Posted on 06/07/2010 4:32:01 AM PDT by Chi-townChief
It's just a wasteful, reckless, unnecessary, ozone-destroying exercise
Last Sunday, they ran the Coca-Cola 600 and the Indianapolis 500. That's about 1,100 unnecessary miles of tire treads wearing thin.
My friends, auto racing is a road to nowhere.
Ten years into a new millennium, it's time to put the exhaust pipes into an antique shop. It's time we engage in a new age of enlightenment, recognize auto racing as obsolete and end the around-the-oval madness.
At the risk of being tossed out of the sports fraternity -- Who am I kidding? I was tossed out years ago; why do you think I sit at home alone watching the passing parade? -- let me suggest that, rather than continuing to be obsessed with ''higher, faster, stronger,'' we set our sights on smarter, kinder, better.
(I often look back on thriving ancient civilizations as a guidepost to proper living. And in 4th century B.C. China, you never heard. ''Gentlemen, start your rickshaws.'')
NASCAR has the carbon footprint of a brontosaurus.
This whole business of maintaining an industry on wasteful, reckless behavior -- we're talking technology not to build a better mousetrap but to simple create a faster race car --should be tossed into the junkyard.
(I realize some of you are saying, ''You think auto racing is irrelevant? Aren't you the guy who broadcasts poker on TV?'' Gosh, I hate when people say poker that way. Granted, poker is not helping solve the world's problems, but it isn't creating a hole in the ozone layer, and it keeps college kids from studying too much.)
This year, NASCAR decided to let its drivers race even more roughhouse to give fans more bang -- and banging -- for their buck. Robin Pemberton, NASCAR's vice president of competition, said they wanted to put racing ''back in the hands of the drivers, and we will say, 'Boys, have at it.'''
Boys, have at it?
That's like the National Rifle Association asking gun owners to be a little more trigger-happy.
Surely, the unruly behavior on the track translates to more aggressive driving on the roads. We're an imitative culture. Heck, if Danica Patrick started applying makeup on Turn 4 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, there'd be a Revlon revolution on our interstates by Monday.
But the road rage NASCAR encourages is not nearly as indicting as the damage NASCAR wreaks on the planet.
If the Exxon Valdez was an environmental assassin, auto racing's a serial killer.
Forget ''Drill Baby Drill.'' How about ''Still Baby Still''?
Auto racing wastes hundreds of thousands of gallons of precious fossil fuel and adds tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, contributing to global warming.
(Yeah, I know -- global warming doesn't exist. Then why do I wake up in a cold sweat every night in the dead of winter?)
And what do thousands of fans drive to a NASCAR race? Gas-thirsty RVs. This is like eating hot dogs before a hot dog-eating contest.
NASCAR cars average about 5 mpg. Even an armored Humvee gets 8 on the highways.
(To really waste fuel, why don't we race airplanes?)
In 1974, the Daytona 500 was actually the Daytona 450 --NASCAR cut its races that year by 10 percent in response to the energy crisis. But that was a public-relations gesture rather than a substantive solution.
It's time to put it in park.
In the interest of the greening of America, we should replace stock- car races with three-legged races. This kills two sparkplugs with one stone: It's better for the environment, and it's better for physical fitness.
Besides, I think everyone should walk to work.
Thyroid problem? Consience? The Chinese say, 'Clear conscience never fears midnight knocking.' God convicting you of your lies about global warming (that he knows to be untrue--is it possible that he invested in the carbon credit scam on the ground floor! and is trying to get people to still believe in the hoax long enough for him to get part of his money back????--just asking)"
This guy should consult a physician instead of offering his cold sweats as proof of failed junk "science"
“Delivering newspapers in the Internet age is a waste of fossil fuels.”
Think of the carbon just to make the ink!!!
;-)
Lock that asshole in a rubber room and throw away the key!!!!!!
“That last line, “I think everyone should walk to work,” gives me some hope that this whole article was satire. Surely he can’t expect a city the size of Chicago to try and pull that off ... or is he that far over the enviro-leftfield fence to thus expect.”
When I read that last line, it made me think this was a satire piece because it was so ludicrous. Then I thought about the rest of the article, absurd as it is, and I realized this guy is serious! It looks like a lot of similar nonsense that I see on the Internet daily.
I live quite a long way from work. It’d be a 2 day walk every day. (!)
He is calling for even higher unemployment with that plan.
≤}B^)
I’m waiting for the day he get’s the courage to say what’s really bothering him...NASCAR is the only sport where the drivers can pray with the fans and it’s broadcast on national TV!
“Racing auto be obsolete by now”
Since when does the Chicago Sun-Times write headlines in Ebonics?
He’s trying for a pun.
Oh, “ought to be.” Got it.
Moreover, I am getting about tired of this "carbon footprint" crap. It's like telling the kids to clean their rooms in a house that's burning down. Like telling the guests of the Titanic to conserve water while the ship is going down. In a few years, or less, the economy is going to be so far in the crapper that all "carbon footprint" is going to mean is that I stepped in my coal pile.
From where I live, in a part of Iowa, I’d have about a one-hour hike to just get the bus (getting rides into town is the very definition of hit-or-miss). So this whole walking-to-work would wear thin pretty quick ... it’s not my heart that would fail me, it’s my sole.
Hey!!!
At least Kevin doesn’t crash his teammates like Juan-Pablo Montoya.
He’s changed a lot over the years, and the fact is that he’s one of the few that when he retires, will have a nice nest egg saved up by his work through the lower levels of the racing world.
(And yes, I’m a Harvick fan, through the rough times last year when he almost couldn’t finish lap 1 before some bonehead would slam into him, to now, when he’s on top.)
Also, you have to look at the press coverage. When Harvick is in the lead, Fox will focus on the back of the pack. When he’s in the middle, there is only the leaders. 50 laps of the same image of the leader and no shining back for fear of showing the 29? Is that because they’re still pissed that he took over for RCR after the #3 ended his run in rather dramatic fashion? Post-race interviews? Hmmmm. Kevin comes in 1st, they interview 2-43. 2nd, 1, 3-10. Etc. It’s blatent at Fox. TNT isn’t quite as bad about it.
This is a repeat of what the lefties were saying in the 70’s when Carter screwed the pooch with OPEC.
WTH??? I can buy the stuff on just about any street corner for <$3 per gallon.
Is he saying that no player or fan has ever driven a car to or from a tournament?
I'm guessing AIDS...
Do we have a swinging Chad or a hanging Chad here.
This thread is already 36 hours old and neither B knotts or cripple creek called...
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