NBC SHOULD BE ASHAMED for screwing up the Earnhardt tribute

[Jorge De Guzman]

There's a difference between being aware of the past and living in it.

This sport's obsession with Dale Earnhardt has been a detriment for a long time now.

"NASCAR died when Dale died."

"Raise hell, Praise Dale."

"3 for Dale."

This sport can't ever be about the new stars if it's forever in the shadow of the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

I usually agree with what you post here and are generally one of my favorites. But this is such a bad take. I don’t even want to debate it, but I just wanted you to know that.

 

[HoneyBadger]

You go on this rant every time the #3 is brought up.

Disliking popular things does not make you an interesting person.

In this instance, it was brought up because NBC didn't show enough Dale Sr. according to the OP.

I didn't complain about the documentaries that have come out. I complain because I watched Fox, for over a decade, find ways to make their broadcasts all about Dale.

I had no problem with NBC showing the tribute car and talking about it. My beef is with the fact that so many people think the sport should still revolve around Dale.

All presented to you by, "NASCAR Died When Dale Died."

 

[ToyYoda]

I was incredibly saddened when Dale lost his life back in 2001 as I’m sure we all were, but I have to admit I’m a little numb to the Dale Sr tributes/documentaries/segments now. Some of it could be lost on me since I was never a huge Dale Sr fan when he was driving, and some of it could be that there’s really not much more to say about him that hasn’t already been said. When I saw the #3 Goodwrench car on the track at Talladega, I thought it was cool to see it again but I wasn’t really emotionally moved by it.

Just my feelings on the matter, I’m not suggesting in any way that anyone else should feel the same.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

I disagree. There is nothing wrong with acknowledging the past. The secret is to learn from it
which many of the new young guns haven't yet. I admit with the change in cars, many of the moves can no longer easily be done. Having said that, I did see in today's race a few were able to pull the sling shot move which was gone for many years.

I think there's lot for DRIVERS to learn from him, but that isn't what Andy was referencing. He's referring to the apparently inability of the sport's marketing and management to get past him. It's their continued reliance on appealing to his fans (and Jr's by extension), many of whom no longer care about the sport itself, sometimes at the neglect of fans who've come on board in the last 15 years. Talladega in particular acts like no one else ever won there. Couldn't they have brought out some cars from other winners from the last 50 years, possibly even some from ... Alabama?

It's possible to honor a participant's legacy without obsessing over the past to the extent NASCAR does in Dale's case. Soon or later, you have to move on. It's unhealthy not to.

 

[StandOnIt]

I think there's lot for DRIVERS to learn from him, but that isn't what Andy was referencing. He's referring to the apparently inability of the sport's marketing and management to get past him. It's their continued reliance on appealing to his fans (and Jr's by extension), many of whom no longer care about the sport itself, sometimes at the neglect of fans who've come on board in the last 15 years. Talladega in particular acts like no one else ever won there. Couldn't they have brought out some cars from other winners too, possibly even some from ... Alabama?

It's possible to honor a participant's legacy without obsessing over the past to the extent NASCAR does in Dale's case.

Sr won 10 times at Dega FYI. RCR and Dega were both celebrating 50 years in the sport. Excuse them for existing.

 

[Formerjackman]

I think there's lot for DRIVERS to learn from him, but that isn't what Andy was referencing. He's referring to the apparently inability of the sport's marketing and management to get past him. It's their continued reliance on appealing to his fans (and Jr's by extension), many of whom no longer care about the sport itself, sometimes at the neglect of fans who've come on board in the last 15 years. Talladega in particular acts like no one else ever won there. Couldn't they have brought out some cars from other winners from the last 50 years, possibly even some from ... Alabama?

It's possible to honor a participant's legacy without obsessing over the past to the extent NASCAR does in Dale's case. Soon or later, you have to move on. It's unhealthy not to.

NASCAR turned itself upside down and inside out to appeal to the "fans who've come aboard the last 15 years", and frankly, it hasn't accomplished much. Perhaps it would have been better to recognize what you are and embrace it instead of trying to be something else.

 

[StandOnIt]

NASCAR turned itself upside down and inside out to appeal to the "fans who've come aboard the last 15 years", and frankly, it hasn't accomplished much. Perhaps it would have been better to recognize what you are and embrace it instead of trying to be something else.

on the other hand, as time rolls on, new names will take the forefront. And there will be new people to complain about those new names being remembered too much.

