Sports Casualties

Two sports I love, auto racing and football, are slowly being neutered.

In drag racing, the tragic death of Scott Kalitta at Englishtown caused the NHRA to shorten the race distance for fuel cars from a quarter mile to 1000 feet. It was a good short term fix, but it's been two yeas now. To me, a drag race is a quarter mile. I'd rather see them slow the fuel cars down by reducing blower speeds, nitro/gas ratio (it's currently 90/10 nitro/gas, IIRC) engine displacements, etc., than shorten the distance.

Dan Wheldon's crash and death were caused in large part by a venue problem. You just can't run Indy 34 cars on 30 degree banking mile and a half tracks that were designed for NASCAR, where the cars run 40 mph slower and are not open wheel. The IRL should limit oval track racing to flatter tracks like Nazareth, Iowa, Indy (of course) etc. But I do love the night races on the high banks at Texas . . .

In football, the "defenseless receiver" personal foul confuses me. I don't know how a defensive back running at full speed can possibly know how to hit a receiver fairly. It's crazy. Yet we have to do something, given what we now know about the long-term effects of repeated concussions on the brain. But pro flag football is not the answer.

[Zeke]

Tackles below the waist? Or chest?

If not, then you can't fix it just like you can't fix the other 2. Death is always a possibility. I'm sorry it was Wheldon and Kallita, but we would have missed almost any of the other drivers.

W/R/T football, interesting idea, but I think that would fundamentally change the game and probably make it less popular.

I agree death in racing is always a possibility--as much as I hate it when it happens, the possibility--cheating death--is what makes racing uniquely exciting. I love open wheel oval track racing, perhaps because of that very reason.

I didn't care for Wheldon when he was driving--he tended to whine--but I really liked him as an announcer while he was between rides. Great knowledge and perspective. Scott Kalitta I didn't know much about, but his daddy is a legend.

[Zeke]

Well, AFA liking or not liking a particular athlete, death is tragic to any. I disagree about Wheldon being a whiner. They all b!cth about something. I didn't like Tony Stewart until I saw what he is made of. I had too soon forgotten that he was the one that won 3 championships in 3 different divisions all in one year.

Kalitta was a soldier, never a star even though he had 2 Top Fuel championships. Just a reliable workhorse. He sorta looked out of place suited up. You would have cast him as the engineer of the car.

I don't think any fuel drivers whine. They're happy to finish a run.