6/15/05

MORE ON CUSSING

I know of a prominent clergyman who gave a speech at a seminary and purposefully used a cuss word (F**K) in midst of his message on the service to the poor of the world. At the end of his message, he made the statement that you, the audience, would probably only remember the cuss word and be appalled instead of being moved to serve the poor.

For sure, cussing and words can cross the line of expressing emotion to violence towards another and that should be dealt with. But applying sanctions on words alone is obscene in my view. Honor among men might be a better rule to live by.

Further, when a person is aware that they might be interviewed on the TV, it might be a good idea for them to train to articulate ideas and then rehearse some of their own thoughts prior to the microphone and camera being placed before them. Maybe then, they can come across as the person they are and not a repulsive PC robot.

Last thing. I cannot think of one professional sport where cussing is not a part of it among the participants. It is an element of who we are. A means of how we express ourselves. Let it be.

Brett Porter
Seattle, WA

CONTINGENCY

I feel the pain of both the contingency sponsors and the racers whom actually use the product, display the correct decals and work hard to get to the final round and some $$ towards those who lie, place a sticker on their car and basically steal the money.

How about color coding or some form of die stamping as a way to stop the theft, and the loss of a great program? Thanks!

Jack W. Smith
Chesapeake, VA

ON MARTIN'S 'TRAIL'

Martin, Martin .... what are you thinking? Kirksville is alive and well with the best "drag strip" in the world. Sure it's not often that a number like Tony's is put up on the boards, but we do have a history of records and tradition unlike any other in this area. We may not be a "super" track but we have seen Kenny B put up a great number a few years back we are also are the track where Bill Kuhlmann in his nitro coupe Corvette ran the first 5-second run ever and that was on a tractionless cold track in May a few years back.

As an avid 46-year-old fan of drag racing, I grew up going to the drags at National Trail with my dad at the young age of 6 yrs. I was hooked from then on. I have seen National Trail go from a family strip to an NHRA-owned facility. Granted the NHRA has upgraded it, which I might add they need to do more, but it will always be the place where I have spent may weekends enjoying drag racing.

So go ahead and dis us in Kirkersville and surrounding areas about our podunk little drag strip that just happens to be the place where the new "national record" Top Fuel record run took place!!!!!!! LONG LIVE THE RADER FAMILY VISION OF DRAG RACING IN CENTRAL OHIO!!!!

Scott Smith

MORE RACING #1

Jeff, you seem to feel similar to the way I do. It's that crazy money thing again. I'm a hardcore race nut myself. There is nothing more exciting, than two cars pulling up to the line to get it on. I think people like me have been forsaken for the almighty dollar. Forsaken! for people who couldn't give a darn about all it takes to compete. I would find my way to a dragstrip anywhere on the planet, if I can see two cars line up and race. Yours against mine. Bring it to the line and let's see what you got.

I don't need tv, a circus, dancing girls, or corporate dictators distracting me from what I'm there to see. And that is. The nation's best racers dragging them out to see who's best today. Give me the old U.S. 30, the best racers in the area, a sticky track, warm weather, sunshine and I'm there. Racers love to compete; they just want a safe place to race. And people who love racing want to see a good safe race. Nuff said.

Sincerely,

Kjellin Grassity
Joliet, IL