Monday, June 18, 2007
NASCAR Is The Most Entertaining Sport Ever
Let's just get it all out of the way up front.
NASCAR isn't a real sport.
NASCAR drivers aren't athletes because the cars do all the work.
NASCAR is only for rednecks.
Is that out of everybody's system now? Good.
Because we've all heard it before, and frankly, the same old excuses are starting to wear a little thin.
I could debate with you until I'm blue in the face about all of those issues, but at the end of the day, one thing has to come out more clearly than anything else when we talk about NASCAR.
It is the most entertaining sport in the country right now.
We'll take care of the obvious right away; professional basketball isn't even worth bringing into the debate. Player egos, ridiculous showboating, zero fundamental skill (other than a few exceptions like Steve Nash and Tony Parker) and a bogged-down, isolation-based gameplan have combined to make Major League Soccer look like a more viable option for the average sports fan.
Moving on to hockey, I would have to say that the NHL playoffs were pretty good this year, but I honestly forgot about them for days at a time because I don't really watch the Versus Network...well, ever. And once I get used to all the European names again (I still miss Radek Bonk...and we can only hope that someday, Miroslav Satan will be traded to the New Jersey Devils), then hockey will be pretty decent again.
Baseball is a legitimate argument, but really only because it's been around for so long. Watching things like Barry Bonds' quest for the home run record is pretty amazing because the sport has been around for more than 100 years. And the fairly common experience we've all had of going to a baseball game when we were young makes a trip to the ballpark another way to remind ourselves of the good old days.
But if we can put the nostalgia aside for a moment, the MLB schedule needs to be shortened by about two months. If they played from June to September, with the World Series taking place before Labor Day, I would watch more games because each game would be more valuable, in terms of importance for the team and in terms of opportunity for the fans. As it is, I don't really care all that much that the Yankees are surging, that the Mets are struggling a bit, or that the Orioles just fired their manager. It's only a third of the way through the season. Wake me up when we get to late August.
The main contender for the sports crown is professional football, which is the toughest sport to argue against in this particular case. But we're going to anyway, so settle in.
The NFL has three things going for it that the other sports we've mentioned do not -- they have a short schedule, they play games only once a week, and they have marketable stars. The NFL season goes from September to early February, but each week is a buildup of anticipation because a fan's favorite team only plays one game. If the Chargers played the Raiders 32 times a season (like the Padres and the Dodgers), then it wouldn't be that big of a deal if you missed one of the games. But they only meet twice, and only once here in Southern California, which makes game day a huge deal.
But for all its positives, the NFL still lacks something that only NASCAR brings to the table -- real drama.
Take for example the ongoing saga of Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaving his team, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, to drive for Hendrick Motorsports next season. He is leaving the team his late father created because his stepmother, by all accounts, would not allow him to stay.
And not only does he leave, but he goes to the biggest powerhouse team in the sport, a team that has won all but one of the races featuring the new "Car of Tomorrow" (which will be used exclusively in 2008, by the way) and has three of its four drivers in the hunt for the Nextel Cup.
Junior's jump to Hendrick is huge for him because he finally has a chance to get away from the legacy of just being Dale Earnhardt's kid. He finally has the chance to be a good driver without all the added expectations and pressures his fans inexplicably put on him. He will probably drive the third car in the stable (behind Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in the two best rides), and he will no doubt surpass any and all expectations usually put on the No. 3 driver on a team.
Hendrick's current No. 3 is Kyle Busch, a 21-year-old phenom who has shown signs of brilliance, but also signs of impatience that get him into trouble. Junior has been around long enough now to know how to take care of good equipment, and once he gels with his team, he should be a nice addition to the team.
I'm just curious to see how his fans respond when Junior helps his teammates. As I've heard from various places, they're going to have to get more accurate with their beer cans or else they'll end up pegging their own guy.
-- -- --
Well I have no doubts that you'd like to share with me what you think the most entertaining sport is and why. And I would love to hear about it. And maybe share it with our readers.
So go ahead and write to me at sports@valleycenter.com, or visit our Web site at www.valleycenter.com and click on the "RR Blogs" link to comment online.
And if you can wake me up from the boredom I'm still experiencing from seeing even a minute of this year's NBA finals, you'll definitely be on the right track.
