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June 30, 2005

Olympus Digital Fisheye Lens

To Be Available in January 2006

Now here's something I'd like - a fisheye lens for my digital camera. Actually I'd like a semi-fish eye lens like I have for my 35mm film camera. It has the curve but not the full circle, 180 view like the full fisheye lens does. The problem is with digital cameras the wide-angle, semi-fish eye and fisheye lenses are even more expensive than they are for film cameras. It makes for some really cool photos though. I have some cool photos that I took in Manhattan one day with the semi-fish eye lens that I really like only I haven't gotten around to scanning them yet and now they're packed up in a box somewhere in advance of my upcoming move. Otherwise I'd throw one up here. Maybe I'll come across them at some point.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:34 PM | Comments (0)

A Lack of Non-Sports Items

I really wish I could find a few more topics to discuss that didn't involve either Nascar or baseball. In fact I have an overload of Nascar items and have simply choosen to ignore a number of them. What I try to do with this blog is discuss things that I come across that interest me rather than force myself to write on any one particular subject. So I could probably "assign" myself a few non-sports subject but where's the fun in that? I have one or two little items to comment on but it seems like I haven't come across any really good gadgets or photography items to blog about for a while.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)

Still More on Chad Chaffin and Jeff Wyler Racing

I find this team very intriguing as one might have noticed based on how many entries I've done on them this week. One of the things that I wondered about was how the team was put together for Chaffin in just a few days time since it seemed as soon as he lost his ride with Germain/Arnold Racing he had a new ride with Jeff Wyler Racing. The reason for that is because, as a brief article in the print version of Nascar Scene says, it was virtually just a ride swap between Chaffin and Todd Bodine. Apparently Fiddle Back Racing, where Todd Bodine was ran out of money which led to a reunion of Bodine with German/Arnold. So Chaffin had no ride until Toyota took their equipment back from the Fiddle Back Racing folks and found an owner willing to field the team in the form of Jeff Wyler. I couldn't understand how Wyler found a crew and crew chief so quickly given he's new as an owner but it turns out the entire crew and crew chief were with Todd Bodine at Fiddle Back. So essentially Chaffin is in Todd Bodine's old ride with a new name and owner. The one piece of the puzzle is still how Wyler ended up as the owner since it was apparently Toyota who approached him. How did they know he'd be interested? Were there some talks to have him field a team at some point in the future anyway? New teams start up all the time but it's usually not under these circumstances with things being put together so quickly so it interests me how it all fell into place.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:00 PM | Comments (0)

Disturbing

Man's Skull Fractured in Racial Attack

I'd like to think that in 2005 people are more enlightened than to attack each other because of the color of the other person's skin but the reality is that there are some people who aren't. And so proving that history does repeat itself a white teenager was arrested for fracturing the skull of a black man in Howard Beach, a section of Queens in New York City, just blocks from where there was another racially motivated incident in 1986. In the lastest incident three black men were attacked by three white men who yelled racial slurs and said, "That is what you get when you try to rob white boys." In an ironic twist what brought the victim to the neighborhood is that his two companions had a plan to steal a car but their attackers had no way of knowing that.

We live in a scary society that people can be attacked just by being on the wrong street at the wrong time.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:42 PM | Comments (0)

Bobby Hamilton on Truck Sponsorships

Victim of His Own Success?

Bobby Hamilton discusses a variety of issues in the above article but what was most interesting to me is what he said about sponsorships in the truck series. Hamilton had a primary sponsor in Square D but despite winning the Championship last season, something which would make most other sponsors estatic and cause them to stick around for years to come, Square D declined to renew with Hamilton and left the sport completely (as far as I know). Hamilton attributes Square D's decision to the company wanting to go out on top and in some ways I can understand that since it's difficult to repeat as Champion so the following year generally brings lesser results. Still, being aligned with a Champion on any of Nascar's top three levels brings a sponsor a good deal of publicity since that driver is always going to get extra attention and Hamilton is sure to be one of the better drivers in the truck series for the next few years at least.

So I was surprised that Square D left Hamilton and even more surprised that thus far he's not been able to find a new primary sponsor. And as Hamilton points out if he, the reigning truck series champion, who is currently second in the points standings at the moment, can't find a primary sponsor what does that say about other team's chances? So maybe it becomes a little more understandable that in spite of being a strong organization with a great driver with a strong fan following why Orleans Racing has thus far been unable to find a primary sponsor for Steve Park's #62. You'd think companies would be falling all over themselves to sponsor both of those trucks but that's far from the case. So that indicates despite the positive growth of the truck series, there could be some underlying issues that could end up stunting that growth. Because if teams can't keep and get sponsors, they will fold, particularly on this level where the teams tend to be smaller and less funded to begin with as compared to their counterparts in Cup.

What makes it even more puzzling is that Hamilton says a primary sponsor, at least for his truck, runs only around $3 million. I say "only" $3 million because in comparison to the $15-20 million that a company needs to have to sponsor a top team in Cup, $3 million doesn't seem like that much. The ratings for truck series races is increasing every year so one would think that more companies would want to take advantage of the increase in fan interest and the relatively low cost to sponsor one of the better trucks in the series, but that's apparently not the case. Perhaps some of those companies think that spending that money towards even just an associate sponsorship in the Cup series will generate more of a payoff than a full primary sponsorship in the truck series but it seems like there are some opportunities that some companies might be missing out on. Particularly if teams looking for sponsors are willing to sell primary sponsorships for just a few races as opposed to for a full-season. Given the deal with South Padre Island, Orleans Racing is obviously willing to consider it. So why aren't more companies interested in doing it?

Of course leave it to Hamilton to speak up on something like this. He is outspoken. At times I really don't care for some of what he says and some of what he does on the track. But I have to admire his willingness to express his opinions, just like I do with everyone else who is willing to put themselves on the line, including one Gary Sheffield. The issue for me is the content of what they're saying. Sometimes Hamilton has interesting things to say and sometimes you wonder what he was thinking - his recent comments about his son's situation in the #32 in Cup was one of those situations when you had to cringe a little. It's one thing to think that his son should leave that ride and that there's no hope for improvement but it's entirely another to say it out loud at a press conference.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:07 PM | Comments (0)

Quantrill, Stanton Designated for Assignment

Ten Days to Trade or Waive Them

In the first of what will probably be several moves in an effort to improve the team, the New York Yankees have designated Paul Quantrill and Mike Stanton for assignment. That means that the Yankees have ten days to either trade them or place them on waivers. It's no surprise really. Neither one have been very effective as of late. Both had ERAs hovering around 7 and Stanton just gave up a big game-losing homerun in a game a couple of days ago against the Baltimore Orioles. Of course the Yankees are still responsible for the remaining money owed to both of them. Quantrill is due not only the balance of his $3 million salary but a $400,000 buyout of a 2006 option. Stanton was earning $4 million but the Mets shipped some cash over to the Bronx with Stanton to help pay his salary this season.

I never developed much of a fondness for Quantill though he definitely helped the Yankees last season out of the bullpen. However, he probably suffered from overuse at the hands of Joe Torre that made him less effective than he might have been otherwise. He also had a lingering knee problem which also might have kept him from pitching as well as he might have liked at times. On the other hand I've always really liked Mike Stanton dating back to his first go-around in pinstripes. At that time, while Stanton could be shaky, he was a key part of the Yankees bullpen from 1997-2002. He then went over to the Mets where he was far less successful. And his return to pinstripes has been little better. But when Stanton was a Yankee a few years ago he was a stand-up guy who would say what was on his mind, though in a much less bothersome way than Gary Sheffield, and I always liked him for that.

