Who’s Abbott, Who’s Costello and Who’s on First
|
|
By: Vivian Simons & PattyKay Lilley
Author's Note: My articles
are based solely on my opinions. Normally no statistics are offered. Enjoy and
feel free to comment afterwards...
Gentle readers, what
you’re embarking on here is a journey through the high-jacking of an article by
an unscrupulous editor… me. By the time you read this, I have of course,
obtained Vivian’s permission to run her perfectly good article in this dual
configuration.
(Editor’s Note: This is intended as a bit tongue
and cheek throughout, with enough facts thrown in to worry and concern the
reader even as he laughs. It started with the two of us joking around in the
Fan Forum and evolved from there to the farcical article you’re reading.)
If you find this type
of give-and-take conversational article pleasing, we’d appreciate hearing about
that. Likewise, we’d like to know if you find it distracting or just plain
don’t like it. Either way, here at Race Fans Forever, your opinions count!
~PattyKay
Last month I wrote an article
called "The Chase is Coming! The Chase is Coming! In case you missed
reading it, you can find it right here.
This past Sunday I, along
with many others, watched the first of NASCAR's playoffs/chase races. They were
in Chicago, a mile and a half track which a lot of us refer to as a cookie
cutter track. As history shows, most longtime fans are not too fond of those
tracks. Some of the drivers like them and some excel when they race on them.
As we were watching this
race, we kept hearing about the 16 drivers who were eligible to be their Season
Champion by surviving these last 10 races and the final race at Homestead would
give us that champion.
While some of us were
discussing the happenings at this race I asked if someone could once again
explain to me how this playoff thing works. The response came back from our
editor, PattyKay. The answer was, and I quote her here:
"After the 3rd
race, 4 are eliminated. 12 race the next 3 races and after race 6, 4 more are
gone. Now they are 8 and after race 9, 4 more are eliminated. The final 4 race
at Homestead and the highest finisher among them is our "Season
Champion." Unquote
(After reading her answer, I posed the following
thoughts and questions, purposely playing the “straight man” and the game was
on from there.)
So let me get this straight…
NASCAR Cup Series now has a
playoff/chase. Is that correct?
Well, that’s what
they’re calling it now. In my latest “A Voice for the Fans” article, I explained how at its inception in 2004,
that was promised never to be the case.
There are 16 eligible drivers
in this playoff chase. However, there will be a total of 40 drivers competing
for the win in each of the 10 playoff /chase races. Correct?
Yes Ma’am!
To me that is why it is such
a farce.
For the first 3 races, these
16 eligible drivers race each other plus
another 24 drivers that are on track with them. Right so far?
Spot on!
After those 3 races, there
are only 12 drivers out of those original 16 racers who are eligible now and
for the next 3 races, they race each other plus another 28 drivers that are on
the track with them.
Exactly so!
“Eliminations” in “NASCAR speak” doesn’t mean what the same word means in
simple English.
Then after those 6 races, 8
of the original 16 eligible drivers have to race each other the next 3 races,
plus another 32 drivers that are on the track with them. Are you with me here?
Every step of the way.
Now they have raced 9 of the
10 playoff/chase races and 4 of the original 16 eligible drivers are left to
race each other in one final race, plus they have to race another 36 drivers that
are on the track with them? SMH here trying to make sense of it.
I never promised you
that it made sense. In reality, it is completely and totally senseless, but you
asked for an explanation and this is as close as I get to deciphering what goes
on in the remaining grey cells within the head of one Brian Z. France.
A Season Champion (sorry but
I don't understand what they mean by season champion here) will be the lucky
one who was able to gain more points in that last race against 36 other drivers
they raced in this final race who never even had a chance to be a champion.
Again, SMH
I guess this point
could use a bit of clarification. At no time throughout the ten races are the
“Chase” drivers competing with the rest of the cars/teams/drivers for the
Championship, only with each other, though the other drivers are all competing
for wins and points; they just can’t win the Championship. Therefore, in the
Homestead race, the driver that finishes highest in points among those four
only, gets to claim the title of Champion.
Is that correct? All 40
drivers get to stay on track for all 10 races...doesn't makes sense at all.
Yes Hon, that is
correct, and I never promised you a rose garden, or that it would make sense.
It made no sense to any thinking person in 2004, and annual changes or “Tweaks”
as NASCAR would have them called, have done nothing to improve that. I guess we
could look at the extraneous cars and drivers as hazards, like on a golf
course, there to make the going tougher. Still I can’t help but think of a
Super Bowl being played with all 32 teams in action on the field. It makes
every bit as much sense as our “Chase!”
What is the real meaning of
what they call playoffs/chase? And can you tell me what the definition of
elimination is? I don't understand. If there were eliminations, why is there
still 40 drivers racing in that final race?
According to Merriam
Webster, to “eliminate” is:
A: to put an
end to or get rid of
B: to remove
from consideration
C: to remove
from further competition by defeating
Now you’re starting to
see what I’ve been telling folks for a dozen years. There is a definite
difference between what race fans know and understand and what Brian France infers
from the same words.
Did I correctly describe what
is going on in the final 10 races of the season and their convoluted system of
playoffs?
Sadly, yes you did.
I keep going over these rules
and I still have a hard time relating these rules for a playoff system to any I
have ever come across before.
One definition I found of
playoff is: A final game or series of
games played to break a tie.
That definition brings up
another question. If, after 26 races, none of these drivers were tied, what
happens? So, at that time NASCAR "adjusts and resets" the points
which results in some of these 16 drivers being tied in points, but some were
not. That in itself nullifies the idea of a tie between the drivers; yet they
persist in calling the last 10 races a playoff and/or chase scenario.
In this case, I’d
suggest that the “tie” definition does not fit the circumstances. That would
refer to a single game or contest, not a season-ending playoff between leagues
or conferences, and with today’s sophisticated electronic timing, ties do not
occur in racing. There is always a winner.
When in doubt, consult
Merriam-Webster for factual content, and here’s how they define playoffs:
“A series of
contests played after the end of the regular season to determine a championship
—often used in plural”
I especially like that
definition because it clearly states that playoffs occur only after the
“regular season.” In this case, NASCAR had to steal 10 races from their own
“regular season” to create this unnatural piece of gamesmanship because it
pleases the man that writes the checks.
Perhaps you have some
thoughts or opinions about this. Please feel free to offer them or discuss them
in our comments section below.
My final thought would
be the soundbite that always leaps to mind whenever someone mentions NASCAR and
Playoffs in the same breath.
Thank you for reading and
expressing your thoughts. -Vivian
Be well
gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It looks so good on you!
~PattyKay
