From out of nowhere: NASCAR.
Right then.
I used to be obsessed with NASCAR. I liked the cars going fast, the competition was super-easy to follow (drive really fast and get ahead of everyone else and you'll win!) and it just really appealed to me for some reason. I think I also enjoyed telling people I was into NASCAR because no one ever expected me to be a NASCAR fan. Although my obsession has cooled, I do still enjoy the sport.
ANYWAY.
The reason I bring this up is because a friend once said that he hated NASCAR because he felt it was homophobic.
Something dawned on me shortly after that conversation: NASCAR is actually loaded with homoerotic undertones. Seeeeriously. Here's some examples of standard race commentary (I apologize in advance):
"Aaand here comes Carl Edwards just slammin' into Kasey Kahne's bumper."
"Dale Jr's coming up on the inside of Juan Pablo Montoya, who's lookin' a bit tight today."
"Those boys are just pilin' up on each other over in turn four!"
"I tell you something, it's just as bad to be too tight as it is to be too loose."
"I think Greg Biffle just slammed Kurt Busch up against a wall. Looks like things are gettin' serious down there. Can we get a replay of that?"
The reason I was reminded of this thought was an article on the Yahoo News front page thing, which you can read here: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/07/17/carl-edwards-wrecks-brad-keselowski-again-to-win-at-gateway/
Here are some relevant excerpts:
"They bumped, they rubbed -- typical rubbin' racin' deal...
He had me pinned down a little bit which is good, that's good racing. I can respect that.
...It got me a little loose. I just rubbed him a little bit, rubbed him a little bit in one and two. I'm sure we rubbed a little bit in three and four, but just good racing.
"He was holding me tight and getting me a little loose which was cool. I was rubbing on him a little bit. It was just great racing.
Just great racing, my foot!
I mean, granted, I do have my mind in the gutter at times, but COME ON. If you read those quotes/listened to NASCAR commentary without seeing the race or knowing it was about cars...you'd probably be wondering too.
I used to be obsessed with NASCAR. I liked the cars going fast, the competition was super-easy to follow (drive really fast and get ahead of everyone else and you'll win!) and it just really appealed to me for some reason. I think I also enjoyed telling people I was into NASCAR because no one ever expected me to be a NASCAR fan. Although my obsession has cooled, I do still enjoy the sport.
ANYWAY.
The reason I bring this up is because a friend once said that he hated NASCAR because he felt it was homophobic.
Something dawned on me shortly after that conversation: NASCAR is actually loaded with homoerotic undertones. Seeeeriously. Here's some examples of standard race commentary (I apologize in advance):
"Aaand here comes Carl Edwards just slammin' into Kasey Kahne's bumper."
"Dale Jr's coming up on the inside of Juan Pablo Montoya, who's lookin' a bit tight today."
"Those boys are just pilin' up on each other over in turn four!"
"I tell you something, it's just as bad to be too tight as it is to be too loose."
"I think Greg Biffle just slammed Kurt Busch up against a wall. Looks like things are gettin' serious down there. Can we get a replay of that?"
The reason I was reminded of this thought was an article on the Yahoo News front page thing, which you can read here: http://motorsports.fanhouse.com/2010/07/17/carl-edwards-wrecks-brad-keselowski-again-to-win-at-gateway/
Here are some relevant excerpts:
"They bumped, they rubbed -- typical rubbin' racin' deal...
He had me pinned down a little bit which is good, that's good racing. I can respect that.
...It got me a little loose. I just rubbed him a little bit, rubbed him a little bit in one and two. I'm sure we rubbed a little bit in three and four, but just good racing.
"He was holding me tight and getting me a little loose which was cool. I was rubbing on him a little bit. It was just great racing.
Just great racing, my foot!
I mean, granted, I do have my mind in the gutter at times, but COME ON. If you read those quotes/listened to NASCAR commentary without seeing the race or knowing it was about cars...you'd probably be wondering too.