August 9, 2007
By Rebecca Gladden

Rebecca Gladden

Last week in this column, I wrote about a comment Tony Stewart made after winning the Brickyard 400, posing a legitimate question to my readers: What exactly did Tony Stewart mean?

I sincerely wanted to know what Stewart was referring to when he announced on national TV that he was dedicating his second Brickyard win to "every one of those fans in the stands who pull for me every week and take all the bullsh*t from everybody else".

My question was the same as that of Speed TV's Dave Despain, Nextel Cup driver Greg Biffle, and many others who were baffled by Stewart's comment. What is so different about being a Tony Stewart fan than a fan of any other driver?

I received such a flood of responses from readers that I felt the column deserved this follow up.

Some of the replies were less than helpful. One reader, who mistakenly thought that my column was all about Tony's use of the expletive, asked me, "Did you just get out of a convent?"

For the record, the answer is no.

Another reader wrote, "If we wanted to go to Sunday School, we would tune in on Sunday morning."

Um, okay. Whatever that means.

I was also told that, "as the saying goes, if you have to ask, you wouldn't understand."

Funny thing is, I never understood that saying either. It strikes me as a convenient excuse for those who can't otherwise explain their position on a subject.

On the other hand, I did get some thoughtful responses from readers who put into words what being a Tony Stewart fan means to them. One reader wrote, "Sure fans of other drivers put up with stuff, too. I'm not saying that they don't. But those of us that have been fans of Tony for YEARS (not these band wagon fans), have taken crap from 'your driver should go back to open wheel,' to 'your driver is trying to kill everyone on the track,' to the yellow line incident at Daytona years ago, to the kicking of the tape recorder, to the Indy photographer, to the spinning out of Robby on pit road, to the tossing of the shoe heat shields at Kenny Irwin, to the 'dude he's got a monkey', to the 'Tony's rude and doesn't like fans' - I can go on and on. Do Jeff Gordon fans take it from others? Sure they do. But we take our share and then some. You're right, many times it is because Tony's done something (like saying BS) to bring it on himself, but that's why we are his fans - he shows emotion, he's pissed when he doesn't win, he's happy when he does, and he's not vanilla. You're going to know Tony's opinion on stuff, if you want to or not."

Fair enough.

And I was happy to see that this reader acknowledges Tony's own role in the controversies that have plagued him throughout his career.

But there is even more to the story, as another reader explained:

"The back story on Tony's BS comment was that ESPN has been ripping him since his Chicago win when he spoke about planning to drink some Schlitz beer. They really cut loose on him, playing the 'role model' card - while apparently not caring that Junior said something very similar. His comment was intended as a shot at ESPN. It wasn't a slip of the tongue at all."

Indeed, Stewart has been angry with ESPN since one of their commentators made an issue of Tony's statement that he would celebrate his Chicago win with "a case of beer" - questioning whether that was an appropriate thing to say when kids might be listening.

It's a pretty lame question when you consider that NASCAR has both beer and hard liquor sponsorships on its cars and uniforms, and permits beer and champagne celebrations in Victory Lane each week.

"I don't want anybody from ESPN talking about how irresponsible I am," Stewart responded curtly, "even though it's legal to do everything I did. Heaven forbid you actually have fun in life."

In fact, ESPN announcers made numerous references to the "beer wars" last weekend at Pocono, where Kurt Busch, sponsored by Miller Lite, and Dale Earnhardt Jr,. sponsored by Budweiser, finished 1-2 in the race while competing for the 12th spot in the point standings.

Stewart has every right to be upset with ESPN. But if there is any truth to the idea that his only reason for swearing on ESPN's first NASCAR broadcast in seven years was to exact some sort of revenge, it suggests a certain lack of maturity on his part.

When you're in the media spotlight like Tony Stewart, you need to learn to pick your battles. Just because someone waves a red cape in front of you doesn't mean you have to come out charging like a bull.

Still, speaking in his own defense, Stewart called out ESPN last Friday at Pocono, stating, "Every time we've got to deal with somebody from ESPN, it's a sharp knife trying to dig for dirt. I'm not saying they're not fair questions, (but) do we always have to leave with a dagger on our back from ESPN? That's all I'm curious about."

Which brings me to the title of this column.

I first heard the term "piñata syndrome" a few weeks ago to describe the often combative relationship that the public and the media have with our celebrities.

The piñata theory holds that we take our celebrities and raise them up as high as possible, then, once they reach the top, start hitting them with sticks and watch what falls out from their insides.

And I think there may be some truth to that.

Maybe Tony Stewart was a victim of piñata syndrome in this latest skirmish with ESPN, being criticized for saying something that amounted to a big nothing.

At the same time, many celebrities seem to have a natural immunity to piñata syndrome, shaking off criticism and controversy time and again, while others, like Stewart, are highly susceptible.

Ironically, Tony's feud with ESPN has created even more controversy for the mercurial driver. Stewart's snub of an ESPN reporter Friday at Pocono made NASCAR Chairman Brian France's radar screen, when Stewart told an ESPN reporter, "The good thing is it's my opinion and my decision whether I want to deal with you or not, and right now I don't want to deal with you anymore."

On Saturday, France responded to Stewart's latest comments with this warning: "Our drivers are expected to cooperate with the media partners, and he will cooperate with the media partners."

But, admitted France, "We just have to figure out how to do that."

Ah, Brian. Good luck with that one.

And while you're at it, maybe you can solve the Mideast peace crisis.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.