3 ms·

When my son was about 5 I started taking him to monster truck shows. I don’t know why, exactly. He’s always loved cars and spectacle, I suppose. We went to abou

When my son was about 5 I started taking him to monster truck shows. I don’t know why, exactly. He’s always loved cars and spectacle, I suppose. We went to about a dozen all told, driving yearly to Maple Leaf Monster Jam in Vancouver, BC. I always wondered, “Who goes to monster truck shows?” In my experience, it’s mostly that — guys taking their young kids. There were many young girls at the shows we attended, and some female drivers. They do _really well_ at fan service. All the drivers know their job is to give people a thrill, and that the trucks are ultimately disposable. It’s a lot more engaging than sitting and watching a couple hundred laps of F1 or stock cars.

tialaramex 3y ago
Surely the difference is that F1 is a sport, and Monster Trucks are entertainment ? Not better, just different. If you go to watch the Harlem Globetrotters you're getting a very different experience from a good NBA game, but that's not because one of them is doing it better, they set out to be different things. Or wrestling (the martial art) versus Professional wrestling (a theatrical performance). Like yeah, I guess it is more entertaining when an angry wrestler smashes a chair over the Owner's head, but they practised that over and over, they used a chosen chair. If he later "wins" the fight it was scripted, they decided on that outcome up front and maybe the "loser" got a Hollywood gig so he's being written out soon anyway. Whereas the guy who got Olympic wrestling gold was really fighting those other guys - under some strict rules it's true, but there was no script, if they were better they'd have beaten him and they'd have the medal.
- kubectl_h 3y ago
  > Surely the difference is that F1 is a sport, and Monster Trucks are entertainment ? Not better, just different. There is a middle ground, called super truck, which is (predictably, and perfectly) most popular in Australia that is about both spectacle and sport. It's an intensive race (requiring the shutdown of urban areas, like F1) but it also seems like pure uninhibited childish joy, ala monster truck. I would not be surprised if in 10 years it is a staple of childish fun in the US. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkiV59cdR3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkiV59cdR3M
  - defrost 3y ago
    That looks like a watered down overly cleaned up sanitized asphalt city version of the tamer sections of the Black Diamond Kalgoorlie Desert Race (or Finke Desert Race). https://youtu.be/V5R7Tfa4Vyo?t=339 https://youtu.be/V5R7Tfa4Vyo?t=339
    - kubectl_h 3y ago
      There is no doubt that it's co-opting baja or rally, but it's bringing the sport and suspensions (so to speak) to non-arid places. It's almost a manifestation of Excitebike but with 3000lbs baja trucks on F1 tracks. I love it, personally.
      - defrost 3y ago
        Each to their own, in the Kimberley and later the Pilbara I used to ride a dirt bike 30km to high school every morning, same back in the afternoon. The early attachment to off road sticks with you :)
        kubectl_h 3y ago
        > Each to their own, > I used to ride a dirt bike 30km to high school every morning I true bogan. I appreciate that.
        defrost 3y ago
        I appreciate the typo, although Asimov's title would be I, True Bogan. As for myself, sure, save for small details such as having all my teeth, a degree or three, a few million SLOC of geophysics code, and back end credits for a few S&P modules and other odds and sods about the web.
  - Washuu 3y ago
    Stadium Trucks has been a thing in the USA for a long time. I don't know if Stadium Super Trucks would be considered a direct descended of it, but they are very similar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXnwYG0R3rc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXnwYG0R3rc
- dalbasal 3y ago
  Well.. We what we really want us to watch the real angry wrestler/boxer actually go for the owner. Or... We want to see the entertainer/wrestler fight a real match for once. Or Elon Vs Zuck. We're hard to please.
  - mulmen 3y ago
    I have no interest in seeing any of those things.
- pmontra 3y ago
  F1 is a sport but it was more of a sport years ago. Regulations are getting stricter and stricter, only one tire manufacturer, many standard parts including most of the electronics. They spend millions on optimizing tiny details because there is less and less to do in areas where they used to make huge differences year over year in the past. Basically they nerfed the sport but they are selling it very well, much better that at any time in the past, at least outside Europe and especially in the USA. So F1 is going in the direction of becoming a show. I guess that the organization running F1 would love to end up with a much quicker open wheel version of NASCAR. They'll have to get through IndyCar first, with a limited choice of chassis and engines.
  - mulmen 3y ago
    The difference between sport and entertainment is when the outcome is decided. In entertainment it is up front, in sport it is at the end. The strictness of the rules is irrelevant.
    - xboxnolifes 3y ago
      I disagree. I could run a full baseball game and then ignore all parts of the game and instead decide the winning team at the end with a coin toss. I would hardly call that a sporting outcome.
- brailsafe 3y ago
  I suppose one could say that sport would still be sport without the crowd, but then most of the premise might fall apart and competition would be different, smaller scale, money based on bets perhaps. For better or worse the entertainment of others often defines sport as opposed to hobbyist competition. Monster Trucks and Pro Wrestling just don't bother with the aspect of real competition, but real competition is usually arbitrary anyway.

