[plainsong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by F107plus5 /img/forum/go_quote.gif In the last few years I have become less and less interested in NASCAR racing; while my Wife and oldest daughter have become flaming fanatics! Has NASCAR joined Figure Skating and Ballroom Dancing as a Ladies sport? If you watch the pre-race programs, and the races too fer cryin' out loud; all they do is talk about the Drivers and the other personalties who drive and crew the current "funny-cars" with the only differences being the headlight and tail light decals. There is no discussion of the vehicles short of the latest safety devices installed. The show is about the personalities of the drivers and crews and families only! They even have phone-in votes for your favorite drivers to lock in their positions in some phony "Race For the Chase" or whatever, which may be absolutely meaningless in the over-all standings! Maybe I'm mistaken on this and some of the specifics, but that's how it seems to me.

Thanks for the backhanded insult to women there, I and I'm sure your wife and daughter appreciate it.

That said, yeah, I'm a fan, and no, I'm not a fan of the coverage. That's really the problem, the coverage. Yes they do talk about safety, yes they do talk about specifics about the car (Did you watch the Pocono race??) , but besides the cheesy coverage, The Chase is just lame. Why should you be locked out after a set number of races? No, you put in the laps, you get the points.

It's not so much about the speed as it is about the strategy. I got into it through my dad, who got to know a couple of Cup drivers. I won't say who, but one of those has a championship and is retired. It's a bit more than sitting in a car and turning left, but you wouldn't know that if you just listened to most of the tv coverage. For instance, I don't know if this is still true, but there was a time when the name on the hood didn't matter so much. For instance, one of this driver's favorite cars, when he was driving for Ford, was a Pontiac chasis.

And Dale Jr. is NOT the second coming. He's one of the drivers I like, but he is not St. Dale. His rabid fans are the worst. Do you hear how they cheered in the World 600 when Jeff Gordon wrecked in such a way that could have been bad? Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. Senior wouldn't have had that foolishness.

But you've gotta root for Mark Martin, I mean, come on.

ps - Before you insult all of figure skating, you should familiarize yourself with the professional works of Torvill and Dean. They were about really putting something real out there, but then again, it's easier just to blanket insult everything and everyone who likes it. If you were even remotely familiar with what you were talking about, you could consider yourself pwned.

 

[F107plus5]

Quote:

Originally Posted by plainsong /img/forum/go_quote.gif Thanks for the backhanded insult to women there, I and I'm sure your wife and daughter appreciate it. That said, yeah, I'm a fan, and no, I'm not a fan of the coverage. That's really the problem, the coverage. Yes they do talk about safety, yes they do talk about specifics about the car (Did you watch the Pocono race??) , but besides the cheesy coverage, The Chase is just lame. Why should you be locked out after a set number of races? No, you put in the laps, you get the points. It's not so much about the speed as it is about the strategy. I got into it through my dad, who got to know a couple of Cup drivers. I won't say who, but one of those has a championship and is retired. It's a bit more than sitting in a car and turning left, but you wouldn't know that if you just listened to most of the tv coverage. For instance, I don't know if this is still true, but there was a time when the name on the hood didn't matter so much. For instance, one of this driver's favorite cars, when he was driving for Ford, was a Pontiac chasis. And Dale Jr. is NOT the second coming. He's one of the drivers I like, but he is not St. Dale. His rabid fans are the worst. Do you hear how they cheered in the World 600 when Jeff Gordon wrecked in such a way that could have been bad? Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. Senior wouldn't have had that foolishness. But you've gotta root for Mark Martin, I mean, come on. ps - Before you insult all of figure skating, you should familiarize yourself with the professional works of Torvill and Dean. They were about really putting something real out there, but then again, it's easier just to blanket insult everything and everyone who likes it. If you were even remotely familiar with what you were talking about, you could consider yourself pwned.

Hi! I'm an old school figure skater, both on ice and on wood! I'm just getting over trying to teach my Grandkids a few dance moves and managed to fall....SIX TIMES...on the same left hip! Those nasty blood thinners can be a problem! Ok; so the last time I strapped on a pair of skates was eighteen years ago! And on top of that; the dance moves I was trying to teach them was skate dancing moves that I used to do while dancing with their Mom! The best way to describe the steps was as ballroom dancing on wheels! Yeah; I can make fun of ME too!

In a much younger time I would take my record player down to the ice and practice my figure skating all by myself while the rest of the guys played that silly hockey stuff. It's true!

Anyway; ain't nothing wrong with Ladies sports! My wife and daughter fully admit as well that the sport has changed and the marketing has changed and the emphasis on personalities has grown exponentially over the years. But they enjoy it a lot more because of it. And that's cool.

One incident that goes a lot with what you mentioned was with Rusty Wallace a few years back. He was driving for Pontiac and noticed that the Fords were doing better. So he asked the Ford guys if he could try one of their engines and they agreed. He did do better after taking the Chevy engine out of his Pontiac. So then he asked if he could drive for the Ford team and they said yes and he swapped the Pontiac body for a Ford body and was driving a Ford.

By then of course, the old Stock Car ideal was already dead.

Anyway; no insult intended, just an observation of how a few of my favorite sports have changed over the years.

.....no way would I practice figure skating today. I'd have to play the hockey!!

 

[Tuberoller]

Well, the world has come to an abrupt end.

Jr. goes to Hendrick and is Jeff Gordon's teammate. Who woulda thunk it?


I think with this move Jr. steps into a whole new era. He has put tremendous pressure on himself to perform and I commend him for that. I have been reading some of the rediculous responses from his rediculously rabid fans and they are not happy. I hope this was a good move for him but I doubt it. He (in my opinion) is just not as good a driver as Gordon, Johnson or even Kyle Bush, whom he is replacing. At least Bush has shown sharp improvement in his skill (to go along with talent) and was improving rapidly. Jr. seems to have peaked and has yet to learn how to drive with a bad car or on a road course.

I acknowledge that his father was great and that he( Jr.) is a good driver but he will never be as good as Jeff Gordon. Even people who hate Gordon (but are real race fans) understand that he is likely the best (Nascar) driver of all-time. He has proven he can win anywhere, at anytime, with any crewchief.

I would say that Jr has a long way to go, but he's 32 years old right now and I really don't see him getting a lot better.

As far as the teams go. I never really expected to see him sign with Gibbs Racing as they seem content on developing young (and truly gifted) drivers, like Denny Hamlin. Eanhardt just didn't seem like he'd be a good fit there. I also didn't expect him to go to Childress racing as Childress never seemed that interested. I do see Kyle Bush landing at either Gibbs racing or Ginn racing and making a huge impact. The kid is very good and at only 22, he will only get much better.

I'm thinking I'll be watching more Nascar racing now