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sprintcarfanatic
March 26, 2020 at 05:43:44 PM
Joined: 11/30/2004
Posts: 1065
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This just hit me listening to Trump's presser as he was talking aout getting back to work sooner rather than later, When some do go back to work such as automotive they will probably be working Mandatory 7 days a week & won't have time for anything on the weekend.

We've been doing 11 hr or better days for the 2nd week now & our busy season is just starting so if Racing resumes in short order Friday's is pretty much out as we might have a Saturday thrown in from time to time.



Nick14
March 26, 2020 at 06:07:00 PM
Joined: 06/04/2012
Posts: 1734
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Being a millennial, I know my generation gets accused of the downfall of a lot of things, and racing is included in that. I have heard the excuse of us not being car people like previous generations which is why attendance is down but I don't know how much truth there is to that. I have always been a racing fan since I can remember. We never went to dirt tracks going up but we did go to the local asphalt short track. When I got older and started making my own money and started driving was when I found sprint car racing. Other kids around my age in school never were into racing that much and neither were their parents who were also baby boomers or Gen X individuals.When we would go to the track their were very few kids and a lot of times you would over hear conversations about Dad's leaving their kids at home so he could go to the track and have fun and not be bothered by the kids. Or parents would leave before the feature and say they had to pick the kids up from the sitter, probably because they didn't want to be bothered by the kids. As a parent now, I never understood that as I always look forward to taking my son to the track as it just adds to the experience seeing how excited he gets to watch just hot laps, and waive the flag during qualifying, or mimic Johnny Gibson during the 4 wide.

Reason I say all of this is I am not a car guy, my son does not know the difference between a Ford or Chevy, but we are both racing fans mostly because we were exposed to it very early by being there. If you expose them early then they will make it a priority later.

The stuff about all of the sports and extracurriculars is very valid. If you play a sport in school each coach expect you to give 100% focus to their sport. Playing football and hockey in high school I can say, the coaches always say family, school, insert sport here but in reality it always seemed like if you devoted any attention away from that sport you heard about it. Missing a "voluntary" workout really isn't taken lightly in a lot of regards unless you are a gifted athlete. The first time you make a mistake that missing workout is brought up real quick by the ole coach who is living through you now. They find out you missed something that had to do with a sport because you went to see racing, they would have a field day with you. The summer was nothing but football conditioning and lifting so all our friends would always look at us wierd when we said we had football in June but we would simply say its a year round sport. I already told both my son's sets of grandparents I am going to steer him away from football and they thought it was because of concussions. I said I'm not concerned about concussions as much as I'm worried about him having a life outside of playing a sport. Hockey wasn't as bad, just the season itself was longer and you always felt even more beaten up after that season than football. With all of the money some spend putting their kids in club sports, they could probably get them a quarter midget or an outlaw kart and actually have some fun.



KOP
MyWebsite
March 26, 2020 at 07:02:13 PM
Joined: 12/01/2004
Posts: 1913
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This message was edited on March 26, 2020 at 07:05:09 PM by KOP

There is a lot I could cover on Hawkers post but I will address the specific issue of multiple classes.

Im not keen on them any more than most are. However, the reality is promoters need those pit pass sales to make their bottom line work. Also, Many of us get to leave right after the checkered flag or soon after. Not the promoters and their staff. They are the last ones out and they dont want to be there late either. Especially their kind of lateness. It's just what they do to try and stay afloat in these times of fewer fans in the stands vs the good ol days of the past. 

Now hold on to your hat on this one........

You may see more of multiple class programs in 2020 because the tracks are going to be very concerned who can even afford to race when the Covid-19 is settled to where tracks can open back up. Can a racer afford to race if their personal business suffered? Can they afford to race if their income suffered due to being laid off, hours drastically cut or the like? What if their investments take a nose dive? Will they need to catch up on their house payments because they got behind while not earning an income?

Due to several factors, it's going to be interesting to see what the promoters get for car counts when the gates open back up. 

To think things will be just as they were when its time to race again would be very naive. 




