Cheap death threats are not a way to be heard

By Jim Huber, Turner Sports Interactive
April 24, 2001
10:48 AM EDT (1448 GMT)

Commentary

There must be a preface to what comes next.

Jim Huber

Just as not every teenager smokes dope and not every senior citizen has Alzheimer's, so should not every NASCAR fan be lumped into one discredited pile.

I've come to acknowledge my astonishment and admiration over the last few months at the zeal and commitment of you fans as I learn more and more about you and your sport.

It is the zealot among you who concerns me.

How often must we see it before we look to our left and right -- and then beneath our own surface -- and be outraged at the sheer stupidity of those who would lodge death threats towards:

Sterling Marlin.

The Orlando Sentinel.

The manufacturer of the seat belt.

On and on, over and over, time after time, the crude and anonymous death threats are hurled at those who might have either offended us or caused us concern.

It seems to be our first line of defense, the threat of physical harm.

Sterling Marlin, because you thought he caused Dale Earnhardt's death.

The Orlando Sentinel, for trying to obtain copies of Earnhardt's autopsy photos.

The seat-belt manufacturer, for claiming innocence.

Is this our solution to everything these days? Threaten death? Of course not. I can offer thousands of e-mails as evidence that there are that many among you who are willing to argue sensibly and intelligently, with common sense. You see my side (sometimes) but merely want your side heard, as well.

But there is a pocket among us that is so evil and so dangerous that it cannot be ignored. Do you live there? You? How about you? What could you possibly be thinking? How do you sleep at night? What good could you possibly be hoping to accomplish?

And it is not relegated simply to NASCAR. It is not a racing deal, as they like to say. It is the underbelly of our society and we see it more and more, at every level and in every corner. It has merely stood out like a very ugly blister throughout this particular devastating tragedy.

While the racing community continues to gather itself as one and grieve, it must also examine it's priorities, as one. These cheap and vulgar threats from the slightest of minorities only taint what is a wonderful family.