Sports Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Sports - Essay Example This is due to the twin hazard posed by them – that toward pedestrian passersby and that toward themselves. Indeed, statistics of Hotrod accidents during this time bears out the high number of casualties (some of which fatal) that the sport engendered. In my view, the documentary underplays this dark side of drag racing. If the annals of the sport’s history are anything to go by, there is even a degree of glorification of extreme risk-taking and an implied reverence for martyrdom. Indeed, some of the early pioneers of the sport lost their lives during the race. The film illustrates succinctly how drag racing set the foundation for later day car-related sports. Formula 1, which has a world-wide following today, can trace its roots to drag racing. Although Formula 1 is much grander in scale and more technologically advanced, it succeeds for the same reasons of thrill, adrenaline and competition that hotroding represented. But the journey from rudimentary racing experiments in the 1940s to the high-tech spectacle of the Formula 1 is a long and arduous one. It involved plenty of sacrifice from numerous people. The early leaders of AHRF deserve special mention in this regard, for it is their vision and persistence that has developed the sport to what it is today. I look at the phenomena of greater commercialization of drag racing from two angles. In one way, the sponsorship of big corporate names brought respectability and improved safety standards for the sport. On the other side, individual ingenuity, which was the hallmark of early hotroders was compromised. In other words, the systematization and scientific approach to competition took away some of its old charm. While speed, thrill and pretty girls all generate consumer interest in the sport, its dependence on fossil fuel raises some ethical questions. In the documentary, this major issue is totally ignored. This makes the film come across as a promotion