PLNewman

After watching the Rolex 24 at Daytona International Speedway, The Daily Beast's Joshua David Stein writes that "motorsports is less about racing and more about big egos, vanity, and loud, loud marketing."

While its easy for Rennlisters to lash out at Stein for not fully understanding the sport, he makes some legitimate arguments that are well-worth reading...particularly on the cusp of the 48 Hours at Sebring, in which amateur racing goes full-out with expensive motorhomes and teams of mechanics.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...t-a-sport.html

Paul Solk

Hmmm,
Interesting article, some valid and some disturbing commentary.
Not sure I follow his logic though. So is Football not a sport because the planning and preparation is done in a film room by a group of coaches who will never touch the field? Is Bobsledding not a sport because of the influence on sled design? America's Cup racing? All the other "Sports" where winning is done as much off the field of play as on it? Are they not also all measured by P&L? Isn't every sport these days, down to the college level? It is all as much a business as sport but at the end of the day sport to me is defined by competition and the desire to be better than your opponent.

If anything I would say the argument is completely flawed and what he has discovered is that the sport goes far deeper than the track and there are far more "athletes" in this sport than drivers... Contrary to "can you call it a sport" is "the sport goes much deeper than the driver..."

Burger

So yeah... that whole article is a Troll post.

Suggesting that coordinated team competitions that are backed my manufacturers that dump a lot of money into the chance of success for marketing and ego pumping somehow makes it not a sport is comical. To me, at least. Just troll bait to get people worked up.

PLNewman

"What could be a better echo of the human condition than watching a car without a chance of winning complete endless laps?"

dbf73

Sounds like the Cleveland Browns

LuigiVampa

Its easy to write an article like that about ANYTHING you don't have an interest in.

For instance, my brothers love soccer. I would rather watch paint dry and could write a whole article about how a group of men dancing around the grass for 90 minutes ending in a 1-0 win is hardly exciting.

The guy is a millennial douche bag pajama boy who just doesn't like motorsports and probably never driven at speed on a track, shot a gun, went hunting or fishing, climbed a mountain, or did anything manly in his life.

F-em'

rlm328

Well according to Hemingway there are only 3 sports, bull fighting, mountain climbing and auto racing. Everything else are just games.

Just saying it has always been about ego.

JustinL

Seems like an appropriate time for this meme:

Coochas

When I drive hard, my HR is 140-150s on track. That's a sport to me! Then again, by this argument so is getting pulled over by the police.

John H

When Hemingway said that, the chances of dying in auto racing were a lot higher than today....

To me, a sport is anything athletic that has an objective winner/loser, i.e. best time etc. I am not a big fan of calling subjectively judged games, sports.

Unlike Hemingway, I don't consider a sport something that requires a high chance of dying if you do it enough.

mark kibort

"Any activity where you can die performing it, is a true sport" While competing in college athletics, my roomates (Fellow athletes) always joked about what were real sports. Golf, pool, bowling, guns , archery, etc ( getting shot for example, doesnt count) ... not sports. ............. track, soccer, mountain climbing, baseball, surfing, football, skiing motorsports...........these are all sports.

mehoff

I know that's sarcasm, but I actually agree.

The sense of accomplishment; achieving an unachievable task without thought for reward.....imagine how great it would be if that described the human condition. Going out, putting in all on the line for yourself and your team, for no other reason than to prove you can is an amazing feeling.

I've completed three 24 hour races without a chance at a podium, and I can tell you after the race my team (and every other "losing" team) celebrated like we'd just won the superbowl. I've seen numerous grown *** men break down in tears at the end. It's indescribable, and a large part why I started to favor enduro over sprint races.

Not sure I'm 100% in the camp of calling motor racing a sport, but I have the same thoughts on golf.

MRW

My wife will know the answer to that one- I'll ask her this weekend

fleadh

I didn't think it was a bad article. It's clear he isn't a big (or small) racing fan and it doesn't sound like he particularly wanted to be there anyway. However, it's good to read someones thoughts on the event who isn't looking at it through rose colored glasses. It would be interesting if he did it again, only this time stuck with a single car or driver squad all night to really see how it is up close and personal. Maybe his views would change, maybe not.

-mike

johneecatt

Results and commentary show up on the sports page...... end of discussion!