RIP Paul Dana

I have never understood the appeal of driving cars in circles while at unsafe speeds. Nor have I understood why people flock to tracks to watch it.

Well, I do understand, sort of. There is an awe in power, and power it what you get when you see a car flying at 200 mph. This is almost three times the highest legal speed on any road in the United States--which gives you an idea as to how dangerous it is to drive at even 100 mph.

My confusion in this subject only increased at the news of the death of Paul Dana. I don't follow racing, which you could probably tell. But it is still big news when a 30 year old person dies. NASCAR has the same problem with death as the Indy series does, as became evident in the Dale Earnhardt tragedy. There have been other deaths while racing cars.

Only one person has ever died as a direct result of playing Major League Baseball, and that was in 1920. Nobody has died from an injury resulting directly from an NFL game (although one person came close) or as a direct result from an NBA game.

However, there is no way to assure safety when the object of the game is to operate dangerous machinery recklessly.