Media Bias: NASCAR

There's a huge celebration going on down in Miami right now.




No, I'm not referring to Jimmie Johnson. I'm referring to everybody at ESPN. The announcers were awful throughout the race, making comments as to how every call Chad Knaus made was absolutly wonderful, just as they did throughout the Chase. And how enthusiastic and excitedly giddy they were as Johnson crossed the finish line. Heck, Andy Petree virtually guided us through Johnson's final pit stop, almost reassuring everyone that it was going to be a smooth stop, and that, once the stop was over, Johnson would cruise to his third championship. Anybody who watched this race had to notice the putrid job that "The Three Stooges" did. A job at which even Johnson's own fans had to be nauseous .

The guys in the truck were no better, giving Johnson the "Allstate Good Hands Driver Award" on a pit stop, and calling the same stop the "Sprint Monster Moment". Forgive me, but I distinctly remember Aric Almirola spinning down the frontstreatch, and keeping it out of the wall, and Michael Waltrip driving through smoke and sun to avoid the same wreck. Now that's good hands driver material to me.

And this wasn't the first time such a thing happened. In fact, last week at Phoenix, another Jimmie Johnson pitstop earned the "Sprint Monster Moment". Just a few laps later, David Gilliland's car was on top of Scott Speed's car. Now that's a monster moment. But no, they had already given it away like a free sample. They even gave Johnson a theme song, something they did for no other driver, playing "Sweet Notion" everytime he won.

But it wasn't just ESPN. NASCAR.com gave the championship to Johnson after Atlanta. That's right, with three races to go, they were practically calling the season over. And they wouldn't let off, publishing such articles as "Dispite no championship, Roush still upbeat about season". This all leading up to Championship Week. I know it seems like a mute point now that Johnson has his third straight title, but it's annoying as a fan to have everybody calling it over before it's not. Especially if the guy you were cheering for wasn't Johnson.

To all you Jimmie Johnson fans, I congradulate you. Your boy has really accomplished a lot during his short career. But it's also not fair to you or your driver for the media to gloat about him like this. It really puts everybody in a bad light. I hope that what the media has done does not take away from this great accomplishment that your driver, your driver, has achieved.