Announcers saying MPH

[NewHemi]

Having done a fair bit of radio, and lots of voices for training material, I hardly ever fault non pro announcers for their idiosyncrasies. Mostly they are trying to be as clear as possible, even when clarity is not an issue.

When I am listening to racing, at the track or on the radio, I am always more intensely interested in the numbers themselves, and can mentally sort out their application; ET, or mph. So I don't even hear that part.

But what the heck we all have issues that tweak our beaks... so even if it is you, that's OK, it isn't fatal.

David
The New Hemi Guy

[Geerhead55]

After reading this thread,I've got to admit its got me going back and thinking since I spent 11 hours on the mike last Saturday at our local track. I usually don't use the term MPH. I might occasionaly say Miles Per Hour,, but more often Miles An Hour, when I mention anything beyond the actual number. Sometimes I'll catch myself saying something like "Joe ran a 9.88 at a hundred and forty and change." or something like that. If somebody dumps alot of speed on a particular run I'll mention it, but the fans can see the scoreboards too so if they're paying attention they already know it.
For the most part from the burnout box to the stage lights is when I've got to give each driver their "15 seconds" of fame and I try to do that. If I can point something out about a particular type of car or bring out a historical reference I will, for instance one of our bracket guys has the former Yuill Bros. Pro Stock Monza and I'll bring that up among other tidbits. Its all about entertaining the crowd and you try not to get too repititious, but every announcer has their style,,some you like and some you don't.
If I mispronounce someone's name,,I hear about it or get someones name completely wrong, there they go again, even if the wrong name appears on my screen, courteousy of the spotter who types in the info.
I enjoy doing it, but sometimes its no bed of roses, especially if there is "issues" with the staff in the tower. I've only been doing this about 5 seasons,,not nearly as much as the pros and others out there.
My 2 cents........................Danny Durham

[Mark Yacavone]

I agree,Danny.
When I was at Edgewater, I used to announced the Friday night T&T sometimes.
Most of the time , I would just say " left lane gets there first with a 12.91 @ 103" no matter what the tenths are or "right at 104 miles an hour".
I figured anybody who really cares what the tenths were could see it on the boards or the time slip, if they really had to know. Otherwise, all those number are boring to most folks in the stands.

[WheelsUp]

Originally Posted by Mark Yacavone

I agree,Danny.
When I was at Edgewater, I used to announced the Friday night T&T sometimes.
Most of the time , I would just say " left lane gets there first with a 12.91 @ 103" no matter what the tenths are or "right at 104 miles an hour".
I figured anybody who really cares what the tenths were could see it on the boards or the time slip, if they really had to know. Otherwise, all those number are boring to most folks in the stands.

Dead on.

[BobUnkefer]

"To Miles Per Hour or not, that is the question........"

Announcing a race demands many variables be accounted for. Bracket race, divisional, or national and to an extent what day it is...... yes really.

At a bracket race or division race that has a light spectator turnout, your audience is the racers themselves, there you can roll through the numbers and call out "10.56 @ 124 for Joe Bob to get the win in the right lane." simple and quick right?, but you have to identify the driver, not just left or right lane.... because the majority of your audience is seeing the race through your eyes while they're working on their car or helping a buddy back in the pits. they are spectating via the words the announcer says, not sitting in a bleacher watching.
At a national event (or any race with a high spectator count, i.e. Norwalk's divisional a few weeks back) your parameters change. Now you are not only announcing to the racers themselves, now you have to account for John Q Public that 'may not' be as aware of what the numbers mean as a racers does. Now saying miles an hour becomes a little more critical in trying to provide the paying spectator with knowledge and understanding of what they are actually seeing.
What day it is????? A national event crowd on Friday is in many ways different from the crowd that shows up on Sunday. Friday;s crowd will be more attuned to the sport, the hard core fans if you will, while the Sunday audience consists of the casual fans drawn in by the TV or Radio ad or maybe they won or were given some tickets..... and as an announcer your job is to recognize that difference and be able to entertain both the casual as well as the hard core fan.
Being able to please both at the same time is hard, as evidenced by the conversations on this thread. Frey and Alan do it well, Leo & Lewis can handle it to, I like to think that I was included in that group when I was part of the tour.
It's TOUGH to please everyone all the time and as a racer we tend to be hard critics when we are back in the pits trying to get ready for the next round yet wanting to hear how the guy pitted next to us just did in his car..... you get the idea. I've been on both sides of the coin.... announcing just about every type of race there is, but I've also been the racer back in the pits, trying to keep up with what's happening via the announcer.
If you stop and think about it, an announcer has to describe the same thing hundreds of times in a weekend race, in as many different & entertaining ways as possible.

Miles per hour or not, just give me an announcer that can paint the picture with his words so that we can "see" the race by what he says, whether we're watching or not, that's an announcer that's doing his or her job.

But hey, that's just my .02,

Unk

[Ed Wright]

Seems like a strange thing to be obsessed about.

[Jack Matyas]

Unk --Shouldn't you be getting on a plane or something instead of being on here typing ............see you soon .

[BobUnkefer]

Originally Posted by Jack Matyas

Unk --Shouldn't you be getting on a plane or something instead of being on here typing ............see you soon .

Not racing...damn it....don't have to be there until Friday morning. Get in tomorrow night. See ya Friday.

Unk

shouldn't you be out taking picture of everyone in the rain or sumthin? :-)

[hookdaddy]

Wow

[Michael Beard]

Dead-on, Unk!

While we are all interested in the on-track data, it's not *just* about the numbers, but the people, personalities, and tidbits that people may not know. It's great to hear comments like, "You made Super Comp interesting. That's the first time I've ever really paid attention to them!"

I like to keep in mind those folks listening over the PA or the radio broadcast that can't see the scoreboards. Just like broadcasting a baseball game over the radio, listeners should be able to get a clear picture of what's going on without having to see it.

One of the toughest things about being in the booth is trying not to repeat a given phrase too many times. When you're describing hundreds of runs, it's inevitable that you'll fall back on some phrase. It probably annoys the announcer himself before it does the listeners.

I love announcing. Just love driving more. But, since I can't compete at the bracket finals this year, I've already got one event penciled in to be the announcer. Can't wait!