posted on February 19, 2001 12:18:34 PM new
guess it all comes down to supply and demand....after this...few more items will be coming out in the future so everyone's gotta grab something to remember him my....
Granted, I don't think there is anything wrong with selling his items, but good grief...isn't there a time for grieving and reflection???
posted on February 19, 2001 12:25:09 PM new
Battlecreek 25 - I AGREE!!!!
There is no difference in someone selling Dale's things on E-Bay to make a profit than it is for the "general" public to make a profit selling items that everyone buys everyday. Do you think they sell new cars just so you look good in one - NO - they sell them to make a profit.
When a loved one passes away - no one at the funeral home gives you a discount to bury them - they charge you as much as they can get - it is called LIFE PEOPLE.
Do you put an item on E-Bay just to get it out of your house - NO!! It is on there to make a profit - or why pay to list it. It was a very tragic thing but think of how many people die every day - DEATH for anyone is tragic.
If no one wanted the items - they are not obligated to buy! Did you ever think maybe some of the sellers have collected this nascar stuff to sell for a long time. After a race is the best time to sell it - not just because he died.
posted on February 19, 2001 12:42:52 PM new
I am amazed at celebrity worship. To the sellers- make hay while the sun shines.
Earnhardt was a millionaire race car driver, not a god. With cars traveling at those speeds, we should be surprised when all the drivers live ! He was driving a car very fast in circles, not finding a cure for cancer or working for world peace or to end hunger and poverty.
Why anyone would be emotionally upset about someone they never met dying in a sport that is geared for death or injury, and only watched them drive a car in circles, is ridiculous. How many of you are "upset" over the thousands of children that starved to death today ? Get a life !!
When the guy that invented the Polio vaccine died, there was a little blip buried in some papers. Earnhardt is front page all over - why ? Because we're a screwed up society that values hyped meaningless celebrity over things that really matter - the newspapers know it, advertisers know it, Hollywood knows it. All the media play pop culture like a fine tuned violin- and they do it because too many of us will dance to their tune.
Earnhardt dead- my condolences to the family - he may have been a nice fellow, can't tell by watching him drive in circles- he may have even given some of his millions to charity- but they knew the risks - they enjoy and will continue to enjoy the vast sums of money generated from his risky pursuits - and will probably market plates, posters, shirts, wall clocks etc., in memorium. But upset ? Don't think so......
posted on February 19, 2001 02:38:04 PM new
Sharkbaby, thanks for the info, I never knew that and you are right about hiding the feedback. It just does not make sense to me, I am sure it would potential bidders think t
twice.
Latte
posted on February 19, 2001 02:48:43 PM new
I sell NASCAR during racing season and at Holiday Time, besides being an avid fan, I have also made quite a bit of money from it. I will be sleeping well tonight, looking at myself in the mirror with pride that I decided to pull my auctions. The people that are running out looking to grab what they can to sell, that is their business and how they run it. A schmuck I'm not, just an individual who will continue to sell the product when I feel the time is right and I am ready to sell the product. I will continue to make money and will be happy that I made a decision that was right for me. Again, that not only goes for Dale Earnhardt merchandise but all of Nascar as well.
posted on February 19, 2001 05:31:41 PM new
I went to the store today to get something unrelated, and noticed something that wasn't there: racing cards. The local Wal-mart store had a shelf filled with racing cards, those grab boxes and the like, with Dale Earnhardt in one of the viewers in most of them. They'd sat on that shelf for at least a year now. The whole shelf was wiped clean. Not a single racing card left. Amazing.
While I'm not a racing fan myself, it has me very saddened that this great man has perished. What I cannot understand, the before pictures of the wreck (before they cut the car open to get him out) were not that bad. I've seen far worse car crashes, and the drivers would walk away. They need to do something to make these races safer.
posted on February 19, 2001 06:00:19 PM new
Auctionqueenie -
"What I cannot understand, the before
pictures of the wreck (before they cut the car open to get him out) were not that bad."
It's simple physics: the earlier, more spectacular wrecks had cars sideswiping each other, sliding along the wall and spinning and coming to a stop ... all of that motion uses energy, and minimizes the stress on the drivers body.
Earnhartd was going 180+ mph and hit the wall almost head on, from 180 to zero in a split second is a tremendous G-force in the direction his head and neck had the least support in. He broke his neck and was probably dead before the car came to a full stop.
posted on February 19, 2001 06:46:12 PM new
pettytyrant:
That is by far the most distasteful photograph I've ever seen in my life!
