Rick,
That is my point - we may or may not appreciate his knowledge (or lack thereof with muscle cars) or sense of humor (GE company car jokes for example), BUT, in this day and age where people attack one another for various reasons based on perception alone I did not think the
remark was warranted. That, IMHO, was a personal attack and it seemed as if everybody was more than willing to jump on the bandwagon.
All I am saying that I know the guy, and he is a good guy and means well. They did not hire him for his knowledge, they hired him because he is a racing legend, well spoken, funny, and is a good "color" guy. BJ is a spectacle, and Speed wants their broadcast to carry that into people's homes. Even you have to admidt that DeCadenet is sometimes entertaining and see how he could get non-car people to watch = ratings!
What I find appaling is the real "color" guy for most auctions, the guy who reads off details of the car and history, ie, color guy intros the car, auctioneer takes over, bidding slows, color guy stirs up the crowd again "One Of FIFTY ladies and gentlemen!" , then back to the auctioneer. IMHO, there is only one guy who ever did that job justice, Ed Lucas. He is a car guy, was at BJ for years and was dismissed maybe 2 years ago. I think it does the cars a huge disservice to have a color guy fumble around and give bad info and screw up descriptions to the BIDDERS who are physically at the auction to buy a particular car.
Another point I tried to make was nobody knows everything about all cars. Your area of expertise would not include pre-war cars or European sports cars, I would guess. The announcers for Speed, Keith Martin, DeCadenet, Yates, Varsha, etc., are there to try to cover a wide spectrum of cars. They are close most of the time. Except Yates, who should be put out of his misery. LOL.
Hey, enjoy BJ for what it is - reality TV at its best. If DeCadenet ticks you off, hit Mute. You know more about muscle cars than he does, it is not as if you are watching for educational purposes! Or, take it with a grain of salt and realize the bidders can not hear the broadcast.
I think you know what I was getting at... we all need to be a little less harsh on people we don't agree with or don't even know. Like Charley. I thought he was a jackass before I met him, but never said it. Now that I know him, I feel justified in saying "Charley is a jackass". The thing hit me the wrong way, sorry.
Colin