TNT NASCAR Announcer Gets A Timeout
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
There are a lot of announcers out there that have problems with various people in production and on-air co-workers, but it's rare that you hear about those issues. That however, is not the case for TNT. The network has confirmed to the Daly Planet that host, Bill Weber (pictured left), has been sent home because of a late night fight in the network's hotel....
Ralph Sheheen will handle the play-by-play duties for Daytona and Chicago with Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach alongside. TV ratings for the Sprint Cup Series race from Loudon, NH were up slightly and that may have played a role in this decision.Obviously this isn't really a big deal, considering that most of you probably didn't even realize NASCAR was aired on TNT, but still interesting to hear about. Weber must have done some serious stuff to be sent packing like that. If anyone wants to tell me about it (either on the record, or off), I'd love to hear about it.
Weber was involved in a late night incident last Friday night at the TNT hotel in Manchester, NH. It spilled-over into Weber being sent home by TNT executives on Saturday and now his release from the TV package.
TNT has been tight-lipped about the issue and gave no indication whether or not Weber would continue with the network in 2010. Here is the official TNT release:
Bill Weber will not be part of TNT's NASCAR coverage of the Cup Series for the network’s last two races. Ralph Sheheen will handle play-by-play duties for The Coke Zero 400 in Daytona and the LifeLock.com 400 from Chicagoland. Sheheen will be calling the races alongside analysts Kyle Petty and Wally Dallenbach in the booth.
Now Confirmed By TNT: Weber Out For Last Two Races (The Daly Planet)
15 Comments:
Considering Benny Parsons is dead, you might want to pick a better picture.
They could have gotten Barkley to replace Weber on the NASCAR telecast.
Bill was in some kind or argument in a hotel. No one really knows the details. I am your source for all NASCAR on TV info, Brian. By the way, lay off the NASCAR bashing, please. I have given up on so many different programs because of the way that they bash NASCAR.
You should put up a picture with Kyle Petty in it, since he is the guy who replaced BP when he died. Ralph Sheheen should have had more of a presence from the beginning with the new NASCAR TV packages.
My guess is the always fun "dead hooker".
One of the biggest problems with NASCAR in recent years (IMHO) is the broadcasting. TNT's presentation has been a step up from the dog & pony show that has been FOX, mostly by returning to actual RACE COVERAGE, not network narcissism. And LAST week's coverage was even better overall through the involvement of Ralph Sheheen. Don't know details of Weber's issue, but I am willing to guess it was ego-related. (although the 'dead-hooker' theory is infinitely more entertaining)...
According to Sirius, Weber got into a loud argument over a card game.
bill weber is the biggest douche on nascar tv, im glad hes gone
That's the deceased Benny Parsons next to Wally there, not Kyle Petty. Also, TNT's coverage is bad compared to fox but still a lot better than the amateurish ESPN and Dr. Jerry Punch who really sucks a lot of the fun right out of watching a race.
Weber got into a loud argument over a card game.
Were Rickey Henderson & Bobby Bonilla involved?
/1999 NLCS Game 6'd
Oh, and ummmm....AA? Benny Parsons is dead.
/Kevin Duckworth is Dead
//The Big Lead Meme'd
Never been a fan of Weber, seems like he takes the job WAY to seriously.
FOX may be a little over the top, but it's entertaining and informative. TNT comes across forced and awkward at times. Thankfully, it's only six races.
And don't get me started on ESPN coverage...yuck.
You should hit NASCAR.com and look at the replay of the end of the race on July 4. I thought Ralph Sheheen's call was well done, especially when compared with Mike Joy's call at Talladega for the catch-fence crash in April. The only thing I don't like is half of what Ralph said was barely heard because of Wally and Kyle screaming like it's the first race crash they'd ever seen. The chaos in the booth matched the chaos on the track, though, that's for certain.
Ralph has done a good job so far. I hope that they keep him in that role next year and give Weber a different sort of role. He does not really seem to be suited to be a play-by-play guy. Ralph seems perfect for that role. I hope that ESPN takes a look a hiring him in some capacity when they could get the exclusive contact for the Cup Series in 2015.
Looking at him, I am guessing booze was involved in some way.