I don't know why this made me laugh, but it did. I read it in Al Roker's voice.

Rip Dan.

Saw a brief mention on Headline News this morning that had someone saying he was "a wonderful family man."

No he wasn't. If he cared about his family, he wouldn't have had a job where he faced possible death or serious injury. Cops, firefighters, soldiers, power company linemen, etc., risk their lives for a good purpose. Race car drivers do so for nothing more than selling beer or whatever else is on the side of their cars. I feel sorry for the guy's family and friends, but let's not lose sight of the situation here.

Kind of like when Dale Earnhardt died, you heard people calling him a hero. The same year he died, hundreds of firefighters and cops were killed trying to rescue people in the World Trade Center. You use the same word for Earnhardt as you would for them?

Speaker2Animals: Kind of like when Dale Earnhardt died, you heard people calling him a hero. The same year he died, hundreds of firefighters and cops were killed trying to rescue people in the World Trade Center. You use the same word for Earnhardt as you would for them?

Too much, there's too much farking perspective now.

ihatedumbpeople: Skip to 2:30-2:40 to get the real scrotum tightening views (new window)

I found the "NASCAR Banking" ad amusing. You know, essentially what killed Dan.

the1hatman: dj_swim: Speaker2Animals: Saw a brief mention on Headline News this morning that had someone saying he was "a wonderful family man."

No he wasn't. If he cared about his family, he wouldn't have had a job where he faced possible death or serious injury. Cops, firefighters, soldiers, power company linemen, etc., risk their lives for a good purpose. Race car drivers do so for nothing more than selling beer or whatever else is on the side of their cars. I feel sorry for the guy's family and friends, but let's not lose sight of the situation here.

Kind of like when Dale Earnhardt died, you heard people calling him a hero. The same year he died, hundreds of firefighters and cops were killed trying to rescue people in the World Trade Center. You use the same word for Earnhardt as you would for them?

8/10 I expect quite a response.

I have to agree with you here. It has been a long time since I have seen a quality troll attempt. He really did a nice job on that one.

I'm with both of you. Dale Sr and 9/11 reference! Top notch work.

Gilliam317: You'll pay for the full seat, but only need THE EDGE!

I came in here to say that but then I thought I might look like an insensitive asshole. I think I made the right decision.

Thanks.

Uncle Pooky: Not sure how this is a troll. I've seen articles where Dan Wheldon was called a "hero" by his friends.

"hero" is stupid. But the troller was referencing the "wonderful family man" comment.

By all means he was. Nothing wrong with having a dangerous job. You know, one where like 1/10,000 actually die doing it.

You are so going to hell for that headline. And me for laughing at it.

ThisNameSux: How can anybody find this headline funny when it's been used about 30 times over the past 6 years. Seriously people, try something original FOR ONCE FOR ONCE FOR ONCE.

/ftfy

ThisNameSux: Earguy: You are so going to hell for that headline. And me for laughing at it.

How can anybody find this headline funny when it's been used about 30 times over the past 6 years. Seriously people, try something original for once.

When Hollywood starts being original again, then we will.

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Uncle Pooky: Not sure how this is a troll.

I completely agree that you probably could not have recognized it as a troll.

It amazes me how much some people seem to have at stake in what does or doesn't constitute a hero. Okay, it doesn't really amaze me. After all, some people are idiots and they just can't help themselves; this should not be news to the rest of us.


McBotulism: "SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAYYYY!!!1!!!!1!!" is a drag racing tagline, not IndyCar. It's like making a Slap Shot reference for a story about a soccer player.

I was thinking much the same thing.

Scottybobotty: Glad he's dead. Maybe next time there is a deadly wreak the driver of said car will flip it into the stands and take some fans with him.

/not even remotely kidding.

I hope the next time there's a car crash, that the flame ignites the atmosphere, killing every living thing on Earth (by boiling the seas away), and that that flame somehow triggers a chain reaction that causes all matter in the universe to disintegrate to it's constituent quarks, thus rendering life impossible for eternity!

So suck on that!

Scottybobotty: Glad he's dead. Maybe next time there is a deadly wreak the driver of said car will flip it into the stands and take some fans with him.

/not even remotely kidding.

Ooooooh!!! Edgy troll is edgy!