As far as someone posting earlier about how stupid we are for feeling sadness for someone that drove in circles, just doesn't understand. We, his fans, loved him for who he was on and off the track.
posted on February 19, 2001 06:59:31 PM new
I just got back from Borders Books and saw a "history of NASCAR" book, beautiful Large size book, 14 x 11 ? Full color, with his picture on the front. Marked doen to $4.99 each. There was a stack of about 20. I was tempted. Probabally could get $100 each for them
posted on February 19, 2001 07:31:14 PM new
I drive 18 miles to the nearest "big town" where the grocery store is every 3 days. Without fail there are a flock of birds from huge Ravens to Golden and Bald Eagles to Magpies on the side of the road eating some other poor creature that had a run-in with a human. They sure don't wait around for something else to find it first. It's the law of survival and nature. Without putting a judgement on someone else, I'd say humans aren't that far off in their actions,or auctions, from our feathered friends.
posted on February 19, 2001 07:44:56 PM new
reamond
I really agree with you about the reaction to Earnhardt's death being a statement regarding the sad state of our American value system, (i.e.) compared to the man who discovered the polio vaccine, Mother Theresa, MacArthur, etc.
Again, this is not a put down regarding Earnhardt, but merely a comment on the pathetic value system most folks in this country seem to have.
Like today I heard how many people were paying high dollar to get to hear Clinton speak at some convention - as a society we rush to pay to hear an amoral man speak….., we lose a well know race car driver, and act like the greatest altruistic humanitarian in history has passed…….sad, very sad!
posted on February 20, 2001 01:40:49 AM new
I agree with BattleCreek,
These people need to grow up! The sellers who are listing hand over fist on ebay did not kill Dale Earnhardt. They are simply taking advantage of a temporary upswing in the marketplace due to an unfortunate situation that is being highly published in all media forms.
Recently, I went to a dollar store and could buy a hardcover book about Princess Di for a buck! The upswing and high prices in the market due to her death IS OVER! In 18-24 months, I'll bet the Earnhardt items will be on the shelf at the dollar store where Princess Di's is right now.
Someone claimed in this thread that he was "a great person". How is that so? He drove a race car. I don't know that his occupation has served mankind in any great degree. Has it? I am in agreement with the poster who stated that we, as a society are so involved in the celebrity status of people who we feel are important.
Actuallly, according to news reports, Earnhardt could have prevented his death by wearing the protective devise used to limit head and neck movement during a crash. He was quoted as saying that it was to confining to wear. A seatbelt is confining, but I still wear one, even if I'm driving across the street.
To the people who have pulled thier auctions in respect to the family or the memory of thier "hero", I have to ask you, WHAT FOR? If you are a regular Earnhardt dealer and stop listing the items out of respect, you better plan on losing money. If any of you do, I think that you will start listing when you see the potential profit that you are losing. I don't really think that the family cares about the ebay seller and how much or little profit they make. The Earnhardt name and logo is a copyrighted item and the family makes money on any item produced. Think of EPE, that is Elvis Presly Enterprises. The king is still making money even thou he has been dead for years.
In my final thoughts...
Dale Earnhardt was a race car driver who died in a terrible accident. That was a job he chose and was paid very well for.
He was not a hero of any sort. There are many heros in our society that go unnoticed every day. They are Medical Researchers,
Doctors, Police Officers, Teachers, Military Personal, and Blood and Orgar Donors just to name a few.
This death is a tradegy and I'm sure the family is suffering terribly, just as any other family would suffer. However, just because he had a job that made him alot of money and famous, he was only a person, just like anybody else. There is nothing wrong with having personalities that you admire, but some people need to refocus thier thinking.
[ edited by yeager on Feb 20, 2001 02:56 AM ]
[ edited by yeager on Feb 20, 2001 02:58 AM ]
posted on February 20, 2001 04:03:12 AM new
I beg to differ - he WAS a hero - to his daughters, sons, wife, friends.
That man did so many wonderful things off the race course, you have no idea! You shouldn't, you didn't follow his career, but that doesn't give you or anybody else the right to tell us, his fans, how we should be feeling about his death.
Yes, he was a hero, and he always will be to his fans.
posted on February 20, 2001 04:28:36 AM new
Dale Evans died recently too! As of this morning, there were 1,111 completed auctions (title search only) with Dale Evans in the name. There are 390 active auctions. This stinks. I'm just glad my first name isn't Dale.
posted on February 20, 2001 05:11:58 AM new
Please understand that I'm not trying to lessen your feeling of loss about Dale Earnhardt.
I have followed the news of his death on national TV and the reports have told that he was one of the founding members of NASCAR. First starting on a dirt track in 1959, but it made no mention of funding of any charities or charitlable work of any sort. Maybe you can help us understand what he did off the track to help the public in general.
