PARK POINT…. It was recently announced that the National Rifle Association would be sponsoring a future NASCAR event, a race known as “The Texas Shootout” at the Texas Motor Speedway. Based on current socio-political events, the resulting fervor was akin to Granny taking a broom to the beehive on Uncle Jed’s porch on the Beverly Hillbillies. Anyway, here is some foundation from me. I am not really a NASCAR fan—I am a big fan of “open wheel” racing, better known as “Indy cars.” Also, when I was growing up, an uncle of mine was a sponsor of a United States Auto Club Sprint car. I also have always liked the cars known as “midgets,” which are similar to sprint cars.

The sprints and midgets are not big in Minnesota racing but do make occasional appearances. One thing I do like about NASCAR is when a broadcast cuts to the on-board cameras and audio and the commentators shut up. That is just downright awesome. But it is rare for me to watch any NASCAR events. I’m just not a fan and don’t know much about the cars or their drivers. When it comes to the NRA, well, I am not a hunter and do not own a gun. Never have and probably never will. They just hold no interest for me whatsoever.

My first exposure to them was when I was a teenager and a neighbor’s son accidentally killed himself with a hunting rifle. If I ever was to get an interest in them, that incident didn’t draw me nearer. However, please note that I stand with the Second Amendment and believe that if a citizen in good standing wants to own a gun, or guns, within reason, and is responsible with them, then go ahead by all means. I don’t think the average citizen needs assault weapons, or weapons with high-round capacities (however you wish to define them), and I don’t think the nutcase down the street needs to be able to own a howitzer or have a tank in his garage.

For those backwoods Neanderthal militia types who believe we need to “arm up” to be able to battle our own “guvmint” someday, I have some bad news for you. You can buy all of the rifles, assault or otherwise, and pistols you want and you will still be vastly out-armed and outmanned. You will be what a lot of us have for breakfast every morning: toast. And in light of way too many recent and past mass shootings, the topic of guns and violence in our society has been thrust squarely into our faces once again and should be. But the real debate we should be having isn’t occurring because of fanatical extremism on either end of the debate. How do we balance the right to own guns against the right to be safe when out and about in society?

Allow me to note that I believe the largest majority of NRA members are responsible gun owners and want to spread that message of safe ownership to all who desire to own guns. The NRA itself? Well, I believe they really don’t represent their membership as much as they are a lobbying arm for the gun manufacturers of this country. Case in point, right after the recent shootings at Sandy Hook elementary school that took the lives of 26 people, 20 of them children, the NRA leader’s advice to the public was to go out and buy more guns. At a time when the group could have made some real political hay and sounded sympathetic and concerned about what had occurred, he blew it.

Anyway, my thought on the NASCAR-NRA marriage is kind of mixed. The NRA has a right to do what they wish with the funds they have raised, political or otherwise. The race itself has a kind of gun aura about it with the winner shooting a six shooter at the end of the race and being awarded a custom rifle as well. It is also no secret that NASCAR is down in popularity. But in light of recent events, is this the kind of exposure they really need to revive themselves? Is this marriage of convenience in good taste?   

In a recent race, one of the cars had a Sandy Hook Relief Fund paint job on it. And in one of the next ones, there will be the NRA footprint all over it. Mixed message? 92 percent of Americans are okay with background checks for gun ownership. A lot of people are also beginning to realize that violence and mental health issues are the bedfellows that go hand in hand with the proliferation of psychotropic drug prescriptions in today’s mindset of a pharmacological remedy for everything wrong in our world. So what of the NRA’s sense of timing, or the lack thereof, in this sponsorship deal?

I believe they are opportunists with bad taste. They continually make poor PR decisions like this and thrive on the ensuing controversy. In light of the recent deaths of 20 school kids—imagine that, defenseless school kids gunned down in cold blood—this organization continues to thrust their political power in the faces of all, NRA members or not. Even if I were an NRA member, I would be shaking my head at this. It is simply not the time or the place. I think this group needs to take a serious look at its image management department, if it even has one….  PEACE

MFAN HOCKEY NOTES OF THE WEEK: the Minnesota Wild did not end the Blackhawks’ streak last Tuesday night as I thought they would. That ended at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche on the back end of a home and home. They bested the Hawks 6-2 in Denver on Friday eve. Kudos to the Hawks, though. Heck of a run.

I went 6-1 on my Class A bracket of the state tourney, missing out on a 7-0 when Hermantown lost to St. Thomas Academy in most controversial fashion. I was 4-3 in the Class AA bracket after Duluth East didn’t make it past the semis. Congrats to both squads and coaching staffs, though—you both had remarkable seasons.

St. Cloud and the Gophers will be sharing the last WCHA regular-season title as we know the league now. Starting next season, the league will be vastly different. The Gophers have won the WCHA women’s tourney, posting two shutouts en route to the title. They are now 38-0 on the season… OVER & OUT!!

Marc Elliott is a freelance sports opinion writer who splits time between his hometown in Illinois and Minnesota. Elliott grew up in the Twin Cities with many of his childhood neighbors working or playing for the Vikings and Twins. He participated in baseball, football and hockey before settling on hockey as his own number one sport. Elliott wrote “The Masked Fan Speaks” column for the Lake County News Chronicle for ten years and was a prominent guest on the former “All Sports” WDSM 710AM in Duluth.