First Sunday Reflections

 

Two observations this first Sunday of June 2020: the Minnesota National Guard was ready the first night of trouble, and NASCAR has fully abased itself before the lying Left.

Today, I met an officer recently retired from the Army National Guard full-time program (AGR). He recently moved to Arizona for family reasons. He grew up in Minnesota as the wrong kind of minority, Asian American. He still talks with old unit members who still serve in the Minnesota National Guard.

They have long had a fully trained and equipped crowd control Quick Reaction Force. That includes full riot gear and CS gas (heavy-duty tear gas). The only weakness was in decades of Democrat political leadership and decades of state adjutant generals appointed by those politicians to reflect their priorities. Political will, not unit readiness, is the issue.

NASCAR may have committed corporate suicide this Sunday. The stands are empty so they must get and keep eyeballs on screens. So, they used the Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 to ignore dead military and cops, subordinate national honors to a racial protest song, broadcast a hostage video, and have a Latinx driver recite a woke litany of how bad everyone except the poor and working-class white folk have it in AmeriKKKa. That was in the first half-hour of the race. How many fans are already done with this woke mess?

A 12-year-old African American boy created a song on social media. It went viral or was hyped by the leftist YouTube staffer Al Gorythm. So, he was invited to sing the National Anthem at the Atlanta Motor Speedway. That is a fine tradition in American sports. What was not so fine was then broadcasting his protest video in split-screen with the military helicopter flyover. Not subtle at all, NASCAR and Fox.

Then, as the race began, viewers were treated to what you would instantly recognize as a hostage video. The big drivers were shot in cell phone video vertical aspect reading bits of a woke script, denouncing the nation and, by implication, their fan base, as unjust. That was not all.

A top driver, Bubba Wallace, who I just learned from his Twitter feed identifies as African American, is now fully “woke” on social media. He says the suits are now on board with a “progressive” agenda.

The first driver interview, recorded on pit row, was by a female interviewer with a Latinx driver. What an incoherent and yet insulting mess. It was a race-based diatribe against America.

The titular cause for this race was given short, cursory shrift. There was a brief clip of cadets folding a flag with a PR blub narrative. No corporate commitment or passion for a cause there.

Message received, NASCAR. I read you loud and clear. OUT.

If you are a real NASCAR fan, I invite your perspective on the state of the sport and this Sunday’s event.

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  1. danok1 Member
    danok1
    @danok1

    Interesting. I would have thought NASCAR would be one of the last holdouts against “wokeness.” Guess I was wrong.

    Clifford, why are you using “Latinx”? I would expect “Latino” or “Latina.” (More likely “Latino,” since you’re referring to drivers.) The word you used is nothing more than a “woke” neologism. 

    Of course, that may be the point you were making, and I just missed it.

    • #1
  2. tigerlily Member
    tigerlily
    @tigerlily

    Sheesh, how pathetic. One thing that’s hard to know in these situations is whether the individual or business in question is really on board with the leftist agenda or whether they are just mouthing the platitudes out of fear. In either event, it’s pretty clear that NASCAR has completely forgot who its fan base is.

    • #2
  3. Front Seat Cat Member
    Front Seat Cat
    @FrontSeatCat

    You cannot be serious!  

    • #3
  4. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    danok1 (View Comment):

    Interesting. I would have thought NASCAR would be one of the last holdouts against “wokeness.” Guess I was wrong.

    Clifford, why are you using “Latinx”? I would expect “Latino” or “Latina.” (More likely “Latino,” since you’re referring to drivers.) The word you used is nothing more than a “woke” neologism.

    Of course, that may be the point you were making, and I just missed it.

    Missed it by that much. With the mask and suit obscuring visual cues, who am I to assume how the driver identifies?

    • #4
  5. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    Somewhere, Dale Earnhardt is shooting those NASCAR execs a huge middle finger.

    • #5
  6. Instugator Thatcher
    Instugator
    @Instugator

    They call it  “The Long March Through the Institutions” for a reason.

    All institutions will get “woke”

    • #6
  7. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Front Seat Cat (View Comment):

    You cannot be serious!

    As a heart attack.

    • #7
  8. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    tigerlily (View Comment):
    on board with the leftist agenda or whether they are just mouthing the platitudes out of fear.

    Hmm, wasn’t that German guy with the funny mustache the one who forced people to mouth platitudes out of fear? 

    Or, maybe I got it wrong. 

