Post #2, NASCAR Entertains More than Promised

They’re making a left turn. They’re making a left turn. What do you think will happen next?

For those of you who answer simply with, another left turn, you may have been very surprised watching the Daytona 500 over the last two days.

Racing, a sport known for a long distance haul that lasts one day, was forced into a rain delay that caused it to be the first-ever Monday primetime audience. However, the rain delay wasn’t the weirdest factor.

Coming from a guy that never watches NASCAR to save his life, or one that could argue against the drivers being “athletes,” I could not help but be interested in the turn of events that occurred with 40 laps to go in the race.

Juan Pablo Montoya, trying to catch up to the group during a caution flag, had a breakdown in his car. This sent him into the back of a jet dryer, creating a huge fireball. The jet dryer would eventually melt onto the track and the blazing car would skid to the infield grass. By the way, no individuals suffered injuries.

This caused the race, already delayed for a day, to be delayed an extra two hours.

With so much extra time, drivers began to come together socially to have a little fun before getting back into the race. Brad Keselowski began tweeting pictures and descriptions of everything around him and picked up more than 100,000 followers during the two hour span.

Even when drivers tried to get a closer view of the damage leftover from the car and jet dryer, they were sent back to the lanes by authority. This caused irritation to the already restless drivers.

Finally, after the two hour break, drivers were back on the road ready to finish off the race. However, Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch made a mistake that put them in the back of the line for start off.

It is a rule in NASCAR that drivers and pit crew are not allowed to modify the cars in any way until the race is back under way. Edwards and Busch, though, decided to increase their visibility by removing the tearoff sheets from their windshields.

So to a regular sports fan that sees NASCAR as a waste of time with no point, they may have been surprised by the entertainment factor provided by the racing. I know I was.

Post #1, Golf Worth Watching?

               As the Golf Major Pebble Beach comes to a close, the big story comes out as Phil Mickelson comes from behind to finish the tournament with a commanding lead. However, the addition to this story includes none other than “Golf Icon” himself, Tiger Woods.

                With Woods in position to finally with a PGA Tour tournament, it was his partner Mickelson that put the pedal to the medal and Woods that dropped the ball.

                My question is – with a four day span of playing golf, how can there be such a lackluster sense of headline? Of course, the golf world will be focused on Tiger Woods and how he is doing. Seriously though, how many times will we go on talking about how everyone thinks he will win this tournament, and he fails?

                With other sports, the events will last one day. The excitement that builds up around these games is able to reach a climax that will be resolved within hours. This sense of entertainment makes people want to watch.

                Golf, on the other hand, seems to be a one of those long, dragged out speeches by that annoying guy nobody wants to listen to. Between Woods failure to win and the mystery man that picks up the win, it is just a never ending series of repeating headlines.

My idea, make golf a one day, 36 hole, winner takes all event. That way, more sports enthusiasts would take an interest in golf without having to check on it day after day, after day, after day.                

Also, finding a different character to lead the headline charge could be helpful. Find a person like Happy Gilmore that can be successful every once in a while, but entertains an audience as well.

 Six of the top eight headlines are about either Mickelson or Woods. Repetition? I think so!