On the ropes…

Champ Car has taken yet another blow to the solar plexus this week.
It is bloody, and weak, and unstable.

One side of the stadium is crying out to the referee:
“show mercy! It’s still got a chance! Don’t count it out yet!!”

The other side of the stadium is pleading with the referee:
“show some compassion! It’s over… it can’t take any more pummeling… put an end to it’s noble battle”

Who’s right?
Furthermore who wins? Who loses?

In the middle of the melee and trying to be supportive are the fans who are repeatedly being sucker punched in return for their devotion.
“what?? you believed us when we said < insert latest promise/placation here >
Ha.. SUCKERS! ”

It’s one thing to be angry or frustrated as a fan of something. The emotion acts like a fuel, pushing you to want more for and from the object of your desire, to keep fighting the good fight, to show support despite the odds. It’s an entirely different sensation to be embarrassed by the object of your affections.

I have felt a lot of emotions over the years with regards to Champ Car, but embarrassment was never one of them… until now.

Gone is the feeling of pride I felt as Champ Car, determined to come out the victor, persevered in the face of adversity. Replacing it is a sense of shame & sadness for all of us who believed the hype, and fought the good fight on behalf of a series who seems to be watching the battle from the sidelines while the rest of us fall on our swords.

ENOUGH! No more excuses or spin or conjecture or placation or lies!
We’re tired and we deserve better. How many more ways can we say it?
The drivers, the teams, the promoters, the sponsors, the fans… we all deserve better!

Fuck! *she says in exasperation*

At some point you’ve got to look at all we’ve lost (people, venues, sponsors, etc…) and stop pointing the finger of failure and blame their way. How can they all be in the wrong and Champ Car always be right. It’s beginning to look suspiciously disingenuous.

Just this week the blame for the problems with the series has fallen on the shoulders of Raphael Matos (how dare the Atlantic Champion expect to get paid for his profession) Miller/Kirby/Oreo/Phillips/Cipolloni… and whomever else still bothers to write about this series (they are single-handedly destroying Champ Car via their editorials don’t you know!) and the best one yet, the ‘Toronto Whiners gang”, (this came from an employee of the series who I used to respect…) Yes, that’s right, let’s blame the fans for this mess. The folks that are hanging over the side, holding on to the railing for dear life, still believing this sinking ship will right itself. Still actually caring enough to get angry.

Who will you blame when we are all gone? When we stop caring enough to even raise our voices or our keypads in protest?
Who will you blame then for your failure?

Time to lay it all out there, once and for all boys.
What’s the plan? The real plan.
Not the oft talked about but never explained “5 year plan” (which by all accounts was apparently to destroy the series, and with it AOW once and for all, while souring an entire fan base to racing forever) but the “this is what we are doing here and now and why” plan.
Everyone on the same page, no false hope, no phony promises, no spin, no incoherent spokespuppet…
Just the facts.
Black and white.
Out there for all to see.

At least then we will know whether or not we are in it for the long haul or are heading into the home stretch of the CC farewell tour.

When someone loses a loved one, suddenly, without warning, the common regret is not having the opportunity to say goodbye.

At least give us that much