xtcian

I'm with you. And I believe, Ian, you may hate whatever you like, including NASCAR. The problem would come if you started trying to keep people from going to NASCAR races, limit the chance to build racetracks, tell others they were immoral because they liked NASCAR, etc. You should be proud of the ability to hate something while tolerating and allowing it around you - that's the American way!
On a sort of similar note - I thought I hated big stadium concerts but not anymore! I saw U23D this weekend and it was AWESOME. I urge any of you to see it if it comes anywhere close to you. I have never had that physical and emotional experience of being in the front row of an amazing live rock performance while sitting in a cushy theater seat before. My heart was actually racing and my head hurt from smiling so much. It was hard not to stand up and scream and try to throw myself on Bono (but I managed to resist). Soo... maybe NASCAR needs to create a 3D theater experience to reach those of us who just don't get it. On the other hand, I'll stick with U2.

Hate away! In time perhaps you'll settle for "bemused and distant" instead of loathing, but hatin' on folks, like Nascar itself, is so very red-white-and-blue, ain't it. ;-)

I struggled with being repulsed by just that sort of redneck American slobs (cringe) when busloads of them showed up in Ireland the summer we were there, 1985. (The dollar was kicking ass that year, so Europe and the British isles were crawling with tourists from everywhere in the USA.) I hated myself for feeling superior to those polyestered yahoos with their phallic camera lenses and "Kiss me I'm Irish" T-shirts stretched over bulging guts. Sigh. Lord, deliver me from snobbery!

Neva, I totally want to see "U23D"! Awesome.

I had lived in 2 Nascar loving states (NC &SC) before I ever even really acknowledged its existence. I'm not sure how I managed to stay insulated from it all, but I am proud to say the first time I saw those Calvin peeing on numbers, I had no freaking clue what it meant!! My Louisana coworkers had to explain it to me, and they were quite appalled that I was from SC and didn't know anything about Nascar! Those were the good old days, and now it's everywhere because we live only 30 minutes from Talladega. Twice a year Nascar fans invade B'ham. THese are weekends that I hope that I am out of town, but at least they have to smoke outside here. That is something I could not get used to when we were in Chapel Hill for homecoming!

I'm trying really hard to get into NASCAR, but I find myself only watching the last 15 laps of the race.

Has anyone ever watched professional bullriding? It's absolutely nuts . . . a highlight a minute! Professional fishing makes the cut sometimes too.

Harley-Davidson has the same allure and a lot of the same demographic. They produce some decent motorcycle gear, including general riding boots. I ride a more modest brand, in some respects, but my boots have Harley on the tongue, sides, sole, a badge at the front of the laces, the inner liner and little HD's on every grommet - about 20 of them. The old Harley riders are a welcoming bunch, the redneck contingent are obnoxious as hell. What the fuck does this mean?

John Deere is made in Japan, has been for a long time and this is common knowledge.
Harley is switching engine production to Japan. The production is probably more expensive but far better.

As far as I can tell, a reasonable answer to the NASCAR thing is that the brand is worth more than the product. The licensing corporations for these things now see more money in the brand and expect the rest of the world to pick up these branded items. They always have. Our ignorant masses fell for the same trap that we expect the world's ignorant masses to fall into.

As far as Vegas, play craps. The odds are generally better for the player and the positioning around the table and general discomfort of getting to the drink tray plus having to roll the dice occasionally and bet continuously keeps the smoking down.

Very entertaining to read on a Monday morning. Thanks, y'all!

Ian - you are not alone.

Having (mostly) lived my entire life in North Carolina, I have no shortage of exposure to the sport of Left Turns. I still can't stand it.

1 - I'm sorry that Tessa isn't in Dallas, as I'd have liked to say hello.

B - I'm voting for Obama this evening

Z - I am a native and grew up in NC, have been NASCAR races, I've even been in the pit of what could be called single A minor league stock car races for a friend's uncle's car and I don't get it either. I think it's a culture thing where if you're brought up in it you love it. Or sometimes people just click with it as a culture/attitude. I can see why some people like it (Fast, powerful cars and a long weekend party). But it's very insular and "us against them" and joking that "all they do is go fast and turn left" makes people who like just that much more determined to love it and insult those that don't get it as "Ivory towered, liberal, elitists." I don't get it, I've tried it a few times to be fair, but it just isn't something that I get and I have no problem with that and I have no problem with people that like it.

I've always enjoyed the early mythology of NASCAR -- but it bores me to sleep to watch it. Ditto for golf, bowling and soccer....

