Mark's Blog (Original eh?!)

Daytona Beach 2010

2010-09-09T15:13:00.001-04:00

Thankfully we had a beautiful morning to get under way and just to show you how excited we BOTH were to be getting away, we got on the road 15 minutes early! It wasn’t easy either with all of the crap we packed into the car. You would have thought we were going to a motel for a month! Even I did a terrible job of packing, but since it was just the two of us I wasn’t too worried. But we said so long to the cats and headed out.
We made great time through IN, KY and TN and were deep into GA before we stopped for the day. We ran into a driving rainstorm just south of Macon and it just about took it out of me. We stopped a little while later to eat, but the damn power was off in the area and we had to push on.
We made it down to Tifton, GA and decided we had to eat. We wanted to make Valdosta for the night, but while we were eating we just decided that we were close enough. Besides, with today’s start we probably would get up early enough to make up the 50 or so miles in the morning.
We ate at the Cracker Barrel and I got my chicken and dumplings! While we were there we called around to see how much rooms were. We didn’t want to spend a lot for just a few hours. Most of the places we called wanted $100 or so for the night. I thought that was too high. We decided to move on down the road when I spotted a ratty looking Rodeway Inn. I popped in and they just wanted $50 for the night and it didn’t look too terrible, so we deiced to stay. It was a good day and we pretty much accomplished what we set out to do.
SATURDAY
Saturday morning in Southern GA was gray and gloomy. But, we were up early and ready to go by 6. We had a five hour drive in to Daytona Beach and couldn’t really check in until 2 so we were in good shape. Worst case scenario I would have to hang by the pool and drink beer for a couple of hours. What a bummer;).
By the time we crossed into FL it was still crappy outside. We passed JAX and it was almost to Daytona Beach that we saw blue skies. We arrived about 11 at the Wyndham Ocean Walk. They had a room ready, but it was ocean view and we really wanted ocean front, so we decided to wait for an ocean front. We told the Wyndham people we didn’t want to speak to them this time around. While they seemed put off by this we got our parking pass and pool wristbands and moved on.
Now it was time to get into some swim suits and hit the pool and bar, not necessarily in that order. Of course we had a cooler with us and I had secreted a couple of coldies in there for just his moment and I don’t know if I even made it to through the lobby before one of them was gone.
Anyway, we found a couple of seats and waited for the front desk to call and let us know our room was ready. In the meantime I headed out to check out the ocean. Salty and cool, it was just as I had remembered. I came back in and went to the bar. I was pleased to find that the 16 oz. draft was just $3 and would be all week.
After a cold one I headed to the pool and some folks were hitting a volleyball around. I joined in and we played a couple of impromptu games when Linda came and told me our room was ready.
We headed in and got our keys, some towels for the pool and a cart to get our stuff up to the room. We were in room 1415 in the South Tower. We were at the far south end of the building. We weren’t really overlooking the pool which kind of sucked but later in the week our position would turn out to be advantageous.
The room was nice as we have come to expect from Wyndham. They may have annoying sales techniques, but all of the places at which we have stayed have been top notch. This was no exception and we had a lot of room as we had upgraded to a two room deluxe suite. This one had the whirlpool tub, shower, flat screen TV’s in all of the rooms and the usual full kitchen and laundry.
After we dumped off our gear we headed back down to the pool and had some onion rings and some more beers. Well, I had some beers!
We didn’t stay out too late that day. Unless you pick the right few chairs at the Ocean Walk pool, you lose the sun by 3:00 pm. We knew this and since we didn’t get out to the pool until almost noon, those seats were history. We headed back upstairs about 4 with the only threat looming was Hurricane Earl and it looked like it wasn’t going to be much of a factor.
We got cleaned up and did our trip to Wal Mart. Let me tell you, the clientele at the Wally World in Daytona Beach is no better, and maybe worse than that of any Wal Mart in Indy! Okay, we got some food and beer and we got a couple of beach chairs in case we went out to the beach for a whole day. Turns out we never did, but what the hell. We also got some noodles for the pool.
When we got back it was almost time for the Indy Car race and the only place we knew of to watch it was at the Legends Sports Bar in the Hilton since our place didn’t (or so we thought) have Versus. By this time I was pretty hammered having had nothing but onion rings to eat all day and several cocktails. So we made the trek to the Hilton and found the bar. It was a nice place and I had a really good burger and waffle cut fries. I was only able to watch about half the race and I was ready to call it a night. For some reason my knee was hurting and I had just had enough of this day.
We were here, had been to the store so we had accomplished what we needed to do for day one! Linda stayed up and watched some fireworks that evening, but I turned in fairly early. Tomorrow wasn’t supposed to be a real nice day but we’d have to wait and see.

SUNDAY
Up early but my knee fucking hurts like hell. The sky is gray and it’s only about 70 degrees out. Based on the forecast I’m not getting my panties in a wad but my knee is a bummer. I put some ice on it and see if I can get it to feeling better but it’s of little use.
We kill some time in the room deciding what to do. Linda doesn’t want me in the ocean because the jackbag on TV keeps talking about rip tides. I’m not really interested, but to appease her this early on I decide not to go to the ocean. Besides, I hurt too much to really do anything.
Linda suggests we go to the mall. I think she means the next door mall, but she means the one across town. I really don’t want to and pout a little. Turns out I bought a book and she didn’t buy anything. It also turns out to be just about the funniest book I have ever read. I don’t remember the author off the top of my head but the book was called Emails From An Asshole. Absolutely hilarious. Reading a bit of it definitely helped my mood.
We decided to take a look around town and just drove up and down Atlantic Ave. We drove almost down to the Ponce Inlet and then back up north past Ormond Beach. The Treasure Island is still standing, but it still isn’t open. I remember going there on Spring Break when I was a senior in high school and it was one of the nicest places you could imagine. I guess time takes care of everything.
After we drove we decided to stop at a place called Charlie Horse for some lunch. It was good, nothing extra special, but a nice little joint and reasonable. I had another burger. Linda had some fish sandwich. She liked it a lot.
After that we just went back to the condo. It was still kind of crappy out but not as bad. Finally I decided to go for a swim and Linda went for a walk. My knee still hurt so I wasn’t really into a walk. Afterward we popped across the street and grabbed a pizza at the Napoli Pizza. I thought it was really good. We watched a Carol Burnett special on TV, ate our pizza and pretty much called it a day. I hate being grumpy on vacation, but my knee hurting was just too much to overcome. Sucked!

MONDAY
Well the skies were still cloudy, but not near as bad as Sunday morning and it was evident that the skies would clear as the day went on so I went down and set up shop in the chairs we knew would get the sun the longest. The beauty of these seats is that they are at the prime people watching position as well as being near the bar! We set up camp and then went in and got our free juice and pastry from Wyndham in exchange for hearing from a few local merchants. Pretty painless.
My knee wasn’t great but it was better. I figured if I laid low today I’d be back to about 100% by tomorrow. I was pretty much right. We pretty much just hung out at the pool. I went out to the ocean a few times, but mainly had a few cold ones and enjoyed the sunshine. Met another Wyndham owner from Dalton, GA. He had some useful info that I can use in the future so that was nice. I’d meet another guy from Orlando later in the week who also had some tips.
We kind of started a string of days where we didn’t really eat any lunch. On this particular day I started with a Fosters and then it was all downhill from there. I went up and made a small cooler but ended up buying from the bar as well and had one of their specialty Voodoo Juice cocktails. It didn’t taste like much but it had a shitload of liquor in it!
Anyway we just hung out until we lost the sun and went back to the room and laid around until dinner. Actually this would become the MO for pretty much every day of the week! Sweet!
We went to the mall next door for dinner. Stopped at a place called Sloppy Joe’s. I figured it was just a name, but turns out they actually had a Sloppy Joe sandwich on the menu. And as it turns out, this bad boy was big and tasty. Served with fries and the obligatory cold beer it was a winner! Linda had the same thing and we both really liked it. Turns out Dalton, GA and his crew were there as well that night.
That day they had begun setting up a stage in front of the bandshell that is in a plaza between the Hilton and the Wyndham. We weren’t sure what was going on but at dinner that night we found out that the city was having a music festival starting Wednesday evening. Tony Bennett was the opener while the Jonas Brothers closed it out Sunday night. In between Blake Shelton, Buddy Guy, Usher and Huey Lewis played at various local venues. Shelton would play Thursday night while Guy played Saturday afternoon and Lewis that night. This is where our room location would prove advantageous. While we weren’t able to really see the shows we could hear them fine from our balcony. We asked the waitress at Sloppy Joes how much to reserve the table at the open window that overlooked the bandshell venue and she said it only had a $25 per person minimum. Not too bad thought I.
Anyway, we pretty much called it a night after dinner and went back to the room and watched The Family Man show and called it a night.

TUESDAY
The day started, and frankly rolled out pretty much the same as Monday. We did have breakfast at the IHOP. Mmmm! Grits! By the pool, beers, a few jaunts to the sea and a lot of swimming. I have to hand it to the two ladies who ran the Turtles Nest, the pool bar. They were awesome. The guys who worked a couple of days weren’t as good, but all in all it was excellent service!
During the afternoon they have a girl who does hair braids, wraps and henna tattoos. I asked as Linda was kicking around the idea of a tattoo, so I thought I’d check prices. I also asked about a hair wrap for me. Well needless to say, an hour later I had two really cool hair wraps on the right side of my scalp. They were with white beads for Colts colors. Later in the week a girl would ask me “Sir, is your hair braided?” like I was a ruh-tard. She may be on to something!
After I came up from the pool I was going to go fly my kite but my Spongebob kite was missing a few pieces so I had to buy a new one the next morning. To top it off we never really had any wind the rest of the week.
A few years ago when we were down here me and Linda at a little Italian place called Portofino and really enjoyed it. The concierge at the Wyndham recommended a place called Anna’s, but it was closed. So we ended up driving until we found the Portofino down south on Atlantic and we really liked it. We vowed to make it one of our dinners this time around and tonight was the night.
We drove down to the joint and like last time we were about the only ones there. That’s okay though. We liked it and what did we care if no one else did? We had our usual; Linda the lasagna and I the spaghetti with Italian sausage. Add a salad and their homemade bread and we came away happy campers again! We didn’t do much else that night. Kind of hung out and watched some poker on TV. My pattern doesn’t change much from home

WEDNESDAY
We finally had a beautiful sunrise and it was going to be a cloudless day. Linda didn’t want to go to the pool too early so I went down and claimed our chairs. Then I took a walk down towards the Hilton and the bandshell to scope things out. They had a memorial for the motorcycle racers from the past which was pretty cool. I wandered around the pool deck of the Hilton just to check it out. It was nice, but small compared to our pool deck.
For the most part there wasn’t much to report new today except one thing, some folks from GA showed up with a volleyball in the pool and I wasted no time in getting involved. The activities board kept saying there was pool volleyball at 11 each morning but that never happened. I guess they changed it to 3 and I was in the right spot at the right time. We had about 10 playing so it made for some nice games. They were all real nice so that made it cool to play. When we were done we pretty much agreed to meet the next day for some more games.
That night me and Linda just went next door to the Johnny Rockets for dinner. I like Rockets, but it is pricey for what you get. Still it was good and we were both full after some ice cream at the Cold Stone Creamery.
That night there was a small Texas Hold’em tournament in the bar. $5 entry for some nice prizes. I think we had about 12 play. It was fun, but the dealer was hilarious trying to scare us about the ocean. Earl had wandered further east than earlier expected. It posed no direct threat to us, but the waves would be so bad you couldn’t get on the beach, let alone the water. He was so dramatic!

THURSDAY
When I got up I expected to see 20 foot waves and the tide splashing against the sea wall. Imagine my surprise when nothing really looked any different. Another beautiful day in Daytona Beach! The pool deck was definitely busier today than the previous days. With the upcoming holiday people were starting to head in. I didn’t really notice it too much until Saturday on the elevators, but you could sense more people in the pool and on the beach.
Apparently the chair rental people were sufficiently spooked as they didn’t put out any product for the day.
Well about noon the water did come up as far as it did all week. It did, in fact, come up to the sea wall, but for about 10 minutes. Me and Linda went out to the water and the waves were pretty strong. One low wave came in and the people it hit went tumbling. Thinking I could handle it I laughed as the wave took my legs out from underneath me and sent me flying. As I was going down I looked back and saw my wife go down like a sack of potatoes. It was pretty cool. The water receded in a few minutes and all was back to normal.
Later that day we took another stroll on the beach without incident. We did find a jellyfish that had floated in with the current, but he was dead as fuck.
More volleyball in the pool with my GA friends and I was ready to call it a day for the pool and ocean. Just two more whole days left at the resort, but I was having such a great time I didn’t really think too much about it ending. I would Saturday, but that was 48 hours away!
Thursday night we decided to hit another place we had gone to with Timmy and Tammy a few years back. Our Deck Down Under is situated under a bridge and has some pretty good seafood. It’s nothing fancy mind you. You stand in line and order your food and then stake out a table. Many of the tables are on a deck that is on the water but you have to be lucky to get one. We were lucky! Had a nice big meal of some fried fish and chips. I was going to get some conch fritters but decided to pass. I was glad I did as the fish and chips were more than I could handle!
After dinner we got some pretty cool photographs. My only regret about going on vacation with just my wife is that we end up with a dearth of pictures of just the two of us.
When we got back to the room Blake Shelton had taken the stage at the bandshell and was just starting his show. He wasn’t bad for a new country guy. He did play several covers including the Cheater song (Escape) and All My Ex’es Live In Texas!

FRIDAY
The weather is relentless!! Another beautiful sunrise giving way to another day of bright sunshine. Temps are up as well. Nothing really new today. More sun, more water, more volleyball, more Rocky Mountain Spring Water! I did have quite a few late in the day! Leaving the pool that day I started to feel a little sad knowing we had but one full day left before we had to leave this.
That night we went to Bubba Gumps for dinner. Linda had a steak and I had the Shrimp tower or whatever the hell they call it. It was good, but not great. With the concerts tomorrow night we figured this was our last chance to eat at the mall. There is a new wing place but we wouldn’t make it by on this trip. Hopefully it will be around next year. Hear that honey? Next year, same place!
I wanted to get a T shirt from the Charlie Horse, Sloppy Joe’s and one from the music festival, but I never saw any music festival shirts and when we drove down to the Horse they didn’t have any shirts in my size. SUCK! I did get my Sloppy Joe’s shirt which was cool!
Friday was a quiet night at the bandshell. Usher was at the hoity-toity joint down the street. I heard the ladies in the LBD’s were out en force but I was safely tucked into my room by the time that happened. Going to be I knew we had but one full day ahead of us and we were going to have to move from one room to the next to top it off. I promise myself not to be too much of a dick, but who knows.

SATURDAY

I get up with my stress level rising just because I have no faith in the front desk making today’s move a smooth one. I wouldn’t have to wait long to have it elevate even more. I wait until 8:15 to take our towels down and after that I swing by the front desk to make sure everything is on course to have us move without having to take our stuff to the car or put in the bell man’s office for a couple of hours.
I approach the desk and ask the lady if there everything is cool and I am told we are not on the list for room reassignment. Okay, are we staying in 1415 I ask. No, we have no reservation for tonight and the resort is full. Okay, I’m not hot I’m pissed. This lady tries to appease me by telling me she has Bell’s Palsey. I tell her that doesn’t matter to me and I know it has no affect on what she is telling me. She goes to the back office and tells me that when we upgraded our reservation for the week it somehow cancelled our other reservation. My BS meter is completely off the chart. NFW that our reservation got cancelled for that reason. I’m pissed and she knows it. She goes back to talk to the manager and comes back and tells me that she can reinstate my reservation. Okay, good answer.
Then she drops the “Well since your reservation is now the last one, your room won’t be ready until 4:00” Two steps back! I tell her that is ridiculous and that we were told everything was set and that we would just go from one room to the next around noon. She says no, can’t happen. I remind her we are VIP so we have to have our room by 2:00 anyway. She says she will do what she can. Not good enough.
By this time I am raising my voice and the security guard has stopped to make sure I don’t kill Bells. Look, I know this isn’t her fault personally, but right now she is the face of Wyndham and that face is bad.
She agrees to let us keep our room until noon and we are to check back at that time to see if our new room is ready. She also took our number to call us if it was ready early. Based on some grumbling from a few other customers this was a crapshoot at best to get a room at noon. Frankly I don’t care what time we get the room as long as we can have ours until it’s time to move.
I agree to this plan and head upstairs to gather my wife and head to the pool. Linda is not any happier than me claiming not to leave the room until the new one is ready. Be that as it may I tell her we just need to go hang out and wait until we hear from them. Let it be noted here that I purposely had no beer at this time so if things got ugly I didn’t go to jail!
Of course 11 passed and 11:30 and eventually at 11:55 we went back in. No, the room was not ready, but she will extend our room until 2:00. Fine, but now it’s noon and a Foster’s is beckoning! Well we don’t hear from them again and about 1:45 we go back in. Hooray, the room is ready, boo there are no luggage carts to be found to move our stuff. So we have to hire the bell man. He was a real friendly cuss too.
So anyway we go back to our room and our keys don’t work. Thankfully Mr. Friendly had his master key and got us in. We packed up the cart and moved. The new room was fine, just a one bedroom as opposed to a two. We’re just two floors down as well so we can hear the music tonight if we choose.
With that ordeal out of the way we head back down to the pool. My last day so I am making the most of it with many board rides and yes, more volleyball. Some jackbag from what had to be Boston joined us and ran his mouth for a couple of games. Not sure what he said, but one of the GA guys had a few words with this wheezy windbag and pretty much silenced him. When we were done I said bye to the GA’s and wished them a safe trip back and thanked them for letting me play. They were a nice bunch!
I decided to ramp up the drinking so I headed to the bar. I knew I was out in the room so I better get my fill down here. I had a few and closed out my tab for the last time at the Turtles Nest. As I gathered my towels, board and iPod and started heading in I shed a couple of tears. It had been a great week and anyone who has been to this place knows it’s not easy to leave. I mean it’s nice to get home, but I hate to see vacation end.
I gathered myself and took the resort towels in and turned them in and made the trip upstairs. I really started to lose it going across the lobby. Sometimes I am such a wuss!
That night we wanted to watch the Indy Car race but again, no Versus in the room. So I pooped down to the bar in the lobby and for some reason they had it. So me and Linda went down there and watched the race and ordered a pizza from next door. We enjoyed our last night in FL and sadly I closed out my last tab.

SUNDAY

Travel days aren’t much fun if you are driving. We got an early start out of Daytona Beach and stopped for gas around the FL/GA border. When we stopped to go to the bathroom just south of Macon I thought the car sounded a bit strange. I mean, what the hell were we going to do? It wasn’t an awful sound, just strange.
Just south of the ATL the battery light came on and I started to sweat. The AC was off and we were headed right into downtown ATL. We got through town fine, but just north of town I felt the power steering go. We were on the highway so steering wasn’t an issue, but I knew it wasn’t good. Soon after the ABS and airbag lights came on. They both went out quickly though and now my battery light was off. We were heading past Dalton, GA when I checked to see if we had radio and when we didn’t I knew our days was about done. I lost power right at a Dalton exit and was able to wrestle the car off the highway and into a gas station parking lot.
We discovered the serpentine belt was off and dragging and hoped it just needed to be put back on, but I think I knew better. I called roadside assistance and we had a tow truck there before I was even off the phone with them. We got towed to a Sears Automotive as it was the only thing open at 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon that did any real work.
Once there the mechanic discovered that a bearing had failed and would have to be replaced. They called around but no one in town that was open had one. Looks like were here for the night. Or are we. We give Sears our info and grab a taxi to the Days Inn. Nice Days Inn and reasonable. See Ford, we tried to save you money, because this is on you! Tired, hungry and frustrated we grab showers and walk over to O’Charley’s for a bite of dinner.
We head back to the room, not as nice as the two bedroom at the Wyndham, but what are you gonna do? It was a sucky day. Had to leave FL and vacation and now broke down and having to pay for a room. We had reservations up by Nashville, but obviously never made it. Looking forward to going home tomorrow.

MONDAY

Monday morning 8:30, time to call Sears and find out when we can get our car. As they say “Clank”! The Ford dealer is open, but parts are closed for the Labor Day holiday. It would be at least Tuesday before we could find out if they even have the damn part. FUCK! Stuck in Dalton, GA with no car.
We watch the Pawn Stars marathon most of the day after Saved By The Bell. Finally I go for a swim. I didn’t have my trunks as my suitcase was in the car, a $12 taxi ride away. Linda protested but I went in my skivvies. Hell there wasn’t a soul around.
I did spot a Fudruckers sign across the street and was all whetted up for a burger for dinner. So about 6 we wandered across the road only to find the MF closed. I was pissed. I guess we were going to have to hit the Waffle House. Great, but not as great as Fudruckers! We had a good dinner, the All-Star and left hoping Ryan, the waitress didn’t get the shit beat out of her by her ex who was hanging out in the lot.
We went back to the room and watched some more Pawn Stars until I fell asleep. We will be on the road tomorrow come hell or high water.

TUESDAY

The ordeal continues. Of course at 8:30 we find out that the part is not available at either local Ford dealer and will have to be ordered. It will be here Wednesday. We can’t wait. Linda had already checked around for rental cars and we would have been home had the office been open Monday. But we called Enterprise and they came and got us and we got the car, went to Sears, got our stuff out of the car and headed for Indy in the KIA Rio. It had no luxurious amenities, but it would be good enough!
We stopped in Elizabethtown, KY at the Cracker Barrel for lunch and even it didn’t seem as good. It was just time to be home. Linda took us the rest of the way in and we arrived home at just about 6:00. I wasn’t ready to kiss the ground, but I was glad to be home.

EPILOGUE

Well Linda and Ginny are on their way to Dalton to pick up the car. I just spoke to them and they are almost there and seem to be making pretty good time. We turning all this into Ford for warranty consideration and I suggest they pay it.
As for the vacation itself, it was wonderful. 8 fantastic nights in FL at a resort we both really like. The onion rings were as good as we remembered, the beer was cold and the wait staff was top notch. Other than the one day where my knee was really hurting it was one of the best vacations I have ever had. Hopefully we get to go back to the same place next year and spend another 8 nights. What with Amy and Greg’s impending nuptials it’s hard to know if we can do it next year.

Time for a liver break!

2010-05-24T14:51:00.003-04:00

Now that was some weekend! From the lasagna dinner at Mom’s on Wednesday evening to coming home and absolutely dropping from being exhausted last night it was a great time start to finish!

First of all thanks to my mom and pop for having everyone over for dinner. We had a really nice time. Got to meet my niece’s boyfriend. I thought I put a moratorium on her growing up;) Had some cake and ice cream and got some nice gifts. Now at some point today I have to get those thank you cards out!

Thursday was cloudy and cool, but not cold. I headed out to the track and saw a couple of hours of practice before we got some sprinkles. We were heading out that night for a birthday party so I decided to head home. I got home, got a shower, fed some cats and headed over and got my annual May manicure. Being on my feet all day, they needed a little TLC! Best $25 I spend a couple of times a year.

Then I drove down to Brandon’s on the south side for my birthday party. What a turnout. My wife billed it as a “Girls Night Out” but it was all about me;) I tried to count the number of attendees but could only recall 32! Thanks to everyone who turned out and for the birthday beers and shooters! It was a good thing I only had a couple at the track or I would have been face down on the table at the bar.

Friday, however, I was feeling it. But, being the trouper that I am I chewed up a couple of aspirins, drank a beer and was fine. Me and Linda headed out the Speedway about 10. It was another cloudy and cool day. Costanza didn’t show saying the rain was coming at noon. It didn’t and we enjoyed nearly a full day of practice. Linda even managed to stalk Graham Rahal long enough to get his autograph. I want to get Tomas Scheckter’s but that slippery shit is proving to be quite elusive!

We headed out about 4 from the track when we got some slight precipitation. I knew it was going to be a long couple of days coming up and it was supposed to get hot and sunny so leaving early wasn’t any big deal. I hit the rack early in anticipation of having to get up at 6 the next morning.

Welcome to Pole Day for the 2010 Running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing! At home the day dawned bright, but a little chilly yet. The lady on TV said not to worry that the heat was coming. Okay Nicole, I’ll buy it. We pack up and head out and the closer we get to the Speedway the darker it looks. We stop and get gas in Linda’s car and when I get out I’m cold. Nicole didn’t say I would need a sweater to start the day!

When we get to the track we are parked about where we would park every day. Close to the shuttle stop, so that was a bonus. When we get to the seats we head out to get a bite to eat. We watched practice and honestly, I would have bet against sunshine ever happening on this day.

Finally, after all the festivities we were set for qualifying. The complete story of qualifying can be found at many online sites so I won’t bore you with all of the details, but there were some highlights not the least of which was Princess Poutypuss and her asinine comments.

To no one’s surprise Team Penske and Target Chip Ganassi Racing were fast. A little more surprising was that Rahal Letterman got Graham in at 7th and that Alex Tagliani showed he wasn’t faking all week when he had the second fastest speed of Q1. “Special’ Ed Carpenter was the biggest shocker coming out of nowhere to take the final spot in the “Fast Nine” and advance to Q2. For those of you unaware, they qualified 24 on Saturday and the fastest nine went back out at 4:30 in the afternoon and see who could post the fastest speed and sit on the pole. It was a new concept this year and there were some monetary enticements to get teams to participate. That “Fast Nine” session was Q2 or qualifying round 2. To make things more interesting, the fastest time in Q1 would get the first pick of pit location. That made it so guys wouldn't sandbag or hold out until the Q2 session to show what they had.

Anyway, Q1 played out pretty much to chalk. The biggest team surprise was that the Andretti Autosports team struggled so mightily. None of them were particularly fast and team leader Tony Kanaan crashed on his attempt. They weren’t great all week, but generally they are considered to be just a step down from Penske and Ganassi. Well ol’ Danica just couldn’t help throw a hissy fit after her run. If there is a bigger bitch in sports I sure don’t know who it is.

Obviously I am no Danica Patrick fan, but she is, for whatever reason, extremely popular. But this time Dunce Cap Danica stepped on her own wiener. Clearly agitated by not being the fastest and no where near the Fast Nine Danica got out the car and complained that it was all wrong and that she was scared and that the car didn’t deserve to be that far back and finally that her run was “not my fault”. You could hear the boos cascade down all over the Speedway and “the World’s Largest PA System”. It was classic! This bitch who refuses to ever accept any blame for any mistakes she makes threw her team and crew under the bus and pissed off her fan base in one small sentence. It was the line of the day or maybe even the Centennial era. She was derided and made fun of her the rest of the weekend. Her crew was jokingly told it was their fault as they went up and down pit lane and in the ultimate indignity she had the line yelled at here as she made her way down pit lane and there were even several “fuck you bitch!” epithets yelled at her. Poutypuss was as dour as ever and just couldn’t understand why her fans would boo her. Maybe she hasn’t figured out what we fans know. It’s a team sport and when an individual puts themselves ahead of the team, bad things happen.

Of course her staunchest supporters are still defending her saying she has a right to say what’s on here mind, or that guys like AJ Foyt were loved for speaking their mind because they were guys and not a woman in a mans sport. Well sorry but I have to call bullshit on that. Sure she has a right to say it, but just because you have the right doesn’t mean you should. This should have been handled in the privacy of the garage or motor home, not over the PA system. Yeah, I bet her crew was fired up to help her get her car ready for next Sunday. Second the Foyt, or any other guy comparison doesn't hold water. Foyt was a winner. I don’t like Tony Stewart but he is a winner as well and these guys have earned that right, yet they still don’t ever eschew all blame. Besides, when Foyt called his car a tub of shit, it was his team and his crew, the guys he hired and directed. It was a tub of shit because AJ had created a tub of shit. Danica hasn’t done shit, yet still acts like she if God’s gift to racing. What a bitch!

With all of the Danica excitement over we hardly noticed that the skies had cleared and it was not only sunny, but getting much warmer! Scheckter went out but they had some problem and wouldn’t get in until after 3:30. Helio was the fastest in Q1 after retaking the top from Tagliani. We got our beverages and settled in to see how this Fast Nine would shake out.

It turned out to be pretty fun. I don’t think they did a great job of explaining it, but all in all it was pretty exciting. Unfortunately Graham lost a position, but he still starts in the first three rows. Tomorrow is Bump Day and there are some big names still to try to get in. Paul Tracy, Vitor Meira, John Andretti and Tony Kanaan to name a few. It’s also supposed to be sunny and 90 degrees. Nicole? Is that accurate?

It was! 94 in fact. Hotter than a pepper fart. I was dousing my head down and then soaking may hat in the sink in the bathroom. The beer didn’t work and my hand is even sun burnt but it was a good day anyway!

Linda decided not to go as her back was hurting her a little. She ran me down to Neils to go with Keith and him. We headed out and it was obvious it was going to be a beautiful day. There was 2 hours of down time between practice and qualifying for Armed Forces day events. We got to hear the Army band play their usual assortment of military songs and had a nice flyover by some F-16’s. But the real show would be on the track and it didn’t disappoint and neither did that slippery shit Scheckter. Still don’t have that autograph! And Tomas, if you're reading this, nothing but love for you and your effort this month. Just sign my damn hat!;)

With the track heating up several drivers went out for qualifying attempts before the heat really set in. A few had some good runs but Bump Day is always about the 5 o’clock hour and it was a good one. I have to tell you, the heat almost ran me out to the shade, but I stayed and was rewarded with a spirited final hour of qualifying! Drivers pulled their speeds and retried, some bumped their way back in and some made questionable decisions. Of those, some worked out, some didn’t. I was sad to see Sarah Fisher’s team miss out putting their second driver in, but their decision backfired on them. Same thing happened to Paul Tracy and now the self-proclaimed winner of the 2002 Indianapolis 500 will have to wait until next year to even try.

Milka Duno was the only woman at the Speedway to fail to make the field although I expect to hear that she will take over her teammate Alex Lloyd’s car but the time the race rolls around. Money talks people. Nowhere louder than the racetrack I’m afraid.

So the field was set, the beer was drank and it was time to head home and rest up for a couple of days before I head back to work for a couple and then it’s Carb Day on Friday and Sunday is Race Day! My liver is happy for the break and honestly, the thought of a beer today just isn’t very appealing!

Peace out and thanks again to everyone for all of their Birthday wishes!!

A Season Ticket No More. For Now;)

2010-05-11T06:09:00.000-04:00

Well the NFL draft is now a few weeks past, mini-camp is over, it’s May and we are at the point on the calendar that is about as far away from NFL football as you can be.

So why am I writing a piece about the NFL and the Indianapolis Colts at this time of year? I guess with a week or so until the track opens, just a couple of other racing events and no other real sports news that grabs my attention I started thinking about the upcoming season. I mean, I love to follow the Yankees and the Reds but baseball has five months UNTIL the playoffs. I want to follow hockey more but just can’t really make myself. The NBA playoffs, uggh! No thank you.

This isn’t an entry about how I think the upcoming season will go although there may be a little of that thrown in. Nor is it going to be my assessment of past events such as the loss in the Super Bowl or the 2010 Draft. No, this is about my personal experience as a 25-year season ticket holder.

Sadly, I’ve made the choice to not renew my Indianapolis Colt season ticket for the 2010 season. Frankly it just wasn’t in the budget this year and I felt it was time to make the right decision regarding the ticket. I’m not saying it is in any way permanent; it was just the right thing to do this year. Hell, I’m hoping something happens that allows me to go to most of the games this year, but only time will tell if that happens. Even if I don’t make it to the games I’ve had more fun over the past 25 seasons than most fans can dream of.

I’ve seen what amounts to the birth of a franchise. Sure the Colts had been in Baltimore for years, but they were new to Indianapolis and what a welcome they received. Of course the newness wore off quick as we sat through some crappy seasons with what we thought were marginal NFL players and coaches. 3-13 season records were the norm rather than the exception for most of the first 15 years the team was here. But the team had their moments.

We drank Old Style beer, maybe a little too much, at the games. We laughed at the inept play of some of the Colts. Eugene Daniel was “the Toast of the Town”. Mike Pagel was a horrible quarterback and we always wanted Art Schlichter to play, but truth be told he was even more of a nightmare. There was Jeff George and the whole train wreck that he was.

We stole the famed “Steel Curtain” banner the Steelers fans had the audacity to hang in OUR room. Of course the police made us give it back, but it didn’t go back up! We wore tuxes to the game the day after one of the guys in our row got married. We ran the fans in front of us off. I kind of regret that but I guess they had had enough beer spilled on them. The Bears fans wanted to fight us for no reason other than they are just jerks.

And lest you think that the first years were ALL bad there were some shining on field moments and memories that I’ll never forget. Jack Trudeau was a defensive, arrogant prick but he gave his all on the field and I will always be thankful for that. Number 29 Eric Dickerson provided many thrills most notably his dominating performance against the Broncos on that Halloween night in 1988. The Dome literally rocked that night as it did a week later when the Colts came back from a halftime deficit to beat the Jets. There was Rosie Potts blocking and catching the ball. Brief glimpses of greatness from linebackers such as Barry Krauss, Duane Bickett and Jeff Herrod. Bill Brooks catching most anything that got in his area, although with some of the QB’s, that wasn’t much! And of course the short, but brilliant career of Steve Emtmann.

But going to the games was ultimately more social than it was about being a serious fan. Of course we were and are serious fans, but to mock and deride those around us who were only there for the “event” was misguided as the team gave very little to get enthused about. In fact, for the first 10 years we only had one playoff appearance and that came in the strike year.

