I sure am glad we got off our high horse and stopped making fun of NASCAR fans

[underpants]

Gordon wins, gets pelted with beer cans
He passes Earnhardt in wins as fans fume
http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070430/REPOSITORY/704300382/1007/SPORTS



Unpopular winner
Beer cans rain down after Gordon passes legendary Earnhardt
http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-0704290542apr30,1,6392339.story?coll=chi-sportstop-hed

[Little Wing]

1. They waited till the end of the race before tossing beer?

It's much more interesting at 200mph :eyes:

[meegbear]

3. But a lot harder to hit the target

[Clark2008]

2. Uhhh... you do realize that fans have thrown beer cans at

opposing teams in nearly every sport, don't you?

It's not just those "rednecks" at NASCAR races.

BTW, my 7 year old son isn't a redneck and he loves NASCAR.

[underpants]

7. Yeah

This was planned coordinated anticipated talked about not some random act of spontaneous anger and hatred.

[WCGreen]

11. What seven year old wouldn't love a mess of high powered

cars racing around a track making all kinds of noise...

It's when he get's to be 8 that you have to worry...

Just kidding...

[Clark2008]

15. That's the way I figure it.

I loved cars when I was his age, too, and I'm female - sexism never worked in my parents' house.

What happens when they're 8? They figure out that race cars are a euphemism for sex? Because he turns 8 in 14 days. LOL!

[WCGreen]

16. Well, let's hope it takes him to at least 15-16 to figure out that....

But then again, with all the hormones in the food chain, who knows...

[LoZoccolo]

17. After the Ron Artest fight, people threw beer.

That was at a basketball game.

[slampoet]

42. It's not that. It's that NASCAR even allows beer cans at all!!!

When is the last time that you were at ANY sporting or concert event where cans or bottles were allowed?

For me it's been almost 20 years.

[Arugula Latte]

51. We are one of those latte-sipping lefty liberal Portland families and our son loves NASCAR

Where did we go wrong? :cry:

[liberal N proud]

4. You mean those guys sitting there watching cars make left hand turns all day?

Pass me another beer, Jeff is about to pass the beloved Dale, I need something to throw at him.

Sure makes sense doesn't it.

[underpants]

6. Yeah it's like paying to sit next to the interstate

I have been to a race.

[durtee librul]

37. Gee, have you been to I696 in Deetroit?

That's the Moron 500......same thing as sitting next to the interstate and swilling a cold one!

[conscious evolution]

29. It makes a lot of sense when you think about it.

Miller Lite and Budwieser both should be thrown on a regular basis.That's all its good for in my opinion because it sure ain't worth drinking!
One person passing another is as good an excuse as any.

[Scout]

30. left hand turns at 180 mph with another car about 2 inches to your left,

your right, in front of and behind you also going 180 mph.

[liberal N proud]

45. Just like I95

[Scout]

46. not quite n/t

[Bake]

5. Soccer hooligans are SO much more civilized ...

Oh, and basketball fans -- didn't some of them burn a few cars a while back to celebrate a victory? Wait, that might have been football fans. Hard to tell sometimes.

Bake

[ieoeja]

8. The problem is the "why" for NASCAR fans hating Gordon.

He is a non-southerner. And we get so sick and tired of so many southerners hating everyone who isn't southern. For example, all the threads claiming we "have" to nominate Clark, Edwards or some other southerner because their supporters claim that southerners will not vote for a non-southerner.

[wyldwolf]

9. It's that and more

To Southern NASCAR fans, Gordon represents "California elitism." NASCAR fans never stop to think, though, that becoming a NASCAR racer takes LOADS of money and the Earnhardts were by no means broke when they first got into the game.

My in-laws are really big into racing. My wive's sister races on a lower level than NASCAR. Her father has spent a fortune of cars, trailers, and other equipment for her. It ain't cheap to get in.

[Stuckinthebush]

12. California elitism?

Really?

God I know nothing about that sport. I mean, to the untrained eye NASCAR drivers are NASCAR drivers. In fact, isn't Gordon a nice guy? I just don't see the elitism but then again, I'm not a fan. I am a Southerner though!

[wyldwolf]

14. yep. They see Gordon as a "California rich kid" who's parents bought their way into NASCAR

..but with few exceptions, they all had to have loads of cash to get into it.

[martymar64]

41. Just like Dale Jr.

I'm sure Dale Sr. wasn't hurting for cash.

BTW, its nice to agree with you on something.

[izzybeans]

18. Except he's from Indiana.

he may have been born there. But he grew up here.

[wyldwolf]

20. it's a label, not necessarily based on geography

[Clark2008]

26. Gordon? California elitism?

Sure, he was born there, but he did most of his growing up in Indiana - hardly the home of cultural elitism.

