February 5, 2010
By Rebecca Gladden
It seems this year that young entertainer Taylor Swift has won just about every award and accolade available, from Album of the Year at the Grammy's to a People's Choice Award for Favorite Female Artist, and everything in between.
Her own website describes Swift's rise to stardom as "meteoric" - appropriate, since, with just two studio albums under her belt, she's been nominated for 86 different entertainment awards, winning 59 of them.
But it seems the music industry's fascination with Swift may already be faltering.
After Sunday night's Grammy Awards ceremony, entertainment news website PopEater.com ran an article predicting a "A Swift Backlash" to her new-found fame. Describing Swift as the music industry's "golden girl" and her trophies as "undeserved," the PopEater staff reports that their readers have "already turned on her."
Swift's situation is just the latest example of what has been termed "The Piñata Syndrome." It refers to the ongoing pattern of raising our celebrities up as high as possible - then, once they reach the top, swinging at them with sticks and watching what falls out from their insides.
Taking this topic to NASCAR, consider the recent treatment of Dale Earnhardt Jr.
After struggling last season, Earnhardt Jr. was the subject of overly harsh, sometimes cruel criticism from detractors who seem to find a wicked sort of glee in kicking someone while he's down.
Some writers, bloggers, and even fans piled on that Junior is little more than an overrated, overhyped, talentless hack, riding the coattails of his deceased father in a Cup car that he did not earn and does not merit.
Without a doubt, Earnhardt Jr. struggled last year - badly. He went winless on the season, scored just two top-five finishes, and ended the season ranked 25th in points, the lowest in his career. Junior himself admitted as much, saying he was "embarrassed" by his showing last year.
But let's be clear. Dale Earnhardt Jr. does know how to drive a racecar, and is capable of winning races.
He's a two-time Nationwide (then Busch) Series Champion and has a total of 40 NASCAR wins - 18 in Cup and 22 in the NNS. He's finished in the top-five in Cup points three times, has 88 top-five finishes and has led over 6500 laps in NASCAR's highest and most competitive racing series.
It's worth noting that even NASCAR's most renown drivers have had slumps and winless seasons. Richard Petty went winless in 1978, Dale Earnhardt Sr. in 1997, and Jeff Gordon in 2008. Of course, those drivers also received their share of criticism, especially during the hard times.
The Piñata Syndrome is nothing new.
But there's a certain hostility in some of the attacks on Earnhardt Jr. that I simply don't understand.
Although he's a participant, he's also one of the biggest fans of the sport, a careful caretaker of its history and legacy.
He has never done anything to deserve unadulterated hatred.
Dale Jr.'s on-track performance will always be scrutinized - and appraisals of his on-track accomplishments are fair game.
But for those swinging at him with perverse delight - be forewarned.
You can't keep a good man down.
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