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
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