Here is the defination of hero from my dictionary. A man of great courage, nobility, ect. Driving a race car is something that he liked to do. Nobody forced him, so there was no real courage involved.
An example of nobility in my book would be the recent story reported on Detroit TV news of the 80 year old black man who worked for many years in the Detroit auto factories as a fork lift operator. He worked hard, saved his money, invested wisely, and lived frugally. He (a high school drop out) was honored by local university authorities for donating for the second time a check of $200,000 to a local university for scholarships. No they aren't going to name a building after him. His reward is that the school will hang a picture of his parents in the building. HE IS A HERO. No one will sell anything of his on ebay either, and when he dies, nobody will discuss him on these boards.
[ edited by yeager on Feb 20, 2001 05:15 AM ]
[ edited by yeager on Feb 20, 2001 05:17 AM ]
[ edited by yeager on Feb 20, 2001 05:19 AM ]
posted on February 20, 2001 05:25:45 AM new
I don't think for one minute you were minimizing his death, I just think sometimes people don't realize that everyone deals with death in different ways.
As far as Dale goes, he was kind in every sense of the word. A couple of stories come to mind. A local pastor was talking with him about the fact he needed to raise money with a fund raiser for a parking lot for the church, and Dale just took out his checkbook and wrote him a $10,000.00 check for the parking lot.
Another close friend, Jerry Punch, relates that when he was covering a football game and his wife was 8 months pregnant, Dale called her and asked if she was okay and she said yes. It was snowing horribly and they lived in the mountains somewhere at the time, so Dale sent some people over there in a 4 wheel drive to stay with her until Jerry came home, just in case there were any problems.
In 1999 when Dale Jarrett won the championship he wanted to take a lot of friends to NY to celebrate and asked Dale if he could borrow his private plane and just bill him. Well, when he got the bill it said paid in full, congratulations from Teresa and Dale.
He was just a kind hearted man that would do anything for his friends.
He was also involved, I understand, with Make a Wish Foundation. I wish I had had the chance to meet him. My husband did and he said he will always carry that single moment with him forever. In my house, it feels like a family member has died, just so somber. But, I also have the fond memories and that's what makes this easier, not easy, but easier.
posted on February 20, 2001 07:21:12 AM new
A few years ago my dad died. After the funeral we had the task of going through his belongings and dividing them up between the family members. Having a momento from a person that died is not a bad thing--it's a very comforting thing. We shouldn't be haranguing the E-bay sellers or buyers for providing this service. It's a human trait to want to hold onto something that reminds us of that person--be it a commercialized promo item or my dad's watch. It could be worse--I just read the other day that when Mozart died he was buried almost completely bald. At that time it was customary to take a lock of hair of the deceased person as a momento.
posted on February 20, 2001 07:25:05 AM new
At first, as an avid fan of Dale's I was offended by these eBay offerings, but after reading so many posts about wanting momentos my feelings on that have changed somewhat. I still think it's sad to capitalize on someone's death, but at the same time for those who never had the opportunity, nor took the time to buy something to remember him by, I have to agree that the seller's are providing them with that.
posted on February 20, 2001 07:33:40 AM new
Hello Yeager,
"Nobody forced him, so there was no real courage involved."
Are you implying that real courage is only attributed to those who do something under coercion?
I would think the exact opposite is more true. Real courage is when you have the choice of doing or not doing something and choose to do it despite the greater personal risk the action represents.
posted on February 20, 2001 09:18:46 AM new
LET THE XXXXXXXXXX BEGIN!!!!!!
For God's Sake, what made Dale Earnhart a Hero, worthy of worship. He drove fast and turned right(or left). Big hairy deal. He posted absolutely no improvement to the Human condition, saved no lives(though, probably several worshiper were killed trying to imitate him), no cures for disease, and the only help he did was himself to your money. So many people pass away each day who actually made an IMPROVEMENT to someone else's lives who are totally ignored while our celebrities are mourned, while during their life, DID NOTHING! Even a chicken, when it is killed, feeds a family....
Edited because I used the wrong word and for the life of me can not remember the right one....
[ edited by mark090 on Feb 20, 2001 01:28 PM ]
posted on February 20, 2001 09:50:07 AM new
It's so nice to see all of the rednecks come together to mourn.
raemond: He didn't just drive in circles. Sometimes he drove in ovals.
Oh, and I just noticed that Abraham Lincoln has a very slight resemblence to Dale Earnhardt. I think I'll flush all of my 5 dollar bills down the john--since it wouldn't be respectful to spend them now.
[ edited by battlecreek25 on Feb 20, 2001 09:55 AM ]
posted on February 20, 2001 10:19:41 AM new
I'm really not sure why I am responding here.