Murphy
March 26, 2020 at 07:40:03 PM
Joined: 05/26/2005
Posts: 3262
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      I remember driving down to Sunset Speedway in Omaha for s sprint show- and they only had one other class. It was some kind of stock cars that looked like cameros. They had 32 sprints and 55 of the stock cars!



Johnny Utah
March 26, 2020 at 08:00:40 PM
Joined: 07/15/2014
Posts: 1221
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Posted By: Murphy on March 26 2020 at 02:49:50 PM

Ok, good point. So maybe they weren't so overdone back then. Because we all know that your kid is going to go pro someday. That's why you need to spend so much time and money on camps, etc. for a third grader.



I could type a lot on this subject as I was a high school club lacrosse coach for two years, but honestly, I hate typing on my phone.

Quick summary: I gave up club coaching a pretty prestigious club at the time because it cut into my racing weekends. Saw the absolute best and worst in parents....

Quick theory: Its not because the kid is gonna go pro. My theory is because college tuition is so expensive, parents look to put their kids in the best ppssible situation to get as many scholarship dollars as possible.



StanM
MyResults MyPressRelease
March 27, 2020 at 09:00:34 AM
Joined: 11/07/2006
Posts: 5548
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This message was edited on March 27, 2020 at 09:05:28 AM by StanM
Reply to:
Posted By: KOP on March 26 2020 at 07:02:13 PM

There is a lot I could cover on Hawkers post but I will address the specific issue of multiple classes.

Im not keen on them any more than most are. However, the reality is promoters need those pit pass sales to make their bottom line work. Also, Many of us get to leave right after the checkered flag or soon after. Not the promoters and their staff. They are the last ones out and they dont want to be there late either. Especially their kind of lateness. It's just what they do to try and stay afloat in these times of fewer fans in the stands vs the good ol days of the past. 

Now hold on to your hat on this one........

You may see more of multiple class programs in 2020 because the tracks are going to be very concerned who can even afford to race when the Covid-19 is settled to where tracks can open back up. Can a racer afford to race if their personal business suffered? Can they afford to race if their income suffered due to being laid off, hours drastically cut or the like? What if their investments take a nose dive? Will they need to catch up on their house payments because they got behind while not earning an income?

Due to several factors, it's going to be interesting to see what the promoters get for car counts when the gates open back up. 

To think things will be just as they were when its time to race again would be very naive. 



I think one mistake people are making is assuming they're going to proclaim all clear and everything will immediately go back to normal.  I don't listen to the politicians in a case like this, I follow the science and listen to infectious disease experts.  Things will come back at a measured pace so as to avoid another situation like we're seeing now where hospitals are being overwhelmed.  This situation could go on for a year or more with targeted restrictions and much more disruption to what we consider normal.

In regard to racing we will lose some racing teams just like we did in 2008.  Public confidence will factor in as well.  I watched an interview of someone who survived the Spanish Flu of 1918, not sure of the year but it had to have taken place decades ago.  He mentioned how there were restrictions on the size of crowds and when they opened things back up it took several years for people's confidence to return.  He said they didn't start seeing big crowds again until 1922 so it took four years for the public confidence level to return.

This looks like one of those once every 100 years type of events so that possibility exists.  I hope I'm wrong and this thing fizzles out quickly but there is historical precedence of times that the outcome was not good.  As much as our scientific and medical knowledge has advanced we still ocassionally meet challenges that are beyond our means to prevent.  At the end of the day racing is just another form of entertainment and is very insignificant in the bigger picture.  I hope for the best possible outcome but right now we're the most affected country in the world topping even China where this thing jumped species.  


Stan Meissner


sprintcarfanatic
March 27, 2020 at 03:37:22 PM
Joined: 11/30/2004
Posts: 1065
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Stan, I think that depends on this Hydrocloroquine (sp) if it works or not.



revjimk
March 27, 2020 at 06:01:28 PM
Joined: 09/14/2010
Posts: 7595
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Reply to:
Posted By: Murphy on March 26 2020 at 02:49:50 PM

Ok, good point. So maybe they weren't so overdone back then. Because we all know that your kid is going to go pro someday. That's why you need to spend so much time and money on camps, etc. for a third grader.



We played all the time, but no traveling teams (is that what they mean by "club sports"?)

Camps were pretty rare too, they existed, but I only know a few guys my age who ever went, & they were good (basketball) players. Average kids didn't usually go

I've noticed there are less pickup games nowadays & ZERO sandlot baseball. In Denver, where I lived for the past 25 year or so, hardly any playground hoops even in the black neighborhoods (Its a football town!) I'm happy to see a bunch of kids hoopin' it up regularly near where my Mom lives in Ct. tho....

My late Uncle (Dad's kid brother) wrote a great memoir of his childhood in NYC during the Depression. The kids organized their own sports... regular clubs who challenged other city kids in every sport , depending on season. He & my late father both worked as kids (My old man started at age SIX!), but my Dad had to do it to help support the family, kid brother Joe had more time to play & spending $$$



revjimk
March 27, 2020 at 06:07:43 PM
Joined: 09/14/2010
Posts: 7595
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Reply to:
Posted By: KOP on March 26 2020 at 07:02:13 PM

There is a lot I could cover on Hawkers post but I will address the specific issue of multiple classes.

Im not keen on them any more than most are. However, the reality is promoters need those pit pass sales to make their bottom line work. Also, Many of us get to leave right after the checkered flag or soon after. Not the promoters and their staff. They are the last ones out and they dont want to be there late either. Especially their kind of lateness. It's just what they do to try and stay afloat in these times of fewer fans in the stands vs the good ol days of the past. 

Now hold on to your hat on this one........

You may see more of multiple class programs in 2020 because the tracks are going to be very concerned who can even afford to race when the Covid-19 is settled to where tracks can open back up. Can a racer afford to race if their personal business suffered? Can they afford to race if their income suffered due to being laid off, hours drastically cut or the like? What if their investments take a nose dive? Will they need to catch up on their house payments because they got behind while not earning an income?

Due to several factors, it's going to be interesting to see what the promoters get for car counts when the gates open back up. 

To think things will be just as they were when its time to race again would be very naive. 



Good points. I worry that LOTS of the stuff we like will never return




egras
March 27, 2020 at 06:16:44 PM
Joined: 08/16/2009
Posts: 3914
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Posted By: revjimk on March 26 2020 at 11:46:54 AM

Mostly true, except "kids sports and other activities hadn't really been invented yet"...????

We played sports constantly back in the 50s & 60s.... how do you think Mickey Mantle & Willie Mays learned how to play? (That was even earlier, for them...)

 



Kids in the 50's and 60's did not have a ball tournament every weekend 2-3 hours away.  Kids in the 70's, 80's, and 90's may have started to do this, but it was a very low percentage.  We played every Tuesday and Thursday night for about 6-8 weeks at the same 2 parks in town, against the same 6-8 teams.  We thought we were in the big leagues then.  Today, you have state and national rankings for 10 year old baseball teams.  When did it get stupid? 

Now, it's 50% of the families you talk to that have a sporting "event" every weekend----sometimes splitting the family in 2 so multiple events can be attended.  Sometimes mom goes with one to a volleyball tournament, dad goes with one to a baseball tournament, and grandma and grandpa take the other to a softball tournament.  There is no way it was like this in the 50's and 60's.  I don't remember anything close to that going on in the 70's thru the 90's.  The shear numbers of people doing club and travel sports has blown up exponentially.  Great for the hotel, restaurant, gas station, sporting goods, and bar economy.  

This is definitely hurting events like Saturday night at the dirt track.  Definitely.  



egras
March 27, 2020 at 06:19:26 PM
Joined: 08/16/2009
Posts: 3914
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Posted By: Johnny Utah on March 26 2020 at 08:00:40 PM

I could type a lot on this subject as I was a high school club lacrosse coach for two years, but honestly, I hate typing on my phone.

Quick summary: I gave up club coaching a pretty prestigious club at the time because it cut into my racing weekends. Saw the absolute best and worst in parents....

Quick theory: Its not because the kid is gonna go pro. My theory is because college tuition is so expensive, parents look to put their kids in the best ppssible situation to get as many scholarship dollars as possible.



And, I don't get that theory.  I know parents who spend $5000+ a year on club sports for 6-8 years so they can save $10000-$30000 total on tuition?  (most college athletes are not getting anywhere near full rides and many of them don't end up with the scholarship anyways)  The math makes no sense to me if that is their theory.

 

I agree with you by the way------I see, and hear that every day



revjimk
March 27, 2020 at 09:47:02 PM
Joined: 09/14/2010
Posts: 7595
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Posted By: egras on March 27 2020 at 06:16:44 PM

Kids in the 50's and 60's did not have a ball tournament every weekend 2-3 hours away.  Kids in the 70's, 80's, and 90's may have started to do this, but it was a very low percentage.  We played every Tuesday and Thursday night for about 6-8 weeks at the same 2 parks in town, against the same 6-8 teams.  We thought we were in the big leagues then.  Today, you have state and national rankings for 10 year old baseball teams.  When did it get stupid? 

Now, it's 50% of the families you talk to that have a sporting "event" every weekend----sometimes splitting the family in 2 so multiple events can be attended.  Sometimes mom goes with one to a volleyball tournament, dad goes with one to a baseball tournament, and grandma and grandpa take the other to a softball tournament.  There is no way it was like this in the 50's and 60's.  I don't remember anything close to that going on in the 70's thru the 90's.  The shear numbers of people doing club and travel sports has blown up exponentially.  Great for the hotel, restaurant, gas station, sporting goods, and bar economy.  

This is definitely hurting events like Saturday night at the dirt track.  Definitely.  



That all makes sense. No long trips for sports back then, except maybe American Legion baseball, & I doubt if they often went 2-3 hrs. away

HS teams would travel, but rarely that far...




oswald
March 28, 2020 at 08:23:06 PM
Joined: 11/30/2004
Posts: 1982
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Posted By: Hawker on March 25 2020 at 08:59:14 PM

Let me put this out there...If I'm out of line, just tell me to STFU and go back to the stands.

I've been around this sport for all 58 years I've been on this planet, I don't remember not going to races. I have worked on cars, worked at tracks and was a photographer for a while. For the most part, over the past 40 or so years, I have seen race track crowds go from being multidimensional to only having the hardcore fans. I remember when Tulsa Speedway would have 10,000 people for a regular Saturday night show.

Remember when you would see full families, teenagers on a date, tons of kids dumped off at the track for the night ect? I do too...But those days are gone.

So here we are, at the end of March and there is no racing anywhere in the world, none, notta, zillch. Times are so desperate that NASCAR is holding virtual races and the Dirtvision is showing reruns.

COVID-19 had everyone hunkered down and getting a massive case of cabin fever and regardless of what some people think or say, there is a very real chance that this could be a "lost summer".

What am I getting at? Well, if I was a track owner or promoter (I know, I'm not), I would be using this time to be brainstorming to harness the attention of all these families when the "starting gate" is opened. People will be very hungry to get outside and be entertained and this whole mess could be a blessing in disguise.

The smart promotor should be rethinking their business plan, promotions to raise awareness now, will pay dividends when this mess is over. But it doesn't end there, stop dragging out the shows, this includes 5 classes of cars, fuel stops, long intermissions and inefficient handling of cautions and reds. Stop dusting out the crowds, and make it affordable to take your family.

Basically, STOP doing everything that made you lose the packed tracks with multidimensional crowds 40 years ago...Promote, promote, promote! This is a once in a lifetime chance to turn things around, don't blow it!



Have always had the utmost respect for hawker & his opinions. And this does not change that. But I can find no blessing in something that is causing so many to suffer and so many to die.

I do understand where he's coming from, perhaps just unfortunate wording of the topic name.



Nick14
March 28, 2020 at 09:14:19 PM
Joined: 06/04/2012
Posts: 1734
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Reply to:
Posted By: egras on March 27 2020 at 06:16:44 PM

Kids in the 50's and 60's did not have a ball tournament every weekend 2-3 hours away.  Kids in the 70's, 80's, and 90's may have started to do this, but it was a very low percentage.  We played every Tuesday and Thursday night for about 6-8 weeks at the same 2 parks in town, against the same 6-8 teams.  We thought we were in the big leagues then.  Today, you have state and national rankings for 10 year old baseball teams.  When did it get stupid? 

Now, it's 50% of the families you talk to that have a sporting "event" every weekend----sometimes splitting the family in 2 so multiple events can be attended.  Sometimes mom goes with one to a volleyball tournament, dad goes with one to a baseball tournament, and grandma and grandpa take the other to a softball tournament.  There is no way it was like this in the 50's and 60's.  I don't remember anything close to that going on in the 70's thru the 90's.  The shear numbers of people doing club and travel sports has blown up exponentially.  Great for the hotel, restaurant, gas station, sporting goods, and bar economy.  

This is definitely hurting events like Saturday night at the dirt track.  Definitely.  



When I worked at the hockey rink we would have teams each week from our location in Central Ohio going to Detriot one week, Pittsburgh the next, Cleveland, then  Cincinnati, and every now and then would be here. Sometimes they would go to Toronto or Montreal and as far as St Louis or Boston. Each time they had to be there Friday & Saturday night stays. Couple of the teams was a couple of grand just to be on the team and that did not include your travel and lodging and food. My parents just kept me in house leagues and that was costly enough going from a couple different rinks playing the same 6-7 teams. My parents told me later on in life that the 2 years before high school the organization had offered to give me an 2 others a "scholarship" meaning no sign up fee to play on the team. They said no thanks, the pay to play fee is just the tip of the iceberg of the cost, and about 5% of the headache. They could barely afford the fee for house league which is why I had to cut grass to help pay for it, let alone being away for 20+ weekends living a fantasy.

At first I was a little upset that they never told me and didn't let me but then my dad said that we wouldn't have been able to go to all of the races we went to or other events because all of the funds would have went to me playing hockey. After that I was grateful of the decision. My mother inlaw keeps asking me when I am going to get my son started skating & playing but I told her I would like to get him involved in a science or art program . He's more likely to earn a scholarship that way than atheletically



Hawker
March 28, 2020 at 10:54:33 PM
Joined: 11/23/2004
Posts: 2809
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Posted By: oswald on March 28 2020 at 08:23:06 PM

Have always had the utmost respect for hawker & his opinions. And this does not change that. But I can find no blessing in something that is causing so many to suffer and so many to die.

I do understand where he's coming from, perhaps just unfortunate wording of the topic name.



Please don't read too deep into word selection, it was only relative to racing, not life in general. I have been the canary in the cave on this since early February and was laughed at. As someone with a chronic condition, I can assure you that I understand the path that we on on for this "lost summer". I am on a longterm self quarantine for at least 7 weeks (food and supplies were stocked up early) and I will hand here until it at least levels out. With current projections of over 80,000 American deaths before the end of June, eveyone will know someone who dies from COVID-19 and sadly, I highly doubt there will be any racing this year.


Member of this message board since 1997


egras
March 31, 2020 at 06:47:43 PM
Joined: 08/16/2009
Posts: 3914
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Posted By: Nick14 on March 28 2020 at 09:14:19 PM

When I worked at the hockey rink we would have teams each week from our location in Central Ohio going to Detriot one week, Pittsburgh the next, Cleveland, then  Cincinnati, and every now and then would be here. Sometimes they would go to Toronto or Montreal and as far as St Louis or Boston. Each time they had to be there Friday & Saturday night stays. Couple of the teams was a couple of grand just to be on the team and that did not include your travel and lodging and food. My parents just kept me in house leagues and that was costly enough going from a couple different rinks playing the same 6-7 teams. My parents told me later on in life that the 2 years before high school the organization had offered to give me an 2 others a "scholarship" meaning no sign up fee to play on the team. They said no thanks, the pay to play fee is just the tip of the iceberg of the cost, and about 5% of the headache. They could barely afford the fee for house league which is why I had to cut grass to help pay for it, let alone being away for 20+ weekends living a fantasy.

