From: barkerb@slab.unt.edu (BOB BARKER)
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: F1 whining
Date: 30 Sep 92 20:48:14 GMT
Organization: School of Library & Info Sci, UNT

Well I just got back from the store where I bought an apple and so am 
prepared to be barbecued.  After all that I have seen and read so far this 
season, I am just sickened at the monumental amount of whining that goes on 
in F1 these days.  I guess I was spoiled as I learned about racing - I grew 
up reading about Rindt, Hill, Stewart, Fittipaldi, and Hulme.  I never read 
about anything that even approached the level of crying we hear today.  

Granted, there was only the odd issue of Road & Track back then and you only 
got to see one F1 race on TV per year at Monaco (remember that ABC?).
These days we have satellite transmissions, cable, VCR's, the internet 
and so forth, and with everyone's insatiable desire for more information (
just witness this board) it is perhaps a foregone conclusion that some of 
the dirt will leak in under the bottom of the door.

However, what is going on right now (and what has escalated since the 
bitter days of Senna & Prost at McClaren) is just absolutely unremittingly 
ridiculous.  I mean, to hear Mansell complain about hotel rooms, or Prost 
maneuver to bar Senna from a seat at Williams, and to hear Senna call Prost 
a coward in response is just almost too much to bear.  The level of whining 
and crying is far in excess of a roomfull of infants who are left behind by 
their mothers for the first time.  These people are supposed to be 
'professional' for heavens sake.  They expect to be paid like professionals 
and I think it is high time they started behaving accordingly.  Sure there 
have been driver problems in the past - Jones/Reutemann or Villeneuve/Pironi 
come to mind.  There have even been a fair assortment of driver/team 
problems - I mean I feel what FW did to Nigel pales when compared to Lauda's 
treatment at Ferrari after his accident and his withdrawal from the Japanese 
GP at the end of the year.   You did not hear Niki whining about how abused 
he was and  was leaving and so forth.  No, he just put his head down and 
made the whole team management march to his tune via his results.

I guess I am appalled by the sheer insignifigance of it all.  Sure, drivers 
have every right in the world to voice concerns regarding their safety, that 
of the fans, etc.- the Kyalami boycott is a case in point.  But this windage 
that permeates the air these days is nothing but drivel.  These people came 
into the circus willingly, with their eyes wide open and knew what they were 
getting into.  If they don't like it, as the saying goes, then maybe it is 
time for them all to get out of the kitchen.  Nigel is going to be surprised 
to find that the fans, teams or other drivers will not put up with his 
whining for very long.  And Prost and Senna?  hell, in my book they deserve 
to be teammates - maybe they will give each other cerebral hemorhages.  I am 
not pointing to who is right or who is wrong.  Given this attitude, I feel 
they are all wrong.  That these people are necessarily different is a given, 
but this self serving attitude that is developing is detrimental to the 
sport as a whole.

In any form of enterprise, the consumers have an opportunity to address 
their dissatisfaction with a product through returning the product, customer 
service lines, speaking with the manager among other strategies.  Here, if 
enough people would get tired of all the mudslinging and make their feelings 
known at the gate maybe someone would listen.  No offense to anyone but 
I am essentially speaking to a non-influential audience.  I should be 
writing a letter (any internet addresses here?) to Max Mosely or Bernie or 
the sponsors or ESPN or even to the Boo-Hoo brothers themselves(messr's 
Prost and Senna).  I know I do not have the courage of my own convictions to 
boycott the series.  I grew up with F1 and love the series.  It is maddening 
to see the old adage about bad apples come true right before my very eyes.  

Having said my piece, I think I will retire to a nice dandelion field and go 
look at the clouds.  Or maybe I'll just take off my shoes, go climb a tree 
and learn to play the flute.

Nah, I had better go get that apple and hoist myself up on the skewer for 
the roasting that is sure to come.

More than my 2 cents worth, but it is my 2 cents.

(shish-k-)Bob Barker
barkerb@slab.unt.edu