In any event there are sure to be more players coming and going before the trade deadline.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:35 PM | Comments (0)

Rangers Pitcher Kenny Rogers Freaks Out and Attacks Cameramen

Camera Man in Hospital; Rogers May Face Charges

Anger in Full Boil in Baseball Clubhouses

Just days after pulling a Kevin Brown and fracturing the pinkie of his non-pitching hand by punching a water cooler, Texas Rangers pitcher Kenny Rogers wigged out for no apparent reason and attacked several TV cameramen as he was walking out of the Rangers dugout onto the field for batting practice. He shoved two cameramen, one of them so hard that he had to go to the hospital, threw one camera to the ground and threatened to break several more cameras. I saw the video of this incident and it's pretty unbelievable how Rogers calmly walks out of the dugout and immediately goes after the cameramen apparently just because they were standing there. No shouting, no angry exchanges other than what Rogers said. Perhaps there was another incident that led up to this but from all appearances it looked like Rogers just lost it when he saw there were cameramen on the field. But having an issue with the media is nothing new for Rogers. He has refused to speak to the media for most of the season since he was upset in spring training about a report that he threatened to retire if he wasn't given a contract extension. But no one could have predicted that he would take things this far.

Either Rogers has a serious anger management problem that just popped up now or he's dealing with some issues, personal or otherwise, that caused him to lash out the way that he did. His behavior is really outrageous, even for someone who strongly dislikes the media. Baseball players just can't be walking up to members of the media and assaulting them. The injured cameraman filed a police report, as he should, and Rogers may face assault charges. So in the space of a week he's gone from a potential American League Cy Young candidate with strong pitching this season to a loon with an anger problem who put his season in jeopardy by punching the water cooler, then followed it up by assaulting a few people. Rogers is lucky that he's pitching so well because if not for that the Rangers might be thinking about either trading or releasing him. I would hope that at the very least the Rangers discipline him in some way - Major League Baseball surely will.

Of course, as Mark Kreidler of ESPN.com points out in the second article above, Rogers isn't the only angry baseball player who lashed out this week. Oliver Perez of the Pittsburgh Pirates kicked a laundry cart because he was angry at a bad outing on the mound and broke his toe. And let's not forget Gary Sheffield's angry tirade when he found that he was the subject of trade rumors. Kreidler thinks that the pressure of the job is what got to all of them and he's probably right. The players have to perform or they're gone. And there is always someone younger or better looming on the horizon either in a player's own organization or that can be aquired elsewhere via trade. Rogers is probably especially feeling the pressure since he's 40 so he likely doesn't have many more years left. So it's essential that he pitches as well as possible for as long as possible.

Of course being under pressure doesn't excuse the players when they lash out and do something stupid. Rogers, Perez and Kevin Brown, when he fractured his hand by punching a wall, are still very much in the wrong because their actions ultimately hurt themselves and their teams. In the case of Rogers and Perez prior to the bad outings that prompted them to take their anger out on inanimate objects, they had been pitching extremely well. So their teams lose players that could help them win, particularly in the case of Rogers with his nine wins. With Brown he fractured his hand in September of last season, just when the Yankees needed him the most to help them get to the post-season, then win in the post-season. You'd think these guys would learn from the stories of the idiots who have come before them but it doesn't appear that way. And in the end when Rogers lost his temper it may prove to be the costliest temper tantrum of all.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:58 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip May Have Been Informed He's Out at DEI After 2005

Marty Smith: DEI Facing Fundamental Decisions

Marty Smith of Nascar.com wrote today that earlier this week he got a tip from a "source close" to Michael Waltrip" who said that Michael was informed that regardless of whether he made the Chase for the Championship or not he would not be re-signed to a new contract at DEI. Like any good journalist should, Smith followed up with Brooke Hondros, Michael's publicist and also Richie Gilmore over at DEI. Of course Gilmore denied all of it, claiming that he's still talking with Michael about "options" and that it's completely false that Michael is leaving DEI. Michael might end up back with DEI in the end but all signs are pointing to 2005 being Michael's last season in the #15, at least as things stand now. There's a huge amount to cover in this article, both about the content itself but also in Smith's use of an unnamed source since as any faithful reader of this space knows, the subject of anonymous sources is one that intrigues me, no less so with this article.

Smith states in the article that it's essential for DEI to re-sign both Michael and Martin Truex, Jr. so that they have a three-car team in 2006 and beyond. And I agree. I would think that DEI having a three-car team is imperative even if Michael wasn't involved. The reality is that if DEI wants to be able to stay competitive with the larger organizations they must have at least three-teams. Two will not get the job done anymore. However, last week Dale Earnhardt, Jr. said among other things that DEI was leaning towards going with just two teams next season. At the time of that article I thought and might have written in this blog that if DEI isn't forward thinking enough to realize that they need to add a third team then they have some serious problems (as if that wasn't obvious based on how the two teams didn't communicate until recently, use computers to help them and that the #8 team was allowed to do little to no work on their cars during the off-season) and I think the same thing now. Perhaps they feel that financially they will be better off with only two teams but if the results with two teams are going to be poor then financially they could end up worse off. And as Smith points out, financially DEI might be in even worse shape if Michael leaves and take significant financial dollars in terms of sponsorship with him.

One of Michael's biggest assets is that he has made himself into an exceptional spokesperson for his sponsors. There is no driver in any series who does a better job of promoting his sponsors, which means that those sponsors love working with him. As Smith points out, there is a good chance that as much as NAPA enjoys the extra exposure that comes from being able to include Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in their commercials, they would leave with Michael for another team should DEI choose to go in a different direction. Bass Pro Shops is already signed by DEI for next season so they have a sponsor for their second car. Which means that DEI doesn't need NAPA as a sponsor anymore if they are only running two cars in 2006. So NAPA will be free to take their $15-20 million to another organization with Michael. And likely would should they choose to remain in the sport.

And so might at least two other sponsors, those being the associate sponsors of Domino's and Best Western. I don't know if Best Western has a deal with Michael through Michael Waltrip Racing but Domino's most certainly does. I have no doubt that Domino's loves Micheal given that they just featured him at a press conference to announce their sponsorship of a Busch race which will feature Michael running a MWR Busch car sponsored by Domino's. Why would DEI risk losing that money, which when it's added up is probably no small amount? More than likely they either think that those sponsors wouldn't really leave with Michael or that they will be able to replace them. If they think the later than I think they are vastly underestimating the poor ecomonic situation in Nascar in terms of sponsorship. All they need to do is look at the trouble they had finding a sponsor for the #1 car when Pennzoil left. Why would things be any different now? In fact things are worse now in terms of aquiring and keeping sponsors.

Smith closes his article by stating that not only does DEI have to sign Michael and Martin but Tony Eury, Jr. also needs a new contract as well. I have my doubts as to whether Eury, Jr. would actually leave DEI but it may be tempting to him to explore his options elsewhere. I think that's a wise idea for him because he would probably be in great demand by any number of teams and he may be able to command more money for himself elsewhere than at DEI. At the very least, like Martin has done, exploring what other options are out there will ensure that DEI has to offer him a solid contract to ensure that he stays with them. I wonder if there's any chance that Michael, NAPA and Tony, Jr. would all head to another organization as a package deal? Just wishful thinking I know, but that would be outstanding!

