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mead107

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The thing about NASCAR that kills for me is that there is really nothing that distinguishes it from other sports. First off, its not an athletic sport, i kinda prefer physical sports that require lots of training to the athletes bodies and you clearly understand why these players are in the sport over the players the lower levels. second, watching something for 3 hours without interruption is rough, thats why people prefer to watch 100 m dash over a marathon. It is even more rough to take when there is nothing interesting on some of these races (ie. lack of crashes). Third and last why only left turns? doesn't this diminish the skill set of the driver? I prefer F1 over NASCAR mainly for this reason

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The thing about NASCAR that kills for me is that there is really nothing that distinguishes it from other sports. First off, its not an athletic sport, i kinda prefer physical sports that require lots of training to the athletes bodies and you clearly understand why these players are in the sport over the players the lower levels. second, watching something for 3 hours without interruption is rough, thats why people prefer to watch 100 m dash over a marathon. It is even more rough to take when there is nothing interesting on some of these races (ie. lack of crashes). Third and last why only left turns? doesn't this diminish the skill set of the driver? I prefer F1 over NASCAR mainly for this reason

 

 

Nothing to distinguish it?

- Americans love Cars. This is the biggest sport in America with motor vehicles involved.

- Nascar does THE BEST marketing of its athletes (I'll discuss the word athletes in a moment). Their personalities are on public display, there are hero's, villians, loveable old guys and charismatic young guys. If you follow the sport, its easy to take a liking to many of these guys, and loathe others.

- Reality TV is on display every week. Remember when Mike Piazza and Roger Clemens were going at it. Everyone couldnt wait to see what happened next time they faced each other. NASCAR offers this EVERY week. Over time, it becomes clear who is getting under someones skin, and who has wrecked someone 3 times and is lookin for a payback.

- The unexpected can happen at any minute, up to and including death of the participants. There is an element of danger and suspense in every race that you dont get in other sports.

- There is something inherently American about spending a day at the ballpark or tailgating before a football game. Both are great experiences. A day at the track is something just as special. If you havent done it, you have to do it once to understand. Its like a big 4th of july party every weekend. Weather is always nice, burgers on the grill a cold beer in your hand, tossing a football around, playing some cards, whatver you want. There isnt a care in the world.

 

But on to your other points

- make no mistake, these guys are athletes. Sure they arent pumped up on roids. They dont "look" like an athletes. How tired are you after a 500 mile drive? These guys do that every week, in a car that is very hot and uncomfortable. They have to stay in good physical shape to be able to do this. I understand your point, and respect your opinion if you dont like the sport, but I think you are short changing these guys.

- They have several road course races, which have right turns as well.

-3 hours without interruption is rough? Oh contraire! go to a race! you will be on the edge of your seat for 3 hours and you will be shocked how fast it goes by.

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Make sense? Cheering for the Swordsmen or the Bills is like cheering for the whole WNY area while cheering for a NASCAR driver is like.... cheering for some dude to drive fast. There's regional and "home town" pride with the NHL/NFL. I don't get that same feeling from NASCAR.

 

-Jeff

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Make sense? Cheering for the Swordsmen or the Bills is like cheering for the whole WNY area while cheering for a NASCAR driver is like.... cheering for some dude to drive fast. There's regional and "home town" pride with the NHL/NFL. I don't get that same feeling from NASCAR.

 

-Jeff

 

While this is true, the big sports are more like rooting for laundry or a uniform, while NASCAR is more rooting for an individual to succeed. It always makes for a good story when Jerome Bettis wins a superbowl or Ray Borque wins a stanley cup. Likewise, its usually fun to root against someone like Barry Bonds or Terrell Owens. These things seem to be true whether you like the team they are on or not. This is the same sensation NASCAR gets with its drivers. So, while the regional pride is not there, the emotional ties to the individual participants is.

 

I love football and baseball and other sports...NASCAR is just a different animal altogether. But I still love it as well.

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- make no mistake, these guys are athletes. Sure they arent pumped up on roids. They dont "look" like an athletes. How tired are you after a 500 mile drive? These guys do that every week, in a car that is very hot and uncomfortable. They have to stay in good physical shape to be able to do this. I understand your point, and respect your opinion if you dont like the sport, but I think you are short changing these guys.

I chose not to paste the whole thing, but they are not athletes. Yes, Auto Racing involves skill and is a sport, but not an athletic sport. Sure you can't be a fat waste space inside the car, but reality is that these guys do not strain a certain muscle group far beyond regular functional use in a normal life.

