Fan's Eye View ~ A Racer's Commitment
5/07/2013
Jim Fitzgerald
Hello, my Race Friends!
Are you ready for some football? (Crickets.) That’s what I thought. With the NFL Draft coming up in a few days, the football
world’s attention will turn to New York City to see which of the stars of
college football will go to which teams, with the dreams of not only being a
superstar, but even just making the team.
It is not always as easy as just being drafted. You still have to work your hind parts to the
point of their disappearance. I beg your forgiveness, friends, because I’ll be making
several comparisons to other sports in this space this week, so please, bear
with me. My desire is to show you, if
you didn’t know already, the varying degrees of difficulty faced by individuals
who wish to make their respective mark in this world,
and hopefully in a record book somewhere, in the world of sports. Now, most of us have taken a gym class, or physical
education, phys-ed, if you will, at some point in our
educational careers. At least I would
hope we have. In those classes we took,
we did all sorts of fun activities designed to help us become physically fit
and stay active. Running, jumping rope,
playing games like Tag, and that giant Army parachute that we would have to run
out from underneath of before it ensnarled us in its green smelly grasp. We also played individual sports like
Badminton and Tennis, and team sports like basketball and soccer. There, and in playgrounds everywhere, and
youth sports organizations far and wide, the seeds of interest are planted and
fostered into the sprouts of dedication, leaves of prosperity, and finally the
fruits of reward. If your genetics or natural talent ordain that you're going
to be a great basketball player, and you apply yourself, odds are you're going
to come through the ranks and be a great basketball player. It is the same with football, baseball, and
most other sports, because those games are played by most when they are young,
either through organized leagues or pickup games in schoolyards. If you're great, you’re going to get noticed,
and your path to greatness may be nurtured more than it would have been. Now, friends, here is where we connect what everyone else
does with racing. Oh, never mind. We can’t do that. Why? Racing is different. No one is learning to drive a Go-Kart in
third grade phys-ed.
You learn baseball, you learn basketball, and you learn football, and
you do it by playing, and you do not even need a real regulation field. We used to play football in a big open lot on
a hill, which meant one team had to run uphill, and one team downhill. We played soccer and used sawhorses and fence
posts for goals. We played baseball in
the street. Well, we called it FuzzBall because we weren’t allowed to use Whiffle balls,
as “they might scratch the cars!!” Really? It was a
plastic ball. So, we used rolled up
socks with a bit of tape around them to keep them from unrolling in
mid-air. (Yes, that was because a 30
minute argument ensued when said FuzzBall unrolled in
mid-air, and a fielder caught one of
the socks and proclaimed the batter out.
The batter, however, pointed to the other sock which lay unfurled on the
hot summer asphalt, and he proclaimed himself safe. From then on, the socks were taped…and they
flew better than a whiffle ball anyway!) For racing, it’s not very easy to run around the
neighborhood, gather up some friends, and hav a nice
impromptu pick up race. The first thing
you've got to do is get yourself a car!
It is certainly not as simple as going out to Wal-Mart and getting a
Whiffle Ball and Bat. Helpful Employee: "Can I help
you?" Mom: "Yes, please. I'm looking for the turnkey solution race
cars which will propel my five year old son in to NASCAR super-stardom." Helpful Employee: "Oh, I'm not
sure I know where those are. Hold on one
second. Hey Henry, where are the turnkey
solution race cars that will propel this lady's five year old son into NASCAR
superstardom? Are they the ones up
front?" Henry: "Ummm,
let's see. NASCAR superstardom...No, I
think those are in the back, past the school supplies, between the bikes and
the Mr. Potatoheads. The regular non-superstardom
solutions have been moved up to the front of the store because they are on
clearance. No one seems to want those
anymore." No, folks, it just doesn’t seem to happen that way. And then, once you do get a car through means
other than the Wal-Mart easy solution, let's not forget that you need to have a
place to drive it. You don’t get off the
bus, walk in the front door, drop your books, change your clothes, eat a snack,
and head down to the park on the corner.
You don’t pass by all those other kids playing baseball with a sock in
the street, and those playing basketball in a dirt court with a hoop with no
net, and past the kids tossing the football around,
and you don’t stop at…the little racetrack that is built into every American
playground, complete with tire barriers and a garage. Racing, as we know, is different. It’s going to take something
to get a youth interested in it at such an early age. And then it’s going to take the support of a
guardian to foster that interest, all the while funding the fledgling folly. That, my friends, is far more costly than a
football, which in most youth programs also comes with the equipment required
for protection! For a racer, he needs
his own seat, and his own helmet, and his own fire suit, none of which are
provided by “league.” No, friends, for a racer, the commitment is different. The dedication has to be there as well, not
only from the racer, but from the support side as well. If one part of the partnership falters and
loses interest or desire, the racer’s dream is most likely over.
Feel free to leave comments below, and be sure to follow me @RaceFansJim on Twitter, because sometimes I give stuff away!