Some are probably dismissing this article as the media trying to stir up trouble given that Smith used an unnamed source as the basis for what he wrote. However, while I have been critical of Smith in the past for his possible lack of objectivity in relation to drivers he's good friends with such as Jimmie Johnson and Junior, one thing that I have noticed is that he uses anonymous sources very sparingly. So when he does it's a good bet it's because he knows that the information they're providing is reliable and accurate. And I think that at least at the time of the writing of this article, the tip Smith got about the direction DEI is most likely heading in as it relates to Michael is probably dead-on.

When dealing with anonymous sources readers need to ask themselves a few questions such as "who?" and "why?" The who is never easy to answer. Who can be important since sources often aren't just doing a reporter a favor and tipping them off to a piece of information, they have a goal in mind by getting certain information out there. I have an idea who the "who" might be based on certain things in the column but since I could be completely wrong I won't even speculate on that in this space.

As for why someone "close to Michael" would contact Marty Smith to spill the beans as to what DEI's current thinking is getting that information out only benefits Michael. Why? Because for one thing it makes it known to other teams that Michael's services are available. And that he could bring sponsorship with him. I don't think there's any coincidence that Smith specifically mentioned Domino's and Best Western as possibilities to leave DEI with Michael, along with NAPA. Perhaps that came up in conversation with his source as well? His source would probably be in a position to know. Then there's what Brooke, Michael's (very wonderful) publicist said in reference to NAPA being very happy with him - that further instills the idea that NAPA might be inclined to join a new organization with Michael. Given that prior to being Michael's personal publicist she was his PR person for NAPA she would certainly know if NAPA is happy with Michael.

But it also benefits Michael to have an article written like this even if it's true that he is still in talks with DEI about his future as Gilmore claims. An article like this could force DEI's hand in terms of having to address the "rumors" and tell him for sure one way or another if he's going to be re-signed or not. But beyond that an article like this could also make DEI very nervous that they are making the wrong decision depending on the reaction once this bit of news spreads widely. Particularly if they think that Michael will in fact take sponsorship money with him. That right there could cause them to re-think their position. They may worry that Michael and the unnamed source know something they don't about the plans of those sponsors - and that may very well be true.

I have to give Smith a lot of credit for following up and making phone calls to try to get some kind of confirmation about what his source told him. I've complained on any number of occasions in this space that many journalists, particularly web-based writers, go with stories and don't properly fact-check, look for multiple sources on information they're tipped off to, anonymously or otherwise, or get all sides of the story for a more balanced and informative article. But Smith makes sure to include a statement from both sides of the fence - from Brooke, who represents Michael and from Gilmore, who represents DEI. That way it's more of a balanced story that tries to present as much of the facts to readers as possible. So that when they are wildly speculating like I am in this space, the conclusions that they draw are based on hearing from both sides of the issue. Which Smith tries to do more often than not - present as much information as possible to his readers.

What's going to be interesting is if either Michael or DEI addresses this "rumor" at Daytona this weekend. Given the denials by Gilmore that Michael is out the door, I highly doubt that DEI is going to formally announce that Michael won't be re-signed. More than likely both parties will either ignore the story or say all the right things publically. DEI may not want to let this bit of news out now if there's any doubt about what their final plans for 2006 is or if they don't want to further give the impression that they are an organization in turmoil. But if it's addressed I imagine Michael will say how much he loves working with Eury, Jr., how thankful he is for having such great cars this season and how he wants to retire at DEI. Gilmore will talk about how they're actively talking to NAPA and Michael about their "options" but won't say much definitive about what direction they are planning on taking. What's amusing is that the "options" that Gilmore could have been talking about with Michael on Tuesday in the article might have nothing to do with a new contract but instead could unfortunately be whether or not he'd finish the season in the #15 if he doesn't make the Chase. That's my big fear that DEI intends on putting Martin (assuming he's re-signed) or someone else in the #15 to give them seat time in Cup if they don't re-sign Michael past this season.

So where does this all leave Michael? I still don't think we can know for sure since things can change very rapidly in Nascar. Just because someone says something publically doesn't mean that it's 100% true or that something different won't happen down the road. So while I think there's a very good chance that Michael won't be back at DEI no matter how well he finishes in the points, which is what I've thought for a long time, that could change based on any number of other factors, especially if Martin doesn't re-sign.

I have mixed emotions about Michael re-signing with DEI. On one hand I'd like to see it happen so he doesn't have to worry about finding a new ride, particularly since with the focus on young guns the reality is that no matter how good of a spokesman he is or how well he does on the track this season it may be hard for him to find a ride as competitive as he would like. And the last thing I want is for Michael to end up in a poor ride again like he had at times prior to when he joined DEI or at the end of last season when he was clearly unhappy. But on the other hand, while Michael is getting excellent equipment and great results right now at DEI, there's no guarantee that's going to continue even this season. Yes, you'd think that they'd want to ensure that at least one of their drivers makes the Chase for the Championship, since it looks increasingly unlikely that Junior will be in, but if they know they aren't going to be re-signing Michael and NAPA might not be back, DEI might not feel much of an obligation to keep giving Michael the great cars that he's gotten thus far this season. I also think DEI has a significant amount of issues in a variety of areas to work out so I'm not sure that remaining with the company would always be a smooth ride for Michael.

As for where he ends up it would be outstanding if Michael ended up at Roush, Penske or one of the other top organizations. But in the end I don't care who he races for or in what series in 2006 and beyond as long as he's in a competitive ride and most importantly, as long as he's happy.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:20 PM | Comments (0)

Sheffield Ensures the Yankees Can't Trade Him

You Don't Want Me!

Yankees Say They Will Not Trade Slugger

Deal Dead

Yesterday morning when Gary Sheffield said that he won't report to his new team if the Yankees traded him, that was just the tip of the iceberg. For the rest of the day Sheffield continued mouthing off to every member of the media who would listen to him, and all of them did knowing what great soundbites he was giving them. Essentially Sheffield made it clear that the Yankees better not entertain any trade offers for him otherwise he will make everyone's lives extremely difficult. I've said it before and I'll say it again: as a baseball player Sheffield is outstanding. He's been a huge asset to the Yankees and I'm glad that they signed him because they would be in even worse shape without him. However, as a person I strongly dislike him and yesterday's comments have really put me over the edge.

Sheffield let loose with quite a few stunners yesterday but worst of all to me was this comment from the New York Times article above. Reversing his earlier comments in which he said that he wouldn't go to his new team if traded, Sheffield later said he would go but would be very unhappy about it. "If I'm not happy, you don't want me on your team, period," Sheffield said. "That's just the way it goes. That's life. I have to deal with what they dish out, they got to deal with what I dish out, period. That's just the way it's going to be." I think that is an absolutely unacceptable attitude. There is no justification for a player saying that he will become a disruptive force for his new team and be so difficult that they won't want him to be there. I don't care how much he wants to be a Yankee, how much he loves playing in the Bronx, how much he doesn't want to be traded - he is essentially saying that he will deliberately act out inappropriately like a spoiled child who doesn't get his way. Only thing is that Sheffield is an adult who has a contract which he needs to abide by.