Which raises an interesting point (to me at least): what makes some people like certain sports (say, college basketball) but not others (say, stock car racing)? Clearly it's highly subjective.

Ian, rent "Days of Thunder".

If you can't appreciate NASCAR after Tom Cruise explains 'drafting' with artificial sweetener packets on Nicole Kidman's leg, then you'll never become a fan.

And if you can't appreciate the science of NASCAR, after hearing "Boo Radley" talk about running open wheels--where the tires are twice as wide and the car is half as heavy--in juxtaposition with NASCAR where the opposite is true, then you're in the dark, my friend.

Not that I'm a fan, mind you, but I do know that rubbin's racin'.

The best amusement park ride, short of the roller coasters, was the Days of Thunder ride at Carowinds (or was it Six Flags).

And I have diet Cheerwine cooling in my fridge at home as "speak". Each time I make it home to North Carolina, I wipe out the grocery store's supply before heading back to Georgia.

I tired of Las Vegas early because of all the damn smoke, too. Go see "O".

re: Vegas - I will always associate the Vegas experience with something I saw in a diner there at 3 am: a poor lost soul with haunted eyes who just maxed out his credit cards, sitting alone at a table, nursing cup of coffee and staring straight ahead.

NASCAR - I've never been a fan myself, but I do understand its appeal, especially to folks that work with cars. You've got to admit its amazing that a multi-million dollar sport has grown out of a bunch of Carolina moonshiners tweaking their rides to outrun the "rev'nooers" in a race down the mountain. moonshiners > dirt track racing > NASCAR > Ricky Bobby.

There's also an argument to be made that NASCAR is simply the natural, inevitable evolution of horse racing - a speed contest involving the standard mode of transport. That doesn't account for the Dale Earnhart matching pantsuits, though.

it's ok for you to hate nascar and it's ok for the blues to stay blue and the reds to stay red. don't fret though, nascar's golden era ended when we traded good 'ole boys earnhardt, yarborough and petty for gordon, busch and montoya.

if you want to know what racing used to be about, go look up earnhardt's 1987 "pass in the grass". that'll learn ya.

Are you telling me that they don't serve cream cheese and pepper jelly throughout the US? I was shocked when I heard that sausage balls was a Southern thang, now I have to feel some more sadness for the rest of the country to be missing out on our delicacies.

I have the same question as Bud - because there are some things covered on ESPN that I simply don't count as a sport, such as nascar, cards and bowling. Why don't I think they are as good as say baseball or basketball? I don't know. Why does a random card tourney get more coverage on a sport's network than the Boston Marathon? You got me.

Ian,

You can hate NASCAR, but you will make Baby Awesome Bill from Dawonsville cry.

this blog is about as close as i hope to get to north carolina after doing my time there, and i'd die happy if i never encounter another confederate flag sporting pickup truck in my lifetime.

but now that i'm at a west coast comfortable distance, when i think of nascar, roller derby, WWF, bullfighting with the tights and hats, harley leather bikers, etc., i think of like, the castro on halloween.

http://www.gaytona.com/

you would think that the juxtaposition of your nascar experience with cheesy ass vegas would have helped make this connection...

did you see any sequined elvises? cirque du soleil?

life is a cabaret!

As Neva said, hate whatever you like so long as you don't try to prevent others from enjoying what they like (see Jonah Goldberg's new book "Liberal Fascism"). I tried to get into NASCAR once, but it just wouldn't take. A few friends of mine looked at me like I would look at people who didn't like hockey. What's not to love?

Just saw La Noubla (Cirque du Soleil) in Orlando Saturday night. Those are world class athletes. Really amazing. I'll have to catch another one some time. Now...back to the conference: an afternoon class on HIPAA. [snore]

Matt - you are quoting ME? I'm honored. Thanks!
HIPAA! Yuck.

By the way, if we're moving toward a purple country, what "blue" parts (issues) will be changing along with the "red" parts (issues)? I assume this is a compromise we're talking about, no?

Yes, a lecture on HIPAA is about as interesting as a NASCAR race. Thank God for the iPhone. Escape to the distr tions of the Internet is never far away.

Something about NASCAR reminds me of gas station bathrooms along I-75. Maybe it has something to do with French Ticklers.

I propose something like 'A League of Their Own II: The Alt-Green Racing Series.' Hybrid and electric vehicles compete to get the most miles per gallon of bio-fuel. Everyone wins.