 

[Formerjackman]

The sad thing is, there hasn't been anyone HALF as interesting as Dale SR to come along since he died to grab attention. JR was too nice and not successful enough, Jimmie was just too nice, Tony was is bipolar, and Kyle just acts like a spoiled brat. Harvick is maybe the ONLY guy that has SOME of the right traits, but it just isn't the same.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

Perhaps it would have been better to recognize what you are and embrace it instead of trying to be something else.

Recognizing what you are should take priority over remembering what you were.

Please don't take anything I've said as indicating I don't respect what Dale Earnhardt accomplished. There's plenty of reasons he went into the HoF in the first class. But it should be possible to run a race at Talladega without his name being brought up every time, excluding a 'Most Wins' graphic. Other drivers have record wins at other tracks, but Martinsville and Bristol races don't obsess over DW or Rusty.

 

[Naitch]

There's a difference between being aware of the past and living in it.

This sport's obsession with Dale Earnhardt has been a detriment for a long time now.

"NASCAR died when Dale died."

"Raise hell, Praise Dale."

"3 for Dale."

This sport can't ever be about the new stars if it's forever in the shadow of the last lap of the 2001 Daytona 500.

NASCAR is the only sport that has ever had its top star die in its biggest race. If Dale had been able to retire gracefully and manage DEI in retirement, this wouldn't be happening.

If Tom Brady were to drop dead in the Super Bowl, it would forever alter the landscape of the NFL. Dale Earnhardt dying in the Daytona 500 forever changed NASCAR.

A lot of the Dale worship comes from the fact that he died in the biggest race of the year while running up front.

 

[StandOnIt]

Recognizing what you are should take priority over remembering what you were.

Please don't take anything I've said as indicating I don't respect what Dale Earnhardt accomplished. There's plenty of reasons he went into the HoF in the first class. But it should be possible to run a race at Talladega without his name being brought up every time, excluding a 'Most Wins' graphic. Other drivers have record wins at other tracks, but Martinsville and Bristol races don't obsess over DW or Rusty.

I believe they showed both DW's and Gordon's records graphically on the Bristol Broadcast including some vid clips. And once again RCR and the Speedway were celebrating 50 years in the sport and talking about Talladega without including a 10 time winner? Some people have a problem with just about everything..Kinda sad actually.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

And once again RCR and the Speedway were celebrating 50 years in the sport and talking about Talladega without including a 10 time winner?

Not so much that as the track's celebration apparently included ONLY one winner. Gordon and Jr. had six each but I didn't see their cars. I'd expect an Alabama track celebrating a major anniversary to salute local winners like Donnie and Davey. As far as I could tell from the living room, Dale as the only previous winner mentioned. I guess RCR's anniversary trumped any mention of other drivers.

Some people have a problem with just about everything..Kinda sad actually.

C'mon, you and I have agreed on any number of topics.

 

[StandOnIt]

Not so much that as the track's celebration apparently included ONLY one winner. Gordon and Jr. had six each but I didn't see their cars. I'd expect an Alabama track celebrating a major anniversary to salute local winners like Donnie and Davey. As far as I could tell from the living room, Dale as the only previous winner mentioned. I guess RCR's anniversary trumped any mention of other drivers.

C'mon, you and I have agreed on any number of topics.

Did Gordon and Jr drive for 50 year RCR?
It would make a lot more sense if the complainers would realize that most of the Sr hype has come from the broadcast networks producing the shows in the first place because they are trying to make a buck. I think Fox has broadcast Sr's win at Daytona hundreds of times or at least it seems like it. So many can't separate the press from reality, they don't even get the blame in the right place and simplistically blame Nascar for everything. It's no difference in this instance. It was the tracks and RCR's 50th year celebration not Nascar's or the networks.

 

[Jorge De Guzman]

The sad thing is, there hasn't been anyone HALF as interesting as Dale SR to come along since he died to grab attention. JR was too nice and not successful enough, Jimmie was just too nice, Tony was is bipolar, and Kyle just acts like a spoiled brat. Harvick is maybe the ONLY guy that has SOME of the right traits, but it just isn't the same.

Harvick could have been the one he has that swagger and coolness that Sr had. Plus he'd put you upside down in the infield if he had to ( at least younger Harvick would). When he wrecked Kyle Busch I think the one year at Homestead because "He raced me like a clown all day", I had Sr flashbacks. I am kind of sad that some on here are crapping on the RCR/Dale/Dega 50 years celebration while I think the point is valid that yes Maybe Dega could have brought in a 43 STP Dodge or a 24 Dupont Monte Carlo or a 28 Texaco Havoline Ford or a 12 Bobby Allison Miller High Life Buick, when I think of Dale and RCR I most think of Dega. The guy won there 10 times, I see what they were trying to do on Sunday with that celebration.

