As much as I love NASCAR, I never liked the fights.
I think they're part of the reason it's been dismissed in the public eye as a redneck freak show for so long. The fights make NASCAR's fans and participants look like a bunch of impulsive, petty, and stupid psychopaths that can't use reason to sort problems out. I think there's a reason almost every other motorsport penalizes physical altercations and actively avoids promoting them.
The sport's dangerous enough without people putting their hands on each other. No reason you can't use your words to solve disagreements, especially since we're grown adults.
I know. When NASCAR tries to promote events tied to their emphasis on promoting it as entertainment rather than a sport, it gets talked about for a bit then quickly disappears from the public eye. It doesn't translate into real growth for the sport.
I thought the Hail Melon was cool too, but you really can't force Game 7 moments like that with a convoluted points format or rules. They're special BECAUSE they rarely happen. NASCAR is better off being run as just another motorsport rather than a direct competitor to stick and ball sports or as an entertainment entity, in my opinion.
I hope MJ, Front Row, and Denny are able to win that lawsuit.
It could be what NASCAR needs to become even better and more stable in the long term.
This is how I enjoy the on track action for all 3 of the major NASCAR series; I just ignore the playoff implications, fights, and don't even bother keeping up with how the points system works. I just enjoy seeing how the races play out because I think the base racing product itself is still very good.
Besides, it's hard to make a playoff format work when you still have all 40 or so of the participants on track at the same time. Playoffs only work in other stick and ball sports BECAUSE they don't have more than 2 teams play at the same time, better setting up an elimination format.
I think there is plenty to like about current NASCAR.
The cars look great; we regularly see close, competitive racing with frequent position changes (lead change records have been broken left and right this year), there is far more parity in the field where the smaller teams have a better chance of winning than ever, and I actually like the diverse schedule that has a great mix of ovals and road courses (helps that my first love is sports car/open wheel racing on that last note).
Then situations like what you just described happen that make me scratch my head.
NASCAR has always been a product whose quality for me is defined by the on track action and driver skill alone. I don't think it needs any artificial gimmicks like a playoff system, "overtime", or stages to be exciting. Attempts to create fake drama like that can sometimes overshadow the good points in the public eye.
I don't think the rather manufactured the drama the current rules bring really helps the sport. It frustrates long time fans, doesn't seem to bring new ones in, and seems unpopular among everyone within the industry except for the higher ups that I believe are motivated solely by short term gains.
I think controversies like the one you describe may be a reason why we're seeing sponsors often leave the sport and why even the biggest teams have to struggle to make deals with like 5 companies to fund a full season. Why would I, as an executive, want my brand to be associated with a league that's so often shrouded in controversy purely because of its management's incompetence and unwillingness to listen to feedback?
It's like the polar opposite of F1, which is seeing far more marketing activation and investment than ever. That sport's management isn't perfect, either, but it must be doing something right if it's seeing all this success without needing things like playoffs or "overtime".
In spite of all that, I still watch NASCAR because when it's good, I think it's really good. I just ignore things like the championship or who's making the playoffs; it allows me to appreciate the on track action better. Unfortunately, the management's mistakes can be very glaring, too. Peoples' frustrations with their approach seem to have reached a boiling point (even from industry veterans and drivers), and I admit that at the top, it's time to see what some new talent can bring to the table.
TLDR; I think that current NASCAR is very good, but I think it's time NASCAR abandons all the counterproductive gimmicks they think makes it exciting and lets the already good on track action speak for itself. Perhaps it's also time we see some new talent take up the management and officiating positions for the long term health of the sport.
Avengers Assemble......for a Diddy party.
We all look back at the '90s and 2000s era of gaming with fondness, but apparently some people were already what one would consider woke back in 1999.
Here are some virtue signalling SJWs being put in their place by far more level headed staff members from EGM at that time. The gist of EGM's response was that there was no reason to look for meanings about patriarchies and harmful stereotypes because developers simply didn't intend for games to be big, poetic social commentary.
The polar opposite of gaming media today. It makes you wonder what changed so suddenly.
I wonder if the game industry has an Elon Musk of its own that can buy all these companies out, purge the woke Marxist DEI ideology, phase out the predatory DRM and monetization, and set the stage for the return of a gaming scene more like the one we had in 2010 at least.
I remember a time when this revelation would actually get the nerd culture demographic excited.
Once upon a time, they would have been thrilled to see a public figure like him (especially a politician) express an interest in something people are usually quick to dismiss as frivolous.
Now, they take that common ground they have with him and use it to demonize him. The 180 pop culture pundits have taken on social and political issues never ceases to astound me.
