Watching the Camping World at The Glen Sunday was not what I hoped it would be. From some of the comments that I have received, it seems it wasn’t what you hoped that it would be either.

It is hard to write this entry because it might be taken as a knock on a television partner and a track promoter. Sometimes, the truth hurts.

Let me start with the folks at Watkins Glen.

Unless it was T-Shirt Day and all the fans were handed shirts that looked like empty seats, the crowd was dismal. Folks that I have spoken to that actually went to the race confirmed that the attendance was way off previous IZOD IndyCar races there.

So the question is why?

Its easy to blame the track. Its even easier to blame the IRL. But the fact of the matter was that on an absolutely perfect summer day few showed up.

Don’t jump on the NASCAR bandwagon too quickly. The night before the Sprint Cup ran at Daytona and there were a ton of empty seats there as well.

I think the blame can be spread around. While drivers said all the right things about Watkins Glen (great track – fun to drive – blah, blah, blah ) the fact is it is out in the woods and far away from major population areas. Today’s economy has hit the fan’s wallets hard and little was done to entice these folks to dig deep and pony up the bread to celebrate the 4^th of July in the New York Finger Lakes.

It also looks like The Glen “thought small”.  Case in point.

ABC departed from the TV norm and actually covered the National Anthem. Maybe it was because Marty Reid reminded us that 234 years ago we sent the British back across the Atlantic and formed what has become the United States. The Anthem was performed by what sounded like a local tribute polka band and NO singer! Come on! It was the 4^th of Freaking July! Where was the pomp and circumstance? A bunch of track workers with a giant flag waving ? It looked to me as if management already knows that the IRL will not return and under-promoted so that they had a plausible excuse for their shareholders when next year’s 4^th of  July sees the track dormant.

Its easy for me to be harsh about this. I’m not the promoter. So for the sake of balance, let me say that this is just my personal opinion.

Now to the television coverage. Criticism stings. I’ve endured more than my share throughout my 35 year career. As most of you know, I spent 26 years working for ABC Sports and then ESPN so it would be easy for me to cry “sour grapes” and bash the coverage in some lame get even attempt for my divorce from them.

Let me put it this way. What you saw was one of the factors that played into my decision to end my association with them.

Was Versus’ coverage of Brazil any better? In many ways no. But, in one important way Brazil was light years better. My pal at PressDog.com reviewed the Glen and pointed out while many of the Glen racing moments were missed on TV at least Marty told us radio style about them. You must remember that the majority of the camera people that cover ALL the IZOD IndyCar races are the same. They just switch networks as the broadcast partners shift. That leaves the variables the talent, Producers and Director. As they say in the Aaron’s Rent commercial….”You Do The Math”

Keith “Whoa Nellie” Jackson once told me that “You know you did a good job when fans watching a really lousy sporting event say the next day, hey that was pretty good.” His point was when the obvious goes away, dig deeper and help the viewer find something interesting. Guys. You know what I’m talking about. When the clock strikes midnight in a bar you shelve that search for a “perfect 10” and the later it gets the quicker you settle for a 7…..or a 5….or……….

There were some compelling sidebar stories in that race won convincingly by Will Power. It just took some digging and some explanation. They call it analysis!  Knowing ESPN’s appetite for Penske and Ganassi, I would have settled for a little analysis of that rivalry. What’s going on at Andretti Autosport? ANYTHING!

Again, for the sake of full disclosure, it is very easy for a next day analysis to knock a product. You have seen and consumed the entire effort. It is much harder to stay on top in real time. These are just my thoughts. Maybe they are wrong.

What do you think?