On top of that Sheffield said that he would demand a longer contract and more money from whatever team he was traded to because of how much he gave up to sign with the Yankees. He said "I made a lot of concessions to come here. If I have to go somewhere else there are going to be a lot of changes coming. If I have to go somewhere, a lot things will have to change with my whole situation - contract, years, everything." Sheffield also specifically referred to how he deferred $4.5 million without interest from his $39 million contract, something he has complained about before as he feels that he should be getting the interest. Sheffield also made note of how some of his teammates didn't defer any money when they signed their deals, as if that he agreed to do so somehow makes him better. That's ridiculous. If Sheffield wanted a deal like his teammates perhaps he should have had someone representing him rather than handling contract negotiations himself.

Sheffield then goes on to say, "The perception is that it's me, that I am disruptive. This is why I feel the way I do and my attitude is the way it is. I can't come to play like everybody else." He is disruptive, there is no two ways about that. A player who makes comments like he does, many of which are cloaked in negativity is causing a disruption. From all that I've heard he gets along with the majority of his teammates and he's well-liked but I suspect a few of them would wish that he would tone down his comments. Additionally, Sheffield can try to throw it back on everyone else, blame the Yankees for trying to trade him or other teams because they inquired about him but he is the only one who is in control of what he says and does. No one is forcing him to make these kind of comments nor threaten to be a problem for a new team.

Sheffield then went on to say, "They want extra stuff that they don't pay for." And when asked what he meant he said, "You want a fiery guy, an emotional guy and leadership, but they don't pay for that." That is just astonishing to me. The majority of players who display those characteristics have so much passion for the game and take so much pride in what they are doing on the field that they play with fire, emotion, play hard and are leaders on the field and in the clubhouse without even thinking about it. I highly doubt that Derek Jeter thought about how much he deserved to be compensated extra for being a leader when he did all the things he did in the years that led up to him being named Captain. He simply did them. That was who he was and his approach to the game. So I can only wonder whether Sheffield is implying that if the Yankees don't throw extra money at him eventually if he will stop playing with the fire and emotion that he does now?

What's the height of ridiculousness is that for all the complaining that Sheffield is doing about his contract he was the one who negotiated it. If a no-trade clause was so important to him why did he sign without one? Likewise the interest on the deferred payments? Or being paid for "extras?" He fired his agent and negotiated this contract with Steinbrenner himself. And no one forced him to sign it. Now that he signed it, unless he wants to walk away from the Yankees, he has no choice but to abide by it and the Yankees have no obligation to renegotiate it with him. Though it wouldn't surprise me to see him try to blackmail them with the same threats about how difficult he could make things if he were unhappy in an effort to get them to give him the interest on the deferred payments.

What Sheffield did yesterday is create his own no-trade clause. There is no way that any team would show the slightest interest in him now because no team wants a player who would be as disruptive as Sheffield claims he would be. Nor would they want to throw money at him in an effort to keep him happy. Which means that the Yankees will have an even harder time making a trade to improve the team. I think it's almost certain that they will have no choice but to include Robinson Cano or Chien-Ming Wang in any trade package to get a decent outfielder. That's really unfortunate because the last thing the Yankees need to do is give away more young, cheap talent.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:02 AM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day - Flower

Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, 2002.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:29 AM | Comments (0)

June 29, 2005

So Much to Say But...

There are a few topics that I would love to discuss right now but I can't touch with a ten-foot flaming pole in this space. There are also at least two topics that I will probably be able to discuss soon once more information becomes available but I'd rather not touch until I have a clearer picture of what the situation actually is. Some are probably saying, why wait? After all I already speculate a lot. But when I discuss or speculate about various situations I try to make sure I have the most possible information that I can get my hands on and in both cases what's available to me is sketchy at best. In the past I've seen things that I've wanted to talk about but waited and I will wait in these cases too.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

Kyle Petty is a Master at Spin... and I Don't Mean in the Racecar

Petty Enterprises Announces Changes to the #45 for 2006

Really the title of this entry should read "Kyle Petty and his PR people are masters of Spin..." but that doesn't sound as good. Losing a primary sponsor, which is what is happening with the #45 is bad news in the current climate in Nascar in which it can be extremely difficult to find new sponsorship. But if there's one thing that has always impressed me about Kyle Petty is that he has a knack for sounding exactly like a PR person in full spin mode when he wants to. So it's with no surprise I read the above press release in which they have taken the news that Georgia-Pacific will no longer be the primary sponsor of the #45 after this season and have put a positive spin on it.

And they are doing it in that way to try and attract new potential sponsors. The plan seems to be to involve multiple sponsors and I would guess that might involve having a bunch of companies who are the primary sponsor of a few races rather than one company being the primary sponsor for an entire season. Kyle says, "We look forward to presenting this strategic marketing platform to potential partners/sponsors who are interested in being involved in a unique Nextel Cup marketing program." Which translated out of PR speak means "Sponsor me please!" Of particular note is what else he says, "Because we will have multiple partners, the entry point dollar-wise for this program is significantly below what companies are paying to be full-time primary sponsors." And he's right - sponsoring a couple of races in the neighborhood of $1-2 million (a very rough estimate) is a lot cheaper than coughing up $15-20 million to sponsor a car for a full season.

The results for the #45 car have been dreadful for a while now. I like Kyle Petty tremendously and I have a huge amount of respect for what he and his wife do with the Victory Junction Gang Camp. I heard him speak in great detail about the camp in Las Vegas and not only was it fascinating but it was obvious how much this cause means to him. So I will always be a fan of his because of all that he does to help terminally and chronically ill children in the memory of his son. However, on the track the #45 hasn't been competitive in a long time. Just about every week it seems that Kyle is either wrecking or the car is falling apart and even when neither of those things happen he rarely races anywhere near the front of the pack. I doubt the problem is Kyle either, rather that Petty Enterprises hasn't been able to keep up with other organizations in terms of staying competitive, since the other Petty car, the #43 driven by Jeff Green suffers much the same fate each week as the #45.

So I'm not surprised that Georgia-Pacific will no longer be sponsoring the #45. In fact I had wondered on more than one occassion why they stayed as the primary sponsor of that team, though I figured it was because they were working with Kyle in relation to the camp and also because he is an excellent at promoting his sponsors, particularly when one considers that he doesn't get as much attention as drivers who get better results on the track. Hopefully though with the new approach towards sponsorship, a model which Robby Gordon follows as well, and one that I think many more teams will also be following, Petty Enterprises will be able to find enough sponsors to have the car be sponsored in every race. What I'd like even more than that is for someday Petty Enterprises to to field competitive cars again whether it's for Kyle or someone else.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:23 PM | Comments (0)

Chad Chaffin in Jeff Wyler Truck for Remainder of the Season

Toyota Preview

I've been speculating on the situation with Chad Chaffin and the Jeff Wyler owned truck that he was in at Milwaukee and will be in at Kansas as to whether this is a full-season deal or just something for a couple of races. Turns out it's for the remainder of the season. It will be very interesting to see what happens with this team, not just this season but in 2006 as well. I'd love to know more of how this came about. Toyota must have been aware that Wyler was looking to start a team on some level and approached him to field one for Chaffin. Or did he approach them? Either way Toyota is probably giving him some money to help get everything going. It's hard enough to start a new team at the beginning of the season, let alone midway through the season so they will need all the help they can get.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)

Sheffield: "If the Yankees Trade Me, I Won't Go"

Will Refuse to Report to New Team if Traded

Handcuffed by huge-contracts, no-trade clauses, poor play and injuries the Yankees don't have a lot of flexibility in terms of which players can be traded or would have value to another team. Gary Sheffield is one of the few players who can actually be traded that isn't named Cano or Robinson who might actually bring a player of value back to the Yankees, given that he's been productive for the Yankees at the plate. And he since he doesn't have a no-trade clause he can be traded without his permission. However, while Sheffield doesn't have an official no-trade clause in his contract, he has created an un-official one that may be a roadblock for the Yankees as it's likely to scare off the majority of teams that would be interested in him.

