Is there a little less patriotism everywhere?

One of my favorite times of the year is spring and summer. We all enjoy being outdoors and the sunshine that comes after the cold dreary winter. Some people yearn for the beginning of golf or other sporting events, but one of my reasons for celebrating this time of year is NASCAR. We used to be frequent spectators at the Five Flags Raceway in Pensacola, FL; the dirt track in Milton, FL: and more recently the local track in Crossville, TN. I must admit that although I have been to major sporting events like baseball and football in Saint Louis, Atlanta, New Orleans, and even in Japan, I have never made it to a major NASCAR race. I have always confined my enjoyment of big time stock car racing to televised events and I am not too disappointed at that aspect because of the excellent coverage and playbacks. One of the things I always liked about NASCAR is a strong display of patriotism. From the opening ceremonies that, everywhere I have been, included posting the nation's flag, singing the National Anthem to a strong pro-military fan base; even the National Guard, the US Army and the American Legion are major sponsors of some cars, everything about stock car racing has an underlying patriotic sense. At the major tracks the opening ceremonies usually include a military flyover; however, the recent disapproving remarks of one or two members of Congress concerning the flyover at the recent Superbowl have called into question how long we will continue to be able to enjoy this exciting display. Although I too question the reasoning behind a flyover at a stadium dome with the roof closed due to the likelihood of inclement weather. The news of the remarks from a politician were broadcast everywhere for the last few weeks causing the always curious (?) news media to question why aircraft couldn't have been used from a closer base, or if the NFL or Jerry Jones should not have paid the cost, if one aircraft instead of four could not have been used to save money, as well as the military-political connections of the events receiving this taxpayer benefit. It seems that one Congresswoman in particular fails to see any benefit from the military's use of loyal NASCAR fans as a recruiting base, or the use of sponsorship of cars or these flyover's as a recruiting tool, and in spite of the fact that FAA and military regulations require pilots and crews to practice flying in a variety of conditions including weather, daylight or darkness and to include long distances. Having flown a few hours in my earlier days I can attest to the absolute need to adhere to FAA regulations if for no other reason than to keep your legal status as a pilot current. Not to mention that even a foolhardy a person as I might have been in those days I knew that for the safety of myself and anyone flying with me as well as those on the ground I needed to maintain proficiency (I have to wonder if the Congresswoman might complain if some less than competent pilot were to land on her house?). Some additional, dare I say stupid, political comments I read last week included, "I doubt that anyone rushes to enlist in military service due to seeing the Army name on a race car," and it's ridiculous to think that seeing a jet plane fly over a football game would cause someone to join the Air Force. Actually, I think you'd have to be pretty blind not to see the potential of a young person considering employment where they could be trained to do things like precision flying that the Blue Angels or AF Thunderbirds do. Any one that has seen even a little of a televised NASCAR event should be aware of the age group of the fans, most are young enough to be potential members of our country's military. I could go on and on about Congress but my goal here has always been to keep this blog as free of political speech as possible.

The real cause of this patriotism rant is that one of my favorite sports as mentioned above, is beginning to exhibit a lack of patriotism and it affects my choices of who to root for and who to root against. In every sport there are always favorite teams and individuals determined by a variety of factors. One of the best things about NASCAR to me has always been the lack of bad guys, the ones in the old westerns that wore a black hat so you could distinguish them from the good guys, all of whom of course wore the white hats. Anyone who follows NASCAR has seen the occasional display of lack of skill of an inexperienced driver or even a crew member, or a less than brilliant decision on their part, and pay back for a perceived wrong done earlier in the race or even in a previous race which causes that team or individual to be thought of as a villain. Usually this is only a temporary condition because, as I sense, by far the majority of NASCAR people are just really good people; but like everyone, subject to an occasional lapse in judgement. What bothers me as far as patriotism in NASCAR can be observed during the opening ceremonies. To encourage patriotism by the general audience it has become common practice in the past few years that the event announcer will ask the audience to "stand, remove their hats, and place their right hand over their heart during the National Anthem." I noted recently that several drivers and crew members have been televised standing casually holding hands with their significant other, hands at their sides or busying themselves with chewing gum wrappers or the like. In the Nationwide series race on Saturday Danica Patrick was televised standing with her crew while she and at least one of the crew members failed to place their hand over their hearts. Danica, being the rare female driver in major NASCAR events, must have realized the racing world would be watching her every move and that much of the television coverage would be concentrated on her yet she committed what many racing fans would consider a major lack of respect to our nation. Before the reader assumes that Ms. Patrick is the victim of gender discrimination, let me hasten to add that at least one other male Nationwide series driver was caught by the television cameras showing similar disrespect for the National Anthem. As several of the Nationwide drivers are not as publicly known as Danica, I cannot name the other individual I observed on Saturday. The television camera crews are apparently aware that NASCAR takes a dim view of such a display because as soon as it becomes apparent the TV shot either switches to a facial closeup, in the case of Danica, or proceeds quickly to another individual. Likely as not this is the reason few long shots of large groups of drivers and crew members are shown anymore. Not that this conduct is confined to the junior racing series as today during the opening ceremonies of the most watched racing event of the year, the Daytona 500, the television audience again was shown at least one driver casually standing, hands at his side during the National Anthem. While almost all of these drivers are easily recognized by any real NASCAR fan, my memory fails me as to which one was caught by the camera today so at the risk of wrongfully accusing an innocent party I won't guess. But if there is any doubt that this is becoming commonplace just watch the opening ceremony of next weekend's race or any future race and see the decline of patriotism on display.

Don't get me wrong, I won't stop watching NASCAR, but it may influence who gets my fan support. While that may not be a big thing, some of the drivers may begin to see a shift in their fan base because I believe most NASCAR fans are a pretty patriotic bunch just as most of NASCAR is.

This recently received e-mail was just too appropriate to pass up along the patriotic theme. I believe it was written by Robert Flood (nfi) and I wish there was a way to make sure Ms. Aguilera would get the message:
“So, with all the kindness I can muster, I give this one piece of advice to the next pop star who is asked to sing the national anthem at a sporting event: save the vocal gymnastics, your invention of a new melodies and the physical gyrations for your concerts. Just sing this song the way you were taught to sing it in kindergarten — straight up, no styling. You see, this anthem is not about you, it is about our country. Sing it with the constant awareness that there are soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines watching you from bases and outposts all over the world. Don’t make them cringe with your self-centered ego gratification. Sing it as if you are standing before a row of 86-year-old WWII vets wearing their Purple Hearts, Silver Stars and flag pins on their cardigans and you want them to be proud of you for honoring them and the country they love — not because you want them to think you are a superstar musician. They could see that from the costumes, the makeup and the entourages. Sing “The Star Spangled Banner” with the courtesy and humility that tells the audience that it
is about America, not you.”