I might imagine that Hemingway might regard our little corner of motorsport
in the games category (if it can't kill ya, it ain't a sport).
Never mind that people have been killed playing baseball and hockey. Heck,
people have been killed WATCHING baseball and hockey. But it's freak and
rare.
BTW, there may be a reason nobody can find the source or context of the
"bullfighting, mountain climbing and motor racing" quote often attributed to
Hemingway. According to writer Dan Gerber (a fair racer himself in the '60s
driving Cobras for Carroll Shelby) it was uttered by Barnaby Conrad, who
wrote very much in the same genre as Hemingway.
--Rocky Entriken (one golf game in my entire life, shot 105, handicap
unknown)
----- Original Message -----
From: "Larry Steckel" <lorenzoscribe@hotmail.com>
To: <autox@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 28, 2005 6:51 AM
Subject: RE: PAX Factors
> Guys,
> Having attempted to play golf, (it wasn't pretty) and having autocrossed a
> few times over the last 35 years, I was surprised to find that golf and
> autocrossing require much the same reactions, muscle memory and practice
> to do well.
>
> Since only mountain climbing, bull fighting and auto racing are the only
> sports according to Hemmingway, how can one compare racing with golf which
> by Hemmingway's definition is a game.
>
> Well, neither require great strength. Both require good eye/hand
> coordination, a soft touch and finesse to get the car or the ball where
> you want it to go. Both require a great deal of concentration, an
> autocross run continuously for about a minute at a time, golf requires you
> to go into the zone three, four, or five times per hole, controlling not
> only you swing but your stance, body movements and the aforementioned
> eye/hand coordination.
>
> And most of all, both require practice, practice, and more practice. Golf
> has a handicap because of the different abilities of the players.
> Autocross has a handicap system because of the great disparity of
> equipment.
>
> All golfers after all are playing with very similiar sticks and balls. The
> physical and mental assets of the player are the difference. (For instance
> and not to slight women, but they normally don't have the upper body
> strength to drive the ball the same distance as a man, so the handicap
> system helps to level out that field) In autocrossing, whlile the
> physical and mental attributes do play a part, power steering, brakes etc.
> make up for a lot of physical differences. The difference in our sport is
> that one competitor may be in a Corvette and the other guy in an MG
> Midget. With equal drivers the only way to compare their performance on
> that particular course is by a handicap system, therefore the PAX.
>
> Larry Steckel
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