Then there was 1994. The Colts drafted Marshall Faulk and we had OUR first real superstar. Sure 29 was here in the 80’s but he was acquired in a trade and will always be known more as a Ram than a Colt. With Marshall running and Captain Comeback Jim Harbaugh at QB and a solid defense the team seemed headed in the right direction. After a revolving door at head coach the team had their old coach Ted Marchibroda back on board with some solid help at key coaching positions.

With Harbaugh, Faulk and a decent team we saw a deep run in the playoffs for the first time. None of the games were at home, but after 10+ years we had a team the city could rally around. Unfortunately the feeling nor the success lasted. A couple of short years later and we were watching the same old 3-13 Colts, but we still loved them and still had a great time at the games.

Finally, in 1998, the Colts turned the corner for good, or at least as good as for 12 years of success. With Peyton Manning at QB and a laundry list of stars on offense the Colts started putting up gaudy numbers for wins, yardage and points each season. For the past 10 years the Colts have been in the conversation for Super Bowl champion. Sure we’ve only won the one, but there is little reason why this team can’t win another or more.

More importantly is how the whole experience of going to the games has changed. From the “ho-hum, I’m here, where’s my book” days of 15 years ago to the fever pitch we have today. More than anything I will miss that. The whole “fuck you, this is our house” mentality that has come with winning is awesome to experience. Sure we get fans of the other teams, especially those jackass Patriot fans, but their numbers are small and getting smaller all of the time.

I’ll miss hanging at Tom’s before the games. Drinking my RBV before the game and my four Bud’s at the game with a couple after thrown in for good measure. I’ll miss seeing the Colts try to improve upon last seasons incredible 13 wins in a row stretch and make it through unscathed and culminating in a Super Bowl win. I’ll miss the camaraderie of the fans around us with whom we’ve become game friends.

It has been a great 26 years and like I said, I wholly expect this to be temporary and am already making arrangements for my return. It’s just something that has been such a part of my life over the past generation that I feel like I am losing a great friend. Just know, I’ll see you again old friend.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-28T22:39:00.001-05:00

Hi everyone and I hope you are all enjoying a Happy Thanksgiving weekend! Whatever you did or are doing, from visiting with family and friends to shopping or just enjoying some free time I hope you all have at least something for which you are thankful.

Me, I am feeling especially blessed this year. I just got a promotion at work and I have a beautiful kind wife whom I love a great deal and a great family and many great friends. In fact I got to spend last Sunday with my wife's family, had drinks with some friends on Wednesday evening and had a wonderful dinner with my family on Thursday. On top of that I am enjoying a nice four day weekend!

While I am thankful for all of those things and many more, something that happened Thursday morning made me realize how much I have and how the little irritations in my life are so insignificant.

My wife volunteered us to deliver Thanksgiving meals for the Mozzell Sanders dinner on Thursday morning. I know she misses her mom so, and she wanted to do something nice in her honor. I love to do that kind of thing so I was excited that she got us involved.

So before we went to the church I figured we'd be delivering meals to the elderly for the most part, which for the most part turned out to be the case. However, a couple of deliveries really opened my eyes.

As expected our first sortie was to elderly folks who were all very appreciative, as was everyone, for the dinners. We did just three deliveries on our first sortie and we had plenty of time before we had to be at my folks house so we headed back to the church to see if they needed more dinners delivered. Turns out they did.

This time we were going to a place I honestly did not know existed in America, let alone Indianapolis. Maybe I'm naive, but the area we drove into looked more like what I would have expected in Vietnam during the war. The area, as a matter of record, was due east of the Raytheon plant, which used to be the Naval Avionics center over at 21st and Arlington.

Honestly, when we turned into the neighborhood I was not prepared for what I saw. The dwellings were mostly doubles that at one time probably served military personnel working at Naval Avionics. What they are now can only be described as severe urban blight. I found it interesting that the street names were Commodore and Nimitz and the like, fierce, Naval names. It looked like Chester Nimitz had just cruised his ship near and let loose with every canon and other weapon he had on the area.

Most of the buildings were boarded up. There were junk cars in the yards. No trees. An occasional broken toy scattered in a yard here and there. In fact it was the toys that really made me sad. Not one of the houses was decent. You know how you come across a bad neighborhood but you see at least one or two decent houses? Well that simply was not the case here. Every 100 feet we drove it seemed to get worse. I was in disbelief. Shocked.

Our first delivery was to a middle aged woman who probably had the “nicest” house on the block. Hey, she at least had a storm door on here house. She was nice, but I just couldn't help but feel sorry for her. The next delivery around the corner was 7 meals to a house that had no storm door and some kind of sheet for a window covering. A middle aged Mexican man answered the door. He thanked me, but I wondered how bad it could have been in Mexico for him to be here and living in this neighborhood.

As we drive out of the neighborhood I was silent, still stunned from what I had seen. Less than 3 blocks away we had another delivery to a very nice older neighborhood. Had I not known better I would have thought a tornado touched down in the one neighborhood and passed the next.

I decided to write this tonight because I haven't been able to get that sight out of my mind. I know there are people who have it a lot worse off than I so seeing some of the places we went didn't come as a surprise. But I just had no idea how bad some did have it. And who knows, they may not think they have it bad at all, but it made me sad and reflective. It makes me want to do something about it, but what? Did delivering meals to these people represent all that can be done?

While I could drone on all night about what I saw I'll cut it off here. Suffice it to say I was even more thankful for what I have after we got home. The good Lord willing I will never take what I have for granted again.

Love and peace to all!

Vacation 2009

2009-09-15T10:48:00.003-04:00

Hi y'all!

Just back from a great week in Myrtle Beach, SC. I have the trip details and some review stuff for you here.

First off the trip details. We (me, Linda, Amy and Greg) left out of Indy at 1:00 pm last Friday (September 4, 2009). We had a fairly uneventful trip down. Stopped a couple of times for gas and stopped for dinner at the Cracker Barrel in Lake City, TN. I started the drive, Greg took over for a while then he gave way to Linda and I took the last part from Columbia into Myrtle. It did take us about 14.5 hours with the stops. Not awful time, but not great either. We would be in Tower 4 which was across Ocean Boulevard from towers 1-3 and not on the ocean for a couple of night's. No worries as we would move oceanfront on Sunday.

We arrived at 3:40 am at the Wyndham Ocean Boulevard and Linda and Amy ran in, got our keys and room assignment and we parked the car and unloaded. I had no problem going to sleep, but staying asleep would prove to be a task I was not up to.

I was hoping to sleep in on Saturday morning. I had been out until midnight on Thursday night bowling, up at 6 for work on Friday and had popped three 5 Hour Energy's and a couple of Red Bulls so I thought I'd crash hard. Oh fuck no! 7:00 am and I just can't go back to sleep. I laid in bed for a half an hour and finally said to hell with it and got up. I decided to take a look around the property and grab a paper before everyone else got up.

It was a quick walk across the street to the main part of the resort and across the dunes to the beach. The water was cool that morning, but still nice. I checked out where all of the pools were, where the bar was, of course and where it looked like would be the best sun places on the pool decks. The place looked pretty nice.

When I got back to the room I read the paper and waited for Linda to get up. When she did we ran down to the WalMart to check out the beach chairs and kind of get the feel of the town. We were technically in North Myrtle Beach. While we were out Linda spied the Tanger Outlet Mall. She was sleeping the night before when we came by it on our way in. I was hoping to keep it that way, but you know how that goes!! Of course they had a Coach outlet store so we had to stop in! She found a purse she liked but wasn't for sure she wanted to get it, so she decided to wait. We got some beer and headed back to the Wyndham.

First day of vacation so you know I am going to have a few coldies! I did. Unfortunately they don't seem to sell the 16oz'ers down there, so I settled for the 12's. They seemed to work okay!

After swimming and playing in the pool we chillaxed for a while and then went out to explore the area as a unit. Those of you who have been down to the Grand Strand know all about Wings, Eagles and Bargains. We hit them all and got some minor souvenirs. When we got back we tried to get some pizza from the bar at the resort but they wanted to charge us an arm and a leg so we got some Hungry Howie's with cinnamon bread and bread sticks for about half the price! And I don't care what Willie says, it was awesome!

SUNDAY

The skies are cloudy and it doesn't look like it's going to get any better for a while. We grab breakfast at the Waffle House. Amy puts on one of the great eating displays of the week. I had some grits, eggs and toast! I love the Waffle House! When we get back I get yelled at for doing what I am told to do, but I don't let it bother me too much!;) Apparently the deal was that the desk would call us when our room was ready in the other tower and we could just grab our keys at the desk and move our stuff to the oceanfront room. I wasn't sure what was said but I was told to call. Regardless it all worked out and with two heaping luggage carts we made the move from tower 4 to tower 1. It was quite a sight!

The new room was laid out just like the other, but the couch in this one wasn't as comfy. Still, we were oceanfront and it mattered little! Once we were in we decided it was time to do our food shopping for the week. We hit Wally World again and got in some supplies for the week, and of course, another case of beer!

Things didn't get any better weather wise, so we just kind of knocked around the place and had a drink at the bar. Swam a little and used the new boards. Even flew my kite a little. Looking at the forecast it pretty much showed my mood was going to be shit for the next 24 hours. Any longer and I would explode. Stay tuned!

That night we went to the BW-3's to eat. I had a chicken sandwich and what have become my favorite onion rings around anywhere. Fuck they are so damn good! To make matters worse it rained hard while we were there. I mean we were inside, but still...

Some drunk young guys were there watching the Colorado-Colorado State game and they were hooting and hollering, dropping F bombs and just carrying on like they owned the joint. The manager made them ease up on the language, but it was funny that their team lost! We just watched the race from ATL.

Back to the Ocean Boulevard, pretty beat as the lack of sleep is catching up to me. In bed by 11 which would turn out to be the latest I made it the rest of the week!

MONDAY

Happy Labor Day! Thud! Weather, crap. Mood, worse. Oh well, forecast calls for great rest of week.

We get up and decide to walk down to Main Street. Along with the Wing's and Bargain's there are numerous shops and stores selling all kinds of things. Clothes, food, drinks etc. The hot dog joint has a hot dog ketchuping itself. For some reason I didn't get a picture, but vow to later in the week. I did get a huggie with the SC logo on it, the moon over the Palm tree.

We ran out for some rum and mixer and to check out the nearest other Wyndham resort. It was nice, but small and quiet. I like big and rowdy! Amy and Greg were able to find some quality cigarette's for a decent price so they were able to smoke better for the week. Just a side note, they need to stop smoking. It really seems to dictate their lives and they are better than that. JMO.

After that we headed back to the room. Me and Greg went out swimming and when we came back up we pretty much watched the last day of the US Nationals and watched John Force make a complete ass of himself. What a tool! I did manage a little nap with the rainy weather, but not much.

Linda wanted Italian food that night so Greg checked out the reviews of the local establishments. You know how I feel about reviews, but I just played along. We decided on a place that turned out to be in Little River just north of North Myrtle Beach. It sounded good and I was hungry. Unfortunately, or fortuitously as it may be, we went the wrong direction on the main drag and had to turn around. White we were backtracking we saw a billboard for our intended destination and it showed they were closed Mondays. Luckily there was a place called the Villa Tuscana we had just passed and we decided to give it a go. Good call!

The place was kind of small, but the food was real good. I had spaghetti (I like spaghetti) with meat sauce and it reminded me of Arturo's, a place that used to be up at 86^th and Keystone, but has since closed. It was one of my favorites and so was this! Linda and Greg had the lasagna and it was excellent as well. Greg crushed his, Linda had leftovers. Amy had the chicken Parmesan and it looked good as well. I had a glass of chianti that was superb. The only downside was that they only gave you one basket of bread and you paid for more. Basterds (sic)!

It was a little pricey, but still, I give it two thumbs up!

Back home I made it about an hour on a full stomach and a glass of wine. By 10 I was out! See you Tuesday!

TUESDAY

Or Black Tuesday as I am calling it. Oh it was real nice at 6:00 am, but the clouds rolled back in. I went swimming, but it wasn't a day to be “out”. My mood was turning more sour by the minute and it was threatening to derail the whole trip. I'm pretty sure I uttered the “let's just go home” line. God bless my wife as she doesn't even seem to listen to my crap some times! I'm sure she does but just knows I'm blowing off steam.

She then suggested we go see a movie. We had talked about seeing Inglorious Basterds before we left so what better time? I called and the movie started at 1:15pm. Of course when we got there it started at 2:00. The drain was getting closer. We walked around the Myrtle Beach Mall for a while and went into the Bass Pro Shop. Glorified Dick's if you ask me, but who's asking? Got some fun pictures of the walk and finally the movie started. God am I spoiled by the Kerasotes. This place had free refills, but their popcorn sucked and they controlled the butter allowance. The movie, however, was fantastic. I love Tarantino movies and this one didn't let me down.

It was a long movie and when we walked out the sun was shining and the clouds had lifted. Amy wanted to hit the Victoria's Secret for some undergarments so we did that and beat feet back to Ocean Boulevard (OB). I changed into my trunks in about 2 seconds, grabbed a towel, the boogie board and headed to the sea!

FINALLY it was nice. I wasn't about to look at tomorrow's forecast. All I know is that the clouds were gone and I was on the beach! Linda, Amy and Greg went for a walk, I plopped down, stuck the iPod on and soaked up the late day sun!

It was damn near dark when we finally went back to the suite. We showered and worked on dinner plans. Me and Linda has seen a place called Hamburger Joes that looked fun so she suggested that.

Joe's was good and cheap, but honestly I could have eaten 2 burgers. They were pretty small, but again, very tasty. Linda had a BBQ sandwich which she said was really good. Amy, who wanted hot dogs that night but was vetoed by mom, got her dog and Greg had a burger. Unfortunately something didn't sit well with Greg and he lost his dinner soon after. I think he puked on a dog, but I'm not sure.

On the way home we saw some drunk chick practically fall out of an Irish pub on Ocean Boulevard and her friend throw her up on his shoulders and try to carry her up some stairs. I kept expecting them to come tumbling back down the stairs, but I guess they made it!

Again it was an early night. Watched a little poker on TV and in bed by 10!

WEDNESDAY

The sun came out in all its glory today! I hit the pool early and grabbed some spots that looked like would retain sun for the longest time. We would eventually move as the sun crept behind the building from our vantage point about 1:00 pm. No biggie. With the sun out I was ready to guzzle some beer! My mood was 180 degrees from what it was.

Swam in the pool and the surf a lot that day. The wave were kind of down as the wind had died down as well. Still nice though.

For dinner we drove down to Myrtle Beach to the mall and ate at the Margaritaville. Thankfully no one threw a pickle at me! On the way down we checked out the other Wyndham resort in the area. It looked nice and probably a place we'd consider for future vacations.

At the Margaritaville I had the conch fritters (I love 'em) and a cold beer. We hung out and took some pictures and got some ice cream, but the beer and the sun pretty much had me beat. A new low as I was in bed by 8:45!

THURSDAY

Another beautiful day coming our way! I'm feeling the effects of yesterday's drinking and as far as that goes it's going to be a fairly light day! We grab seats by the pool and I swim in said pool and make several trips out to the ocean. It's a beautiful day and we are catching lots of rays. Pretty quiet day, but nice!

Amy and Greg had done some footwork up and won Ocean Boulevard and found a place called the OD Bar and Grill just down the street from us. It was also known by the much cooler moniker “Cheeseburger Republic”. That's what they wanted for dinner and they agreed to walk down and get it. I told them I wanted a cheeseburger, but to make sure they were bigger than Joe's from a couple of nights before or to get me 2. Well they were much bigger, but they still got me 2, and fries.

The burgers were very good, the fries, not so much. A little to soggy for my taste. Amy got a Philly and liked it a lot. Linda and Greg both got burgers and were pleased.

We watched some of the Steelers-Titans game, but I was tired and turned in about 9:45.

FRIDAY

9-11. A day of remembrance. I was once again up early and actually was able to get some decent shots of the sunrise. It was strange, but I got some great shots from our balcony, but couldn't get a good shot standing on the beach. Go figure.

Another glorious day! The resort had some really nice chaise's out in front of our building. Not on the pool deck, but just in a nice grassy area. Linda wanted to camp there for a day, but they seemed to have a lot of bugs hanging around, so we kept checking each day and the bugs seemed to be in much fewer numbers but we still passed on the chairs, opting once again for the pool deck. We did actually move to a new location for us that day by the little lazy river.

After setting us up at the pool I went back to the room and we went to the Golden Griddle for some breakfast. I had some pancakes, sausage and some funky hash browns. They had some kind of Cajun flavoring on them and they pretty much sucked. I was less than impressed with the place.

I had a couple of the daily drink specials which was the Rum Punch. It was decent, but you know those kind of drinks don't seem to have much alcohol in them and if you are angling for a good buzz you have to drink enough that you puke because of the sweetness. It's just a theory and one I wasn't willing to test.

For dinner one night I wanted some local fish and since we had just 2 nights left I figured I better jump at the chance.

I called the concierge desk and asked for a suggestion. She told me some place that had Alaskan Crab flown in daily. I said “pass, how about some local fish?” She told me a about a place in Little River called Captain Juel's. So into the shower I went and off to see the Captain we went.

The place was kind of a hole in the wall dive that looked like it probably would live up to the concierge's suggestion. It was right on the river nestled between a couple of gambling boats and by several fishing charted slips.

Inside, the place looked old and quaint, but decent. I ordered a beer and the flounder and fries. I don't know if it was the best meal I had during the week but it was excellent. Linda had some tasty coconut shrimp that I was lucky enough to get to try.

We watched the gambling boats head out for their pocket wringing excursions while we ate and then waked down on the pier as a fishing boat was coming in. We watched as some drunk young guys debarked the charter with a 4 foot shark they had caught. The one who had actually landed the shark was holding it up for pictures and being congratulated by all around. One of the guys told him that it was a Myrtle Beach tradition to kiss the fish he caught so the guy doffed his cap, sat his beer down, knelt down and planted a smooch right on the shark's mouth! It was crazy. I said “Dude, you just made out with that fish!” The whole thing was hilarious!

On our way back to the resort we hit the Eagles for their $5.99 hooded MB sweatshirts. We were able to find one, but the pickings were slim. We also made a run down to the Ron Jon store and got some things and a quick stop at the House of Blues for a shirt.

By now it was getting late (9:00 pm LOL) and I needed to get back so I could get to bed!

SATURDAY

If there has to be a saddest day annually then to me it is the last day of vacation. You know the end is nigh and there ain't nothing you can do about it. Today is that day.

The weather once again was fabulous. In fact, it would prove to be the warmest day of the week. As the sun rose over the beach Linda was adamant that we try just one more time to get the comfy chairs. I took the towels down and to my delight there were no bugs to be seen. I set us up as I had the days before and went back to the suite and we went to breakfast.

We went to Hot Stacks and it was so much better than the Golden Griddle. I had the sausage links, 2 over easy eggs and grits. Very good!!

After that we headed back to the resort and out to the chaises. Being the last day I was determined to stay out as long as I could stand it. I also wanted to fly the kite one more time but the breeze just wasn't going to cooperate this day.

About 4 I finally came back up to the room, decided to go for one more swim and then brought it back in for good. I kind of planned on swimming one last time in the ocean on Sunday, but as it turned out I just decided against it.

That night we all kind of just wanted to get some pizza brought in. They had pizza at the resort but like I said, when we tried to get it the first time it was so expensive we abandoned that idea. I called the concierge and asked for a recommendation on a good local pizza and was told to call a joint up in Little River. Turns out it was good, not dissimilar from mall pizza which is good, so I was happy.

I watched a little of the race and then went in the bedroom to watch some football. Of course I fell asleep soon after. No matter, we had a long day of driving coming back so I was ready to get a good nights sleep.

SUNDAY

The return trip. Bummer! All good things have to come to an end and this was it for us. We loaded up the truck and headed out about 8:30 am. I drove us to the Greenville/Spartanburg area and Greg took us all the way to the northern Kentucky area where I took over and finished the trip.

We stopped at Lake City, TN again for a late lunch after listening to the Colts beat the Jags. Unfortunately soon after we got a call from a friend informing us that another friend of ours had passed away earlier that day. Micheal Brewer was the same age as my wife and much too young to be gone. It was a somber ending to the vacation to say the least.

Around 10:00 we dropped Amy and Greg off and headed home. We got in just past 10:15, unloaded the truck and plopped down to watch a little of the end of the Sunday night game. It had been an excellent week, but it's always nice to be home. You can check out all of our pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mboxm/sets/72157622367288844/

WYNDHAM OCEAN BOULEVARD

After looking over the Wyndham book we decided to try their Ocean Boulevard resort in North Myrtle Beach. The only real issue we had was the parking. Each night we would leave for dinner and would have to park across the street at tower 4. It wasn't a huge problem, it was just inconvenient. With space at a premium I doubt there is a whole lot they could have done to alleviate this problem, but the fact remains, it was somewhat of an issue.

Both of our rooms were nicely decorated and comfortable. I tried to keep the living room and kitchen neat, but I didn't have a whole lot of luck.

The floor plans made me think we had a door to the balcony from our bedroom, but we didn't. No biggie. There were just 7 suites on each floor in our building, with 14 floors. Tower 3 appeared to be the same as ours while tower 2 was probably twice as big. Tower 4 across the street where we spent the first couple of nights seemed larger, but it was hard to say for sure. There is a resort called The Cottages at the west end of the resort. I drove back there one day and they looked really nice. They were, however, quite a ways from the ocean and probably not an option for me.

We've stayed at Wyndham properties the past 3 summers and have very much enjoyed all three. Each had things we like the best of the bunch and each had their drawbacks, however small. This one had great location, was very nice and as usual the staff was accommodating. Our blender broke on Friday and a replacement was brought to us in minutes. The staff made our move from tower 4 to tower 1 a snap and answered any questions we had. I have no doubt we would return to the Ocean Boulevard resort next time we are in Myrtle Beach.

Goodbye RCA/Hoosier Dome!

2008-09-25T17:01:00.002-04:00

I went downtown yesterday to see the deflation of the RCA Dome roof. Standing in the shadow of the new Lucas Oil Stadium I was kind of sad to watch as the dome slowly began to deflate. Ending an era and a chapter of our city’s history. As I turned around I was reminded of what that old gray and white dome had meant to our city. Without it there would have been neither the Colts nor Lucas Oil Stadium. Without it we would still have had just one NCAA Final Four.

The word “bittersweet” was uttered by at least three of those who spoke before they turned off the fans that held up the dome roof. Yes, it was the end of an era, but the memories that each of us have of it can’t be taken away with the flip of a switch. And while I shed a few tears as those responsible for the dome spoke, I couldn’t help but think back on the great times I had in there.

I remember the dome going up in 1983. We had no team to play there and no real prospects of getting one. But it, along with the reincarnation of the Union Station transformed our sleepy downtown into a vibrant and fun destination. Before 1983 you went downtown at night for a Pacer game or maybe out to eat at one of the handful of restaurants in the area. Not any more. There were movies, shopping, bars and restaurants to fit everyone’s desire, and it was just the beginning.

I remember the first time I went to the Hoosier Dome. It was for a preseason NFL game between the Bears and the Bills. It had been scheduled before the Colts arrived the previous winter. The place seemed as big as all of outdoors. We sat in the first row of the upper deck and the players seemed a mile away. But it was so cool to see an NFL game and it was just a taste of what was to come.

I actually missed the first two Colts games in the Dome. I went back over the seasons a few years ago and while I missed those two games I had missed only 8 since. I missed a few more preseason games in later years, but only a couple and only a couple of regular season games.

The Colts weren’t good for many years, but we managed to have a good time. That first season we stole the fabled “Steel Curtain” banner the Steeler fans had hung from the upper deck. Not in our house! We were caught and had to return it, but it didn’t go back up!

How many beers were spilled on the people in front of us? Mark Lee taking a dive over a couple of rows of fans one day, full beer gone. Fritz and them in front of us? Gone in just a few years. I guess we were too much for them!

Greg Stenger taking in food. Proud to the end that he never bought any food at the dome. A giant potato chip box used to smuggle in some kind of punch from the previous night’s party. Craig asking for quiet after a tough Saturday night. Nearly coming to blows with the Bears Suck fans. And yes, leaving the dome either before or just after the fourth quarter started because we were behind by so much.

$26 tickets which ended up being $109 our last season at the Dome.

We saw the first Monday Night Football game in 1988. Eric Dickerson running wild over the Broncos. The city all aglow for the occasion. Feeling the Dome actually rock as we kicked the Bronco’s asses. The feeling the next week when we came back in the second half to beat the Jets and feeling the stadium rock again.

We saw 3-13 season’s and I really thought that was our destiny. In 1995 Jim Harbaugh led us out of obscurity and into the AFC Championship game. The next year we were back in the playoffs, but were destroyed in the first game and went back to being bad until QB Peyton Manning arrived. By 2006 we had come full circle with the team as we won Super Bowl 41!

The Colts have provided most of my memories of the Dome, but there have been other events which have been very cool indeed.

I saw the Rolling Stones there twice and while the sound pretty much sucked it was still cool.

In 1987 the Indiana basketball team started its drive to the National title at the Dome. We didn’t have very good seats but it was great watching the Hoosiers get out the gate well and be on their way. In later years I saw the team play Kentucky at the Dome. While the Dome wasn’t the greatest basketball venue, it played host to some big games with big crowds and the city always managed to put on a show. I wasn’t there, but in 1984 the Dome hosted what was to be the largest crowd to ever see a basketball game. A record that stood for years.

Add to that the many state football titles the Roncalli Rebels won at the Dome and there were just so many memories. While winning the AFC title game in 2006 was the sweetest game, the celebration the day after the Super Bowl may have been the greatest non sporting event!

It wasn’t fancy or glitzy but it served its purpose and over the past few years was a helluva home field advantage for the Colts. Whether or not the new stadium can ever produce the noise or the memories of the Dome remains to be seen, but it’ll have its chance. But for now, in the last few weeks of the Dome’s existence I’ll think back to all of the great times and even some of the disappointments that came inside her walls.

The Vacation Blog!

2008-08-29T17:27:00.002-04:00

Day 1 (Saturday August 23, 2008)

We’re off! A quick stop at the CVS and we are on our way south. I do feel a little sad because I am going to miss the game tomorrow night at the new stadium, but it will be cool to see it on TV. Also, we know we are heading into the teeth of TS Fay. The bitch has just been sitting over the northern part of FL for days and shows no signs of leaving. From what I’ve seen on The Weather Channel the whole week is going to be a wash. I’m not in a particularly good mood about going because of that. Linda on the other hand is ready to get there and so we go.

We make pretty good time for the bulk of the trip. Before stopping for gas and lunch in Franklin, TN we were even getting nearly 26 mpg in the Escape. Eventually that would go down to nearly 24, but still more than a mile per gallon more than I was expecting.

We had a nice lunch at the Cracker Barrel and got some excellent peanut brittle. We’re stopping on the way back for more of that! I told Linda we had to do the Cracker Barrel and the Waffle House if nothing else on the trip. One down, one to go!

We stop for gas south of Birmingham and the rains have started. The farther south we drive, the worse it gets. By the time we hit Montgomery it is a full blown storm. Google’s directions suck and we take some twisty 2-laners from Troy, AL to Panama City Beach. Normally I wouldn’t mind but there was so much water on the road that I was hydroplaning all over the place and visibility sucked ass.

Finally we hit FL and the weather seemed to break a little. We listened to the NASCAR race and drove into PCB. That last 16 miles was grueling. I was so ready to get there and it just seemed to take forever.

Finally we arrived at about 8:30. We gained an hour so it took us about 14 hours to get here. With an hour for lunch, a couple of gas stops and the rain slowdown it wasn’t bad, but I was glad to be here!

We were here a day early and figured we could get a room somewhere for cheap and go to the Wyndham on Sunday. We stopped in the Wyndham Emerald Beach Resort and explained our situation to the girls at the desk. The checked and much to my surprise they let us check in right then and didn’t charge us for the night! We were tickled pink at this and I vowed to send a letter to the resort manager and the corporation telling them how much we appreciated their customer service.

The weather still sucked but we were here. We popped out to the beach for a second and came in, had a drink and watched the end of the race.

Let the vacation begin!

Day 2 (Sunday – Sales Day)

Yep, sales day. We knew it was coming and they said we could get a $75 Visa card if we listened to their pitch. Linda had her fixed week in Orlando and wanted to convert it to points so we thought what the hell, we’ll talk to them about it.

The first thing I did was head down to the Purple Haze and get some swim trunks. It was all downhill from there!! Just kidding.

Sunday was a nice day, but we had our appointment at 11:00 so we knew that was going to take a chunk of it. Fay was still around, but she wasn’t too mean today. Didn’t help us though. Frankly all I cared about today was the condo and catching the Colts game.

When we arrived for our appointment they were overbooked as some of the crew couldn’t get in from Destin due to the storm. They asked us if we could come back at 1:30 and they bumped the gift card to $100. We agreed and decided to run out to the store to get in our supplies for the week. Of course we found the Wal-Mart. We also looked around town a little. Found Pineapple Willy’s and saw what appeared to pretty much be a ghost town.

We got the supplies back and it was time to talk condos. Our sales guy Joey looked about 15, but was pretty knowledgeable and didn’t try to BS us too much. When we had a question he didn’t know the answer to he found someone who did. After much wrangling over the package we eventually bought. They played some games with us, but it wasn’t a deal breaker. Regardless, it’s a good deal. Me and Linda were up at the Blue Green offices a few months ago and except for price we would have loved to have taken advantage of it. For us it makes sense. We now have a myriad of vacation choices and the room prices don’t go up. Having her condo at Star Island was what allowed us to take advantage of Wyndham’s deal rather than the Blue Green deal earlier in the year.

Finally after talking to the manager and closing the deal we were free! We ran upstairs and freshened up and headed to BW-3’s to watch the Colts suck again. Oh well! I enjoyed some wings and beers and we watched football from the new stadium. It looked beautiful on TV! Can’t wait until the Bears game!

Day 3 (Monday)

Fay was back, and with a vengeance. I popped down to the Starbuck’s to get a latte and to call my dad. While I was reading the paper and talking on the phone it was raining sideways. It eventually slowed down, but not much. Watching the radar it was clear that this day was not going to be very nice.

We decided we’d run out and look at the new Pier Park mall where the BW-3’s was and see if they had anything we couldn’t live without. Of course they did! We stopped at the Ron Jon’s and spent a quick $100. A lot of the stores were tourist traps and kind of expensive so we didn’t really buy anything else. We had thought about going to a movie, but I guess we kind of forgot about it.

We hit a few more stores, got some ice and decided to get a Hungry Howie’s pizza for lunch. It was tasty, but Linda felt a little bad after eating and eventually puked.

We just hung out the rest of the day in the room. I went walking around and got drenched by another storm. It was crazy and my mood was not improving. The bitch Fay it seemed was going to prove me right and not move all week.

Day 4 (Tuesday)

I was in full meltdown mode about 9:00 am. The skies had cleared and it looked like it finally was going to work out for us. We got ready to go for the pool and as we were doing our final packing for the day it started to rain. We flipped on the radar and it looked bad for PCB. I was pissed, Linda was mad at me for being pissed and I was ready to go home. I considered packing up the car and heading east to the beaches at Apalachicola.

We decided against it and we were eventually rewarded. We drove around the east end of town and had lunch at Pineapple Willy’s. I had some fish and Linda had the ribs. Both were very good. We also bought some souvenirs at the gift shop.

By the time we got back to the resort however the sun was peeking through so we headed down to the pool. We had purchased some cheapie chaise lounges at Wally World on Sunday and took them as it appeared there were no seats to be had.

We stayed out for a while and got a lot of sun in a few short hours. The week was looking up as the radar pretty showed the storm finally moving north and west!

That night we went down to Margaritaville for dinner. I had the conch fritters and a salad (not just a plain old salad, but a fancy schmancy one!) and of course a keeper glass drink and Linda had the Cheeseburger in Paradise which she really enjoyed. I had had a bit too much to drink by the end of dinner and went home and pretty much went to bed. I would live to fight another day!

Day 5 (Wednesday)

Wednesday dawned just as we had hoped for all week! Beautiful sunny skies, temperatures in the upper 80’s and no forecast of rain. Fay was still wreaking havoc just east of us, but her tail was the last remnant and it wasn’t coming to PCB!

We hit the pool deck around 8:15 and waited the requisite hour and 45 minutes for the sun to cover the area. It was well worth it even if we only did a 10 to 2 stint. We were both pretty fried so we didn’t want to ruin the rest of the week. We came in and laid around until we were hungry.

We went to a little joint called the Pasta Grill just west of town. I had a pizza that was okay, and a glass of pretty good Chianti as well as some calamari. Linda was wanting lasagna and wasn’t disappointed.

I was beat and pretty much crashed when we got in. The debauchery of Tuesday had caught up to me!

Day 6 (Thursday)

Another beautiful day and this time it was not going to be a four hour tour in the sun. This time I was out from 9 until 4. Linda made it to 3 and we both got a shitload of sun.

We really didn’t do much while we were out there other than listen to music, swim in the pool and the gulf and have a couple of cocktails, well I did anyway!

When I came in I got ready and I had been wanting to go to a place called Sharky’s. Despite the name I had a fantastic cheeseburger and one of their specialty fruity drinks. Linda had a sample platter, but looking at what she ate of it she must not have liked it very well. We picked up another T-shirt for me, that made about a dozen so far this week along with several pair of swim trunks and other sundry items.

