Beyond the News with Katy Lindamood:

NASCAR fans are just like fans of any other sport. We complain a lot. When our driver isn’t winning we moan and groan about it. When the underdog wins a rained shortened race because he didn’t pit we call it a fluke. When driver error on pit road causes the dominant car to lose the race we blame it on the officials claiming that he was robbed. No matter who you are or which driver you are cheering for you complain. It’s just a fact of life.

NASCAR fans, this season more than ever, have made complaining about the television announcers an art form. It started from the very first race of the season and will no doubt continue until the very last lap has been driven. What have we complained about this season? We don’t like the gopher on FOX and while we understand that it’s geared toward children the clothing line, constant promotion, and cartoon have got to go. We get annoyed when the commentators can’t even remember who drives which car. We complain when the only action they are taking about is the action at the front of the field. We’re tired of hearing how much of a lead the first place driver has when those guys further back in the pack are bumping and banging trying to get one more position. Some people complain because there just isn’t enough excitement generated by the guys up there in the booth calling the shots. Sometimes it seems like they just want to get this race over and done with because it’s more boring that watching paint dry. We even complain about sponsorship. It’s only a matter of time before we hear, “this wreck was brought to you by x (insert random company name here).” I’ve complained about this all myself and have read dozens of posts about the lack of good announcers in the sport.

What do I say to this?

Stop the complaining!

Turn off the television and grab your radio. That’s right the radio. No, you won’t have pictures of shinny cars running around at 200 miles per hour to keep you entertained. You won’t get to see the drivers during their introductions or see the look on their faces when they answer some silly question posed by the television crew. You won’t have to endure lap after lap of seeing the same two cars go around the track. When you listen to the radio broadcast of a NASCAR race you have to imagine all these things, but that’s part of what makes it great. You get a feel for the emotion that’s going on when a driver is interviewed in victory lane. You know exactly how a driver enters and exits the turns because it’s all described in incredible detail. You get full field run downs periodically during the race. They pay attention to pit stops other than those of the top five drivers. It doesn’t matter if the lead car is ahead by four seconds, the guys on the radio know how to keep you on the edge of your seat as the laps wind down.

You might consider it to be old school to listen to a race on the radio, especially when you have that HD plasma television sitting in the living room. If you ask me though, I’d choose the radio over television any day of the week. We sometimes forget that there was NASCAR before television stations started airing the races. We forget that it wasn’t all that many years ago that not every race was televised. Instead of complaining about the reporting we get each weekend from the track why not tune your radio to your local affiliate for the next race? The difference might surprise you.

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The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and not this website.

Katy Lindamood is a freelance writer, blogger, and self-proclaimed NASCAR addict. Katy co-authors The Biff Files, a NASCAR blog, with her best friend. Beyond the News is an opinion based column devoted to the fan experience. Katy welcomes suggestions for future columns and can be contacted via twitter.