There are a lot of things that make the news in the sports world today. Most of it necessary, some of it is stupid, and none of it is useless. Injuries, trades, coach firings, etc would all be news that is necessary to report. The Favre-Sterger fiasco, Tiger Woods' affair, and LeBron defending his statements about playing time are stupid things to report. Why you ask? Because no one cares about any of that, and sports could exist just fine without those types of reports. No news is useless in the way that it is all connected to sports and therefore could be made useful, even stupid reports have underlying important reasons. Then there is the news that just doesn't get the publicity it should, like NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson going for his 5th consecutive championship.
NASCAR is a sport that goes through a lot of change. There are many drivers but only 43 spots per race. Each year new drivers find themselves in the top 10 of the standings while others who have been mainstays there fall out. Older drivers give way to new drivers. But for the last 4 years NASCAR has had a constant that had never been done before. One driver win the championship every year. That one driver is Jimmie Johnson, and he might do it again this year. This will be the first time Johnson won't be in the lead going into the final race, as he is 15 points behind Denny Hamlin. The question is not will he do it or not, however. The real question is why this is a little no fact to people outside of hardcore NASCAR fans?
Most will say because NASCAR is unpopular and not one of the four major sports in the US. Race tracks are so big that NASCAR events are the most watched sport. NASCAR is very popular in the South, but hated by just about everyone else. Most people will ask, 'What's the fun in watching cars take 4 left turns?' or 'Why watch if we're only waiting for a wreck to happen?' This popular reason to why people like it is that it's a good thing to watch while your drinking because it's on for so long. To be honest, I think NASCAR should continue getting the short end of the media stick. I think there's nothing interesting to report in NASCAR, not counting the anger management issues that every driver seems to have. But with that being said, Johnson going for his fifth straight title should be drilled into the media.
First of all, he is going for five in a row and if he was the first to do four in a row, then that means he's trying to break a record. It's his own record, but hey record-breaking situations need to be reported no matter what. Second reason why this should be constantly in the press is that Johnson has always been able to hold onto his lead to win a championship, never having to overtake someone to win. This makes for an interesting story because you can compare Johnson to other winners of three straight championships and see how they won. You could also write about how Johnson will respond to coming into the last race in second place after four straight years of being in first. It must be a totally different mindset. A lot of articles can be made from Johnson going for a 5-peat, but no one is taking advantage. I did and now everyone else needs to stop allowing this superstar to race under the radar.
References
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Johnson
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2006/35/data/standings_official.html
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2007/35/data/standings_official.html
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2008/35/data/standings_official.html
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2009/35/data/standings_official.html
http://www.nascar.com/races/cup/2010/35/data/standings_official.html
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