When we got back we took some flashlights out to the beach and took a quick swim and a walk and checked out the crabs on the beach. As usual I was acting a fool and was flashing my light all over the place. When we got back to the Wyndham the guard gave us shit about shining our lights at the building. He was acting like a real dick and Linda wanted to call about it, but we decided just to let it go. Still he was an ass when a simple ask would have been fine.

Day 7 (Friday)

We got up this morning and went to the Waffle House for breakfast. It was really good. I had eggs, grits and a waffle. Linda had an omelet that was real good and hash browns.

When we got back to the resort we got ready to go to the pool. When we got down there we were informed that the pool was closed for at least an hour due to them spraying for ants. I’m not sure why they decided to do that on the Friday of Labor Day weekend, but they did. This gave us an extra hour of sun as we went to the beach. Linda took a walk while I swam and took a little nap until the pool opened.

Finally about 10 the pool opened and we headed up. We hung out until around 3:00 and decided to head in as we had maxed out on sun for the day.

It was Linda’s turn to pick the dinner place. She had talked about Breaker’s most of the day as she wanted a steak. She had a change of heart later in the day though and we went to a place called Angelo’s. It was a big place and the parking lot was nearly full when we got there so we figured that was a good sign. Not sure if it was, but the food was very good. Linda opted for a New York that wasn’t really done enough for her, but she seemed to like it. I had the steak and shrimp which consisted of five large shrimp battered and deep fried and an 8 oz. filet. It came with a baked potato, a very good salad and hush puppies that were excellent. It was kind of pricey, but I’d say it was worth it.

We topped off the evening with ice cream at Kitchen’s. I had the pineapple coconut which was superb. Linda had something and butter pecan. By this time we were both stuffed and pretty sleepy. No beach walking tonight!

One last day tomorrow :(

Day 7 (Saturday, the last full day)

It was going to be another great day, but it looked like we were going to get out just in time as Hurricane Gustav was bearing down on the Gulf Coast. By all indications it would be a busy day at the pool so I ran the towels down about 8:30 and by 9:00 there were no more chairs.

We went down about 9:30 for the day. It was another hot one. Temperatures were at 90 by now so it meant a lot of time in the pool. They were serving hot dogs and chips at the pool so we had our lunch there.

Later we took our last tour of the gulf. It was sad, but all in all we had had a really good run at the weather!

There were some drunk hillbillies who came down to the pool about 3. They had a cooler which was a no-no. They tried to hide it but I guess the chugging of the vodka got the best of them and they left it uncovered! One of them was so drunk she crashed into a table and just about fell over the fence. Her girlfriend wasn’t paying much attention to her and I thought she might drown, but the pool seemed to help her. It was pretty funny.

They also had a beer special on Friday at the Tiki bar. A couple of draft Bud’s for 2.50!

By the time we were heading out for dinner a storm blew up and dumped a shitload of rain on the beach. We went for a drive and ended up getting Hungry Howie’s pizza again. No one got sick this time! Unfortunately I had one too many and tripped and fell into a rack at one of the beach stores. I’m sure my wife thinks I’m an idiot. The store owner stuck some band-aid’s on me, but hell they were nicks. I felt pretty stupid myself!

At least I got some pizza for the last night!!

Day 8 (Homeward Bound)

We weren’t going to be in any hurry to get out today, but as it turns out we hit the road about 8:00. The clouds were pretty thick and it looked like a good day to get out of town. We checked out and loaded the car. Unbelievable how much shit just the two of us had!

We returned the chaises we bought at Wally World earlier. We only used them once and only at the pool. With that accomplished we blew town. We came back a little different route. It was a more direct route, but maybe just a little longer in distance. We had cloudy weather the early part of the day and finally around Birmingham the sun broke through.

We had lunch at MacAllister’s Deli in Prattville, AL and some ice cream in Decatur. Other than that we stopped for gas just beyond Nashville and we made it home about 10:15. I already miss the beach, but it’s always nice to be home!

Conclusion

In general this was a really nice place although it doesn’t have the amenities of the Ocean Walk we were at last year, but this is a work in progress. They do have a bar but it’s only open from 5 until 11. They also have a tiki bar by the pool. Draft beer was $2.79, but the frozen Pina Colada’s and other frozen drinks were $8.50!

We used the valet service all week and for the first 4 days it was great. Unfortunately the service slowed way down by Wednesday. Linda was pretty put out by it. It didn’t really bother me, but it was a noticeable difference.

I had read that the elevators were slow, but we did not find that to be the case until the last couple of days. Of course there was a big influx of people for the Labor Day weekend.

The pool is real nice, but there aren’t many chairs so if you want one get there early. If you tarry, you can carry in your own chair. Of course there is always the beach.

The beach was pretty nice, but you do get a lot of seaweed coming on shore and near shore in the water. It doesn’t bother me, but it doesn’t look real good. One guy we talked to wondered how they could claim “The World’s Most beautiful Beaches” with the seaweed. He probably has a point.

Again, the resort is a work in progress. They are putting up another building with a couple of restaurants, another pool and a lazy river as well as a fitness room in the buildings across the street. You get plenty of walking especially if you use your car a lot as the parking areas are across the street. I’d go back to the Emerald Beach Resort, but I’d wait a couple of years.

If you are looking for a relatively quiet time to head down this seemed to be it. Maybe it was the weather, but the entire town seemed quiet. We were on the west end of town which we heard was quieter anyway, but it was very relaxing.

You can check out the pictures of the trip at http://flickr.com/photos/mboxm/sets/72157607055541867/ if you wish.

The Second Amendment Argument

2008-07-01T07:52:00.001-04:00

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

For the uninformed that is the Second Amendment to the Unites States Constitution. It has been in the news a lot recently due to the Supreme Court upholding it as it was written and again today because the dumbass head of the FBI says they got it wrong. Did they? Fuck no they didn’t. Read it carefully and it is very clear.

For those of you who have trouble with reading comprehension let me ‘splain it to you. It says that as long as it is necessary to have a military (a well regulated Militia) to keep the peace and security of our great country, the people will be allowed to keep guns (the right of the people to keep and bear Arms), no matter what (shall not be infringed). It means that as long as the government convenes an army the people can have guns to prevent a military takeover of the country. Could the amendment have been spelled out a little better? Possibly, but who knew lawyers and assholes were going to take over the court systems and that morons would rule the day.

I have heard people say that it means that you must be in a militia to have guns. How does anyone get that out of the above verbiage? Blind stupidity is the only thing I can see would glean that interpretation from it. Keep in mind when the amendment was written and why the founding fathers created such an amendment. Military takeovers of countries have happened through the ages. If they are wrong, how does a populace defend itself? If the government (and believe me this isn’t that far fetched these days) decided to take all of our money in taxes, stifle our freedoms and punish the citizens for no good reason how would an unarmed populace fight back? The founding fathers knew this and provided for the citizens a check and balance system to ensure the continuing existence of the country.

It amazes me to hear otherwise intelligent people read the amendment and get “you have to be in the army to have a gun”. Look at military regimes around the world and the outcry of the rest of the world over these regimes. An armed populace may well have prevented such a takeover, yet somehow, for the United States it is a bad idea, or more accurate, a right never granted.

Well you people who still don’t understand what the amendment guarantees keep reading it and hopefully it will sink in. And I repeat, it does not say that the only way you are guaranteed the right to keep a gun is to be in the army.

Bye Jermaine?

2008-06-23T15:07:00.002-04:00

With the draft just a few days away and the Pacers in a must win situation rumors are swirling that forward Jermaine O’Neal is to be traded to the Toronto Raptors for a couple of players (plus one more player to make the number right) and the Raptors first round pick in the draft (#17 overall). O’Neal has been with the Pacers since 2000 after being drafted out of high school by Portland. But we all know those particulars.

O’Neal is just 29 years old, but he seems to be an old 29. He’s been playing in the league for 11 seasons and the past few have been marked by injuries and missed games.

Jermaine has been a solid player for the Pacers, but he has never really been a superstar. He played for the USA in the World Championships a few years ago and made the All Star team six times in his career to this point. And what may be the most important and endearing stat of his career, has avoided the legal troubles many of his Pacer teammates have been unable or unwilling to avoid.

But is O’Neal really worth keeping? On a team that is struggling for respect from the local community, and fair or not, Jermaine is the face of a franchise that has been bad both on and off the court. Sure he clobbered a fan during the brawl, but his uninspired play over the past few years have been much more indicative of where I see him now. He’s a big man who has been through a lot of NBA games and he just seems to be breaking down.

Frankly I’d be surprised if the Pacers can pull off the trade. I just don’t think Jermaine has it anymore and I can’t believe the Raptors can’t see that. Not to mention his ginormous salary. But hey, Larry Bird is in need of some miracle moves and a great draft day. Moving Jermaine may buy Legend a little more time, but he still has to hit a homer come Thursday night.

Restaurant Review: Fogo de Chao

2008-06-18T09:01:00.001-04:00

The best advice I can give anyone planning to visit the Fogo de Chao is to go hungry. Very, very hungry!

This is a fairly new restaurant located in the old People’s Bank building on East Washington Street. It is a Brazilian steakhouse but don’t let that fool you into believing it is a traditional steakhouse in the Morton’s or Ruth’s Chris vein.

The room itself was decorated with dark woods with “gaucho” pictures on the walls and stained windows. As you enter the bar is to the right and the dining room to the left. In the center of the dining room is the salad bar. While it was an extensive salad bar, even the waiter told us not to fill up on salad as the meal was all you could eat.

The concept is that all of the meats, filet mignon, bottom and top sirloin, beef and pork ribs, lamb, chicken and more are roasted over a fire and the servers bring them out on skewers and you can have any and all of them and usually pick between rare and well done on the beef. They give you a little round card that is green on one side and red on the other. If you want more simply turn the card green side up. If you have enough for the time being turn the card red side up. Again, there is no limit to how much you can have.

When we were seated we ordered drinks. Linda had a Diet Coke that came in a little 12 ounce glass bottle that looked like they’d serve it in in some third world country. I had a caipirinha which was like a mix of a margarita and a mojito. It was very refreshing and tasty. In fact I had a couple! We then went to the salad bar. It had a lot of items including some fresh asparagus, carrots, several kinds of lettuce and dressings and some things I am still not sure of what they were!

My customized Caesar was excellent and I made sure not to eat too much. Linda had a fairly standard garden salad and some asparagus. She reported that the salad was good, but as she also went conservative on the amount it wasn’t really that important.

As soon as we were finished with the salads the cards went green side up and here came the meat. Also a basket of cheese bread (excellent), polenta (imagine grits fried into little cubes, also excellent) and seasoned mashed potatoes were served. As we would finish one of the items, more was brought out. The polenta was so good that I think I ate two plates myself. Linda tried it but she didn’t seem to care for it.

The first skewer to come out was the lamb. I thought it had a great flavor. Linda wasn’t crazy about it. The filet mignon (without bacon) came out next. It was really tasty and we both liked it a lot. The sirloins followed and both were good, but after the lamb and filet they were no match. Chicken and filet mignon wrapped in bacon came out next and they were scrumptious. Linda got a sausage at the start and they looked really good. Finally I got one and was kind of disappointed. They looked so plump and good, but didn’t really have much flavor. I likened them to the sausages at the breakfast buffet at the Omni. So beautiful, but so plain. Linda didn’t seem to think much of them either. My last go around was the beef ribs. The meat had been cut off of the rib so you didn’t have to contend with the bone. Too bad, but I apparently saved the best for last. It was even better then the filet mignon, and that is saying something. Linda just had a bite of it, but she seemed to like it. Other than the sausages and my pacing I had no complaints. I should have eaten slower. We never felt rushed and I wish I would have saved room for the papaya crème desert. If Linda had a complaint it was that some of the steak came out with more rare than well done, if any. So she left some really red meat on her plate.

All said the meal was great. The price is $38.50 per person. A little steep, but not totally out of line downtown. We had a great time. It was our anniversary and was very appropriate for such an occasion. One other down note is that Tony George was there stalking me again. He was doing it at the DSW in May and now at the Fogo de Chao. If he wants an autograph he should just ask!

Michigan Sunday Etc.

2008-06-17T08:25:00.003-04:00

The Drive host, JMV, has become somewhat of an Indy Car fan over the past few months. Not sure if it is because of Robin Miller’s rambling calls, the fact he is in Indianapolis or any other reason. I heard him mention the empty seats at Michigan on Sunday. This year I’ve kind of got back into Cup racing, probably because of my wife, but there are still so many things wrong with it that it just makes me shake my head sometimes. Anyway, I think the rah-rah IRL cheerleaders get way ahead of themselves. Unification was not going to fix Indy Car racing overnight and it certainly has not. That doesn’t mean it’s on its way, but it needs marketing and promotion and not just Dani C word 24/7. Anyway, I broke off an email to JMV yesterday with some of my thoughts on Sunday’s event and some other things. Thought I’d throw it on here...

Hey JMV,

I heard you mention that you saw the empty stands at the NASCAR race at Michigan on Sunday. As much as want to see the IRL in general and the Indianapolis 500 in particular, to have the relevance it once had, I think too many of the IRL sis-boom-bah cheerleaders want to make too much of the empty seats at MIS. Keep in mind that the last few years Indy Cars ran at Michigan the attendance was about equal to the empty seats at Sunday’s Cup event. On top of that, the majority of the Michigan’s crowd will always come from the Midwest and with half the area cleaning up after the storms it stands to reason some won’t make it this time around.

I’ve been pretty critical of the IRL since its inception, but this year I am just waiting to see how the unification plays out and if it sends the IRL up or if it is going to stay status quo and truly just a niche sport. This year’s 500 had as big of a “buzz” as it had since Penske, Ganassi and Rahal came over a few years back, if not since 1995. Unfortunately no one over at 16th and Georgetown has a clue about marketing, being it races or divers. They rely on a gimmick and let the other drivers go it alone. On top of that some genius saw to it that Sam Hornish Jr. was allowed to go taxi cab racing. He had a huge following especially in the Midwest which is where a shitload of the races are run. Of course that same genius was the de facto leader of Indy Car racing in the early 90’s and somehow decided a guy from Pittsboro whose family came here to go open wheel racing, not be given a real shot at driving Indy Cars.

That’s it JMV. It sounds like you have joined the IRL side and I think it takes making fans one at a time, but the demise (yeah right) of NASCAR isn’t going to make the IRL any more relevant.

Mark

Hey JMV,

I heard you mention that you saw the empty stands at the NASCAR race at Michigan on Sunday. As much as want to see the IRL in general and the Indianapolis 500 in particular, to have the relevance it once had, I think too many of the IRL sis-boom-bah cheerleaders want to make too much of the empty seats at MIS. Keep in mind that the last few years Indy Cars ran at Michigan the attendance was about equal to the empty seats at Sunday’s Cup event. On top of that, the majority of the Michigan’s crowd will always come from the Midwest and with half the area cleaning up after the storms it stands to reason some won’t make it this time around.

I’ve been pretty critical of the IRL since its inception, but this year I am just waiting to see how the unification plays out and if it sends the IRL up or if it is going to stay status quo and truly just a niche sport. This year’s 500 had as big of a “buzz” as it had since Penske, Ganassi and Rahal came over a few years back, if not since 1995. Unfortunately no one over at 16^th and Georgetown has a clue about marketing, being it races or divers. They rely on a gimmick and let the other drivers go it alone. On top of that some genius saw to it that Sam Hornish Jr. was allowed to go taxi cab racing. He had a huge following especially in the Midwest which is where a shitload of the races are run. Of course that same genius was the de facto leader of Indy Car racing in the early 90’s and somehow decided a guy from Pittsboro whose family came here to go open wheel racing, not be given a real shot at driving Indy Cars.

That’s it JMV. It sounds like you have joined the IRL side and I think it takes making fans one at a time, but the demise (yeah right) of NASCAR isn’t going to make the IRL any more relevant.

Mark

Movie Review - Made Of Honor

2008-05-29T12:40:00.001-04:00

As sorry to admit this as I am, I do have to admit that, for the most part, I enjoyed this movie. Oh, it’s never going to be a top 10 or even a top 100 in my book, but for mindless entertainment with quite a few laughs it really was pretty good. Patrick Dempsey, the guy who will forever be Ronald Miller from Can’t Buy Me Love is the star of this romantic comedy and Donald’s still got it!

Dempsey’s character, Tom, is a shallow bachelor who has a few male friends, but whose best friend is Hannah, who he has been friends with since his college days. A comical meeting between the two by mistake on a Halloween night leads to a friendship that lasts for years. Ronald, er, Tom is a wealthy (inventor of coffee collars) womanizer who has set rules regarding dating and won’t break them. He seems happy until his friend Hannah takes a work trip to Scotland. While there Tom realizes how much she means to him and decides to tell her when she gets back. Unfortunately for him, Hannah has brought a guy with her, but it’s not just a guy, he’s her fiancé.

The hijinks ramp up here as Hannah picks Tom to be her Maid of Honor at her wedding which is to take place in 2 weeks in Scotland. Trying various ways to get Hannah to not get married, most of which backfire on Tom, the MOH eventually throws in the towel the morning of the wedding and heads for home refusing to give the bride away.

Naturally he has a change of heart and returns to the wedding where Hannah looks at him and realizes they belong together and calls off her wedding.

The movie is predictable, yet is pretty funny in a lot of parts. While similar to My Best Friends Wedding, the biggest difference is the outcome. This time the best friends do get together.

The acting was solid. You’ll never mistake it for Can’t Buy Me Love, but the material isn’t as strong. Still good though. I thought the ending was a little rushed as the rest of the film really did a good job of developing the characters. That said the storyline up until the end was the real story. Tom’s friends were hilarious as they played ball and plotted with Tom to get Hannah. The late Sydney Pollack was excellent in his minor role as Tom’s dad. When Tom suggests that if he loves something he should set it free his father tells him that was said by a pussy and repeated by pussies ever since.

There were some pretty cool scenes of the Scottish highlands and even of New York City, but they didn’t overpower the film.

The bottoms line on this movie is that it is a good date flick. I wouldn’t go so far as to call it a chick flick, but more macho types probably would. I’d give this one a 7.5 out of 10 (the IMDB.com scale) stars. It’ll probably be one of those that I stop on when it comes on cable, but no real need to get the DVD.

May Wrap

2008-05-27T08:09:00.003-04:00

Memorial Day has come and gone and with it the Indy Cars are gone for another 11+ months. We had a little bit of everything this month at the track. Rain, sun, wind, wrecks, temper tantrums, a new winner and whining aplenty! Congrats to Scotty D for winning. Scott's been as good as anyone over the past several years and this year the team put it all together and got the win. Good for them and Scott.

My biggest disappointment came on lap 156 when Tomas Scheckter broke a driveshaft leaving the pits thus ending what was looking like a win. Anyone that disputes he had a car that was as fast as Scotty D, Vitor or Marco is just a fool. But shit happens and as it was, Tomas finished 24th. Sorry to those sitting around me on Sunday as I was bent when he went out and I let the expletives fly!

A couple of other disappointments were losing half of Fast Friday and virtually all of Carb Day to rain. I know it's May in Indianapolis, but losing both of those sucked.

I'd like to see some changes to the qualifying process. I don't mind the three tries a day and that a bumped car can try again, but 11 per day should be scrapped.

I'd still like to see the race moved back to noon and the Coke 600 moved later an hour so some of the taxi boys could give the double a shot. It's not like a bunch of them will try, but having Stewart and Johnson couldn't hurt.

Huge crowd on Sunday and at the banquet it seemed like everyone wanted to mention it. Hell there were even people setting up places on the F1 track viewing mound along Hulman Boulevard! Other than a few rows at the bottom of the Tower Terrace the place was full.

It looks like this may have been our last year parking at 20th and Fisher. Cousin Anne is moving west. Oh we can probably park there in the future, but we'll have to pay and it just won't be the same. It's the end of an era! Looks like we're probably headed for the Coke lot.

All in all it was a good month. Sure 12 didn't win, but thankfully neither did 7! I got my wife a picture with Little Graham and had it autographed for her. She was thrilled. She asked me last night if I was sad that it was over. I'm not. As much as I love it, it wouldn't be special if it lasted any longer. F1, NASCAR and the bikes are just one weekend events. The 500 is three weeks and I love it, but I have to tell you, once race day arrives there is no way I want to go back on Monday because of rain.

That's about it. As for the IRL they are on to Milwaukee. They seem to have some momentum going now. I hope they can sustain it. I doubt it ever is as popular as it once was or that it can overtake NASCAR as some of the cheerleaders will tell you it will, but a good strong series is the next step!

Movie Review - Shine A Light

2008-04-14T16:38:00.001-04:00

The Rolling Stones in concert at the Beacon Theater in New York. Need I really say anymore?

Any of you out there who think the Stones have lost it, think again! Put it up on the IMAX screen and as Jerry Lee said, you have flat out got something!

Make no mistake about it; this is a movie of a Rolling Stones concert. There may be little tidbits of the Stones in their early years including Mick saying he could see doing what he was doing at 22 at age 60. There is Mick, Keith, Charlie and Ronnie along with regulars Chuck Leavell and Bobby Keyes and other singers and musicians. It is the power of “The Worlds Greatest Rock and Roll Band” in an intimate setting and plowing the road and taking everyone for a great ride. I myself wanted to get up and dance as the band ripped through number after number giving their all.

I’ve seen the band twice at the Dome and it didn’t do them justice. I imagine I’d go again if they were here, but it would take great seats. I’d much prefer to see them in a setting like the Beacon.

The movie may have been directed by Martin Scorsese, but make no mistake, it is Mick Jagger who is in charge. Even the set list isn’t delivered until minutes before the show to the director.

Jagger dominates the stage and the camera, but there is plenty of “Keef”. And let me tell you something, he can be quite scary on a 6 story tall screen, but he’s as great as he is scary. Man, that is one rode hard and put away wet dude and us Stones fans love him for it. Ronnie and Charlie get less screen time, but their talents are audibly present the whole time. As I said, they just flat out kick ass the whole time.

The movie does start with about 10 minutes of the band and director making their way through the tour before they get to the Beacon and even backstage when they arrive. Be aware that Slick Willie and his family make an appearance before the show and talk with the band. But don’t let that deter you from seeing this, especially if you are a Stones fan. And I suppose if you are also a Clinton fan, it’s an added bonus. The show is a benefit/birthday party for Clinton, but honestly he’s only on for a couple of minutes. Like I said, don’t let it keep you away.

The bottom line is that the Stones still got it. If any of you have seen the Four Flick’s DVD that came out a couple of years ago you’d know that. As it is, I can’t wait until this one comes out on DVD!

Welcome Coach Crean

2008-04-02T07:50:00.002-04:00

This morning, Tom Crean will be introduced as the new coach of the Indiana University basketball program. Crean, who has been coaching at Marquette, apparently came to terms with the school and when asked why he was leaving Marquette for Bloomington, he replied, “Because it’s Indiana”. I wish coach Crean all the luck in the world in turning this once proud program around and putting it back where most of us Hoosier fans believe it should be. But Crean’s hiring is only the first step in what promises to be a long, hard battle to not only get the team back to the top, but to repair the bad feelings and general apathy of the fans who have been treated to a shitload of bad basketball, bad coaching, cheating and various other scandals with very little good ball thrown in.

Good luck coach!

And for those players who can't make up their mind whether or not to stay the course down in Bloomington, well, may God bless you and help you make the right decision. If you stay, great, I'll root for you next season. If you decide to leave, so be it and good luck in your future endeavors. But if any of you assholes think you are bigger than the program itself then you can go fuck yourselves, and I can post this reasonably sure there are those who do think they are bigger than the programor the team.

Sad Days For the Pacer Faithful

2008-02-26T10:37:00.000-05:00

Last night me and the wife took in a Pacer game. First one for me in a couple of years. It was a pleasant evening, but honestly, the only reason we went was because DJ Deak was on the court with the Pacer Power Pack when they, and Boomer, did their high-flying trampoline act after the third quarter. Apparently many more decided it wasn’t worth coming out to at all. The on court product pretty much makes their case.

It was really kind of sad. A scant 8 years ago Conseco Fieldhouse was opening to rave reviews and was the home of one of the best teams in the league. In fact, the Pacers celebrated their first season in their new home by making the NBA Finals and even though they lost that series to the Lakers, the Pacers made us all proud. They played good, solid, fundamental basketball on both sides of the ball and they seemed to be really great guys.

Fast-forward to last night. The announced attendance was over 12,000, but if there was 7,000 actually there I’d be shocked. The Pacers still have the BS about us having the best 6th man in the league, but that sounds so stupid when there is no one there.

I understand the apathy towards this team. The players have had so many off court problems that it just gets to the point you don’t want to root for them as players. In fact, this morning’s news that a woman was raped at Marquis Daniel’s home over the weekend bounced right off of me. I feel for the woman, but it’s just another Pacer too close to trouble. Even if Daniels had no involvement in the action, someone he knew did. Yet these are the kind of players Larry Bird has brought here.

Besides Daniels, who does play hard, there simply isn’t much talent on the squad. JO is constantly hurt. Tinsley is hurt more and more this year after a couple of decent years. Jeff Foster is getting old and doesn’t compete like he used to. Troy Murphy hustles, but isn’t that good. Mike Dunleavy sucks. Travis Diener is a hustler, but again, that is his strong point. Talent wise this team isn’t even close. I know they’re hurt, but you have to suck it up and win some games even when it seems like you shouldn’t.

I’ve been saying for a couple of years that Larry Legend is in over his head. The fans obviously feel the same way. Indy fans may be fickle, but if you give them a team that competes and shows signs of getting better they will still back you, but this team is a disaster and the gate is showing it.

The answer? I think it’s obvious that Larry Bird has to go. All of the players are expendable, although I doubt anyone wants any of them. You have to just start over with this team. Willard wants them to just tank the rest of the season and get a high draft pick. He’s probably right. If they can draft Eric Gordon you might at least put some butts in the seats.

I hate to rag on the team because frankly I don’t feel close enough to the situation to do so, but it just makes me sad to see that beautiful arena less than half full with no real end to that situation in sight. I still love the Pacers and want them to win, but with the current team and management I just don’t see a bright future.

IU v Purdue

2008-02-19T21:07:00.004-05:00

Just a couple of observations about tonight's game.

A nice win for the Hoosiers. 77-68 over the Boilers and now they have a share of the Big 10 lead again. Tied with Purdue and Wisconsin it's anyone's (of those three) league now.

Kelvin Sampson is a cheater and is despicable as a person. He's not a bad coach though and face it, his violations are aggressive recruiting and I have to agree with tonight's broadcast team, they aren't that bad. The real issue is that he continued the practice even after he had been caught. That said, my gut feeling tonight is that the university will deflect the blame to former president Herbert and do nothing until the hearing in front of the NCAA in May.

Had Purdue hit the front end of their one and one's and some three's they may have won. On the other hand, had the Hoosiers not turned it over a million times they may have won by 30.

Eric Gordon is playing a little too fast right now. He's young, but needs to learn a little control. Just a little though.

No matter what happens to the coach, I think this team will continue to improve and will be very happy with their result come the end of the season which just may turn out to be as long as anyone's.

Unification

2008-02-14T09:26:00.001-05:00

It appears, once again, that the powers that be in the IRL and Champ Car are about to come to an agreement to unify open wheel racing. I, for one, will welcome a unification of the series as one is nearly defunct as I write and the other is a bad idea which has done as much harm to the sport as it has done good. And lest we start calling Tony George the salvation of the sport since he is the point man on these negotiations, let's not forget it was his, along with the CART owners, whose greed led us to where we are now.

The unification story goes as such. A couple of weeks ago FTG offered the owners of the CC teams both cars and money to come race in the IRL and effectively end the war that has raged since 1995 and split the series teams and fans and diminishing both. For some reason that only idiots like Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerry Forsythe could understand, the offer was not good enough. More was demanded and George, not unlike what he did to Bernie last year after the USGP, said no. For some reason, Forsythe and Kalkhoven decided that getting nothing was better than getting quite a bit. Had they accepted the proposal they would be back in the only race that pays worth a crap, the 500. Plus they would be able to take part in George's share the wealth TEAMS plan, which rewards teams for running the whole season rather than cherry picking the 500. I mean, that isn't that smart anyway if you look at the payout, but I've been all over that before.

The CC principals, it has been revealed, didn't even share the plan with the other owners who are getting ready for their second year in the DP01 and with little to no sponsorship money. The 500 may be diminished from what it was, but sponsors know it's bigger than any other open wheel race. That leaves few scraps for the CC teams and they are feeling the pinch as they have lost their top driver Bourdais to F1.

Now it appears as though Derrick Walker has decided that he is going to go to the IRL and it sounds like the Newman Haas team will follow. What does that leave for CC? Nothing, that’s what. They may have their few money making races, but who’s going to go watch the mostly no-name drivers run through street courses where they see the cars for a few second each lap? There simply isn’t any viability to the series without Newman Haas.

So the end of the war seems to be near. Will it matter to anyone but the few passionate race fans left? To me if it means increased visibility for the 500 then I am all for it. I don’t think it will make any real difference this year, but the increased field sizes can only help as well as the lack of confusion over the two series. I hope that the CC guys realize that they have an opportunity to put an end to the lunacy that has occurred over the past 12 years. It seems as though George has decided it is time to end and to me it is time to put the ego’s aside and do what is best for the sport. If that means TG wins then so be it. He had the trump card all along with the Speedway. The time for greed is over. KK thought he could get a bargain and sell for a profit when he bought the CART assets. Clearly he didn’t and it is time he swallowed his pride and quit losing money to save face, for spite or whatever.

If the unification doesn’t take place this time around it most likely will only happen because of the demise of CC. But worse than that, those fans who want the end of this and will welcome the end and unification will feel like we have been duped yet again by the little boys who cry wolf!

Meatloaf!

2008-02-05T09:13:00.000-05:00

Hi folks,

I don’t get into too many cooking items on my blog, but since I stepped on my wee-wee last night, I should send out a tip. Of course it is probably something that you all know, but I learned the hard way!

In all honesty, I do, usually, make a killer meatloaf. It’s nothing out of the ordinary mind you, but that fucker is pretty tasty. It’s my mom’s recipe and basically calls for a pound of hamburger, which I usually use a low fat content version, but not a chuck since it kind of changes the taste and usually has less renderings which are kind of crucial to the process. A half of a diced up onion, which I use a partial bag of Lipton Onion Soup. I don’t use a whole bag because I think it is overwhelming. One eggiweg, some salt and pepper and some ketchup. I use about ¾ of a cup myself. And finally, and I found out that this is key, a sleeve of crackers. Mom started using Ritz many years ago and they do provide what I think is a better flavor than saltines. Of course, if you don’t put them in, it really doesn’t matter. I don’t put any ketchup or any other concoction on the top as I don’t like it, and hey, it’s my meatloaf.

Funny story about putting that concoction on a loaf. My mom made it without that for years much to my pop’s chagrin. Well one night she put it on the loaf and I was horrified. Well it was a standoff. I wasn’t eating it with the ketchup crap on top of it, even though I generally like ketchup, and I wasn’t leaving the table until I do. An hour passed after everyone else was done and there I sat. Mom tried to hang tough, but it was no contest. My will prevailed. I may have went hungry, and those who know me, know that isn’t really a problem. I was released from the table and ultimately that night we went to the mall and I got a Johnny Bench T-shirt which I remember wearing until it was threads! Mom is such a softie!

Well last night I found out that there is more to the crackers than flavor. Without them, my poor meatloaf was swimming in the renderings since there were no crackers to soak it up. It also made a much smaller loaf. Also since it was swimming in the renderings none of the bottom had that nice crunchy texture that really tastes good. It was just a disaster.

God bless Linda. She ate it last night and ate more for breakfast this morning. It was so plain jane, but she still liked it. At least the mashed taters and corn were good!

So remember any of you out there making meatloaves. DON’T FORGET THE CRACKERS!!!

Odd's and Ends During Super Bowl Week

2008-01-31T14:28:00.001-05:00

History

So I’m listening to the news this morning and I hear that Britney Spears is locked up in a psych ward this morning and it got me to thinking about the uber-skank wars that have raged the past several years. You all know whom the uber-skank’s are don’t you? Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris are the A-Lister’s with Nicole Richie, Tara Reid, Pamela and other young, stupid, Hollywood hotties who garner more than their share of attention they deserve when compared to their talent. But this is about the top 2. Britney and Lohan.

Before I go on, let me just say that I like Britney and really don’t have a problem with her except where it comes to the way she is raising her kids, or as is the case, not raising her kids. Lohan on the other hand is so repulsive to me that let me just say, or paraphrase, with all props to whoever, possibly Ben Stiller, that said it first, “I wouldn’t fuck Lindsay Lohan with Bea Arthur’s dick.”

But enough of that already, this isn’t about all of that. This is about trying to maintain that number one slut, I mean slot. Or actually how this relates to something that happened more than 20 years ago and how humorous I found it and how this smacks of the same thing.

Some of you may be too young to remember when stand-up comedy was seemingly dominated by just a few really big names. Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, George Carlin were the really big names. Bill was the G-rated version, making clever observations about life and getting big laughs. Pryor was much more down and dirty with no subject being taboo. Carlin was kind of a mix. His humor being a little more cerebral than the other two, but getting in the gutter when he needed to and going G at times.

Cosby had other projects such as television and movies, but Carlin and Pryor at the time were pretty much about the stand-up even if Pryor had begun to take on movie roles. Cosby was considered the clean one with the nice-guy image and a near wholesome feeling. Carlin and Pryor both partied, to excess.

