Nobody in sports wants to hear that 'B' word uttered

What is the worst word that NASCAR can hear? I am talking about the single adjective that can drag down any sport. This balefully descriptive word and all of its sinful synonyms, frankly, are a nightmare for any major sport. The word ... wait let me yawn first ... OK, the word is "boring."

Now it's one thing if fans in this ADD society tune you out for a split second while some other, no doubt life-altering, eight seconds of entertainment are available on another channel. This happens in any sport. The quagmire mushrooms when the superstar, embarrassingly well-compensated participants start describing one of the sports signature events this way.

Beau Estes co-hosts the Jack Daniel's Post-Race Show with Nikki Alexander. It can be seen following every Nextel Cup race live on NASCAR.COM.

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I can listen when critics of baseball say the sport moves too slow, but can you imagine David Ortiz saying the game is a yawner? If people bash the happenings on the gridiron as having too much delay between the plays, I'll cede the floor and hear their side of the debate. However, my guess is that Peyton Manning hasn't seen a dull moment behind center since volunteering for the position.

For NASCAR fans Talladega is an event, in fact a moment in time that race lovers look forward to like 18-year-old guys look forward to the night of their senior prom. The date is circled for a reason. I'm not saying that in either case, a scintillating few hours are guaranteed, but nonetheless excitement and anticipation are in the air. Talladega's fall race of 2007 was about as exciting as Greg Biffle's post-race burnout in Kansas the week prior.

Can you imagine driving a racecar at more than 180 mph for an afternoon and upon exiting the cockpit you describe the experience as "boring?" That is exactly what happened though.

The word "boring" following the race at Talladega was attributed to Dale Earnhardt Jr. (he's only the face of the sport), Robby Gordon (perhaps he could have livened up the proceedings by doing a few "I unilaterally declare myself the winner!" burnouts of his own ... don't e-mail me on this one, I've already defended Robby) and Jeff Burton (the sport's unofficial mayor went as far as "a little boring" in his description which for Burton is a scathing indictment).

Worse still is the fact that the race winner and emblem of success in 2007, Jeff Gordon, called the race boring and didn't stop with the "B" word. "There's nothing fun about that," he yawned (presumably). "I've never yawned in a racecar in my life. I yawned back there."

My point is this: There is no greater poison in a sport than for its superstars to seem uninterested during the proceedings. For NASCAR, that just happened. The greater concern though is the fans' interest.

Here is a rough thumbnail sketch of how things work in a sport. First, you must have a product that a large amount of people are interested in. Then you develop sponsorship, television deals and advertising around that sport and market it to the public. In the end everybody is happy. The fans get to watch their sport and the other parties make a little cash in the venture.

The one fundamental tenet required for this model to work though is -- here is that word again -- interest, namely from fans. This is why television networks must strike a delicate balance between showing the actual sport and promoting and advertising during the event. Too many promotions and commercials push fans into the ranks of the bored and, frankly, there are several other options out there for entertainment.

I received an enormous amount of mail following the fall race at Bristol. The opinion was divided on whether or not the new surface at Thunder Valley rendered the race boring.

Following Talladega though I'll take divided because it might be the best we'll do. At least divided means that someone was interested in the proceedings. In other words, when it comes to fan interest following Talladega, I'm afraid that our best hope is "Divided we stand, united we fall."

Just for kicks, send me your take on the race at Talladega to beau@turner.com.

Last week I issued a challenge to my frighteningly proactive reading audience. In my previous column I assigned eight famous quotes to eight of the Chase drivers leaving four spots open for fans to fill out the rest (read more). Here are the winners ...

With no disrespect intended, I would submit on behalf of Kyle Busch a Frank Lloyd Wright quote "I feel coming on a strange disease, humility."
-- Mark from New Jersey

I fear that if the same results keep crashing in for Kyle, we could be looking at a full blown epidemic.

"Telling the future by looking at the past assumes that conditions remain constant. This is like driving a car by looking in the rearview mirror." -- Herb Brody

Martin Truex Jr. knew he was the man when the other Junior announced he was leaving. And he hasn't looked in the rearview mirror since ...
-- Terry from Canada

Good point Terry. In fact, the only constant at DEI this year has been blown engines for the 8 team.

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." -- Helen Keller

To say that Carl Edwards has had a bad couple weeks is a mild statement. During these trying times instead of acting like a big baby he sucks it up and moves forward.
-- Paula from California

As much is written and said about Carl Edwards, I'm guessing this is the first time he's been linked to Helen Keller. Thanks for that Paula.

"Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by hitting back" -- Piet Hein
-- Bev from Vancouver, B.C.

Kurt hit back by moving up two positions in the Chase this week, but he still might have too much ground to make up considering the group of talent in front of him.

And finally, my favorite quote of the week, and the overall winner, is applied to Kyle Busch again (there were too many to choose from on the Busch brothers.)

The best quote I can come up with for Kyle Busch is what my grandfather used to say:

"Life is like getting up to bat in baseball; sometimes you get balls, sometimes strikes. Today we got hit by a pitch." -- Thomas Bonavita Sr.
-- Thomas Bonavita III from parts unknown

I have a special place in my heart for grandfather comments so I'll add to this comments from my own grandfather, Hugh Estes, and apply them to the sight of Kyle Busch's wrecked car at 'Dega: "Looks like he about got the good out of that one."

The Real Champion
I hope any and all Jeff Gordon doubters were put to bed over the weekend as he yawned his way to Victory Lane in Talladega. This season belongs to the 24 team. Crown whoever you like and chase Jeff right out of a championship if you prefer, but I know the truth -- I know who The Real Champion is.

However, one interesting storyline that I'll continue to follow is Hendrick's chase for the best season by win percentage for an owner in the modern era. Hendrick's guys will need to win four of the last six races to rewrite the history books. Now that is a Chase I can get into.

Here are the cold, harsh numbers revealing Jeff Gordon's truly awesome domination of the entire 2007 season.

Chat Room Chatter
This week I was off covering the baseball playoffs for TBS Hot Corner so I had the chance to see the chat room from afar. It's interesting to view the comments of a race that you watched as a fan, rather than worked as a broadcaster. Below is one I particularly appreciate ...

1st half of race was absolutely boring!
-- Lynn from Minneapolis, Minn.

I rarely find entire races boring and that certainly wasn't the case for the race of last weekend. However, I'd up Lynn's total to say that all but about the last 25 laps were a snoozer. Also, I'm glad to see the driver and fans in step on this one. Now the onus is on NASCAR to make the improvements in order to continue entertaining its legions of fans. Remember, that is what this is all about. If you, the fans, aren't entertained then the show is over.

As a footnote to this, I counted up the total number of uses of the word "boring" in the JD Post Race Show chat. Twenty-seven times "boring" was cited and that does not include "bored" or "bore" or any other synonyms.

I will go on record as guaranteeing NASCAR fixes this issue before the 50th running of Daytona.

Finally, as we head to Charlotte, I'll be interested to see if Clint Bowyer can hang in there and continue to make this a three-horse race. He survived his theater of nightmares in Alabama and currently stands as the one driver who can interrupt a pas de deux between Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Enjoy the race.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.