    • #8
  9. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Clifford A. Brown: NASCAR may have committed corporate suicide this Sunday. …

    As with the NFL, this is like trying to guide the goose that lays the golden eggs through a minefield. In this case, probably even more so…especially this weekend when everything is so raw. NASCAR has a more patriotic fan-base across the board but any corporate sponsor would be pressured to punish them if they did not bend the knee sufficiently. They did about as well as could be expected. Maybe not full suicide. (They did a well enough job of that over the earlier years of the twenty-teens with the car configurations and product on the track. But I digress.)

    On the plus side, there was no backing away from the flag and I thought Mr. Bryant’s rendition of the National Anthem was very acceptable.  (I did not see them play his protest video, I must have missed that.) The tap dance was even complicated more by the fact that the race sponsor’s theme and logo are very flag-centric.

    • #9
  10. Tex929rr Coolidge
    Tex929rr
    @Tex929rr

    NASCAR is a big corporation, and corporate PR departments are uniformly staffed by people who follow the same appeasement playbook.  There is no hope for corporate America.  

    • #10
  11. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    This is pathetic and unbelievable. And I’m repeating myself on almost every post lately. I guess I have to come up with some new protestations! Oops. Maybe that’s the wrong word. . .

    • #11
  12. Blondie Thatcher
    Blondie
    @Blondie

    Years ago, and by that I mean at least 10, NASCAR was already paying ransom to the Rainbow Coalition. They ceased being a grass roots sport a long time ago. Good riddance. 

    • #12
  13. JamesSalerno Inactive
    JamesSalerno
    @JamesSalerno

    Are their any companies left in America that I can support? I don’t even care what their product is. I’m giving all of my money to whoever tells these people off. 

    • #13
  14. Rodin Member
    Rodin
    @Rodin

    I am running out of sports to follow. If it weren’t for the jobs of the “little people” who are not the stars but who make their livelihoods selling goods and foods and such associated with sport, I would say “screw’m”. (sigh)

    • #14
  15. DonG (skeptic) Coolidge
    DonG (skeptic)
    @DonG

    During this Wuhan panic, we have been without sports for a long time.  We have had a chance to watch a lot of alternative sports.  Given all the choices, I have settled on watching amateur sports.  When I watch sports, I don’t want a lecture. 

    • #15
  16. CACrabtree Coolidge
    CACrabtree
    @CACrabtree

    This may take a few days to play out.  Granted, it might sound ridiculous, but I started thinking about the Dixie Chicks.  Back during Bush Jr’s administration, the Chicks’ lead singer (her name escapes me) ragged on Bush while they were overseas.  Shortly after that, their record sales went into the crapper; the Chicks never did grasp that the folks who supported Bush were country music fans and they weren’t shy about spending their money elsewhere.

    Also, that particular singer always seemed to be P.O.’d about something; Bush, Toby Keith, her ex-husband, etc.  Just not a very nice person.  Again, I don’t think she ever figured it out  that folks from the rural areas just don’t like that sort of nastiness.  

    I suspect that a lot of NASCAR fans will react the same way.  Just sayin’.

    • #16
  17. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    DonG (skeptic) (View Comment):

    During this Wuhan panic, we have been without sports for a long time. We have had a chance to watch a lot of alternative sports. Given all the choices, I have settled on watching amateur sports. When I watch sports, I don’t want a lecture.

    My wife and I drove the Cade’s Cove loop this morning.  On the way back, we passed a (Little League?) baseball complex of about 6 fields.  The parking lot was full, and they were playing baseball on all fields.

    • #17
  18. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    DonG (skeptic) (View Comment):

    During this Wuhan panic, we have been without sports for a long time. We have had a chance to watch a lot of alternative sports. Given all the choices, I have settled on watching amateur sports. When I watch sports, I don’t want a lecture.

    My wife and I drove the Cade’s Cove loop this morning. On the way back, we passed a (Little League?) baseball complex of about 6 fields. The parking lot was full, and they were playing baseball on all fields.

    America.

    • #18
  19. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Contrast NASCAR with the UFC. Dana White was invited by a reporter after Saturday’s card to make a statement as an organization. He noted that fighters are encouraged to do their own things, praised America as a land where you are free to express your opinion, and rejected the idea that the UFC would put any official position out. He has been battling every day to get the fighters who want to make money chances to get in the cage and on camera. He has repeatedly stated that there has been and is enormous pressure against them getting back into business.

    Look up the most recent UFC post fight conference on YouTube. He is as profane as always but worth the listen on trying to keep a business going and workers employed.