Well you can look up the exact timing of everything and who said what, but at one point Richard Pryor had a heart attack. He was still a relatively young man, but he was partying to the point of it being a career instead of recreational. About a year later George Carlin also had a heart attack, also when he was a relatively young man. Shortly after that Pryor suffered bad burns while free-basing cocaine. Not to be outdone, Carlin suffered another heart attack and joked about it in his stand-up routine saying that he led Pryor 2-1 in heart attacks, but Pryor led in burns. He joked that when Pryor burnt himself up and ‘Fuck it, I’m having another heart attack’.

Fast forward to this morning when I heard about Britney. Over the past couple of years Britney’s life had started to become more and more bizarre. Eventually she had 2 children and still she partied and acted like anything but a mother. Of course, what do you expect from some LA bayou kid who probably never knew right from wrong. In her case she had talent and that led to money which is not a good combination.

In the mean time, little Lindsay Lohan was growing up into a hottie herself, and, like Spears, was losing her mind. She was fighting her family, drinking and acting like a spoiled brat, which of course, she was.

Over the course of a couple of years, Lohan, Spears and Paris Hilton all battled for the top spot on the uber-skank chart. Paris seemed to be grabbing the lead with her TV show, constant photo ops, sex video and spoiled, rich kid behavior. That is until Britney and Lindsay began to pull out all of the stops. In fact, although Paris went to jail for her driving woes, she has pretty much dropped off the skank radar for the past several months.

But not Lindsay and Britney. Last year in a 2 month time period, Lohan was in and out of rehab 3 times. She was drunk, she was driving, she was busted twice in 48 hours last May for DUI. She was out of control. Not to be outdone, Spears went on a rampage that had her showing her crotch in paparazzi pictures, driving while holding her kid on her lap, fighting for the custody of her kids and generally showing anti-social behavior leading to today’s news.

Now I don’t believe for one second that Lohan will allow Spears to grab the top spot without a fight. It’s just that it reminds me so much of Carlin and Pryor back in the day. I can’t wait to see which one of these skanks makes the next move and what it will be!

SUPER BOWL 42

Okay, okay so the Giants DID have a chance. I never would have believed that they could have gone to Dallas AND to Green Bay and won. And in the Green Bay matchup, it was not about the weather, but simply that they were the inferior team. Same in Dallas. But win they did and now they are standing one game from being World Champions.

Honestly, other than die-hard fans and pie-in-the-sky, anything can happen types, did anyone think this team would make the Super Bowl? I sure as hell didn’t see it. Kind of reminds me of a team from last year. Remember who won the Super Bowl? Granted, the Colts were playing the Bears in the big game, but who really thought they’d even get there?

Last year, after what was a pretty lackluster regular season by the Colts, especially the defense, not many gave them a chance. Another 1 and done for the good guys! Kansas City and Larry Johnson was going to run all over the puny Colt D. Didn’t happen. A shaky Giant team probably couldn’t go to Tampa and beat the Bucs D even though the team had excelled on the road. Didn’t happen.

In the second game, the Raven D had a week off and was going to make little horsey patties out of the Colts. Didn’t happen. The Giants had no chance against what was supposed to be the NFC representative in the Super Bowl. Dallas was just too good. Didn’t happen.

Last year, the Patriots took care of the vaunted Chargers, but it was the Patriots and if they were good enough to win on the road at SDG then they’d have no problem with the Colts. Didn’t happen. Similarly, there was no way the Giants could go to frosty Green Bay and beat the vaunted Packers. Yeah, it was cold, but it didn’t seem to have an influence on the game. Still, the Packers should have ruled the day. Didn’t happen.

I’m not saying the Giants can beat the Patriots. This is where the argument breaks down. The Giants are the NFC team playing the seemingly superior AFC team in the Patriots. Last year, the Colts were the team from the superior AFC. This year the Giants are a huge underdog. Last year the Colts were the favorite. It’s just that the similarity in circumstances leading up to it are tantalizing to think about.

One last thing about the Super Bowl, or rather, the week leading up to it. Of course I am far less focused on the pregame “hike” than last year. Last year I caught just about everything the NFL Network and ESPN offered. This year, not so much. But one thing I have noticed is how little, Little Eli seems to be saying. Gap tooth Strahan can’t shut up, but Manning is silent it seems. Hope that works out for him, but I find it curious.

My prediction for the game, Patriots 37 Giants 20.

Colts :(

2008-01-14T15:01:00.002-05:00

Where to begin? It’s been almost 20 hours since the Colts dropped their latest disappointment on us fans. Yesterday, in the final Colt game to be played at the RCA Dome the Colts lost to the San Diego Fucking Chargers 28-24. Besides being disappointed I am downright pissed off. The Colts came out and just played like crap. Other than an opening drive that produced a TD nothing came easy and more often than not, the defense failed to make plays.

After watching the Chargers last week I didn’t really think they had much of a chance. They played a lackluster game against the Titans and barely eked out a win at home. While I didn’t really think they were going to be a pushover, I didn’t expect them to really compete with the Colts. Boy, was I wrong! And like I said, the Colts played like crap!

Marvin was back after missing almost all of the season. He looked small and afraid out there and his first quarter fumble showed he really shouldn’t have been out there. Manning was okay, but he didn’t do anything above and beyond the call of duty. His two picks were tipped by the receivers. But when it counted most he overthrew Dallas to end the game.

The Colts only ran the ball 17 times. Neither the Mayor, nor Keef ever got untracked. Manning failed to look off his primary target continually and missed several wide-open guys down the field. He had time all day, but didn’t see very well.

So offensively we sucked, but we made up for it with shit defense. No pressure on Rivers gave him all day and their tall receivers made our midget DB’s look foolish. Hell everyone on D was a step behind all damn day. It didn’t make sense to me that we could neither get any pressure on Rivers nor could we hit their receivers at the line of scrimmage and slow them down. They toyed with us all day. And I knew when Volek came in we were in trouble. We’d seen that asshole beat us when he was with the Tacks.

It is all just so sad. Our last game in the dome, wasted. I don’t really think we were going to go to Foxboro and win, but at least we had another week. Now we have nothing. Maybe even less if Tony Dungy steps down as many expect him to. Many even think Marvin is going to call it a day. I don’t know if either will happen, but it will be sad to see either or both go.

As for the dome, I’ll miss it. For years I have said it is a great football stadium. Sure it lacked a lot of the creature comforts of the newer places, but as it is configured the fans are right on top of the action. Plus with only two levels everyone seems together. Like one big happy family. I love Conseco as an arena, but it has such an antiseptic feeling to it as well as having a real have and have-not feel to it. When I sit down low I feel no connection to those in the upper deck. Conversely, when I sit up there I feel no connection to the lower level. I pray the Luke isn’t like that, but I think it will.

But, the dome, home for 24 seasons of Colt football. We’ve nicked the Steel Curtain banner in the first year. Dressed in tuxes the day after one of the guys got married to go to the game. We’ve made friends with those around us. Talked to an Indiana legend. Drove some fans away. Yelled until it hurt to yell any more. Hung our heads in disgust at some of the play. Cheered at some of the more inspired play. Suffered through the darkness of 1-15 and 3-13 seasons. Roared our approval as the team won its first 14 games a couple of seasons ago only to have our hearts ripped from us much like yesterday. We’ve been to the top of the mountain beating the Patriots last year in the AFCCG and ultimately the day after the Super Bowl win, in the dome for a celebration for our conquering champions. I’ve been to NCAA tournament games, IU-Kentucky basketball games. I’ve seen the Rebels win state championships there. Watched IU play football. Been in the suites and sat near the top row of the place. All told I figured up last year that I had missed a grand total of 11 games since the Colts have been here. 12 after the Titan game this year. No one can call me fair weathered. 14-2, 13-3, 9-7, 4-12, 1-5. You name the record, I’ve been there.

I’ve seen Montana, Marino (too many times), Young, Favre, Elway, Aikman, Kelly and Esiason. I’ve seen Barry Sanders run and Jerry Rice catch. I’ve yelled at Mike Ditka and gave the finger to countless opponents.

I’ve seen our own teams, some with superior talent, some with minimal. I saw us waste 5 years on the Jeff George plan. I’ve seen Eric Dickerson, Marshall Faulk and the Edge all run the ball for us. Lately we’ve had the pleasure of watching Marvin, Reggie Wayne and Dallas Clark catch the balls Peyton Manning throws. And while he may have not been as sharp yesterday, for the past 10 years I’ve watched nearly every play Manning has played.

I saw a team led by Jim Harbaugh take the team to the brink of the Super Bowl. Captain Comeback may have had the biggest heart of any QB to play the game.

I know enough not to be spoiled by the current run of success, but I also know to appreciate it and not forget what came before. I appreciate what Jim Irsay has done to make the franchise a winner. I may not care for Bill Polian’s attitude, but I tip my hat to his football mind.

Yes, yesterday is a tough pill to swallow. Hell, listening to the National Anthem for the last time got me all misty. I was almost in tears in the car going just thinking about it. I had to tap this out today because it will help me get over the bad part of the game. But I have great memories of the dome. After this I am ready to start building memories in the new place!

Jamaal Tinsley

2007-12-11T13:10:00.002-05:00

Since it seems to be a recurring event I’ll just post that over the weekend Indiana Pacer point guard Jamaal Tinsley was involved in an incident he should be trying to avoid. Tinsley and his entourage/posse were at a club out on ghetto row when the club was cleared because of a fight between a couple of female patrons. Tinsley and his crew were at the club and had arrived in three of Tinsley’s slick rides including a Rolls Royce.

Apparently some thugs thought they would show up the guard and an argument in the parking lot ensued. When Tinsley and co. left the thugs in the parking lot followed. Knowing they were being followed, Tinsley and them drove into the heart of downtown Indianapolis where, in front of the Conrad Hotel at approximately 3:40 am, a firefight took place. Several shots were fired at Tinsley and his friends. One man was wounded, but is okay. The shooters fled in their cars. Tinsley’s brother fired a couple of shots and one man with Tinsley was arrested on an out of state warrant.

Tinsley, for his part, has apologized to the Pacers and the city and says he made a mistake and needs to make better choices. I applaud that Jamaal, but your track record makes me skeptical that you’ll ever change. I just hope you do before someone who can aim a gun fires at you.

Victoria's Secret

2007-12-04T16:25:00.001-05:00

Well it looks like the dumbass season has officially started! Okay I know, it rarely seems as though it never really ends. Case in point would be last Sunday at the Colts game, but I digress. Some turd burglar, soccer mom up in Carmel has decided that the window display at the local Victoria's Secret store is just too risqué for her taste.

This bitch who obviously has way too much time on her hands and not enough wiener in her has gone to the store headquarters and demanded the display be taken down or greatly modified. Much to my chagrin and as near as I can tell, most everyone else's, the company has cow-towed to this mess of a human being and replaced the bra and panties (their business) on their mannequins with pajamas. And the real kicker is that the bitch that started this bullshit is still not happy.

Lori Baxter is the pond scum that initiated this ridiculous war. I don't know if she just doesn't get enough, is some crackpot, right-wing nut or some overprotective soccer mom who is having trouble grasping what most of us call reality.

Ms. Baxter is claiming that the mannequins and their sexy clothing are causing kids to have sex earlier. She has nothing in the way of research to back her bullshit up, but hell, since when did being right matter any more in this country. Everyone's so fucking scared of being sued they err on the side of political correctness just to be safe. Unfortunately, those of us who go about living life and not being offended personally by any little thing, directed at them or not, are made to suffer these fools and their moronic ideas.

Tell you what Baxter, if your 11-year-old kid is having sex or even polishing his Bishop it ain't the fault of some store and its mannequins. Your apparent stranglehold on "morality" probably has him rebelling or he is surfing porn at home while you are out crusading against mannequins.

You know, I get the whole "protect the kids" thing, but for fuck's sake, how do people like this climb into bed at night and even for one second think they are doing right? And to thinks she is still offended by the pajama wearing faux models. What the fuck does she think they are supposed to wear? What does she think VS sells? And why is VS letting this bible-thumping thug have her way?

It's time someone told this sub-human POS that she is not the community standard police and that making this all public and drawing attention to herself is a disgrace and shows that she is more about attention that she ever thought about being for protecting the children.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-21T08:02:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so first off, a big Happy Thanksgiving to each and every one of you out there who happen by to read my blog. I hope all of you have someone special to spend the holiday with. Truly an American original, Thanksgiving is one of those holiday's when families seem to get together.

Maybe we sometimes get caught up in the family and friends, the food and the football and forget about the true meaning of the day which is to give thanks for all we have. We should also pray for those less fortunate than us, be it financially or more importantly, those who have no friends or family to share not only the holiday with, but all aspects of our lives.

I always thought I had it made. I always had friends and family to spend the holidays with, but about a year and a half ago I got married and I was thinking this morning about how empty my life would be without my wife Linda. She means so very much to me and I can't imagine beign without her. (And no, this is not just a sucking up post). Unfortunately she does like the stuffing out of the bird at my mom's house so now I only get half of it, but it's great to have her to share it with.

So as you gather with whoever you gather with tonight, tomorrow and over the weekend remember to give thanks for being able to share with those around you and remember those who are less fortunate. And lastly, GO COLTS!!

Bullet Dodged

2007-11-19T08:38:00.000-05:00

Face it, since the Patriot game the Colts have not looked sharp. Last week against the Chargers they came out flat, but rallied to make it a game at the end only to let it slip away. Yesterday in the dome it damn near happened again. The Colts beat the Cheifs 13-10 on the strength of a last second FG by Adam Vinatieri.

Sure I'm happy with the win, but the Colts barely beat a bad team and looked bad doing it. If you looked up winning ugly in the dictionary there would be a picture of the team yesterday.

I won't go over all of the game details, but there are some very bothersome things going on.

18. Peyton Manning had another bad day. Granted it wasn't all his fault. He had very little time and was sacked twice. He had a couple of balls dropped , but be that as it may, 18 did not look sharp. It's hard to beleive how little respect Marvin Harrison gets when his absence is clearly missed. Without him Reggie and Dallas are doubled up on and Utecht and Moorehead have yet to earn 18's confidence. But in the end, Manning has to make more plays than he is now. He's the big boy, the high paid one, head cheese. He has to step up and make the remaining receivers step up their games. Instead we keep getting the Peyton Manning "I just stepped in doog poop" look. Come on Peyton, pick it the fuck up.

4. Adam Vinatieri is in a slump. Last week he missed a chip shot FG at the end of the first half. It was a rush job, but he still should have made it. He missed another easy on at the end of that game that he had a good look at and it seemed to go well. Fast forward to this week and we find him attempting a 49 yarder. He claims it was tipped, but either way it was no good and the boos were more than a little audible. A few minutes later he steppedup and missed a 29 yarder and he was booed loudly. Finally he shook it off and made a couple to seal the game. I didn't boo AV, but I admit I was holding my breath when he kicked the game winner. These kickers are a strange breed and even AV who seems as much as one of the guys as a kicker can be can be quirky. Clearly it was in his head when he missed his fourht in a row. It's too deep in the season to think about a change, but we best start scoring some TD's to keep him out of the equation for the time being.

Now we have a short week. We go to ATL to play on Thanksgiving night against a bad Falcon team. We're going to have to play better to keep winning these games. Pittsburgh lost yesterday which is a big help and gives us the inside track for the second seed in the AFC. Now it's time to suck it up and heve the December we all know this team is capable of having.

Bucket Game 2007

2007-11-16T13:12:00.001-05:00

Here we are, the eve of the annual game to decide who get the Old Oaken Bucket. Tomorrow, in Bloomington, Indiana University's football team will host the Purdue University team in what is each team's big rivalry game of the season. Unfortunately, outside of the alumni of both schools living outside of Indiana, no one really gives a shit about the game or who wins it.

As has become the norm, the Bucket game will again be a battle to determine who sucks less between the two schools, in football at least. But this year does have a bit of a twist. Both programs have coaches whose livelihood could hang in the balance. Indiana, still reeling from the loss of coach Hoeppner, has to decide if they are going to stick with Bill Lynch while the Boiler fans seem to have become disenchanted with Joe Tiller up in West Lafayette. Both coaches have their supporters and both have their detractors.

Down in Bloomington it is the consensus that Lynch is a nice guy, but is not the guy to take the program to the “next” level. The problem in Bloomington is that if they cut Lynch loose and get that next level coach, how long will he stick around? The program has been such a piece of shit for so long that the next level ain’t much, but going to a bowl game every year would certainly be a step in the right direction. Face it, in Bloomington, basketball is king and football is a distant second, that’s the way it is, has been and unless the cosmos shift, will always be.

Lynch, the coach is a little different story. While compiling an overall winning record, many feel he inherited a pretty good program at Ball State and ran it in to the ground. He made one bowl appearance in 1996, but left the program with a losing record. He also seemed to have control problems with his team and a number of them found themselves afoul of the law. Perhaps he was just too nice to deal with rowdy, thuggish, MAC kids. An 8-2 record at division 2 DePauw buoyed his overall mark. Obviously Hep saw something and hired him to coach with him at IU. Just before Hep’s death last summer Lynch was named interim coach. I, like many cast a wary eye towards AD Greenspan for his decision and took a wait-and-see approach.

The Hoosiers got off to a great start, something unusual for them. They beat the patsies on their schedule unlike many years when they were lucky to split. There was talk that Lynch should have had the interim tag removed and hired permanently. A loss to Illinois dampened the spirits some, but in the upcoming weeks the Illini would prove to be a tough beat. Meanwhile the Hoosiers went to Iowa City and won and beat a bad Minnesota team at home. Then came the October from hell. Not unlike their upstate brethren the Hoosiers came up with squadouche against Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin. They finally got off the mat to beat Ball U before dropping a nondescript piece of shit to Northwestern.

At 6-5 the Hoosiers are bowl eligible, but does anyone actually believe this team deserves a bowl bid if they end up 6-6. For craps sake they can’t even sell out their own stadium unless Ohio State, Michigan or Purdue are in town. Why would any bowl committee want a team who’s fans won’t show up to home games. They aren’t going to show up at a bowl either.

So that leaves us with Lynch’s situation. He beats Purdue and he goes to a bowl as well as gets the Purdue monkey off the teams back. Frankly I don’t think he’s done enough with a win to garner anything long term, but he will probably, and maybe should be, given a 2 or 3 year contract. A loss and he has to go. Nobody in Hoosierland that actually cares about football wants to start over AGAIN, but the bottom line is the program must improve or move on.

Of course, getting a good young coach will probably lead to starting over again in a couple of years anyway since they probably won’t pay when others come looking for talented young coaches. Not with the basketball program sucking all the resources.

On to the Boilers. The Boiler faithful may not be as dumb as the Hoosier fans think they are, but one thing they are is unrealistic. At some point the Boilermaker fans decided they were in the same class as Michigan, Ohio State and Wisconsin. The teams gaudy September and early October records always get the fans tweaked to a, well, boiling point, only to have their hopes dashed. This year it was Ohio State. With a 7-0 record and everything on the line the team came out flat as a pancake and got their asses handed to them. Tired of this seemingly unending pattern the fans have turned their ire towards the coach of late.

Joe Tiller has compiled a 61% winning percentage at Purdue and has taken the team to a bowl game 9 out of his 10 seasons, including an appearance in the 2001 Rose Bowl. A record the Indiana fans can only dream of these days. At 7-4 this season it appears as though the Boilers will again be bowling regardless of tomorrow’s outcome. But for the fans it simply isn’t enough.

Purdue has reached as far it is going I don’t care who the coach is. Beat Notre Dame, get one against the big 3 and for fuck’s sake, beat Penn State once in a while. You do that and Purdue fans should have nothing to gripe about, but they will. And God help him if they lose tomorrow, which, while I find doubtful; it’s not out of the question by any means.

So IU fans, are you going to embrace Bill Lynch if he wins? Will you run him out of town on a rail if he loses? Is he the answer? Probably not, but he may be about the best you can expect. It’s not a glamour detail and will always be in the shadow of the basketball team.

Purdue fans, will you ever be satisfied? Can Tiller stay if he wins tomorrow, because I know you will all call for his ass if he doesn’t. Hey IU, tell you what, if the Boilers don’t want Joe T and decide to cut him loose I’d be on his doorstep about 1 second later and sign him to a contract until he retires. Boilers, be careful what you wish for, losing Tiller could and probably will bit you all in the ass!

Hurt's (Not) So Good!

2007-11-14T15:24:00.001-05:00

Dang, I mean just dang. I just heard that 93 is now out for the season for the Colts. Just when I thought the injury situation couldn't get any worse it did!

Dwight Freeney is lost for the season. The Pro-Bowl D-end has some foot injury that will require surgery and end his season. Losing 93 is awful. The team has brought in former Pro Bowler Simeon Rice who had been cut by the Bronco's last week. Face it, anybody who got cut during the season probably isn't going to be a big impacter. But something had to be done.

I've been know to be pessimistic, but I thought we had a good chacne this year to repeat. After playing the cheaters to a tough game the injury report ballooned up so fast it made my head spin. Dallas out with a concussion, Gonzo out with a dislocated thumb, Marvin out with a bruised knee, Ugoh out with a bad neck, Freddy K out with an ear problem and the list goes on.

I'm starting to get really concerned about the season. If it were just DF out I'd be okay, but it's not. Some people are looking at thei weeks game against Kansas City as a "week off", but this is the NFL and there are no bye weeks when you have a game. Couple that with the fact the Chefs are probably still smarting from the playoff loss last year AND the fact that we turn around and play 4 days later and this spells tough sledding for a beat up team.

There is no doubt we are better than the Chefs, but it won't be easy. Say a prayer for the boys this week and let's get through Sunday and Thirsday's game and get a little break!

Jury Duty

2007-11-05T14:34:00.001-05:00

I see Marion County has begun a crackdown on people who skip out on jury duty. Apparently just over 40% of those called actually show up. A sad statement considering it is one of few requirements of our freedoms as well as something we should all be willing to take part in. Sure it's a pain the ass, doesn't pay shit and generally wrecks a day or more, but it is still a living breathing part of our freedom.

I admit, I have been guilty of not showing, but it was an honest mistake. I simply forgot to call until the Wednesday night of the week I was supposed to serve. I don't think my pool number was actually called, but I did feel bad about it. For those of you who don't know how it works in Marion County, and I don't know if it's not like this everywhere, you are mailed a summons to appear. Beginning on Sunday evening you have to call the provided number or check on line to see if your group is required to appear. If it is you show up the next morning at the City-County building. If not you call back each evening until Wednesday. If your group is never called you simply do nothing, if it is you report. They county doesn't pay you for parking or meals and if you don't make it on a jury you get a whopping $15 + mileage. If you do make it on a jury you get $40 + mileage per day and once you start the jury you get meals.

Well back in April I was called once again and I actually called and had to show up on a Thursday morning. I got an early start and got downtown about an hour before I needed to be. Fortunately for me it was 'Juror Appreciation Week' and we were treated to coffee, juice and snacks while filling out our paperwork and waiting to be called. I went through the process and spoke to a lady who was scared. She was over 65 so she had an out if she wanted. She was afraid to convict someone and have him or her come back and get her.

Eventually my number was called and we were led to a courtroom and the prosecutor and defending attorney asked us questions to determine our suitability for the jury. I was in the third group and answered honestly, which seemed to be rare with some of my co-would be jurors’. A little while later I was sent to the deliberation room and eventually was joined by 12 others who made up the jury and 1 alternate. We were then sent to lunch, which I felt should have been on them, but wasn't. I did get to go to the King David Hot Dog shop, which was cool, but it still should have been on the county since I was already part of the jury. Oh well!

When we returned from lunch we were given some instructions and then sent into the courtroom. The judge swore us in and gave us his instructions and an overview of the case. We were now ready to go.

Let me just say this, I had heard that turnout for jury duty was low and was shocked, and while I was treated with respect by the court the whole process was boring and irritating and I now know why people don't show.

Our case was the state versus this kid accused of armed robbery and conspiracy to commit armed robbery. What left the biggest impression on me was that this was some kid, 19 years old, facing 20 years in prison. It was all such a waste it seemed. The story goes as such: Four friends conspired to call the local Domino's Pizza, order a pizza to a bogus address and when the pizza came they would rob the pizza guy. What happened was that they damn near beat the delivery guy to death, stole the pizza, some wings and his cell phone. The morons even used the cell phone to make a few calls, which is what eventually got them caught. The scary thing is that they actually tried to call another pizza place and while the defendant’s attorney downplayed it, they were going to try it again!

The state's star witness was a completely unbelievable character that had plea-bargained his way down to a 8 year sentence from 115 years. With his track record he was not to be trusted even though the state said he could be. This punk basically got on the stand and acted polished, a little too much to me, and it turned out to be one's word against the other. In the meantime, emails and threats had been exchanged between the two boys. In true gangster wannabe fashion these morons forgot what "code of silence" meant. So here we were in court listening to these 2 boobs call each other liars and talk about how heinous the other was.

Even the pizza man got on the stand but he didn't provide much as he was japped and didn't see or remember much.

After a couple of breaks we finally got the case about 6:30. Me and another girl were adamant that the defendant was guilty but we were outvoted. The alternate who was not supposed to have a say wouldn’t shut up. She took over the jury and this white trash that was also in there was so anxious to let this thug back onto the streets. All the while I still thought it sad that these two punks were going to throw away their lives for some pizza and a cell phone. The thing is, these kids seemed to come from decent homes and from what I heard from them, knew better. In the deliberation room things turned worse and I just gave up. I thought guilty but it was clear that there was no way these idiots were going to change their mind. You get a real civics lessen in there as in my fellow citizens are stupid!

Ultimately we found the defendant guilty of conspiracy to commit robbery. The alternate kept telling us that he would still get 8 years, but I knew better. He'd be lucky if he saw one day behind bars. We pressed the buzzer to summon the bailiff who thought we were ready for dinner. We told her no, we were ready to deliver the verdict. I had lost all interest in the future of this punk by now and just wanted to get out of there.

At about 8:00 PM we delivered the verdict. The defendant seemed pleased, the state, who presented a weak case looked beaten down and we had more paperwork to fill out. Back in the deliberation room the bailiff told us we were entitled to dinner and that they had already ordered it. We could stay if we wanted, but I wanted nothing but to be away from these assholes. Oh and that dinner? Fucking pizza after hearing about it all afternoon.

I walked back to my car saddened by the case and disillusioned by the system.

As a final note to this, I checked the Indiana Department of Corrections Offender Locator for our defendant; On June 26 he was sentenced to 1 year in the Indiana Department of Corrections and is currently at the New Castle Correctional Facility. He is eligible for release on November 24, 2007. A far fucking cry from the 8 years that uber-dumbass alternate tried to spew.

The county may be cracking down on those who skip out on their jury duty, and I doubt I would ever try to get out of it or just skip it, (that's for the you-know-who’s) I can certainly see why people bemoan having to serve.

Colts (Cheater) Patriots Aftermath

2007-11-05T10:02:00.000-05:00

As you might expect I'm not feeling real great about yesterday's game. Colts lose 24-20, but there is hope. I guess the biggest disappointment is that we really had a chance to put the thing away and unfortunately made mistakes that cost the game. The good news is that the Patriots are human and what looks clear is that they and the Colts are head and shoulders above the NFL crowd.

I won't rehash the whole game, but I have to vent about a couple of things. First and foremost. why in the hell did we take the ball out of Joe Addai's hands? He had a monster first half and nothing really in the second. I feel like the Colts overthought the situation and figured NE would focus on the Mayor so we went a different direction. It didn't really work. Stick with Joe, he'll work!

Overall it was a great game and I feel like it lived up to the hype. Two heavyweights going toe-to-toe for 60 minutes. If you like the NFL it doesn't get any better than that!

Things started off at Tom's. We went to the Monkey and then on to the game. The place was rocking. In fact, when Addai scored late in the second quarter the dome was rocking more than I had ever felt it rock. Loud, loud, loud was the order of the day. I think Pawly was yelling in tongue's. At the strat of the fourth quarter I, as usual, had thought ahead and had a beer in reserve. Some guy from the other side of the aisle offered me $20 for it. At first I balked, but thought it over for a minute and sold it. A nice 285% ROI!

Anyway, I firmly believe we will see the Pats in January and this time I think it is they who are the "finesse" team and us who are the hard hitting patient, grind it out offense. I'm already looking forward to it!

Hype Week!

2007-10-29T06:22:00.000-04:00

The Colts have done their part in ripping Rooney’s Panthers 31-7 yesterday in Charlotte. The Cheater Patriots did theirs by crushing the Redskins 52-7. Now we stand by for what will be the biggest week of hype for a regular season NFL game ever. It’s the Colts and Cheater Patriots next Sunday 4:15 in the dome for world supremacy! At least that is what it will seem like.

Honestly it is a huge game. Both teams along with the Steelers have been the class of the league for the past several seasons and now we have two undefeated heavyweights getting ready to go at it in what could well determine where the AFC Championship game is played. With half the season left to be played after this game is it too early to talk of home field advantage for the playoffs? Probably, but how can you not talk about it? The Colts have amassed a clean record and have won by a decisive 17+ point margin against some solid teams. The Cheater Patriots have posted even gaudier numbers although it has been against less talented teams.

It is stacking up to be the immovable object versus the irresistible force. A game for the ages. Name your cliché and you will likely hear it this week and I think it’s appropriate. Will the game live up to the hype? Who knows but these teams did put on a show last January in the dome. Of course it was like 2 separate games. Before that the Colts had won the previous 2 at New England after a period of disappointments against the Cheater Patriots.

I have to tell you, the Cheater Patriots looks great, but so do the Colts. Patient and physical seem to be the calling cards of this years team. Yesterday they looked like crap early on, but just kept plugging away on offense and finally got untracked. The defense had one series letdown, but for the second week in a row allowed just 7 points and this coming off a short week with 2 on the road. The Cheaters have been killing people and their defense has been pretty stingy itself.

Who’s going to win? Too early to tell for sure, but it should be a lot of fun talking about it this week and going to the game Sunday!

Weekend TV

2007-10-22T10:53:00.000-04:00

It was kind of a slow weekend. No Colts game and no real plans so I made some time to catch quite a bit of television and I have a few thoughts on what I saw. I'll kind of take things in order of how I saw them.

Friday night I actually got to watch Friday Night Lights at its regular time. Well, I saw most of it. I kind of fell asleep and had to watch the balance on Saturday morning. This was the third episode of the season and it looks as though my original fears for the show were unfounded. The religious angle is still there, but it has been integrated nicely into the show without being preachy or overbearing. The political angle seems to have completely gone away as far as what happened in week 1. I'm really gald of this as it is a good show and has a good story going. And Tyra rocks even if she is with Landry!

Saturday I went out and watched some college ball. It looks like the Boilers are pretty much what we thought they were ;). They're a decent team that will feed on backmarkers and lose to the big dogs. Same old thing with Tiller. He reminds me somewhat of Bill Mallory down at Bloomington. Decent coach, nice guy and he while he got them to A Rose Bowl, it's doubtful he's going to go again and he can only take them so far.

IU is a disaster as usual. Their defense is so shoddy it makes me sick. Couple that with their penchant for boneheaded plays and you get what you had Saturday. Penn State is not a good team and Indiana had a myriad of chances to win, but just kept fucking up. They'll win another and go to a bowl, but they still suck.

The Irish are just awful and they may win one more this year. It may be Navy's year and I love every minute of it!

Sunday I got up and watched Snakes On A Plane. Pretty fucking creepy. Not much of a plot but it was still fun. Snakes are scary and I wouldn't let the cat watch because he has nightmares.

The big payoff on Sunday was the F1 race. Kiwi needed a lot of help to be the World Champion and he got it. McLaren cheaters are appealing the result but they are such liars that no one would believe them anyway. Congrats to Kiwi!

Finally I got to watch a shitload of football Sunday afternoon. I started at Sidelines Sports Pub. It was okay, but even sitting at the bar I was having trouble getting a beer and the clincher was not being able to watch the Raider game. Out of about a million TV's all they wanted to put on was the fucking Cowboy's and Bear games. I left and went to BW-3's and was able to watch the Raiders lose to Kansas City.

About the Raiders, well they suck! I watched as they tried again and again to run the ball. THEY AREN'T A RUNNING TEAM! They should have thrown the ball exclusively and they just refused to do it.

Well it was still a good weekend and now we have the Colts tonight. I'm a little worried. JAX is a good team and we'll need to bring a good game to beat them. That's all I got for now, just wanted to check in. Have a great day!

Indiana University

2007-10-15T08:46:00.000-04:00

Well, it was another red letter weekend for the IU athletic department. Both the football and basketball teams managed to make the news for the wrong reasons and by Sunday night it wasn't clear whether either teams coach would be employed by the university much longer. As a former rabid fan of both programs I can only say I am dismayed at the crap that continues to go on down there. To paraphrase Strother Martin in Up In Smoke, "When IU, when are you gonna get your act together?"

I guess I can only be glad the football team has had a couple of setbacks this season and especially the one Saturday night in East Lansing. With the emergence of the Illinois football team the lone Hoosier loss was looking a lot more palatable. So palatable that I thought they might pull the trigger on a new contract for interim head coach Bill Lynch. Lynch ain't the answer. With the debacle Saturday I hope AD Greenspan has figured that out and will at least wait until the end of the season to do anything.

