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The Blair NASCAR Project
by Steve Wingate
July 7th, 2001: Three amateur filmmakers, armed only with VHS camcorders and a cooler of beer, entered the untamed wilds of Daytona's infield to film the Pepsi 400 for NBC. Once the fans saw the fruits of their labor, they were never heard from again. This is their story.
Am I the only one who feels this way? I suppose NBC just needs a little practice, but jeez, that was awful. The calling of the race wasn't that bad (great to hear Benny Parsons again) but the filming was terrible. There were so many out of focus shots, shaky camera angles, overexposed-looking shots, and blackouts that I almost thought I really was watching the Blair Witch project. Here's some behind-the-scenes dialog from Saturday's episode:
Cameraman #1: Psst! Hey! Dude! What's this flashin' red light mean?
Cameraman #2: Aw, dude! That's the battery light. We gotta change it.... gimmie the camera.
Cameraman #1: Dude, I'm filmin' Dale Jr right now. I sure wish he'd drive slower, I can't keep up with 'im.
Cameraman #2: Ok, well hold still then, I'll change it... we'll be off the air for just a second or two. Here dude, hold my beer.
(Race fans at home are now treated to a green screen while the filmmakers change batteries.)
Cameraman #1: Think anybody noticed? Dude! What happened to the sound? Benny sounds all funny and kinda muffled.
Cameraman #2: Beats me. (Looking around for the problem) Earl! Hey Earl! Plug that back in, that's not funny, dude.
Cameraman #3: Heh heh! Sorry dude.
I could have lived with all the poor filming if NBC had made some kind of attempt to apologize for their technical difficulties, but they just carried on as if nothing happened. I do wonder if Benny Parsons and Company even knew some of these glitches were occurring. Even so, a simple apology would have been nice:
Benny Parsons: I'd like to apologize that viewers at home while we work on our technical problems. It seems that one of our cameramen, Earl Sims, fell down. The other crew members are trying to revive him by pouring Budweiser, the official beer of NASCAR, in his hair and shouting "Hey dude, wake up!"
Allen Bestwick: Benny, it seems that Earl is up and about now. They're giving him his camera back after wiping the mud off of it. He seems a little unsteady on his feet, but he's filming again. What a trooper.
Benny Parsons and company really didn't seem to have the kind of control that allows most other NASCAR sportscasters to use video to enhance their analysis, so they may not have been aware of the problems with the video. I do believe, however, that if this race had been on ESPN or TNN, the announcers would have apologized and maybe even made a little joke about it.
There were two things that made me realize that BP and Co. may not have much interaction or cooperation on the video end. During one replay, they were trying to explain what had happened on pit road between Mike Skinner and Michael Waltrip. The replay showed the entire length of pit road with twenty or so cars in for service, and Waltrip and Skinner were about halfway up. On ESPN, TNN, and even CBS or FOX, the announcers would have been able to draw a little circle or put on arrow pointing to the two cars, but NBC did nothing to enhance the announcer's analysis of the pit road scuffle. They just left us staring at pit road, trying to pick out one speck from another. That must have been frustrating for those guys in the booth.
The second indication came at the end of the race while BP and Co. were trying to determine what had happened with Tony Stewart crossing the yellow line. Any other network that has broadcast a NASCAR race would have been able to come up with a decisive ten or fifteen second video clip cued to just the right point. NBC provided BP and Co. with two laps of footage that didn't show Stewart in frame half the time, then ended up not proving a thing.
The one good thing I can say about NBC's coverage is that they did a great job covering the "Big One" and the post race "Who Needs Victory Lane, Anyway?" celebration between DEI and RCR. That was the best, and of course the most fitting tribute to Dale Earnhardt I've seen all year. Who better than his own son to turn donuts in the infield grass at Daytona? I could just feel Dale Jr's euphoria as he stood on top of his car, pumping his fists in victory in front of the jubilant Daytona crowd as his friend and teammate Michael Waltrip drove up to join him. Victory Lane almost seemed like an afterthought after all that. And by the way, who was that guy asking Earnhardt Jr if he had cried? Who gave him the OK to ask such a personal question? Dale Jr, like his father, seldom wears his heart on his sleeve no matter what the situation, and certainly isn't going to give a straight answer to such a silly question.
It's pretty obvious that NBC has got some serious work to do, serious work they should have already finalized. And one more thing.... did anybody see the guy in the stands with one of those cutesy little signs they always seem to focus in on during the broadcast? It said N-B-C vertically with the letters spelling out "NASCAR's Best Coverage." How did he know? He was at the race, how could he know? Did he have a teleprompter? Is he psychic? Did it come to him in a dream? Did someone pay him to wave that sign? Does he know something we don't? Whatever the reason, he sure seemed to be proud of NBC's coverage.
At least until he sees the tape delay, anyway.
2001 Car Guy of Benchfield