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.
Delivering newspapers in the Internet age is a waste of fossil fuels.
heh heh..
Good one!
Amen. And if they can’t shut down all at once, they can start by eliminating useless columns that waste paper and ink each year—like Norman Chad’s drivel.
You could say the same thing about any form of unnecessary
assembly of people or travel.
stop global stupidity.
“You could say the same thing about any form of unnecessary
assembly of people or travel.”
Yes, that’s coming soon if not already here.
The rantings of a rabid, leftist, environut.
And Norman Chad would like to be the Necessary Czar!
I’m assuming he didn’t get free press passes to either event.
I think Norman’s problem is that he just doesn’t like ‘guy stuff’, like guns, driving fast,....(other things come to mind).
We are going to be nudged into another Dark Ages.
Spoken like a man who probably hasn’t seen live-action high-speed driving since “The Blues Brothers” wrapped.
Sports announcers and writers have all gone Marxist lately.
These nuts are everywhere. This race had a smaller carbon footprint on that sunday than Al Gore’s house, not to mention his jet, or his big mouth. Oh, and FYI Dude, ever heard of the National Air Races at Reno Nevada?
Has anyone else noted lately that a bunch of idiots have emerged from Chicago that are urinating upon the country?
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.
I bet ol’ Norman doesn’t live within walking distance of the printing plant. After all - that is the working end of a paper (it’s NOT the office building).
“Racing auto be obsolete by now”
It don’t be obsolete.
It be stayin’.
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