What was looking like a sure bowl berth season took a turn for the ugly Saturday night. Now games against Wisconsin and Penn State that may have looked winnable a week ago now loom as sure losses. Sure the Hoosiers should be able to beat Northwestern and Ball State, but we all know the Hoosiers penchant for losing to a mid-major team like Ball U. Then there is the Bucket game which looks like will determine nothing. At best the Hoosiers are looking at some low budget bowl in some cold weather city.

Across the parking lot the basketball team opened practice Friday night to a decent crowd and a shitload of anticipation. There was a buzz around the basketball team last year that hadn't been felt in some time. Kelvin Sampson had the team playing defense and they were a joy compared to the POC teams Mike Davis had put out there the previous years. Unfortunately Sampson is an unpleasant, defensive and arrogant man who can bring them a championship and I won't be able to embrace him. I'll root for the team, but I just don't like Sampson. Probably never will. And before you think I was against his hiring I wasn't. I heard some interviews with him after he was hired and it was clear he wasn't a quality person.

Well all of the goodwill and anticipation came crashing down yesterday as reports surfaced that Sampson had violated recruiting rules by making more phone calls than are allowed by the NCAA. The rules are stupid, but they are the rules. Sampson, who had been run out of Oklahoma for doing the same thing was at it again. How does this knucklehead not get it? For fucks sake Sampson, are you that stupid? Is your arrogance so profound that you just think you are above the rules? Are you too damn dumb to change up your shtick a little? And AD Greenspan, why aren't you watching this prick? You put a clause in his contract that he is gone if he steps out of line. Why is he still coach as of this writing?

IU has taken the first step and docked Sampson, with his blessing $500,000. A tidy sum to be sure, but if this clown was in trouble with the NCAA before for the same infractions then do you honestly think a monetary penalty is going to keep them from throwing the book at him this time? How many scholarships will be lost for this one?

I know Sampson won't get fired by the university at this point. It is too close to the season and lets not forget, the team has some highly touted recruits and expectations are high as IU has been ranked as high as 10th in preseason polls. Sampson will continue to run roughshod over the rules and be unable to distinguish right from wrong. He recruited some guy in KY who was promptly busted for selling dope. Nice. The whole Eric Gordon recruitment smelled funny. The IU hardcore's will tell you all is fair in recruiting and that the "gentleman's agreements" are BS, but they exist and I just think there is more to Gordon being at IU than meets the eye.

I don't like what is going on down there these days and until someone is willing to watch the program a little closer this shit will continue to happen. It's a shame that a major university's athletic department needs to be babysat, but that is what they need down there.

2007 Pacers and Other Stuff

2007-10-10T15:50:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are, five weeks into the NFL season and the Colts once again are heading into the bye week with an unblemished record. At 5-0 and atop the AFC South the team seems to be hitting on all cylinders and have looked particularly impressive the past couple of weeks. However, as the NFL moves from its first quarter of the season into the middle half it also means that NBA training camps are opening and our Indiana Pacers are no exception. As we move further into the Fall I have a few observations about the team and a couple of other subjects that always get me to thinking!

Let’s start with the Blue and Gold. The Pacers missed the playoffs last season for the first time in years. I’d like to think this was an exception, but I’m afraid it may be allowed to become the rule. Head coach Rick Carlisle was forced out after an uneventful (result-wise anyway) four years on the court. That didn’t bother me in the least, as I never thought Rick was the right man for the job and the only reason he lasted as long as he did was because of his relationship with Larry Bird. Carlisle lost control of the team in his first year. It was generally known that he was a stern leader who insisted on complete control of the team and one of those coaches players will tune out before long. Now not everything that went wrong over the past few seasons can be pinned on the coach. For fucks sake there is so much that went wrong and so much blame to pass around it almost defies belief. As they say, it’s a giant shit sandwich and they’re all going to have to take a bite!

One thing for certain is that the tighter Carlisle held on the less control he had. Carlisle’s first season as coach was brilliant. He led the team to the best record in the league, but lost to the rival Pistons in the conference finals. I remember thinking that I may have been wrong about Carlisle. Maybe he was a good coach. Everyone knew his reputation as a no-nonsense leader and not a “players” coach, but the future sure looked bright. We had Jermaine and Ron-Ron and a cast of young and good ball players. Unfortunately Carlisle soon lost the team’s ear and eventually control altogether.

I know a lot of old school guys will tell you that you can’t let the inmates (players) run the asylum (the team) but face it, like it or not, these hard-nosed throwback guys are not working in today’s environment (see Bill Parcells in Dallas) and it’s always easier and usually more cost-effective to fire the coach than all of the players. Players aren’t mindless automatons that will blindly follow a coach especially at the professional level. Face it old-schoolers, it really doesn’t happen in college anymore either. I’m not saying that is good or bad; it is just the way it is.

After the Pacer’s stellar 2003-2004 season it took just a couple of weeks into the 2004-2005 season for the wheels to come off of the Carlisle Express. The infamous brawl in Detroit showed just how little control Carlisle had over his team and brought into question some of the personnel moves made by club president Donnie Walsh. I won't rehash the event other than to say suspensions were plentiful and a palpable change of attitude in this city towards the team was noticed.

Team president Donnie Walsh had spent years beyond reproach. He hired Larry Brown in the early 1990’s and lifted the perennial mid-pack team into the upper echelon. The team was exciting to watch and, with the Colts struggling down the street, the city rallied behind the efforts of Reggie Miller, Rik Smits, the Davi and the rest of the team. We loved them for who they were and even in defeat it was as if they could do no wrong. Now with players like Ron Artest, Stephen Jackson and Jamaal Tinsley the team no longer had lovable players who made the fans loyal to the team. Ron Artest may have been the best basketball player in the NBA in 2003-2004 but his incessant troublemaking and boobery made him a target of ridicule and debate over whether he was even worth the trouble. The answer to that was apparent on a November night in Detroit.

With Ron-Ron suspended for the season and several key players for many games the season figured to unravel. Carlisle rallied the troops for a couple of weeks but they were a sitting duck and no one seemed to hold out much hope for the team. The support and goodwill the team had generated in the second half of the 90’s and early part of the 2000’s was going and quickly at that. In the middle of all of this chaos stood Walsh and his sidekick Larry Legend who was being groomed to take over the president job. I love Larry Legend, but we all knew that as a coach he did more delegation than coaching and as great of a basketball player as he was, I was not sure of his ability to run a NBA team.

The 2004-2005 season came to an end against Detroit and it was hoped that Ron-Ron would either be traded or if he came back the next season he would have learned from his mistakes and grow up and be the person commensurate with his balling abilities. We all know, it didn’t happen.
Meanwhile, in the offseason Larry Legend was in Europe falling in love with a short white point guard who would never turn into the player we all hoped he would. It was the first real chink in Bird’s armor. Sarunas never panned out to be anything more than a decent backup PG. To make matters worse, his game was geared towards an up-tempo game style, something Carlisle simply would not abide. I don’t know if he felt it was a loss of control, but it certainly wasn’t his style. Consequently Sarunas was never really a good fit in Indianapolis and by the middle of last season he was gone.

Bird was taking over the team’s personnel moves and his first big attempt had gone sour. Walsh seemed to be a figurehead and Carlisle was fighting for his job. Compared to the past 10 years the near future looked bleak. For example, in 1998 a lanky high school kid named Al Harrington was drafted by the Pacers. Al struggled for a couple of years before becoming a main cog in the Pacer team makeup. Unhappy coming of the bench though, Al was traded after the 2003-2004 season. The Pacers seemed to like Al and by all indications wanted to appease the young player but simply couldn’t or wouldn’t guarantee him a starting role. The irony of course is that less than a month into the 2004-2005 season, one of the players whose role he coveted would be gone for the balance of the season.

Bird continued to make questionable moves in the 2005-2006 season. Artest, back from his suspension asked for a week off early in the season to promote a rap record he had produced. Having not been granted his wish Artest pouted and a few weeks later asked the team for a trade. He said he felt the division between himself and the team was too much to overcome. Bird sat his star player, but made no moves to trade him. As a fan I wondered what the hell they were doing. You have one of the best players in the league SITTING out and instead of trying to trade him you just let him sit. In what can only be described as a bizarre set of circumstances Bird finally agreed to a trade for Artest. In typical Artest fashion (i.e. being a complete lunatic) the player told Bird he didn’t want traded to Sacramento. Eventually Artest capitulated and the trade consummated thus ending one of the saddest chapters, player-wise, in Pacer history. Bird wasn’t off the hook by any stretch of the imagination.

Prior to the 2006-2007 season coach Rick Carlisle proclaimed he was changing his offense to an up-tempo style. Of course by now Sarunas was mired on the bench and the team he had would play would struggle with any up-tempo game. So Bird turned to the Hawks and was able to get Al Harrington back in the fold. The idea was that Al would fit into the new system well and Al jumped at the chance to both be back in Indianapolis and to play the way he wanted to play. Unfortunately the experiment was to be short lived and probably was the death knell for Carlisle.

Al was unhappy as the Pacers up-temp game never materialized and in January 2007 he and several other players were traded for several players of questionable value. On court the team was a joke. They had no chemistry and the coach had no control. The handwriting was on the wall for Carlisle and many, including me called for Larry’s head as well.
Now before you jump on me about personnel moves let me say this. Yes, I know that it took Donnie Walsh several years before he got the hang of the NBA. But one thing Walsh didn’t excel in was hiring thugs until Bird was on board and it was the end of Walsh’s reign.

Prior to the 2005-2006 season several players including Jackson and Tinsley were in trouble for being at a strip club at 2:00 am during training camp. Jackson allegedly got into a fight and fired his pistol at his antagonist. No one was hurt but Jackson would have his day in court, again. (He too, was involved in the brawl in Detroit.)

By now the fortunes of Indianapolis' pro sports franchises had changed places. The Colts, who have had their share of run-ins with the law over the years, had had several solid years of success and were perenial favorites to win the Super Bowl which they finally did in February 2007. Many of the city's fans who supported the Pacer's in their heyday now were on board with the Colts and had largely forgotten the basketballers.

Last season, after a party the day after the Super Bowl, Tinsley was out at a bar and got into a fight where guns were involved rankling an already skeptical public and highlighting the difference between the two teams.
Then, recently, rookie Shawne Williams was caught driving without a license and being in the presence of someone smoking marijuana. Williams claimed he didn’t know it was in the car, but the office that arrested him noticed the smell as soon as he got out of his patrol car. An unregistered gun was also found in the car. To add insult to injury, Williams failed to show up for court at his appointed time claiming he overslept.

Now don’t get me wrong, people need to wake up and start taking responsibility for themselves, but some people are just no good. Unfortunately the Pacer’s have become an organization rife with those kinds of players. Colt fan likes to make fun of the Bengals with all of their legal problems, but fans of both the Pacers and Colts can’t laugh too hard when it is happening in our own backyard.

So here we sit at the precipice of another season. A season that features a new coach and his philosophy. He has said all the right things, but in essence is just another retread coach who talks a good game but has had just limited success in the league. Larry Legend may have screwed himself this time. While I want the team to succeed I don’t see it happening and I can’t believe that ownership will sit by and watch this franchise continue to circle the drain. I love Larry Legend but he is just plain in over his head. No one ever confused Larry with Einstein. He was a brilliant basketball player, but that doesn’t mean he’ll ever make it as a team leader. It’s time to put Larry on a short leash. If this team tanks or if the players continue their anti-social behavior then Bird has to be the man held responsible.

Friday Night Lights

Last season NBC presented a show based loosely on the book and movie made a few years earlier. With Friday Night Lights being one of my favorite movies I was anxious to watch the television show and see what it would be like. I wasn't disappointed in the least.

Anyone expecting an exact copy of the movie may be disappointed, but face it, you have an hour a week for 10-16 weeks and you simply have to develop characters more than in a two hour movie. For the most part I really enjoyed the characters and their storylines during the first season. Sure there were things that didn't work for me, but they were exceptions.

This morning I sat down and watched the first episode of the second season. For the most part I was pleased. The writing seemed stronger and while still dramatic, it wasn't quite as over-the-top as some of last season seemed to be. That said, there is a couple of story lines that I see developing that bother me.

I see that Lyla seems to have gone overboard on the religion idea. She was baptized on the show and proceeded to be a complete bitch about it to the point where she is really anti-Christian, especially at dinner one night with her mother, her mother's boyfriend and her brothers and sisters. Now I don't have a problem with religion, but coming from this particular character seems unnatural at best and clownish at worst.

The other story line involved Lyla's dad Buddy. Buddy is a booster who likes to stick his nose in everything Panther football. When confronted by his estranged wife he calls her boyfriend a tree hugger and a communist. I see this beginning a path of political views on the show that are not necessary to the show. Hopefully it was an isolated incident, but I really don't want to see this show go down that path just so NBC or the shows producers feel they need a platform to espouse their views.

I'll be watching the next few episodes to see how these story lines play out. If they go too far I probably will cease watching. The only other thing I have on the show is that they moved it to Friday night. I think the target audience is probably kids who are living Friday night lights and as such aren't home when it's on. I myself had to DVR it. It made more sense on another night to me, but maybe they wanted to bolster ratings or make it feel more authentic.

Rooney

2007-06-01T15:47:00.000-04:00

Well apparently my cat has started his own blog. He was nosing around looking for some pictures the other day. When I asked him why he revealed that he wanted them for his website. I thought I'd throw him a "bone" and give out his URL.

His blog is called "It's A Cat's Life" and you can find it at http://puparoo.blogspot.com

Enjoy!

God Bless Tony Stewart and Other Stuff

2007-05-01T15:45:00.000-04:00

That might sound like a strange headline coming from me. As most of you know I despise Tony Stewart and I think he is a bona fide jackass and a cry baby. I know he is a great race car driver and is generally good for the sport, but his bullshit outweighs (by a large margin) the good. That said, last week Smoke, as his fans call him, made statements on his radio show that enraged the powers that be down in Daytona Beach but endeared him to me.

Stewart said he was tired of NASCAR throwing phantom yellow flags near the end of races to bunch up the fields to provide a more thrilling finish. Strong words? Sure, but for those of us who have felt the same way and have been turned off by NASCAR's ways over the past several years it was music to our ears. Many claimed Stewart was just whining again because he was beat, but he said he knew he was going to lose and this was not an isolated incident.

As a race fan I used to be a big NASCAR fan. I admit that the sport hasn't been as big to me since Dale Earnhardt passed, but the BS that goes on in the NASCAR offices is what really pisses me off. Rules changes in season, 35-8, the provisionals, the phantom yellows and the general arrogance are what really has turned me off. I like the drivers and teams, and yes, even not liking a Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon makes it fun to root against them because they are so good.

Tony Stewart said nothing more than people like me have thought for years. NASCAR has become a joke and is more entertainment than sport. Sure it rakes in millions of dollars daily, but so does the WWE.

Unfortunately we live in a world where short attention spans are the norm. NASCAR has decided that their fans either can not or will not abide a driver running away with the win. They have decided that their fans are only happy when the race comes down to 2 or more cars crossing the finish line within a half second of each other. Don't get me wrong, close finishes are good for the sport and fun to watch, but manufactured finishes like Smoke is talking about are what has turned a lot of fans against NASCAR. I mean, God forbid that a team comes to a track, has their shit together, has a driver who is focused and hungry, have the best race strategy and win by a wide margin because everyone else doesn't have their shit together.

For Stewart's part he was fined and placed on probation by NASCAR. he also "retracted' his statements. Fine, but obviously we can not "un-hear" his words. He said it, you know he meant it and a lot of fans agree. Even Ol' DW seemed to be leaning Stewart's way during the Phoenix race when no one could find any debris the brought out the yellow.

Maybe NASCAR will heed Smoke's (unspoken now) words and quit playing God with their races. The last few years the IRL seemed to be going down that route, but so far this year the have let them run. Maybe a driver winning by a lap isn't as exciting as a duel decided by .0001 of a second, but that .0001 of a second finish is only good if it is legitimate and not manufactured.

______________________________

Today is May 1. Sunday the Speedway opens for a couple of days of rookie practice with everyone getting going on Tuesday. Unfortunately excitement for the 91st running of the Indianapolis 500 doesn't seem to be at a fever pitch. Looking at it I don't even see 33 car/driver combos. But things change rapidly at the Speedway in May and they'll probably get there.
The housekeeping first. I'll be out there on Fast Friday (May 11), Pole Day (May 12), the second week of qualifications (May 19-20), Carb Day (May 25) and Race Day (May 27). I do have some tickets for sale if anyone is interested. I have two up high in the NW Vista (turn 4) and two in H Stand (coming out of 4) about halfway up. I'm looking for face value for them. The NW Vista are $85 each and he H are $70 each. Use the Contact Me link above left if you are interested.

As for the actual racing Dan Wheldon has to be considered the favorite going in. Target Chip Ganassi Racing team mate Scott Dixon looked fast last weekend and should challenge. Their main competition from last year, Penske, seems to be a bit off. Frankly I think Sam is already gone to NASCAR in his mind. Julio may be able to get it done, but the team has struggled everywhere but St. Pete. Tony Kanaan and Dario Franchitti both have been strong for Andretti Green, but Marco has been an embarrassment on the ovals and I think he is spooked, Danica has been so-so and God only knows what Michael will bring to the show.

Frankly, everyone else seems to be an also run. Tomas Scheckter had a decent run at Kansas, but if the winner doesn't come from Wheldon, Scotty D, Sam, Julio, TK or Dario I'd be surprised. I'd really like to hear Kosuke drop another F-bomb while he's here!

See you at the track!

R.I.P.

2007-04-05T15:40:00.000-04:00

I killed my wife's car Saturday night. The green meanie rides no more. A word of warning, anyone going to Harley's Tin West would be well served by checking out the parking lot before going in. It is dark, oddly shaped and guarded by two retention ponds and mud. We'll miss the old girl, but honey is getting a new car this week. For the record I just dumped it in the drink, one of the other outlaws is good for the front right corner!!

The World Champion Indianapolis Colts!

2007-02-07T15:38:00.000-05:00

When it was in the bag Sunday night and the final few second ticked off the clock I was torn between emotions. On one hand I was so happy to see my team finally get over the hump and win the Championship. On the other hand I had a great feeling of relief.

All week long I had really thought the Colts would win and that feeling never really escaped, but I had no illusions that the Bears would back down. But as the game approached I felt more and more anxious about what "they" would say if the Colts lost.

Sure I shouldn't care what the media says, but after being so close with this team the past few years and having them rip my heart out time and time again, I just didn't know how I could face another media blitz on the Colts and how they proved they could not win the big one and were simply a soft dome team. I was concerned that we would face another off season of questions about the players and coaches. Of course any time you don't win it all you face that, but this team has been preseason favorites the past three or four years and has always managed to fuck it up. By winning it, they put all of that chatter behind them and it just feels like a relief to me.

Honestly though I am just so happy. I got a little misty after the game when Don Shula presented the Lombardi Trophy to Jim Irsay. Monday morning I was watching Sports Center and Mike and Mike and flipping between tuners and pausing one when I went to the other. I read all of the articles in the paper and literally had tears streaming down my face. Good thing the wife wasn't home!!

Monday after the pep rally in the dome I was just drained. It was such a high for that 24 hours. By the time the rally ended I was ready to just lay down and sleep. Starting today we can start to dissect the draft. We can begin the talk about our free agents, who to keep, who to lose. We can discuss the chances for a repeat. Why didn't the defense show up until the playoffs? Is this team truly bored with the regular season? If so, how does winning it all help? Can this team regroup and take everyone's best shot next year and even make the playoffs? Do we have the makings of a dynasty or did we get ours too late into the game for our core group of players? How much longer will Marvin play? And for God's sake, can we take down those ridiculous "Wild Card" and "AFC Finalist" banners in the Dome?

All My Teams

2007-01-30T15:36:00.000-05:00

The Colts are in Miami. Yesterday there were a couple of big send offs in town. Unfortunately I was unable to attend, but that's okay. It was cold anyway! It did make me think though. Here we are, fans of a team that is 60 minutes from a World Championship. 3600 measly seconds from the biggest thrill a fan of a team can have. I sometimes look back and see that the Indiana Pacers of the ABA were the only professional winners this city has ever had, but still, I have been lucky as a sports fan.

Those of you who know me, know also that I was a Bengal and a Raider fan prior to 1984 and the Colts arrival in Indianapolis. Being a long time fan of the game I knew about Johnny Unitas, Lenny Moore, The Greatest Game Ever Played, Ray Berry, John Mackey, Artie Donovan etc. I was never a Colt fan, but those were household football names. As a Raider fan however, I was ecstatic when they won it all in 1976 against the favored Vikings, again in 1981 as the first Wild Card team to win the Super Bowl and again in 1984 when, again as underdogs, beat the piss out of the Redskins. Hell by the time I was 24 my favorite football team had won three championships.

However, as time moved on and I became more and more involved with being a Colt fan, my love of the Raiders waned (despite what Neil might say!!) Sure I rooted for them a few years back against the Tampa Bay Bucs, but they were so outmanned it was ridiculous!

I also have been a Cincinnati Red and New York Yankee fan. The Reds took the title in 1976 and 77 and again, miraculously destroyed what everyone said was a superior Oakland team in 1990. The Yankee's always seem to be in contention and won three in a row at the end of the century.

These were all great as a fan, but they still left me wanting. Now of course there are the Indiana Hoosiers. National Champions in 1976, 81 and 87. Led by a series of All-American players and a hall of fame coach, the Hoosiers were a joy to watch and root for and few were bigger fans than me or my friends. We all knew when the team played and usually worked schedules around it. Of course we were all younger and had relatively few responsibilities, but by God, if the Hoosiers were playing we were together and watching.

Times changed for me over the years though. I still like the Hoosiers (although I really have not warmed up to the new coach) but it is nothing like the passion I had back in the 80's and 90's. Maybe it is because I feel like Bob Knight let us down beginning in 1994, maybe it was the lackluster teams. I don't really know, but in 2002 when the guys got to the title game I watched, but it was just different. Some of you may have been at DK's house when they won 1987 and know what that was like. Going to the final game in 2002 was nothing like that for me.

But all-in-all I have to admit I have had some good teams to root for. Hell, even Roncalli HS has given me some very proud moments over the years. The Pacers, well they had a couple of close calls, but still led us on some wonderful journeys over the years. But the Colts, well, pretty much until Peyton Manning arrived the team has sucked. Sure we had the 95 team that was so close to the Super Bowl. An unlikely bunch out of nowhere that was a dropped pass from playing the Cowboys.

But this time we are there and if the team can bring home the win I imagine it will eclipse all of the Raider, Hoosier, Reds, Yankee and Rebel wins combined. Like I said, I count myself lucky enough to have been fans of those teams when they won. Maybe it is just me being selfish. I do know what all this means, and I want it!

AFC Title Game Day

2007-01-21T15:34:00.000-05:00

The Indianapolis Colts are going to the Super Bowl!! In what can only be described as an unbelievable game, the Colts exorcised their demons and beat the Patriots 38-34. You all know the story of the game, here are just a few thoughts from Sunday.

Got up early and went to church. Me and the Mrs. have been pretty remiss about that since we got married and it felt god to go. Naturally I prayed for the Colts, but I have no illusion that God cares who wins a football game. Nor should he. I just prayed that the guys played to the best of their abilities. For 25 minutes of that game, I was pretty sure my prayers were not to be answered.

Went to lunch at Bahama Breeze for Brooke's birthday and to their house for cake. By this time my stomach feels like it has bats instead of butterflies! I'm confident, but very anxious at the same time. After we leave we go by the house and I grab some brews, my hat and coat and a trash bag and we head to Tom's.

I get to Tom's first followed by Paw and Tim and finally Neil. We have Bombs to get the day started although I could go for a cat nap to get lunch past me. I have a Red Bull and feel fine. Another round of Bombs and a beer and we are ready to go. We pile in the Caddy and head for Mo's.
The atmosphere downtown is charged. There do seem to be a lot of Pat fans around the area and my anxiety level increases. I am not sure if I can handle a stadium full of those idiots. Still, there is a lot of blue as well. We make our way to Pullmans for what has become our traditional pregame stop. We have one, go to the can and I make a call to the wife and tell her we are heading in. I am assuming voice conversations once inside the dome are not going to be possible.

Once we get in the Pat fans are few and far between, but of course that doesn't mean there are 5 sitting right in front of us. Craig warns me to behave, later Eric does as well, but these guys look pretty harmless. I assure Craig all will be well. I really wanted to hit them a little later, but I kept my cool and just yelled louder and "accidentally" spilled a little beer on their jacket.

Most of the usual's were there. Butch and his crew, Dan-o and Mark, the Legend, the Girls, my buddy who always speaks (who unfortunately may have broken his ankle in the first quarter) was there, the BILF, the throwback helmet guy and the myriad of other usual fans were all in attendance!

Then the unthinkable happened. PM threw a pick that was run back for a TD. Patriots 21, Colts 3. Tom headed out to smoke and I don't think he came back until the half, Paw was giving up his tickets next season, Timmy was moved to seat 110 and I had pretty much thrown in the towel. The Pat fans were chest bumping and high-fiving. They were calling and texting their friends back in Boston or wherever Pat fans come from. Without the FG at the end of the half for the Colts the dome may have begun emptying out by the half.

The good news is that the fans didn't leave. We all stayed and we just yelled louder. I made sure the guys in front of me knew this fan was going to stay in the game. It was worth it! As the Colts stormed back from 15 down it was apparent PM was going to pick his game up. Even the 80 yard KO return after the Colts tied it up didn't bring us down.

Eventually, as you know, we pulled it out! Marlin Jackson, in place of the injured Nick Harper, picked off Tom Brady's pass with 16 seconds left to go and the game was over. The Pat fans in front of me were gone before I was done with my first hug. But only the Pat fan left. As you can see from this picture, Colt fan stayed late! We hugged and high-fived. We laughed and teared up. We felt the weight of not only the last few years of heartbreak, but of 23 years of trying to get over this hump. None of us had much of a voice left but who cared.

When we finally filed out of the dome, with smiles splashed across our faces the cheering continued. Number one fingers all around, more high-fives, chest bumps and general fun! We headed over to the Ugly Monkey and got drinks and went out n the patio and high-fived hundreds of passing fans and tossed snow balls at passing cars. All in good fun. We finally headed up Illinois Street in the Caddy and with the other idiots, honked our horn and joined in the fun! Even saw some Bear fan who promptly got the finger.

It was a great day. We can only hope that in two weeks we beat the Chicago Bears. While I have a problem when people say "we" meaning the fans deserve this, it is a great feeling and one I want to take into the offseason! Let's Go Colts!!

Stupid Pacer Tricks

2007-01-18T15:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the Indiana Pacers made one of the stupidest trades in team history. Not since bringing back Bob Netolicky has the team veered so far of course. Yes, we are now rid of the thug Stephen Jackson, but love him or hate him, he could play ball. But as if that weren't bad enough, we also allowed Al Harrington, Sarunus and Josh Powell to the Warriors for four backups. Fuck Larry Legend, how much did you have to drink before pulling the trigger on this one?

Granted there are a lot of fans out there who are thrilled to see Jack gone, but we got the short end of the stick on what seems like a desperation move by the organization. this team spent the past two lamenting the loss of Harrington who they drafted out of high school 8 years ago. He spent two years in the ATL and seemed happy to be back in Indy. We were all told by Carlisle in the preseason how this team was going to play up tempo and be exciting. Unfortunately Carlisle's demand of control on the team would never allow him let the team play. As it is, the team is dull and hard to watch. Al has indicated he is happy to leave because of this.

So instead of making the change where it needs to be, at head coach, we gut the team to save the feelings of the coach. Bird is so far in over his head as an NBA team president it isn't funny. Donnie Walsh can't retire because Larry sucks. He scouted Sarunus for months in Europe proclaiming him a great point guard. He never really caught on and like Harrington, found himself at odds with the coach and gameplan.

Now we get that faggy Mike Dunleavy, slow and steady Troy Murphy, Ike Diogu, who may be he only bright spot when all is said and done and Keith McLeod who is now going to his 4th team in 5 years.

As a longtime Pacer fan I feel sick by these moves. Back in the day the team didn't win, but they were lovable and had some nice players. Larry Brown took us far and caretaker coach Bird got us to the finals. Since then it has been downhill except a couple years with the Pistons. This season wasn't going great, but we were 4 games over .500 and in playoff position. I wouldn't look for that to last. Maybe Larry is a genius and is setting us up for the Oden lottery before it's too late!

Go Colts!

2007-01-17T15:29:00.000-05:00

Well Colt fan, here we are facing the biggest game in team history. Our first ever AFC Championship game in the Dome. For us loyal Colt fans, this is what we have been waiting for, especially with this team. I know it isn’t the Super Bowl and just getting there is by no means enough. Not by a damn sight. But the only way the Colts win it is to win Sunday. Twenty three seasons we have waited for an opportunity like this. Sure we were in this game in 1995 and 2003. Unfortunately we were on the road. Honestly we should have beaten the Steelers in 95, but we played poorly in Foxboro a few years ago.

Since then we have posted great season records including last years stellar 14-2. But as any fan can tell you, those games are pretty much meaningless unless the team backs them up in the playoffs. Ask anyone on the team, they’ll tell you!

This year has been different. This year the team had another great regular season, but was lousy on defense and struggled down the stretch. Looking back a month one wonders if they weren’t just ready to get to January and the playoffs.

So we go into Sunday, against the team I consider the Colts biggest rival. Pat fan might not call it a rivalry, but they are lying to themselves. Once they owned us. Hell for the first 21 years the Colts have been in Indianapolis they owned us. But on prime time TV both this year and last, the Colts have extracted a measure of revenge by beating them in their stadium, soundly. It may have been only the regular season, but if anyone believes the games meant any less than a playoff game to either team they aren’t paying attention.

As the week goes on expect the city to reach a fever pitch. The Pat fans say they are coming, but I bet their numbers in the dome are negligible. Look for more blue being worn. Posters in windows. Debate on talk radio. Discussion on TV. Expect the experts, especially the noted Colt haters Mark Schlereth and Sean Salisbury to call the Colts soft and incapable of winning this game. Expect to hear about how Pat coach Bill Belichick has Peyton Manning’s number and how Tom “Man purse” Brady is the best QB ever. Expect talk about how 18 has played in the playoffs, but don’t expect much about the D. Some of what you read and hear is true, some, pure folly. All of it, however, means they are talking about our Indianapolis Colts who stand just two victories from history.

And look out. If the Colts are to win, which I truly believe they will, watch for the media to jump all over the Bear or Saint bandwagon next week. Especially the Saints. God forbid they lose and ruin the “America’s new team” mantra some seem to have bestowed upon them.

Well America, you may not have been Colt fans before and you may not be now, but the bandwagon is gearing up again and there is plenty of room. Jump on board! Don’t let the uppity fans not let you. Let’s make this our week! As we know, these opportunities don’t come along very often!

Morons

2006-10-04T15:03:00.000-04:00

With more than 2000 dead and 20,000 wounded American soldiers in Iraq isn’t it about time we called the “War” a failure? What have we done to make it a success? Sure we got Hussein out of power, but has the killing stopped? How many Iraqi’s are dead? You "patriots" probably don't care, but you should care about the Americans.

The Bush administration has gone unchecked long enough. Those who say this wasn’t about revenge, oil and money are deluding themselves. War on terror my ass. Bush is a liar and his cronies are all full of shit.

The GOP is a mess with scandals that make it look like the biggest bunch of hypocrites ever. Hell , we all know the Democrats are perverts, thieves and crooks, but the Republicans act as though they’re above it. Folks let me tell you, they’re not.

What we have is an ineffective leader in Bush. The fucker has this country so divided it will take years to repair it. A VP who is sitting back getting rich on his war tiem contracts and business interests and a tough talking Secretary of Defense who in actuality probably couldn’t fight off a cold.

Hey dickheads, tell you what, why don’t you try to win this fucking war or get the fuck out. We allegedly have the greatest weapons ever invented to fight a war and the highly trained and “motivated’ US soldier, yet we can not get an edge on a group of people who use rocks and Molotov cocktails as their main weapons. Rumsfeld talks a great game, but we just keep losing bright young men and women, and for what?

And before any of you so-called conservatives think I am endorsing the Dems or liberals you can take your heads out of the sand and wise up. Fuck the democrats and the liberals, but at least we know where they stand. Allegedly the Bush administration was for the US and making things right in the world. All I see is a failed war in Iraq, the head of Al-Queda still running around free as a bird and a country and world divided over our idiotic actions.

2006 Racing Mid-Season Report

2006-07-12T15:01:00.000-04:00

Well we are truly immersed in the 2006 racing silly season. Driver changes are occurring, firings have taken place and the rumors are swirling. Some changes have already proven beneficial for certain drivers, while others have been treated poorly in my opinion. Here is a brief view of my thoughts as we move forward into the second half of the 2006 racing season.
First up is the release of two drivers from their IRL teams this week. Buddy Lazier was released by Dreyer and Reinbold Racing (DRR) and AJ Foyt has released Felipe Giafone (Mike).

I suppose there are a couple of ways of looking at these firings. One, is that the results simply have not been there. In Lazier’s case, the top finish was 12th at Indianapolis. At the tracks with fewer cars his top finish was three 15th place finishes. Not exactly the kind of results one expects from the 1996 Indianapolis 500 champion. Mike failed to post much better numbers. His 5th at the Glen was his season high along with a couple of top 10 finishes in the first two races. While the numbers were better than Lazier’s, his 16th, 17th and 19th place finishes over the past three races have to be viewed as disappointments.

