Keith48
Senior Member
End of the ice age
Even without labor woes, NHL has been replaced by NASCAR in Big Four
Posted: Wednesday September 15, 2004 3:30PM; Updated: Wednesday September 15, 2004 5:30PM
window.onerror=function(){clickURL=document.location.href;return true;} if(!self.clickURL) clickURL=parent.location.href;
This is the tale of two sports -- NASCAR and ice hockey. So different, yet similar in that both came from the geographic margins to thrive in mainstream America -- hockey migrating down from Canada, NASCAR up from Dixie.
The National Hockey League came first, taking on franchises from the United States 80 years ago. In the northeastern tier, it became our most successful winter professional sport. Really, it wasn't until well into the 1960s before the NBA began to pass the NHL in popularity. But even then hockey comfortably remained in the esteemed big four of American professional team sports, along with baseball, football and basketball.
NASCAR, meanwhile, only slowly crept out of its indigenous origins. When the national media deigned to pay any attention to it, it was invariably with snobbish disdain, hee-haw chuckling at the hillbilly music of athletics. Even then, few national sports experts recognized that there were people out there named Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt, who were, all things considered, far bigger American stars than Guy Lafleur, Bobby Orr or, even, Wayne Gretzky. The Indianapolis 500, with its sleek and fancy race cars, was certified as what truly mattered in the sport.
But, of course, in the past few years NASCAR has exploded in popularity. Even its most supercilious critics, still baffled by its charm, could see that it was no longer just so much cornpone. NASCAR tracks are now spotted near Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, Kansas City. Next stop: New York City. NASCAR merchandise annually retails to the tune of $2 billion. And perhaps most important: NASCAR races are now a network staple, on both NBC and FOX, with ratings that only football exceeds.
The NHL, meanwhile, televises terribly; its ratings are miniscule. Most teams are bleeding money. And now, a labor dispute threatens this entire NHL season, which could be catastrophic.
I would submit that whether the NHL plays this year, NASCAR already has replaced hockey as our fourth team sport. Team sport? Yes, NASCAR may technically be individuals competing against each other, but it acts like a team sport. It's a league. The same cars -- the teams -- compete week after week. This year, for the first time, it even has a regular-season- and playoff-type format, which start this week.
The fans don't come out to see cars race. They come out to root for their favorite driver. Hey, just like fans don't go out to see a football game. They go to see their Cowboys play, or their Vikings. Why, says Ed Hinton, the top NASCAR journalist, who covers the sport for the Tribune Group, NASCAR has its own Yankees and Dodgers -- Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. And there's even a perennial NASCAR Red Sox or Cubs -- Mark Martin, who invariably finishes second or third in the standings. And maybe best of all: in NASCAR, you don't have to worry about your favorite player getting traded to another team.
It may be very hard for traditionalists to accept it, and it may break the hearts of hockey fans, but the reality today is that in the 21st century, there are four major team sports in the U.S., and they are baseball, football, basketball ... and NASCAR.
Sports Illustrated senior contributing writer Frank Deford is a regular contributor to SI.com and appears each Wednesday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. He is a longtime correspondent for HBO's Real Sports and his new novel, An American Summer (Sourcebooks Trade), is available at bookstores everywhere.
Even without labor woes, NHL has been replaced by NASCAR in Big Four
Posted: Wednesday September 15, 2004 3:30PM; Updated: Wednesday September 15, 2004 5:30PM
window.onerror=function(){clickURL=document.location.href;return true;} if(!self.clickURL) clickURL=parent.location.href;
This is the tale of two sports -- NASCAR and ice hockey. So different, yet similar in that both came from the geographic margins to thrive in mainstream America -- hockey migrating down from Canada, NASCAR up from Dixie.
The National Hockey League came first, taking on franchises from the United States 80 years ago. In the northeastern tier, it became our most successful winter professional sport. Really, it wasn't until well into the 1960s before the NBA began to pass the NHL in popularity. But even then hockey comfortably remained in the esteemed big four of American professional team sports, along with baseball, football and basketball.
NASCAR, meanwhile, only slowly crept out of its indigenous origins. When the national media deigned to pay any attention to it, it was invariably with snobbish disdain, hee-haw chuckling at the hillbilly music of athletics. Even then, few national sports experts recognized that there were people out there named Richard Petty, Cale Yarborough and Dale Earnhardt, who were, all things considered, far bigger American stars than Guy Lafleur, Bobby Orr or, even, Wayne Gretzky. The Indianapolis 500, with its sleek and fancy race cars, was certified as what truly mattered in the sport.
But, of course, in the past few years NASCAR has exploded in popularity. Even its most supercilious critics, still baffled by its charm, could see that it was no longer just so much cornpone. NASCAR tracks are now spotted near Los Angeles, Chicago, Phoenix, Dallas, Kansas City. Next stop: New York City. NASCAR merchandise annually retails to the tune of $2 billion. And perhaps most important: NASCAR races are now a network staple, on both NBC and FOX, with ratings that only football exceeds.
The NHL, meanwhile, televises terribly; its ratings are miniscule. Most teams are bleeding money. And now, a labor dispute threatens this entire NHL season, which could be catastrophic.
I would submit that whether the NHL plays this year, NASCAR already has replaced hockey as our fourth team sport. Team sport? Yes, NASCAR may technically be individuals competing against each other, but it acts like a team sport. It's a league. The same cars -- the teams -- compete week after week. This year, for the first time, it even has a regular-season- and playoff-type format, which start this week.
The fans don't come out to see cars race. They come out to root for their favorite driver. Hey, just like fans don't go out to see a football game. They go to see their Cowboys play, or their Vikings. Why, says Ed Hinton, the top NASCAR journalist, who covers the sport for the Tribune Group, NASCAR has its own Yankees and Dodgers -- Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr. And there's even a perennial NASCAR Red Sox or Cubs -- Mark Martin, who invariably finishes second or third in the standings. And maybe best of all: in NASCAR, you don't have to worry about your favorite player getting traded to another team.
It may be very hard for traditionalists to accept it, and it may break the hearts of hockey fans, but the reality today is that in the 21st century, there are four major team sports in the U.S., and they are baseball, football, basketball ... and NASCAR.
Sports Illustrated senior contributing writer Frank Deford is a regular contributor to SI.com and appears each Wednesday on National Public Radio's Morning Edition. He is a longtime correspondent for HBO's Real Sports and his new novel, An American Summer (Sourcebooks Trade), is available at bookstores everywhere.
