Indiana Daily Student NASCAR column

A columnist dedicated a piece to slamming NASCAR here, and I fired back.

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Mr. Shaffer,

As a fellow staff member of the Indiana Daily Student, I have put up with your writing for a while. A very high majority of the time you have no basis or sound reasoning to write the way you write. Essentially, you are nothing but sensational in your writing, and at the same time, quite ignorant. I have held back on this letter in the past, but now you have forced me to write because you have officially stooped to your lowest level yet with your column on NASCAR, entitled "Go to hell, NASCAR (and stay there).

First, I would like to refute your claim that NASCAR takes no physical athleticism. Or as you put it, "Placing your foot on and off the pedal does not require strength or conditioning." I could go with the argument that you should get on of these stock cars for yourself and take 5 laps around Bristol Motor Speedway. But obviously, you are too incredibly ignorant to want to try that. Instead, take for example that a vast majority of the drivers in the sport today have regimented work out plans and diets. It is not at all surprising that drivers lose over five pounds per race due to the extreme heat and g-forces placed on their body during the tenure of each race. Throw in the fact that the simplest of mistakes can put your race car into the wall at speeds above 200 mph, I'd say that's a pretty intense activity to not be considered a sport.

I know what you're trying to go for with your reference to Anchorman, but when's the last time you went to a football, basketball, baseball, or soccer game and nobody cheered for their team? I'm pretty sure screaming when Jeff Gordon takes the lead is quite similar, but you, Mr. Playin' It Shafe, must not obviously think the same.

"Pay Attention to a sport with a playoff system, not a points system" -- It's funny you should bring that up. Aren't they essentially synonyms? A team wins the most games, and gets to the playoffs. In NASCAR, a team earns the most points, they get to the Chase for the Cup. Awful similar, if you ask me.

What exactly is the difference between bringing alcohol into a race track or buying alcohol at stadium? Is the bought alcohol really that different? Does it not get you drunk Shaffer? Has there ever been an incident involving alcohol in professional sports? Hmm... I think something happened in Detroit involving a thrown alcoholic beverage a few years back -- but please, correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, your reference to "the Jiffy Lube guy" has confused me, but only because I feel that being statistically and factually right in a story is how journalism works. No, Andrew, there is no Jiffy Lube guy. There are actually over 100 Fortune 500 companies participating in NASCAR racing as sponsors. Was it really that hard for you to do some factual work, or are columnists not allowed to do that?

I do appreciate your almost accurate description of NASCAR's Car of Tomorrow. Yes, the steering wheel is closer to the center, the car is taller, and it sits more upright. Was there not enough room to talk about why drivers complained about the car? Or the radical appearance changes the included a rear wing and front splitter? What about the improved safety aspects? However, the track at Bristol has not changed a single bit -- despite you referring to "Bristol's higher banks, wider turns, and shorter straightaways". That is simply factually incorrect -- a trend that I am starting to heavily notice in this piece.

On a comparative note to that, did you say that same thing to NBA players when they complained about the new ball that was introduced this year? Did they get a "suit up, saddle up, and shut up" from you? It's an eerily similar situation.

I've to say, though, that not only pissed me off with your ignorance, but also completely and utterly offended me and likely quite a few others in the IDS readership with your "not cool with Billy Bob and Mary Ann conceiving a child on the track's infield. I'm sorry sport fans, but I don't think a brother and sister should be doing that sort of thing." comment. I, myself, have attended dozens of NASCAR races with my family and I really don't think you understand how bad that hurts to read. Are you saying that I am going to be involved with incest? The better question is, have you, Andrew Shaffer, ever seen this at a race track? Much less, have you ever been to a NASCAR event?

I think it's pretty apparent that you have not, and that you are doing nothing but slandering NASCAR racing and it's fans. Yes, Shaffer, that statement is completely unfounded, untrue, and completely designed to damage NASCAR's reputation. I'm 100% positive that you not only lack any ethical standards in your "journalism", but have also broken the law.

It should be noted that at this point I have written nearly 300 words more in rebuttal than your entire column length. Is that a sign that you, Mr. Shaffer, are wrong?

To me, this piece seems like one that you thought you could get away with because Bloomington is a liberal town and most of IU isn't in love with NASCAR. It's an off-day column that you wanted to create some spice. And damn, Mr. Shaffer, you did a good job with that. You were right -- writing factually incorrect and seat of the pants words will do that. But you guessed wrong in that no one in Bloomington would care about your ignorance. I will definitely not be the only letter you receive from this.

The Indiana Daily Student is a respectable newspaper, Mr. Shaffer, and you are doing nothing but degrading its image. You are doing nothing but hurting the rest of the staff that works so hard each day to put out a paper in both print and online. I feel personally victimized that tomorrow morning I have to wake up and acknowledge that you write for the paper that I work for.

It doesn't matter how trivial you think something is because unless you have bona-fide proof and evidence to back up your claims, you are doing nothing short of lying with this piece about NASCAR.

You are hurting yourself, damaging a respected publication, outright falsifying facts about NASCAR racing and all of the very, very good people involved with it, and most importantly hurting the co-workers around you.

I am shocked and appalled that this piece was shown any light of day in the IDS by the chain of command above you who undoubtedly read it, but most importantly, Mr. Shaffer, I hope that this shines a light on the fact that while you have freedom of the press on your back, you also have a responsibility with that.

A citizen in the "nation of nimrods",

Geoffrey Miller