An off-season manifesto
IndyCar commentary — By Steph Wallcraft on October 19, 2010 9:40 pmIt has begun.
It never seems to take long. The season ends, the excitement of crowning a new champion starts to fade, and the American open-wheel community at large rapidly descends into the abyss of that most heinous of emotional states: racing withdrawal.
Naturally, this creates unrest as the expanse of long, cold winter months strikes trepidation into the hearts of the sport’s most dedicated. And, as people tend to do, different individuals deal with this uncomfortable reality in different ways.
Unfortunately, there has always been a faction of so-called open-wheel faithful who choose to fill their off-season time by perpetuating negativity in earnest. These people spread rumors — substantiated or not — about race weekends being in jeopardy, top drivers losing rides, teams folding, or problems in administration that are certain to result in the demise of open-wheel racing as we know it.
A short time ago, there was plenty of justification for these concerns. When there were two series vying for attention and press, subversive leaks and implanting of doubt among the optimistic reached the level of competition sport.
However, despite the fact that unification has made it much more productive to focus on the positive growth that open-wheel racing on this continent is finally starting to see, this trend of circulating negativity carries on to this day. There appears to be no good reason for this other than that some people can’t seem to find anything better to do.
And frankly, there’s no longer any basis for it. Take the last off-season as an example. People spent months — months! — speculating that the inaugural race in Brazil wasn’t going to happen or that it would be an unmitigated disaster if it did. Of course, we all remember the resurfacing that needed to be done on the Sambodromo, but that problem was resolved quickly. In the end, not only did the event run as planned, but it was successful.
On top of that, there are just a lot of good things happening right now. IZOD has publicly declared that it sees its investment in the IICS as being hugely positive and that it intends to continue its association. And under the leadership of Randy Bernard, TV numbers are up, sponsor interest has improved, and car counts are increasing. Milwaukee is back, ISC has been handed walking papers, stronger links are being established at all steps of the development ladder, and a new car is on the way.
The positive changes that fans have been screaming for ad nauseum are finally taking place — and yet there are still some people who refuse to be happy with the evidence set before them and insist on declaring doomsday at the slightest provocation.
Therefore, after years of having my naturally positive disposition unceremoniously rained upon every winter (or snowed upon, I suppose, given my location and the time of year), I finally find myself confident enough in the sport’s future to take a stand against the naysayers.
In that spirit, I’ve developed the following manifesto for the 2010/2011 off-season. Feel free to join me.
I will not allow myself to be drawn into the nefarious web of rumors and lies woven by negative people with agendas.
I will not believe any information I am given that doesn’t come from an official, verifiable source (and this includes journalists citing anonymous informants).
I will not waste time poring through websites, articles and press releases looking for information to refute the arguments of those who cannot be reasoned with.
On March 25th, 2011, I will welcome the start of the new season with unbiased, unfettered, and unabashed enthusiasm for the potential that it holds.
There’s no doubt that IndyCar racing has plenty more work to do. But things are finally and unquestionably looking up, folks. Let’s enjoy a relaxing, uplifting off-season for a change.
Well you should be advised to avoid me. While I’m not looking to be negative, I will be in violation of about half of the manifesto. It’s hard to write about a series in the off season, we need a tax scandal or something to focus on. lol :p
Or maybe we just need a shorter gap between seasons.
Welcome to the interwebs. 🙂 There’s always people out there wanting to be negative just for the sake of being negative and contrary. …just take a look at TrackForum.
Seriously, though, there’s surely some concern about drivers and rides, but as you say, all in all things are looking positive. Can’t say that I’m completely pleased with the TV package, especially the absence of FIL on TV, but IZOD does seem extremely pleased with the return on their investment which is a huge bonus for the series. I’m really excited to see what Verizon does next year. Like you, I feel that good things are afoot, and next season will see even more growth for the series.
You’re manifesto could be reduced to one line: “I will purposefully ignore and criticize people who say things that upset me, until the 2011 season starts, whereupon I will ignore and criticize them some more.”
Don’t let the fact that those two goals are mutually exclusive stop you. You’re better than that! YOU ARE THE BESTEST, MOST RIGHTEST, INDYCAR BLOGGER… EVAH!!!
Right on Steph! I have been a Indy Car fan since the 70’s, and I sometimes got deeply depressed about the future of the sport during the American Open Wheel Split. But now, while I’m not blind about some of the sports problems, I am nothing but totally optimistic about the future!!!
I think that you and I realize that some journalists would not still have a career if not for negativity!!! I can’t wait for the 2011 season!!!
@Pant Load: Not true. It would be more correct to say that I will purposefully ignore (though not necessarily criticize) people who try to convince me that the sky is falling based on information that can’t be backed up with hard facts. There’s nothing wrong with insisting on retaining an independent and unbiased viewpoint.
I’m also not purposefully trying to avoid reality. For example, the announcement about 7-11 and TK is clearly of some concern. But that information came in the form of a team press release, not through rumor and conjecture. There are many months left to find a solution for it, and there are plenty of reasons to be certain that TK will be in the Series next year one way or another. Sitting around wringing one’s hands over it will accomplish precious little. Plus, it’s just one element of a broader picture that looks much sunnier than it did a year ago, so I’m not going to let it get me down. We’ll see what’s happened come March.
well written….well spoken peice. i stopped going to the majority of forums out there just for this reason. speed boards…SUCK! trackforum….SUCKS! i stumbled across a defunct site….crapwagon. it has to be the single most venomous peice of garbage on the web. peoples’ agendas are their own. MOST of the real fans of the sport know it’s history and know that you take the good with the bad.
you don’t have to be happy about it but to activley work against something and then turn around and proclaim passion for the very thing you were shitting on 60 seconds before shows the mentality of the people on these sites. like all crummy things….they fade away with time. POSITIVE NEWS about indycar is everywhere. it has it’s issues just like everything else and it always will.
people in this country who wanted the total removal of ovals are generally the ones who cannot shut their mouths about indycar now. peace out to all the naysayers. now YOU are a dying breed and i cannot wait for your extinction.
Steph, I am with you and if you attempt to lead by example, by not opening your mouth to forward conjecture and pessimism, you are forced to hear those who do nothing else. I’m sick of it too. Perhaps the best thing would be to ignore the sport until March (much like the old days actually), instead of the 24/7/365 world of information we think we need. Remember when sports had seasons?
Thanks for posting this. I too am sick of all the sky is falling negativity of the Izod Indycar fan base. There are problems to be solved to be sure but at least someone (Randy) is attempting to solve these problems. He should have everyone’s full support instead of the constant complaining about the TV deal and loss of sponsors. It is a brutal economy right now and setbacks must be expected. We can not change the past but only work to improve this sport’s future. Harping on how great CART was doesn’t help anything. it doesn’t exist anymore nor does the old management of the IRL series so why keep belaboring both. If you love open wheel try to focus on getting your friends to love it to. That is something you can control unlike sponsorships and TV deals.
Again a great and long overdue post. I salute you!
Hey, I’m on board. On my site, I don’t have time for the negative stuff. Life’s too short. Enjoy the people and experiences you love, be positive in feedback, and all that other hippy-dippy stuff. 🙂 Works for me!
Count me in. Once again, Steph, you have spoken for many fans who are excited aboutthe direction of the series. Can somehtings be better? Sure, but why drag them down with negativity when ther is so much good going on right now.
[…] part of my goal to stay true to my off-season manifesto, I was very hesitant to buy into the rumors at first. However, this event went from proceeding […]