Hey, next time you're at a baseball game, maybe a foul ball will rip your head off when you've got your head turned to the action. Because, you know, that would be seriously cool.

dj_swim: Speaker2Animals: Saw a brief mention on Headline News this morning that had someone saying he was "a wonderful family man."

No he wasn't. If he cared about his family, he wouldn't have had a job where he faced possible death or serious injury. Cops, firefighters, soldiers, power company linemen, etc., risk their lives for a good purpose. Race car drivers do so for nothing more than selling beer or whatever else is on the side of their cars. I feel sorry for the guy's family and friends, but let's not lose sight of the situation here.

Kind of like when Dale Earnhardt died, you heard people calling him a hero. The same year he died, hundreds of firefighters and cops were killed trying to rescue people in the World Trade Center. You use the same word for Earnhardt as you would for them?

8/10 I expect quite a response.

What are you f*cking talking about? That was just common sense. Please tell me you were joking about calling it a troll.

good_2_go: Paul Tracy tweeted (new window) a pic of his Las Vegas helmet, complete with tire marks.

Stay classy, Chrome Horn.

FiendishFellow05: Do me a favor, and don't ever show your face in an auto racing thread here.

I think this is the first time I've ever posted in a racecar thread. Well, second now. The original post (Speaker2Animals) was a pretty well thought out post but you have your head so far up your ass all you could think about was how racing works. The point wasn't that he didn't do what he did best, the point is that he put his life at risk despite having a family to look out for. And he didn't put his life at risk for the good of humanity or anything. No, he put his life at risk for the sake of giving people entertainment. There's nothing wrong with that in itself, but I'm not sure that qualifies as being a good family man, in fact it is just the opposite. He's putting himself -and by extension racing- ahead of his family.

That's all I was saying.

From_The_Year_2000: Scottybobotty: IlGreven: Scottybobotty: Glad he's dead. Maybe next time there is a deadly wreak the driver of said car will flip it into the stands and take some fans with him.

/not even remotely kidding.

...sez the guy who likes what may be the most boring sport on earth.

And that is your opinion, welcome to it. My opinion is that the people who race around in cars and the people who watch them do it are idiots.

*shrug*

Idiots who not remotely kidding deserve to be killed. Right brah!? *high five*

Fixed that, because douchebagginess of this magnitude needs to be emphasized.

FiendishFellow05: He didn't drive to "sell beer or whatever else is on the side of their cats", he did it because he did it well and got paid well for it.

His primary motivation may not have been driving to sell beer (or whatever his sponsor was), but that's the ultimate end of all the racing. And I'm sure one of the requirements of him getting that sponsorship was to appear at various gatherings where current or prospective customers of said sponsor could sniff his Nomex suit. Sponsors put their name on these cars because they want to sell more of whatever they're producing -- either the products themselves or all the associated clothing, cup holders, window decals, etc., the various logos on them. How much money does the Earnhardt family rake in because of all those "leaning 3" decals on the backs of gas hog/jacked up pickup trucks.

I used to be a sportswriter and covered a couple dozen races (CART, Nascar, SCCA, IMSA, etc.) in three years on the beat. Drivers for the most part were nice guys, good interview subjects, but I never had any illusion that they were anything more than grown-up teenagers who never outgrew the need to take daddy's car out to drag race with their friends. Never met Wheldon, but everything I hear and read say he was a great guy.

But don't cheapen the language by calling him a hero or a great family man. He wasn't either.

Speaker2Animals: His primary motivation may not have been driving to sell beer (or whatever his sponsor was), but that's the ultimate end of all the racing. sports and entertainment.

Like that's exclusive to racing? Really?

Speaker2Animals: Never met Wheldon, but everything I hear and read say he was a great guy.

But don't cheapen the language by calling him a hero or a great family man. He wasn't either.

Is the currency of language really such that it can be significantly cheapened by calling someone a "great family man" when they may or may not have been one? Your outrage seems both overblown and misplaced, particularly about someone who you acknowledge to have been "a great guy" though not someone you ever actually met. How is it you can speak so definitively about him? Wouldn't people who knew him and worked with him closely have a better vantage point from which to make such judgments?

Nah, that makes way too much sense.