SpeedCouch.com The view from my couch This Is the Season of Our Discontent by Cheryl Lauer December 28, 2004 Sometime in mid-September while driving to work and thinking about NASCAR, the opening line popped into my head from a Shakespeare play, "Now is the winter of our discontent." Why my mind would be relating Richard III to NASCAR, I'm not really sure, but for some reason that line just seemed appropriate to the 2004 season. Now I could barely get through reading the required Shakespeare plays in high school and then only with the teacher explaining what the author was really trying to say. So please don't take me for some kind on intellectual. Trust me, I'm far from it. The attached "poem" may be a little high toned for most NASCAR fans, and if so, please indulge me a bit. But that opening line has been swirling in my head over the last four months (coincidentally through the highly touted "Chase " races that ended the 2004 season.) I decided rather than write my typical "State of the Sport" diatribe, I'd come up with a twist on old Will's tale of an ill-fated king. For some reason, old Richard seems to remind me of Brian France. Hopefully, some of my feelings will come across loud and clear with the use of prose instead of my usual verbose writing style. I've already stated my views about cookie-cutter tracks, free passes, and a made for TV championship system, so I thought a new twist on the presentation of my feelings might be appropriate. Don't worry, I haven't lost my mind during the long, cold winter and I don't plan on becoming a poet anytime soon. Besides much of this doesn't rhyme anyway. But I still wanted something to round out the 2004 race season. I did look up the lines from the opening scene of Richard III, and tried to stay true to the original text as much as possible. So, with sincere apologies to William Shakespeare, I dedicate the following to all the fans like myself who have felt forgotten and left behind by Brian France's brave New NASCAR: SCENE I. North Carolina. A street in Wilkes County. Enter a NASCAR fan for more than four years... Now is the season of our discontent Now are our drivers bound by unheard of wealth But I am not shaped for boring tracks, Therefore, since I cannot prove a lover of today's NASCAR, Plots has Brian laid, treading dangerously on loyal fans. You can send us email at . Return to the main speedcouch.com page.Visitors since November 2, 2002 |