Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Sports rants and takes
ESPN, NASCAR and the INDY 500 among other rants and thoughts
How funny was the ESPN commercial airing last week referring to the Indianapolis 500 as, “the biggest IRL race of the year.” Hey ESPN buffoons, there are no other IRL races that ANYONE gives a rat’s ass about. You can’t give away tickets to the rest of the IRL season and even the biggest racing fans can’t name a single other IRL race. Even people who like the silly open wheel cars, they could still name five Formula One races well before they could think of any other IRL race.
Danica Patrick, as big of a boon as she has been for the Indy Racing League, has moved it from the level of Equestrian Horse jumping, e.g. competitive weaving has more fans, to the level of the Trotters, almost semi-matters exactly one day per year. (The Hambletonian) Quit kidding yourself, ESPN honchos. NASACAR rules the American auto racing universe. Heck, even on your sister network, where were king Regis Philbin and the delightful Kelly Ripa broadcasting from ? I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t from the track where they were holding “the biggest IRL race of the year?!!?” Try again. They were at the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s tenth or twelfth biggest race of the year. I’d give you the link to the NASCAR schedule, but their website is atrocious, more pop-ups and annoying ads than a porn site.
On another note, Richard Petty is creep, who needs to quit embarrassing himself. Why do reporters even go to you for quotes, you old goat ? Duh. Because they know that you’ll say something so stupid and backward that it will be newsworthy, like last week when he went Bobby Riggs on the idea of female racecar drivers, when asked about Danica Patrick.
"I just don't think it's a sport for women," Petty said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And so far, it's proved out. It's really not. It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity. But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it's kind of tough."
Brilliant Richard, crawl back into your hole and shut your yap. All one needs to know about Richard and his attitudes is, in a state where Jesse Helms was repeatedly elected, and NASCAR is the next most popular sport to ACC basketball, Richard Petty got trounced running for public office. Enough said. Richard Petty sexist old goat
Danica Patrick on the other hand has been nothing but gracious, composed and well-spoken in every interview I have seen with her. She deserves a ride in a real racing series, ASAP, at least, get her a Busch car. Persons calling her the new Anna Kournikova need to check themselves, Danica isn’t in this to become a model or date hockey players, she’s already married. Her focus is clearly on doing everything she can to become a first rate racecar driver. Heck she was “borrowing” her parents truck at age ten. Now that’s a driver in the NASCAR spirit.
Michelle Wie, who won’t even be bothered playing women’s events, now there’s a candidate for the next Anna Kournikova, all publicity seeking, no substance. Hey Michelle win something, anything, even on the Nationwide Tour, then give us a call, until then try to keep your PR people in check. Looks to me (albeit from afar) like Anika Sorenstam could kick your ass up and down the course on an off day.
Complicity in over-promoting Michelle Wie, just one more reason why SportsCenter has started to suck. Thank the powers that be that at least we don’t have to watch every single Barry Bonds at bat. At least until next year when he is DHing in the AL and chasing Hank.
One more NASCAR note, Michael Waltrip started 43rd and finished 41st at the Coca-Cola 600!! Any of you who know something about NASCAR are probably not surprised. Waltrip is one of all of sports, all-time overrated, gravy training athletes. He couldn’t carry Dick Trickle’s racing helmet to the track. Waltrip has made his career off his brother’s coattails, which have long since disappeared. He has made far more commercials than he has ever won races. His peers know Michael Waltrip isn’t good enough to be considered even an average Nextel Cup racer. Even when given a great team and the best equipment available, which is what it is all about in recent vintage NASCAR, Waltrip has still sucked ass. Now that he has his own team, look for him to get worse and worse before hopefully disappearing completely. Waltrip has made Kyle Petty and George Bush, the second, look like guys who made it on their own merits. Michael Waltrip’s career stats are so bad NASCAR.com hides them. They have their reasons, having wildly over promoted him, based on his alleged good looks. But the more resourceful can find that in 654 career races Waltrip has had more DID NOT Finishes (DNFs) than Top Tens, and never had a season where he averaged better than a 16th place finish. Michael Waltrip is a gravy training career loser
How funny was the ESPN commercial airing last week referring to the Indianapolis 500 as, “the biggest IRL race of the year.” Hey ESPN buffoons, there are no other IRL races that ANYONE gives a rat’s ass about. You can’t give away tickets to the rest of the IRL season and even the biggest racing fans can’t name a single other IRL race. Even people who like the silly open wheel cars, they could still name five Formula One races well before they could think of any other IRL race.