 

Also, NASCAR has very few road races. It is called the "Left turn only circuit" with good reason.

 

I can also sympathize with jeff's sentiment of lack of home town pride for the sport too. If there was more of an International flavor to the sport than yeah it would eliminate this because we would probably root for the Americans.

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While this is true, the big sports are more like rooting for laundry or a uniform, while NASCAR is more rooting for an individual to succeed. It always makes for a good story when Jerome Bettis wins a superbowl or Ray Borque wins a stanley cup. Likewise, its usually fun to root against someone like Barry Bonds or Terrell Owens. These things seem to be true whether you like the team they are on or not. This is the same sensation NASCAR gets with its drivers. So, while the regional pride is not there, the emotional ties to the individual participants is.

 

I love football and baseball and other sports...NASCAR is just a different animal altogether. But I still love it as well.

 

 

I kind of liken NASCAR to watching Seattle and the Cardinals in a pre-season game. Sure, there's a lot of talent out there and some guys are really putting forth effort in order to make the team, but the time's better spent staining my deck or mowing the lawn.

 

Nothing but respect for the individuals in the car and behind the scenes each week, but it just isn't my cup of tea. My father loves it and choses to watch it in favor of football every week. Now *that* I don't get. We haven't spoken since he started that! (I kid, I kid).

 

-Jeff

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Yeah, once football season starts, I start to tune out. I wouldn't if the schedules didn't conflict. I still dont understand how people cannot think they are athletes. A dude just got into a wreck, flipped his car, crossed the finishline while his car was sliding upside down at 150mph and on fire. He'll be in some pain for sure...but he'll be racing again next week. You have to be in good physical condition to bounce back after slamming a wall head on at 200mph, even with all the safety equipment available today.

 

Here is an interesting article http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4243400/

 

But this is all semantics. It doesn't matter whether they are athletes or not...I think we can all agree its a sport. And a sport that is enjoyable to a large number of people.

 

To argue that there are only left turns is ridiculous. Who cares? Even though they DO run some road courses, some short tracks, some superspeedways and everything inbetween. Your statement that you dont like the fact they only make left turns is akin to someone saying they dont like football because all the fields are 100yds long. Thats the sport! thats the way it is! And for the record, road courses are difficult for race fans to watch live. A major disadvantage.

 

I hear alot of what you are saying... but what i am hearing is alot of "nascar isnt like other sports, so i dont like it". Those of us who DO like it is BECAUSE its not like other sports. It offers a unique change, and I think thats welcome.

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I think NASCAR is a sport - one that I have little to no interest in - but I dont' consider them athletes by any means. With all due respect to the women on the board, any sport where females can compete in the same competition as males pretty much indicates to me that it doesn't take an athlete to perform. You don't see WNBA players competing in the NBA. There are no women NFL players. I have yet to see a female pro tennis player beat a male pro tennis player. The list goes on and on. I know it's not "PC" to say it, but men are physically superior to females when it comes to athletics, and when Danica Patrick can equally compete with Jeff Gordon or Earnardt Jr, then to me those are not athletes.

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I glance at it now and then. I like to catch the last 50 or so laps.

 

 

There was nothing else on so I watched the finish. Not bad I might say.

 

Was that typical Waltrip commentary ? A lot of jabbering about how guys were happy to be top 5 and would be happy to see Martin win ? Followed by more replays of the crash behind the winner than of the incredibly close finish ? I don't think I can get on board with Nascar on TV (though it makes for good reading).

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I think NASCAR is a sport - one that I have little to no interest in - but I dont' consider them athletes by any means. With all due respect to the women on the board, any sport where females can compete in the same competition as males pretty much indicates to me that it doesn't take an athlete to perform. You don't see WNBA players competing in the NBA. There are no women NFL players. I have yet to see a female pro tennis player beat a male pro tennis player. The list goes on and on. I know it's not "PC" to say it, but men are physically superior to females when it comes to athletics, and when Danica Patrick can equally compete with Jeff Gordon or Earnardt Jr, then to me those are not athletes.

 

That's quite a narrow view. Race car drivers are in a continual state of high physical and mental tension and stress for long periods of time They don't rest between shifts, changes of possession, sets, innings and the like. The large majority of us, even if we had the skill and coordination, would be physically and mentally drained in short order.

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