THE MASH-UP: WHERE SPORTS AND POP CULTURE COLLIDE
Intimidator still rules
By GREG MOORE
The Kansas City Star
In our lexicon, “flulike symptoms” are replacing “hangovers.” And in Hollywood, NASCAR movies are replacing football movies.
Climbing
•NASCAR: A deal has been struck to make a movie about seven-time NASCAR champion Dale Earnhardt, Variety reported Thursday. The producers Lucy Fisher and Douglas Wick — who together made “Jarhead,” “RV” and “Memoirs of a Geisha” — haven’t picked a star, director or release date, yet.
Earnhardt’s widow, Teresa, and Dale Jr. have both agreed to help with the movie (they didn’t cooperate with the 2004 biopic “The Dale Earnhardt Story,” produced by ESPN and starring Barry Pepper).
This new movie should rake in money like the IRS in April.
Trying to explain how big of a star The Intimidator was — and still is — to someone unfamiliar with auto racing will leave you more frustrated than trying to explain The Turtles to a high school freshman without singing “Happy Together.”
Dale Earnhardt was — and still is — the man.
Let’s put it like this: I bet no one ever has arrived at the Speedway with a sticker in the rear window of their vehicle of Calvin treating No. 3 like a dog does a fire hydrant. And, what’s more, I bet no one ever will.
And consider that it’s been reported that NASCAR merchandise accounts for more than $2 billion in retail sales annually. And that it’s been estimated that merchandise of Dale Jr. — whose popularity can largely be attributed to respect fans had for his father — accounts for about 30-40 percent of that. And finally, consider that NASCAR reports that Dale Sr. merchandise remains among the best-selling, even now seven years after his death, and you’ll start to get the picture about the money-making potential of this picture.
•British Olympic athletes: First the British Olympic Association put a clause in athletes’ contracts that said the athletes “were not to comment on politically sensitive issues,” like China’s support of the Sudanese government, which stands accused by some human-rights advocates of genocide in Darfur, for example. The association backed off that stance Sunday.
That was a good decision.
It is not incumbent upon athletes to take public stances on social or political issues. However, when an athlete gets informed about an issue and uses the celebrity associated with being a sports star to draw attention to that cause, then that player should be praised for having such courage. Particularly when the player stands to make no profit from taking such a position. And more so when it has the potential to jeopardize future marketing opportunities — and cost an athlete money.
Slipping
•Suns guard Steve Nash: Nash, a former two-time MVP, has a new shoe on the way — the Nike Trash Talk. The shoes will be made from “pieced-together scraps of leather and synthetic leather waste from the factory floor and a sole made up of … ground-up rubber from a shoe recycling program,” Nike said in a statement.
And all of that is cool, but even though the shoes will be made from scraps that Nike was going to throw away, I bet they’re still going to charge full price for a pair. And if full price is more than $50, then I’m leaving the shoe on the shelf.
•Us: As if we haven’t seen enough of Will Ferrell, he is posing in the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue to promote his basketball movie “Semi-Pro.”
To reach Greg Moore send e-mail to gmoore@kcstar.com
