March 8, 2009
By Kim Roberson
Kim Roberson
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Hello race fans and happy race day!
Yet another opportunity lost on my part as I realized during a connection through Atlanta Friday how close I was to being at the NASCAR race in person today instead of watching it on TV.
I really need to consult the NASCAR calendar when I make travel plans during the season. This is at least the second time I have flown through the town hosting the race on a layover and not been able to stop. Instead, I looked down on the track, illuminated in the darkness Friday night, from seat 28F on the flight from Atlanta to Washington DC.
Today marks week four of Fox’s coverage of the 2009 season. While some fans complain annually about how Darrell Waltrip is still too “Jawsy” and it bugs them to have to listen to him and Larry McReynolds talking in the booth every week, the biggest issue this year seems to be thanks to a furry rodent who apparently lives in the infield at every race track: Digger.
Personally, I don’t mind the critter all that much, especially when he isn’t crammed down my throat. Of course, I can still be found watching Scooby Doo and Speed Buggy when the show up on Cartoon Network.
Some fans, however, are looking to see if they can find their own version of Bill Murray‘s Carl Spackler from “Caddyshack” to take care of Fox’s apparent rodent problem.
Remember Spackler saying “I have to laugh, because I've outsmarted even myself. My enemy, my foe, is an animal. In order to conquer the animal, I have to learn to think like an animal. And, whenever possible, to look like one. I've gotta get inside this guy's pelt and crawl around for a few days”?
“Look at what Fox has on after the races...Simpson's, Family Guy, King of the Hill, and American Dad................They think people want to watch cartoons so why not put one inside a race. They have taken the dignity out of NASCAR” lamented on friend of mine on-line this week. “NHRA, F1, and Indy are all on TV also but they don't have cartoons about them, they get treated with dignity. Digger would fit right in with Monster Trucks and their freestyle but NASCAR was always a sport to me, not just entertainment. If you watch a race from 10 years ago you wouldn't see any of the Digger style crap during a race unless it was during a commercial. If we wanted to watch cartoons we would turn on the Cartoon Network, NASCAR has lost its class.”
Another person added “It was a cartoon. I don't know, I just don't get the whole concept of it.”
The concept, apparently, is an effort by Fox Sports to attract younger fans to watch the sport with their parents. In a recent interview, a Fox sports spokesman said that they created Digger and his new “Family” to bring children into the sport. And for many parents, they say it works. One man commented that his daughter anxiously awaits race time so she can see Digger, and another was asking where he could get Digger gear for his child.
Another friend of mine who was at Daytona commented that the plan is apparently working: “At Daytona there was a longer line to get their picture with (Digger) than at (Dale Earnhardt) Juniors autograph line… and we all know how childish adults are in autograph lines. “ He went on to ask those complaining about Digger “Are you saying you don’t like the camera angle for Digger or just Digger?”
The reply was “The camera angle is good, but when they put an animated character in the way of the racing it is dumb. Having a character walking around for the kids is fine, if NASCAR wants.... make a commercial with Digger so we can go get something to drink. When the Gator Nationals are on TV does some animated animal come on the screen at the start of a run so kids see it instead of what happens on the track?
If NASCAR / FOX want to make money selling Digger T-shirts and stuff great, more power to them, promote Digger during the pre-race show but once the race starts keep Digger out of the view of the track, put it down in a corner, show him in the same spot as they show the running order.......NOT in the center of the action!!!”
I know Fox is putting a lot of effort into Digger: They invest the money it takes to create their little animated shows that air each week during the race, and they had Keith Urban do the theme song for the whole “Digger and his friends” thing. However, I agree that perhaps the proper place for Digger and his friends is pre-race, and maybe have him pop-up during a replay of a car coming directly overhead of the camera. I think by now everyone knows that the camera is called “Digger”. The angles it provides are great, and I think they have a great value-added to watching the race…especially when you have a car careening out of control over the top of it. However, having Digger pop up and put out his little scream every time they show the camera does wear on you after about the 3rd time each weekend, and even I have wondered after the 5th or 6th time where I can call Bill Murray to get some explosives to deal with an especially pesky rodent.
The saying goes “All things in moderation.” That goes for gophers as well as everything else in life. Note to the folks at Fox Sports: Don’t wear out Diggers welcome, no matter how cute you think he is. You might want to attract the under 10 crowd with Digger…and it is obviously working. However, don’t tick off the over 10 crowd with the constant use of he and his family every…single… time we use the camera. Otherwise it will be as Carl Spackler once said: “In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, 'Au revoir, gopher'.”
The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.
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