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From Insider Racing News July 24, 2004 By Jodie Strait
Once upon a time there was an association that put on athletic events. The owner built it up with his own sweat and tears. It was a bloody climb to the top because in order to succeed, you had to make the competitions more competitive, the athletes more and more athletic and make the prizes better and better.
The association grew and grew and grew. The entire family was involved bottom to top. After many successful years, the owner retired and the son took over the business and spearheaded a new and even better era.
Fast forward some years and the company was doing great. Its competition annihilated itself through horrible promotion and wasted money; they allowed their best athletes to defect. The company was at the top, it was cutting edge and it filled a void that the American masses craved. Better yet, the organization was no longer a side show but was becoming legitimate in mainstream living.
Instead of being on minor cable shows, it was now being courted by bigger networks. Better advertisers flocked to them eager to join the groundswell. All of this of course, meant more money for the family. The athletes began earning more and more. Life was very good.
The owners enjoyed this new era; the era of Sports Entertainment. The athletes began doing commercials and television shows…a few even broke into movies. T-shirts with a fan favorite were becoming more and more of the norm. Ca-Ching.
Sellout crowds kept the money pouring in. With the competition down for the count, the picture looked rosy. They stopped going to the small venues where the sport grew from a regional event and into large market venues. You cannot stay in one region if you want to have a national audience was the mantra. ‘We are growing’ was the excuse. Thanks for getting us to where we are...you can catch us on television. Adios. Au Reviour. See Ya.
Unfortunately things started going downhill…The owner began making changes that many considered unorthodox. They moved from the winning combination to what the owner proclaimed would grow them even bigger in the future.
Fans became concerned. Where was the competition they knew and loved? Internet sites began questioning the changes and the readers and opinion writers were exceedingly frustrated with the lack of sports and the growth of the entertainment. It became a parody of itself.
Viewers finally got fed up and turned their televisions off. The owner refused to acknowledge there was a problem and continually shoved a few chosen athletes to the front and ignored the majority.
Because there were few other venues for the athletes, they had little choice but to stick it out and parrot the company line. Ratings were down, hardcore fans were really angry and yet the owner felt he knew what mattered and what would sell. He stubbornly kept pushing his own vision.
Recently he came up with a great idea to get a ratings boost. Did he decide to have a few great wrestling matches? No way, he had empty-headed bimbos in very filled-out bikinis involved in a Diva Search.
Oh, you thought I was talking about NASCAR? Oh no, this is the World Wrestling Federation oops…Entertainment.
Scary though about the similarities huh? I find it ironic that some morons claim NASCAR is like the WWE. They don’t know how close they really are while at the same time being so far off.
I used to be a huge wrestling fan. Bret Hart, Shawn Michaels, British Bulldogs, Edge, Chris Jericho…loved them. But when wrestling became secondary to the stupid lame acting skits that usually included a McMahon family member (the owners) you just had to say enough. Goodbye wrestling, hello Law and Order re-runs.
I am afraid in some ways that NASCAR is following the same path.
We lose Rockingham and Darlington is heading down that road…sure you can use the ‘the seats were not filled’ excuse. It’s true they did not sell out, but I can bet you this, had they given the Rock to Humpy Wheeler those seats would have been filled. Humpy fills the caverns of Lowes Motor Speedway two consecutive weekends, that is amazing. The logistics of that nightmare road called Highway 74, the lack of hotel rooms and the fact Rockingham can have snow on the ground in February…child’s play for Humpy.
I personally don’t care if they move events to tracks by big cities, but please make the tracks have some character. Do you see California or Chicago having a cool nickname like The Track Too Tough to Tame or The Rock? Yawn.
Cookie cutter 1.5 milers...blech. Personally I don’t care if it is a huge market, you will lose your fan base by not giving them competitive racing. People will turn the television on to watch a great race; they don’t care if it is in New York City or Timbuktu.
Mr. France, stop trying so hard to make things more entertaining. What has worked in the past will work in the future. Fast cars combined with a charismatic driver and a fan friendly atmosphere. It is what got us here, it will keep the sport moving forward..
Green and white checkers, Lucky Dog passes, the Chase for the Championship, the Race for the Chase. Give me a break, why can’t racing be racing? Why can’t a win mean something instead of just an addition to the point’s race?
I have to admit I am about as sick and tired of the Point Championship, as I am of the Presidential election. If I could turn on a television and not hear about either for even an hour I would be thrilled. The worst part? Both will be around until November. Calgon take me away.
The season is half over yet we are already obsessing over ten drivers, well make that fifteen if you add in those who could have potential to make the top ten.
What happens to the driver who had a rough start but got things together and would have made the top ten in the old point’s system? Sorry buddy you don’t count anymore. But heck if you are in tenth with ten races to go and 800 points behind you too can win. Huh? Is this outcome based racing?
My point is this; it seems as if in order to try and grab a bigger piece of the sport’s pie, NASCAR is losing its heart and soul. What made the sport so great is now second to the dog and pony show. We are told ‘it is what the fans want’ or ‘we need to make it more entertaining.’ Really? Not in my book.
How about the door to door finish of Ricky Craven and Kurt Busch or Elliott Sadler and Kasey Kahne? That was entertainment. Have four or five or twenty races like that and you won’t need any marketing schemes, the fans will show up money in hand.
I think that the folks running NASCAR need to realize that it was great before all these changes. You can grow a fan base and do it in a way that you don’t lose the ones who supported the sport long term.
But you know, I don’t blame Brian France or Mike Helton, the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus. I really don’t think anyone is trying to ruin anything, I think any change is made trying to do what they think is best. But sometimes even the best intentions don’t give us the results we thought.
Wholesale changes are not needed. I just hope that the powers that be are not so stuck on their way or the highway that they stay on a stubborn course versus do what’s right for the sport. I say lets just get back to some good hard-fought racing. But hey, if that doesn’t work they can always have a bikini contest.
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