Sports > October 29, 2003

By Mike Scott

Senior Reporter

Many people would say that the most important experiences in life are the ones where you learn something about yourself, the experiences that tell you who you are. For instance, after writing an article two weeks ago, I learned that I was “absolutely an absurd journalist,” an “assumed knowledge expert” on tractor pulls, “an idiot” and “ignorant.”

During my time at this paper, I’ve written articles on just about every sport on campus and I’ve written columns on plenty of sports that aren’t on campus. In the three-plus years I’ve been at this newspaper, I had received exactly one response to my articles. It turns out all I needed to do to get feed back was write about a tractor pull. At least 12 different pull enthusiasts took issue with my column and in the interest of airing both sides of an argument, I thought I’d share a few of their responses here.

First, there was Cale Hutchings, who commented, “There is more technology in one bolt of a pulling tractor then you have in the PC you write your trash on,” and “I would just dare you in all your mighty knowledge to even attempt to figure out how a pulling machine even works. There are many people associated with our sport that could buy and sell you.” Apparently the Committee on Information Technology needs to attend a tractor pull before deciding what kind of features to include on next year’s laptops.

Thankfully, Hutchings clarified his remarks at the end of his email: “I do challenge your opinion.” It’s a good thing, too - up until that point I had thought he was congratulating me on an article well-written.

There was also Wes Miller, who informed me that, “If the purpose of the assignment was to remain narrow-minded and uppity, you followed it to the letter,” before telling me that tractor pulling has been on such widely-viewed television channels as ESPN2, SpeedChannel, Outdoor Channel, Travel Channel, Discovery and the History Channel for as long as six years. After learning this, I became surprised that I had never seen an event on TV — you see, my roommate’s TV periodically blinks out, giving us access to only the Outdoor Life Network. I’ll have to keep an eye out for tractors the next time that happens. Head Coach Jim Grobe will also be glad to know that Miller thinks freshman quarterback Ben Mauk, a redshirt this year, is “the future of the football program,” and “the real deal.”

The next e-mail, despite the content, was rather exciting to receive, as I found out that the OGB has gained an international following. Sascha Mecking of Harsewinkel, Germany advised me to “take a few mechanical and physical lessons to get a slight idea about what he saw there. A lack of knowledge on your end doesn’t qualify for comments about other people being stupid.” Mecking also informed me that tractor pullers are far surpassing the current norms of mechanics as, “You have to more than stretch the limits of the current knowledge in engineering to at least not make yourself look like a fool.”

There was also Sam Markel, who said, “It sounds like you are an idiot,” before asking, “So I am also guessing that you don’t like Nascar, drag racing, or any other sport with a motor?” Well Sam, no, I am not a particular fan of “motor sports.” In fact, I am of the opinion that “lumber sports” come closer to qualifying as sports than “motor sports” do. Many of the e-mails pointed out the amount of hard work that goes into making a champion pulling tractor, and I take these people at their word that these are pretty impressive machines. But that’s the thing — they’re machines. If engineering were a sport, people would buy tickets to watch GM’s workers design their next car. Be it NASCAR, NHRA or the great tradition of tractor pulling, it’s my view that the outcomes in “motor sports” have a lot more to do with the engine underneath than the person on top. To me, seeing whose car has the biggest engine is something people do on Friday nights at the barbecue joint near my house, but it’s not a sport. Now, let’s get back to the tractor pull hate mail, before I get more angry letters for taking issue with the national pastime of North Carolina.

While some e-mails did little more than take issue with myself, my “city slicker buddies” and my “pompous attitudes,” a couple of points do need to be addressed. First off, some people seemed to think that the article reflected the view of the publication as a whole. This is a personal column, meaning it reflects nothing at all outside of my personal view of things. It’s not necessarily intended to be informative or journalism for that matter. I try to write things that I think people might find interesting and enjoyable. That’s it.

Secondly, I was informed by Eddie Faulkner, Jr., the sled operator and mini-modified director for the United Pullers of the Carolinas, that the event I witnessed was an Old Time Tractor Puller’s Association sanctioned event, or as he described it, an antique tractor pull. Eddie was of the opinion that, were I to attend a UPOC National Tractor Pullers Association event, I would quickly become an advocate of the sport. Unfortunately, I was unable to accept Mr. Faulkner’s invitation to attend the big time pulls at the North Carolina State Fair Oct. 17-19. As the sign outside the event simply said “Tractor Pull,” I was not aware that I was not attending a “major league” tractor pull. I do apologize if my comments unfairly characterized full-scale tractor pulling.

Finally, it seems many people felt I was disparaging the fans of tractor pulling. I don’t believe that at any point I characterized them as stupid or in any other way badmouthed those at the event.

Hopefully, I’ll at some point in the future be fortunate enough to witness a “real” tractor pull. Who knows, maybe then I’ll be the one sending hate mail to pompous, uppity college writers.