Like him or not, Johnson is good for NASCAR
Johnson's success shouldn't detract from the sport's ratings or excitement
 Chris Graythen / Getty Images In five Chase races, Jimmie Johnson has three wins, matching his total victories from the 25 races of the 2009 regular season. |
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Once again after Jimmie Johnson's sixth win of the season, third win of the Chase and sixth career win at Lowe's Motor Speedway the naysayers started chirping again: This is boring. This is why people don't watch NASCAR as much. Wouldn't it be better if someone other than Jimmie Johnson would win?
No, it wouldn't be better. NASCAR needs a new hero. And there's no reason it shouldn't be Johnson.
He's well spoken. He's calm, confident and entirely competitive. And he's not letting the boo birds get under his skin.
Asked if his winning three races was "stinking up the show," Johnson replied Saturday night, "I guess I don't understand why people would have a problem with it. Everybody tunes in to watch Tiger win. Everybody tunes in to watch Federer do his thing on certain courts. I'm just doing my thing. I think there's a lot of fans out there that are excited to see what this 48 car is doing, and a lot of people are happy and rooting for us to win a fourth. The rest of them, oh, well."
Johnson often is criticized for being too vanilla. Also a good time to bring up Federer and Woods. Does it get any more vanilla than the two of them? (Well, at least til Federer told a chair umpire "I don't give a sh—" this season). Besides, Johnson's over-the-radio threat to drive down pit road and strangle crew chief Chad Knaus during Saturday night's race should have fans rethinking that automaton image. He is a passionate competitor.
As for the argument that Johnson is bad for ratings, just take a look at the effect the two superstars Johnson mentioned have had on television.
Thomas Bonk of the L.A. Times wrote back in 2008: "According to research that traced Woods' effect on television ratings in 2007, tournaments in which he finished in the top five had a 171 percent increase in CBS' ratings over those in which he did not play or wasn't in contention." And we all know what happened when Woods is absent — it took an improbable run by Tom Watson to make us pay attention to this year's British Open.
Sure, some of the fun is taking "the field" against the champion. In the U.S. Open this year, Juan Martin del Potro's stunning five-set upset of five-time defending champion Roger Federer was high drama, and the TV ratings reflected that. The U.S. Open men's final drew a 2.3 rating and a 5 share on CBS — that's up 35 percent from the 1.7 rating and 4 share for the 2008 final in which Federer polished off Andy Murray 6-2, 7-5, 6-2.
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But for now, fingers can point in several directions to explain the dip in NASCAR television ratings (competition from the NFL, the down economy, the complete selling out to sponsors, the questionable coverage and commentary by ESPN), but don't blame Johnson.
We're witnessing the best champion since Jeff Gordon, Richard Petty or Cale Yarborough. Whether you take Johnson or root for the field, enjoy watching one of the best racecar drivers ever. If you don't enjoy it, oh well.
Kathy Sheldon is a senior editor for Sporting News. E-mail her at .
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