Tonight was the final season race in NASCAR...before the CHASE for the SPRINT Cup.There are 10 more races before the end of the season and for the final Cup.
This means the top 12 drivers of year get a shot of winning the big deal trophy. Chase and points are complicated and since this is PNN, I can be honest and say after a few drinks tonight, I don't wish to get into details!
However, I'm in awkward position. As a fan, I should be pissed by the fact that my #1 driver had a horrible night. He fell behind a few laps and all things that could go wrong, did go wrong except he didn't crash (that's probably because he's a good driver). Then my #2 driver somehow fell off radar too; it upsets me to see my favorite drivers fall so far behind but when I stop and think about it....I'm into NASCAR for a few reasons and one of them is seriously for journalism purposes and I'm put into that awkward position of feeling like I shouldn't feel for any of the athletes.
It's odd.
Tonight, my #3 driver won first place, his name is Denny Hamlin. Driver of the #11, FedEx car; and I was so excited because he beat my biggest rival. I was cheering because Mr. M&M, driver of the #18 car didn't win first place then I thought, I can't feel hate toward him. Mr. M&M is a good driver but as a fan...I don't want to be the M&M fan.
As a music fan, there's no need to be a rival of this band or that, is there? I never felt the pressure of being a loyal fan or not being a loyal fan if I liked bands A, B or Z. But as a sports fan, I feel like I have to like 1 team; 1 athlete and no one else. It gets complicated.
My dad always trained me to be the people pleasure, if all of your friends like team A then cheer for team A. Just shut up and do it, he pretty much would say. It keeps the peace. Although he's right; I kind of feel like I should have a right to say I like team B in a room full of team A fans.
As I pay more attention to NASCAR and as I learn more about the sport and get to know the drivers better by paying attention to interviews and such, I'm learning that I like a lot of the drivers. Including the 1 that my dad really doesn't like. To keep the peace, as he taught me, I should say I don't like Jimmy Johnson. To keep the peace in Junior Nation, I should say I don't like Jimmie Johnson.
I feel the pressure to say I don't like him but gosh darn it, the dude is cool. He's always doing something impressive and the guy has amazing public appearance. I listened to him on his scanner tonight and holy moly what a professional he is; a part of me feels obligated to say No to the #48 team but deep down inside, I know this 4 time Cup Champion is someone to admire ... let's not forget to mention, he named his new born daughter (that he had this past summer) Genevieve Marie ... my real birth name is Marie Genevieve. What a way to win me over.
Let's talk about driver of the #24 car, Jeff Gordon. He's also one driver that I've once felt obligated to dislike. If you pay attention to the articles I'll be posting on a NASCAR site, Skirts and Scuffs, I will be covering Jeff Gordon during the Chase for the Cup. I'm excited, I did volunteer to cover Jeff and I do think this guy is someone to admire, someone to respect and someone who really does have a chance to win the Championship this year, he did after all, win 4 of them already.
So for the next ten weeks, my heart will break for Dale and Kasey and I'll feel a natural instinct to cheer for Denny; obligated to boo for Jimmie and I'll be paying attention, living, breathing and kind of sorta stalking Jeff Gordon.
So maybe deep inside my heart of hearts I'm either Not a sports fan because I like a lot of the drivers; or maybe I finally figured out how to be a real journalist; to not have a real negative opinion about the athlete and to know when to just simply, 'shut the F up.'
Look, NASCAR is different then football or baseball. I am a Patriots and Red Sox fan because I seriously grew up in New Hampshire and I lived 6 amazing years, yes the years both teams won Super Bowls and World Series, in Boston. So I'm almost biased. I cheer for my home team. Now that I'm living in Charlotte, 20 minutes from Panther's stadium, I feel like both an outcast and lost without my daily "NESN" news.(NESN stands for New England Sports News) Thank God for the internet!
My question to all of you sports fans out there...did anything I say make sense to you? Do you ever feel an obligation to cheer - or boo - for someone because everyone else is?
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