NASCAR: The Almighty Racing Series; Now a Professional Era Sport.

How great were the days that Dale Earnhardt would come from the back of the race field and dominate Talladega, when fans thought his time was up? What about the time that Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon were seen screaming at each other from the garage? Yeah, that is when the racing was entertainment. You can even dive further into memorable races and events that occurred after the race; but what are we left with today?

Just as you begin to watch the first five minutes into Sportscenter, the only name you seem to hear is "Brett Favre." Then the stories continue to dwell and you hear about this trade here and this trade there. Just like the old days that you would get excited for a new player to be on your team, that has pretty good stats elsewhere. The case today isn't the favorite team getting a good player as much as it used to be, its the all so powerful dollar that revolves around each trade. The deal with Favre has devoured the media so much that you wouldn't think there is any sport still in existence. The talk about trades and a very accomplished athlete nearing fourty who we can't hear enough of; has really said all I can take to hear.

Where does NASCAR fit into all this? I believe that with all sports, we seem to not care what happens week in and week out, its just who is going where? The NASCAR community did lose one of their key legends in the sport when Dale Earnhardt passed away, and many of the other great drivers have been hanging their helmets. The sport has been losing a fan base at an increasing rate and the only thing to keep it entertained is the nice Sportscenter keeping us informed on where Tony Stewart will be racing instead of who was involved in a thirty two car pile up at Daytona. In reality, there has never been a thirty two car pile up, but it just seems that the names moving from team to team is what tops the news of the sport instead of a great race or a horrible race. The little bit of a story that I came across was how NASCAR and the Indianapolis Speedway had a terrible weekend with the tires that were sent for the race. The story of Jimmie Johnson coming out of his slump and moving back up the points standing didn't make as big of a story as I would have hoped.

So, in the end, I believe that NASCAR has finally joined the rest of the nation's great professional sports as one of the big headliners, but in a bad way. Baseball has suffered their steroid dilema, and Football has its scare as the question is, "Where will Brett Favre be playing?" Who cares is what I want to ask. I wish more people were like me to say they want to hear more about stats and teams progress instead of 'who's on first?' ...And no, not the base.