Earnhardt Is An Idiot
Ramblings:
Traditionally, the Robin is the first sign of spring. For knuckle-headed sports fans like me, there are other options. For baseball fans, today is "Truck Day" for a lot of teams. Truck day being the day that the organization loads up the gear and heads to Spring Training. However, I'm a NASCAR fan. For me, the surest sign of a fast approaching spring is the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. Ahhh, tomorrow evening I will be in front of a TV set, with beer in hand and the surround sound cranked, watching 800+ horsepower cars turning laps in anger at around 200 mph. It just doesn't get any better than Daytona in February. Unless, of course, I actually attend a race this year. Considering that I put a copious amount of blood and sweat into remodeling a house for one of the owners of Dickies Manufacturing, which sponsors a race here in Ft. Worth, you might think that attending that race might be a given. You know, comps. Um, no. My brother and I (who were probably both wearing Earnhardt hats at the time, I know he was, I don't recall which cap or shirt I wore that day) got to hear allllll about how wonderful an experience this very nice person had at the race that We Did Not Get To Attend last year. You know, helicopter flight in, luxury suite seating, Victory Lane visit, etc. But I'm not bitter...
Of course, non-racing fans don't understand us, much like I don't understand the attraction to soccer. Seems like all of my adult life Americans have been harangued about not supporting soccer. It brings to mind the attempt to sell us on the Metric System. "The rest of the world likes it" and so forth. As if we should give a flying fuck about the rest of the world. Or, more correctly, as if the greatest, most freedom loving country in world history should emulate its inferiors. All that Metric System bullshit did was waste school time and make a clusterfuck out of auto mechanic's toolboxes. Suddenly every mechanic in the U.S. had to buy a whole 'nother set of tools. I had a Chevy/GMC truck for twenty years and I'll be damned if I ever figured out which bolts were metric and which were SAE. (Mildly kidding, I could tear the whole thing apart and rebuild it today, I went through three truck bodies with one engine and installed at least three transmissions)
Anyway, from a carpentry point of view, the Metric system just doesn't work. Here is why: You often have to divide areas into thirds or some other odd number. With base twelve material, no problem. Try doing that with base ten material sometime. 3.33333333333 and so on centimeters...
Personally, soccer bores the hell out of me, much like racing on TV often does. Stock car racing is something that must be experienced live to be appreciated. The sounds, the people, the realization that "Oh my God! There is a human being inside that goddamned thing that just went by!", the whole racing experience live is just a spectacle, it is sensory overload. It's a rush. On TV, not so much. And Darrell Waltrip annoys the hell out of me anyway. He used to be pretty good and now he is just cartoonish in a bad way. At least, watching on TV, I have that sound memory in my head, that sensory overload feeling. But soccer? What is fun about watching a bunch of people that cannot use their hands in an athletic endeavor? What's up with that? You mean it's a good thing to deny an athlete his most manipulative body parts? What is so great about a sport where (I actually saw this in the paper yesterday) a 2-0 score is called "domination" by one team? Oh. please!
No wonder those people's economies are so fucked up. They worship a sport that denies athletes the use of their most versatile body part, hands (yeah, except for the goalies, and that is an economic analogy in itself) and rejoice at a minor success. Woo Hoo! We scored a goal! One single fucking goal! Boy, we're gettin' it now!
I still go back to the famous Patton speech and remember these words: ""Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American." (emphasis mine)
Key word there being real. Lots of fake Americans in our population nowadays. I fear for the future of our country. We are becoming pussified like the Europeans. Oh, but they are so smart! Let's be a bunch of pussies like them! Let's surrender to our enemies, we can't win, we musn't offend, we can't take a strong stand, we have to use diplomacy, we need higher taxes on everything to pay for people that can't compete, we should tax the rich, let's negotiate with evil, blah blah blah.
Know what? Suck my dick. The United States is the best country in the history of the world for a lot of reasons, primarily because it has always valued individual freedom and initiative. Now, we have too many worshippers of consensus living here. People don't want to take a stand. Can't piss someone off, and it seems to me that we need to piss some people off! Look, when you have a conflict of ideas or wills, one side or the other has to win. Negotiating failure for the right side is a non-starter for any real American. We used to be a country that celebrated achievement, now we celebrate shitheads and coddle failures.
Pull your heads out, people. We need ass kickers, not ass kissers. Politically and otherwise.
Oh yeah, the headline. Earnhardt is an idiot. Teresa, that is. Dale Sr's widow decided to pick a fight with her stepson, who just happens to be the most popular driver in NASCAR, saying that Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed to decide whether he wanted to be a "public figure" or a race car driver. Way to go, babe! Dale's contract is up at the end of the year, and this is the way you open negotiations?!? Hmm, let's see... He has won the most popular driver award four years running. He is an absolute rain maker when it comes to sponsorships, in a sport where sponsorships rule all. He wins races and is always a story even when his team struggles. He is sponsorship platinum.
Teresa, you inherited DEI when my hero, your husband was killed in a race accident, and now you are trying to get his son, the very face of your company, the absolute most valuable asset you have, into a pissing contest? Gee. Who do you think will win that one? Girl, you fucked up. He is starting to realize his value. He wants ownership of his Daddy's company now, and frankly, I think he holds all of the trump cards. I mean, good gawd, what is Dale Earnhardt Incorporated without at least Dale Earnhardt Jr? What, you got Martin Truex? Dale Jr. recruited and groomed him. What have you done other than insult and piss off your marquee property? The answer is, you haven't done shit with what Dale started. Hell, you got other big time drivers taking up for Dale Jr. in the media, and I think Kevin Harvick is all but recruiting him to go to Richard Childress Racing next year. And I may not be alone in saying that I am all for it. I'd absolutely love to see a black 3 car next year, driven by Earnhardt Jr. That would be way fun at the restrictor plate races at the very least. The fans would eat it up and the dollars will flow wherever Dale Jr. goes. Give it up, Teresa, or you will end up disgracing your late husband's legacy. DEI will be a shell, Garage Mahal and all.
Traditionally, the Robin is the first sign of spring. For knuckle-headed sports fans like me, there are other options. For baseball fans, today is "Truck Day" for a lot of teams. Truck day being the day that the organization loads up the gear and heads to Spring Training. However, I'm a NASCAR fan. For me, the surest sign of a fast approaching spring is the Budweiser Shootout at Daytona. Ahhh, tomorrow evening I will be in front of a TV set, with beer in hand and the surround sound cranked, watching 800+ horsepower cars turning laps in anger at around 200 mph. It just doesn't get any better than Daytona in February. Unless, of course, I actually attend a race this year. Considering that I put a copious amount of blood and sweat into remodeling a house for one of the owners of Dickies Manufacturing, which sponsors a race here in Ft. Worth, you might think that attending that race might be a given. You know, comps. Um, no. My brother and I (who were probably both wearing Earnhardt hats at the time, I know he was, I don't recall which cap or shirt I wore that day) got to hear allllll about how wonderful an experience this very nice person had at the race that We Did Not Get To Attend last year. You know, helicopter flight in, luxury suite seating, Victory Lane visit, etc. But I'm not bitter...
Of course, non-racing fans don't understand us, much like I don't understand the attraction to soccer. Seems like all of my adult life Americans have been harangued about not supporting soccer. It brings to mind the attempt to sell us on the Metric System. "The rest of the world likes it" and so forth. As if we should give a flying fuck about the rest of the world. Or, more correctly, as if the greatest, most freedom loving country in world history should emulate its inferiors. All that Metric System bullshit did was waste school time and make a clusterfuck out of auto mechanic's toolboxes. Suddenly every mechanic in the U.S. had to buy a whole 'nother set of tools. I had a Chevy/GMC truck for twenty years and I'll be damned if I ever figured out which bolts were metric and which were SAE. (Mildly kidding, I could tear the whole thing apart and rebuild it today, I went through three truck bodies with one engine and installed at least three transmissions)
Anyway, from a carpentry point of view, the Metric system just doesn't work. Here is why: You often have to divide areas into thirds or some other odd number. With base twelve material, no problem. Try doing that with base ten material sometime. 3.33333333333 and so on centimeters...
