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Is NASCAR a sport, or is it entertainment?

17. listopadu 2012 v 1:24 | sports
Good racing is not always good drama. Sorry, old-school race fans, but it's true. Sometimes, a masterfully run race is about as exciting as a parade, minus the candy thrown from the floats.
And as NASCAR heads into its final weekend of 2012, with both viewer interest and sponsor dollars on flimsy foundations, it's about time to confront the issue NASCAR has danced around for decades: Is this a sport, or is it entertainment?
Let's begin by clarifying the terms. We're not saying NASCAR is scripted, pro wrestling style, despite what some critics (and some drivers) would have you believe. But there is indeed manipulation of events to create drama, on both the micro (those phantom-debris caution flags) and macro (The Chase for the Sprint Cup) levels. NASCAR doesn't necessarily care who wins a race, but it wants a good battle before we all get there.
At its heart, NASCAR is the most fundamental of all sports: Whoever gets to the finish line first wins. Even toddlers understand this concept. And Ernest Hemingway had such an affinity for auto racing that he termed it one of the only real sports, along with mountain climbing and bullfighting. "All the rest," he said, "are merely games." It's a meaty, rally-the-race-fans quote, wrapped around the DNA of the sport and even repurposed as a promotional tag line for ESPN this year.
Thing is, Hemingway classified those three as "sports" because in his day, all had the very real potential to kill their participants. Certainly, the possibility for serious injury or worse still exists in NASCAR, but no NASCAR driver has died on-track since Dale Earnhardt in 2001. It's an uncomfortable fact to confront, but the sport's increased (and, yes, necessary) emphasis on safety has reduced the element of risk that drew many fans to the sport.
At the same time, NASCAR has taken steps to sculpt storylines and set the stage for drama. The biggest story of last week - indeed, maybe the biggest story of the year - wasn't the impending championship race, it was a fight between two drivers and their crews. Jeff Gordon vs. Clint Bowyer fired up the fan base in a way 20 routine cookie-cutter-track races combined couldn't do.
Despite what some fans scream, there's no grand conspiracy to determine a winner - if that were the case, we wouldn't have five years of Jimmie Johnson winning and four years of Dale Earnhardt Jr.losing - but NASCAR most definitely wants to put the pieces in place for a thrilling ending. It's like a Michael Bay movie where robot after giant robot after planet-sized robot shows up, everything leading to a final battle that we're pretty sure won't end in handshakes and hugs.
Consider the Chase itself. NASCAR instituted the Chase in 2004 as a form of racing playoffs, and transplanting a "postseason" into what had been a season-long race was a tricky and not-entirely-successful surgery. Indeed, the Chase has had more workovers than an aging runway model, all in the pursuit of moments like last year, when the season came down to literally the last turn on the last lap of the last race, and Tony Stewart won the championship on a one-point tiebreaker over Carl Edwards.
Sure, it's forced drama. But it's still drama. Without the Chase last year, Edwards would have locked up the season championship the week before Homestead. Love or hate the Super Bowl, you don't go into the week knowing who the NFL champion is before you play the game.
And that's the problem NASCAR faces: Sometimes, sports aren't particularly dramatic. Sometimes, one team (or one driver) absolutely throttles everyone else. Despite NASCAR's attempts to go for what it calls a "Game 7 moment," sometimes it doesn't work out that way. (This year's World Series, for instance, didn't even see a "Game 5 moment.")
So does the sport keep manipulating events to funnel everything down to a dramatic finish? Or does it allow events to play out with the chance that wins will be drama-free? Doing the former risks alienating fans who feel manipulated; doing the latter risks boring fans with follow-the-leader racing. Nice choice, huh?
This weekend, if all goes according to sporting design, Brad Keselowski will conclude his season-long run at a championship, holding off Jimmie Johnson with a triumphant run at Homestead. But don't be surprised if there's a lot more drama than we'd expect. That has a way of happening these days in NASCAR races.
 

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1 Chen Chuge corazón por sorpresa, pensando que eso es exagerar demasiado Chen Chuge corazón por sorpresa, pensando que eso es exagerar demasiado | E-mail | Web | 21. listopadu 2012 v 21:41 | Reagovat

Chen Chuge corazón por sorpresa, pensando que eso es exagerar demasiado. NIU Dawei Chen Chuge mirada de sorpresa, dijo: "nuestra economía pequeño platos, puntos más rápidos correctamente, tenemos dos empresas grandes del año, las cifras se duplican. No entiende la economía, usted no puede decir. ”
¿Chen Chuge después de rellenar nuevamente, manteniendo informes al sello de Hao Zhengren, Hao Zhengren Lea cuidadosamente, madao: "no seas tímido, y estas cifras son verificadas antes? ¿No se puede decir que los ingresos de los agricultores son el huevo de pollo y huevo, para incubar pollos, pollo-y-huevo, estos tienen que ser contados? Si rastrear por encima, creo que usted consigue más de un negociado. Su jefe Lea primero, antes de que le puedo dar sellado. ”
Chen Chuge surgen con Niu Dawei por última vez el papel, Hao Zhengren en escritura, confirmada fue escrito por Niu Dawei, murmurando: "él realmente se atreven a escribir. "Y luego a regañadientes construido capítulo.
Comisión del condado para inspección de disciplina tiene un materiales informes honestos, Chen Chuge encontrar papel del año pasado, Miró de nuevo, por encima de la Niu Dawei de empleados que se negaron a aceptar una invitación a cenar 30 veces, rechazar los regalos más de 20.000 yuanes, regreso regalos 10 piezas de registros y así sucesivamente, hay Mayor Zhang Yang y otros miembros del equipo, todo incluido en la lista. Hao Zhengren, por favor deje el mismo día, madre de la de esposa celebrar el cumpleaños. Chen Chuge recordó que le dijo su número de cheque, comenzó su propia verificación.
NIU Dawei no es, en primer lugar encontró publicidad para verificar. Publicidad dijo, como ver extranjeros lo miró y dijo, "usted está mirando para escribirlo. ”
Luego está el Secretario Adjunto del rey, Chen Chuge a reunirse con él, con los mismos ojos mirados, él mismo dijo, como la publicidad.
¿En tercer lugar es disciplina, criticó Chen Chuge dijo, "es estúpido, cómo puede este tipo de cosas podría llevar a verificar? Liderazgo ¿qué dirías? ”
Chuge Chen dijo: "dicen show me por escrito. ”

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