I recommend baseball.

Thanks for the feedback, but are you sure?

When more people die each year professionally performing the sport than die in auto accidents.

Anyone who watches auto racing for the wrecks is (*expletive deleted*)ing stupid.

The Stirling Moss quote also taps the nail right on the head. It applies in a variety of mileu. Oldflyer’s axiom: “Imagination is the enemy of all risk taking.” I commented on another forum that it is fortunate that carrier pilots, as an example, are certain of their own immortality (I said immortality, not immorality). One really must be.

I haven’t cared for racing since I was a kid. Used to got to the dirt stock car tracks down home. My brother was a NASCAR fanatic until they day he died. I do not think his interest was in mayhem, but rather the joy of watching the man/machine interface operating at peak performance.

For a different sort racing related book, I recommend the wonderful “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein. Caution, it will wrench your heart, but it is a beautiful read.

When fans attend for the specific purpose of watching the participants die.

Modern sports, even the most dangerous ones, are nowhere near that.

It’s a legitimate question to ask, but it must be understood that Indycar is far from being circus theater. And I’d argue that the risk of dying in auto racing, while present, isn’t as high as many people think. Remember: 15 cars were involved in the wreck, only 4 drivers went to the hospital, only 2 were kept overnight for observation and both are already released. Only 1 died. In the past decade, there have been zero race-day deaths; the only ones have either been in practice (Paul Dana), or in “private testing” (Tony Renna). You have to go back to ’99 to get your last in-race fatality (Greg Moore). Indycar is actually immensely safe, especially considering the horrendous wrecks that have been seen in the sport since those deaths. Most of the time, the driver actually walks away. Sometimes with some help, but they *walk* away.

Yesterday was an aberration in every way.

I would argue against comparing auto racing to ancient Roman spectacle. The sports that hold *that* distinction don’t use automobiles. Pro wrestling has filled the gladiator niche, and in a way so has MMA (albeit in a far more serious, disciplined, and less soap-operatic way than the circus that is wrestling). In contrast, modern auto racing more has commonality with technical sports like Yabusame (Japanese mounted archery, Samurai inspired) in that it’s not about brute force, it’s about finesse, knowledge, and experience in applying natural physical skills. In short, you must be in command of some very specific technical skills in order to run a race car. And you must also be fit; the G-forces a driver experiences for 2, 3 plus hours are immense. The point is that, despite the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s boast (“Greatest Spectacle in Racing”), auto racing is far from being a circus type of show. Instead, it’s a conglomeration of speed experts, putting knowledge and skill to the test in a most incredible way.

So when does it turn into Roman Coliseum? Usually when the sports stewards have lost any sense of propriety and dignity. Thankfully, Indycar hasn’t; on the contrary, it’s a legitimate criticism that there’s still too much “old school” holding the sport back. Things could have become a grotesque spectacle yesterday after the wreck, but thankfully, somehow, it didn’t. Not even close. And kudos to those involved for avoiding that. The gravity of all people in the paddock, the incredibly sensitive taste and restraint demonstrated by the crowd, and the amazing, nobody-thought-they-had-it-in-them coverage by ABC, who managed to highlight the sorrow without exacerbating the maudlin managed to perfectly display the pain and sorrow at what happened. We were all in shock. And instead of creating spectacle, Indycar managed to convey genuine sorrow, and ABC somehow managed to find the perfect level of coverage for it. So it could have happened yesterday, it could have become ludicrous and overdone, but it didn’t. So when does sport turn into the Roman Coliseum? All I know is that it didn’t yesterday, and that’s a tribute to all involved.

While traveling at 65 MPH in the center lane I become a road hazard with vehicles passing me on either side.

Commuting 80 miles per day around Chicago I see a lot. The most dangerous and reckless drivers on the road are the guys in pickup trucks, based on my own observations (and I am a guy).

Next comes women blabbing on mobile phones. Don’t get me started…

I’m trying to wean myself off professional sports.

Too many owners are sleazebags. Too many players are thugs. Too many fans are louts.

I recommend baseball. I think there are probably fewer thug players in baseball than in some other sports. But that hasn’t always been the case. See the 1890s.

Leave it alone. No one lives forever. I think I’d prefer to go out doing something I enjoyed than be kept safe by the nannies.