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Park place Users weigh in with support of Steve ParkPosted: Monday May 05, 2003 3:00 PM
You know, I figured after last week's dual screeds on the topics of Steve Park and the politics of NASCAR that the latter would produce more mail suggesting that I'm a moron. Well, I totally underestimated the esteem in which Park is held, which led to me being inundated with gross-sounding e-mails. Dara from New York gave me some of that big-city sass, writing, "Listen, here, Betchel, first of all the word is spelled 'wreck' not reck. The spell-check is available for most professionals. Second of all, Steve Park has more credibility, passion and determination in his little pinky than you have in your entire universe! Instead of cuddling up to your laptop spewing judgments on Steve Park..." At that point I stopped. You know, most IT professionals strongly advise that you not spew anything near your laptop. You could ruin the machine. (And for the record, I've never cuddled with my laptop. And it's Bechtel, not Betchel.) Then there was the nice note from Kelly in McConnellsburg, Pa. It's a shame I don't have room to run the whole thing, but it ends "I will be sure to save this article and forward it to him, so that you can be one of those 'media people' that gets the same type of respect in return that you have displayed with your idiotic article. Since I've never seen your face on TV, perhaps Steve will have to settle for you biting your finger off instead of your tongue." To which I can only respond: gross. To recap last week's theme: I have nothing against Park. I don't want to see him fail. (What motive could I possibly have for that?) I just think his struggles are a legitimate story, and I think coming in and ripping the press was just inviting disaster. I'd love to see him win; comebacks make great stories. As for the Jesse Jackson stuff, far less vitriol came my way. John in New York makes a very valid point, taking me to task for not suggesting an explicit course of action. "Why does 'just get it done' qualify as a way to look at solving a very complex problem?" It doesn't. It is a very complex problem that is going to require some serious thought and resources. It also isn't my job, thank God. If NASCAR is going to make an attempt to attract minority fans and participants (and I'm not talking about drivers -- they obviously can't start at the top) then they need to get them hooked when they're young. One of the shrewdest men I've met in sports is Don Garber, the commissioner of Major League Soccer. What impresses me about him is that he will admit up front that there's no way 40-year-olds who have never given two flips about soccer are going to suddenly get hooked en masse. (Though they should, but that's another story.) He knows the only way to insure the long-term survival of his league is to go after potential fans before they become set in their ways. While NASCAR isn't in trouble from a long-term standpoint, there is a similarity here -- NASCAR needs to realize that there isn't a quick fix. Start internship programs. Go to schools. Bring kids to the track. Get them hooked early and it will pay off later. Just do something.
Two this week. The first, from Tony in Portland, makes the cut because he said nice things about me, as opposed to accusing me of cuddling with a laptop. "Here's a question for you -- while I really like Earnhardt Jr. as a driver/personality, what's the media fascination (did I spell that right?) with him? He's won a few races and is having a great season but it seems no matter where he finishes, he's always the lead-off story on nascar.com and rpm.espn.com. SI is normally guilty of it too. Shouldn't the winner of the race get the top story? It drives me absolutely insane that there are 42 other drivers every race and Earnhardt gets the lion's share of the coverage. His father didn't even get this kind of attention and he won seven championships! What are your thoughts?" Well, for starters, if you want to know if you spelled "fascination" right, you might ask Dara. She seems to be up on such things. As for Junior, I think you may be right about him being more popular than his dad, for the simple reason that the sport is bigger. He connects the new school and the old school, and there is something genuinely interesting about him. That's not always the case with the other drivers, which is why the press loves him. He's a great soundbite. Thanks for the kind words. Now, to Jenks from Queens. "My bandmate and fellow NASCAR fan, Cosgrove Watt, led me to your column. I read some comments concerning the conspiracy theories behind yellow flags being thrown and rules being altered on the fly to help out NASCAR favorites such as Jr. and was wondering what you thought about the California race. Jr. lucked out in the last 30 laps (after his pit crew botched the lug nut exchange) by getting a yellow flag and regaining a spot in the lead lap. The TV announcers questioned the yellow flag because no debris was visible on the track. All eyes were on Jr. as he struggled out from under the leaders. Was this yellow flag justified or another example of NASCAR giving the fans what they want? This restart put [Jamie] McMurray back a few spots and [Jimmie] Johnson back a lot after their cars seemed to clam up after looking so strong during the green-flag racing. Not sure this is anything to get worked up over, just thought I would put it in the folder labeled 'evidence for paranoid, conspiracy-theorizing, prog-rock loving fans.'" Jenks, not sure about the caution. I was in the pits most of the race, and I'll let you in on a dirty little secret: You're better off watching the race on TV, where you get much better views (as well as excellent commentary from the Fox guys, who are simply great week in and week out.) Was there debris? I'm sure there was. Enough for a caution? Got me. But I'm sure NASCAR knew who was where when the yellow came out. On to more important things. The aforementioned Cosgrove sent me a copy of the latest CD from Tungsten 74, the band he and Jenks are in. I'm going to review it in the next column, but first I want to invite any other readers who might be in bands to submit your work for consideration. Just drop me a line.
We're off again. I understand the sanctity of Easter and Mother's Day, but why must they burn two of the four off weeks in such a short period of time? Last week's pick, Rusty Wallace, came home 10th, bringing me up to 1,350 points, which is good for seventh, right behind Michael Waltrip.
Mark Bechtel covers NASCAR for Sports Illustrated and SI.com.
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