Indy 500 says no to BLOGS!

bloggers unite ... tell us if/when anyone notices. and oh yeah, your mother doesn't count.

 

You ever been there?

It feels like the Superbowl when you're at the event. Coolest spectator event in sports, at least that I've ever attended. And the fans are uber-knowledgable, too.

And bloggers, back in the basement.

 

Last year when Marco Andretti took the lead with a couple of laps to go the entire place was electrified like almost no sporting event I've ever attended. I mean, it was like this surge went through all 300,000 people.

 

"Earning" your credential means, IMO, having done something that enables you to be an event and cover it professionally. Whether you've worked your ass off in the business and have a history of covering motorsports or you're a cub reporter with a paper/radio, TV station and have been given your first assignment, you still have more credentials than some guy who types his opinions on a website that five people have seen. I started writing motorsports columns on blogs and never once requested credentials based on it. But I also had ten years of journalims experience prior to my foray into racing. And I did use my blog writing as portfolio pieces to get some freelance writing stuff and I also used my motorsports knowledge as well as some past radio experience to produce then co-host then host my own motorsports radio show. It was then that I started submitting credential requests for events like Daytona and Indy because I felt I deserved to be there. And even then, I had to submit proof in the form of interviews and airchecks that I had covered their events. Earning your credentials can mean going through college and getting your degree or freelancing your ass off for actual media outlets for shit money. To think that you can just post some opinion from home and then just expect someplace like Indy to just magically credential you just because you've asked them to is ludicrous and it's unfair to those in the media center who actually have earned the right to be there. That's what I absolutely loathe about the Super Bowl: the fact that there are so many people there who have no interest in the game, couldn't tell you who the starting QB is with a gun to their heads, but not only get credentialled, but get GOOD credentials. Granted, races like Indy and Daytona credential some people like that, but for the most part, it's legitimate media, not some guy who is a NASCAR expert because he watches the races and TV and then writes about it in his basement.

And thank you for your distinction between unaffiliated and affiliated...I wasn't paying attention. In my experience, I haven't seen any freelancers at Indy, or too many other decent-sized sporting events, that are there to right a story or do radio interviewers and plan on selling them post-event. I've seen a lot of people, including myself, who go there for one outlet and do some side work for another, but I've never seen anyone who just says they're media with no affiliation let into the media center...

 

It was an awesome environment. I didn't think anything could top the year prior when Danica took the lead late in the race, but there was a vibe in the media center that day that is unforgettable.

 

I missed that one. But the point remains - everybody who says, "Nobody knows about Indy Racing. Nobody cares about the Indy 500" is a gross, gross overgeneralization. It's still a huge, HUUUUGE event, and worth covering for the spectacle of it, if nothing else.

And if you don't want to staff it, fine.

But to say, "Nobody cares. Nobody knows," that's just uninformed.

 

I agree completely. I've covered the last four and it's beyond a race; it's an event. It may not be the best actual race on the circuit, but it's definitely the most dramatic and usually has a pretty good finish...

 

Skippy: Thanks for responding. FYI, most big events have a freeloader percentage, be it racing, football, tennis, etc. As long as they don't get in my way, they're ignored. Curiously, just as occasionally bloggers sometimes write something intelligent -- I'm sure you have -- sometimes the freeloader questions are more on point than those of the veterans who no longer ruffle feathers.
So what was more electrifying? Patrick leading for a few laps in 2005, or Hornish edging Andretti in the final 150 yards in 2006? For the latter, I know the press room was crazy, because the pass came at the end, in front of everyone, the first last-lap pass for the lead in 500 history.

 

Oh, it was absolutely last year. It was hard to not get caught up in the ending and revert to being just a fan in that last restart. There was the possibility that Michael could finally win, there was the chance that Mario could redeem Michael, and then there was Hornish, the guy that NO ONE gave a chance to (myself included) getting the last-second win. Good stuff. I hate the fact I won't be there this year...

 

You're overstating your case to be the martyr for NASCAR's blogosphere. There just aren't that many unaffiliated/fan NASCAR blogs. I've tried to find them, and I've come across well south of three digits.

 

My favorite 10 or so minutes of the year ... from the moment Jim Nabors sings to the balloon release to the firing of the engines to seeing the cars pop out of Turn 4 and head down the stretch for the green flag at Indy. The spectacle is unreal (and it's the same every year, but it's still unreal).

There never were 33 "good" cars ... sometimes, the fields were a bit deeper than they are now, but even in the halcyon days of the 1980s and 1990s, there were usually only 8-10 cars that had a legitimate chance of winning. The only major difference then was, "when will the good cars crap out." Now, mechanical failures are almost for naught, but the racing among those 8-10 cars is closer, so the late-race drama is still there.

Witnessing Danicamania in 2005 was cool, but there was nothing like the last five laps of last year's race -- especially the last 300 yards. The media center was electric -- and so was the crowd.