On the other hand, Lazier and Mike were given little chance of success when they climbed in the cars of DRR and AJ respectively. These two teams have been at the back of the pack for most of the decade and I don’t see how any of that is going to change. DRR is simply a small budget team competing against teams who are exponentially larger than they are. You know Dennis Reinbold and Robbie Buhl want to continue to race, but you really have to wonder how long they can spend money on the venture.

In AJ’s case, he has a serious sponsor so the lack of results on the surface seem more intriguing. However, AJ himself seems to be as big of a factor in their performances as anything else. AJ is known to hate the engineers and technology that comes with today’s racing and refuses to embrace it. Of course by doing this he gives his team little or no chance to win. AJ was one of the greatest drivers the Speedway ever saw, but he may be the worst owner it has seen. How long he sticks around is a big question.

I hope Buddy and Mike land rides in the IRL, but I have my doubts. I think Buddy just never fit the mold for the big teams and Mike just doesn’t excite fans or sponsors. I think they were both wrongly fired by their crappy teams, but that doesn’t make them the first or the last to be held out as the scapegoats.

While on the subject of DRR, they have hired Ryan Briscoe as their driver for the next four races. Briscoe was unceremoniously dropped from the Target Chip Ganassi Racing(TCGR) team last season after hitting everything but the pace car. DRR may not have liked what Buddy was doing in their car, my feeling is that they will like what Briscoe does even less. Unless this guy has changed his mindset he’ll be the undertaker for DRR. I like DRR and I hope he does okay. I just have my doubts.

Let’s keep it in the IRL for the moment. My favorite driver, yeah right, Danica Patrick has been in the news this week. Seems her father was poking around the NASCAR garages this week and announced to the media that his daughter was looking for a Cup ride for 2007. Her contract with Rahal Letterman Racing (RLR) is up at the end of the season. RLR has really struggled this year. They lost Paul Dana in a freak wreck at Homestead. Since that time they replaced Dana with Jeff Simmons who has not found any traction. Patrick and team mate Buddy “FITP” Rice have made little impact on the season. Sure they are not a factory Honda team anymore and yes they lost a driver. But it seems as though there may be more to it than that. I don’t know, but the team is a damn sight off of where they were a year ago. Of course with the dominance of TCGR and Penske Racing, most teams are off, but RLR seems to be in more trouble than the others.

Anyway, the “sis-boom-bah, rah-rah IRL” cheerleaders were all up in arms over the news. Many were in denial at the story, some were ready to hang themselves while others ran and hid.

There was a piece that Derek Daly said Patrick leaving would be a good thing for the IRL in that it would speed up unification when they saw the direness of the whole thing. For his part Daly, who does Champ Car races and F1 on TV, as well as covering Indy in May, was lambasted by the rah-rah’s as a traitor and a person who never liked Indy. Face it fans, he hates the IRL almost as much as I do, but like me, he loves Indy.

Ultimately the story, while true, was more of a ploy to get a better contract for Patrick. Danica announced yesterday that, while NASCAR is still a desire for the future, she fully intends on staying in the IRL.

Two thoughts on that. One, this is good news for the IRL. FTG still has his number one marketing tool, even if it is a gimmick. His hiring of Gene Simmons has produced nothing but the ridiculous “I am Mindy” anthem. Two, with all of the money that is bound to be spent in NASCAR when Toyota gets there next year, how wise is it to hire a gimmick like Patrick who will never be able to compete. Roush may make his money off of the merchandising of Patrick, but she’ll be a joke otherwise.

To wrap up the IRL let me say this about the whole Simmons/Abrahamson deal. Seriously, what have these people done? When the season started we had 20 cars and have gone to 18 for this weeks Nashville race. Carmelo Anthony lent his name to Hemelgarn Racing and that was supposed to attract sponsors. It failed and Hemelgarn is “parked”. FTG and his crew have once again completely missed the boat on this thing.

On to NASCAR. Frankly I don’t follow this that much, but there was a huge announcement this past weekend that compels me to write about it. Juan Pablo Montoya(JPM) is coming to America and he is going to be racing in the Nextel Cup Series (NCS) for Chip Ganassi. You may remember JPM won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 with TCGR as they cherry picked the 500 from their lofty perch in CART. JPM went on to win that series and was soon headed to F1.

While there, JPM did manage to win 7 races, but he probably ruffled as many feathers as he did excite team owners. Most of his success came with the Williams BMW team. When he moved to McLaren he struggled with the car and being second fiddle to team mate Kiwi Raikkonen. When it was announced that JPM would be making the move to NASCAR for 2007, McLaren made quick work of releasing the Colombian. With extra time now on his hands it will be interesting to see when JPM starts his NASCAR career. He is supposed to run some Busch races this season and possibly a Cup or two, but now he has half a season and I doubt Ganassi wants to have him sitting around doing nothing. JPM who makes his home in Miami hasn’t said what the extra time means as far as racing is concerned.
What is sure to happen is a big swell of interest from the US F1 fans as well as US open wheel fans when JPM gets to Daytona next year. Go Juan! I think he’ll do fine. It’s going to take a little practice to get the feel of the car, especially after the F1 cars, but he is a great driver and will succeed whether the good old boys and girls like it or not.

JPM’s replacement at McLaren is Pedro de la Rosa. Not a name to generate any interest here in the states and interest ought to be a thought. With the potential demise of the USGP, F1 ought to be kissing our asses for the money they make here. But since that is unlikely here are my thoughts on the future of the USGP. It will be back and back for a long while. I don’t say that because I love it, but I think FTG and FBE know a good thing when they see it, well maybe not FTG, and aren’t willing to screw it up.

Finally, it has been suggested and disputed and rumored to death the unification of the IRL and the Champ Car World Series. These rumors reared their heads the past couple of years, but this year FTG and FKK gave credence to the talk by admitting they had been meeting. They cautioned that the talks were in the early stages and that nothing had been decided. Anyone with half a brain can see that the continued split in open wheel will have even more devastating effects than it already has had. The sponsors that are here will leave and the car counts on both sides will continue to drop. 18 entered at Nashville this week, 17 were at the CC race at Toronto last week. Both numbers are down and the likelihood of them going up is doubtful. I’ve been all over the split so I will not continue to discuss it here, but the end must be soon or open wheel racing will be a distant memory in just a few years. More importantly the Indianapolis 500 is losing luster as the days roll on. As it is, barely 33 cars even show up and some are so far off the pace it isn’t funny. If the two sides can get together these trends can be stemmed. Now I don’t think anyone with half a brain thinks there will automatically be 35 cars at Kentucky and 50 at Indianapolis, but the car counts should improve. With that improvement means more competition and it probably will signal the end of teams like AJ Foyt, Hemelgarn and even DRR. The bottom line is that it is no longer necessary to unite to fight NASCAR, that ship has sailed. It is necessary to unite to give some hope to the future of open wheel racing in general and the Indianapolis 500 in particular. I don’t want to see 33 fucking Silver Crown cars running the 500 no matter what these so-called purists assholes think.

2006 Indy

2006-05-23T14:59:00.000-04:00

As we race towards the 90th running of the Indianapolis 500 the landscape of open wheel racing may be getting ready to change. Talks between the IRL and Champ Car have been taking place and both sides have acknowledged as much. Where those talks lead us is likely to shape the future of the sport or doom the sport to no future.

We all know the history of the war between the former CART and the IRL. Tony George felt slighted when he was offered a non voting seat on the CART board. George had a “vision” to get the open wheel world back to its North American roots of oval racing and to develop those young sprint and midget drivers eventually leading them to Indy and try to keep some of them from bolting to NASCAR.

We all know of the infamous 25/8 which was hastily abandoned, albeit a little too late. We know the “vision” has changed several times. We know that neither the IRL nor CART/OWRS/CC is able to draw any TV ratings and that the IRL has suffered from poor attendance. In fact, the once venerable race at Phoenix is now completely gone from the schedule after drawing about 8000 fans last year. Phoenix used to be the race before Indy and the winner was usually the favorite when the track opened in May. We know that CC has all but abandoned oval racing and for that matter, road course racing for street racing. We also know that Long Beach and Monaco are the only ones who really can pull that off. We also know that driving a front engine midget or sprint car lends itself much more to the front engine NASCAR cars than it does to the rear-engine, more nimble and faster Indy Car, thus making the whole point of the original “vision” moot.
All of these are points the fans of open wheel racing, or should I say Indy Car racing (be it IRL or CC) have come to grips with. We also have heard the past couple of years about a possible unification of the two series, but they ended up being smoke and mirrors. At least this time the parties involved are admitting to talks.

But where do we go with these talks? IRL fan is certainly not going to stand for a schedule even half and half oval/road course. CC fan may never return if it goes oval heavy. I have posted my dream season at Indystar.com so I will eschew doing it in detail here, but suffice it to say some of the tracks in the IRL will have to go away just as some from the CC schedule. I think it is imperative to be in Canada at least once and preferably twice and I’d like to see the series in Mexico once. As long as Honda is involved I think you have to keep Motegi. I’ve never been a big fan of the Australia race so as far as I am concerned it can go. Europe? Forget it.

As for the cars, well I will leave that to those who know about such matters. Frankly, it matters little if the cars are turbocharged or normally aspirated.

The biggest issue to me is who is going to run the show? This isn’t the NFL/NBA/MLB so a commissioner in that traditional sense won’t work in my opinion. Racing is a different animal. Drivers can and do get hurt bad or killed. Of course people get killed doing all sorts of jobs, but racing has an inherent danger not found in other sports. If a team suffers a streak of bad luck with injuries/deaths they will leave. Then again if teams suffer lack of funding they will leave. Looking down the pit lane this past weekend at Indianapolis gives me hope that the sponsors are coming back, but I wonder if it is proportionately the same to sponsor a car as it was in 1995. CC is really hurting for sponsors so unification may not exactly set the open wheel financial world on fire.

When CART was formed the team owners wanted the power and the say so. When I think about that it is hard to find fault with it. It is their asses on the line. Still it is wrong when some of those owners also decide to be promoters at their tracks and even worse when races are guided to tracks purposely because of an owner.

The commissioner in CART never worked because he was a puppet to the owners and there weren’t two sides such as labor and management in the traditional stick and ball sports. Unfortunately the owners in this high stakes game rarely agree on anything. Ultimately CART went under and lots of people lost a lot of money. Was it mismanagement or simply a matter of trying to corral owners who did not want to be corralled?
ext bring on the IRL. Tony George had the track, he made the rules and he ran the shows. I thought he was acting low budget, but he isn’t very smart and needed help that he must have refused. Face it, everyone and their brother knew TG was subsidizing teams in the IRL and especially in the 500. He tried to get out of it one year by proclaiming “33 is just a number”. Had he mumbled that in front of a crowd of race fans he probably would not have survived the day. He was stuck then subsidizing teams to bring the count to 33 for the Memorial Day weekend classic.

Apparently tired of doing that, he started his own team. Vision Racing! My question is how is this any different than what was happening in CART? A lot of people are still convinced Paul Tracy won the 2002 Indianapolis 500 and that George unilaterally ruled against him. IF and it is a big IF at this point, one of his cars was involved in a similar situation, how would he act? Even if Barnhart were to rule, he is in lock step with TG so how would he rule?

These are issues that have to be resolved, but rest assured, I hope they do resolve them and get this thing back together. In 1995 the track was packed on race day, now we have many areas with empty seats and scalper prices are at an all time low. Each year the Speedway talks about ticket sales being up, but it certainly is not evident.

Face it, the race ain’t as big of a deal as she once was. It can recover, but greed, paranoia and mistrust have to be taken out of the equation to make it happen.

Lose the Battle, Win the War!

2006-03-03T15:55:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago my fiance and I were at a small get together with what I have to describe as my friends. I'd like to call them our friends but I am no in the least bit convinced she likes my friends. Be that as it may, we were having a good time playing cards and having a few drinks and some food. It was a pleasant evening even though we had arrived significantly late. To a certain extent I have given up the fight for being on time as my honey just will not make herself be on time. That pretty much goes for anything; work, church, parties. You name it we are late. Any of you who know me know that I have always been very punctual as I find it a good trait and above all else, courteous.

Well, as it turned out I placed second in the card tournament we were playing. My honey finished fourth or fifth, can't really remember. As I was playing in the final three I noticed her begin to yawn. Mind you it was not yet 10:00 pm and we had not been there for three hours yet and our hosts had fed us. Now before I go on I should say that while my baby really liked watching the World Series of Poker last fall on TV, she really likes to play dealer choice poker better.

As it turns out I finished second in the tournament at about 10:10. I know my friends and I knew there would be a second game. When I asked my babe if she wanted to play she said no, knowing damn well I wanted to. She gave a couple of half-assed "go ahead and play" remarks, but I knew what that meant. So being a person who likes to get along I decided we would not play. Of course I pouted for the next 20 minutes and basically wouldn't look at her. I acted like a spoiled baby, which meant two of us were doing it, because I couldn't play.

All week this has really bothered me. Mainly because I just think she doesn't like my friends, which she better get over, because I am too old to get all new ones. But second it bothered me that she had so little regard for me and my feelings. I felt hurt that night, but am over it now, or am I?

There will be a next time to play poker and it will come up soon. And I am playing. But looking back I am sure I did the right thing by capitulating.

You see I have come to the conclusion that manners are not everyone's strong suit. I can't help most of them, but I can help my honey. In life there are battles every day. In a relationship, one or both parties can make proverbial mountains out of molehills. Thankfully we are not like that.

I honestly believe that there are battles that are and are not worth fighting, let alone winning. I also believe that with a little effort EVERY battle is winnable. But why? Why win every battle? Where does that leave me? I have watched my friends who are married and I see the pitfalls of their relationships and how they are smoothed over. I know that this is all a give-and-take and have found I really like to give. Trying to win every battle and giving the effort needed to win them made me forget what it is like to be happy. Last August when my honey and me got together formally I gave up winning them all. Hell losing a few can be even more rewarding!
I love my honey and next time there is a poker game I will simply tell her we will be playing two games and she can choose to go or not go. I love her and I want her there, but I gave up the last fight to retreat to a better strategy one that takes both of our feelings into account. After all, that is what the giving and taking is all about

2005 IRL Wrap

2005-10-19T20:35:00.000-04:00

You know, I am sort of glad I waited until today to write the IRL post season wrap. Yesterday’s race at Fontana proved to be eventful in and of itself as Danica allegedly struck Jacques Lazier in the safety vehicle after they crashed yesterday. It capped off one of the most tumultuous seasons in IRL history that was notable for its extreme highs and lows.

As usual hope sprung eternal as the season opener approached in Homestead. The tests in the west were wrapped and it looked like the league was on solid footing and poised to take this fight with Champ Car to its end this season. Unfortunately as has been the case for so long in the IRL, everyone was never on the same page at the same time?

Right out of the gate a couple of things were noticeable. One was that the Toyota looked like it was back in business as it took second as well as 7 of the top 10 positions. Honda was still strong as eventual series champion Dan Wheldon took the win. A little known Danica Patrick also made her IRL debut. She crashed and would miss the next race. Attendance was sparse, but the TV ratings were up slightly which gave reason for optimism. Something that sadly, the IRL never grasped.
As the league moved west to Phoenix and the traditional spring date at PIR the IRL was going to reach its low point. A mere 8000 fans showed up for the race. Rumors blamed the promotion, the league, the racing, me and whoever else could be blamed. The TV ratings were shit and my prediction of the end of the IRL by the end of 2006 looked generous.

It was becoming clear the IRL was not going to be winning any battles this year. At least at this point. Next up was the race in the streets of St. Petersburg. The IRL for once pulled it together and put on a show. For the purists it would be the shot heard round the world as it became clear crowds liked street festivals. There was a nice crowd and TV ratings were up. Dan Wheldon would win and it would be the first of three in a row that culminated in his winning the Indianapolis 500.
Generally the race was considered a huge success and you could just see the little wheels spinning in FTRG’s head about more and more of the streets.

Motegi was notable as Danica took the pole. Otherwise it was a forgotten race, but Honda won in the Land of the Rising Sun and that should have made them happy. Next up was Indy.
Practice that first week at Indy was as spirited and active as ever. However, by Fast Friday afternoon the skies opened up and it rained all night. Dickhead Brian Brainfart, in his infinite wisdom called the track closed by noon on Pole Day even though skies were clearing and the sun was coming out. So the Pole was settled on a chilly, breezy Sunday in from of about 50 people. TK got the pole and Danicamania was in full gear. The girl qualified fourth, but could have had the pole except for a bobble on lap 1.

The next weeks were filled with little excitement. Only Bump Day provided any real excitement and in the end it was all BS. Carb Day on Friday this year was a crazy one as usual.
Congrats to Dan Wheldon for winning the 500. Patrick showed her true colors by taking out Panther Racing and being able to change her car and make it faster. She would continue to suck the rest of the year. She did lead a couple of laps, but ultimately she was a loser.

Rolling out of Indy though the Danica factor was in force and the league looked ready to pounce. Tickets for upcoming events were selling at record numbers and the IRL seemed to have the marketing machine at full song. Unfortunately the good feelings didn’t last. At Texas Scheckter won, but by Nashville the wear of promoting Danica, who by this time had faded into the woodwork with her crappy performances, over legitimate drivers was wearing thin. AGR actually skipped the autograph session and were promptly reprimanded. ABC/ESPN and the IRL had pushed the real drivers just a little too hard with all the of Danicamania shit.

As the season progressed, Wheldon continued his drive to the championship, but the league lost its momentum. By the time Milwaukee rolled around attendance was back in the crapper and Michigan was downright embarrassing. Two weeks later at Sparta, KY the crowd was decent, but nowhere near the sellout some would have you believe was there (and blamed on the heat) but each year it gets better.

Finally they got back to the road course part of the season, but at Infineon the crowds were bad and a decent crowd at Watkins Glen wasn’t really enough to carry the rest of the season. Crowds yesterday at Fontana were awful.

As with any season there are good points and bad points. For the IRL in 2005, there were some good ones, but the bad continues to outweigh and I refuse to change my mind about this series being around in 2007.

As far as good goes, Danicamania had to be the top story. She had some good qualifying runs and got her name in front of the public. Unfortunately the IRL marketing hacks botched this opportunity. They overexposed her and virtually forgot all of the other drivers including Dan Wheldon who won the 500. Marketing has been a problem over at 16th and Georgetown for some time now and it appears as though nothing has changed.

AGR had a great season and had great sponsors, but little Mikey threw a tantrum about Danica and pulled his stunt at Nashville. Very childish. The street race in St. Pete was a huge success, but the roaders were so-so. Good attendance at St. Pete, Nashville, Kansas, Chicagoland and Kentucky were negated by terrible turnouts at Fontana and Phoenix and disappointments at Indy, Michigan, Milwaukee and Phoenix.

For all of their posturing about races in Portland, Long Beach and Canada, the schedule for next year is smaller, not larger and does not include any of those venues. I do however like the length of the season which has been cut down by a month and a half.

Chevrolet is gone. Reports of them staying arose after TS won at Texas but the GM people stayed committed to their plans and have pulled their effort. Toyota has announced it is gone after 2006. While Honda says it will stay until at least 2009 one has to wonder what the future holds. I think doing away with the engine leases and letting the rule book free up a little may entice companies to build an Indy engine. It’s funny, but the influx of Toyota and Honda money was hailed by many sides as the savior and proof the IRL had won. It is now apparent that is not the case at all.
Overall I give the league a C+ for the season. It failed miserably to maintain the momentum coming out of Indy. To top it off, one of the leagues biggest allies was basically told to wait. Eddie Gossage and his Texas Motor Speedway, mainstays of the IRL after Indy were thought to be shuffling elsewhere on the schedule. Gossage bitched and it seemed Texas might be gone. In the end it was averted and the league will go to Watkins Glen after Indy and two weeks later race at Texas.

There was just too much Mickey Mouse crap to say the season was a success. TV ratings, while higher remained low. Indy is no longer a sellout. But the real hurtful factor is that Champ Car actually had a decent season. It is obvious they are not going away. Unfortunately with the split, one league will and if Champ Car is not, who does that leave?

Enjoy the offseason. I might do something of a wrap on NASCAR if they ever get done!

2005 F1 Wrap

2005-10-14T20:40:00.000-04:00

With Sunday’s running of the IRL race at Fontana and the F1 boys over at Shanghai the real racing season will come to an end. It has been a bittersweet year to be sure and unfortunately for the open wheel guys, NASCAR remains the 800 pound gorilla that everyone is gunning for. So what happened this season and why did it happen? Who is staying put and who is moving on or out? Who, for that matter is moving in? And who should be in but aren’t and probably won’t be and who will stay in that should be out?

F1 got things going in March with their annual return to the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne. Controversy swirled over whether or not the Minardi team would be allowed to run using last years equipment. The rules had been changed enough that the older equipment was no longer legal. Of course the assholes from Maranello pitched a bitch over the perennial backmarker being able to run. As the lawyers got involved Minardi failed to show at the first day of practice. The FIA successfully argued that Minardi would not be allowed to run the old equipment. Miraculously at the 11th hour, new parts arrived and the Minardi’s took their place at the back of the grid. A position they would continue to defend the rest of the season.

What was apparent however, was that the new Ferrari was not going to blow away the competition the way they had the previous five years. There was no reason to think Schummi and the Sandwich were losing their edge, but the car was not up to par, at least in Australia. As apparent as Ferrari’s drop was the continued emergence of the Renault team. In fact Giancarlo Fisichella won the opener. While Fish failed to ever reach the summit again this season, the message was clear, Renault’s strong 2004 season was no fluke.

Unfortunately that was not the case for two of last years stronger teams. BAR had engine trouble at Melbourne and continued that Mo for the first half of the season. McLaren, usually strong in Australia also suffered engine problems and got off to a bad start.

As the circus rolled on, Freddie Alonso emerged as the new man to finally beat Schummi. Eventually Kimi would join that fight, but by the time McLaren got their shit together it was really too late for him to mount anything more than a cursory charge. Kimi will go down with the most wins this year, but when he was bad, he was awful. Most of it not of his doing, meaning mechanical problems, but it proved too much to overcome as Freddie cruised to the championship.
JPM got off to a rocky start as well. The Colombian missed three races with an injured shoulder. Allegedly he hurt it playing tennis, but the scuttlebutt was that he fell off of a motorcycle. Either way it was a long first season at McLaren for Juan. The team can still win the constructors title this weekend at Shanghai, but JPM will have to drive smart and give his team a chance. Something he has not been doing most of the year.

By the time the teams hit European soil it was clear Ferrari was not going to be a factor this year. It was also clear that the economy was having a say so about the F1 crowds as the San Marino GP was very poorly attended. Spain was good because of Freddie’s run and Monaco was okay, but Hockenheim was once again plagued by mediocre attendance.

By this time the title was down to Renault and McLaren with Ferrari still in the hunt but just barely. BAR was out. Williams was out and Toyota had only one bright moment out of each of their drivers all season.

The season was already taking its toll on the rule book as well. Qualifying had been changed from a session on Saturday and one on race morning to the older Saturday only session with the order being culled from the previous race. Teams still had to deal with the one tyre and no changes and one engine per two races rules. As the teams came to North America, the shitstorm of the year was at hand.

An uneventful race at Canada, well until the last lap when Kiwi broke up, brought the team to the US. The weather was absolutely perfect for four days as the teams gathered. The walkthrough on Thursday was a huge success again as were Friday and Saturday. However, on Saturday rumors began to swirl that there was a problem with the Michelin tyres. Ralfie had slammed the turn 13 wall on Friday and was out of the race. Fingers were pointed with Michelin ultimately being the scapegoat. Be it political or just stupid, Michelin advised their teams not to bring a safe tyre compound to go with the fast tyre. When it became apparent their tyres were unsafe, negotiations took place to either allow new tyres to be brought in or for a chicane to be built to slow the cars.
Everyone knows the story so I will leave most of it out, but suffice it to say that I felt then and still do that it was a political ploy to further the divide between the teams and the FIA in light of the startup GPWC being heralded by many of the teams and manufacturers.

In the end 6 cars answered the starting flag and many feelings were hurt and worse. In the days and weeks following the debacle people blamed the FIA, Tony George, the Speedway, Michelin, Ralfie, F1 and anyone else they could think of. Michelin finally agreed to take the blame and refunded the ticket money to the ticket holders of the race and offered to buy several thousand tickets to next years race. It remains to be seen if F1 will ever recover in the US.

As the circus rolled back to Europe it was clear no one was in much of a forgiving mood. The FIA has tried to ward off the split in the series but it no longer has the teeth it once had. Bernie has all but lost all face in his attempt to keep things together.

But the races continued and Kiwi was coming strong. BAR was finally finishing races, but Ferrari was still down. There was no doubt McLaren had the car to beat in the second half of the season, but Freddie was so consistent in his Renault and he could not be passed for the championship.
All in all it was a pretty eventful season for F1. With Indy, the fall of Ferrari and Schumi, BAR’s struggles and the rise of Renault there was more than just the crap we had been seeing the past few years. Thank God for that.

Off track there will be political ramifications until everyone gets on board with either the FIA and FOMA or with the GPWC.

As far as drivers go, American Scott Speed got his first shot at a test drive for the Red Bull team. As they make plans to scoop up the Minardi team it is very possible Scott will get a race day drive next year. Unfortunately, Takuma Sato looks like a man without a ride. He has been linked to the Jordan/Midland team but with them going with the Toyota engine it doesn’t seem possible. It is entirely within the realm of reason that TS could be in the IRL next year with a Honda team.
Jensen Buttons got his deal with Frank Williams dissolved. A year ago he wanted to do anything to get out of BAR, this year he wanted to do anything to stay with the Brackley team. He’ll stay and be $30 million lighter in the wallet for it.

One of the best driver rumors of the season was of Kiwi going to Ferrari. While I don’t see it, there is a seat open as the Sandwich moves to BAR for next season. Kiwi also had his share of headlines overseas as he apparently likes to go out drinking. Good for you Kiwi! I knew there was a reason I liked you!

Williams has inked a deal with Cosworth to develop a new F1 engine. This will probably keep the team from Grove down for a couple of seasons, but Sir Frank will probably come out on top on this one. Starting next year, Ferrari moves from Sauber to Red Bull. I guess the only question is how many cars does that entail. And finally, engine manufacturer BMW is striking out on its own as it has purchased the Sauber team and will begin development of a chassis.

It has been a lot of fun watching this season and while I wasn’t on here as much it didn’t mean I was mad at F1. Enjoy China and the offseason and go Kiwi and Juan!!!

Late Racing Season 2005

2005-09-14T20:45:00.000-04:00

It is now football season and that generally means the end of the racing season. Of course NASCAR will run until Thanksgiving with their chase and the IRL and F1 still have a few races left, but for the most part, their champions have been decided.Congrats to Dan Wheldon for his victory Sunday at Chicagoland which virtually wrapped up the season title and ensured that Wheldon becomes the first Indianapolis 500 winner to win the series championship in the same year since the inception of the IRL.

Congrats also to Fernando Alonso who finished second to Kimi Raikkonen at Spa yesterday and also made losing the championship an impossibility. Unlike Wheldon, Freddie does have to show up and race and actually score a point. Wheldon just has to show up and start at the Glen in two weeks.

NASCAR goes into their ridiculous chase starting next week. As much as I hate Tony Stewart, he has earned the title with the season he has had. He ended up more than 200 points ahead of anyone, yet at the next race he will have that lead reduced to 5. NASCAR is stupid for punishing a season like Stewart has had and like Kennseth had a couple of years ago. But then again, FUCK NASCAR!!!

It has been a bittersweet season for both the IRL and for F1. In the IRL, attendance was up at most venues, but at Indy it was down and Phoenix was awful and is being pulled from the schedule. Fontana, which has suffered several years of poor attendance, is also on the chopping block. These cuts wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for the fact that they will most likely be replaced with road or street courses.A rookie sensation, Danica Patrick, spurred Danicamania and has captured a couple of poles and nearly took the pole at Indy. She has since been exposed as the rookie she is, but she did really give the league a boost coming out of Indianapolis. Unfortunately, when her talents failed to live up to the hype, the mania waned and only the IRL and FTG bootlickers are really interested in her.

It was good to see former league champ and 1996 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Lazier back at Indy and a few other races. My boy Scheckter won at Texas and in all, 8 different winners have graced victory lane so far this season. St. Pete was a huge success crowdwise. Kentucky had a few more than last year. Kansas City, Nashville, Chicagoland and Texas had nice crowds.Sadly, the Toyota engine has been crap again this season and they have announced they will hang it up in the IRL after next season. GM is out after this campaign despite the thoughts they might stay after 4’s win in Texas. Mo Nunn Racing officially closed down this year. Dreyer and Reinbold Racing has been pitiful. AJ has had another crap year and rumors of AJIV’s departure to NASCAR have swirled. Besides Indy and Phoenix, Milwaukee and Michigan had terrible crowds.

But with all of that going on in the IRL, the worst is yet to come. That would be next years schedule. Keep in mind; this is a league that told us how it was growing after Indy. How attendance was up in key markets and with the targeted audiences. This was all told to us by Fred Nation and Brian Barnhart with straight faces. Now we find out that Texas will not follow Indy, but rather Watkins Glen will settle in between Indy and TMS. Fontana, out. Phoenix, out and Pikes Peak, out.

The schedule is reduced to 14 races. 11 ovals and 3 roads/street.If you have followed this blog, you know I have said I didn’t feel the league would make it past next season. I have no reason to think I am wrong. This thing has been a shoestring budget, low rent thing since its inception, yet it seemed to make some progress over the past couple of years, albeit minor, and with Danicamania seemed to be on its way. Somewhere along that way Danica was exposed as just another driver out there who doesn’t have what it takes to get to the top.I am so sick of what is happening to the sport that I am almost to the point of just giving up. I know I will be at Indy next season, but the powers that be, and that is not just George and Barnhart, but Kalkhoven and Forsythe as well have just about taken the fight out of me.

Augyst 2005 IRL

2005-08-23T20:51:00.000-04:00

It’s official, Chevrolet will not return to the IRL Indy Car Series next season. In a year where they have had some success despite supplying only one team with engines for the most part, it was thought they may change their mind and stick around. Saturday in Colorado the dreaded announcement came. This will be the last season for the bow tie.

What’s worse is the fact that Toyota is leaving after the 2006 season and Honda has made it clear they are not interested in being the only engine manufacturer in the series. League president Brian Brainfart basically said there is no new manufacturers showing interest in the league at this time.

Two months ago Chevy was staying, Hyundai was looking at it and Porsche was showing signs of interest. All gone today. If you look back at my posts you will find where I think the IRL will fold by the end of 2006. At the rate they are going it will happen.

This has been a bittersweet year for the IRL. Danicamania ran rampant for half the season, but has cooled recently as she has shown she is not much of a racer. She qualifies well, but that is about it. Dan Wheldon has emerged as the cream of the crop this season. Winning Indy was huge for the Englishman. However, the IRL only focused on Danica and eventually the whole Andretti Green team took exception to the coverage, or lack of coverage of the Indy 500 winner.Indianapolis crowds were down, although not to a huge extent and Carb Day was large.

Phoenix saw a “crowd” of just over 8,000 and has been dropped from next years schedule it appears. Milwaukee and Michigan didn’t exactly set the box office on fire either. On the other hand, St. Pete was a success, great crowds were at Pikes Peak, Nashville, Texas and Kansas and the Kentucky race draws more people every year. Races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen should be well attended, but it is unlikely California will draw much.TV ratings are also up from previous years, but they still aren’t good.

So as Danicamania dies a slow and painful death, the IRL’s summer of promise begins to circle the drain as well. Champ Car has put on new events that have drawn good crowds and kept their once dying league in place. In fact they may be stronger than the IRL at this point. Unification talks are dead and both series have become niche sports and will remain in the WNBA realm of interest to the mainstream fan and media. Even the Indianapolis 500 has been reduced in stature. The once proud cornerstone of American auto racing is now second to the Daytona 500.

I have been critical of Tony George in the past and I still think he is in over his head. The IRL marketing strategy is for shit. The “vision” has changed so many times it makes ones head spin. Road courses, engine leases and spiraling costs were rampant in the CART series and originally what FTG wanted to stay away from. Now they are the mainstay of the IRL and the bootlicking fans cum all over themselves welcoming Honda and Toyota when they were bad for the other series.It’s a shame, but what had so much potential may end up in the crapper less than two years after its finest hour.

F Fucking 1 and the I Fucking RL

2005-07-06T20:59:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone and sorry for being so remiss in posting to the blog. It has been both a hectic and discouraging time for me. I was in Vegas for the Texas IRL race and then the next week was the FIAsco at the Speedway when the F1 boys came to town. I did get to watch the entire Richmond race and saw some of the Kansas race.

Those of you who follow racing know what happened so I won't rehash the entire thing in detail.

I would like to touch on some points though that have piqued my interest over the past few weeks.

Danicamania. Jesus F Christ I am sick of this phenomenon. Alright, I know that Danica Patrick is good for the IRL, but Holy Crap, can you just make sure that those who need the mesage get it and get it out of my face. Shit, this broad ain't done shit except at Indy and she ain't all that hot. I still like the bartender better!!! Please, wake me up if Danica does do anything.

F1, where to start...Michelin. Fuck you and your little political games. You fuckers want out of the Concorde Agreement and the FIA? Then fucking leave, but don't pull what you did in Indianapolis three weeks ago. That was bullshit and could have been avoided. But no, you had to make a stand on what is arguably F1's biggest target market. Bad call Michelin and frankly your offer to refund money and buy tickets to next years race is not enough. You were here for four years and you couldn't find a tire. I repeat, FUCK YOU!!!

