Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR’s greatest icon and most recognizable name, has died, from a skull fracture sustained in a crash during the Daytona 500. He died attempting to prevent Sterling Marlin from passing him, in order to allow either his son of the same name or his friend, Michael Waltrip (who was driving an Earnhardt-owned car) to win.
Now, I’ll be honest with you. I don’t like racing. I don’t like watching it, I don’t like doing it, I don’t like many of the people associated with it and so on. Moreover, I imagine that although a number of ETSU students are racing fans, probably just as many share my view of the “sport” (whether or not racing as a sport is a topic for a different column).
However, Dale Earnhardt’s death should not be mourned only by racing fans. Much like basketball’s loss when Michael Jordan retired, racing has lost its greatest fighter. One should praise, admire and emulate excellence in any field. Though I am no scientist, I recognize the genius of Einstein, and though I am no actor, I admire Anthony Hopkins. Sports are as much a venue for excellence as any other field, and we should recognize its heroes with as much honesty and fervor as we do those others.
Granted, there’s a significant difference between quantum mechanics and standard transmissions. I’m not going to tell you to place Dale Earnhardt on the same pedestal as Einstein. However, it is important to recognize those men and women who strive not merely to succeed but to surpass, and who achieve new goals in whatever their field might be.
Part of the American Tradition is this drive to be the best, to pass the field and blaze a new trail so that others may follow and someday pass you. We venerate these people, and rightly so, for daring to break a beaten path and excel.
Thus, I do not respect or care about Dale Earnhardt for his driving; instead, I respect and admire him and mourn his loss because he innovated and he excelled.
Do not allow your prejudices to prevent you from acknowledging the loss of something great, and I assure you, we did lose something great, however unorthodox he may have appeared.

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