NASCAR isn't a real sport.
NASCAR drivers aren't athletes because the cars do all the work.
NASCAR is only for rednecks.
Is that out of everybody's system now? Good.
Because we've all heard it before, and frankly, the same old excuses are starting to wear a little thin.
I could debate with you until I'm blue in the face about all of those issues, but at the end of the day, one thing has to come out more clearly than anything else when we talk about NASCAR.
It is the most entertaining sport in the country right now.
We'll take care of the obvious right away; professional basketball isn't even worth bringing into the debate. Player egos, ridiculous showboating, zero fundamental skill (other than a few exceptions like Steve Nash and Tony Parker) and a bogged-down, isolation-based gameplan have combined to make Major League Soccer look like a more viable option for the average sports fan.
Moving on to hockey, I would have to say that the NHL playoffs were pretty good this year, but I honestly forgot about them for days at a time because I don't really watch the Versus Network...well, ever. And once I get used to all the European names again (I still miss Radek Bonk...and we can only hope that someday, Miroslav Satan will be traded to the New Jersey Devils), then hockey will be pretty decent again.
Baseball is a legitimate argument, but really only because it's been around for so long. Watching things like Barry Bonds' quest for the home run record is pretty amazing because the sport has been around for more than 100 years. And the fairly common experience we've all had of going to a baseball game when we were young makes a trip to the ballpark another way to remind ourselves of the good old days.
But if we can put the nostalgia aside for a moment, the MLB schedule needs to be shortened by about two months. If they played from June to September, with the World Series taking place before Labor Day, I would watch more games because each game would be more valuable, in terms of importance for the team and in terms of opportunity for the fans. As it is, I don't really care all that much that the Yankees are surging, that the Mets are struggling a bit, or that the Orioles just fired their manager. It's only a third of the way through the season. Wake me up when we get to late August.
The main contender for the sports crown is professional football, which is the toughest sport to argue against in this particular case. But we're going to anyway, so settle in.
The NFL has three things going for it that the other sports we've mentioned do not -- they have a short schedule, they play games only once a week, and they have marketable stars. The NFL season goes from September to early February, but each week is a buildup of anticipation because a fan's favorite team only plays one game. If the Chargers played the Raiders 32 times a season (like the Padres and the Dodgers), then it wouldn't be that big of a deal if you missed one of the games. But they only meet twice, and only once here in Southern California, which makes game day a huge deal.
But for all its positives, the NFL still lacks something that only NASCAR brings to the table -- real drama.
Take for example the ongoing saga of Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaving his team, Dale Earnhardt Incorporated, to drive for Hendrick Motorsports next season. He is leaving the team his late father created because his stepmother, by all accounts, would not allow him to stay.
And not only does he leave, but he goes to the biggest powerhouse team in the sport, a team that has won all but one of the races featuring the new "Car of Tomorrow" (which will be used exclusively in 2008, by the way) and has three of its four drivers in the hunt for the Nextel Cup.
Junior's jump to Hendrick is huge for him because he finally has a chance to get away from the legacy of just being Dale Earnhardt's kid. He finally has the chance to be a good driver without all the added expectations and pressures his fans inexplicably put on him. He will probably drive the third car in the stable (behind Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson in the two best rides), and he will no doubt surpass any and all expectations usually put on the No. 3 driver on a team.
Hendrick's current No. 3 is Kyle Busch, a 21-year-old phenom who has shown signs of brilliance, but also signs of impatience that get him into trouble. Junior has been around long enough now to know how to take care of good equipment, and once he gels with his team, he should be a nice addition to the team.
I'm just curious to see how his fans respond when Junior helps his teammates. As I've heard from various places, they're going to have to get more accurate with their beer cans or else they'll end up pegging their own guy.
-- -- --
Well I have no doubts that you'd like to share with me what you think the most entertaining sport is and why. And I would love to hear about it. And maybe share it with our readers.
So go ahead and write to me at sports@valleycenter.com, or visit our Web site at www.valleycenter.com and click on the "RR Blogs" link to comment online.
And if you can wake me up from the boredom I'm still experiencing from seeing even a minute of this year's NBA finals, you'll definitely be on the right track.
