Jeff Gordon’s on-track burnout didn’t garner a whole lot of airtime. Perhaps then he would have proven his driving acumen by avoiding all the debris that some numbskulls threw on the track.
There’s no excuse for that sort of thing. None. Try and tell me one, and I’ll be happy to tell you why you’re full of it. If you sat at home and thought for one second you’d do the same, you’re no better than the clowns who actually did.
Yes, we know you’re mad at Gordon and how dare he pass Dale Earnhardt on the wins list. And you have a right to boo him and jeer him as he celebrates.
Then you go 40 steps too far and throw something at Gordon on the track. That leaves you feeling two ways: You’re still po’d because the win still stands or you somehow feel better about yourself.
Yeah, I guess you did show him.
What’s going to happen if Tony Stewart passes Earnhardt on the wins list? Will he get the same treatment?
What would happen if Dale Earnhardt Jr. passed his dad on the list? Would he get the same treatment? After all, he would only knock Senior further down the wins list.
I can hear it — of course not, that’s his son for heaven’s sake! But you’ve already shown that you have little regard for Junior. His full, unedited comment from last week’s media teleconference:
“I’d consider it [throwing beer cans] nasty. I think I just don’t feel comfortable with beer cans flying onto the racetrack. I’m out there in my racecar. I don’t feel comfortable with beer cans flying on the racetrack at any point in time, to be honest with you,” he said. “You see a lot of them are full, half full, hitting people ’cause they’re not making it over the fence, knocking people in the back of the head. I’ve seen that happen on occasion. It’s a dangerous business. I don’t think it’s cool. It ain’t cool at all.
“Go out in the parking lot and wail a couple beers at your car. Don’t throw them at my car or anybody else’s, for that matter. Take a couple shots at your own. I think it’s ridiculous, to be honest with you. The first time it happened between me and Jeff, it was funny. Then I heard later that people got hit in the head. You could see it on TV, beer cans, full beer cans, were being thrown onto the track.
“If a full beer can doesn’t make it on the track, hits somebody in the head sitting down in row four or five, maybe an innocent fan, maybe a first-time fan, maybe it’s a female or a child, that’s ridiculous. Once I found that out I realized the seriousness of that situation.
“Maybe get some toilet paper. If you’re unhappy with it, throw some toilet paper. It’s hell to clean up, but it won’t hurt anybody.”
So your favorite driver strongly advises against such an action. What? Junior doesn’t tell you what to do? Well, I guess you showed him, too.
You rail against the stereotypes of NASCAR fans, yet you help perpetuate them by your actions. You lower yourself to the standards set by the idiots who start soccer riots in other countries.
We expect this sort of thing from yahoos in Philly, where boorish behavior is almost as much a spectator sport as the game itself. (Sabres coach Lindy Ruff got nailed in the head with a cup of beer, J.D. Drew was the target for batteries, a handful of people booed Michael Irvin as he lay motionless on the turf, etc.)
I know how things in Philly work; I grew up an hour north of there as a dedicated Eagles fan. Now, part of my job is covering the Redskins, part of the rivalry-filled NFC East.
Though I like to think I cover the Redskins with the fairness they deserve. I certainly do my best to do that. And I like to think I’ve moved past the point where I felt so powerless that the only way I could react to a negative was to throw something — on the field, at the TV, at our cats.
In other words, I grew up.
Perhaps it’s time some Earnhardt fans did too.
(Photo by Reinhold Matay/Associated Press)
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Really, we’d expect this sort of thing in Philadelphia.