ETV’s “Take on the South” Asks, “Which is the Most Popular Southern Sport: Football or NASCAR?”

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ETV's "Take on the South" Asks, "Which Is the Most Popular Southern Sport: Football or NASCAR?"

Premieres Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m.

For Immediate Release
October 28, 2010

Columbia, SC… There is no denying that Southern culture is steeped deeply in sports, almost as much as it is in religion and cooking. So valued are they, weddings and other major social events are scheduled so as not to interfere with games; season tickets and parking passes are written into wills; and headlines and photos about the local team are placed above the newspaper's own masthead on an almost daily basis.

In a society so obsessed with sports, which one reigns supreme as the most popular in the South: Football or NASCAR? And why?

Those are the questions posed by host Dr. Walter Edgar on the next episode of "Take on the South," the occasional series on ETV that will air on Wednesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m., just days before both NASCAR's final Chase for the Cup race on Sunday, Nov. 21, and the end of the regular college football season, not only for Clemson and USC, but for the rest of college football. Additional air dates are listed below.

Joining Edgar in the discussion are:

Dr. Daniel Pierce, Author and History Department Chair at the University of North Carolina Asheville
Dr. Harvey "Hardy" Jackson III, Author and Eminent Scholar in History, Jacksonville State University, located in Jacksonville, AL

Jackson, arguing for the pigskin, says that "Football is the most important sport in the South because football holds communities and towns and neighborhoods together. It bonds Southerners of different classes and circumstances, races and religions in a way no other activity has done and is likely to do."

Pierce, arguing for the pitstop, grants that football attendance numbers might be higher and might generate more revenue, but will never be the more important Southern sport.

Football, he says, was "a gift TO the South… from that most un-Southern of institutions, the Ivy League.

"NASCAR, on the other hand, is a gift FROM the South… to the world. An original cultural contribution that should stand proudly alongside such wonderful Southern cultural gifts as Jazz, the Blues, Country music, Bluegrass, Andy Griffith, Coca-Cola and the Moon Pie."

In Favor of Football:

According to Jackson, the game's popularity soared in the South because it was cheap to play and was a way to enjoy time together after the harvest season. Of course, it also helped that almost any boy could play despite his body type, since the game required different kinds of players, from fast and agile wide receivers to lumbering and powerful lineman.

At a time when few went to high school, much less college, the game continued to bring Southerners together, especially after the 1926 Rose Bowl game, when the University of Alabama beat the University of Washington, in a contest later called "The Game that Changed the South," and that Jackson says also "made the sport more than a game." Regardless of whether they went to college or not, masses of people across the region tuned into their radios to hear "their" team defeat those Yankees in Washington.

Jackson also talks about the importance of football in bringing about racial integration, citing the 1970 drubbing the all-white Alabama team took at the hands of the integrated University of Southern California's team--and in particular black running back Sam "The Bam" Cunningham. This game, he says, is credited with "convincing Alabama fans that winning was more important than segregation." Integration of teams across the South soon followed suit.

In Support of NASCAR

Of course, NASCAR's origins in bootlegging is well known. But Pierce says that the drudgery of living in the confined poverty of mill towns dotting the Southern states and dominated almost all aspects of daily life played a large role in the rise of stock car racing.

Running liquor was a way out of the mills (or a way to stay out) when most people didn't go to high school, but rather went straight to the mills when they turned 14 years old.

However, it was also the "ultimate expression of freedom," for a working-class looking to "transcend the limitations of life." The men who were racing on those back roads were living on the edge and gained legions of fans hungry to live vicariously through their actions. Tracks soon followed, where people could watch these drivers test their mettle and mechanical know-how against each other.

Not only did the sport originate in the South, but the founder of NASCAR, Bill France, was a Southerner, and although stock car racing has exploded in popularity, the entire operating structure still remains a family affair.

Additional Airdates:

Encore presentations of this episode of "Take on the South" will air on:

ETV-HD: Sunday, Nov. 21 at 5 p.m.
The South Carolina Channel: Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 10 p.m.
ETV World: Wednesday, Dec. 1 at 9 a.m.

"Take on the South" is produced by South Carolina ETV and is distributed nationally by the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA). Funding for the program was provided by the University of South Carolina's Institute for Southern Studies with a grant from the Watson-Brown Foundation. The program won a 2010 Southeast Regional Emmy award for set-design, and was also nominated in the "Informational/Instructional" programming category.

South Carolina ETV is the state's public educational broadcasting network with 11 television and eight radio transmitters, and a multi-media educational system in more than 2,500 schools, colleges, businesses and government agencies. Using television, radio and the web, SCETV's mission is to enrich lives by educating children, informing and connecting citizens, celebrating our culture and environment and instilling the joy of learning.

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For more information, contact Rob Schaller at (803) 737-6556 or rschaller@scetv.org.