Uncle pressdog's Fireside Chat -- Festival of Non-Negativity

Yo yo yo and WORD to my homeys. Come on it. Pull up some super dark roast, pop in an extra shot of espresso and let's get WIRED so tight we become transcendentally AWARE. I don't even know what "transcendentally AWARE" means for sure, but it sounded good, so I slapped it in there. That's what kind of LIFE ON THE EDGE thing I got going today.

It has come to my attention that there's a lot of negativity out there. And before you say "hey pot, why don't you talk about the kettle!" let me explain.

Everything does NOT suck -- John Caponera does a bit in the video above about the people we ALL know. I call them the "dark lining" people, because they will search RELENTLESS for any speck of bad news in even the most awesomely positive thing. The people who immediately bring up the fact that an organ donation recipient will have to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of his or her life. Nothing is ever completely great. There's always a problem, and these people go RIGHT TO THAT, like a heat-seeking Sidewinder missile to a MiG.

It's as if they point out the negative IMMEDIATELY because they feel it's their SACRED DUTY to present humanity with a fuller picture. I know that you KNOW these people. And what do you do? You try to avoid them. At least I do.

And I do NOT want to be that person. So some of you are probably saying, "well you are that person." Nah, I don't think I am. I try to be Mr. Good and Bad, Mr. Pro and Con, Mr. Harsh But Fair. And I think if you review this blog in it's 7-year entirety, you'll find plenty of instances where I gave out the kudos and heaped the praise.

Which brings me to IndyCar. Recently, I have been harshly critical. I've expressed my criticisms at length. I've offered some ideas for changes. So the new pdog is letting it go at that. No harping. No "throwing my toys out of my pram" (Britishism for having a fit), no IF ONLY THE IDIOTS WOULD LISTEN.

I credit this new attitude to an evolution and my effort to just say no to discretionary activities that offer no positive benefit. Tony Johns brilliantly captured my cashing out of super passionate fan stock here. End of the day, I give my opinions, I enjoy hearing those of others, I present my ideas, I move on.

Get off the Hater Train -- Here's the first thing ... I think everyone should take more of transactional approach to sports. I know it's hard, because sports are where people get super invested, as Tony put it. We're not just fans of the team, we become PART of the team. Our lives are intertwined with the sport. That's why this message of "care a little less" is so hard for people. BUT I can tell you life out here in casual fan land is a lot less stressful.

Here's the second thing ... harping on IndyCar and vocally hoping it dies or that nobody shows up for the Indy 500 so leaders can finally LEARN THEIR DAMN LESSON doesn't really do much but make you a bitter, angry, vengeful person. And it hurts the drivers in the league a lot. Because they go to potential sponsors and sponsors see this festival of fan hate spew and they say "wow, no way I am putting cash into that."

So what I think I am saying ... and I'd appreciate your thoughts below ... is it's better to distance yourself and even walk away from IndyCar than it is to stay around and hate on it and trash it and vocally cheer for its failure.

I do NOT think the answer is to pretend you are happy and just spew out happy sunshine thoughts about how SUPER AWESOME IndyCar is when you don't think that. THAT is PollyAnna, and THAT does nobody any good. It gives IndyCar a false sense that things are SUPER AWESOME and, if it's a lie, it's bad for you. Because lying is bad for you 99% of the time. Your wife asking "does this make me look fat?" is an example of when lying is NOT a bad thing.

In no way would I ever abridge anyone's freedom of expression. But, I think I can (and I know I have the freedom to) advocate for people to choose to not hate. Choose to walk away rather than cheer for failure. Choose to use your freedom of speech to support things you love, not tear on thins you don't love.

There are things to be positive about in IndyCar -- Most everyone agrees the racing is fantastic. The Indy 500 this year was the most entertaining in years (in my view), there was a great assortment of winners this year, my home race at the Iowa Speedway race didn't let me down, the Death Star's (Ganassi/Penske) grip on the series was broken repeatedly. A tiny team (Ed Carpenter Racing) won (at Fontana).

I have heard recently that the owner of USF2000 may buy Star Mazda. Still just rumblings and I never believe these things until I see the official announcement, but that's encouraging. IndyCar has a new chief, Mark Miles with a background that at least offers hope that he understands the ultimate importance of fans. IndyCar appears to be taking its time and mounting a thoughtful, national search for a league CEO. The CEO is a hugely important position, so IndyCar taking its time time and having some expert counsel to find him or her (which Miles has said is how he's proceeding) is very encouraging. Drivers are being signed to deals. Fuzzy's Vodka has increased its already big sponsorship investment. Youngsters are moving up. Zach at IndyCar advocate covers recent updates here.

