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The Kiwis are up 3 - 0 in the LV finals. Sure hope that they go all the way and take the Cup back to Auckland!
Derek Crawford Chief Measurer C25-250 2008 Previous owner of "This Side UP" 1981 C-25 TR/FK #2262 Used to have an '89 C22 #9483, "Downsized" San Antonio, Texas
Pretty hard to bet against them--two horizon jobs, one with a won start and the other not--I think Red Moon is toasted and buttered. Alingy (sp?) must be watching with some concern!
It is broken because the media coverage is broken. Crappy TV, crappy radio, crappy net and then even when ther is coverage there are crappy announcers. I don't know the exact numbers but the VS Network isn't the first network cable providers try and grab when they rearrange thier offerings.
As for the announcers - It is almost as bad as Gary Jobson's Key west and Miami Acura announcing. I'd bet less than 1% of our country has an interest in sailing. You can't do color commentary or play by play on an event such as this without defining terminology, pulling out the John Madden Telestrator and explaining the rules. Hell, even the WSOP has the little pop up icons that explain Big Slick, the river and a pocket pair. I guess you could say that Tucker Thompson did a little of this, but not very well. ESPN does a better job with Sunday Curling, hell A&E does a better job with Flip this House. Better yet, they make the World's Strongest man competition interesting. It's not as if the A Cup authorities had a lack of cameras.
If they could put together a decent show, drama and all I think you could get the country behind it (hell America is a band wagon country for just about everything else...why not sailing.) Once you have this people would consider it not to be broken.
Then air the heck out of it in the wee hours. Before you know it there will be guys waiting on the docks to go <s>crab fishing</s>...errr...wrong show...racing every Wednesday and people like Phil Trintner will be a household name. After all - how many of you guys know who Daniel Negraneau, Sig Hanson and Magnus Ver Magnussen are?
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Champipple</i> <br />Hell, even the WSOP has the little pop up icons that explain <u>Bick Slick</u>, the river and a pocket pair.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
That's big slick (AK)...pay closer attention to the pop ups!
For me it is broken because it has no sense of national pride. Bless the British for sticking with it for so many years, they kept coming back with better boats and we had to respond. Finally the Aussies came with a best boat and we were glad for them. The NZs came hard and proud then I think it was Dickson would sold out to the highest bidder and damned his soul in the process. The deed of gift has been altered and amended and the race is dead. Why would I find any pride in Oracle winning? At least the Swiss are beating everyone at their own convoluted game and they should feel some pride in that. Also the ACC boats suck, I don't care who has the best tactician, I want to know who has the best engineers and builders. All this is is Nascar on the water. Even gates are stupid. I voted broken and believe it, I would rather watch a beer race any time.
Interestingly, for those who don't particularly like or agree with the vast commercialization surrounding today's America's Cup with all the corporate logos and such splashed about, the concept of using the race as an advertisement is a rather old idea.
From the history of the America's Cup...
<i>One of the most famous and determined challengers was Scottish tea baron Sir Thomas Lipton. Between 1899 and 1930 he mounted five challenges, all in yachts named Shamrock, two of which were designed by William Fife. One of Lipton's motivations for making so many challenges was the publicity that racing generated for his Lipton Tea company,...</i>
Well, leave it to a newly-minted stinkpotter to say it: I'm enjoying the coverage. They explain just enough to bring in the people who know sailing but not necessarily racing, but not so much as to annoy the people who know a little about racing. America is never going to be interested in sailboat racing--we don't even have the patience to watch soccer. (Too slow, and not enough scoring.) And trying to explain all of the rules governing the prestart would be like trying to explain baseball to an Egyptian. (Try that some time--I have.) Watching sailing is too much like watching paint dry for most.
I also enjoy being able to correct the announcers now and then--for example, when they say Luna Rosa is losing 1-2 boatlengths on every jibe... (Nobody mentions that NZ loses the same when they cover, as they always do, assuming there really is that much loss in speed on a downwind jibe.) That was more fun than correcting Bryant Gumble on Monday Night Football--he was just annoying! ("So Cleveland gives up the ball on downs... The punter is coming onto the field.")
I'm guessing that until the American market shows a little interest, which is unlikely, this is as good as its gonna get. Be glad we're seing it at all. A bunch of fishermen are pissed off about it.
I do wish they'd go back to national crews only. Not necessarily boatbuilding and sailmaking (like they used to)--the technology is too advanced these days for very many countries to be able to compete that way... But keep the skipper, tactician, and all the gorillas from the syndicate's country. Then New Zealand would probably take their rightful place as the permanent home of the Americas Cup.
Whichever network carries the Cup should beg, borrow, steal or just bribe the racing announcer from NZTV(I think his name is Montgomery). He makes John Madden sound as boring as John Kerry!
I have an idea that can't miss. Have the Cup races in the Bering sea. The boats have to complete the circuit and catch a minimum number of King Crab in order to win. I can hear it now "Meanwhile, one hundred miles North of Dutch Harbor the New Zealand boat is being battered by high seas as the crew wrestles with a line of crab pots."
Man, I would definitely watch that! And to make it more interesting...every boat has to have at least one crew member that has a court date that coincides with the estimated finish time of the race.
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Dave Bristle</i> <br />How about allowing fire hoses on the boats... Aim them right for the opposition "sewer".<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">In Bermudian Dinghy races, it's legal to bail your boat into the comp's boat!
Call me weird....but for me AC is in line with any other "top sport" lilke F-1, NASCAR, NFL, NBA..... It's a business. I like to watch the technique and skills of the participants....for about five minutes. They I go sail/drive/play my own.
The equipment is interesting, too... Non-overlapping jibs with roaches and inflatable battens... Ballast/displacement ratio of well over 80%... (No wonder one of them buckled in half a few years back.) The Swiss even have one boat that has fore and aft rudders, each with a ballast bulb, and no central fin keel or bulb. I have to wonder if the bow-steer would throw the bow-men into the drink!
Quote: "The Kiwis are up 3 - 0 in the LV finals. Sure hope that they go all the way and take the Cup back to Auckland!"
Derek - Did you notice that the Kiwis were ahead 2-to-1 there for one day in the finals, but they are now tied up at 2 all? Pundits are now saying that it is a real horserace! And you probably thought it was just a boat race . . . LOL
This is the first time that I've been able to watch the AC and I love it! It gets me excited about getting out on the water in my 250.
I would, however, prefer that the crews on each boat be citizens of the country that they are racing for. I think that might drum up some national interest if you could root for your country and your countrymen at the same time.
I thin that race 3 was probably the most exciting match race that I've ever watched. The team that has won the 3rd race in EVERY America's Cup has won the series! Sure hope that the trend continues!! Yesterday'srace was a bummer
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.