The FIA. Fuck you Max, you pigheaded greedy, paranoid bastard. You are so worried about keeping your job, that a year ago you said you didn't want, that you let all common sense about the USGP fly out the window. You had 9 teams agree to a chicane. While that didn't relieve Michelin of their moronic behavior, you could have risen above it all and preserved the race for the fans and taken control of F1 for good. Instead you proved the fans are of NO interest to you. You stepped on your dick Max and you will be held responsible just like your little lap dog Bernie.

Bernie and FTG. Hard to place the blame on FTG until an article came out today saying he could have trumped the FIA and built the chicane. Apparently when it came down to it he wilted under the pressure. Bernie, it will be good to see you out of control of the sport. You managed to avert crises like this for the past 20 years, but this time it blew up in your face and you lost yours. Good riddance you piece of shit.

My friends over on the Indystar.com forums need to settle the fuck down. It seems as though the insults and threats increase with the temperature. It is a meltdown waiting to happen over there. Some of them just crack me up!!!I will try to update this a little more often this season. Like I said, things have been hectic and I have been pissed off at racing of late.

Politics and Racing

2005-07-06T20:54:00.000-04:00

There has been a lot of talk of Tony George’s role in last month’s USGP. Almost universally, FTG has been absolved of any blame in the matter, although it came to light this week that as the promoter, FTG did have the final say so on the proposed chicane.Be that as may be, a lot of people have come up with yet another, although completely unfounded reason why FTG started the IRL. They say he did it so he could have control and so something like what happened at the USGP would not happen at the Indianapolis 500. In the words of Lee Corso, not so fast my friends.

Now this is not designed to tear down FTG nor is it supposed to prop him up. My dislike of the guy has been well documented on these pages and there is no reason to keep dredging up the old stuff. But to claim FTG started the IRL on the premise of no boycott happening is ludicrous at best!Now we all know what happened at Indy in June. Seven teams boycotted the USGP. Okay, but why? There are only two possible reasons. Michelin’s bad product or politics.

Maybe Michelin did bring an inferior and dangerous product to the Speedway and we just take them at their word. However, they had been at the Speedway the past four years and they were supposed to have a “safe” tyre that could be used. Somehow, all of the teams forgot to pack those tyres. That leads to the idea that this was all a political ploy. Based on the climate of F1 over the past 2 years and the fact that the GPWC is a legitimate entity with manufacturer backing, it is highly likely it was political.

The bottom line is that we ended up with a boycott.

Now back to FTG and his “control”. Despite the fact that he has control of the IRL and the Indianapolis 500, what is there to stop a boycott of the event should issues get out of hand? You see there is none. We all pray that things would never get to such a point in the IRL that would precipitate a boycott, but there are no guarantees.So before anyone goes handing FTG the Abe Lincoln Medal of Honor, keep in mind that racing, unlike many other sports, has a very legitimate life threatening element.

Passions run deep in all sports, but auto racing seems to be more fervent than others and it may be because of that life threatening element. FTG has made it clear he will relinquish no control of the league. For the time being that suits even me as fine. But what happens if there become disagreements and he refuses to budge on an issue?

Don’t ever forget the reason why FTG started the IRL and celebrate it if you wish, just don’t honor him for something he did not do.

May 2005 Racing Wrap

2005-06-02T05:57:00.000-04:00

IRL

After a month of paltry crowds, a ridiculously rained out Pole Day, too many beers, mild sunburn and trading pins the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500 took place Sunday. Congrats to Dan Wheldon for the win. As I stated in my last post, Dan is deserving and has been as good as anyone over the past year. If it had not been for TK, he would have won the title last year.

The emotion has started to die down after what has to be considered one of the greatest races ever at Indy and an instant classic for sure.Some of the other stories from the race were the fine run by Buddy Lazier. He took his Panther/Byrd car and was at the front all day. A little bad luck down the stretch put him back a bit, but Buddy was as strong as he has been since winning the 1996 race.

Unfortunately Bruno broke his back making him the third serious back/neck injury of the month. Something has to be done about the design of the cars.Congrats to Vitor for a fine run. I said all month that he and Scheckter were going to win. Scheckter was probably out when Danica whacked him, but Vitor may have been able to pull off the pass had the race not finished under yellow.It was a pretty good month with the exception of Pole Day.

I still think the purse needs to be larger. But all in all it was good. Check out the pictures on my web site if you don’t believe me.

Carb Day was once again just off the charts. Early indications are that the race drew a 6.6 rating which was a 40% improvement over last year. Let’s hope they can keep that momentum going into Texas and long into the summer!

F1

Well what can you say for Kimi? The guy starts the last lap of the race and ka-blooie, his front left tire explodes on him. Kim spun off into the sand trap and ended up out of the points after another dominating performance for the McLaren team. Fred went on to win and increase his points lead.

Now the F1 boys are coming to North America. Next week they are at Montreal for the Canadian GP and will be back in Indy for the USGP the following week. I’m looking forward to it!

Now, however, all the talk in F1 is about tyres. With Kimi’s big wreck at the end of Sunday’s European GP all the parties are up in arms over the amount of tyre failure this year. Grandprix.com is even running an article about how the battle between tyre manufacturers has always caused problems in racing. I find all of this more than ridiculous.The problem is not the tyres themselves or the manufacturers. These people are putting out fantastic product under rules that are beyond stupid. One set of tyres each race? Are you fucking kidding me? The FIA and F1 made rules changes for cars to slow them down. They had to know they had no chance of working, yet pushed forward anyway. Leaving drivers out there for a whole race on one set of tyres is like playing Russian roulette. It’s not a matter of if the tyres will fail, but when they will fail.

The FIA and F1 made a pretty nice rule about engines having to last two weeks. They missed on qualifying, but have rectified that. I know they want to curb costs to help draw new blood into the sport, but F1 is expensive by nature. It is highly technical and very cutting edge. But making a one tyre rule for an entire race is asking for trouble.

F1 missed the boat on this one in my estimation. I hope they have the cajones to step up and make the change. Despite the arrogance of the FIA, they have been pretty good at fixing mistakes.

NASCAR

The boobs put on quite a show the other night in Charlotte. New records for crashes and yellows. Nice job taxi cab boys. Your days are numbered.

Indy 2005 Notes

2005-05-30T06:02:00.000-04:00

I’ll keep this brief this morning and elaborate more on all of the racing over the weekend tomorrow.

Yesterday may well have been the best 500 I have ever seen. As many as 6 had a shot at the end and the racing was ferocious all day long. Besides the winner, Wheldon, Patrick, Hornish Jr. TK and Mr. Judd all lead. I may be missing one there because of pit stops. It was just what the league needed.

There were some empty seats, but not many. Still, I hate to see them at Indy.As for Danica Patrick, I couldn’t have scripted it better. She was all the focus going in and didn’t disappoint. But when it counted I didn’t want her to win. She was solid all the way down to the end, but she did make several mistakes. She may be the real deal.

It was great however, that Dan Wheldon, who has been the best driver in the IRL over the past year, got the win. Hopefully the media will focus on Dan as well as Danica and help get this league moving.

2005 Indy Prognostication

2005-05-25T06:04:00.000-04:00

Sunday marks the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500. Defending champion and stupid way of hat wearing Buddy Rice will not be there to defend his title. With Rice out only Julio, Kenny Brack and Buddy Lazier have won the race before and as you all know, Buddy doesn’t count.

So who will win the race this year? Let’s take a look at the field and see if we can narrow it down.

Andretti/Green Racing has just about put the kibosh on competition in the IRL over the past year. TK won the title last season and Gentleman Dan Wheldon has won 3 of the 4 races so far this year. Only Sam Hornish Jr. has kept AGR off the top of the podium for the season. TK is my pick to win the race and is starting from the pole. He knows his way around and is just so hard-nosed about it. Wheldon failed to impress during qualifying and there are all kinds of rumors about his tenure with the team. With that being said he has won three of the four races this season and I really doubt if Little Michael is going to show him the door. Dario “Mr. Judd” Franchitti seems to have what it takes to win races at this level, but I don’t see him taking Indy. He seems to grow bored or disinterested towards the end of oval races. Finally Bryan Herta”bees” rounds out this team. Herta has to be considered somewhat of a disappointment on this team. He doesn’t qualify very well and is pretty much at a loss on the ovals. His one run at St. Pete didn’t exactly paint him as the all fire hot road racer either. I think it is safe to say he will not win although he definitely has the equipment.

Rahal/Letterman Racing are the defending champs and are anxious to keep it that way. Danica Patrick is by far the most popular driver on the circuit and is rounding into her groove at just the right time. She was on the pole in Japan and is in P4 for the 500. She may win the 500 in the future, but I don’t see it this year for her. Kenny Brack is back. Kenny replaces Buddy Rice for at least Indy. He returns to the IRL for the first time since his horrific crash in the season ender at Texas in 2003. He proved to be a quick study this week as he qualified fastest of everyone on Saturday. The only question will be Kenny’s stamina. I think he is over the crash mentally, but physically this is a long race. He’s done it before and you can’t teach experience. Finally Vitor Meira rounds out the team. Meira has quietly gone about his business in the face of the media blitz with Danica and Kenny. His work alone makes me like his chances Sunday. His talent just may take him to the top in great equipment.

Panther Racing has three cars this year, although the Buddy Lazier effort is kind of an offshoot of the main team. Tomas Scheckter has a heavy right foot and it has got him in some trouble over his career in the IRL. However a more poised and mature Tomas may be reaching his potential at just the right moment. IF, and it is a big one, if he can stay out of trouble on the track and have good clean pit stops he will win the race. Not everyone can say that. Tomas Enge has been so-so this month but has run many laps getting ready for the race. I like the way Enge drives, but I don’t see this rookie as a threat for the Borg-Warner. Buddy Lazier is the 1996 winner, but those days are long ago. This team is one of the lower budgeted teams, but they have a lot of heart. If they can keep the Chevy under them all day and avoid trouble he could get there, but like Scheckter, that is a big if.

Marlboro Team Penske is the only team that has been able to beat AGR this season, but this is Indy and despite sitting on the front row, the Toyota is simply not the engine to have. Granted this team does all their own engine work, but as much as I like Sam and Julio I just don’t think they can bring home the bacon.

Whatever happened to Target/Chip Ganassi Racing? Well it looks like the Toyota just can’t keep up with the Honda’s. They have qualified poorly all season and it looks as though Scott Dixon is still dealing with not getting the Williams ride last year. He has been terrible. Darren Manning is back for the second time and hasn’t fared much better. Rookie Ryan Briscoe had to qualify on the second weekend because of a crash the week before. This team is down right now and I don’t see any end to their problems any time soon.

The Fernandez Racing stable is an interesting situation. Adrian is running the team of Scott Sharp and Kosuke Matsura. Meanwhile he has teamed with Mo Nunn for a ride in Sunday race. Last season AF really came on strong at the end of the season, but this year he hasn’t even really raced since because of a lack of funds. Still he has to be considered a threat. Kosuke has had a rough year and is probably anxious to get back in everyone’s good graces, but I don’t see him as a potential winner. Scott Sharp is a definite threat. He is starting in P3 and has a good car. Scott Sharp would be a hugely popular winner with the IRL fans.

Newman/Haas is sending Bruno and Seabass over for the one off 500. Bitter old Paul Newman still won’t make the trip. Good riddance you old goat. As far as the team goes they are a threat. Bruno has run well here and if the rain would have occurred 15 minutes earlier or later last year he may have won. Seabass has only come into Champ Car and won everything in site. He seemed to struggle early on in May and looked a little frightened. I don’t see a win, but a good finish could be in the cards.

The rest of the field looks like also-rans.

AJ has IV, Larry and Mike in the show. Mike has the experience, but he is starting last and his chances in that car are pretty much nil. Still, look for him to finish ahead of his team mates. Dreyer and Reinbold bring Roger Yasukawa and Jeff Bucknum. Roger has been here before and may surprise with his finish, but he won’t win. Bucknum, the 41 year old rookie has not shown anything.One of the biggest disappointments has to be Red Bull Team Cheever. Eddie is clearly out of his element as a car owner. He burnt his bridge with Buddy Rice a couple of years ago, ran off Tomas Scheckter and now his team of Alex Barron and Patrick Carpentier are among the slowest on the grid. Carpentier has even been rumored to be on his way out as word of conflicts between him and Eddie have been making the rounds. This team would have to pull the upset of the century to make the end of the race, let alone see victory lane.

Vision Racing is just a joke. A lot of people want them to fail, but their reasons are not all the same. Some just hate FTRG and want to stick it to him. Others want to see him fail so he can see how it works in the IRL and to see how tough it is for the little guy. He is going to fail. I like Jeff Ward’s tenacity and drive, but in this car it looks like he would need divine intervention to win. Special Ed is probably still in over his head in an Indy Car.

Sam Schmidt’s driver, Richie Hearn has been here enough to know his way around, but he won’t win. Look for Sammy’s team to pull a decent finish. Playa del Racing has Jacques Lazier aboard. They should have a decent run, but don’t look for them in the top three at the end of the race.

“Momma wants you” Marty Roth has to be considered one of the real longshots to win this thing. And finally Jimmy Kite, who is replacing the injured Paul Dana is probably going to be lapped by the 1/10 mark of the race.

So in order of chance they have to win, here is my lineup for Sunday. As a gauge, if you are listed below Scotty D I really don't think you have a chance to win.

TK
Scheckter
Vitor
Dan W
Bruno
Scott S
Kenny
AF
Sam
Julio
Buddy
Dario
Patrick
Seabass
Enge
Mike
Herta
Manning
Scotty D
Jacques Lazier
Hearn
Disco Briscoe
Kosuke
Roger Yasukawa
Alex Barron
Patrick Carpentier
AJ IV
Larry Foyt
Jeff Ward
Kite
Roth
Jeff Bucknum
Ed Carpenter

Mid May 2005

2005-05-24T06:19:00.000-04:00

IRLTime trials are complete and the field is set for the 89th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. There was a surprise bump when Mike hopped in the 48 car and bumped Little Arie out at 5:30. Of course the move was not without controversy or conspiracy theory.Frankly I found the whole day rather surreal. First Big Arie was on TV talking about Jrs. chances. He thought Jr. was listening to him, but that he really needed laps and that he was doing it the hard way by having to learn in the race. Strangely enough, Jr. didn’t make an appearance on the track until 3:00. He wasted 3 hours when he could have been on the track, getting comfortable in the car and getting up to speed.As the day wore on, word of Mike’s arrival permeated the Speedway and finally the 48 car was rolled on to pit lane and sent out to practice.Jr. had already put his car in the field but his time was weak. 49 laps later Mike stuck her in the show with an average over 217. Jr. mounted one last charge but was way short. It just really puzzled me that Jr. wasn’t out earlier. I did notice a trace of trepidation on Arie’s face at noon. I’m not sure he thought Jr. was ready.Now there has been talk that Brian Barnhart actually went to Foyt and presumably Toyota to get the 48 car in the field because the 98 wasn’t fast enough. As much as I have come to dislike Barnhart over the past weeks, I find this conspiracy theory absurd.Anyway, Sunday is race day. I like Tony Kanaan to win the show. I’d rather the chick not win. This year at least. My guess is that Friday’s Carb Day will be very uneventful. Right now the weather looks good for the weekend. Keep your fingers crossed.F1The Monaco GP post mortem is ugly. For the record Kimi won the race going away. It was his second win in two races and he has led every lap of both. There were a couple of stupid incidents on the track however that warrants mentioning.First let me say that in the field there was some of the best racing I had ever seen at Monaco. But there was some ugliness as well. First it was the Sauber teams’ little stunt, or more precisely, JV’s shunt. When is this dickhead going to learn? Coming off the front stretch, this imbecile takes an ill-advised line to overtake his team mate Felipe Massa. He doesn’t stick the move and ends up running Mass off the road effectively ending any chance of either of them getting any points.Villeneuve has pretty much sucked since 1999 and his own arrogance makes him dangerous. Peter Sauber has to be fed up and needs to can his ass today.Late in the race Schummi was up to a bit of nastiness himself when he ran the Sandwich out of room coming out of the tunnel and made a pass in the chicane. The move was dangerous and against a team mate. On the next lap he did the same thing to brother Ralf and his Toyota. Ralfie is steamed and said that one of them could have been killed. Schummi said he wasn’t on no damn day trip and pretty much told Ralfie to shut the fuck up. This could get good. Schummi is struggling unlike he has at any point in his career and the frustration mounts with each passing race. With Toyota getting things together the two may spend more time together on the track.

Kenny Back at Indy

2005-05-18T06:21:00.000-04:00

2004 Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice has been medically ruled out of the 2005 race after suffering injuries to his back last week in practice for the 89th running. After 16 or so hours of speculation, Rahal-Letterman Racing has named 1999 winner Kenny Brack as Rice's replacement.Rice will continue to be evaluated as to his participation in the IRL for the rest of the season.Brack who was hurt in a horrendous crash at Texas at the end of the 2003 season replaces Rice who ironically replaced Brack. I have my doubts about Kenny. He hasn't run an Indy Car in a year. He did a practice last year at Richmond and was nowhere near ready. Everything I had heard from him made me think he would not be racing at this level again. I like Kenny. He won for AJ, but I am really skeptical about this one.Honestly I think Kenny will run today and find out he still isn't ready. What then? There are other good drivers out there, but are any of them up to RLR standards? Today will be interesting. I wish I was out at the track to see what he is able to do.

Stupid IRL Tricks

2005-05-16T06:22:00.000-04:00

Just when I thought it was impossible for the IRL to be any more Mickey Mouse they go and pull a stunt like this! What is this stunt? It is the POC call made by Brian Barnhart on Saturday. At 12:15 pm this genius decided to close the track for the day. It was one of the lamest moves in IRL history, and God knows these buffoons are masters at lame moves!Now I could care less about the $10 I spent to get in. What galls me is the bullshit reasons for the call.We left home at about 11:15 to head to the track. On the radio they were talking about how it had quit raining and the trucks were on the track getting it dried off. Having seen the track be dried in about an hour last year at the 500 I knew we were going to see some qualifying. We had no sooner got to the Pagoda when the announcement came. The track was closed for the day.Disgusted and disappointed we moved over to the seats to see if any of the people we were supposed to meet had shown. I engaged a yellow shirt in a brief conversation and was just lied to. It is like fucking Nazi Germany out there. Toe the company line at all costs. This dumb bastard first told me it takes 3 hours to dry the track. (Company line) I told him that was BS since it was dried fast last year at the race. Next he told me there were puddles this (about a foot using his hands to show me) deep on pit lane and on the track. There is no way there were any puddles that deep anywhere on the newly paved track and for God’s sake, it hadn’t rained that fucking hard. Next he tried to tell me that another storm was coming in. Do these people think we are stupid? We saw the radar, he was lying.Barnhart’s arrogance was the motivation for this call. He had his precious little new format and he was afraid to miss any time for it. Therefore the couple of thousand people who went out there got screwed. Oh sure we could have used Saturday’s stub to get in on Sunday, but I couldn’t go yesterday and I am sure I wasn’t the only one. Instead the Speedway just makes more money for nothing. Too bad it didn’t rain on them yesterday.I love the Speedway, but it seems I become more disillusioned with it each and every day. The powers that be out there are completely wrong on so many fronts. For some reason they think they can just put the Indianapolis 500 out there and everyone will come running. I got news for you FTRG and all of your cohorts, THOSE DAYS ARE GONE!!

Early May 2005

2005-05-10T06:23:00.000-04:00

Today concludes rookie practice for the Indianapolis 500. So far Danica Patrick has been the fastest of the group with Patrick Carpentier and Ryan “Disco” Briscoe close behind. Tomorrow the whole group will take to the field and we will be looking for any surprises that might creep up. Probably most won’t occur until next week.Today I am going to look at the impact FTRG has on US open wheel racing and if he is good or bad for the sport.Back in 1994 Tony George approached the powers that be in CART seeking a board membership. Depending on whom you believe, George was offered a token, non-voting position and laughed out of the meeting. Keep in mind this was the man who for all intents and purposes owned the Indianapolis 500 which CART was still anxious to participate in as it was the key to their season.As we all know, George left that meeting and formed the IRL. Now I have documented the various versions of TG’s “vision” when he created the Indy Racing League and how it has veered more and more off course as time has gone by. IRL fans can sneer when their league is called “CART II” but how can anyone really argue the point?But for all of George’s bluster in the early days of the IRL, I honestly thought he had the best interests of open wheel racing in mind. Nowadays, I have a pretty good idea he not only does not have the best interests in mind, but is focused squarely on killing Champ Car. Now FTRG and his lieutenants rarely ever speak of Champ Car, and boy do his supporters like to bring that up. But do we really have to look any further than what has happened over the past few years to be convinced. Engine leases, an influx of foreign drivers and finally street and road courses. On top of this, is there any doubt that more road courses are on their way? Already there is talk about Toronto and Montreal as well as what will probably be an attempt by the IRL to take Long Beach and then even doing Road America.As they say, actions speak louder than words.Then there is last years fiasco at Portland. The contract with Champ Car was up and it looked like they were going to struggle to get back together. The IRL swooped in and entered discussions for a race in the Rose City. As it turned out, FTRG simply bid on the race in an attempt to raise the price and keep CC out. I have no doubt that FTRG never intended to race at Portland and his intentions were just to injure an already bleeding competitor.The same can be said about the CART bankruptcy hearings where George was intent on buying CART and killing it. The judge saw this and awarded the assets and the bankruptcy to the Three Stooges, Gerry Forsythe, Kevin Kalkhoven and Paul Gentilozzi. George thought he could throw some money around and get his way.You see, there are ways to kill your competition without being an ass or by just throwing money around. What he did in court was make an ass of himself and strengthened what became Champ Car and solidified its fans. If there was a chance they would ever be back at the Speedway, it was gone then. Same with Portland. It also gave CC a bunch of free publicity which they seized upon. Granted they probably aren’t going to make it, but they would be gone by now had George been patient.He is so bent on the end of CART or CC that he can’t see the problems with the IRL. I don’t mind the foreign drivers, but it would be nice if some Americans could get in. I’d like to see diversity in products and equipment. More of a run what you brung mentality. FTRG will continue to be in bed with the Honda’s and Toyota’s until they tire of his series. He’ll continue to add street and road courses until he has all but squeezed out the ovals. He will continue to stomp on tradition at Indy where a steady downturn in interest and attendance have occurred over the past 10 years. The fans who have left because of the change of vision or because they are CC fans aren’t ever coming back, no matter how many road courses he runs. He not only is bad for open wheel racing, he probably will be the one credited with killing it in America.

F1 Barcelon

2005-05-06T06:24:00.000-04:00

In Barcelona, the F1 teams have completed Friday’s practice sessions and are working on the first round of qualifying setups and race readiness. The F1 teams minus BAR. The FIA effectively gave BAR Honda the death penalty for the season by banning them for two races (one being Monaco) and excluding them from the points chase. The FIA’s ruling comes about after the scrutineers found the BAR to be 5Kg underweight after the San Marino Grand Prix.
In my opinion the penalty is overly harsh, but BAR has decided not to fight it. This indicates to me they knew what they were doing and have decided to take their medicine. But the ramifications go deeper and the ever swirling conspiracy theories in the paddock are cranked up to full.
BAR Honda will have to sit out the series premier event in a fortnight when F1 goes to the historic street course in Monte Carlo. How much money will that cost the team? Forget about money per point, the high profile race in Monte Carlo is a showcase and BAR will not be there. Buttons and Takuma have contract issues that the team will have to deal with before the end of the season. I wouldn’t expect Taku to go anywhere, but Buttons tried to escape to Williams last season. If he fails to achieve certain status by mid-season he can leave the team. Not sure where he would go, but if Nick Heidfeld is doing poorly at Williams he better watch his donkey.
One of the more compelling theories about the penalty is the GPWC v. F1 (FIA) battle. BAR Honda is one of the leaders in the fight to control the sport. Many are saying this is the FIA’s way of getting back at them for their insubordination. May be. After all, there is so much money riding on F1 that any attempt to wrestle control away form Max and Bernie is bound to be looked upon as taking food off of their tables.
So BAR sits this weekends Spanish GP and then Monaco. They return at the Nurburgring at the end of May for the European GP. The question is, what is their motivation for the rest of the season?

1/4 Post Report

2005-05-04T06:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry to have been away so long during the season, but finals come first and there hasn’t been a whole lot to report on in the racing world. But let’s start with some F1 news.F1Unfortunately the first of the CBS F1 races was the San Marino Grand Prix. Allegedly it was a great race and unfortunately I missed it. Fred Alonso won but Schummi was a close second and word has it that if there were a couple more laps, he may have won.JV finally scored a couple of points and his fans are all dancing in the streets. I’m sure they will be back on the sidelines after this weeks Spanish GP.On the political front, the nine team consortium that was to bring Bernie, the FIA and the F1 championship to its knees took a severe blow when both Red Bull and Jordan/Midland broke ranks and attended the FIA meeting on April 15th along with Ferrari. This is certainly a blow to the consortium and may have further reaching impact with people like Kevin Kalkhoven who may have had the infrastructure to start up the F1 rival series.Speaking of Kalkhoven, him and Gerry Forsythe’s ownership of Cosworth took a hit last week as Red Bull announced an agreement for 2006 and 2007 with Ferrari. This leaves the Cosworth owners as having only the CCWS and Minardi as customers. While they have a steady stream of business with the CCWS as it is the only allowed engine, Minardi can pull the plug at any time. Besides, the R & D for F1 is cost prohibitive and may be more than KK can handle as CC continues its money woes.This week at Spain, look for wild crowds as points leader Fred Alonso comes home and has to be considered a favorite for the race. Will Ferrari be back in the hunt? Can BAR overcome its early season troubles? Will JPM be healed from his “tennis” injury? The show is back on Speed so get up early Sunday and find out!!IRLIt’s May and that means Indy 500 time!! The track opens Sunday for ROP and Tuesday for the real deal. With the new qualifying setup in effect, it should be interesting to see if there is any more excitement generated.Going in I will only say that I expect Tony Kanaan to win the race.Last weekend the IRL put on their annual Japan show. Gentleman Dan won yet again, his third in four races this season. Scheckter nearly made the finish, but ran out of gas two laps from the end.An interesting thought came to me yesterday as I was putting together the 500 pool for this year. How much of the crowd at the 500 are really race fans and how many go just because it is the 500? I thought about the people I had spoken to hear at work and it was funny to hear some of the comments. Things like “Is Arie driving this year?”, and “Who is Michael and Little Al running for?” It got me thinking that Oliver Trucking, I was the only one who could name a winner of one of the races so far this season in the IRL. That put me at about 2% of the Oliver employees who are race fans (IRL). Okay, pretty much as I figured.So I posed the question to race fans in my address book. I found 6 bona fide fans out of 154 contacts. I posed the question such that do any of the 6 think there are 10%, less than 10% or more than 10% real race fans who will be at the Indy 500 on May 29th. We’re talking about approximately 25,000 people.My thoughts are this. There are maybe 10% that would know who had won an IRL race earlier in the season. This is the definition of a race fan for what I am talking about. I think there is probably less than 10%. I think most people who go to the 500 are there for the event. I base this on TV numbers and attendance at the previous races. 8k showed at Phoenix. Those are probably 8k real fans, but that left nearly 80%of the stands empty. All of the sudden at Indy, 32 times more race fans show up. It just doesn’t stand to reason.Now the CCWS fans want to claim that race fans no longer go to Indy. I’ll give them this, that I believe the empty seats at Indy are “race fans” who have sided with the CCWS or against FTRG. But the fact is, Indy is still the single biggest one day sporting event in the world.The fact is also that the people who just come because of the event are what makes any event as large as Indy. Does anyone really think that everyone at the Daytona 500 is a race fan? As far back as I can remember, there have been the “Indy” fan. Those people who only go to one race a year and are there for the party and the atmosphere and not the race itself.I’m going to delve into this a little deeper over the summer and see if I can get a handle on who is a race fan and what makes them such.See you all at the track Sunday!NASCARTalladega 1 is in the books and Jeff Gordon wins again. Jimmy Johnson has turned into a one man wrecking ball and the taxicab boys go into May and the long boring middle of the season begins! Wake me up for the Allstate 400!

Merger?

2005-04-19T06:27:00.000-04:00

There was a discussion on indystar.com last Saturday speculating on what a schedule might look like if the IRL and CCWS decided to unify. Here is my prediction...MARCH11-Homestead18-St. PeteAPRIL1-Richmond15-Long Beach29-MotegiMAY27-IndianapolisJUNE3-Milwaukee17-Texas24-NashvilleJULY1-Watkins Glen8-Kentucky22-Elkhart Lake29-MichiganAUGUST12-Toronto26-ChicagoSEPTEMBER2-Kansas16-Portland23-SonomaOCTOBER7-Mexico City21-Las Vegas

Mid April 2005

2005-04-15T06:27:00.000-04:00

Okay, we’re nearly a week removed from the Long Beach race and there is still another week before the next F1 round so it makes it kind of tough to write about anything going on in auto racing. But I will attempt it!First up is F1. A meeting between the ‘teams’ and the FIA took place today. As expected, not all of the teams attended the meeting. What is a surprise is that Jordan and Red Bull did attend as did Ferrari. This shows me the first real crack in the alliance the teams seemed to have just a week ago when they all said they would not show.Well attendance aside, some startling announcements came out of the meeting today. The biggest is that Max has put a date of May 27, 2005 as the day he will be finalizing the regulations for F1 for the 2008 season and beyond. What?The 9 teams (10 sans Ferrari) have been under the impression Mosley can’t do shit until they all agree, regardless of time. Mad Max has called the teams’ bluff and is moving forward with or without a Concorde Agreement. The question now is whether this announcement will galvanize the teams and push them towards the GPWC or will Red Bull and Jordan lead the charge down the path Max has proposed.I have stated here in the past that I felt the issue would be resolved and Bernie would get a new Concorde done and throw the teams more scraps and keep them happy. At times though it is clear that Bernie and Max are on different pages. Time is on Bernie’s side. The longer he waits the more time he has to convince the teams of the virtue of his plan and the value he has put on F1. One thing is certain, love him or hate him, Bernie Ecclestone is THE reason F1 enjoys the success it has around the world these days. It was his vision and planning that raised them above all others on the world stage.That is the main reason I believe the teams will capitulate and stay with the status quo instead of jumping to an unknown and uncertain future with the GPWC. I will also say this, the specter of the GPWC will serve to at least guarantee the teams a better deal when all is said and done.On to the IRL. It was a good week for the league as Newman Haas has entered not one but two cars for the 500. It was originally thought that only Bruno would get a shot, but this week and entry for 2004 CCWS champ Sebastian Bourdais was made. This gives Indy 33 car driver combinations and we are a month and a half away from race day. While there will probably still be a dearth of bumping, there will be some it appears.I think what makes me the most happy is that the doddering old fool Paul Newman is back at Indy after saying he didn’t want to be there. He is an idiot and we can all be thankful Carl Haas is running the team. Look for Haas to be in the IRL full time as Newman retires. Good riddance Fast Eddie!Finally there is no news per se out of the BPCCWSPF. They ran their race. Estimates on the crown are widely varied, but does it really matter. I have nothing against CC, but their fans are complete assholes. Apparently, one of their drivers, and one I have rooted for the past couple of years, is one as well. Here are a couple of stories that have been making the rounds the past couple days. (Thanks to the provider)….Beleaguered grand prix driver Cristiano da Matta has lashed out at F1 and Michael Schumacher. The diminutive Brazilian, who returned to American Champ Car racing at the weekend having last year felt the Toyota boot, called the pinnacle of motor sport 'too political.'And he told the Detroit Free Press: 'I never liked the way (world champion Michael) Schumacher conducted himself." 31-year-old da Matta, who left the US as 2002 CART champion, said Schumacher spent more time 'making his job easier' than genuinely trying to beat the opposition. "If Schumacher was a real champion," Cristiano slammed, "he wouldn't cry about things. It's good to be back in Champ Car. It's about racing and you know you have a chance to win."Then this……Departed, Cristiano da Matta is showing he's not afraid to aim fire at Formula One and Toyota. Last time, the little Brazilian - back in Champ Car - slammed Michael Schumacher and the Paddock's fabled politicking.Now, the 31-year-old's lining up Cologne-based Toyota, who gave him the boot mid last year. ''They needed a scapegoat,'' he told Associated Press, ''and I was it.'' Toyota, only now starting to reap the benefit of a more than billion-dollar investment in F1, boast pitlane's biggest ever budget. Da Matta said: ''There was tremendous pressure on them. ''It would have bothered me more ... if I knew the problem was me. But nobody else did better with that car.''Add to all of this the fact he finished 10th of 19 last Sunday at the LBGP behind such notables as Timo Glock, Justin Wilson, Ronnie Bremmer (who the fuck is Ronnie Bremmer) and Jimmy Vasser who has been washed up for about 9 years now. On the bright side he did beat such heavyweights as Ricardo Sperafico, Nelson Phillippe, Andrew Ranger, Fabrizio Del Monte, Marcus Marshall and the ever popular Oriol Servia.Sounds like CDM needs to shut the fuck up!!!

