When talking sports in Canada the usual topic I find at this time of year is Hockey. Its playoff time so the fans are all wearing their team colors. Living in the land of Maple Leaf blue and white I have seen very little of this activity over the past 7 years, but the feeling of playoff season abounds. So instead of seeing the traditional Blue and White of the Maple Leafs around the city, what I see in stead is a cacophany of colours as support for every team that has made the play offs can be seen everywhere, in every bar, on every street corner, its obvious that it is playoff time in Hockey.
When traveling in the US however it is a different type of sport altogether that allows for interesting conversations in airports and restaurants. NASCAR fans have the same passion for their sport as Canadians do about Hockey. Although the team dynamic is much different between the 2 sports (43 teams at each race vs 2 teams on the ice at a time) the passion of the fans is hard to distinguish between the 2 sports. With the obvious differnence between the 2 sports, one being winter and played on ice, while the other is a summer sport and plays out on asphalt, the similarities between the sports and their fans must not be over looked.
Hockey fans come from all walks of life, rich, poor and in between. So do NASCAR fans. Hockey is played on ice, but the venue is always shaped in an oval. NASCAR races on ovals. with the exception of road courses twice a year to remind the drivers that they can turn to the right sometimes. Hockey fans love their beer, so do NASCAR fans. Hockey players slap the rubber around the rink, NASCAR drivers burn rubber all around the track. The biggest money making team in the league (the Toronto Maple Leafs) have not made the playoffs in 7 years and have not won a Stanley Cup since 1967, the biggest money earner in the sport of NASCAR, Dale Earnhardt Jr., has not won a race in 133 starts, way back in 2008, and yet in both cases, the fans always feel that next year will be different.
In the case of either sport I find, as I travel around the continent, that you can start up a conversation to pass the time with strangers simply by noticing their team colours. It helps pass the time while sitting around in airports and bus stations, with all kinds of interesting people. You see a guy in a Flyers jersy walking through the airport and say So man howd your team do last night? and you can prepare to spend at least the next 15 minutes in conversation with someone who can tell you every detail about the game the njight before. Walk up to ANY NASCAR fan wearing a shirt, or a jacket and ask Howd you driver do on Sunday? and you can prepare to spend at least the next 30 min discussing everything that happened on the track the Sunday before, and how the points race is shaking out as well.
Now for those of you who live North of the Border like myself, NASCAR is a sport that is carried by the TV networks only when there is no Hockey being televised. Most Nationwide races get relegated to the late night re-plays while Hockey is shown live. It is hard as a racing fan to watch another sports take precident over your favourite, but then again, Hockey Is Canadas unofficial national sport. (Lacrosse is the official sport really??) At Least theres no Hockey on Sunday afternoons.
And when it comes to game time/race time traditions, I find that there is almost no difference in how you prepare. Make sure the beers are cold and the snacks are at the ready, because in both sports if you happen to leave the room for any reason, you might just miss something important on the screen, who slammed who into the boards, or who slammed who into the wall.
The best part about Hockey and NASCAR and the way their seasons play out is that while one is in playoffs (NASCAR in the Fall and Hockey in the spring) the other sport is just getting started. The fans CAN actually watch both sports and not have to worry about conflicting schedules (with the previous mentioned Nationwide late night re-plays aside).
As a Canadian travelling around to watch NASCAR races it has been said that I should have my Canadian Citizenship revoked since I would rather watch racing than Hockey. In fact if you ask my kids who their favourite sports starts are, they will tell you Tony Stewart, Dale Jr., and Jimmie Johnson. And if you ask them about Hockey they will look at you with quizzical looks on their faces and sayHockey?? I play that outside on my rollerblades sometimes.
While both sports have their version of The Redneck Fan (Canadiennes Fans in Hockey and Kyle Busch fans in NASCAR) they appeal to almost everyone because of the speed of the action onteh screen. Anything can happen at any time, and the excitement in the voices of the announcers will bring you running from any room in the house to the television when something big does go down.
In the end, I live being a Canadian NASCAR fan. Although the only hockey that makes it on my television is during the 3 month long NASCAR off season, I do still keep abreast of where my home town team is in the stats (not hard when they are at the bottom most of the time). So for those racing fans out there who are having trouble dealing with the pre-emtion of our sport to the Hockey playoffs, relax, once they are over the only thing left will be NASCAR.
Related posts:
- Whoever said hockey was safer than racing?
- 2010 Chevrolet Equinox: 3 hockey bag test
- Red Bull Racing plays pond hockey in Quebec
- NASCAR Edwards Takes the Pole, Top Chasers Start Deep in the Field and Travis Pastrana Enters the NASCAR World
- NASCAR How to Deal with Racing Withdrawl.
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