Hey, you're from Houston, you should know Spanish!

 

I dont know about that ... all the million Juans here are pronounced "wan" here.

see here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Juan_(Byron)

 

The Spanish and the South Americans separated by a common language.

No wonder I was lost when I visited Mexico. They don't speak Spanish there; they speak Mexican.

 

I agree that American race fans are probably the laziest fans in the world. NASCAR is easy; they have pretty colors, go round-n-round for hours, the cars are covered with brand names they can find in their refrigerator, the races are almost every weekend at about 2:00 pm. God forbid that this morons have to check the TV schedule to find out the start time of the race.

What I do not agree is that we are at the merci of America’s lowest common denominator. I understand that a business is to make money, but a niche industry has a pretty big market in a country with 300 million people.
Ferrari for example has a niche market. Sure Toyota makes more money, and more cars that the average person can afford. And yet Ferrari manages to exist.

 

Wouldn't you die laughing if you heard steve matchet (sp?) yell "boogity boogity boogity"

 

Silly question you ask. It has to do with $$$$$$$. More people tune into the supercross than do F1. The F1 broadcast cost them much more, sponsors do not take up the slack. They way I see it, I am just happy to have F1 races broadcast live every two weeks, even if that means the rest of the time I have to watch Meguir commercials. Better this, than no F1 broadcasts at all.

Stop complaining, tell speed how happy you are about the F1 broadcasts 'cause you understand they don't make them much money.

 

pre-buyout by Fox and change to Speed TV

Couldn't agree more. All sports car related programming and race coverage, including F1, was immeasurably better before Fox loused up the reception! Contrary to what some believe, Fox, does not use it's NASCAR programming to support it's "charitable" presentation of sports car programming for us, if Speedvision was not profitable, Fox wouldn't have bought them in the first place.

SpeedTV s*cks in comparison to Speedvision and I feel, that we do have a right and maybe an obligation, to complain about it.

 

I don't disagree, but you are comparing apples and oranges (or possibly mangos..........).
Case-in-point: I watch an NBA game on TV once in awhile, I don't go to NBA games, I go to Hockey games once in awhile, I NEVER watch one on TV, I golf twice a week, but seldom watch it on TV......... I know lots of people with Toyotas, BMW's and 'Sayds (Mercedes for the uninformed), but NONE of the people I know that own them have ever watched an F1 race - live or on TV.

Soccer - European style - is the largest sport inthe world, but I have never watched more than 30 seconds of a game on TV, and I've never seen one in-person.
And to show how much of a chauvinist pig I am, I will watch a women's pro tennis match on TV once in awhile - depending on how good looking the players are.........

You are correct - Ferrari is a niche product - and they are constructed as such, they are not disposable like 'most' cars. They cater to a particular crowd, they make money differently than any other car company.
If their business model works for them, that's great, but not everyone can pull that off.

I also recall that F1 jacked their rates thru the roof on ESPN, and that's why ESPN dropped them, if memory serves. I think F1 then said 'Oh S---, we better find a way to get on TV in the Americas or we will have problems.........', and Speedvision/SpeedTV was the only viable choice available.........

 

Unfortunately there are no amendments that stop a person from making a fool of themselves

 

BUT...Do they even care?! It seems as though the person/persons running SpeedTV do not care about racing and more about making a money quota by playing infomercials all the time. When it was Speedvision, someone liked racing! Someone LOVED all different racing.... F Fox and their F-ing quotas and advertising!

 

I am not sure why your *****ing about the Supercross. It has been a fantastic season to date. Stick the knife in somewhere else.

 

F1 on Speed is the ONLY reason I have cable. The rest I can get through the air.

 

Just keep in mind that generally the ONLY people in an entire video production crew that know anything about the sport they are shooting, be it everything from baseball to motorsports - are the announcers, and even most of them really %$#*. I sure miss Chris Economaki, he had a clue.

Motorsports needs a few guys that are as knowledgeable and passionate about their sport as Harry Carey, Curt Gowdy, Vin Scully, Marv Albert, Joe Buck, and Johnny Most, Chick Hearn, Pat Summerall and John Madden (years ago) are (or were) about theirs. Bob Costas and Chris Berman are not bad, but they are a little on the antiseptic side (a bit too vanilla).

The problem we have, guys, is there is very little money to be made professionally covering motorsports, and I speak from personal experience. Guys grow up today watching stick-and-ball sports, so that is what they become good at (covering), there is little call for a big-time motorsports person, so folks don't go that way in their knowledge-mining as they grow up. If you are a person around 45-50 years old today, I'd bet your memories of racing are for the most part pre-1990, Because the stick-and-ball sports really took off professionally in the late '80's, and that's where the coverage is. I had to remind a big-time writer I know that Mansell drove a Ferrari at one time......

 

Tivo

 

After the winter racing drought, I will take F1 in Lo-Def and stay up till 4:00AM to watch it. It's not easy but it's worth it.

What SpeedTV really needs to do is put some F1 related programming on in the months from Nov-Feb, so you don't go through withdrawl.

 

Like others have said, Tivo makes it all better. No you shouldn't have to pay more for something that solves all these problems. That's why you drive around in a Yugo, because spending a few bucks more for a better experience is for fools.

I agree with ctkellett, my biggest problem last year was keeping up with everything. Just last week I deleted about 8 hours of Sebring coverage I was just not going to have time to watch. I still have about 5 DTM races sitting on my Tivo (shown on SPEED during the winter). You guys are banging your heads against the wall needlessly.

 

Tifosi speaks nothing but the truth

 

Tifosi12 also speaks a lot of nonsense as the day goes on. But regarding Top Gear I'm dead on.