Having already wondered why anyone would listen to NASCAR coverage on satellite radio, Gawker chimes in with the following today :
So many stadiums, so little time. West Side is dead (probably), a new Shea is on its way (probably), Ratner is busy bending Brooklyn to his Netsian will, and the Yankees are planning to replace the House That Ruth Built. But none of them is slated to be the biggest stadium in the city. That honor goes to a proposed NASCAR racetrack planned for Staten Island, according to Gotham Gazette.
Apparently NASCAR is popular, we™re told. But you can™t convince us there are actually 80,000 New Yorkers who watch the stuff.
There are few things I find more boring than NASCAR. Except, perhaps, reading about Lizzie Grubman sightings. That said, I am somewhat aware that the rest of the planet doesn’t share my exact tastes and there is something resembling a thriving cultural universe beyond the borders of whatever town I choose to reside in. It isn’t necessary for NASCAR to draw 80,000 New Yorkers to a race in Staten Island. The sport’s popularity is such that going-around-in-a-circle afficiandos from all over the Northeast will visit the bororough. Not that such a thing should be encouraged, but to pretend otherwise is just ignorant.
As a native and current occupant of NASCountry, I can say with no compunction that your take is right on the money. And it won’t just be Northeasterners.
“Baby, load up the [Country Squire/Caravan/Forrester/Suburban], we’re goin’ to New York Cit-aaaay!!!”
Fairly new to CTSB. Love it. Thanks for the links and insight.
Uh, CSTB. That is all, go away.
“There are few things I find more boring than NASCAR”
reading Gawker comes to mind.
“But you can’t convince us that there are actually 80,000 New Yorkers who watch the stuff.”
This is reminiscent of the late film critic Pauline Kael’s reaction to Nixon’s landslide victory in ’72. She couldn’t imagine how it happened, since nobody she knew had voted for him.
Even leaving aside the out-of-towners, people forget that there is more to NYC than Manhattan.