The concession stands sell tofu hotdogs with a heapin' side of couscous, obscure local microbrews, soy lattes and flights of single malts.

Conversation and music fill the aural void left by eliminating screaming internal combustion engines. Fans enjoy discussions about local theater, or the new piece you are choreographing, while sipping biodynamically produced Pinot Noir and listening to The Austin Philharmonic, Ani DiFranco, Mazzy Star, Indigo Girls, My Bloody Valentine, or This Mortal Coil.

I think it has real potential.

NASCAR doesn't get me excited, but it's probably more because I don't care to learn about the physics/rules of racing and understand the limits the drivers and teams are trying to work around. The simplest being higher speeds significantly impact fuel performance and needing one more pitstop than your competitors adds 10 seconds to your time, which correlates roughly to .5 miles at the speeds they're driving. I'm sure there are far subtler constraints, but frankly, I don't care. I'm sure the same goes for ballet.

It's like people who don't watch golf don't know and don't care that a 5-foot downhill putt that breaks hard right is so much harder than a 10-foot putt straight uphill. Or that leaving an approach shot 85 yards from the hole is smart, and leaving an approach 40 yards from the hole is dumb. Those who play can acknowledge the smart play or revealed skill that that unknowledgable person doesn't appreciate.

Basketball is just back and forth, back and forth, to someone who doesn't care. Most of us see it as much more than that, of course. That being said, Calvin peeing on a number is no more/less uncouth than Dook sucks, and certainly less uncouth than Dook sucks and State swallows.

Anyone can drive in circle, just like anyone can shoot a layup or hit a ball that isn't moving. Doing it with significant constraints is what makes it interesting.

Well, I never thought I'd see the name Dale Earnhardt on this blog! You never cease to amaze me. I'm going to email you a picture of the Dale Memorial Statue in beautiful downtown Kannapolis. (Yes, Dale and I share the same hometown.) And if any of my friends from K-town get wind of this blog, I'm going to claim not to know ya!

Bud & Emma: A little off topic, but before you continue dismissing bowling as a watchable TV sport, check out a modern-day broadcast on ESPN with Rob Stone doing the announcing. I wouldn't go so far as to say he's turned me into a bowling spectator -- not even close -- but I will say that that caffeinated guy can make picking up a difficult split for a crucial spare at the Denny's PBA Open sound as exciting as a last-second Carolina basketball victory. Seriously, he lays down a rap that makes bowling seem au courant and exciting, I don't know how he does it. Check him out, he's freakishly enthusiastic in a highly entertaining way. Watch 30 minutes or so and see if he doesn't start to win you over. I think the telecasts are or were usually on Sunday afternoons, but I'm not sure.

One more little anecdote - When living in Hillsborough NC, I used to hike a nice trail around the Occoneechee Speedway, one of NASCAR's original dirt tracks in the '50s. The track, now very overgrown, is located inside a historic bend of the Eno River. Cars taking a certain turn too fast would leave the track airborne and land in the river. Woo!

I would add to Jon's bowling comments: televised darts on ESPN2. The stuff they were showing the afternoon of the first dook game was incredible. Those sportscasters could have turned a stoned match between Bud and Caleb Southern on McCauley Street into a frenzied, high-stakes free-for-all trip to rescue the Dart of Mordor from Sauron.

"this blog is about as close as i hope to get to north carolina after doing my time there"

GOOD FUCKING RIDDANCE

Ian, you disappoint me. Have you actually ever driven around a NASCAR track in an ordinary car? Try to go over 20mph without flipping over. My husband agrees with you, but he's a "country music, NASCAR, Elvis Presley are only loved and respected by rednecks" Yankee snob who refuses to admit that he never said "reckon" or "y'all" before he married me. I can't wait to visit Memphis to see Graceland because Elvis changed American culture, as did country music and NASCAR. My Dad grew up in the same mountains as the Carter family (not Jimmy and Billy, but AJ, Sara and Mother Maybelle)and his family ran moonshine, the root of NASCAR. Bristol is the second-most exciting sporting event in America next to Carolina-Duke basketball. Southern Piedmont snobs (including my mother's FFV family) look down on mountain/redneck culture largely due to class bias. Read Pete Daniel's Lost Revolutions: The South in the 1950s - you may not like redneck culture, but if you truly consider yourself a Southerner (and many of us would say if you aren't one by birth - on both sides - you don't count) then you ought to at least respect how it's changed America - for the better.
Kim E., your DTH pal.