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Cussing a NASCAR tradition
Commentary by By Ed Hardin
The Roanoke Times
Dale Earnhardt Jr. cusses a lot, but then so do I.
There, I've said it. Dale Earnhardt Jr. cusses in Victory Lane, and I don't. That's the difference between us.
Well, that's one of the differences between us. There are others. He makes a lot of money and drives a race car and hangs out with a bunch of other people who make a lot of money and drive race cars. And most of them cuss, too.
I don't drive a race car, though I have driven them. I don't make a lot of money, but some of my friends do. Most of them cuss, especially my best friend, Mike. He smokes, too.
I sometimes cuss like the son of a sailor, which I am, but the reason I sometimes cuss has nothing to do with my dad. I mostly cuss on my own.
Junior's dad cussed, too. Sometimes I'd sit around at the race track and cuss with Junior's dad. Lots of people did. That was one of our favorite things, sitting around the race track cussing like sons of sailors.
Junior was brought up in that environment. That's not to say that he cusses because of his dad. He cusses on his own, sometimes on live TV in Victory Lane. That's what he did Sunday after he won the EA Sports 500 at Talladega. He won the race, then he spun his tires and drove into Victory Lane with his car still smoking. Then, he started looking for a cold Bud or a pretty girl to kiss and he started cussing.
I don't have a problem with any of that, and no one I know would have any trouble with any of that. I would've done the same thing just as all my friends would've done, in part because all my friends would be upset that Nextel outlawed race queens before the season even started and in part because we're all rednecks.
There, I've said it. I cuss because I'm a redneck.
I like racing, and I like hunting and fishing and I like carrying a pocket knife in my blue jeans, and sometimes I cuss. You do all those things on a regular basis and you just might be a redneck.
NASCAR was built by people like me and my friends. That's why racing is so important to people from North Carolina, and that's why so many people like Junior. It's not just because of his dad. They like Junior because he's one of their own.
That's also why people around here are so upset with NASCAR right now. On Tuesday, the sanctioning body from Florida fined Junior and took 25 championship points from him for cussing on live TV from Victory Lane.
And cuss he did.
Junior said two cuss words, including the magic cuss word that NASCAR doesn't like. In all, he said three cuss words in a two-minute interview and it sounded like he was cussing up a blue streak. He wasn't, but it sounded like it because you just don't hear people cussing on live national TV, at least not the way Junior did.
He's not a very good cusser, at least not as good as his dad was. His dad could cuss up a blue streak, and it really looked like he was cussing up a blue streak. Junior sounds as if he's trying too hard.
So it's a little bit easier to understand why NASCAR hit him so hard Tuesday. If Junior had stopped after the first cuss word, he would've been OK. But he didn't. He just kept cussing, and NASCAR had no choice but to do to him exactly what it has done to a couple of other drivers who said the same words and didn't even say them on live national TV.
Junior became a martyr Tuesday in some people's eyes. That's probably not the people you and I know. That's probably the people who don't know how to cuss and don't know that they don't know how to cuss. Most of us know not to cuss in church or in front of women who don't cuss, things like that. And apparently, you don't cuss in Victory Lane, either.
Junior learned that Tuesday, and the rest of us learned that NASCAR isn't afraid of him after all.
Of course, he'll probably still win the title, and then he'll be an even bigger folk hero.
But still not as big as his dad, which is the point he was trying to make Sunday. He just didn't say it too good.
Source
Commentary by By Ed Hardin
The Roanoke Times
Dale Earnhardt Jr. cusses a lot, but then so do I.
There, I've said it. Dale Earnhardt Jr. cusses in Victory Lane, and I don't. That's the difference between us.
Well, that's one of the differences between us. There are others. He makes a lot of money and drives a race car and hangs out with a bunch of other people who make a lot of money and drive race cars. And most of them cuss, too.
I don't drive a race car, though I have driven them. I don't make a lot of money, but some of my friends do. Most of them cuss, especially my best friend, Mike. He smokes, too.
I sometimes cuss like the son of a sailor, which I am, but the reason I sometimes cuss has nothing to do with my dad. I mostly cuss on my own.
Junior's dad cussed, too. Sometimes I'd sit around at the race track and cuss with Junior's dad. Lots of people did. That was one of our favorite things, sitting around the race track cussing like sons of sailors.
Junior was brought up in that environment. That's not to say that he cusses because of his dad. He cusses on his own, sometimes on live TV in Victory Lane. That's what he did Sunday after he won the EA Sports 500 at Talladega. He won the race, then he spun his tires and drove into Victory Lane with his car still smoking. Then, he started looking for a cold Bud or a pretty girl to kiss and he started cussing.
I don't have a problem with any of that, and no one I know would have any trouble with any of that. I would've done the same thing just as all my friends would've done, in part because all my friends would be upset that Nextel outlawed race queens before the season even started and in part because we're all rednecks.
There, I've said it. I cuss because I'm a redneck.
I like racing, and I like hunting and fishing and I like carrying a pocket knife in my blue jeans, and sometimes I cuss. You do all those things on a regular basis and you just might be a redneck.
NASCAR was built by people like me and my friends. That's why racing is so important to people from North Carolina, and that's why so many people like Junior. It's not just because of his dad. They like Junior because he's one of their own.
That's also why people around here are so upset with NASCAR right now. On Tuesday, the sanctioning body from Florida fined Junior and took 25 championship points from him for cussing on live TV from Victory Lane.
And cuss he did.
Junior said two cuss words, including the magic cuss word that NASCAR doesn't like. In all, he said three cuss words in a two-minute interview and it sounded like he was cussing up a blue streak. He wasn't, but it sounded like it because you just don't hear people cussing on live national TV, at least not the way Junior did.
He's not a very good cusser, at least not as good as his dad was. His dad could cuss up a blue streak, and it really looked like he was cussing up a blue streak. Junior sounds as if he's trying too hard.
So it's a little bit easier to understand why NASCAR hit him so hard Tuesday. If Junior had stopped after the first cuss word, he would've been OK. But he didn't. He just kept cussing, and NASCAR had no choice but to do to him exactly what it has done to a couple of other drivers who said the same words and didn't even say them on live national TV.
Junior became a martyr Tuesday in some people's eyes. That's probably not the people you and I know. That's probably the people who don't know how to cuss and don't know that they don't know how to cuss. Most of us know not to cuss in church or in front of women who don't cuss, things like that. And apparently, you don't cuss in Victory Lane, either.
Junior learned that Tuesday, and the rest of us learned that NASCAR isn't afraid of him after all.
Of course, he'll probably still win the title, and then he'll be an even bigger folk hero.
But still not as big as his dad, which is the point he was trying to make Sunday. He just didn't say it too good.
Source