In today's New York Times Sheffield is quoted as saying ""I'm not going anywhere. If I have to go somewhere, I won't go. If they said, 'Wouldn't you want to get paid?' I'd say, 'I've got plenty of money.' I'm not playing nowhere else. I can promise you that." Sheffield has said some truly ridiculous comments in the past but this one just about takes the cake. He is signed to a contract through 2006. If the Yankees trade him he has no choice but to report to his new team unless he retires. Players can't just refuse a trade unless they have a no-trade, which he doesn't have so I don't know what he's thinking.

Some are saying how wonderful it is that Sheffield made that comment, as if it's a sign of how much he loves the Yankees and playing for the team. Well, that's sugar-coating what Sheffield is saying. Because in essence he is saying that he will sabatoge any deals that the Yankees put together that include him, even if it might help make the Yankees a better team. That is not reflective of a team-first player, that is a player who is selfish and only thinking about his own self-interests. Being traded isn't what he wants so he's going to make sure it doesn't happen. Well, there are lots of players who are traded who don't want to go to their new teams, sometimes leaving in tears, but unless they have a no-trade or essentially want to throw their careers away they must go.

Sheffield doesn't even say that he loves playing for the Yankees. What he's saying is that he will refuse to play for another team. So his issue may be that at this point in his career he was no interest in moving himself and his family to another city, one that may be completely foreign and have to get used to a new team with new teammates in a different league - again. It may have absolutely nothing to do with how much he does or doesn't enjoy playing for the Yankees or how much he likes his current teammates.

Of course Sheffield saying this now doesn't preclude him changing his tune if another team were to sweeten his contract to motivate him to agree to the trade. That may very well be what he's trying to leverage. After all, this is a man who wanted his contract renegotiated after he had already signed it because he felt "underappreciated." Sheffield says that he's got plenty of money but if he really felt that way he wouldn't have complained about his contract and the money he was getting several times this season.

But no one should be surprised at any of this. When it comes to Sheffield his career is littered with many incidents of this nature. He mouths off, complains and causes trouble and in-between the teams he plays for just hope that he plays well. Which he is doing for the most part as a Yankee. So despite my dislike for Sheffield I'm not anxious for them to trade him because I think he could be an asset to the team if they somehow manage to make the post-season this year. However, I wish once in a while he would just decline to comment rather than being "honest" and saying things that he would be better off keeping to himself.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:42 AM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day - Out For a Stroll

Grounds for Sculpture, Hamilton, New Jersey, May, 2002.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:00 AM | Comments (0)

June 28, 2005

Guess Who's Injured Again?

Nick Johnson to Miss Three to Seven Days

No, not Ken Griffey, Jr. Nick Johnson of course! One of the seemingly most fragile players in baseball will miss three to seven days due to a deep bone bruise of his heel that he suffered in Sunday's game between his Nationals and the Toronto Blue Jays. Johnson was attempted to avoid the outstretched leg of Blue Jays catcher Gregg Zaun as he scored on a Vinny Castilla two-run double when he stepped down awkwardly. This really stinks for Johnson because he was hitting extraordinarily well this season - .320 with eight homeruns and 41 RBI. It also stinks for me since I'm going to the Nationals game against the Mets on July 4th and I was hoping to see Johnson play because I've always liked him dating back to when he was a Yankee. Perhaps he'll be back by then or perhaps he'll be on the disabled list yet again.

Just about every season of Johnson's career dating back to the minors he seems to suffer some sort of injury that causes him to miss time. Last year it was a strained back and fractured cheekbone that limited him to just 72 games. I suspect the constant injuries was one reason the Yankees traded him. It's a shame because Johnson has a tremendous amount of talent but I think his development has been stunted due to how much time he always seems to miss each season.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:12 PM | Comments (0)

Cheating to Get Ahead

Mom Forges Lease to Get Daughter into Good School

Assistant Principal Charged With Giving Regents Test Answers to Son

Both of these incidents happened on Long Island and both involved parents cheating or encouraging their children to cheat to get ahead. In the first incident a woman from Hempstead allegedly forged a lease to try to get her daughter into a high school in Rockville Centre, presumably because it's a better high school than the one she would have attended in Hempstead. In the second story, an assistant principal in Jericho allegedly gave his son answers for a Regents exam in global history and geography that he was going to be taking in Elwood. Cheating is wrong no matter how much it might help someone get better grades or have a better opportunity. I understand that both of these parents were trying to help their children succeed but that still doesn't justify what they were doing, which in both cases wasn't just morally wrong but also illegal and leaves both of them facing charges.

What the assistant principal in Jericho did really amazes me. If there's anyone who should know better it's him since he's presumably spent most of his adult life in education. Countless kids no doubt passed through his office and got disciplined by him for cheating. Yet when it comes to his own son, apparently he feels that cheating is okay. It's not even a matter of him looking the other way while his son cheated - this man had to actively unlock a box, unwrap the test answers prior to when they were supposed to be given to teachers and give them to his son. He claims that the wrapper came off accidentally when he was distibuting test forms but it seems pretty suspicious that his son ends up with the answers to that particular test. What's even more astonishing is that this man was slated to become principal of Uniondale High School next week. So not only has he been arrested but he might have ruined his career as well. Was the risk really worth it? Now he might be out of a job depending on how the Uniondale School District feels about this incident and his son may carry the stigma of being a cheater throughout the rest of his education.

No one is perfect but I can say that I've never cheated. It was always very disheartening in high school and college to see how wide-spread cheating was and I had plenty of opportunities to do so myself. But I didn't want to earn good grades that way. I wanted to get good grades because I worked hard on my own for them. Cheating is still wide-spread now and people will try to justify it in all kinds of ways - "Everybody does it," "There's no way to pass without cheating," "I don't have time to study," "The only person it hurts is myself," etc... Well, there are no good excuses for cheating.

First of all everyone doesn't cheat - I didn't. And I know lots of other people who didn't cheat their way through school either. I used to have discussions with my other non-cheating classmates in college about how appalling some of the most obvious cheating was. But why do people think it's okay to do something because "everyone" is doing it? That doesn't make something right (nor does it necessarily make something wrong). People have to be able to think for themselves and make their own choices in life even if what they choose is the harder path or different from what the majority does.

