Wednesday, July 30, 2008

If I ran for President... who would be my VP?

Here we go....

The candidates are on the VP search trail and we will hopefully get an idea this week as to who they are looking at. With all of this, it got me thinking... Who would I choose if I was crazy enough to run? Note that I would not win with any of these guys, but I really like them

I have 3 candidates:

Former Senator Rick Santorum, PA: He was on the Senate Judicial Panel. He is a man of integrity. He stands for what is right. Plus, he carries a swing state.

Governor Mike Huckabee: steadfast, honest and conservative. Some say he was just clouding things by staying in, but he was in fact leading by showing a 'don't give up' attitude.

General Colin Powell: Military leadership, dedication and poise. He would never run, but he would be a superb VP or President

A new schedule for IndyCar... is this a paradigm shift?

I will admit, I don't like 'right-turn' racing. Street and road courses are not my thing. I don't like slow racing on any level, and on a road course the average speed teeters around 110mph. I am in the minority here, so I will not really go any further on that. I will just say that I really prefer ovals over road courses and street courses.

The IndyCar Series announced the 2009 schedule today. Not a lot of shocking revelations because we knew what was coming. I will say however that I would have preferred to see some events on the schedule change and some different ones chosen. Like Iowa. I don't hate Iowa Speedway, but I don't like going to Iowa then to Richmond immediately afterward. They are too similar. I also think that we need to look at other tracks that are bigger like Daytona's road course or California. There are only 2 courses on the west coast (and Edmonton) and although I live in the Ohio Valley, we are screwing those people out of races by not going west.

Several circuits are very similar. Texas, Chicago, Kentucky and Homestead are similar racing. Not all the same distance, but similar in speed, competition, difficulty, etc. At least the road/street courses really force diversity. Obviously we cannot get another Indy track to the schedule as we cannot run at Daytona or Pocono, but what about Charlotte? There are other track options that should be considered.

So now the schedule is out. Which races will I go to? Indy, Kentucky, and maybe Mid-Ohio. Outside of that, don't know. With the poor media coverage, I may travel and watch more races to make up for not getting good programming on TV.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

How the media covers auto racing

Frustrating… Nothing more than frustrating.
Here we are in the age of television. I personally have over 240 channels at my immediate disposal with my satellite package, and can subscribe to hundreds more. I know that I have loved having my new HD package to go with my TV my wife bought me, and there is nothing better than watching my racing in HD. I would rather watch a bad race in HD than a good movie in standard digital any day. HOWEVER, I am finding myself making time to watch the movie instead of the race. Why? Poor coverage.
This last weekend the IndyCar Series was in Edmonton, Alberta. This is not one of my favorite races because the cars make right turns and drive the course in a ‘clockwise’ fashion. I really don’t like road courses or street courses, but they are here to stay so I have to deal with them. So, I turned on the TV at 5pm when the advertised coverage was set to begin, only to find they were in the cars and getting ready to go. No interviews. No talk about last week. No talk about Paul Tracy making his return. Nothing. Just a ‘start your engines and lets get this thing over with now so we can get to the Nascar race at 7:30. Even after the race, they barely make time to interview the winner and then rush off to another program. Why? Because there is no other channels on the dial to cover the other events coming up. HOGWASH!
I am not a fan of Nascar, but they get it. They have program after program that runs on both sides of the race, conducting interviews, re-hashing last week and getting the fan in the mood for what is about to take place. They have Raceday on Speed, Countdown to Green, etc and so on that makes it very clear that there is a piece of the event that needs to be covered: the human interest piece. After the race there are more shows, and they typically interview the top 5 and then some. Even during the race they cover the ones who wreck and the crew chiefs and get you involved with the personal side of it. And then, they cover all the practice and qualifications too.
I purchased XM radio for the sole reason to listen to races and auto racing programming while I am on the road 4 hours a day and nearly every weekend during the summer. I thought , ‘Surely they will have more than the race on the IndyCar channel’. But they don’t. In fact, the channel doesn’t even play the race. It is broadcast on another channel. They only have 1 program during the week for the series, the Andretti Green Racing Hour. That’s it. No more, and probably would do less if they didn’t have strategic partnership in place. I am considering canceling my membership because I can play CD’s and be more entertained.
I sat and thought about the reasoning behind this whole lack of coverage and only came to one conclusion. The reason I believe things are poorly covered is that they don’t think it would be advantageous to cover the event any more than they do. Well, that is pure crap. The IndyCar series may have less viewer-ship, but they have a more loyal viewing audience. They also show growth in all applicable markets and sectors that they broadcast and advertise. What the entire reason comes down to is league salesmanship. Tony George and the ICS have not done enough to sell the series. Hiring Gene Simmons and his cronies to create ‘I am Indy’ is a joke. How can you be ‘Indy’ when you have taken even that one premier race and shrunk the pre-race to 31 minutes? Why can’t you take some of that money you use for stupid little things and buy another half-hour on each side for the fan?
What am I saying? Simply put, get off your wallet and ego series team members and think about the fans. The rising cost of travel is not the entire reason for people not going to the race. Most people don’t go because it is becoming a ‘race only, no other exciting things to do’ event. The only race with enough fun for the whole family is Indianapolis, and that is even falling away.
Please, IndyCar Series officials and marketing staff, take care of your fan and give them more and better coverage that draws people in and makes them a part of the festivity.

