Tom Wolfe wrote once that every airline pilot in America sounds at least a little bit like Chuck Yeager, that American original, the first pilot to break the sound barrier. It is true. Here, in the aftermath of what might be the most shocking death in American sports history, so many people spill their hearts, on the radio, on television, to strangers, to anyone who will listen.
Some athletes transcend sports.
Michael Jordan was like that. Took their games to a new level. But Dale Earnhardt was exactly the opposite. He brought racin' back to the simple days, when the money was nothin', and the crowds were nothin', and you drove cars fast for the thrill and the checkered flag. This is a billion-dollar industry now.