There is always a way to pass without cheating. I have a learning disability, maybe even ADD too. So studying and school work in general was always extremely difficult for me. So cheating would have probably made my life a lot easier and have gotten me much better grades. In some classes getting a C was really hard work, particularly those classes related to math or science. But somehow I found a way to pass. Yes, there are some extremely difficult professors and classes out there but there are always ways to pass. Besides studying there's also extra credit and seeking out professors for help with classwork outside the classroom. I had to use both of those options to help me pass. Yes, it takes extra time and extra work but I wanted to do as much as I could to try to get the best grade I could, particularly since I knew that my test-taking skills weren't good and with non-essay tests my learning disability was often a factor and not in a good way.

I don't have time to study - yes, everyone has busy lives. A lot of people have to work their way through high school or college. Or are going to school while they are dealing with family or personal issues. But the whole point of school is studying and learning and somehow that has to be a priority. Work, family and personal problems are all good reasons to be distracted from school work but sometimes the people who complain about not having enough time to study are those who are spending every night at a bar until the wee hours of the morning. Cheating doesn't become acceptable because someone's social life was more of a priority than studying.

The last excuse that the only person who cheating hurt is the person who is cheating is the excuse that I hear most of all. That should be the most important reason of all for not cheating! People should have enough respect and pride in themselves to not cheat. While many people who cheat are never caught and benefit from cheating, there are plenty of people who are caught who have to deal with the consequences which can be as serious as being expelled from school or in the cases above, arrested. I used to gain satisfaction from working hard to get a good grade; perhaps people who cheat gain satisfaction from knowing that they got away with something, I don't know. But I wish that people placed more value on doing things the "right" way, rather than the easy way.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:07 PM | Comments (0)

Chad Chaffin in Another Jeff Wyler Truck at Kansas

Kansas Truck Series Entry List

A couple of days ago I was wondering about the truck that Jeff Wyler fielded for Chad Chaffin in Milwaukee. At the time I thought maybe it was a one-race deal. But apparently it's not. In looking at the entry list for the race in Kansas this weekend Chad Chaffin is listed in the #260 owned by Jeff Wyler with the Jeff Wyler Automotive Group as the sponsor.

So what does this mean for Orleans Racing and Steve Park who have the Wyler Automotive Group in some form as an associate sponsor on the #62? Maybe nothing. After all they are just an associate sponsor. Or it could mean something since, as I noted previously, I don't think it's common for an owner or primary sponsor to give sponsorship money to another team in the same series. That's like helping your competition to try and beat you since sponsorship helps to pay for the costs of fielding the best team possible. However, I think that Steve and Jeff are friends so that may mean that nothing will change in terms of Wyler's involvement with the #62.

The next race on the schedule is the race in Kentucky were Wyler Automotive has dealerships. I said in the last entry that it would have been a great opportunity for Wyler to be the primary sponsor of the #62 for that race and I'm surprised that didn't happen last season. Well, if Chaffin continues to drive for Wyler then Wyler Automotive will be the primary sponsor on a truck, only it won't be the #62. From what someone on SPC posted Jeff Wyler has talked of wanting his own team on some level in Nascar so perhaps he wanted to save the money for when an opportunity like this one with Chaffin but I just wish that somewhere along the lines Steve would have been able to benefit from having Wyler as a primary sponsor, even just for a one race, since the extra money would probably have helped Orleans Racing, therefore helped Steve.

Assuming everyone's schedules work out I can't imagine Wyler not including Chaffin somehow either at the appearance Steve is doing at one of the Wyler dealerships next week or via a whole separate event if he's going to be fielding a truck for him, potentially for the rest of the season. Since Steve's appearance at Wyler's last year appeared to have drawn a very large crowd it's an opportunity to expose Chaffin to a bunch of fans who might not be familiar with him.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:03 PM | Comments (0)

A Rush To Judgment

Two Sides to Every Story

I've said many a time in this blog that it is essential for members of the media to fact-check, make phone calls, talk to a variety of sources and do everything they can to ensure that what they are reporting is as accurate as possible. Of course in even after doing pain-staking work it's still possible that a story will contain inaccuracies, particularly if sources don't tell the truth or mislead a reporter, but for the most part a reporter can't go wrong by double-checking the story they're reporting on to make sure they're presenting their readers or listeners with as accurate and complete of a story as possible. That is particularly important online where stories can be posted easily and news can circulate widely in minutes. But unfortunately online the basic rules of good journalism are often followed less stringently and less often, rather than more carefully and more frequently, which should be the case given how quickly news online spreads.

Unfortunately a writer over at racingwest.com choose to run wild with a story full of completely inaccurate information that essentially was a smear campaign against Michael Waltrip for supposed misbehavior after qualifying for the Southwest Series Race that he ended up not being able to run due to getting his car wrecked. I imagine that both the writer and racingwest thought that they had a hot story that would attact a lot of attention because it involved a Cup driver so they wanted to get it up as quickly as possible. Only one problem - it was full of half-truths, inaccuracies, incorrect assumptions and ripped Michael for no reason.

The original article claimed that Michael protested the qualifying results because he wanted the car of Tyler McQuarrie in rather than the next car in line, that of Spencer Clark. The article then went on to indicate that Michael carried on until Nascar stepped in and wouldn't give in to him. So the writer claimed that Michael refused to pull out even though he couldn't race his wrecked car deliberately to prevent Clark from racing and didn't even show up for the fans at driver introductions. There's only one problem with all of this: barely any of it is actually what happened.

To her credit the writer wrote a second story with the real version of what occured. But she states that what she wrote in her first article is "mostly true." Just about the only thing that's true in the first article are the names of the involved drivers. And there was a protest of a sort, only Michael knew nothing of it. The reality of what happened is that Michael's crew chief and some others were trying to convince Nascar to allow Michael to race with a back-up car of Tyler McQuarrie's since the wrecked car that he was supposed to race was rented from the same owners who were fielding a car for McQuarrie. Nascar said no, so then they tried to figure out how to either attempt to fix Michael's wrecked car or get the sponsor, State Fair Corn Dogs, on McQuarrie's car. Only one problem: McQuarrie wasn't next in line to get into the race, Clark was. And of course since he has his own sponsors to take care of Clark wanted in the race if possible and wouldn't even take money to give up his spot. So there was an impass and Nascar wanted a decision made immediately about whether Michael's car would be withdrawn or not. But no one could contact Michael or his PR person and no one was comfortable making the decision for Michael so they were forced to keep the car in the field and both Clark and McQuarrie missed the race. Michael found out about what happened after the fact and State Fair Corn Dogs ended up on another car.

When I read the original article I immediately had quite a few questions that were unanswered: Why was Michael protesting? What was he protesting? Why didn't he want Spencer Clark in the race? Why did he want Tyler McQuarrie in the race? Did any of this have to do with his qualifying wreck? Did his team think that they could fix his car in time for the race and that's why they didn't withdraw? Had anyone checked with Micheal to find out whether all of this was deliberate and what his reasons were for doing what he did? There is no way that article should have been posted with at least the most basic of attempts to answer some of those questions so that readers knew exactly what had really happened rather than being told the writer's opinion which was that Michael was a jerk based on what she thought he did. Only one problem - Michael didn't do any of those things and wasn't present or involved with any of the discussions which led to the protest of sorts or the delay in getting the qualifying results posted.

In the updated article the writer claims that she's presenting another side to the story. That's completly incorrect and a very poor attempt at saving face. Two sides to a story would be if she had talked to any of the involved parties to find out what had actually happened and then presented each person's take on the situation. But it appears she spoke to no one. Not Michael or his representatives. Not Jerry Baxter, his crew chief. Not Tyler McQuarrie or his car owners. Not Spencer Clark or his team. Not anyone from Nascar either. Because if she had talked to even one of these people she would have known that Michael wasn't involved in any of this and what transpired was radically different than what she wrote about.

