The Corner of Controversy and Criticism- 2/19/2018
This weekend was one of the most incredible weekends in sports that I can remember in a long time. NBA All Star Weekend took center stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, and NASCAR returned with the 60th running of the Daytona 500. Before I begin with the positive thoughts from the weekend I have to address something absolutely disgusts. Saturday Night while the Washington Capitals were playing the Chicago Blackhawks in the United Center there were several fans who taunted Capitals forward Devante Smith-Pelly with racial slurs. Ushers removed the fans and everyone involved with the NHL fully supported the decision to remove the fans. There is no room in any sport for hatred and racism. I feel if you are caught using racial slurs at a player that you should be banned for life. Going to a sporting event should be a positive experience that is fun for everyone involved. Nothing about what happened on Saturday was positive for anyone. This attitude of just because you bought a ticket that means you can say and do whatever you want doesn’t sit well with me. Last I checked hate speech isn’t protected by law and shouldn’t be allowed in any type of public environment. I hate hearing stories like this and hate that it finds its way into something I love.
One thing that was enjoyable on Saturday Night was All Star Weekend for the NBA. It started on Friday night with the Celebrity All Star Game and Team World vs. Team USA Rising Stars Game. Team World Dominated Team USA in a game that featured some wild dunks and dominant play. Saturday Night was the night of the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Shootout and the Slam Dunk Contest. Spencer Dinwiddie(Brooklyn Nets) won the Skills Challenger, Devin Booker(Phoenix Suns) won the 3-Point shoot Shootout, and Donovan Mitchell(Utah Jazz ) won the Slam Dunk Contest. It’s really great to see teams and players who usually aren’t in the spotlight get the spotlight for a night. Overall it draws in more interest to the game, and it gives you a variety of players to watch instead of the same big name stars that are focused on every day. This years All Star Game was no longer Eastern Conference versus Western Conference like it has been for all these years. The Western Conference Player with the most votes(Steph Curry) and the Eastern Conference Player with the most votes(Lebron James) got to draft their own teams. This made for an awesome star studded game that actually was played the right way for once. It featured old teammates reuniting and current teammates playing against each other, which made for a unique game that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Lebron James had an awesome performance that led him to winning the MVP. I hope they continue this trend of what they start this year, but the only thing I would change is having the captains draft their teams national television. If they do that and continue what they did on Sunday then the future of the NBA All Star Game will be great.
This weekend marked the return of the NASCAR Regular Season. Over the last week Brad Keselowski won the Clash last Saturday, and Ryan Blaney along with Chase Elliott won their respective duel races on Thursday. The Truck Series kicked off Friday Night with an emotional win from Johnny Sauter whose crew chief suffered the devastating loss of his wife six weeks ago. On Saturday, the XFinity Series ended in the closest finish in NASCAR history with Tyler Reddick edging Elliott Sadler in a photo finish. The NASCAR readings showed that Reddick beat Sadler by 0.000 seconds and had to use replay to determine the winner of the race. Going into Sunday I didn’t think the Monster Energy Series could top Saturday’s finish, but it’s Daytona and I should have known better. Ryan Blaney dominated this race by leading 118 out of 200 laps. The race was aggressive from start to finish which is why I love the young group of drivers that have come into the sport. At the end of the day some major history was made with Austin Dillon winning the race driving the number 3 car which was made famous by Dale Earnhardt Sr. This week marked the 20th Anniversary of Earnhardt’s one and only Daytona 500 win. It was also 17 years to the day that Earnhardt died at Daytona which made this victory so sweet for Richard Childress and his company. However, Austin Dillon isn’t the only one who made history in the 500. Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr. became the first full time African American Driver since 1971 to drive on main series of NASCAR. The last person to accomplish such a feat was Wendall Scott.
Wallace Jr. finished second in the Daytona 500 while driving the number 43 made famous by Richard Petty. Many people don’t like NASCAR and don’t understand it, but one thing everyone can understand is that Bubba broke down some major barriers on Sunday with his performance at Daytona. In a sport where fans are called rednecks, hillbillies, hicks and inbreds I feel NASCAR has come a long way since 1971. In the last decade we have had a well known female driver, a Mexican driver, an Australian Driver and now an African American Driver. I personally thought it was incredible to see the two most iconic numbers in NASCAR history(Earnhardt’s #3 and Petty’s #43) finish first and second in the biggest race of the year. Those numbers keeps NASCAR alive for a lot of people and if the men driving those numbers are successful then that’s good for the sport. Drivers like Dale Jr., Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Matt Kenseth may have retired, but the young guys coming up are hungry, aggressive and have great personalities. Bubba Wallace is one I love listening to when has an interview. He wears his heart on his sleeve and isn’t afraid to show his emotion. I am rooting for Bubba to continue making history in this 2018 season.Usually I end by saying be safe, stay strong and controversy doesn’t come with criticism, but I want to leave you with his powerful image.
Richard Petty and Darrell “Bubba”Wallace Jr.