Sometimes I even harsh myself. I'm like (to myself) "DUDE, lighten up. This ain't childhood leukemia. It's not third-world famine we're talking about here. It's racing. Simmer down." All I'm saying is that it doesn't do you, the league or the drivers looking for rides any good to spew on about how everything SUCKS. So maybe choose not to. Maybe choose to put that energy into something positive that gives you enjoyment, makes you money or shows  love to the friends and family. Maybe choose not to get freaked out about IndyCar right at the moment. There's a lot of time before cars are on the track for 2013. Let's keep an open mind and see what happens between now and then.

Comments

[Ted Wolfram]

I agree with the "power of positive thinking"...and I continued to buy tickets, attend races, and buy stuff for all my kids, grand kids, and great grand kids......but (here it comes) I am POSITIVE that until and unless we cut costs (real deep cuts), bring back INNOVATION, and start appealing to YOUNG PEOPLE.....this mess known as IRL Dba as IndyCar, shall perish from this earth.

Positive enough???

[H.B. Donnelly]

Ahh, a ray of level-headed sunshine on this foggy, nasty, rainy Indiana morning. Change a few words around here and there and you can apply this logic to just about any sports entity. If you're unhappy, sit back and let the natural flow of things play out, then decide if you're happy again or just find something else that'll make you happy.

With IndyCar, I'm not going to invest money to nearly the level I did in 2012, but I'm going to watch the early races, attend Indianapolis (the 500 is so much more than the cars, after all -- it's the EVENT), then evaluate how I feel about things. If I'm still happy, I'll probably go to Pocono or Iowa or Milwaukee. If I'm not, I'll get out my Washington Nationals cap and watch baseball all summer. Boom.

Another suggestion for anyone who's entirely unable to distance yourself emotionally from sports: try getting a job related to sports. I'm a massive Indiana basketball fan, but I can hardly pay attention during games because I'm worried about pointing a camera at it or operating a TV switcher. If you're a marketing person or hospitality worker or even an IMS Yellow Shirt, you worry about your job first and watch the event out of the corner of your eye.

[redcar]

good points, Dog (and Tony.)

[S0CSeven]

You either have the passion or you don’t.

I WILL watch Indycar even though I think Tony George is/was the human version of the ‘Black Death’. I absolutely have feelings for who runs the thing and how they do it. Witness my continued watching during the reign of the incredibly incompetent TGBB. I don’t care. I have the open wheel passion & when the cars take to the track all the rest of the baloney doesn’t matter.

I WILL watch F1 no matter what I think of crazy Bernie.

I WILL watch only 4 NASCAR races a year not because of what I think of the France empire but because all the other races are incredibly boring.

I mean damnittohell what else can I do? I can’t stop sailing because I don’t like the color of the water. If people out there choose to quit Indycar because of who runs it they were never real fans to begin with.

Would that I were eloquent enough to put into stronger words ‘if you leave you’re just cutting off your nose to spite your face’ but I can’t.

[ohioflyer]

Choose to have a good day is the mantra I repeat to my kids. In the business world nobody wants to work with constantly negative people and even though we all know a Negative Nelly or two they aren't usually the first ones we call to just catch up. Get on board, spread the word and take a non believer to the end of the longest straight at your home track. They will get it "at speed" Yo Yo and Yo

[vern]

I have a favorite phrase that works for ALL sports-- "dont expect so much and you wont be so dissapointed". Indycar is what it is and nascar is what it is, so just accept that.

Happy Holidays and BTW-Good Grief-- still around 80 days or more before the 2013 racing series start again, course there will be some testing for sure before that, so a little something.. Thankyou NFL at least..my thoughts.

[chiefswon]

Well said PDog.

[D]

Meh...I have a great many things that give me pleasure, but I still reserve a small amount of interest in wishing for (and reveling in) the IRL's dba Indycar failures.

MAYBE some day after it's all dead and buried, a replacement could rise from the ashes of its failure and be worthy of support. Not at all likely, but even the thought of it is still better than supporting the swill that exists today.

In my mind, the only real question is how long the H-G's will continue to finance the league and keep it in business. Ratings are pitiful and paid attendance generally sucks. They can't convince a real track to hold a race without caving in on a sanctioning fee.

The only thing that is looks to be growing in Indycar is the number idiot politicians willing to be swindled for the next street fest.

If these towns wised up and the H-G's pulled back, this house of cards would fold tomorrow.

[Ttomkat]

You're right PDog.
Since I have nothing good to say at this time about the car, or about most of the drivers and most of the teams, and nothing positive about the schedule I'll just keep my mouth shut and my comments on twitter and elsewhere to myself.
I can't quite believe how fast my opinion went from IndyCar could do no bad to pretty much the opposite.
Happy holidays to everyone.

[Carburetor]

Good post pressdog! As a sports fanatic, I too often get too passionate about issues of which I am totally powerless to change, so reminding myself to just "slowly back away" is good advice (even if I need to keep reminding myself from time to time). The irony here are the comments from those that seem forever committed to the negative/pessimistic view--even in response to a post espousing positivity!