JR to Hendrick?

does no one else see the problem in the whole ‘they hate him because they consider/think he’s gay’ reason? that whole thing is so damn stupid…i like all the strategy and such used in nascar and i follow it on sportscenter but i havent watched a race in a while…i’ve never been a gordon fan…but he’s been married twice…and the most important part is the hate that stems from the old nascar fan base and how you can reallllyyy see how fans dont get much more ignorant than that. i mean seriously, what does his sexuality even have to do with racing? if he’s beating the crap out of everybody, who cares? i’d never have any respect for anyone that says or believes that crap. but they’re all scared…dont root for a gay driver (lets go ahead and say this in spite of the proof [2 wives and a kid coming])…you’ll get the disease yourself if you do! that’s like saying if you root for a woman you are or will become one…of course i wouldnt put that behind a lot of those same fans…in fact i’m sure they’d do the exact same thing given a woman driver with the same amount of success. ignorance…psh

tyler hansbroughs gay…how come no one has a problem rooting for him? :naughty:

[QUOTE=ninerball49;243114]does no one else see the problem in the whole ‘they hate him because they consider/think he’s gay’ reason? that whole thing is so damn stupid…i like all the strategy and such used in nascar and i follow it on sportscenter but i havent watched a race in a while…i’ve never been a gordon fan…but he’s been married twice…and the most important part is the hate that stems from the old nascar fan base and how you can reallllyyy see how fans dont get much more ignorant than that. i mean seriously, what does his sexuality even have to do with racing? if he’s beating the crap out of everybody, who cares? i’d never have any respect for anyone that says or believes that crap. but they’re all scared…dont root for a gay driver (lets go ahead and say this in spite of the proof [2 wives and a kid coming])…you’ll get the disease yourself if you do! that’s like saying if you root for a woman you are or will become one…of course i wouldnt put that behind a lot of those same fans…in fact i’m sure they’d do the exact same thing given a woman driver with the same amount of success. ignorance…psh

tyler hansbroughs gay…how come no one has a problem rooting for him? :naughty:[/QUOTE]

I don’t think they hate him because they think he is gay… I think the rumor that he might be just helps fuel the hate that is there for other reasons. The rumor had pretty much died until the Brooke divorce and the paperwork said fraud as part of the reason. So many Gordon haters took that to mean he is not straight.

I don't think they hate him because they think he is gay... I think the rumor that he might be just helps fuel the hate that is there for other reasons. The rumor had pretty much died until the Brooke divorce and the paperwork said fraud as part of the reason. So many Gordon haters took that to mean he is not straight.

there are tons of people who hate him and give the only reason that he is ‘gay.’

watch the ESPN movie about Earnhardt, “3”, or the new one that is out. See how hard he had it to ‘make it’ and his drive…then compare/contrast to Gordon.

Dale Earnhardt is an icon of the American Dream, to an extent Nascar itself is. He’s the “John Wayne” of Nascar…Gordon is an outsider living off the fruits they built and comes off as a ‘girly man’ or ‘pretty boy’ as mentioned. It’s human nature to have more respect and bias for a guy like Earnhardt.

its all sports pop-culture, similar to say Cowboy fans that grew up in Charlotte/Carolinas and remain loyal to them and hate the Panthers.

there are tons of people who hate him and give the only reason that he is 'gay.'

‘gay’ in our culture has multiple meanings and context.

[QUOTE=NinerOne;243120]‘gay’ in our culture has multiple meanings and context.[/QUOTE]

not so much anymore… it pretty much is only used one way now days…that sounds like an Ann Coultur impression

[QUOTE=casstommy;243123]not so much anymore… it pretty much is only used one way now days…that sounds like an Ann Coultur impression[/QUOTE]

your comment is ‘gay’

depends on who you let define it and make the PC rules up, and Nascar fans(or culture) are not big on PC speech codes and what “they” say you shouldn’t say…

I guess you never watch South Park and multiple other politically incorrect shows.

[QUOTE=NinerOne;243120]
Dale Earnhardt is an icon of the American Dream, to an extent Nascar itself is.
[/QUOTE]

Only to those who were fans of his. They are numerous, but they are the only ones who believe that. He could drive his @$$ off, and few will dispute that, but the guy was an @$$hole to most people outside of his circle. He had a habit of knocking people out of the way instead of trying to make a clean pass. The wrecking of Terry Labonte at Bristol is his finest example, but there are plenty of others. His fans loved him for it, but it’s why everyone else hated him and saw him for the driver he really was. Gordon has been guilty of this a few times as well, but not nearly as often.