The worst part of all of this is that a lot of people may never see the second article with the updated information and assume that Michael is a selfish jerk who has a grudge against Spencer Clark. I was certainly wondering what Michael's beef was with Spencer Clark when I read the original article. Particularly since Clark is the one who was involved with an altercation with Kyle Busch last year after a race at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway Bullring which was made even messier than it already was when Clark's family and others spread some falsehoods about the details of the incident apparently because there is a long-standing rivalry between Clark and Busch and some wanted to do what they could to ruin Busch's reputation. But it's apparently just sheer coincidence that Clark is involved in a second controvery with a Cup driver in less than a year and that it also involved the spreading of false and damaging information.

I'm sure there are some people who think this is no big deal because the story only appeared on racingwest.com. Well, it could easily have been picked up by more well-known media outlets both online and off, such as was the case with the Clark/Busch incident. Not to mention the slightest negative story about a driver will spread far and wide on message boards and via email. I'd like to think that other fans question what they read like I do and would have also picked up on how the conclusions drawn in the original article was based on incorrect information. But unfortunately that doesn't always happen. There are some fans who are quite content to just believe everything they read and never question anything.

Racingwest.com presents itself as a source for news about racing in the West. As such they have a responsibility to ensure that the stories they are posting are accurate and true. Yes, the updated version was posted later which presumably contains the real facts of what actually occured but the first story shouldn't have been posted at all. I understand the urge to jump on a story that is controversial and could draw a lot of traffic to their site, particularly since they were the only ones reporting it. But it's much better to wait and make sure that the story is correct, rather than have to look foolish by printing what is essentially a retraction later on.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:24 AM | Comments (0)

June 27, 2005

Photo of the Day - Sunrise in Ogunquit

Ogunquit, Maine, 2004. The sun rises over the beach in Ogunquit. I hope I can get myself out of bed for sunrise at least once while I'm in Ogunquit! I love walking along Marginal Way taking photos as the sun goes up.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:23 PM | Comments (0)

Random Thoughts on NN, NBS 24-7 and INC

Nascar Nation

*The new revamped Nascar Nation is awful. I gave it a chance tonight but I will only be watching for "Mikey Mic'd" and that's it. And I think I will be Tivo'ing it so I can fast-forward though all the other crap.

*An occassional piece on drivers hobbies or their houses is interesting but a "lifestyles" show four nights a week? That's overkill! I couldn't care less about Jeremy Mayfield's motorhome or a bus race. I really miss the days of Totally Nascar.

*Leeann Tweeden is an embarassment to real female sports broadcasters.

NBS 24/7

*I haven't been finding this show as interesting as it was last season. Maybe it's because I don't really like the drivers that are being featured as much as I did last season when Kasey Kahne and Casey Atwood were on.

*I wonder whether it was Braun Racing's decision to stop taking part in the show or Speed dumped them after Hmiel was given the boot by Nascar? I can see why Speed might not be too inclined to keep following them when they don't have a permanent driver any more and the driver they will be using a lot, Ron Hornaday isn't exactly a young gun. Great racer but probably not in the demographic they are trying to appeal to.

*Was Todd Braun using the internet to research possible replacements for Hmiel?

Inside Nextel Cup

*This is my favorite TV show. Or was, depending on how far they go with the changes.

*An hour is way too short to review all three races - Cup, Busch and Truck. A lot of people are actually interested in more than five minutes discussion about the Busch and Track races. Even the Cup race discussion seemed rushed at points.

*Gotta love Michael - socks with sandals and those pants that were way too short on him wasn't exactly a flattering look. Nor was the way his hair was styled this week. But that's what's great about Michael. He's going to dress exactly as he pleases and doesn't give a fuck what anyone else thinks. But boy is he looking ultra-thin again. Maybe it was just the lighting or what he was wearing but yikes!

*The new segment with crew chiefs discussing technical stuff and stragegy could add to the show... if there's something each week to discuss. This week a bunch of cars had transmission problems at Sonoma but I can see them struggling to come up with a topic each week that's not repetitive and will hold the viewer's interest.

*David Stremme is stiff as a board. Maybe he was nervous but he didn't seem to be enjoying himself too much. He was super-polished. No wonder Ganassi is putting him in the #40 car next season. He has exactly the right answers all the time. Loosen up dude and crack a smile once in a while!

*What was with Michael and Kenny at the end talking about where they finished in the race and they money they earned? A sore subject perhaps? And what problem did Kenny experience to make him fall back at the end of the race - I missed whatever it was if he said it.

*Johnny had plenty to say this week but if there's not going to be much discussion about the truck races I fear he's not long for the show. And I don't even dare to think about what Michael's status might be.

*They definitely seemed more restrained tonight with less goofiness than recent weeks. I guess when the show is only an hour and there's a new ten-minute segement there's not as much time for joking around and being silly. That's unfortunate because that was one of the best parts of the show.

Re-reading what I just wrote, I think being sleepy is making me cranky beause it doesn't seem like I enjoyed much of what I watched tonight.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:51 PM | Comments (0)

Kenny Rogers Pulls a Kevin Brown

Will Miss One Start, Maybe More

Why oh, why do baseball players do things like this? Kenny Rogers of the Texas Rangers, one of the American League's best pitchers this season with a 9-3 record and a 2.46 ERA punched a water cooler out of frustration and broke a bone in his hand. The only saving grace for Rogers and the Rangers is that it was his non-pitching hand that he injured with his stupidity. I understand that players are so passionate about the game that they get very emotional when things don't go their way. But players have to know better than to punch something, particularly pitchers. Rogers felt frustrated after he came out of that game? Well, he's going to be a lot more frustrated sitting there watching when he should be on the mound.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:33 PM | Comments (0)

More Paparazzi Than Ever

Big Demand for Celebrity Photos

This article doesn't really cover anything that isn't already known - parparazzi will go to any lengths to get the photos they want, there is a huge demand for celebrity photos, celebrities claim to hate the paparazzi but many acknowledge and understand that without their photos they would get far less publicity and attention. But what's interesting is that in light of the recent incident in which Lindsey Lohan's car was rammed by a member of the paparazzi who wanted a photo of her, the LAPD is conducting an investigation into whether some members of the paparazzi in Los Angeles conspire to provoke stars so that they can photograph them in distress. To achieve the goal of getting those photos some paparazzi will engage in stalker-like or possibly illegial behavior which would get a non-photographer arrested.

Because the public loves negative photos of celebrities it's brought more and more paparazzi to Los Angeles - why would anyone be interested in photos showing happy people? Or couples who are happily married rather than celebrities who are cheating on each other - boring! Why yes, that's sarcasm. I think the boom in paparazzi-type photos is a sad commentary on society. Yes, there was interest in photos like that since day one that the first movie star was created. And there's nothing wrong with enjoying photos of celebrities. But I think there's something disturbing about the rabid demand for photos of stars in unguarded, private and personal moments, particularly those that attempt to portray them accurately or not in a negative light. There's no harm in candid shots of celebrities at public events but a lot of these photos come from stalking the celebrities at their houses, on vacation or at family events like weddings. I just don't get the obession with who Brad Pitt might be with now that he's separated from Jennifer Aniston or seeing photos of Lindsey Lohan crying. Why do people need to know that kind of information or see photos that infringe on someone's private life?

