Archive for the ‘NASCAR’ Category

What The NHL Could Learn From NASCAR

Posted by Dustin Parkes under NASCAR, National Hockey League, Punch Fights on Mar 27, 2013


Tony Stewart, the driver seen above trying to land a punch on the kisser of Joey Logano, has an innovative idea for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

If NASCAR wants to let the guys have at it, it shouldn’t be any different than hockey. Let us have at it and when one guy goes to the ground, it’s over.

It’s an absurd notion, but a useful one. While Stewart’s reference to hockey has to do with the sense of honor among enforcers which dictates that once a player becomes vulnerable to fistfuls of punishment on the ice, he can no longer be considered a target for such, it’s also applicable to the most often used argument for the sport’s continued acceptance of punch-fighting occurring mid-game.

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The Week In Sports Happiness

Posted by Dustin Parkes under Auto Racing, Eredivisie, Golf, Major League Baseball, Mixed Martial Arts, NASCAR, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, Soccer, Sports The Good, TWISH on Mar 26, 2013

Charlotte Bobcats v Miami HeatSpending all day – every day – immersed in sports is a bit like working at Pizza Hut and eating nothing but pizza. If one is unburdened by such matters as personal health and waistline size, pizza is a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, too much of a wonderful thing is likely to leave one no longer believing the wonderful thing to be all that wonderful.

Sports are really, really great. However, the more time you spend reading and writing about a topic, the greater the chance that its ugliness will be realized. This is why our focus often becomes embittered by all of the negative aspects present in sports. We forget why sports are so great to begin with. And so, that’s where The Sports Culture Happiness Index comes to play.

Every week, I’ll present the ten things that are making me happy from the world of sports. It might be a particular article, it could be a winning streak, it may even be an animated GIF. No matter what, it’s from sports, it made me feel good inside, and I hope it does the same for you.

Without further ado, sports the good:

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Monday Morning Media Culpa

Posted by Dustin Parkes under CBC, Darren Rovell, Don Cherry, Erin Andrews, ESPN, FOX, Greg Bishop, Media Culpa, NASCAR, New York Times, Sports On Earth, Will Leitch, YouTube on Feb 25, 2013

Darren Rovell At The NBA Store

The flock gets sight of a spot of blood on some chicken and they all go to peckin’ at it, see, till they rip the chicken to shreds, blood and bones and feathers. But usually a couple of the flock gets spotted in the fracas, then it’s their turn. And a few more gets spots and gets pecked to death, and more and more. Oh, a peckin’ party can wipe out the whole flock in a matter of a few hours, buddy, I seen it. A mighty awesome sight.

- One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest

An increased hostility toward ESPN sports business reporter Darren Rovell has erupted during the fortnight following Will Leitch’s column for Sports On Earth, in which the former Deadspin editor likened the self-branded social media expert to sleet, a foul smell on the subway and pop-up spam (and that’s just the first paragraph). Its begun the human equivalent to a modern day hen pecking.

Leitch pointed out something that several among us felt to be true – Rovell’s commodification of the human experience in sports through corporate shilling – but perhaps couldn’t quite express in the same terms as the writer’s recent piece. This spotting of blood produced a reaction with more pecking from the public.

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