    • #19
  20. garyinabq Member
    garyinabq
    @garyinabq

    I am a real Nascar fan so here goes.  Nascar is a business and has done everything it can to attract a new, young crowd while not pissing off the old guys too much.  The stands are empty now, but they have been flirting with half full for years.  People used to put Bristol race ticket rights in their will and now (well, not NOW),  you can walk up the day of the race and get in.  Overall, they have pulled it off and have attracted new fans.  Many of their drivers are in their twenties and have great personalities and in general all the Nascar people don’t bring politics to the sport.  Nor do they seem racist at all and the two drivers in question, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez have been welcomed and treated like any other driver.

    But they’re not sure what to do, how to engage the culture.  They’d rather just get out there and race but too much pressure on them to do something.  Don’t forget that every race starts with a prayer, a Christian one where they even talk about Jesus.  And they were the first sport to start back up after shutdown and were forefront in the public eye.

    I was disappointed seeing it all, and would describe it as pandering, but all the players seemed sincere and I felt pretty forgiving because they have been thrust into a situation they’re not particularly skilled to handle.  And, most importantly, the race was excellent and my guy, Kevin Harvick, won.

     

    • #20
  21. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    garyinabq (View Comment):

    I am a real Nascar fan so here goes. Nascar is a business and has done everything it can to attract a new, young crowd while not pissing off the old guys too much. The stands are empty now, but they have been flirting with half full for years. People used to put Bristol race ticket rights in their will and now (well, not NOW), you can walk up the day of the race and get in. Overall, they have pulled it off and have attracted new fans. Many of their drivers are in their twenties and have great personalities and in general all the Nascar people don’t bring politics to the sport. Nor do they seem racist at all and the two drivers in question, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez have been welcomed and treated like any other driver.

    But they’re not sure what to do, how to engage the culture. They’d rather just get out there and race but too much pressure on them to do something. Don’t forget that every race starts with a prayer, a Christian one where they even talk about Jesus. And they were the first sport to start back up after shutdown and were forefront in the public eye.

    I was disappointed seeing it all, and would describe it as pandering, but all the players seemed sincere and I felt pretty forgiving because they have been thrust into a situation they’re not particularly skilled to handle. And, most importantly, the race was excellent and my guy, Kevin Harvick, won.

    I cannot “like” your comment because of the last sentence. (Almost anyone but Harvick, please.) But, I will thank you for reminding me of something that I should have included in my earlier comment: The pre-race invocation was also done very well.

    • #21
  22. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Give an inch…

    Bubba Wallace wants Confederate flags removed from NASCAR tracks

    NASCAR’s Bubba Wallace will have Black Lives Matter paint scheme on car at Martinsville Speedway race

     

    • #22
  23. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    garyinabq (View Comment):

    I am a real Nascar fan so here goes. Nascar is a business and has done everything it can to attract a new, young crowd while not pissing off the old guys too much. The stands are empty now, but they have been flirting with half full for years. People used to put Bristol race ticket rights in their will and now (well, not NOW), you can walk up the day of the race and get in. Overall, they have pulled it off and have attracted new fans. Many of their drivers are in their twenties and have great personalities and in general all the Nascar people don’t bring politics to the sport. Nor do they seem racist at all and the two drivers in question, Bubba Wallace and Daniel Suarez have been welcomed and treated like any other driver.

    But they’re not sure what to do, how to engage the culture. They’d rather just get out there and race but too much pressure on them to do something. Don’t forget that every race starts with a prayer, a Christian one where they even talk about Jesus. And they were the first sport to start back up after shutdown and were forefront in the public eye.

    I was disappointed seeing it all, and would describe it as pandering, but all the players seemed sincere and I felt pretty forgiving because they have been thrust into a situation they’re not particularly skilled to handle. And, most importantly, the race was excellent and my guy, Kevin Harvick, won.

     

    I appreciate your perspective, AND, no, NASCAR was not first back. It was the UFC, in the face of enormous pressure at every level to keep them sidelined. You would think the PGA and LPGA would have led, as a matter of obvious safety, but they are apparently even more vulnerable to corporate leftists’ pressure.

    • #23
  24. Clifford A. Brown Member
    Clifford A. Brown
    @CliffordBrown

    Hey, professional bowling is back on television! This was last big in the 1970s, I believe. This is an obvious “safe” sport, with social distancing and the ball under the control of each competitor and automated lane equipment.

    Everyone who has the guts and moxie to get back in the game is making bank whilst the big boys sit in their clubhouses fighting over shrinking pies.

    • #24
  25. philo Member
    philo
    @philo

    Not watching this week so I  have no useful input. The new normal?

    • #25
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