 

[Team Penske]

I think there's lot for DRIVERS to learn from him, but that isn't what Andy was referencing. He's referring to the apparently inability of the sport's marketing and management to get past him. It's their continued reliance on appealing to his fans (and Jr's by extension), many of whom no longer care about the sport itself, sometimes at the neglect of fans who've come on board in the last 15 years. Talladega in particular acts like no one else ever won there. Couldn't they have brought out some cars from other winners from the last 50 years, possibly even some from ... Alabama?

It's possible to honor a participant's legacy without obsessing over the past to the extent NASCAR does in Dale's case. Soon or later, you have to move on. It's unhealthy not to.

You can move on with out banning him. After all "Nobody" has come close to 10 wins like he did. I would like to see some other winning drivers recognized now and again.
Hockey players have their sweaters hung from the rafters for everyone to see and remember.
There was life before the cell phone and YouTube.

 

[gnomesayin]

I grew up watching Sr and I dont really give a sh!t TBH. I respect what he did in his career but thats about it.

About my feelings as well.

For those annoyed that apathy and criticism are expressed here, the issue is that the premise of the thread is that NBC SHOULD BE ASHAMED for not devoting more uninterrupted attention to it. The OP is framed as if the most important consideration in the moments leading up to the race were that, not the race at hand. Therefore declarations of "Who cares?" and Andy's pointed criticism about the fixation on Earnhardt become relevant.

If the thread were merely "Hey, wasn't this cool?" and people felt the need to reply merely to crap on it, that would be trolling.

That said, it would be an easier task to list the things NBC doesn't screw up as opposed to all they do.

 

[StandOnIt]

You can move on with out banning him. After all "Nobody" has come close to 10 wins like he did. I would like to see some other winning drivers recognized now and again.
Hockey players have their sweaters hung from the rafters for everyone to see and remember.
There was life before the cell phone and YouTube.

yep the ring of fame etc. But if ya want ta get some **** started, go into a predominately Nascar racing forum and complain about Sr, or an Indycar forum and start some Mario **** and then call it a differing opinion.

 

[HoneyBadger]

For those annoyed that apathy and criticism are expressed here, the issue is that the premise of the thread is that NBC SHOULD BE ASHAMED for not devoting more uninterrupted attention to it. The OP is framed as if the most important consideration in the moments leading up to the race were that, not the race at hand. Therefore declarations of "Who cares?" and Andy's pointed criticism about the fixation on Earnhardt become relevant.

I don't know why this is so hard to grasp.

 

[Charlie Spencer]

It would make a lot more sense if the complainers would realize that most of the Sr hype has come from the broadcast networks producing the shows in the first place because they are trying to make a buck. I think Fox has broadcast Sr's win at Daytona hundreds of times or at least it seems like it.

Okay, I can get behind that.

 

[HoneyBadger]

IMO, It’s such a lazy narrative to complain every time Dale Sr, his Family and the 3 are brought up

I'm not.

This thread was someone complaining that NBC didn't spend enough time on Dale Sr. Apparently, NBC is supposed to skip the starting lineup and not do pre-race stuff so they can sit around and tell old Dale Earnhardt stories all day.

That man was the world to a great many people, why do we have to be accused of living in the past if fans want to pay tribute to that every once in a while.

We do pay tribute to him, A LOT. There are still documentaries coming out every year about the 2001 Daytona 500 and about Dale Sr. I didn't complain about that FS1 doc or the new one with Mikey.

it’s 50 years of Dega and 50 years of RCR, why is it such a bad idea to bring that Goodwrench 3 back onto the track to celebrate both

Literally have no problem about this and didn't say a word about the tribute at all.

Every time NASCAR goes to Richmond, they talk about Dale cleaning his windshield. Never complained about that once. Funny story actually.

Every time they go to Daytona, they talk about the 98 Daytona 500 and 2001 Daytona 500 - which is fine.

Every time they go to Bristol, they talk about the 1999 Night Race. Fine with me.

Every time Austin Dillon leads a race, they scream, "THE 3 CAR OUT FRONT AT TALLADEGA AGAIN!" -- This is where I begin to have problems.

I can’t understand the need to complain about it, hell if it bothered you that much NBC did a half ass job of even covering it, you barely saw it!

