ABC's Indy coverage anything but trashy

The merits of big events such as the Honda Indy Toronto are always dubious, especially if you're caught in any of the inevitable and interminable traffic jams.

But there were more than a few benefits on display during the ABC broadcast of yesterday's race, and we're not just talking about getting to see Ashley Judd live.

The most obvious was, for the first time this month, the word ``Toronto" was not automatically accompanied by the word ``garbage." In fact, there was no garbage to be seen anywhere in the broadcast, which instead featured spectacular images of the city and glowing tributes.

``Oh, it's so beautiful up here in the summer," gushed announcer Marty Reid, as ABC cameras showed a pretty spectacular looking Toronto skyline.

Considering the propensities of television announcers, Reid probably said the same thing about Indianapolis and Watkins Glen, but the compliment was welcome at a time when American publications are warning tourists to steer clear of our mountains of trash.

For the most part, it was a Toronto and Canada love-in as ABC cameras made Toronto look better than it ever has.

Better than it is, actually.

There was the inevitable gaffe, of course, when two ABC voices referred to the Princes' Gates as ``the Princess Gates." The fact one of them was Scott Goodyear, who was born here, was a little disconcerting.

All in all, it was a great promotion, especially when two Canadians were running one-two.

But when it wasn't showing off Toronto's charms, ABC did a pretty good job of showing off the race without hype and sideshows. It didn't focus on IRL pin-up Danica Patrick the way it did at the Indy 500, and showed Judd only when her husband, Dario Franchitti, was about to win the race.

ABC reporters also managed to capture the inevitable verbal revving from colliding drivers. There was an angry Tomas Scheckter winging his gloves at Canadian Alex Tagliani, and Helio Castroneves trying to explain how he had hit local boy Paul Tracy while boos rained down on him.

Being able to hear the crowd was a rare treat. The best moment came when E.J. Viso said Mario Moraes ``should see a doctor" after he rammed Viso from behind.

Unfortunately, far too much of the race commentary was spent on discussing who was using which tires and when. I'm sure the importance of driving with red or black tires must matter to somebody, and maybe even some viewers actually understand why, but it sure didn't add excitement to the proceedings. This may not have been ABC's fault, since the IRL apparently thinks this is a good idea.

Which may explain why not that many may have been watching.

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