Friday, July 25, 2008

No, I really do like my country... (political)

Amazing... simply amazing.
I cannot use any other words to describe what I have been watching the last few days on the news. It seems that Sen Barack Obama has taken a little trip. In taking this trip, I have heard more positive things about this country come from his lips than any time he has spoken this year. Why do we suppose this is the case? I know exactly. He is not on our soil.
We live in a world that hates the United States of America. If there was any doubt in the minds of our citizens those should have been erased on or around September 11, 2001. As most, I watched the drama unfold throughout the day, however I had a different outlook on things. Not more than 12 weeks prior to those sobering events I lived in New York Harbor, in a little town called Atlantic Highlands, NJ. I was stationed in the harbor aboard a Navy warship, and had just transferred and moved my family on July 1 to St Louis. The events of that September day haunt me because I used to stand on the navigation deck of my ship and look at the towers in the harbor every morning before starting work. When that day happened I was in Florida in school, but it was like I was there. My wife (who grew up there her entire life) was very upset because we had a friend that carpeted the towers (and our house). It really hit home.
Unlike alot of Americans, it did not take that event to instill a sense of patriotism in my life. I have been very patriotic my entire life, always flying a flag, supporting our troops and leaders; even joining the military to give back to a country that gave freedom to me. However, I am the minority. Americans take so much for granted and even dislike American values and standards themselves. How else do you validate the disrespect for law, government, religion and society? I personally believe the hatred directly correlates to the action they take.
I believe Barack Obama loves this country. I just don't think he is sold out to it. I believe he is dedicated to a life of service, but not committed to the sacrifice of service. Numerous times he has spoken of his many dis-tastes in the way this country is, and I strongly disagree with many of those points. Don't get me wrong, I am a Reagan-conservative and a registered Republican, but that does not bend my opinion in this case. The words that he uses, along with the things his wife has said, makes me believe he doesn't have the 'die for my country' mentality all the time.
I am not all that fond of Sen McCain either. I have no doubt in his patriotism, I have doubts in his 'conservatism'. I think he leans a litte too far to the liberal mindset on some issues that I feel strongly about. HOWEVER, given our choices, he is by far the better choice. After all, I don't want to have to learn to speak 'Talibani'.
I will support whomever is elected. I had to do that when my boss was Mr. Clinton, and I joined admist the Whitewater, Travelgate and Monica scandals. I did not agree with his behavior, but I supported him regardless. I supported Mr. Bush regardless, and continue to do so as my president. And I will support the next president, even if it was going to be Sen Clinton. Why? Because being a TRUE PATRIOT means that you trust that the leadership of your land have a much better idea and control on the issues than you need to understand.
I love my country. I love the diversity. I just wish that I believed the politicians when they say the same.