Champ Car and The World

2005-04-08T06:07:00.000-04:00

As we gear up for the opening round of the Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford Sunday, rumors are swirling about the future of the IRL, the BPCCWSPF, F1 and the trying to be upstart GPWC. It appears as though the fate of one may have an impact on at least one, if not all of the other series.
First of all this could truly be CC’s last hurrah at Long Beach. If it is it could really sound the end of time for the league. I’d be rather sad to see them go, but they are killing themselves. They have an ardent and loyal fan base, but it isn’t enough to sustain the league. Also there is a distinct possibility that the IRL could be in at LB next year.
This leads to some other speculation. For one, Dover Corp. of Dover Downs in DE owns the rights to the LBGP as the Grand Prix Association. Dover has shown interest in selling the entity. If, however, they decide to stay on and bring in the IRL there are more questions to be answered. First and foremost is what to do with the IRL race at Fontana. The IRL raced there the past few years with small crowds. It is close enough to Long Beach that an IRL presence in the LBC would make being in Fontana rather redundant.
Face it folks, unless the track in NYC gets built the IRL is done looking for oval track venues. I suppose it is entirely possible they could go back to Vegas if the conditions were right, but I doubt it. Besides, with the exception of Indy and the tracks that force season tickets on the fans, attendance at the ovals is sickening.
No, the IRL is going gunning for Canada and hopefully will pick the track in Montreal over the street course in Toronto. God I hate that course.
What is interesting is some of the thoughts about the future of the CCWS and their relation ship with the GPWC.
For those not in the know, the GPWC is a group made up of engine manufacturers and teams from F1 who have been threatening to break away from the F1 series for a few years now. Unclear in their ultimate goal, one thing is clear, they want a bigger slice of the pie Uncle Bernie now keeps for himself. They want TV rights, rules allowances etc. With the new long term rules of the sport to go into effect in 2008, these teams have made it clear they will be heard.
How does this affect CC you ask? Well quite simply, the BPCCWSPF would go away as we know it. The GPWC would effectively merge with the CCWS. With races in Mexico, the US, Canada and Australia, not to mention proposed races in South Korea and China, the GPWC would have a decent set of tracks to run on to start out. This credibility would remove the stigma from the stooges at CC and would effectively kill F1.
Now is this going to happen? I would say not, but there is that possibility. In my opinion Uncle Bernie knows exactly the comfort level of each team in F1. He also knows that he has taken far more than his share for far too long. What Bernie will do is intervene with the teams and the FIA and grant the teams a bigger share of the pie. It may come as a last minute deal, but I think Bernie gets the deal done and the new agreement is signed and in effect by 2008.
Of course, if the GPWC takes all of the teams except Ferrari, who has held out so far, then F1 dies alongside the CCWS leaving the IRL and the GPWC as the only true open wheel leagues in the world. One thing I might add is that any consolidation of power is bound to hit at NASCAR, but to what affect? Frankly I think they’ll kill themselves, but that’s another story.
I’ll have more of this when more comes out of today’s meeting of the GPWC would be members.

Early April Racing Items

2005-04-06T06:09:00.000-04:00

F1
In what has to be considered a surprise, Gil de Feran, 2003 Indianapolis 500 winner is set to be named the head man at BAR F1. de Feran’s title will be “Sporting Director” and will be responsible for the team at all F1 events.
This is fantastic for Gil who was always one of my favorite guys on the track. He was always steady and fast and a proven winner. Gil started out in Jim Hall’s Pennzoil car back in the day eventually graduating to Roger Penske’s Team Marlboro stable where he won Indy and two CART championships.
Even though I liked Gil as a driver I have been less than enamored of him in his role as color man on the IRL races. The past couple of races he has just rambled on and on and has added very little. Still though, he was always likeable.
You may recall Bobby Rahal taking a similar position with Jaguar a few years back only to be blown out six months later. Of course there should be a major difference between back-marking Jaguar and BAR.
From what I have heard, Gil will be running the team and basically coordinating all of the technical elements. It is a new position and one the team feels is necessary to get back to last years pace. So far this year neither Takuma Sato nor Jensen Buttons has finished a race and the Brackley tam is desperate to join the chase before Renault runs away with it and hides.
Best wishes to Gil and his family!
NASCAR
This week marks yet another BS move by the powers that be at NASCAR. I will refer to is as 35/8. What is 35/8 you ask? Well let me tell you. It is a formula where the top 35 in the points chase are automatically guaranteed starting spots in Sunday’s race. BTW, this will go on the rest of the season. Technically it has gone on all season already, but only now do the current season’s points count. Prior to Bristol, it was based on last years points.
So in effect the top 35 in points are guaranteed a spot as long as they are entered on time and attempt to qualify, the remaining spots will go to drivers not in the top 35 who have the fastest of the top 42 times. The final position will go as a provisional for a former champion only and only if the car is entered on time and the driver drove in 2004.
Confused about the system? Probably not. Confused as to why they would do such a thing? Probably. NASCAR has become a joke and I sense it is in real danger of losing its real fans. It will always be big in the south and will always attract rednecks. Look at my friends who still think it is so great! But look at the friends of mine who look at NASCAR as just another race series that has lost its way and is trying to win over everyone. It just won’t work.
NASCAR was born in the south and was popular with hot rodders for a long time. Then some genius in the marketing department came up with the idea that women and children should be involved and even catered to. They said fuck you to the guys and welcomed the gentler sex. I don’t care how many women go to the races, but the racing itself has been manufactured to be close and “exciting”. About as exciting as an old sofa. With their timed yellows and silly rule books the haves get richer and the have nots will never get there. If you don’t get the call, forget about being a star.
NASCAR will experience a backlash like they could never comprehend. They are losing their core fans and it will be left with an ignorant and lame fan base.
CCWS
Well the CCWS gets under way this weekend at Long Beach. Rumors of anything from 15 to 18 cars have swirled so only tuning in will tell for sure. One thing is for sure, this is Toyota’s last season as sponsor, at least contractually. It is also the last year of the contact between the CCWS and Long Beach. The IRL has made it clear they are interested in the event and the CCWS has even offered to run the event for free next year to keep it. They are trying to settle into a three year contract with Long Beach.
For its stance, Long Beach and the Grand Prix Association have said it will not make any contracts until after this weekend’s event.
Long Beach has been the traditional season opener for CART, OWRS and now the CCWS for years. It is considered their marquee event and generally draws excellent crowds. However, the IRL is coming off of its first street course race that can only be described as a success in St. Petersburg, FL. LB and the GPA will have to weigh carefully the future of both series and the contracts presented before making the decision. I have been saying the IRL won’t last two more years, but events like St. Pete could be the ultimate death knell for the CCWS.
IRL
Memo to IRL: DO NOT HIRE AL UNSER JR. TO DO COLOR ON YOUR RACES!!

Red Bull, JV and DC

2005-04-05T06:10:00.000-04:00

A couple of pieces if news came out of Europe today as Vitantonio Liuzzi was named to drive the Red Bull-Cosworth at the next three races in lieu of Christian Klien who has struggled so far this season, but still brings a boatload of cash to the table. Liuzzi, who has been the test driver at Red Bull this year will make his race debut in the car next Sunday at Imola. Klien will test the Red Bull at test sessions away from the track, but he is not eligible to drive the third car on Fridays at the Grand Prix events due to his race experience in F1.
While drivers are moved up and down all of the time in F1 Kliens demotion comes at a time when David Coulthard has made great progress with the Red Bull car this season. Klien brings so much Red Bull money to the team it is surprising he would get the hook this quick, but the team seems to be serious.
What this does is open the door for American Scott Speed to take the testing seat for race weekends. Speed, who won Danny Sullivan and Red Bulls contest to find an American to be in F1 is a Texan who moved to Florida. He is currently competing in F3000 and F2 this season, but seemed to be a heart beat away from the A team. The Milton Keynes team has said they are not unhappy with Klien, but one really has to wonder about that.
What a great opportunity for Scott Speed. While Red Bull is not the top of the grid, DC has proven this season that they can be competitive.
Speaking of DC, Sunday’s little tête-à-tête with friend Jacques Villeneuve caused some friction between the two. JV and DC are both under contracts that pay them only when they score points and each point is crucial to them. JV was none too pleased that DC hit him late in the race and said it was Coulthard’s fault he did not score any points. Now we all know JV is done on the circuit and he needs to just ride off into the sunset, but apparently DC felt his friend was correct on this matter and offered to split his earnings with JV. Rumor has it that the two kissed and made up and no money was exchanged.

F1 and IRL

2005-04-04T06:11:00.000-04:00

F1Renault continues their domination with another win by Fred yesterday at Bahrain. Noticeably absent from the proceedings was JPM who allegedly hurt his shoulder playing tennis. Rumors had it that he actually got hurt in a motorcycle accident. Either way I hope he is back by Imola. His replacement Pedro de la Rosa turned in a nice performance, finishing fifth and garnering fast lap honors.The race itself was nothing to write home about. I do like that track though and the racing should only get better as the years go by.Sunday was another miserable day for BAR. First TS went out with brake issues. He was spewing brake dust almost from the outset and eventually had to pull off. 20 laps later Buttons was out with a clutch problem. BAR continues to struggle and no one seems to be able to explain their situation.Ferrari is still struggling as well. Schummi failed to finish and the Sandwich was 9th and out of the points.IRLThe first right turns fired in anger happened yesterday on the streets of St. Petersburg, FL. In doing so, FTRG has come full circle and is now CART circa 1985. Now don’t get me wrong, I for one and all for some road course and even street course racing and I feel that even one more would be okay for the schedule. I think like most people I would prefer real race courses to temporary street circuits, but 4 out of 18 is okay with me.What is wrong is the hypocrisy of FTRG. Suffice it to say he is just a mumbling dork who seems to have no clue what to do next. With the success of the race yesterday I fear the knee jerk reaction will be to make the series half oval, half road course.As street courses go, St. Pete was pretty good. It’s not Monaco, but nothing is. The course was wide where it needed to be and narrow enough in places that you had to be thinking the whole time. Unfortunately, Little AJ and Mr. Ed found out it ain’t as easy as it looks. Then again, they make driving around in a circle look difficult at times.For the record Andretti Green finished 1-2-3-4 with Wheldon on top. TK had a helluva day by twice climbing through the pack to get to the front. Too bad for Tony when he had a shot at it, he got tangled up with Disco Briscoe and lost the lead to his hard charging team mate Wheldon.AJ and Julio got caught up early and AJ Jr. seemed to be near tears when he was interviewed. He knew the grandson was the cause and he seemed genuinely sorry. Julio for his part was as diplomatic as ever even though you could see his frustration.But as I said, for the most part Sunday came off without a hitch. The league certainly didn’t embarrass itself in its road course debut and there wasn’t a whole hell of a lot of carbon fiber torn up. A shit load less than that demolition derby at Bristol.Now it is on to Japan before the teams head to Indy in May.

By PHX and F1

2005-03-21T06:12:00.000-05:00

IRL
I have to tell you I am glad to see Phoenix in the rear view mirrors. I don’t like that track for Indy Cars. It is too flat. Pretty much my feelings about Milwaukee, but PHX has been a part of the Indy scenery for so long it just stays.
I can’t wait for the ratings for that one to come out, especially seeing how there was a reported 15,000 fans at the track.
Sammy won a taut battle that Dario probably would have won had he not hit the wall with just a lap to go. Other than that it was pretty uneventful. AGR was the class of the field again, but Penske and his pit stops were crucial to keeping Sam and Julio in the hunt.
Since there is not much else I can say nice I won’t say anything else.
F1
Two rounds down and there are already some patterns showing. One, and most surprising to me is how bad the Ferrari is doing against the other teams. For what it is worth, Schummi has looked very ordinary at Melbourne and Kuala Lumpur. I’m not ready to write him off just yet, but as many have speculated, he has been in superior equipment to this point and is not the automatic winner in just anything. It also speaks volumes about the Ferrari organization. Where is the 2005 car and why was it not ready for the start of the season?
The next obvious thing is that the Renault is by far the class of the field so far. Yes, McLaren looks good, Toyota looks great and Red Bull is overachieving, but the Renault has won both races, both poles and no one really seems to be on their level at this time.
BAR is awful. I have no idea what has happened to the Brackley team but they are just terrible. They have failed to score any points and at Malaysia failed to finish either car. Engines were the trouble this week. A very unusual situation for Honda who may be trying to build a motor that they are not accustomed to.
Jacques Villeneuve is done. He had a pitiful 13th place finish at Melbourne where he was simply outmatched against everyone he ran up against. In Malaysia, he failed to finish at all. The last two weeks, Jacques, as is his nature, blamed anyone and everyone but himself. I haven’t heard any comments yet from him, but I am sure there is a reason he sucked so bad. Face it Cruise, it’s over and you will not ever get it back.
The GP itself was pretty much without excitement. Dumbass Fisichella tried to kill Mark Webber. Other than that it was all Fernando Alonso.
There was a meeting held yesterday. A meeting called by Sir Frank. Apparently there is still quite a chasm between Ferrari and the other teams regarding testing. Rules in place this year have greatly diminished the amount of time the teams can test. However, Ferrari has argued that they, being the only Bridgestone participant, need to test more since Bridgestone doesn’t have the body of knowledge Michelin has. They probably have a point, but they still are bound by the rules which they have ignored to this point. If there is to be a new agreement in 2008 and the GPWC is to be slain, Ferrari is going to have to understand it is not bigger than the sport. And eventuality that will not come easy to the gang from Maranello.

Side-By-Side Advertising

2005-03-16T06:14:00.000-05:00

I posted this on the TrackForum.com site earlier. It was in response to a poster calling for everyone to get a hold of ABC, ESPN and the IRL to keep the side-by-side and in-car coverage going on the IRL broadcasts:I really did enjoy both the side-by-side coverage and the all in-car coverage on the ESPN's.But let me play devil's advocate for a second. Advertisers are essential the growth of the league. Let's face it, the IRL ain't surviving on the gate alone. Right now, in my estimation the league and yes, even Indy, have a purse problem as in it is too low. The more advertising dollars, sponsor dollars and television money thrown at the league helps increase the purses.Last month's Daytona 500 had a purse of > $17 million. Indy last year was just over $10 million. While people can debate the importance of Daytona v. Indy in today's terms, there really is no argument that the tradition and overall importance is all Indy's.Last year it was said that TG raided the pot to help finance the efforts of some teams to bring the field number up to 33. Be that as it may, the purse for Indy is not high enough. With today's costs it seems like a top 5 finish is needed to cover your expenses, especially when talking about the one off efforts that always show up in May. Basically it tells me it is simply too expensive to throw good money after a long shot. Granted, if TG is going to subsidize the effort costs go down.But all of that aside and back to the advertisers. These are league and team sponsors and other entities who feel their product is best promoted on televised sporting events in general and IRL races in particular.If you give the race fan what they want there would be no commercials on both stations with one doing all in-car. But ABC has to sell that commercial time to cover their contract to the league and their shareholders.It just seems to me that the advertisers are going to watch the race and they will realize how little people will actually see their product advertised. When they figure that out, and it won't take long, Madison Ave. has all the angles covered, how long will they continue to put money into the IRL? In my opinion they would honor their contracts then bail leaving less money for contracts and purses leading closer to the drain.Like I said, I loved the ESPN's coverage two weeks ago and want it from now on, but my guess is that there is a reason this hasn't been done full-time in the past and that reason is the advertisers.I love the product the IRL puts on the track and can not for the life of me figure out why more companies don't want to be involved on a driver or team basis, but it seems to me that the TV ads are as crucial to the IRL right now as they are likely to ever be. This league is going to stand strong some day soon or fail in that same time period, but it can not continue to plug along with paltry TV ratings and lousy attendance much longer.

Waxing Fondly of IMS Past

2005-03-10T06:15:00.000-05:00

The ratings are out for Sunday’s IRL opener at Homestead. The numbers, as they say, don’t lie. The spin doctors over at IMS do however.First of all the race drew a .6 rating. Broken down that means that roughly 736,000 people were tuned in to ESPN or ESPN 2. 736,000; seems like a decent number but wait. We must compare these numbers to other similar events and then decide if they are good or not.NASCAR, that 800 pound gorilla, drew 14,780,000 for the Daytona 500. For the race the following week at Fontana, they drew 8,621,666 viewers. Last year, the Indianapolis 500 drew just over 5 million viewers and the season opener last year drew almost a million.Now before I get accused of saying the sky is falling I must say that Daytona is in a unique and enviable position. First of all it is the big enchilada for NASCAR. Their granddaddy, their Super Bowl, the top dog and the biggest payday. It also has the enviable position of really being the first race of the season after a 3 to 4 month layoff. Race fans are thirsting for something and along comes the Daytona 500.Now my problem is not necessarily with the .6 rating for the IRL. In fact, if you listen to the spin coming out of 16th and Georgetown you would think the ratings are actually up. They are claiming that in their key demographic of 18-34 and in their key markets, including LA, Indy, Las Vegas and New York ratings are up. I’ll be honest with you; I don’t know a soul in the 18-34 age group in Indy that knows a damn thing about the IRL or Indy Car Racing. So for the spin to try and tell me that things are hunky-dory is a joke.My problem is with the entire feeling around Indy and Indy Car racing. Or I guess to be more precise, the complete lack of feeling.May will be here soon and I am already making plans to go to the track. But I think I am the only one. What was once the most anticipated weeks of the racing season have been reduced to an afterthought on the sports calendar.I’m going to wax nostalgic for a bit so bear with me if you will. My first memories of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway go back to those warm May afternoons. Jeff Miller’s mother would take me and Jeff out to the track after we got out of school. We’d get there at 3:30 and stay until 6:00. I remember leaving the track and seeing the Shell gas station out at 465 and Crawfordsville Road that had the S knocked out of one side of it and giggling about seeing the word HELL up there.Jeff used to like Arnie Knepper. I was a Lloyd Ruby fan way back then. I remember the different way the cars looked. The tubby turbine, the smaller rear engine cars and the low slung, but ugly cars that seemed a throwback to a time just before I was there.The sound and the color were all great, but it was always the speed. I can hardly remember a time when I didn’t have a stopwatch.I remember my pop taking me to the 1968 race. My first time. I was hooked for sure. I rooted for Joe Leonard in his wedge shaped turbine. The beautiful STP car that had no choice but to catch a youngster’s eye. I remember that damn Bobby Unser winning in the, what I thought at the time was ugly, Rislone number 3 car. The bastard! For the record, when I see that car nowadays and it practically brings tears to my eyes. The car that won the first 500 I ever went to.In 1969 I even rooted for Mario, and he won. It was a cloudy day, but it never mattered. We always sat in the Paddock and were safe in case of rain. In 1970 and 1971 I rooted against that Al Unser, but the Johnny Lightning Specials were just that.In 1972 my sister got to go to her first race. She was hooked! We watched as one of the all time great race car drivers won. But Mark Donahue almost was beaten by his team mate Gary Bettenhausen. In the navy Sunoco McLaren’s both drivers were the class of the field. Well Jerry Grant may think otherwise, but he cheated. Gary B in the 68 was dominant until his car broke. Mark in the 66 went on to take the victory in what was the best day ever for me at the Speedway at that time.In subsequent years I saw AJ win his fourth. My grandpa got to go to that one. I saw JR win three with his dominating performance in 1980 as complete a victory as I have ever seen at Indy. Gordy and Rick in 1982 dueling for the win, and Gordy being a less than popular winner. Scott on the silent bus going home getting everyone riled up.I saw all four of Rick's wins and how dominant he was at Indy over his career, all of which I had the privilege to witness. I was there the day AJ retired and took his final lap around the Speedway on a beautiful Saturday morning after Crash Gordon wrecked his 20th car of the day. I saw all of Big Al's wins. Emmo's duel with Little Al. Arie's record setting day. Tom Sneva contending for the pole every year it seemed.The sponsors; STP, Miller High Life, Sugaripe Prunes, Leader Card, Bowes Seal Fast, The Texaco Star, Beatrice Foods. The owners, mechanics and crew chiefs; Andy, then Vince Grannatelli, A.J. Watson, George Bignotti, Jim Hall and a whole host I am sure to be leaving off.Salt Walther's terrible crash in 73 only to be topped two days later by Swede Savage. The lesser known drivers who were always there. Some whose days had come and gone, some who never achieved any measure of success at Indy, but came back every year. Lloyd, Grant, Lee Kunzman, Mike Mosley, Wally Dallenbach, Bob Harkey, John Martin, Mel Kenyon, Sammy Sessions, Eddie Pimm, Josele Garza, Roberto, Geoff Brabham and who can forget topsy-turvy Pancho Carter.Then of course there were the sons of former Indy greats. Billy Vukovich Jr and Jr.s son the III both tried to recreate their fathers glory. Each year they would come in from California for the race. Billy III lost his life racing like his grandfather. Jr. was never to taste any real success. The Bettenhausens, with father Tony who finished 2nd in 1955, to Gary who really told Roger Penske to fuck off by refusing to quit racing on the dirt, to Tony Jr. who was a team owner when he perished in a plane crash a few years ago.Of course there are the Andretti’s with Mario and sons Michael and Jeff competing and experiencing so much pain and hard luck. Nephew John who seemed to be just a good guy. The Unsers. Jerry who lost his life at Indy. Bobby and Al who were so good for so long. Al Jr, who won two 500’s to Robby and Johnny who both made the field in the past few years.I remember being at the track when Gordon Smiley died. I was there when Art Pollard perished. I remember listening to the radio the day Scott Brayton died. Being at the track when Jovy Marcelo was killed.The great days at the track have to include plenty of boobs and more. The infamous banner day, ruined by the late Tim Richmond. Funky Bob passing out in the sun (bad idea), Jeff Frye's 16 for 19 chugging day and the wild 1980 race. The 1979 race when pop was just out of the hospital and couldn't get tickets. I don't think me and Erik saw a car all day, but we managed to lock the keys in the car twice. If there is a dead center to the track, we were there. Me and Timmy heading in early one morning and parking in the crew lot. A happy start to the day AJ called it quits.The overnighters before the race and qualifying. Tabby passed out under Jay's truck on Carb Day.But ultimately it was always about the race and talk swirled for months about who would win. Scott may think it's an invalid argument, but it had meaning and NOT EVERYONE HAD A CHANCE TO WIN! besides, it was all part of the drama that was the Indianapolis 500.I remember going to the track on race morning. I could never sleep the night before the race. For a while we went to Aunt Stella’s and parked in her yard in Speedway. Years later we’d load up the car, head downtown and hop on the bus. It was so civilized getting down there, but coming back was crazy. I remember going into the bus through a window for the ride back. I remember pop hiring a helicopter to take us to the track one year. So cool. Free food and beer for many years made it so nice to go.Qualifying days were great. Skipping school to go to the track a blast. Nothing however, compared to race day. Getting to the track early. Watching the bands and the police on their motorcycles. The cars being pushed out onto the track. The intermittent sounds of engines coming to life. Gomer singing Back Home Again, which I admit still brings a tear to my eye. Tony Hulman, dressed so nice, saying those four famous words as he made his “turning key” gesture.Those practice and qualifying days when the action on the track cooled and the action behind the stands picked up. But those were the exception unless it got real hot. There were so many cars every year. It was a big deal. A really big deal. And while I am still a huge Indy fan, even a die hard like me has to admit it is no longer what it was.Maybe I am just living in the past and things can never stay the same. The track certainly has changed. The Snake Pit is gone. The turbulent Turn 4 is gone. Everything is new and modern and nice, but it has lost a lot of character. But when the owner has no character, what would you expect?These days there is talk every year concerning the number of cars that will be at the track, but it isn’t about how much bumping, it is whether or not 33 will even be here. The purse is down in proportion to other events. Let’s face it, the Brickyard 400 is a bigger deal. That sucks.Tony George has made some improvements to the physical stature of the track, but he has ripped the very soul out of the Indy 500. I am tired of people trying to say how wonderful the IRL is, when it is failing miserably. It is nothing more than club racing at this point. Don’t get me wrong, CART, OWRS or whoever they are this week is nothing either. But when CART was running Indy Cars and their drivers made up the bulk of the 500 field there were always plenty of cars. Pole day meant something. There would be 100,000 people at the track. The whole Paddock Penthouse was full as were the first and fourth turns. It was in effect the second biggest race of the year in the world. Only the 500 itself was bigger. It was bigger than Daytona, bigger than Monaco, bigger than anything. IMS was the center of the universe when it came to racing. The holy land if you will. It was THE GREATEST SPECTACLE IN RACING. Having the title of Indianapolis 500 Champion was your ticket to the elite club. Now, people like Buddy Lazier and Eddie Cheever have that title. It is no longer special. Foyt, Unser, Andretti, Lazier? I don’t think so. And Erik, this is not about Buddy. I like the guy and Eddie too, but as race car drivers they aren’t exactly what I call the real deal.While the 500 is still exciting, it is no longer what it was. Practice time has been reduced even further this year. Strange new qualifying procedures are in place in a last ditch effort to revive interest. It boggles my mind how one guy could have screwed this up so bad, but he has. All in the name of power. He didn’t like that he couldn’t have a seat on the CART board so he started his own league. Millions of dollars of “investment” later the league is a commercial nightmare and the 500 is a shadow of its once glorious self.Can the 500 be saved? Many think it can not. I’m not sure myself. I will be writing more articles on what I think is the best hope for restoring the glimmer to one of my favorite things. If anyone reading this has any suggestions, feel free to forward them to me,

F1 New Rules

2005-03-09T06:18:00.000-05:00

From the message boards to the Australian and British papers to the chit chat of fans and the chagrin of some of the drivers, the new rules in F1 this season opened to less than stellar reviews in Melbourne.In a nutshell, drivers were less than aggressive while trying to save their tires making for a rather boring race. But as time goes on and the drivers become more comfortable with the tire situation that will probably change. What is not likely to change is the fact that it is entirely possible that one of the upcoming races will feature the 8 drivers in the points actually finishing the GP while the other 12 pull off into the pits during the last few laps.Why do that? Simple. Finishing in the pits grants the team the opportunity to change engines whether there are two races on it or not. Now of course, no team or driver wants to consistently finish out of the points, but it happens to everyone at some point in the season. Usually more than once. Strategically this will play into teams hands. Knowing driver X will be using a week old engine, it is highly likely that another team could take advantage of that situation with a fresh engine.The other big rule change that was really evident was in qualifying. Now chances are that the weather in Melbourne over the weekend was an exception rather than a rule, but what if it isn’t? What if each week the weather is dicey on Saturday and clear on Sunday? Is it fair to penalize teams based on weather? I’m certainly not a Ferrari apologist but this whole thing just stinks of doing something to level the playing field. And that is what kills me. Why would Bernie and Max enact rules to hurt their beloved Ferrari?The next couple of races in Malaysia and Bahrain should be interesting. Bahrain most likely will be consistent, weather-wise, but Kuala Lumpur can be rainy one day and hot and humid, but sunny the next. If Ferrari and BAR get screwed again will there be changes made? What if Renault gets fucked this time? Stay tuned and don’t be surprised if there isn’t some new rules in place by the time the teams get back to racing in Europe.

The Season Begins

2005-03-08T06:19:00.000-05:00

The first weekend of real racing is in the books. Both the IRL and F1 got under way over the weekend. While the on track activity was less than breathtaking, it was nice to see real race cars in lieu of them damn taxi cabs running around in a circle all damn day.
F1
I’m still not sure about the new qualifying procedures for the F1 boys. On one hand, they pretty much killed Schummi’s chances of winning which is a good thing. On the other, Takuma was mired in he back all day and never got anything going.
Giancarlo Fisichella took advantage of the weather on Saturday to pretty much assure himself of the pole. Using his aggregate time he was easily P1 after qualifying. Unfortunately, most of the drivers had to deal with anything from a drying track to monsoon conditions. Obviously this will take on a completely different look on weekends when the weather is consistent from driver to driver and from day to day.
Anyway, the race was pretty boring and there are a couple of legitimate reasons for it. Number one, no one wanted to really push their tyres. With the new rules allowing only one set of tyres for the race AND qualifying there seemed to be quite a bit of trepidation all over the track. The same can be said for the engines. No one seemed to want to overuse their engine and come back with a used puppy in two weeks at Malaysia.
There is speculation this morning that the teams that finished in the pits will be allowed new engines before round two. If that is the case, there will be almost a scramble for the pits on the last lap of every car that is clearly out of the points paying positions. It is not in the spirit of the rule, but clearly BAR and Ferrari found the loophole and crawled through.
My only question on that is whether or not those teams will be on the two week clock starting at Malaysia or will the two weeks be up after the race.
Overall I would have to say that Renault really made a good showing for themselves. McLaren was not bad and Red Bull was surprisingly solid and DC had to get credit for the move of the race when he swooped past Mark Webber’s Williams and into third place at the first turn.
BAR has to be the most disappointed. They had a miserable weekend and can take nothing positive away from Australia. Minardi’s little pre-race problems were eventually solved. Team principal Paul Stoddardt eventually got all of the other teams to allow him to run his 2004 cars. However, the race stewards said no. Stoddardt took them to court and was granted an injunction to race. The FIA said okay, but they would no longer hold races in Australia if the courts were allowed to make the rules. Stoddardt ultimately capitulated and declined the injunction. Amazingly, the 2005 parts arrived in Melbourne just before the start of the second practice.
IRL
No one is ever going to accuse FTRG of being smart. Yesterday he cemented his reputation. The dumbass told the viewers that it was boring down in the pits as a car owner. Wow! If this idiot gets any dumber they will have to water him every day.
Rat boy’s comments aside, the IRL boys finally hit the pavement in anger on a beautiful South Florida weekend. Tomas Scheckter took the pole at over 215 mph and the field of 22 was set for the start of IRL season 10.
As expected the Honda’s were strong and the Toyota’s only real show was by Sammy who managed to sneak away with second place. Julio was the next Toy in 5th but it was Honda and Tomas Scheckter’s Chevrolet that were the stars.
All in all there was some good dicing going on all day. Unfortunately the race really ended on lap 158 when Kosuke Matsura lost control of his car and took out 8 drivers including the charging Scheckter. Tomas, who made no mistakes in the pits, but was slow and deliberate, was in his usual position on the lap 157 restart, which was a few positions back when Matsura spun and took out 8 cars. That effectively handed the race to Wheldon who had no competition for the lead after that.
Four rookies (five if you count Carpentier) took the green flag at Homestead. Paul Dana stayed out of trouble to finish highest but was 8 laps back. Danica Patrick’s much anticipated debut was marred by the lap 158 incident. She was running on the lead lap and doing fine. Unfortunately she suffered a concussion in the crash and may miss the next race. Brit Ryan Briscoe crashed on lap 61 and Czech Tomas Enge went out with mechanical woes on lap 41.
Dario and Buddy Rice both were out early with mechanical problems. Dario’s engine let loose on lap 12 and we never got to see Ashley.
Attendance was reportedly 30,000. There were way too many empty seats. The Television coverage was awesome with the side-by-side on ESPN and the all in-car on the Deuce. For some reason, ESPN did no promotion of the race so I imagine ratings will be in the .1 range when they come out.

Minardi v. FIA

2005-03-04T06:20:00.000-05:00

The first day of practice is over at Melbourne and McLaren has been at the top of the speed charts in both sessions. No surprise there, but at the other end of the spectrum, Minardi has not taken the track and the reasons seem curious at best.New rules this season have precluded the teams from running last years cars unless they have been substantially modified to meet the 2005 requirements. The new rules are an attempt to slow down cornering and reduce speeds in an effort to gain a measure of safety and to begin to cut costs. In theory, allowing a 2004 car to run against the 2005's is a big advantage to the 2004's. In theory!The reality is somewhat different. In Minardi's case they have been so far off the pace the past few years that they were more a threat not to make the race because of being too slow.Paul Stoddardt, team principal for Minardi found himself in his usual bind at the end of last season. The small, underfunded team was faced with the question of engines. When Jaguar (Ford) pulled out of F1 racing last year, the fate of Cosworth was not known. Cosworth at the time was supplying engines for Minardi as well as Jaguar and Jordan. Jordan made the switch to Toyota engines and once Jag was reborn as Red Bull they went with the Cosworth when it became apparent the engine manufacturer was going to continue on.This is where things become a little fuzzy for Minardi. Stoddardt claims he could not begin production on his 2005 car until he had an engine. Budget wise, Minardi will always be behind, but when Red Bull can get it together, then why couldn't Minardi?Well, as it turns out, no less than Max Mosley told Stoddardt that if he went to each team and got signatures allowing him to run his 2004 car until the 2005 was ready he could race. Up until yesterday, Ferrari and Red Bull had both said no. Red Bull probably had a legitimate beef as teams can scrape out a couple of points early when everyone else is still dialing in their combinations. A year old Minardi may just have enough to get one of those precious World Championship points which would take it away from another team. As for Ferrari, well they are just assholes and there is not accounting for class or taste, especially the lack thereof.So Minardi, after a week of politicking finally got his signatures. Now the FIA and race stewards are not allowing the team on the track.This is a PR nightmare for F1. You have a small, uncompetitive, yet famously popular team left out. This happens after the FIA president tells you that you can race if you get the other teams to agree. You do and now they pull this shit.People in the US look at F1 as elitist and boring. There is so much politicking that goes on that it sometimes seem like they might as well race around the courthouse halls instead of on tracks. F1 would be well served to enforce the rules they set up unilaterally. When it comes time for a new agreement, the teams should sign it if they like, or get out if they do not. No lawsuits and no changing of the rules. If the length of the last agreement was too long, shorten it.Until the world, and the US in particular, sees that F1 is interested in competition and not politics, this will simply not survive in the US.