Post by Katie on Jan 31, 2007 12:17:37 GMT -5
Well, after Brian had that issue in Charlotte with the All-Star, I got really sick of it, and wrote an article. That article, ended up being read by announcer Mike Joy, he tried to defend himself, but as usual with Mike vs. Me fights, it never really resolved to anything.. here's the article, I just re read it today, the last line is pretty funny now, since it ended up being true.
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Vickers Under Fire
Brian Vickers’ name has been mentioned a lot lately. Unfortunately most of the press he has been getting is on the negative side of the spectrum. It’s not that there hasn’t been positive news to report about the 21 year old driver, it’s just that with the good, comes the bad, and all anyone wants to hear about is the bad.
No one is hiding that NASCAR is looking for ratings, and with the exception of a few temper tantrums and the Kevin Harvick vs. Joe Nemechek rivalry, not much has been going on lately. Therefore, reporters have to make someone a villain. Brian Vickers had flown under the radar until testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in early May. Vickers was fastest in testing after the levegation, but all anyone seemed to care about was that he slammed the outside wall with one minute left in the session. Prior to his fast lap in testing, Vickers got his career best finish in Phoenix, 5th, after leading a good chunk of the race. However, no one really noticed his accomplishment.
Brian got his worst press this year after the Nextel Open in Charlotte. On the last lap of the event, Brian bumped Mike Bliss and drove on to victory. The Nextel Open is tough racing, go hard or go home, and Brian had no intention of going home. He wound up finishing 3rd overall and had a strong run all night. But what did we all hear about all week long? We heard how awful Brian was to ‘punt’ Mike out of the way. Media has a very strong effect on the way we view people, and they worked their magic after that incident with comments like “Vickers was unapologetic” and “that wasn’t the way to do it”.
The media attention towards Brian didn’t stop there, and neither did the negativity. While watching the Coke 600 over the weekend, I noticed that Brian wasn’t exactly acknowledged while he led very much, even though he led the most laps of anyone and they had plenty of chances to talk about his dominant performance. However, when Biffle was forced to the grass during a pit stop, commentators were quick to point the finger at Brian for Greg’s no big deal misfortune. I will acknowledge that they didn’t completely ignore Brian’s performance, however, it was only when they were speaking of Hendrick Motor Sports as a whole that they mentioned Vickers.
What threw me off, was that while Brian was leading, they even found a way to turn that into a negative. They felt that the only reason Brian has been performing well is because his seat at HMS is in jeopardy. Has anyone ever thought that someone could just have.. I don’t know.. talent? A spokesman for HMS has denied this brand new rumor, saying that Brian is in no way shape or form in jeopardy of losing his ride. Silly season just keeps getting sillier doesn’t it?
Then came lap 377. Vickers was involved in a big wreck along with Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick. The boys in the booth were gleefully blaming the incident on Brian. Vickers took blame for the accident when he was interviewed, making it hard for reporters to find a way to bash him. But, they always have next week to find something to complain about. Next thing you know they will be claiming foul play when he wins his first race.
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Vickers Under Fire
Brian Vickers’ name has been mentioned a lot lately. Unfortunately most of the press he has been getting is on the negative side of the spectrum. It’s not that there hasn’t been positive news to report about the 21 year old driver, it’s just that with the good, comes the bad, and all anyone wants to hear about is the bad.
No one is hiding that NASCAR is looking for ratings, and with the exception of a few temper tantrums and the Kevin Harvick vs. Joe Nemechek rivalry, not much has been going on lately. Therefore, reporters have to make someone a villain. Brian Vickers had flown under the radar until testing at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in early May. Vickers was fastest in testing after the levegation, but all anyone seemed to care about was that he slammed the outside wall with one minute left in the session. Prior to his fast lap in testing, Vickers got his career best finish in Phoenix, 5th, after leading a good chunk of the race. However, no one really noticed his accomplishment.
Brian got his worst press this year after the Nextel Open in Charlotte. On the last lap of the event, Brian bumped Mike Bliss and drove on to victory. The Nextel Open is tough racing, go hard or go home, and Brian had no intention of going home. He wound up finishing 3rd overall and had a strong run all night. But what did we all hear about all week long? We heard how awful Brian was to ‘punt’ Mike out of the way. Media has a very strong effect on the way we view people, and they worked their magic after that incident with comments like “Vickers was unapologetic” and “that wasn’t the way to do it”.
The media attention towards Brian didn’t stop there, and neither did the negativity. While watching the Coke 600 over the weekend, I noticed that Brian wasn’t exactly acknowledged while he led very much, even though he led the most laps of anyone and they had plenty of chances to talk about his dominant performance. However, when Biffle was forced to the grass during a pit stop, commentators were quick to point the finger at Brian for Greg’s no big deal misfortune. I will acknowledge that they didn’t completely ignore Brian’s performance, however, it was only when they were speaking of Hendrick Motor Sports as a whole that they mentioned Vickers.
What threw me off, was that while Brian was leading, they even found a way to turn that into a negative. They felt that the only reason Brian has been performing well is because his seat at HMS is in jeopardy. Has anyone ever thought that someone could just have.. I don’t know.. talent? A spokesman for HMS has denied this brand new rumor, saying that Brian is in no way shape or form in jeopardy of losing his ride. Silly season just keeps getting sillier doesn’t it?
Then came lap 377. Vickers was involved in a big wreck along with Bill Elliott, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Kevin Harvick. The boys in the booth were gleefully blaming the incident on Brian. Vickers took blame for the accident when he was interviewed, making it hard for reporters to find a way to bash him. But, they always have next week to find something to complain about. Next thing you know they will be claiming foul play when he wins his first race.
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Thanxz Kkay