NASCAR wire service debut

Like I said, it's getting better. But there's still a decent-sized group (I won't name names) that would be deemed embarassingly sycophantic if they covered any other sport.

 

And maybe if you were literate, you could have expressed that from the beginning, instead of whingin about Tony Stewart being worked in a snit because he didnt like a question and the Big Boys couldn't get the perfunctory quote you so desparately crave...
You said wonderfully inflammatory comments like "The fact is some of these podunk guys that don't know a fender from a shock absorber come in, monopolize interview sessiions, get on drivers' nerves with the most inane questions, and dress like they're from Bum-Fuk, Iowa."
They might not be important to you, because you a big shooter you are, but to smaller papers and writers who dont attend every race (which, not surprisingly, neither do most NASCAR fans), they are important.

Bum-Fuk, Iowa; Shuckandjive (N.H.) Clarion... sorry, but that tone is condescending... not everyone can be big league like you.

You're right. it is amazing how narrow minded people are... now go out and suck up to some drivers before you head back to Jackson or Ann Arbor

 

I thought you said you were done posting on this subject.

 

Tell that to Jason Whitlock.

 

Stupid is one thing and relevant or non-relevant is another. That, I would think, has much to do with whether or not some are on deadline and some are working ahead.

 

Shhhh, Jeffy came really close to the pole and is trying really, really hard to do well. That's really supposed to me important to me -- or so I saw...

 

What some big-timers forget is that when the circuit comes to the local track, it's news to the locals and the local papers of record should have access -- the same access that's granted to the beat writers. The unprofessional dress can be addressed by the track's director of PR in his letter granting credentials and then enforced at the credential trailer.  I'm a smalltown SE who has only been to a couple of NASCAR races, but everytime I've been there I felt I was better dressed than most of the daily beat writers (I certainally have a better idea on when to push back from the dinner table if you know what I mean).  In press conferences, post-race interviews, etc., I've always taken a watch-and-learn approach to questioning -- having only asked two questions. The responses were used in several major publications, so I can only assume they were good questions.  Now it appears, at least according to some here, that my rag will get marginalized next year.  Fine. I could really care less.

It will be interesting to see if this does go though next year how the editorial stance of these "small-time nobodies" will change.  I believe it could go from reporting the excitement about the major event in town, to stories on the noisy track bringing in a bunch of out-of-town drunks that clog up the roads, increase gas prices and tax the local police force.  Call it sour grapes if you will, but if that paper has a strong standing in the community, it will greatly influence how locals view the track.

 

Because, as we all know, fat = unprofessional.

 

It was in reference to an above post on third-helpings. Probably should have made that more clear.

 

Trying to get this topic back on point. Talked with about six or seven buds at papers around the country the last few days, two had not heard of this "wire service" and the others turned it down because of the perceivied sanitized by NASCAR content or the lack of credentials from the group producing the content for TSN. Someone posted earlier asking about distribution and wondering if anyone knew more, i.e. email, website for downloading, carrier pigeons, etc.? Also was told Daytona has turned down several "small" papers for credentials for the upoming 4th of July weekend, one of which had been credentialed many times before. Beginning of a trend?

 

yup
more free food for "the regulars"

 

I'd heard about this thread over the weekend at Michigan and after reading it I feel like I have to chime in.
Before I say anything else, let me address this whole business about how NASCAR beat writers are supposed to be some kind of sub-species of derelicts and sycophants. It get so tired of hearing that.
Race tracks serve meals to media just like NBA teams and MLB teams and NFL teams do. The idea of paying for media meals hasn't come to NASCAR yet, but those of us who work in the sport regularly have actively suggested that because it would keep the media room from becoming a picnic area as it does at a lot of places. When they serve food at New Hampshire it looks like everybody in New England with a camera has credentials so they can eat lunch for free.
But what does any of that have to do with how beat writers covering the sport do their jobs?
Let me tell you, I work hard. And there are a bunch of people who are my colleagues who do the same thing. Just because some of you folks look down your noses at what we cover, which is your right, don't assume we don't break our butts out there. It's a tough beat, travel wise and time wise, and those of us who spend our professional lives in the garage are just as professional as anybody else.
As for this whole wire service deal, I don't know if it means NASCAR is going to start cutting back on who gets credentials or not. I do know that NASCAR is in a tough place right now. For a generation, it begged for coverage. It let people in who published a local racing newspaper that might sell 3,000 copies a month because it was starving for attention. And a lot of people like that have been coming for 25 years. Today, though, some newspapers are finally discovering that some of their readers care about the sport and the problem is how to make room for that growth and still "take care" of the people who've been there for years and were there when you, as a sport, needed them. It's also a balance because those "local" guys are the ones who come to every press conference and every small-time support race some of the tracks put on to help them make their budgets. Sports make tough choices about who to credential all of the time and NASCAR may be getting ready to get into that. It's a tough obstacle course to negotiate.
I ask stupid questions every week at a race. Every question I ask is too long. But since I've been doing this 10 years most of the drivers know what I am trying to get at and most of the time they give a much better answer than the question deserves. It's that way on any beat. If you've ever read any Dan Jenkins, I know you've all met and heard "rally killers" and "point missers" in press conferences. It happens. But that doesn't mean those guys don't have a right to be there. Tony Stewart got mad at TJ Simers in California earlier this year just like he sometimes gets mad at some small-town paper guy. How does that make him different from 75 percent of the PGA Tour players or half the players in the NFL? It's just part of the gig.