At first I was a little upset that they never told me and didn't let me but then my dad said that we wouldn't have been able to go to all of the races we went to or other events because all of the funds would have went to me playing hockey. After that I was grateful of the decision. My mother inlaw keeps asking me when I am going to get my son started skating & playing but I told her I would like to get him involved in a science or art program . He's more likely to earn a scholarship that way than atheletically



I know it sucks not to have played with the traveling team, but we told our son no as well.  And now, after watching the iracing sprint car event last Wednesday night, he turned and said to me "I can't wait to get to a race!"   He gets plenty of sports in school.  He wasn't happy at the time we said no to all of the club crap, but he already has appreciated it----and he's only 15. I can't wait to get him to a race either



Nick14
March 31, 2020 at 09:39:46 PM
Joined: 06/04/2012
Posts: 1734
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Posted By: egras on March 31 2020 at 06:47:43 PM

I know it sucks not to have played with the traveling team, but we told our son no as well.  And now, after watching the iracing sprint car event last Wednesday night, he turned and said to me "I can't wait to get to a race!"   He gets plenty of sports in school.  He wasn't happy at the time we said no to all of the club crap, but he already has appreciated it----and he's only 15. I can't wait to get him to a race either



Once my dad told me about all the things we were able to do both racing & non race related that we would not have been able to do had we gone with a traveling team I was thankful. It was real easy to get over from that standpoint and I even said I could have seen myself later in life regretting playing  knowing I would have had the opportunity to do all of the other things. Heck I remember all of us wanted to go to a Nascar race so bad (this was late 90s mind you and we loved Nascar at that point) and it was during the 99 Daytona 500 when a commercial about new seats added to Pocono aired when we all asked collectively could we go. This was at a time getting seats were either impossible or too much to afford for us. I can see if I would have been in travel at that moment we would not have been able to go and I would have been so heartbroken that I would have quit right then and there.

One of my best friends played travel baseball growing up and did actually get a scholarship and played in the minors for a few years. A lot of us at a get together last year were talking about our childhood and he said he was somewhat sad that he didnt get to have some of the adventures we had because he was always away most weekends playing or at some clinic.  He said he now feels he never had a childhood, just conditioning to play a sport on one hand he loved but on the other hand didn't love enough. He said he is not rushing his kids off to play any sports too soon.



egras
April 01, 2020 at 11:54:05 AM
Joined: 08/16/2009
Posts: 3914
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Posted By: Nick14 on March 31 2020 at 09:39:46 PM

Once my dad told me about all the things we were able to do both racing & non race related that we would not have been able to do had we gone with a traveling team I was thankful. It was real easy to get over from that standpoint and I even said I could have seen myself later in life regretting playing  knowing I would have had the opportunity to do all of the other things. Heck I remember all of us wanted to go to a Nascar race so bad (this was late 90s mind you and we loved Nascar at that point) and it was during the 99 Daytona 500 when a commercial about new seats added to Pocono aired when we all asked collectively could we go. This was at a time getting seats were either impossible or too much to afford for us. I can see if I would have been in travel at that moment we would not have been able to go and I would have been so heartbroken that I would have quit right then and there.

One of my best friends played travel baseball growing up and did actually get a scholarship and played in the minors for a few years. A lot of us at a get together last year were talking about our childhood and he said he was somewhat sad that he didnt get to have some of the adventures we had because he was always away most weekends playing or at some clinic.  He said he now feels he never had a childhood, just conditioning to play a sport on one hand he loved but on the other hand didn't love enough. He said he is not rushing his kids off to play any sports too soon.



And, making it to the minors for a few years, without going on to the majors, is a punishment, not an accomplishment.  No pay to speak of.  Can't supplement your income because you travel so much.  It's too bad to spend that time, get that close, and have to "start over" in life with goals, etc.

 





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