tialaramex 3y ago

Surely the difference is that F1 is a sport, and Monster Trucks are entertainment ? Not better, just different. If you go to watch the Harlem Globetrotters you're getting a very different experience from a good NBA game, but that's not because one of them is doing it better, they set out to be different things. Or wrestling (the martial art) versus Professional wrestling (a theatrical performance). Like yeah, I guess it is more entertaining when an angry wrestler smashes a chair over the Owner's head, but they practised that over and over, they used a chosen chair. If he later "wins" the fight it was scripted, they decided on that outcome up front and maybe the "loser" got a Hollywood gig so he's being written out soon anyway. Whereas the guy who got Olympic wrestling gold was really fighting those other guys - under some strict rules it's true, but there was no script, if they were better they'd have beaten him and they'd have the medal.

kubectl_h 3y ago
> Surely the difference is that F1 is a sport, and Monster Trucks are entertainment ? Not better, just different. There is a middle ground, called super truck, which is (predictably, and perfectly) most popular in Australia that is about both spectacle and sport. It's an intensive race (requiring the shutdown of urban areas, like F1) but it also seems like pure uninhibited childish joy, ala monster truck. I would not be surprised if in 10 years it is a staple of childish fun in the US. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkiV59cdR3M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkiV59cdR3M
- defrost 3y ago
  That looks like a watered down overly cleaned up sanitized asphalt city version of the tamer sections of the Black Diamond Kalgoorlie Desert Race (or Finke Desert Race). https://youtu.be/V5R7Tfa4Vyo?t=339 https://youtu.be/V5R7Tfa4Vyo?t=339
  - kubectl_h 3y ago
    There is no doubt that it's co-opting baja or rally, but it's bringing the sport and suspensions (so to speak) to non-arid places. It's almost a manifestation of Excitebike but with 3000lbs baja trucks on F1 tracks. I love it, personally.
    - defrost 3y ago
      Each to their own, in the Kimberley and later the Pilbara I used to ride a dirt bike 30km to high school every morning, same back in the afternoon. The early attachment to off road sticks with you :)
      - kubectl_h 3y ago
        > Each to their own, > I used to ride a dirt bike 30km to high school every morning I true bogan. I appreciate that.
        defrost 3y ago
        I appreciate the typo, although Asimov's title would be I, True Bogan. As for myself, sure, save for small details such as having all my teeth, a degree or three, a few million SLOC of geophysics code, and back end credits for a few S&P modules and other odds and sods about the web.
- Washuu 3y ago
  Stadium Trucks has been a thing in the USA for a long time. I don't know if Stadium Super Trucks would be considered a direct descended of it, but they are very similar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXnwYG0R3rc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXnwYG0R3rc
dalbasal 3y ago
Well.. We what we really want us to watch the real angry wrestler/boxer actually go for the owner. Or... We want to see the entertainer/wrestler fight a real match for once. Or Elon Vs Zuck. We're hard to please.
- mulmen 3y ago
  I have no interest in seeing any of those things.
pmontra 3y ago
F1 is a sport but it was more of a sport years ago. Regulations are getting stricter and stricter, only one tire manufacturer, many standard parts including most of the electronics. They spend millions on optimizing tiny details because there is less and less to do in areas where they used to make huge differences year over year in the past. Basically they nerfed the sport but they are selling it very well, much better that at any time in the past, at least outside Europe and especially in the USA. So F1 is going in the direction of becoming a show. I guess that the organization running F1 would love to end up with a much quicker open wheel version of NASCAR. They'll have to get through IndyCar first, with a limited choice of chassis and engines.
- mulmen 3y ago
  The difference between sport and entertainment is when the outcome is decided. In entertainment it is up front, in sport it is at the end. The strictness of the rules is irrelevant.
  - xboxnolifes 3y ago
    I disagree. I could run a full baseball game and then ignore all parts of the game and instead decide the winning team at the end with a coin toss. I would hardly call that a sporting outcome.
brailsafe 3y ago
I suppose one could say that sport would still be sport without the crowd, but then most of the premise might fall apart and competition would be different, smaller scale, money based on bets perhaps. For better or worse the entertainment of others often defines sport as opposed to hobbyist competition. Monster Trucks and Pro Wrestling just don't bother with the aspect of real competition, but real competition is usually arbitrary anyway.