Ferrari Mailing List: Re: F1

[Rick Lindsay (richardolindsay]

> Easy Rick, you're starting to sound like you're promoting NASCAR...

Now you're just getting nasty! 

> The sport is no longer relevant

The sport is no longer a 'sport'...as if it ever was.

> I spend enough time on the continent to tell you that there is a limited

> audience there, too.  Let it die a natural death and let's see what

> grows up to replace it. 

Probably good advice. Perhaps I'm just too old and want back 'the old ways', as Miss Marple says.

I wonder if our parents felt this same way, or is this unique? If so, is it a game-changing mega-trend, as the cultural geographers say? In the '30s a motorcar was a luxury and one needed to be a mechanic, or rich enough to employ one, to operate the machine. By the '60, at least in the U.S., every family owned a car and corner garages kept them running. By the '80s the beasts were considered dirty and dangerous so multiple defenses were added. In the 21st century, motorcars are questionably necessary major appliances but owning one is an entitlement - like free government money, housing, food stamp cards and healthcare. Oh, and high speed internet, smart phones and tablets. Can't buy food or pay child support but they have a Facebook page! Now THAT is a mega-trend. Our parents' generation may have been poor but they prioritized food and child care first.

Motorsport is dangerous so lots of protection has to be added. We seem to have realized that civilization must be safe and our inate desire for carnage and competition has to be satesfied elsewhere. How about a team (tribe) of football players (warriers) egged on by fight songs and blood thirsty cheers, competing on the field of battle for breeding rights over the cheerleaders?! Yes! Natural Selection wins another one! Now if fantasy football could just replace the actual games, perhaps with computer generated decisions, everyone would be safer. Racers could compete on their smart phones - or if adequately wealthy, have someone wiggle their thumbs for them. And in the end, award double points for their entitled entertainment!

> YMMV,
> Erik

Indeed it does, Dr. Erik