Andrea's Angle: Dallas
February 29, 2024
Welcome back to Andrea's Angle, a column showcasing my perspective as a newbie to Supercross. I'm back from a brief hiatus - I was sick last week and missed my first race of the year! In this angle, I'm going to briefly detail the pros and cons I noticed of watching the race in person v.s. on TV.
Upsides
Right off the bat, I loved that I could yell and cheer as loud as I wanted at my TV screen, without worrying about being professional and what other people around me think. 😛
From a racing perspective, it's way easier to gain a general storyline and focus on the highlights of the race when watching on TV. When I'm at the races, I expend a good deal of mental energy just trying to identify which rider is which and where they even are on the track. I'm also usually bouncing between different riders, and when there isn't a clear battle happening, I sometimes don't know where to look. Watching on TV certaintly made the whole experience more relaxing.
To that end, I also gained a new appreciation for the TV broadcast team, especially Jason Weigandt. He has a wealth of knowledge about the sport and the riders and, when that shines through, it really enhances the race viewing experience. The more detailed commentary is something I'll certainly miss when I'm back in the stadium.
Downsides
The most crucial one is the inability to follow most battles! You can't see anything outside of what the broadcast shows us! I never realized how many key racing moments happen off camera, that really enrich the experience and make it that much more exciting.
It had me thinking... how frequently in other sports are you not able to see crucial elements of the event? It just strikes me as odd - I don't have a good solution, but I know they could do a better job at rounding out the commentary and opening up the focus from just the top few riders.
I find it especially annoying when the camera cuts away from an exciting battle or moment during the race. They specifically did this during the Anstie and Forkner battle in the first 250 heat race. Forkner was challenging Anstie and nearly passing him, they cut away during a near pass, and when they come back, Anstie is still ahead. How did that happen? What interesting back and forth did we miss?
Some of the most exciting battles are for qualifying positions, like the battle for 9th place in the heat races. It infuriates me that they rarely show those on TV! Why are we following the winner as they slowly ride their bike to the podium, instead of refocusing on the action between other notable riders? I really appreciated them actually showing the battle between Hardy Munoz and Brock Papi in the second 250 heat race, but that was a rarity and we need more coverage like that.
All in all, last Saturday gave me a renewed appreciation for this rare opportunity I have -
to attend to all 17 16 races in person. I'm excited to be back in the stadium this weekend, and I'm looking forward to seeing the action up close and personal.
Until next week,
Andrea Ruggiero
