I find the environmental disaster that is Nascar to be appalling. Still I can maybe appreciate the excitement of being at a Nascar event. The rumbling of engines, the fumes of burning fuel, the beer, food, people and (with any luck) a crash. It’s like any sport in my mind. Being there to experience it in person tends to be way more exciting than watching it on TV.
But at least with baseball or football or even golf, there are genuine points of both subtle and blatant strategy to the game. There are unexpected moves and turns and twists that can completely alter an otherwise predictable outcome. Case in point; the 2008 Super Bowl. But with Nascar, they are driving around in circles, quickly. I’m not saying this doesn’t take skill. Hell, I know I can’t control a car like that. It just doesn’t make for very compelling television.
Why do I bring this up? Simple. Because if there is anything more boring to me than Nascar, it’s the Oscars. I was hoping my Sunday would be saved in the usual manor with some Fox animation. But adding to the frustrations of whatever race was being aired tonight, preventing me from getting my fix was that there was a rain delay. Yep, it seems that you can’t drive a car in circles in the rain.
From 8:00 on, I kept switching between the Travel Chanel and Fox waiting for the race to end. Unlike the rain delays of other sports where a network might cut away to Three Stooges, Honeymooners or Abbot and Costello reruns, these guys stayed on the air … talking. Talking about how someone drove around in circles particularly well, even with the rain. Or they talked about the rain itself.
Thankfully Mother Nature seems to dislike Nascar as me and Fox conceded to the rain long before the end. With The Simpsons well underway, I can let my discomfort fade away. No wait … I was wrong. The talking heads are back explaining the rain and the cars and the … oh god!! They delayed so much that only one episode of The Simpsons was squeezed in before the news started. Dammit! Well, at least I can watch Family Guy on Cartoon Network.
