Bad sports, good sports: NASCAR must change or it will turn into hockey
After several years in which bigger and bigger penalties were being handed out for a variety of infractions, NASCAR decided that they were going to be a looser bunch in 2011. The sport’s governing body stated that it would allow the drivers to essentially police themselves, hoping that things would be kept under control without NASCAR having to play the heavy all the time. It is pretty clear to me that this new philosophy is not working. I know the crowds go crazy when they see one driver go after another, but it is totally unacceptable, from my perspective, and someone is going to get killed if it’s not brought under control.
Late in Saturday’s Sprint Cup race, three cars, including those of Kevin Harvick and Kyle Busch, were running in very close quarters. The third driver, Clint Bowyer, seemed to lose control and bounced off of the side of Harvick’s car, spinning toward the inside wall. Right after that, Busch, who felt that Harvick had caused the wreck by bump-drafting with him heading into the incident, appeared to spin Harvick intentionally. Remember, this was happening at over 180 miles per hour. Intentionally wrecking someone at that speed is pretty dangerous business. Once the race ended, Kevin Harvick waited near the end of Pit Road for Busch’s car to come by. He blocked Busch’s way, and once his antagonist had stopped, Harvick got out of the car and walked over to Busch’s window, throwing a punch through the window netting. Trying to avoid the situation, Busch actually pushed Harvick’s car out of the way with his own and took off toward the garage. Harvick’s car, with no driver in it, turned and ran into the pit wall, where it came to rest. The Darlington crowd was going crazy.
Although they would never say so, I have to think that NASCAR actually sees a lot of positives in what happened. The crowd loved it, it made for compelling television, and likely caused more chatter in the media than the race itself ever could have. Maybe that is part of the theory behind letting the drivers police themselves. Maybe they see it like the NHL sees fighting, like it’s an essential part of the game and to outlaw it would alienate the core fan base. I hope this speculation is wrong on my part, though. Letting a bunch of hotheads police themselves while driving these huge, powerful vehicles can only lead to bad things. If someone had been standing in the wrong spot when Busch pushed Harvick’s car, that person could have been very seriously injured. Busch getting hit in the face might not be the best thing for the sport either, as much as I dislike him. Letting these guys fight might help NASCAR entertain its core, but it sure isn’t going to do the sport’s popularity and viewership any favors. I am the type of fan that watches for the racing, not the wrecking. I have no interest in hearing about whether Ryan Newman punched Juan Pablo Montoya in the NASCAR hauler, which is another thing that reportedly happened this weekend at Darlington (after the Nationwide race on Friday). I think racing is exciting enough on its own, and would prefer to see these guys race, not fight.
As much as I can appreciate wanting to hit Kyle Busch in the face, Kevin Harvick should be suspended. He won’t be, mind you. He might lose some points and be fined some money, but NASCAR has shown that they don’t sit guys out. After all, the fans are paying the bills, and the fans want to see the big names racing.
Bad sports, continued:
2) In the aftermath of the killing of Osama Bin Laden last week, Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall took to Twitter with some comments supporting 9/11 conspiracy theories. Team ownership quickly distanced themselves from the comments and Champion, the athletic apparel company that Mendenhall promoted, cut ties with him as a spokesman.
3) Cleveland Indians star outfielder Shin Soo-Choo was arrested for DUI last Monday, a suburb of Cleveland. He followed that up by going four straight games without a hit.
4) Cortez Smith, a cornerback for Wayne State in Detroit, was killed on Thursday night when he was shot outside of a nightclub. Smith was 20.
Good sports:
1) Derrick Rose was named the MVP of the NBA on Tuesday. At 22, he is the youngest MVP in league history.
2) The Southeastern Conference pledged $500,000 to the University of Alabama to assist the school with its many needs after the recent tornados that damaged the campus and Tuscaloosa.
3) Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander threw his second career no-hitter on Saturday, blanking the Toronto Blue Jays 9-0.
4) After suffering what appeared to be a serious elbow injury in the third quarter of his team’s playoff game against the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics guard Rajon Rondo not only came back into the game, but he made a key steal and basket to help his team to a huge win. Gutsy.
5) Almost overshadowed in the mess that was the end of that NASCAR race was the big win by Regan Smith, who won his first ever Cup race and gave a huge boost to his underfunded team.
6) The amusingly named Novak Djokovic (pronounced Joke-a-vich) won his 32nd straight match on Sunday, defeating top-ranked Rafael Nadal to win the Madrid Open. Djokovic, the world’s second-ranked player, had never before beater Nadal on a clay court. Not many people have.
Bad sports, good sports appears every Monday
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Allan, good post, as always … thanks for sharing. Regarding the fisticuffs and fender-benders at Sprint Cup … is it really NASCAR embracing a new policy, or are they instead getting waaaay back to their shine-running roots … Cheers! (hic)
:-)
Thanks for reading, Jeff! Yes, this is not a brand new policy, as far as that goes. More of a going back to their roots. NASCAR has admitted to that, actually. That said, it doesn’t seem to be going so well, in my opinion.