Why is NASCAR more entertaining than a football game? Well, let's look at each first.
A football game essentially consists of two teams, 11 two-hundred-pound guys on the field for each team. They face off every week in stadiums across the country. No matter what stadium they play at, the field is always 120-yards long and 53-1/3-yards wide, with 100 yards between goal lines.
All the fields have green grass or some synthetic substitute. The fields are level, solid ground. There are no holes to worry about tripping in while you're running. The two teams play for four quarters, repetitively trying to drive down the field, past the other team, and score. The only thing that changes is the weather and time of day.
A NASCAR race has 43 teams, 43 drivers, and 43 cars weighing 3,400 pounds apiece. They face off on racetracks across the country every weekend.
Some racetracks are ovals, and some are road courses. The size of each track varies, from the smallest on the circuit, Martinsville, at just over half-a-mile in circumference, to the largest, Talladega, at 2.66 miles around. Each track has its own set of challenges. Some tracks are freshly paved and smooth as glass, others are weathered, with bumps in the turns that make the cars bounce around and wobble.
Weather plays a factor in every race weekend. Sometimes rain washes the track, leaving teams scrambling to figure out the correct setup with the limited practice time left before the green flag. Sometimes it's hotter or colder than expected, and the grip of the track changes.
In day-to-night races, the track changes as the sun sets, and the teams have to change their car throughout the race to stay competitive.
The objective for the teams and drivers is to drive well each lap, and try to be around at the end to get a win or at least a solid finish.
Now, there are two main ways to be a fan of your favorite sport every week.
First, you can watch the network broadcasts on TV, yell, scream, jump up, and cheer for your team while you're watching with friends or bar mates. Second, you can buy tickets, drive to where the game or race is that weekend, and yell, scream, jump, and cheer for your team there, with the action happening right in front of you.
This is where the real difference between racing and other stick-and-ball sports shows up.
If you've been to a football game recently, you may notice, every so often, a guy with a headset gets out on the field, stands next to a ref, and during that time, the action stops, and no plays are run. The only thing to watch is the cheerleaders on the sidelines, or maybe something entertaining on the giant screen.
Perhaps a lucky fan wins a lifetime supply of hot dogs, or maybe they win that shiny new car that you all walked past on the way in.
After this TV time-out, the little man runs off the field, and the action continues. I fully understand why this happens, don't get me wrong, if I'm watching at home I don't want to miss that great 60-yard pass for the touchdown.
However, if I'm there in person, these pauses make me wish I had brought my PSP, or a magazine, anything to occupy the pauses.
6 Comments
Loading more comments...
This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete