Matt wins Daytona 500!!!!!
Of course, I am elated. I did a post on his win on my other blog.
I came across an article that seemed to capture Kenseth's nature so well, that I wanted to save it somewhere. Why not here? I even emailed the writer to praise him. So maybe I won't be sued for copyright. If I am, good luck.
Daytona winner Kenseth unmoved by SF hoopla
Daytona winner Kenseth unmoved by SF hoopla
Published: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 9:35 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO
The man who arrives for Sunday church just before worship begins, who always tries to sit in the last row, who dislikes calling attention to himself, was given a three-car, three-motorcycle California Highway Patrol escort Wednesday across the Golden Gate Bridge and through downtown San Francisco.
This is what you get, Matt Kenseth, for winning the Daytona 500 last Sunday.
People get to see your face. Sorry.
It was hard to miss. All traffic was stopped along the route. People stared. Some got it. Some weren’t impressed; this is California and we have an action-hero for a governor.
“I’m not one to crave attention,” Kenseth would say later but, oops, there it was — attention, so much attention all that was missing were the dancing bears.
Kenseth’s name was in big, bold black letters on the side of a motorized cable car. Kenseth and his wife, Katie, rode in one that stopped for photo ops at Fisherman’s Wharf — where they ate crab — and at Ghirardelli Square — where they ate chocolate. Under Willie Mays Gate at AT&T Park, Kenseth was given an eight-pound wheel of cheese, a magnum of wine and a No.17 jersey with his name as an Honorary San Francisco Giant. Then he was asked to speak at a press conference.
Shoot, why didn’t they just ask Kenseth to play in “The Merchant of Venice” while they were at it?
Oh, the suffering. In the motorized cable car Wednesday they had Kenseth sitting right next to Rod Brooks of KNBR, the guy who never met a microphone, first-person pronoun or a long sentence he didn’t like. Talk about the odd couple. In that half-hour ride, Brooks probably uttered more words on the air than Kenseth has said in his entire life.
So when Kenseth said later, “I’m ready for a normal day,” I believed him. These days one never knows what to believe when a professional athlete speaks but when Kenseth said he was ready for a normal day, he had the same aching longing in his voice that a 70-year man wishing he could be 20 again.
Nothing about Kenseth — the way he looked, acted or spoke — revealed a contradiction. He was dressed in a plain, gray suit. He has won $44,691,154 in his NASCAR career but he wore no bling. No Tony Stewart beard or swagger, no attitude, no sense he felt anyone owed him a living. Kenseth would have been easy to miss as a talented driver.
If anything, his ego goes down, not up.
“Is this like Wisconsin crab?” asked Infineon president Steve Page, referring to Kenseth’s home state, while both men were munching the tasty seafood. Page meant it as a joke since Green Bay Packers fans aren’t known for being a bunch of Crabheads.
“The only crab around our house is usually me,” Kenseth said.
And people say Kenseth isn’t funny. Say he doesn’t have a personality. Say he is as colorful as the morning fog. That is not Kenseth’s fault. It’s NASCAR’s. The industry sells personalities, conflict, Junior taking out Vickers. Kenseth is criticized because he doesn’t take a pipe wrench to someone or doesn’t fill an audio tape with the seven words you can’t say on television. Oh well.
It is true, however, that Kurt Busch is a Rolex to Kenseth’s Timex. It is also true that Kenseth has no distinguishing features or vices. But it is also true Kenseth is as grounded as an oak tree, not given to be swayed by popularity or insecurity.
“I heard you gave it right back to him last Sunday,” I said to Kenseth.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“When you told that Daytona sportswriter you were going to paint the town plaid after winning the 500.”
Ken Willis, the sportswriter, had written Kenseth was so boring and colorless that Kenseth was going “to paint the town plaid” in celebration of a victory.
“He was mean,” Kenseth said.
Did he ever confront Willis about it?
“Nah,” said Kenseth, shrugging, which of course conforms to the stereotype. Kenseth doesn’t even get angry at a sportswriter, every athlete’s available foil. How can the man live with himself? Don’t you know, Matt, we are here for you?
“I’m not going to be someone else,” Kenseth said.
I’m guessing, if it was all the same to him, they could have mailed the crab, chocolate, cheese, wine and jersey to him and he would have been just as happy. Not that he was unappreciative. Just underwhelmed with himself.
Except when he’s in a race car, Matt Kenseth would rather be in the last row.
For more on North Bay sports go to Bob Padecky’s blog at padecky.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5490 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090218/NEWS/902180837?Title=Daytona-winner-Kenseth-unmoved-by-SF-hoopla
I came across an article that seemed to capture Kenseth's nature so well, that I wanted to save it somewhere. Why not here? I even emailed the writer to praise him. So maybe I won't be sued for copyright. If I am, good luck.
Daytona winner Kenseth unmoved by SF hoopla
Daytona winner Kenseth unmoved by SF hoopla
Published: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 3:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 9:35 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO
The man who arrives for Sunday church just before worship begins, who always tries to sit in the last row, who dislikes calling attention to himself, was given a three-car, three-motorcycle California Highway Patrol escort Wednesday across the Golden Gate Bridge and through downtown San Francisco.
This is what you get, Matt Kenseth, for winning the Daytona 500 last Sunday.
People get to see your face. Sorry.
It was hard to miss. All traffic was stopped along the route. People stared. Some got it. Some weren’t impressed; this is California and we have an action-hero for a governor.
“I’m not one to crave attention,” Kenseth would say later but, oops, there it was — attention, so much attention all that was missing were the dancing bears.
Kenseth’s name was in big, bold black letters on the side of a motorized cable car. Kenseth and his wife, Katie, rode in one that stopped for photo ops at Fisherman’s Wharf — where they ate crab — and at Ghirardelli Square — where they ate chocolate. Under Willie Mays Gate at AT&T Park, Kenseth was given an eight-pound wheel of cheese, a magnum of wine and a No.17 jersey with his name as an Honorary San Francisco Giant. Then he was asked to speak at a press conference.
Shoot, why didn’t they just ask Kenseth to play in “The Merchant of Venice” while they were at it?
Oh, the suffering. In the motorized cable car Wednesday they had Kenseth sitting right next to Rod Brooks of KNBR, the guy who never met a microphone, first-person pronoun or a long sentence he didn’t like. Talk about the odd couple. In that half-hour ride, Brooks probably uttered more words on the air than Kenseth has said in his entire life.
So when Kenseth said later, “I’m ready for a normal day,” I believed him. These days one never knows what to believe when a professional athlete speaks but when Kenseth said he was ready for a normal day, he had the same aching longing in his voice that a 70-year man wishing he could be 20 again.
Nothing about Kenseth — the way he looked, acted or spoke — revealed a contradiction. He was dressed in a plain, gray suit. He has won $44,691,154 in his NASCAR career but he wore no bling. No Tony Stewart beard or swagger, no attitude, no sense he felt anyone owed him a living. Kenseth would have been easy to miss as a talented driver.
If anything, his ego goes down, not up.
“Is this like Wisconsin crab?” asked Infineon president Steve Page, referring to Kenseth’s home state, while both men were munching the tasty seafood. Page meant it as a joke since Green Bay Packers fans aren’t known for being a bunch of Crabheads.
“The only crab around our house is usually me,” Kenseth said.
And people say Kenseth isn’t funny. Say he doesn’t have a personality. Say he is as colorful as the morning fog. That is not Kenseth’s fault. It’s NASCAR’s. The industry sells personalities, conflict, Junior taking out Vickers. Kenseth is criticized because he doesn’t take a pipe wrench to someone or doesn’t fill an audio tape with the seven words you can’t say on television. Oh well.
It is true, however, that Kurt Busch is a Rolex to Kenseth’s Timex. It is also true that Kenseth has no distinguishing features or vices. But it is also true Kenseth is as grounded as an oak tree, not given to be swayed by popularity or insecurity.
“I heard you gave it right back to him last Sunday,” I said to Kenseth.
“What’s that?” he asked.
“When you told that Daytona sportswriter you were going to paint the town plaid after winning the 500.”
Ken Willis, the sportswriter, had written Kenseth was so boring and colorless that Kenseth was going “to paint the town plaid” in celebration of a victory.
“He was mean,” Kenseth said.
Did he ever confront Willis about it?
“Nah,” said Kenseth, shrugging, which of course conforms to the stereotype. Kenseth doesn’t even get angry at a sportswriter, every athlete’s available foil. How can the man live with himself? Don’t you know, Matt, we are here for you?
“I’m not going to be someone else,” Kenseth said.
I’m guessing, if it was all the same to him, they could have mailed the crab, chocolate, cheese, wine and jersey to him and he would have been just as happy. Not that he was unappreciative. Just underwhelmed with himself.
Except when he’s in a race car, Matt Kenseth would rather be in the last row.
For more on North Bay sports go to Bob Padecky’s blog at padecky.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5490 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20090218/NEWS/902180837?Title=Daytona-winner-Kenseth-unmoved-by-SF-hoopla
Labels: Daytona, Matt Kenseth
posted by at 2/19/2009 07:28:00 PM
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