Boogity, boogity, boogity!: Fox’s exit leaves one fan feeling empty
By Jeff Gluck - Associate Editor
Thursday, June 05, 2008
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TURN FOUR COMMENTARY
It’s time to bid bye-bye to the boogity for another year, and that’s always a little sad. Last weekend’s Sprint Cup race at Dover marked the end of Fox’s eighth season of NASCAR broadcasting. Following the lead of its gopher-cam mascot, Digger, the network’s coverage now burrows underground until February.
For many fans, saying goodbye to the Fox crew after just 13 races feels like playing golf with friends who leave after the sixth hole.
It just seems so soon, so early. Why does Fox have to leave the party before anyone has even cut the cake?
It’s because that is how NASCAR’s TV deal is structured. Fox does the first 13 races and TNT broadcasts six early-summer events before handing the rest of the season over to ABC/ESPN.
Not that there’s anything terribly wrong with the other networks. TNT offers some familiar faces – and that great commercial-free broadcast at Daytona in July – and ABC/ESPN has made huge gains in its second season. But without Fox, NASCAR doesn’t seem quite as fun.
Is it silly to admit we feel empty just because some TV guys won’t be back on the air until next year? It does sound laughable in a way, and opens the door to ridicule by those who don’t have an appetite for what Fox is cooking.
Yet there’s no denying the telecasts, led by the booth trio of Mike Joy, Darrell Waltrip and Larry McReynolds, generate some sentimental pull with fans.
Fox’s broadcasts can be goofy, irreverent and self-serving. We sometimes hear more about Digger and playful insults between Hollywood Hotel residents Jeff Hammond and Chris Myers than we do about the actual cars.
What’s so wrong with that?
The ABC/ESPN people tend to bristle when someone mentions that Fox does it better. In its day, NBC folk didn’t particularly care for that suggestion, either.
So what exactly is it about Fox that makes viewers feel it does the best job of broadcasting races?
From the beginning, the network has always understood that NASCAR fans thrive on the feeling of community in their sport. The entire presentation, from start to finish, contains a fun-loving tone that others lack.
The broadcast is never meant to lecture the viewers or talk down to them; announcers talk to the fans and, most important, with them. It feels like one big conversation that makes viewers feel a part of the broadcast.
Accordingly, Fox can get away with having a little fun. After all, don’t viewers tune in to be entertained? Isn’t that why people watch sports in the first place?
Just because it’s a serious, high-pressure business for the drivers and crews doesn’t mean the fans have to be overwhelmed with the same feeling.
Because of that offbeat approach, Fox excels at showing driver personalities more than any other network.
That’s important for millions of fans who never have any personal interaction with the drivers, yet constantly crave a window into their favorite athletes’ disposition.
Fans often make judgments based on which drivers appear friendly in interviews and which ones seem sour; which ones give a thumbs-up to the camera after answering a question and which ones act like it was a waste of time; and who signs autographs while walking away and who blows off their fans.
Fox knows this is an under-served element of race broadcasts, and finds more ways to let fans get to know the drivers.
In one popular prerace segment, Myers is seen asking NASCAR stars such questions as, “What’s your favorite meal?” “What’s your favorite car part?” and “What’s the greatest rock band of all time?”
That gives drivers a chance to show fans more about their true selves than they would if they were only seen being interviewed on pit road after 500 miles.
Like any network, Fox has its critics. Some people can’t stand hearing DW yell “Boogity, boogity, boogity!” before the start of every race, and some don’t like the broadcast’s entertainment angle.
Others complain that the announcers are biased – Waltrip has openly proclaimed his admiration for Kyle Busch, as an example – and some are turned off by what they perceive to be an overly Southern element to the broadcasts.
And then there’s Digger the cartoon gopher, whose image is now emblazoned on T-shirts (Fox will gladly sell them to you for $19.95 each). His weekly appearances incensed some viewers who would have preferred to hear nothing but race analysis instead of listening to the Fox announcers mention how the cartoon character was in danger of being run over by cars.
Those people should lighten up and get a sense of humor.
In the meantime, fans who already know how to have a good time will spend the next few weeks wishing Fox could have stuck around just a little bit longer.
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