I can't bring myself to get mad at these people. These stories just make me sad.
They got God awful advice from people they should have been able to trust on paper.
These corrupt doctors should be the people who tell them, "No. You do not want to physically warp your body in this way because this procedure comes with long term consequences that are very painful and bad to deal with. You can't reverse them when they're done, either."
"If you think you're the other gender because your interests are different from ones stereotypically associated with your gender (girls liking cars or boys liking dancing and theater, for example), you don't have to put yourself through all the pain and complications that come with any surgeries or medications. Just accept that you're the boy or girl you really are and be proud of what you like."
"Embrace that you're an example that having different interests than most girls/boys like you can be done and that there is nothing wrong with that. You are fine with the body you already have and your interests/hobbies don't make you any less of a man/woman as long as they're not hurting anyone else. There is nothing wrong with that."
Unfortunately, that's not the case. I think it's these horrible doctors that should be shamed, ostracized, and criminally punished for taking advantage of vulnerable people and tricking them into doing irreversible damage to their bodies just for their own profit and fame. These doctors shouldn't be given a free pass for defacing their oath to do no harm when they approve and conduct this "gender-affirming care", especially when they do it to young and impressionable people who have no clue what they're signing up for.
I don't hate these victims (that's what I think they are). I just hope they get the help they ACTUALLY need.
I wouldn't exactly call myself a Democrat Party fan, but watching Carter "vote" just made me sad.
He was in abysmal shape. I felt dirty watching him get trotted out there basically looking like he was dead. I can't bring myself to wish that on anyone.
Except Winnie and Dems are equally dangerous.
Now Mr. Jinping of China, on the other hand....
I hear it's right up there with GoldenEye and Escape from Butcher Bay as one of the best movie licensed games.
It's why none of the corporate Twitter accounts for the Middle East have pride flags.
It's funny how these corporations are so selective with their morality.
This creates a dangerous precedent for free speech globally; here's hoping someone like Elon can shut this gross government overreach down before it's too late.
Alex is just a test case; these globalist tyrants and operatives hope everyone ignores this when it happens to Alex so they can rob their political opponents and eventually us of any autonomy and free will.
She's been on InfoWars multiple times and does not like the woke, Marxist craziness in today's world. I think she's genuine.
The name of a German F1 driver.
Atlus went out of their way to give Sojiro a Porsche 356 and make Morgana a 1969 Citroen van in Persona 5. Maybe this is a way of showing how one of their writers likes cars.
I really wish these politicians and bureaucrats weren't so corrupt so that we wouldn't have to discuss these things.
Unfortunately, they want us to get caught off guard so that we're more willing to submit to their tyranny and abuse.
Hopefully, sharing these possibilities will at least give them enough speed bumps so that this US Deep State knows it will have to deal with a hot mess if they're stupid enough to actually let these things escalate and go unchecked.
I really hope this isn't true.
This morally bankrupt, unbelievably corrupt US Deep State is so scared of Trump taking the Presidential office and actually holding them accountable for decades worth of corruption and extortion.
So they're collaborating with their criminal conspirators in Ukraine to stage catastrophes and hostile acts in America around the time of the election. It seems they want some horrible tragedy Trump and his supporters can be blamed for so they can take away all our rights and put us under a totalitarian martial law dictatorship.
Think about the 2nd failed assassination attempt on Trump but all across the country. It would be catastrophic, to put it lightly.
Alex Jones and guest Jack Posobiec discuss these plans in the linked video. Hopefully sharing this will at least show these globalist tyrants that we're on to them and won't be fooled by their gaslighting.
Never forget how this is an attempt for globalist Big Pharma tyrants to deprive us all of our bodily autonomy. It's awfully suspicious that they're only going into effect 2 weeks from now.
Californians, do not comply with these unethical dictates and convince whoever you can to do the same! These unaccountable tyrants will never stop to make everyone else's lives miserable.
Couldn't have said it better myself.
To empower myself to take on and discover more about the real world.
Instead of these classic games getting remakes, I wish publishers would just reprint them for their original consoles like how book publishers do.
I know that's extremely unrealistic and farfetched, but I couldn't help dreaming a little.
Good choice; your purchase would have still supported it.
The better choice is to not buy this slop at all.
I think they've been heading in the right direction by largely staying silent on politics or social issues and adding older fan favorite venues back to the schedule.
A lot of the complaints with the current product come less from the evolution of core things like the racing or cars and more from the management's habit of doubling down on bad ideas like a playoff system, stages, or overtime that hurt the sport's reach among long time and potential new fans.