[QUOTE]watch the ESPN movie about Earnhardt, “3”, or the new one that is out. See how hard he had it to ‘make it’ and his drive[/QUOTE]

I have watched “3”. It was pretty accurate. He abandoned his wife and three kids to keep racing instead of supporting them. It showed the deal he made with Childress and NASCAR that helped him win many a championship, and one that many feel gained him “calls” the rest of his career. All in all it wasn’t a bad film.

[QUOTE=NinerOne;243126]your comment is ‘gay’

depends on who you let define it and make the PC rules up, and Nascar fans(or culture) are not big on PC speech codes and what “they” say you shouldn’t say…

I guess you never watch South Park and multiple other politically incorrect shows.[/QUOTE]

meh, whatever

how about they hate gordon simply because tehy need someone to hate? them saying he is gay isnt the real reason tehy hate him, and if you believe that it is you’r just as ignorant as you claim they are, it just happens to be that gordon has some characteristics taht make that a way to cut him down. The point is that once upon a time dale earnheardt WAS the guy out there winning every race, and then jeff gordon came along and began doing the same. Of course the star of nascar is going to be rivals with the new upcomming star, and it was perfect for the sport, becuase tehy could not have been more different. Yes they got along, and yes, they were even friends, but on the track they were enemies - and that was part of waht drove the sport to where it is today. People LOVE rivalries, duke could go 0-15 but the duke carolina game would still be sold out, and the fans would hate eachother just as much as always (how i hate using that analogy).

The point is earnheardt fans hate gordon just because he is the rising star, and though dale sr. is gone, jr is concidered the man to take his place by most fans - why do you think he had such a huge fan base from the get-go?

Childress is in the process of putting together a 4th team, so that wasn't really an issue in Jr's hiring or not.

Exactly. He is putting one together. Rarely do new teams, no matter who owns them, compete for championships. Evernham’s new team struggled, Gibbs third team struggled, and the list goes on. Jr made it clear he wants to compete for championships now and that is exactly what the Hendrick cars are doing.

I find it even more amazing that Hendrick let go a driver with more talent and potential in order to hire Jr.

I think it actually makes sense that he released Busch for Earnhardt. Look at the drivers Hendrick likes to employ. He tends to hire drivers with clean records who play well with others. Out of Mears, Johnson, and Gordon, Busch was the odd ball of the group. He is a talented kid, but Hendrick doesn’t like brash drivers.

[QUOTE=49erPress;243136]Exactly. He is putting one together. Rarely do new teams, no matter who owns them, compete for championships. Evernham’s new team struggled, Gibbs third team struggled, and the list goes on. Jr made it clear he wants to compete for championships now and that is exactly what the Hendrick cars are doing.[/QUOTE]

Had Childress hired Jr, my guess is that he could have simply brought his DEI team with him. I know some would have not been able to leave because of their contracts, but most could have. Thus, Childress’ 4th team in that scenario would have basically already been together and would have had Childress know-how and horsepower to boot.

[QUOTE]
I think it actually makes sense that he released Busch for Earnhardt. Look at the drivers Hendrick likes to employ. He tends to hire drivers with clean records who play well with others. Out of Mears, Johnson, and Gordon, Busch was the odd ball of the group. He is a talented kid, but Hendrick doesn’t like brash drivers.[/QUOTE]

As of now that holds true. Tim Richmond was as brash as they come, and Hendrick would hire 4 more like him if they were as good on the track as he was. Granted, times have changed and drivers can’t be as wild off the track as Tim was with all of the media coverage today, but if you can really drive a good team will put you in the seat.

yeah, he’s definitely wasn’t perfect but he had a strong work ethic and desire to win and a drive. Come from nothing and rise to the top, on his own for most part. Alot of people like that, depends on what you focus on. If you think he’s cheating by wrecking people or if you think “thats just racing” as he justified it.

I think its all sports marketing, you have Earnhardt the ‘tough guy’ and Gordon the metro-sexual. Earnhardt drove a black car and called the “intimidator”, Gordon drives a Rainbow colored car and called the “Rainbow warrior”…it all feeds the fire and stereotypes, smart marketing. People are attracted to winners, which is why he and Gordon have so many fans. ultimately its entertainment.