I think the male fans hate him because all the female fans adore him - at least that's what I hear from race fans. I'm not a race fan, to be honest, but I know all the news because of my son who thinks he's a Keith Olbermann in the making: he's constantly giving us sports updates. :) Soon, he'll move to news.

[wyldwolf]

27. I'm just going by what NASCAR fans have personally told me

I'm in a family full of them.

[Clark2008]

34. That's funny if it's true.

Every time I hear Jeff Gordon talk, I start looking for the sticks he's been hiding out in. LOL.

I don't think he sounds a bit "Californian."

:shrug: Who knows?

[wyldwolf]

44. why would you doubt it's true?

My sis-in-law majored in Nascar Engineering.

[Name removed]

10. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Scout]

32. who "they" ? n/t

[brentspeak]

36. A second "who's they"?

[Scout]

31. I'm not a southerner and i can't stand Jeff Gordon n/t

[brentspeak]

35. ????

"And we get so sick and tired of so many southerners hating everyone who isn't southern."

That's news to me. Where'd you read this?

[MissMarple]

13. I have never made fun of NASCAR fans, and will not begin now.

I don't even think all Republicans are corrupt, dimwitted, misguided or easily led people. We find those folks within all groups, even ours. Although we do have, I believe, far fewer of them. :evilgrin:

[slampoet]

43. I don't MAKE humor. I just listen to NASCAR fans talk and that's enough to keep me in Stitches.

[bpj1962]

19. Jeff Gordon

What is really funny the fact that Dale Earnhardt had nothing but respect for Jeff Gordon. He saw a driver with the same determination and skills as himself. As a NASCAR fan i get really tired of these yokels who throw beer cans at Gordon's car. It seems to happen at Talladega more then anywhere else. What amazes me is that anyone has any beer left after a 500 mile race. If this idiots don't watch it NASCAR may ban the fans from bringing beer cans into the stands. It is the only spectator sport that I know of where you can still bring in a cooler full of beer into the stands.

[wyldwolf]

21. here's the wiki entry on Gordon

Reaction to Gordon's success has been sharply divided among NASCAR fans. Gordon remains popular in his home state of Indiana and his birth state of California, and as indicated by the success of merchandising of #24 products, outside the Deep South, but is often booed by fans in traditional NASCAR venues.

Part of this schism in popularity is attributed to Gordon's "Madison Avenue" appeal, his apparent rivalry with Dale Earnhardt during the 1990s, and the resentment in the Deep South of perceived "Yankees." NASCAR for years had been a predominantly Southern sport, and many fans today attribute NASCAR's changes, not all of which are popular, to the influence of corporate sponsorships and the media.

During a February, 2007 appearance on the Bob & Tom radio program, Jeff Foxworthy joked that he had discovered why Gordon remained a controversial figure. "He enunciates," the comedian explained, "and people from the South ain't having it."

[Name removed]

22. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Clark2008]

28. No - we don't, really.

I hear more about this shit on this board than I ever do sitting down with friends and co-workers here in the South.

We honest-to-God don't talk about the Civil War at every meal. I hear it discussed much more frequently here than with my neighbors.

The only thing we don't like is when a "Yankee" moves down here and tries to tell us how to run something that's been running fine for years. And, I say this as a Southern girl married to a Boston Yankee. I love my Yankee, thankee.

[Scout]

33. I believe Dale's preference was to NOT THROW ANYTHING, but that

if they couldn't resist, throw tp as it's less likely to hurt anyone.

[brentspeak]

39. Who's "they"?

[NewYorkerfromMass]

40. I don't know

apparently hurling beer cans at the drivers' cars you don't like is a tradition?

[Trajan]

23. Regional hatreds

Old as the hills, and an obvious sign of ignorance ...

That works both ways ....

Southerners complain about being stereotyped, but then go on to vilify 'New Yawkers' or 'Fruits and Nuts' from California every chance they get ....

I defend southerners from unwarranted debasements every time I have a chance, but that needs to go both ways ....

We are ALL in this together ..... STOP the ugliness and START the love .....

Today ....

[AtomicKitten]

24. yeah, because for instance soccer fans are waaaay more civilized

[Javaman]

25. NASCAR fake?

Read this. Very eye opening.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18312037/

[brentspeak]

38. What are you saying? That people should make fun of NASCAR fans?

??????

[underpants]

49. No not that they should but that they can

Everyone got all upset about how dare we distance ourselves from voters (who are never going to vote for us) and the whole party bent over backwards and expended lots of energy to not hurt NASCAR fans feelings. I have nothing against them personally but when they do something as embarassing as this they should be pointed at and laughed at.

[Elidor]

47. Throwing beer cans is a sign of great respect here in the South

They were congratulating him.

[underpants]

50. Oh so cousin Harold WAS right about Gramma Becky

she really did like him best.

























:bounce:

[Mutineer]

48. I thought the traditional "winner's circle" ritual

also involved pelting the winner with leftover chicken bones from their KFC boxes?