"It Don't Take Much To Keep Me Happy..."

[CodeBlueEMT]

 Maybe it's the head cold, possibly something more sinister. But, I've been thinking. Last night I was watching TWIN, "This Week in NASCAR". Dave Blaney was filling in for Mikey. I was sitting comfortably in my La-Z-Boy recliner, drinking an ice cold Bud Light, and puffing away on a Winston Light. Not a care in the world. Then, the epiphany.

 Empty seats.

 Those once coveted pieces of real estate. Those "just right" seats that took years of trial and error to find.

 I started attending Busch and Winston Cup races in 1998. It started innocently enough with a few free tickets. I'd seen races at Rockingham on TV before.

 What the hell.

 We drove down Friday for qualifying and practice (and the free cartons of Winston cigarettes). Yes, Winston was good to the fans. I took plenty of non-smokers along to increase my daily carton count. Back on Saturday for the Busch race (and more free cartons). Easy in, easy out. Did I mention all the free smokes?

 On Sunday, we arrived early to avoid traffic. Did the pre-race tailgating and went to find our seats.

 The frontstretch was called the Rockingham side, and we had decent seats near the start/finish line. The backstretch was called the Hamlet side. Real simple. Both sides were 20 rows high. The 20 rows were constructed of cold hard concrete, like giant steps. I coughed up the 10 bucks for a cushion.
 
 Who was the genius that decided "one seat" equals about a foot (maybe it's really 18 inches) of cold hard concrete? C'mon. I'm 6'4" and weigh 215 pounds. That's skinny, considering the folks I typically shared space with. We'd push and shove each other, trying to avoid sitting beside someone we wouldn't be comfortable rubbing thighs and God knows what else with for 4 hours. I thought fans stood during the race because of the excitement on the track. Nope, I stood to breathe.

 NASCAR decided Rockingham didn't draw enough fans. Evidently, there was plenty of space inside the suites.

 Which brings me to my point.

 Why would a fan complain about empty seats on Sunday? If you've spent a small fortune for tickets, be happy you have plenty of room.

 The rest of "It Don't Take Much" includes the line, "a warm bed, a hot woman, and a cold beer."

 

 Shayne

 

   

 

[skool]

(sigh)  I miss the free smokes too

[KurtBuschFan]

We went to Daytona in 05, and we would have given anything to have empty seats.  We had probably 30 people squished into an area made for 24.  That had a whole lot to do with the fact that Daytona had terrible help there, and no one really could tell which section was which.  It was definitely memorable, but the only way I'll see a Daytona race from here on out is on tv.

[Tyyrus]

(sigh)  I miss the free smokes too

Hell Yeah the Free Smokes ! Being a Cigar and Pipe Smoker , I usually traded off the Carton for a six pack of two of Bud lol ! Thinks sure have changed since then 2002 was the last time MIS had the free Smokes I think ?

[Chris]

Speaking of seats.... reminds me of a story of one year when I went to the Indy 500...
We were sitting on the front straight in pretty good seats fairly high up.
This one guy a few rows behind us had his cooler on the seat BESIDE him.  (this was before the days of 6 pack coolers and cooler size rules to get them in tracks ( this was back in the '70's)
Anyway on with the story.  People were all grousing, bi#ching and complaining about the cooler being in the seat taking up space and everyone else being crowded.
Finally someone went and got a marshall and brought him up there to MAKE the guy put the cooler somewhere else so everyone else could spread out more....
When the Marshall got there the guy just smiled at him,.. pulled out TWO tickets.  One for him,.. and one for his cooler.  The Marshall told the guy complaining to go sit down and be quite.  He had a ticket for his cooler, and it had a right to be in the seat.  I thought I'd LMAO

[PlanoHarvickFan]

We went to Daytona in 05, and we would have given anything to have empty seats.  We had probably 30 people squished into an area made for 24.  That had a whole lot to do with the fact that Daytona had terrible help there, and no one really could tell which section was which.  It was definitely memorable, but the only way I'll see a Daytona race from here on out is on tv.

Yeah, what about the time we went to TMS and that guy at the end of the aisle got all fussy (that's not really what I wanted to say, but I'll be good) and told us to move over when we were almost sitting in each other's laps already.  Was so glad when he finally got up and left.

[Roswell]

We probably should b#@!h too much , they might take a page from the airline's book and start making you buy 2 seats if yer butts more than 12 inches wide.