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
Thursday, June 7, 2007
Lord Stanley Gets A Tan
I'm sure that excitement has never been higher for hockey in Southern California than it is right now. The Anaheim Ducks are the Stanley Cup champions, and if you ask me, they were the best team all playoffs long, even though they really weren't the most talented.
The cool thing (pun definitely intended) is that the Ducks' captain, Scott Niedermayer, is the only active player to have won the cup four different times (all three previous came with the New Jersey Devils, who I hate...although not as much as the Philadelphia Flyers or the Detroit Red Wings).
It's also the first time in the 82-year history of Lord Stanley's Cup that a team on the west coast has won the championship. There have been lots of Western Conference winners like the aforementioned Red Wings, the Stars and the Colorado Avalanche. But with the Cup a stone's throw from the Pacific, it makes one wonder if it's time to reconsider the impact of this largely Canadian sport.
When hockey was first invented, it seemed obvious that it needed to be played in a cold-weather climate. You just don't find that many frozen ponds here in SoCal, so Canada became the logical birthplace. But civilization has caught up enough that I was able to go ice skating with some friends just last weekend, even though it was at least 65 degrees outside at 8 p.m.
The problem lies in the fact that sports fans are a pretty stubborn breed by nature; if you don't believe me, try talking to a supposed sports fan about NASCAR and see how long it takes before they just start laughing at you. My personal record is 13 seconds.
Basically, most sports fans hold to the idea that if they didn't grow up with it, they're not going to follow it. The NHL and NASCAR are the two main sports now that fall into that category, even though they're far and away more entertaining than the NBA or Major League Baseball.
Here's what I'm getting at...now is the perfect time for sports fans in Southern California to jump on the bandwagon of something pretty amazing: the NHL. It will only happen if you give it a chance. I know a lot of you have full enough sports plates as it is, but weed out some of the dead weight (ie. the NBA, college sports, and 80% of the MLB season) and take another good look at hockey.
Because if you don't, then I'm going to make you watch NASCAR with me. And you will love it.
The cool thing (pun definitely intended) is that the Ducks' captain, Scott Niedermayer, is the only active player to have won the cup four different times (all three previous came with the New Jersey Devils, who I hate...although not as much as the Philadelphia Flyers or the Detroit Red Wings).
It's also the first time in the 82-year history of Lord Stanley's Cup that a team on the west coast has won the championship. There have been lots of Western Conference winners like the aforementioned Red Wings, the Stars and the Colorado Avalanche. But with the Cup a stone's throw from the Pacific, it makes one wonder if it's time to reconsider the impact of this largely Canadian sport.
When hockey was first invented, it seemed obvious that it needed to be played in a cold-weather climate. You just don't find that many frozen ponds here in SoCal, so Canada became the logical birthplace. But civilization has caught up enough that I was able to go ice skating with some friends just last weekend, even though it was at least 65 degrees outside at 8 p.m.
The problem lies in the fact that sports fans are a pretty stubborn breed by nature; if you don't believe me, try talking to a supposed sports fan about NASCAR and see how long it takes before they just start laughing at you. My personal record is 13 seconds.
Basically, most sports fans hold to the idea that if they didn't grow up with it, they're not going to follow it. The NHL and NASCAR are the two main sports now that fall into that category, even though they're far and away more entertaining than the NBA or Major League Baseball.
Here's what I'm getting at...now is the perfect time for sports fans in Southern California to jump on the bandwagon of something pretty amazing: the NHL. It will only happen if you give it a chance. I know a lot of you have full enough sports plates as it is, but weed out some of the dead weight (ie. the NBA, college sports, and 80% of the MLB season) and take another good look at hockey.
Because if you don't, then I'm going to make you watch NASCAR with me. And you will love it.
Labels: hockey, opinion, sports
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