Danica Patrick, as big of a boon as she has been for the Indy Racing League, has moved it from the level of Equestrian Horse jumping, e.g. competitive weaving has more fans, to the level of the Trotters, almost semi-matters exactly one day per year. (The Hambletonian) Quit kidding yourself, ESPN honchos. NASACAR rules the American auto racing universe. Heck, even on your sister network, where were king Regis Philbin and the delightful Kelly Ripa broadcasting from ? I’ll give you a hint, it wasn’t from the track where they were holding “the biggest IRL race of the year?!!?” Try again. They were at the Coca-Cola 600, NASCAR’s tenth or twelfth biggest race of the year. I’d give you the link to the NASCAR schedule, but their website is atrocious, more pop-ups and annoying ads than a porn site.
On another note, Richard Petty is creep, who needs to quit embarrassing himself. Why do reporters even go to you for quotes, you old goat ? Duh. Because they know that you’ll say something so stupid and backward that it will be newsworthy, like last week when he went Bobby Riggs on the idea of female racecar drivers, when asked about Danica Patrick.
"I just don't think it's a sport for women," Petty said in an interview with The Associated Press. "And so far, it's proved out. It's really not. It's good for them to come in. It gives us a lot of publicity, it gives them publicity. But as far as being a real true racer, making a living out of it, it's kind of tough."
Brilliant Richard, crawl back into your hole and shut your yap. All one needs to know about Richard and his attitudes is, in a state where Jesse Helms was repeatedly elected, and NASCAR is the next most popular sport to ACC basketball, Richard Petty got trounced running for public office. Enough said. Richard Petty sexist old goat
Danica Patrick on the other hand has been nothing but gracious, composed and well-spoken in every interview I have seen with her. She deserves a ride in a real racing series, ASAP, at least, get her a Busch car. Persons calling her the new Anna Kournikova need to check themselves, Danica isn’t in this to become a model or date hockey players, she’s already married. Her focus is clearly on doing everything she can to become a first rate racecar driver. Heck she was “borrowing” her parents truck at age ten. Now that’s a driver in the NASCAR spirit.
Michelle Wie, who won’t even be bothered playing women’s events, now there’s a candidate for the next Anna Kournikova, all publicity seeking, no substance. Hey Michelle win something, anything, even on the Nationwide Tour, then give us a call, until then try to keep your PR people in check. Looks to me (albeit from afar) like Anika Sorenstam could kick your ass up and down the course on an off day.
Complicity in over-promoting Michelle Wie, just one more reason why SportsCenter has started to suck. Thank the powers that be that at least we don’t have to watch every single Barry Bonds at bat. At least until next year when he is DHing in the AL and chasing Hank.
One more NASCAR note, Michael Waltrip started 43rd and finished 41st at the Coca-Cola 600!! Any of you who know something about NASCAR are probably not surprised. Waltrip is one of all of sports, all-time overrated, gravy training athletes. He couldn’t carry Dick Trickle’s racing helmet to the track. Waltrip has made his career off his brother’s coattails, which have long since disappeared. He has made far more commercials than he has ever won races. His peers know Michael Waltrip isn’t good enough to be considered even an average Nextel Cup racer. Even when given a great team and the best equipment available, which is what it is all about in recent vintage NASCAR, Waltrip has still sucked ass. Now that he has his own team, look for him to get worse and worse before hopefully disappearing completely. Waltrip has made Kyle Petty and George Bush, the second, look like guys who made it on their own merits. Michael Waltrip’s career stats are so bad NASCAR.com hides them. They have their reasons, having wildly over promoted him, based on his alleged good looks. But the more resourceful can find that in 654 career races Waltrip has had more DID NOT Finishes (DNFs) than Top Tens, and never had a season where he averaged better than a 16th place finish. Michael Waltrip is a gravy training career loser
Comments:
Was listening to NPR the other day and heard news of the latest NASCAR cheating scandal involving racer Michael Waltrip. Everyone the journalist interviewed seemed to agree on one thing, cheating is not only commonplace in the sport, it's encouraged. My questions to you are these, what do you think of the penalties opposed on the driver and his team? There seemed to be a consensus among interviewees that the penalty imposed by NASCAR was more substantial than previous penalties, is this true? Secondly, is the cheating really as frequent as implied? And finally, in a world where cheating at all levels of society has become so widespread, cheating is found in every form of our cultural entertainment, in every occupation, in schools and even in the institutions that are comprised of and governed by our supposedly honorable citizens; in a world where punitions doled out are hardly a deterrant to immoral and unethical behavior, how will this latest scandal (involving role-models for no doubt many of our country's youth especially in the southern regions), impact the value shift so apparent in today's families and today's children?
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