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Quiet on the Set, the Show's about to Begin! (Image
source: alamy.com)
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What's that Scott Dixon adage? If Yuhs got nothin'
good to say, then, Uhm, Decline the Interview...
As a fellow member of the fairly miniscule IndyCar
Bloggeratzi say's, as a Blogger I'm allowed to rant 'n rave with my personal
opinions instead of being all Squeaky Clean like the professional Journalists
are supposed to be.
And in what's a bit of feeling like
another of this elder Blogger's
vocabulary, i.e.; "Get Off My Lawn!" While we seem to typically be on
the same wave lengths, I'm just overly tired of his raising the flag for our
current IndyCar lead announcer, and Hence, if he's going to pummel us to death
with advocating for someone, then I'm gonna finally break cover and weigh in
with my two-cents worth, especially since I've been keeping mum on the topic
for nearly a year...
Now Don't get me Wrong! I've got absolutely
nothing personally against Kevin Lee, who's always answered my emails and even
spoken to Mwah once on the Airwaves, when letting me participate on Trackside
with Curt Cavin and Kevin Lee' during a past Blogger Night edition. Along with
seeming to be a very nice person.
It's just that I don't believe he's the
caliber of a lead announcer, as his voice gives me the creeps! Like fingernails
screeching on a Blackboard! Especially when he gets excited, or trying to pump
us U-P during the lead-in's and exit's to the countless commercial breaks.
Alas, perhaps I'm being too Harsh? But my
viewing of Open wheel Racing is from a very distinct angle, since I'm visually
impaired, Uhm what's that Mary Ellen? Oh yeah, I'm Freakin' Blind!
Thus basically I listen to motor racing when
watching events on the Telie', and therefore the various Talking Heads tonal
qualities are far more important to me in describing the action vs. the colour
of their hair and what ties they're wearing...
Now am I a professional TV Personality? NO!
Nor do I have a degree in Journalism, instead just having attended the School
'O Hard Knocks by having been an avid Open Wheel Racing Aficionado for the past
three decades.
As a 'Wee lad, I was introduced to the
Indianapolis 500 by the voices of ABC Wide World of Sports luminary
Sportscasters Jim McKay and Chris Schenkel, having never
heard the iconic Sid Collins.
Then when I began following formula 1 and
IndyCar, nee CART intensely, the two mainstay lead announcers were Bob Varsha
and Paul Page, as Varsha will always be my Numero Uno lead announcer! While
I've also become quite fond of Indy Cars last dedicated Fulltime lead announcer
Bob Jenkins, who understandably retired from TV Broadcasting, but is still a
joy to hear on the PA System at Mother Speedway during the Month of May.
Thus, like my fellow Blogger, who's name I'm intentionally
not mentioning here, I too believe that IndyCar needs a Fulltime, single dedicated
lead announcer instead of the current revolving door policy, which seems
partially intended to utilize contracted staff. But I just Don't think Kevin
Lee's the right man for the job.
And while my first choice of the potential
pool available would be Brian Till, this appears to not be an option, leading
me to nominate Allen Best wick instead, who I believe is available now that
ESPN let him go after Belle Isle's Double Header.
For years I've been purposely not tuning into
the ABC portion of IndyCar races because I could NOT stand Eddie Cheever's
Building block mentality with Scotty Somonex' Goodyear making me sleepy! Electing
to listen to Mike "Yippee-Kai-Eh!"
King and Davey Stud! Hamilton radio broadcasts instead.
And while I'm a big fan of Leigh Diffey's, this
year's propensity of Formula 1 races occurring on IndyCar weekends has caused a
scheduling nightmare for NBCSN, seeing Kevin filling-in for Diffey, causing me
to revert back to listening to Mark Graveley' James & Davey Hamilton
instead, when I'm able to spot the itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny barely discernible
Play triangle button on Indycar.com's Race Control webpage; but I digress...
As my main problem with Lee's voice is his
feigned exuberance which comes off sounding overly Fake to me, spending countless
hours mocking Kevin in a Bob Dylan Sing-song voice!
while my other critique is his dabbling into
Formula 1, which he really comes across to me as just reading someone's script,
as his gaff's seem overly large to Mwah, the last being completely missing
Michael Schumacher's amazing 91 Grands Prix victory tally when gushing over Fernando
Alonso at Indianapolis - during his
initial test outing.
Now do I want Kevin fired? Absolutely Not! As
I find him to be a very competent Pitlane Reporter, who doesn't seem to scream
as loudly as Michael Young does! But then again NOBODY DOES!
As I thought Kevin Lee may have settled down
with his screechy exuberance when watching the 48min delayed airing of the tape-Delayed
Toronto qualifying show on Peacock-lite Saturday.
Yet for reasons unknown, Kevin started
shouting profusely over Simon Pagenaud being on Pole! Only Problema was it was
the Fast-12 round preceding the Fast Six Shootout for Pole, which fortunately
Pagenaud won.
As I'm resigned to the fact that apparently
Kevin will become NBCSN's lead announcer for Indy Cars, especially since there
will be 21 Grands Prix next year. For which I'd just like to say, why are you
SCREAMING over Castroneves pass for the lead on Lap-1! As it was a great pass,
but the race cannot be won on Lap-1, last time I watched a race.
As it's a weird struggle for Mwah, since my
two favourite IndyCar voices are "Professor B," aka Jon Beekhuis
who always does a stellar job on Pitlane. Along with PT',
nee Paul Tracy in the booth, who I don't think ever screams!
But I really struggle listening to Kevin Lee,
and have typically been defaulting to the IMS Radio Network's Internetz'
coverage instead, since I can stomach Mark James far better, along with really
enjoying Nicky Salt' Yeoman's reporting...
Yet by doing this, when I can SEE where the
Bloody yellow-orangish on white background Play button is; Oh Never Mind! Is
that I'm forced to forgo listening to Jon Beekhuis &
Paul Tracy.
Along with the new Pitlane boy, "The Viking,"
aka Anders Krohn, who I'm very Hip upon! Not to mention the TV broadcast being interspersed
with 'Ol 'R's, nee Robin Miller's wit and his Pit-walk shuffles.
As I understand the need to tune into the
television broadcast, in order to pump up Indy Cars anemic TV Ratings, albeit
my Mute Button sure gets a work out from the Bombardment of Commercials!
Yet I do appreciate how Kevin lay's out for
long stretches a la Bob Jenkins to let the two drivers 'PT (Paul Tracy) and
(Townsend) 'T-Bell "Jaw" profusely!
And I didn't find Kevin so disparaging during
the second half of the broadcast once he seemingly relaxed. And I know he's a
hard worker, who strives to improve, along with trying to fill "The big chair"
of some pretty stellar past Sportscasters, so may be it's just my hearing, Eh?
Since after all, Blind people have Super Powers; Hya!
As I'll leave
Y'all with another of my long winded rants regarding various TV Sportscasters
voices I penned awhile ago...