Personally, soccer bores the hell out of me, much like racing on TV often does. Stock car racing is something that must be experienced live to be appreciated. The sounds, the people, the realization that "Oh my God! There is a human being inside that goddamned thing that just went by!", the whole racing experience live is just a spectacle, it is sensory overload. It's a rush. On TV, not so much. And Darrell Waltrip annoys the hell out of me anyway. He used to be pretty good and now he is just cartoonish in a bad way. At least, watching on TV, I have that sound memory in my head, that sensory overload feeling. But soccer? What is fun about watching a bunch of people that cannot use their hands in an athletic endeavor? What's up with that? You mean it's a good thing to deny an athlete his most manipulative body parts? What is so great about a sport where (I actually saw this in the paper yesterday) a 2-0 score is called "domination" by one team? Oh. please!
No wonder those people's economies are so fucked up. They worship a sport that denies athletes the use of their most versatile body part, hands (yeah, except for the goalies, and that is an economic analogy in itself) and rejoice at a minor success. Woo Hoo! We scored a goal! One single fucking goal! Boy, we're gettin' it now!
I still go back to the famous Patton speech and remember these words: ""Men, this stuff that some sources sling around about America wanting out of this war, not wanting to fight, is a crock of bullshit. Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. When you, here, everyone of you, were kids, you all admired the champion marble player, the fastest runner, the toughest boxer, the big league ball players, and the All-American football players. Americans love a winner. Americans will not tolerate a loser. Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American." (emphasis mine)
Key word there being real. Lots of fake Americans in our population nowadays. I fear for the future of our country. We are becoming pussified like the Europeans. Oh, but they are so smart! Let's be a bunch of pussies like them! Let's surrender to our enemies, we can't win, we musn't offend, we can't take a strong stand, we have to use diplomacy, we need higher taxes on everything to pay for people that can't compete, we should tax the rich, let's negotiate with evil, blah blah blah.
Know what? Suck my dick. The United States is the best country in the history of the world for a lot of reasons, primarily because it has always valued individual freedom and initiative. Now, we have too many worshippers of consensus living here. People don't want to take a stand. Can't piss someone off, and it seems to me that we need to piss some people off! Look, when you have a conflict of ideas or wills, one side or the other has to win. Negotiating failure for the right side is a non-starter for any real American. We used to be a country that celebrated achievement, now we celebrate shitheads and coddle failures.
Pull your heads out, people. We need ass kickers, not ass kissers. Politically and otherwise.
Oh yeah, the headline. Earnhardt is an idiot. Teresa, that is. Dale Sr's widow decided to pick a fight with her stepson, who just happens to be the most popular driver in NASCAR, saying that Dale Earnhardt Jr. needed to decide whether he wanted to be a "public figure" or a race car driver. Way to go, babe! Dale's contract is up at the end of the year, and this is the way you open negotiations?!? Hmm, let's see... He has won the most popular driver award four years running. He is an absolute rain maker when it comes to sponsorships, in a sport where sponsorships rule all. He wins races and is always a story even when his team struggles. He is sponsorship platinum.
Teresa, you inherited DEI when my hero, your husband was killed in a race accident, and now you are trying to get his son, the very face of your company, the absolute most valuable asset you have, into a pissing contest? Gee. Who do you think will win that one? Girl, you fucked up. He is starting to realize his value. He wants ownership of his Daddy's company now, and frankly, I think he holds all of the trump cards. I mean, good gawd, what is Dale Earnhardt Incorporated without at least Dale Earnhardt Jr? What, you got Martin Truex? Dale Jr. recruited and groomed him. What have you done other than insult and piss off your marquee property? The answer is, you haven't done shit with what Dale started. Hell, you got other big time drivers taking up for Dale Jr. in the media, and I think Kevin Harvick is all but recruiting him to go to Richard Childress Racing next year. And I may not be alone in saying that I am all for it. I'd absolutely love to see a black 3 car next year, driven by Earnhardt Jr. That would be way fun at the restrictor plate races at the very least. The fans would eat it up and the dollars will flow wherever Dale Jr. goes. Give it up, Teresa, or you will end up disgracing your late husband's legacy. DEI will be a shell, Garage Mahal and all.
posted by David Burrow at 4:55 PM
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