Labels: Dale Earnhardt Jr., NASCAR, opinion, racing, sports
Comments:
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lol. I can tell that you have never raced a dirtbike, you might have watched racing. But, if you knew the skill level of professional motocross riders you would think that all nascar drivers are fairies. Motocross racing is infinitely harder in every way possible looking at it from any perspective. There stronger, much more fit, and can put a machine sideways, 3 feet off the ground, at 60 miles an hour over a 100 foot triple. Yes, nascar is popular, that is because most of the U.S. is poor and cant afford nice stuff, but they can relate to a chevy going in circles around a track. Its very fun to get drunk and watch cars go around a track, simple as that. I bet you love budweiser dont you, common, just admit it you like budweiser you do!!!!
# posted by 
: June 25, 2007 4:41 PM
: June 25, 2007 4:41 PM
I have watched dirtbike races before, but not often. There is a level of difficulty that I can appreciate, but that's not what I was getting at about NASCAR. If the most difficult sports were the most fun to watch, we'd have weekly Sportscenter breakdowns of the next caber-tossing event or a National Ironman Triathlon network.
NASCAR is entertaining because the drivers are fun to root for (or against), the level of skill is subtle, but way beyond what the average human being possesses, and winning a race is infinitely more difficult than in fringe racing events because of the level of competition fueled by gazillions of dollars being pumped into the sport.
Basically, any NASCAR driver could compete in any other form of racing and be reasonably successful, but if other drivers try to compete in NASCAR, they quickly are shown their vast inadequacies.
NASCAR is entertaining because the drivers are fun to root for (or against), the level of skill is subtle, but way beyond what the average human being possesses, and winning a race is infinitely more difficult than in fringe racing events because of the level of competition fueled by gazillions of dollars being pumped into the sport.
Basically, any NASCAR driver could compete in any other form of racing and be reasonably successful, but if other drivers try to compete in NASCAR, they quickly are shown their vast inadequacies.
NASCAR is on the rise, we agree on that. Some of it is even interesting… ok, well, pretty much just the crashes. I can agree the NBA and NHL are on the downslide, so I won’t even defend them, but to suggest that NASCAR has usurped football as the most entertaining sport, or even baseball, America’s pastime, is completely absurd. There are four aspects of NASCAR that will perpetually deny it from being the most entertaining sport: 1)Though there are “teams” in NASCAR, the team aspect is lost and meaningless as they don’t win and lose as a team. It is an individual sport masquerading as a team sport. America loves the synergy felt through our televisions as a sprawled out shortstop shovels the ball to the second baseman that turns the double play, or as a quarterback threads a pass through two defenders to a diving wide receiver for a touchdown. It’s the connection between two players amidst chaos that we love. 2)Fans like a visual connection with the players, which is lost under the helmet, and roof of a car. We want to passion in the quarterback’s eye, and fear in the pitcher’s expression. 3)We, as fans, want to see physicality in our sports. You can argue all you like about how NASCAR drivers lose 10 lbs in a race, but we could care less about a chubby guy sweating in a hot can. We want to see bone crushing collisions between a receiver crossing the middle of the field, or a player lowering his shoulder into a catcher for a play at the plate. 4)Finally, we love our team sports because of the connection to a city. That aspect brings a city together. There is nothing more amazing than an entire stadium cheering against the Raiders.
# posted by : June 25, 2007 5:48 PM
: June 25, 2007 5:48 PM
I finished my yardwork this weekend so I turned on ESPN to see how low the Pad's team batting average could actually get. To my suprise there was a NASCAR race on. To tell you the truth, I never gave NASCAR a chance because watching 200 mph billboards make lefthand turns for 4 hours didn't appeal to me. So I snuggled up on the lazyboy for a few minutes to see what the fuss was all about. After a couple hours of soaking in the excitement I had a sudden urge to sing an old Marshall Tucker song, knock my front teeth out with a ball-pean hammer, rotate the tires on my car and drink a quart of Jack Daniels. I can honestly say I was overwhelmed with the "Nascar feeling". Thanks for the enlightenment.
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# posted by : July 27, 2007 8:07 AM
: July 27, 2007 8:07 AM << Home
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