To the comments about the HANS device being too confining? The device is very new, only recently released, is just now going under testing and is very crude. There is significant concern that in the event of a fire related crash that due to the confining nature of the device a driver would not be able to exit his car unassisted. It can be long seconds on the large speedways before an emergency crew can reach you. How often have you seen drivers scramble out of their cars to escape fire long before the emergency crews arrive? Can you imagine if everyone of those had to sit and wait to be released from the device before they could exit the car? It is well known that a driver's greatest fear is fire. It is a horrible way to die, a horrible injury to recover from. Secondly many experts including Nascar officials have concerns that the confining nature of the HANS device may actually increase the incidence of accidents due to the restrictions of allowing the driver to have a comfortable field of vision and being a distraction to their concentration. There is a REAL potential, that until testing is complete, the device could cost more lives than it saves.
The head emergency physician on the scene has confirmed that it is very unlikely that the device would have saved Dale's life due to the G forces involved. True we will never know.
It saddens me that so many people who have never followed his career and know so little of him speak so flippantly about his passing and admonish those of us who are grieving. Give us a little credit for educating ourselves on his history, and having followed his career for 2 decades before accusing us of throwing ourselves at his feet in a juvenile case of hero worship.
He was a true role model. I can't think of an actor that I would consider a role model for my child. I can think of very few celebrity athletes or government politicians that I would truly consider a role model. As a whole the racing community are composed of folks who are conservative, hardworking, moral and believe in God. You don't hear about race car drivers plotting murders, getting arrested for drug use, bragging about the number of women they have slept with, etc. etc.
Dale loved God. He loved his family. And he loved racing. Those 3 things in that order. He was fiercely in love with his wife, adored his children and was a moral man. I once saw an interview where Dale stated that his utmost goal in life, above and beyond an 8th championship was to raise his children to be *good* people. He felt that he had succeeded in that, and therefore no matter else what happened in life he was a success.
We are sorely lacking in this society people that share that belief.
Racing is a wholesome sport whole families can enjoy together. There are those of us who can't afford to go on vacations, go to movies, participate in hands on sports or do a lot of things many families do for recreation. But as a family we can afford to invite Dale into our living room every week to entertain us. To share in his victories and losses alike. To learn more about the man, what he stood for and what he hoped to achieve.
Dale is a shining example for every blue collar worker in the world that you can succeed with focus and determination. He was a high school dropout. Never had a thing handed to him in his life. He earned everything he has on his own. And he showed us along the way that you don't have to give up or compromise your values. He didn't race for the money. Heck he didn't need it! The man likely has more money than Pierre. He could have retired years ago. He raced for the sheer love of the sport.
I'm bright. I'm smart. I was my class Valedictorian. I was on the Dean's list every quarter and the President's list every year at a major California University. I participate in a number of local charities and non-profit groups. I homeschool my children, one of which has been invited to participate in a program at John Hopkins University for gifted children. I was a long time 4-H leader. We support our church and a local Christian camp. I own 3 different successful small businesses and do free-lance work for national publications. I help to run a family farm and my husband's General Engineering contracting business.
So if that's what you call a redneck then I'm proud to be one.
I choose my heroes/role models wisely. My list is pretty short. Ronald Reagan, Billy Graham, George Bush Sr. and Dale Earnhardt. Margaret Thatcher rates up there pretty high too.
Go ahead an bash away. Put down someone you know little about. Make callus comments about how he could have used a newly introduced device to save his life when you know nothing of the details involved, heck you don't even know what it's called. Quote comments someone made stating Dale would run over his mother to beat Richard Petty. Is that why he took a back seat and allowed a person who had never won a Winston Cup race in his life much less the Daytona to get a safe lead and win? A race where he didn't make a run on him though he likely could have? A race where his son adopted the same philosophy and equally hung back and worked with the leader to allow someone else to share the joy they had experienced? Make comments about how our loyalty is displaced and we should be placing our support behind more deserving individuals. Re: the comment about Billy Graham ... I've been to a Billy Graham event and have heard him speak live ... have you? You don't know anything about me, but you are making broad sweeping assumptions about my values and what you perceive as misguided loyalty.
I've participated on eBay boards for nearly 4 years. I know better than participating in a discussion that cannot be won. I know better than opening up my heart for my emotions to be trampled on.
I just want those of you who are speaking in judgment to those of us feeling a great loss right now that no matter what you may think ...
my tears are real.
In conclusion this is posted on the Nascar Page:
Welcome to the official online store of Nascar:
Out of respect to Dale Earnhardt, his immediate family, all the employees of Dale Earnhardt, Inc., and all his fans and friends, NASCAR.com Store is currently not accepting orders on Dale Earnhardt products.