The Espy's

Alright... not a big ESPY fan. Not because I don't like sports, because I do. I just don't think they do a good job of making a show out of it. I do think fondly of Coach Valvano's speech at the first one, but have not really paid much attention to any till this year. I only watched this one because I wanted to see Helio and also check out what Justin Timberlake was going to do. I was pleasantly entertained.
Justin's montage song covered about everything, except auto racing. I thought he did a really good job of mixing the sports side and the humor side, though I don't know that it was all that understandable. I did find the funniest thing to be when he had the Celtics puppets and the actual guys couldn't hardly stay in their seat from laughing so much.
Will I watch the Espy's every year now? Probably not. I will, however 'TIVO' it.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Whining gets you everywhere

If you know me at all, you know I am a big Indycar fan. It started in 1983 when my father took me to my first Indy 500 and has grown to full-blown obsession, going to races and living on the internet and tv sites that carry the sport. However, after this last weekend, I am especially inclined to stop watching the series all together. The reason: Danica Patrick.
Most of you have no-doubtedly seen the altercation she had with fellow female racer Milka Duno at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this last weekend. Most seen a clip of her going to Duno's pit box and talking, followed by towel throwing, obsenities and general 'arguing'. What most did not realize was, in fact, that the behavior is being defended by some people in the media, one of which is a well-respected reporter that covers the series. I don't agree with defending Danica. Quite to the contrary. I feel as though this is just another one of those 'prop the poster child up' senarios.
The facts of the incident are clear. During practice, Danica was following behind Milka Duno around the course. When Danica tried to pass, the slower, less experienced Duno seemed to block her off and not allow her to get by, almost hitting her at one point. A very upset Patrick shook her fist and pitted. After she got out of the car, she went to the Citgo pits and confronted Milka, saying 'didn't you see me?'. Duno immediately started yelling back and threw her towel in Danica's face, making her quite upset and inducing obsenities. More yelling followed and eventually Milka walked away and the crew blocked Danica from talking to her. Then Patrick said something about Brian Barnhart (president of operations, ICS) taking care of it and left.
What Danica should have done is talked to her chief Kyle Moyer. Several times this year (Indianapolis being the most advertised) Danica has had something not go her way, and thinks that she should be able to walk down pit lane, stomping and flailing, confronting other drivers or crews. Instead of cooling off and taking talent and technology into prospective, she immediately decided to run down and start pointing fingers. What does she expect people do to during the race? Move over? Not going to happen, so why expect it during practice?
I think Danica Patrick gets a free pass. I believe this based on her ability to run off at the mouth or storm another racer without reprimand. If I did that at my job I would be fired and most likely get my rear kicked. She seems to get the press and fans on her side. This behavior, though warranted in this case and not all her fault, still lacks good judgement. I personally feel as though a time will come really soon that she ends up in big trouble over her actions, either physically or verbally from another competitor. While most will dismiss her actions as childish and a game she plays to get attention, there are others that are getting tired of it and they won't stand for it much longer.
I am in the latter.

Monday, July 21, 2008

Words can hurt ... even when your own race say them

I am constantly amazed that we live in a society that continually works to oppress and suppress things that others say. Case in point, the Rev. Jesse Jackson has made comments regarding Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill) that he has avidly preached and protested against others saying. How does he get away with this? Simple. He is given a free pass.
For decades Jesse Jackson has made a point of saying that he cannot tolerate hate, racism or violence against 'his people' and that he will do whatever it takes to bring those who would do harm down for their actions. However, he has in fact made 2 statements in the last 2 weeks regarding Sen Obama that he would be marching on Washington if a white man would say. This double standard is not unusual as he has done it for years. What makes this one come to the forefront is that he made statements towards another of his race, who just happens to be running for a position that he has failed to reach on several occasions.
Does Jackson hate Obama? I don't think so. Is he jealous? You bet! The mere fact that a very educated, well-spoken person of any race can motivate a party such has Obama would piss off anyone that could not be there to take the accolades for the action. Obama has been able to keep himself in check, but if people are exactly as though you suspect them to be (and most of the time they are) you can believe that the good senator is just flipping out and ready to take Jackson into a back room and beat the hell out of him. I know the supporters that are wishing Obama wins does not want to see anything get in their way, and this would be just the thing that would do that!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Welcome to my blogspot!

This is my attempt to get the word out. The truth about the political system, not what you read or watch or hear. The truth about our government, not what the left wants to lead you to believe.

Okay... there are other passions. Life, love, happiness. I will share those too. So stick around, pull up a chair, relax and remember not to take things too seriously!