NBC showed the car on track and talked about it, talked about the 2000 Winston 500 in the pre-race show. What were they supposed to do? Sit there and tell old Dale Earnhardt stories for 20 minutes until the green flag dropped?



New fans should learn about the past. Old fans need to quit living in it. Let the current stars of the sport, such as Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney, shine.

 

[jaqua19]

I'm not.

This thread was someone complaining that NBC didn't spend enough time on Dale Sr. Apparently, NBC is supposed to skip the starting lineup and not do pre-race stuff so they can sit around and tell old Dale Earnhardt stories all day.



We do pay tribute to him, A LOT. There are still documentaries coming out every year about the 2001 Daytona 500 and about Dale Sr. I didn't complain about that FS1 doc or the new one with Mikey.



Literally have no problem about this and didn't say a word about the tribute at all.

Every time NASCAR goes to Richmond, they talk about Dale cleaning his windshield. Never complained about that once. Funny story actually.

Every time they go to Daytona, they talk about the 98 Daytona 500 and 2001 Daytona 500 - which is fine.

Every time they go to Bristol, they talk about the 1999 Night Race. Fine with me.

Every time Austin Dillon leads a race, they scream, "THE 3 CAR OUT FRONT AT TALLADEGA AGAIN!" -- This is where I begin to have problems.



NBC showed the car on track and talked about it, talked about the 2000 Winston 500 in the pre-race show. What were they supposed to do? Sit there and tell old Dale Earnhardt stories for 20 minutes until the green flag dropped?



New fans should learn about the past. Old fans need to quit living in it. Let the current stars of the sport, such as Chase Elliott and Kyle Busch and Ryan Blaney, shine.

This is what I was getting at. Newer fans don't care about Dale Sr. Which sucks to admit, but it's the truth.

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[jaqua19]

The sad thing is, there hasn't been anyone HALF as interesting as Dale SR to come along since he died to grab attention. JR was too nice and not successful enough, Jimmie was just too nice, Tony was is bipolar, and Kyle just acts like a spoiled brat. Harvick is maybe the ONLY guy that has SOME of the right traits, but it just isn't the same.

But that's not a problem. You don't want another Dale. The NBA tried so hard to market another MJ.

Having another Dale 20 years later would just be another great personality. We shouldn't be molding what makes a great entertaining driver from Dale. It's a different era of NASCAR, a different era of personalities and a different generation of fans with different tastes.

The myth of Dale exists because he is romanticized. From what I remember, he wasn't like a Michael Jordan figure for NASCAR. As far as I recall, Dale was one of the faces of the series and was one of the most successful drivers up to his death. He was another great driver with great personality. There was no myth, or aura that made him feel bigger than the sport. That adopted overtime. Kids today can appreciate the history, but they don't care about Dale or what he did for NASCAR, and as fortunate as it is, he isn't relevant today. NBC didn't need to stretch it out any longer. And fwiw, could be semantics, but attributing Dale's qualities as the "right traits" doesn't work. Again, the kids are different. Dale's personality is not the magic formula for popularity today.

All sports and their reputations are taking hits/missing "something". The NFL and Nba share the same issues.

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[HoneyBadger]

This is what I was getting at. Newer fans don't care about Dale Sr. Which sucks to admit, but it's the truth.

Should still talk about the history of the sport, and Earnhardt is a huge part of that.

But not to the degree the "NASCAR died when Dale died" crowd wants to.

 

[Jorge De Guzman]

This is what I was getting at. Newer fans don't care about Dale Sr. Which sucks to admit, but it's the truth.

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I find this really hard to believe because when I go to races I see so many young people wearing Earnhardt Sr and Jr clothes. For instance when I went to Bristol in August got into a conversation with a crew of college students from the University of Georgia because I was wearing an RCR t shirt and a Dale Earnhardt Top Gun Hat, they thought I was an Austin Dillon fan because they saw the shirt. They wanted to give me crap over it but showed them the hat turns out they were wearing Earnhardt stuff purchased from eBay and they were a fan of both Sr and Jr. These were kids in their 20’s. Now this is just my experience , and I do see many younger fans of the 9,12,42 and that’s great too. When I got into the sport I gravitated toward the 24 because I could swear he wasn’t much older than I was in 93. What I’m trying to say is newer fans might have a penchant for Earnhardt or a Gordon or Rusty because they are on a broadcast at least once a race and that YouTube is a powerful thing if they want to investigate “who is this older driver?”