A Retraction is Definitely in Order

You know, I really shouldn’t criticize anyone who takes the time to comment on one of my blogish columns. I really do appreciate all who read, and especially those who respond. And that even goes for a guy in the Martinsville, Virginia area who commented on a recent column dealing with the callous way injuries are dealt with in professional sports. Mr. “I’m Not Emeril” began his response by quoting me. Apparently, what I said got under his skin. Here are his comments:

"'In NASCAR, they'll hose the remains of a fellow driver off the track, as the other drivers do laps under the caution flag. As soon as the mess is gone, the green flag comes back out.'(that’s what I had said. The writer continues…)
Really? When has this happened?
To my recollection after over 40 years of close scrutiny of NASCAR, I can't recall anything remotely similar ever happening. In my memory, the incident most similar to your account occurred in 1964 when Joe Weatherly was killed at about the halfway point of a race in Riverside California. Yes, that race resumed, but without the gory spectacle you describe.
While your observation on football, both NFL and college is correct, I'm afraid you have exaggerated a bit too much in your previous paragraph.
A little "literary license" is okay, but that one is ridiculous.
I fully expect to see a retraction."

Okay, Mr. Emeril, I will admit that there probably hasn’t been a true hosing incident in NASCAR. But, for those of you who thought I was speaking literally, let me explain that I was using hyperbole to make my point, which I reiterate, rather than retract: NASCAR thinks nothing of putting the race ahead of any individual’s life.
Mr. Emeril has scrutinized NASCAR for years, he says. I haven’t scrutinized NASCAR, but I was attending races in Martinsville more than forty years ago. I remember many a death or serious injury, at various tracks through the years, but I can't recall one incident where the race was stopped because someone had been injured. Can you?
Please take a look at a few NASCAR related news stories over the past few years. Here’s something written for Flak Magazine by Ben Welch, following the death of NASCAR superstar Dale Earnhardt in the final lap of the Daytona 500, in February, 2001:

"In a little more than 11 years, 10 NASCAR drivers have died while driving close to 200 mph on racetracks around the country. What has been NASCAR's response time and time again? 'Oh well, they died doing what they loved. The show must go on.'
"When Adam Petty died on turn three of a Loudon, New Hampshire, racetrack in 2000, the NASCAR tour continued without a hitch. Two months later, wouldn't you know, Kenny Irwin died on turn three of that very same track. The week after Earnhardt died in Daytona, in fact, there was a NASCAR race in Michigan in which Dale Earnhardt's son, Dale Earnhardt Jr., was involved in a crash eerily similar to his father's. The show must go on, indeed!"

Those are Ben Welch’s words not mine. Reflect on this news report following a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race, in which driver Tony Roper had been killed. Again, we go back to the year 2000.

"FORT WORTH, Texas -- It was a night of triumph and tragedy at Friday's running of the O'Reilly 400 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas Motor Speedway. On the positive side, Bryan Reffner won the first truck race of his 112-start career and Greg Biffle was crowned as series champion. That was all darkened, however, by an accident which claimed the life of 35-year-old driver Tony Roper of Fair Grove, Mo. Roper, driving the No. 26 Mittler Brothers Ford, tried to squeeze between two other trucks on lap 31, made contact with one of them and shot hard into the outside wall on the front stretch. His truck came to rest near turn one and rescue crews were forced to cut Roper free from the wreckage. He was reported "unconscious and unresponsive" when he was transported to a local hospital via helicopter. He was officially pronounced dead the following morning."

Since Tony Roper didn’t actually die until the next day, obviously there was no need to hose him off the track. But, the tone of the story is clear. Great night for Bryan Reffner and Greg Biffle. Too bad about Tony. As the old joke goes, “Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?”

But, the closest example to virtually hosing off the remains of a driver and ensuring that “the show goes on,” goes back to Watkins Glen, New York, August 11, 1991.

On the fifth lap of the race, something broke on driver J.D. McDuffie’s car, leaving him with no brakes. His car careened out of control, struck another driver’s car, and after striking a tire barrier went airborne. McDuffie was killed instantly. Following the completion of the race…oh yes, the race must go on…Ernie Irvan, the eventual winner, remembered to mention McDuffie in Victory Lane with the words, "After all I've been through, this is a great victory, but winning is tempered by J.D.'s death. I dedicate this victory to him. Every time we went through the turn where he crashed, I thought about him. I've known what it is like to struggle in this sport without a sponsor just like he did, and I'll always remember him."
Gee Ernie, that’s mighty big of you. You've been through so much, but you still managed to think about McDuffie every time you passed the spot where he had been impaled on his steering column. Of course, it had to be a fleeting thought; you had a race to win. And, that was a nice little extra touch, reminding everyone that McDuffie was not one of the more successful drivers on the circuit.
I rest my case. Mr. Emeril you ask for a retraction. I agree. One is needed. And, you may use the comments section to make it.

Not So Smooth Saling

Oh, by the way, did you hear that yesterday was Black Friday? Unless you spent the day under a rock, you probably heard it over and over and over again. It's all they could talk about on the radio. Big deal. It's a huge shopping day. And that's supposed to be news?
I'm surprised the NAACP hasn't protested. Black Friday is like this really violent day of shopping. People are rioting in the malls. Isn't it just a tad racist to call it Black Friday? Or, am I just being overly sensitive. I have been called a true empath on more than one occasion. Well, I've never heard anyone call me that, but I can just feel it.
On one of the network morning news shows they were giving the worst lines uttered by retail clerks. They had such mundane stuff as "Go ask the clerk over there," or "Sorry, I'm on break," or "If it's not on the shelf, it's not in stock."
Yeah, I've heard all of those, but I think I've heard at least two worse lines by retailers...lines that have somewhat traumatized me for life.
Just a couple of years ago, I decided to check out Men's Wearhouse. I'd heard how attentive they were and what great customer service they offered, so in I went to get me a suit.
I'd been in the store about a minute or two when this very lady-like salesman yells across the store, "May I help you?"
Of course, my reply was, "I'm just looking for a suit."
His response was so shocking, I left the store immediately. Do you know what he asked me? He said, "Do you wear a 48?"
A 48! At the time I was wearing a 43, or squeezing into a 42 if need be. What an absolute moron. I've never been a suit salesman, but even I know that you never guess higher than the person's actual size. Why, I'd never been so insulted in my life. I hauled freight out of that store. And, I've never set foot in a Men's Wearhouse again. It hurt, but I've consoled myself with the realization that I just wasn't his type.
Several years ago, and I mean like thirty years ago, a girl I was dating took me to S&K to help me find a suit. She didn't care much for my taste in clothes. We get into the store and the salesman approaches and my friend says, "I want him to have a suit that's really him."
Now, if you were a commissioned salesman, wouldn't you think this is my opportunity to make a sale? I mean this girl(friend) didn't even use the "just looking" phrase. She asked the guy for help in finding, and then, of course, selling, me a suit. But do you know what this idiot says?
Here she has just asked him to find me a suit that was really me. Here I was, the dork of the early seventies, with this big, stupid grin on my face that said I'm ready to be suited up.
And the salesman of the century looks me up and down, turns to my girlfriend and says, "I'm afraid we don't have anything that drab."
After these two experiences in shopping, every day is Black Friday to me.