First off, I am not a racing fan.
I personally do not get NASCAR and race car driving in the least.
What I can say however is that I respect the sport. Just because it is not my cup of tea, doesn’t mean that the millions who follow it do not have a sport to be proud of and that it has a place within the sporting world.
That being said….
At Nashville Super Speedway, driver Kyle Busch crossed the sportsmanship line and landed himself clearly as a classless schmuck. I do not know who the drivers are and really do not care, but I cannot imagine Kyle is a good representative of his sport.
Nashville, since it started the speedway, has had a trophy that is considered to be one of the coolest in racing.
It is a custom made Gibson Guitar. A guitar worth thousands of dollars and hand made. This years made by famed guitar maker Sam Bass.
In the Nashville community and music world, it is looked at as a symbol of the city and the culture it represents.
It is always presented to the winning driver by the designer and builder of the guitar.
Yesterday, following his victory in Nashville, Kyle Busch was presented with the guitar which he then proceeded to smash. Possibly a lame attempt at being a rock star.
Smashed the Guitar Trophy that was hand made over several months and an iconic symbol of the Nashville Race.
An action of complete and utter dis-respect for the city and the race. A total moment of selfishness, classlessness, and immaturity.
An overpaid idiot acting like a fool. Plain and simple.
After all, if it wasn’t for these races, their fans, and these trophies, Kyle Busch wouldn’t have a job.
This all being said….acts like this say a lot to me about what kind of world we are becoming and the fact that some fans will probably cheer the move of smashing the guitar.
To me it shows what kind of world we are becoming……it is sad really.
We are becoming a world that does not value the competition of sport and its fans, we just look for a paycheck.
We are becoming a world in which dis-respect is the norm and not the exception.
We are becoming a world that is about me and not about you.
We are becoming a world that expects it for free and does not wish to work for it.
Your thoughts? I know, I probably pulled way more out of this stupid video clip than it represents, but it just got me thinking.
What about me?
This is my page and my chance to share with you all the crap I dream up on a daily basis. Here are the simple facts that make up my existence..live in Nashville...avid Hockey fan (one step from face painting), father of a 6 year old (genius child- she takes after me..I mean my wife), husband (I'm pretty sure my wife would kick me out if she could figure out how), and "normal" Christian. What is normal you ask? You tell me. I think I know what normal is but then again, we all think we are the normal ones.
My Favorite Web Sites
Bored Again Christian
Hockey Buzz
Nashville Predators
June 8, 2009 at 9:40 pm
I think you’ve articulated my thoughts while you were stating yours
June 9, 2009 at 3:18 am
Not having heard of Kyle Busch before ( and frankly i’d be happy not to hear of him again, thanks
)
i did a little ‘background check’ into this ‘incident/personality.’
I came across this one: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/191930-is-kyle-busch-good-for-nascar ?
i also read that Sam Bass is quoted as saying Busch ‘accepted the trophy in the Spirit of Rock-n-Roll’ ?? it gives the impression Mr Bass did not take offence personally – just like a good Christian
As for the rest of Nashville? i don’t think it would be a good idea for Kyle to take a walk around the City without a bodyguard in future??
On the other hand…. maybe he could learn something useful if he did?
Challenging post for me as a believer in Christ Joseph. Lets me take another look at mysefl and my society’s behaviour- thanks for bringing it to our attention
<B
June 9, 2009 at 7:59 am
Bass played the national press pretty well but in our local Scene you could tell he was upset. He never came right out and said it but he is a craftsman of the true sort. And to see a three month, hand made piece get broken so quickly, ouch.
Some one had asked him about the guitars that he had made for the Who and Kiss etc…that get broken and he made mention that they are not the same caliber of instrument. Those guys keep the good ones
June 10, 2009 at 12:18 am
Says something about the ‘culture’ of Rock’n'Roll and Nascar Drivers – and says a lot about Respect!
i truly believe we all need lessons in respect these days.
Just not from KB or those like him – please?
<B
June 10, 2009 at 12:43 am
What a disrespectful dork! Maybe that’s been customary and he was just following the trend, but if that were the case it would have made more sense to hand him a cheap replica on hand to break. Such a waste.
June 10, 2009 at 8:31 am
I DO follow Nascar. Kyle Bush is the only driver that would do something like that. He is obnoxious & the majority of fans (like me) dislike him passionately. The other drivers have class & treat the fans, sponsors, other drivers & the organization with respect. His brother Kurt, also a Nascar driver doesn’t barely talks to him. Rick Hendrick – Owner of Hendrick Racing (his team includes 4 of the best drivers in the Sprint Cup Series) & a devout Christian – booted Kyle Bush from the team 2 years ago, not because he lacked talent but because he set a badboy example that Rick wouldn’t tolerate. Hopefully Joe Gibbs (his car Owner) will do the same real soon. He’s bad for the sport. It’s NOT the typical mentality of NASCAR drivers or the ‘culture’ of the sport or its fans. Is there another sport that offers a pre-race prayer in front of 125,000 fans & the TV audience? Watch the start of a race. Watch how the drivers stand still during the parayer & National Anthem. Compare THEM to the NBA, NFL & MLB players. Daytona (30 minutes from my home) in a few weeks. Nothing like a race in person. Can’t wait.
June 10, 2009 at 8:58 am
I don’t know much about the sport but I do know most of the drivers are really nice people. I had a chance a few years back to visit DEI (Dale Earnhart Inc) with a friend who was close friends with the family. The shop, cars, staff and everything was awesome.
What amazed me was the attention to detail. One of the engineers was an MIT grad who was looking to remove an ounce from a suspension part…an ounce! The floor of the place was perfect, no dirt, grease or anything. I asked the guys about it and learned that there is no “grease” used in race cars…and to the dirt comment I got “dirt is weight and weight is time….in the course of a race, a few ounces can add up to a unit of fuel, an additional pit stop and the loss of a race”.
It is a sport I do respect highly…just not follow and not my cup o tea. Like Hockey is to many of you all.
So hey…let’s boycot Mr Busch.
June 12, 2009 at 9:47 am
As a Nascar fan and a guitar player who has always dreamed of owning a beautiful Gibson, I am just sick! I understand the whole rock ‘n roll mentality, but even the wealthiest rockers use cheap guitars to smash their way into an audience frenzy. While you cannot disrespect an object, you can disrespect the designer and creator of that object. This display of genuine disrespect is just one example of how our societal norms have degraded…I’m worried about the world we are leaving my 1-year-old son.