Posted by silverdsl at 03:46 PM | Comments (0)

Mets/Yankees

I could write a big entry about this weekend's events at Yankee Stadium but the majority of the baseball played in the Bronx by the home team was too distressing to want to write much about. I am glad that the Yankees managed to avoid getting swept and that once again Jason Giambi was the hero to win the game for the Yankees with a big two-run single. I'm sure some will manage to find fault because he didn't hit a homerun in that spot but I'll take the win any way that it comes. Two game-winning hits so close together has to give Giambi a huge amount of confidence.

What gets me though is Joe Torre's comment after the game. "If this doesn't built our character, I don't know what will. When we had that ugly inning in the seventh, it's something that certainly would have been tough to try to go to sleep on. And to be able to rescue that, I can't tell you how important it was." Gee, the Yankees had several other games that should have built character, including the other game that Giambi won for them, but so far that hasn't seemed to do anything for them. I'd love to say that last night's game will be a turning point in the season for the Yankees and they will go on to play crisp baseball the rest of the way but I have my doubts about whether that's going to happen.

Tonight the Yankees start a series against the Baltimore Orioles and it's essential that they try to win this series given that it's against a division rival that is currently ahead of them in the standings. However, Carl Pavano is pitching for the Yankees and he's been unimpressive so far this season. Hopefully the Yankees will be able to get something going against Daniel Cabrera and score a bunch of runs to take some of the pressure off of Pavano.

Last year at this time there was a lot of talk about what the Red Sox were doing and how to stay ahead of them. Now I'm more concerned with the Yankees trying to stay out of fourth place in the division and win as many games as they can than what the Red Sox are doing. Maybe the Red Sox will win the division or maybe they won't but one thing's for sure - the Yankees have to do as much winning as they possibly can between now and the end of the season if they want to have any hope of playing in the post-season.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:31 PM | Comments (0)

Butch Hylton Becomes Michael Waltrip's Busch Crew Chief

Most Recently With Kevin Harvick, Inc.

The search for a new crew chief at Michael Waltrip Racing didn't last long. Butch Hylton, who recently left Kevin Harvick, Inc. will now take over crew chiefing duties for the #99 in the Busch Series and #00 in the Cup Series. Hylton was crew chief for the KHI #33 Busch car which was in Victory Lane with Tony Stewart in the season opener at Daytona. In 2003 Hylton was the crew chief at Richard Childress Racing where he was crew chief of the #21 Busch car driven by Kevin Harvick and Johnny Sauter. So Michael is getting a crew chief with a lot of experience and success on the Busch level with some excellent drivers. I think this should help Michael's Busch efforts considerably.

It's important to get the Busch program back on track since a strong program in Busch will provide the foundation if Michael ever wants to field a team of his own with himself or another driver on the Cup level full-time. In addition, Michael has a few big-time sponsors who he has to keep happy. I would say that hiring a crew chief like Hylton will definitely make those sponsors happy and give them confidence that Michael is doing what is necessary to ensure that his cars run better than they have so far this season. It may not pay immediate dividends, because everyone will have to get used to each other, but in the long-run I think MWR will be better with Hylton.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:18 PM | Comments (0)

Junior Says "I'm Not Leaving!"

From USA Today via Jayski's: UPDATE 2: DEI, founded by Earnhardt Sr. when he was driving for Richard Childress, is now run by Earnhardt's widow, Teresa. Earnhardt Jr. and his stepmother have had a rocky relationship. In an interview in Saturday's Orlando Sentinel, Earnhardt reiterated the notion that he might someday leave DEI. Reached Saturday at the track, Earnhardt said he was simply restating his desire to drive for Childress "years and years" down the road. "Nothing's going on, I promise you that," he said.(USA Today)(6-27-2005)

Of course nothing's going on because Junior has a contract with DEI that makes driving for another organization impossible until that contract is either over or somehow terminated. He knows it, DEI knows it, RCR knows it, the writer of the article knew it, but it makes for a much better story that will get a lot more attention if it sounds like Junior might up and leave DEI at the end of this season. But he's not doing that. No way would DEI let him out of his contract and I doubt RCR has the money it would take to buy him out of that contract. So he will have to continue to deal with conditions at DEI through 2007 at least.

I've given the thought of Junior leaving DEI some more thought and it's ridiculous to think that it could happen so easily now given his contract but it's also ridiculous because what does it say about Junior if he would quit his team after half a year of problems? The reality is that everything isn't always going to come easy for him over the course of his career. No matter what organization he's with mistakes are going to be made, they are going to struggle at times and the results might not always be what he would like. Yes, it's disappointing that he is so far out of the chase right now but Junior and the entire team need to commit themselves to doing everything they can to improve their season not only to salvage this season but also so they have something to build on for the future. Being wistful for going to another organization isn't going to help solve the problems that face them now. I've never gotten the impression that Junior is a quitter and it would especially be silly to give up when he's not mathamatically eliminated from the Chase yet.

But Junior claiming that he was just re-stating his desire to drive for RCR years down the road doesn't explain the quote about Martin being the only lock at DEI next season but I'm sure he would just say he was misquoted if pressed. That's the easy way to get out of having said too much or the wrong thing in the media - "I was misquoted!" or "It was taken out of context!" I'm quite sure that happens all the time but on the other hand I'm certain that there are times when "I was misquoted!" is simply an attempt to wiggle out of trouble. It's very easy to try to shift the blame to someone else particularly when most members of the media won't want to get into a war of worlds and would probably just let it go. But more than likely that particularly comment didn't attract very many people's attention in the face of all of Junior's comments about the #3 and RCR.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

Boston Dirt Dogs Strikes Again

I missed this when it first happened last week but apparently Boston Dirt Dogs used a civil rights era photo of a black man being beaten by a white man, while a crowd of whites stands by watching with the caption underneath "Philly Fans Greet Francona as he Returns Home," in a reference to Terry Francona returning to Philadelphia where he used to manage the Phillies. The photo is grossly inappropropriate and there is no excuse for it's use as part of a parody. There is no comparison between any abuse that Francona might take from Phillies fans and that of African-Americans who were at risk to be attacked simply for walking down the street during that time period in American history. That BDD didn't have the sense to understand why using that photo in the way that he did was absolutely wrong is appalling. Eventually the photo was taken down and an apology was put in it's place, probably after Boston.com got any number of complaints and realized that even they couldn't excuse that photo by saying that "it's just a blog." But as far as I'm concerned there should have been no need for an apology because there's no excuse for that photo being used in the first place. The meaning behind that photo is immediately clear to anyone who looks at it and I'd say that I'm shocked that it was used in the way that it was but when it comes to BDD nothing shocks or suprises me because lapses in judgement are par for the course with him.

It boggles my mind that he is still an employee of Boston.com. It was bad enough that they excused that he ran with a story he knew might be false, didn't check his sources and kept it on his site even after he knew it was false but when there was another incident in which he reported sketchy information, that should have set off some major warning bells that Nomargate wasn't going to be an isolated incident. And the posting of an extremely inappropriate photo is futher indication that there is something wrong with this man's judgement. Does he answer to anyone? Is there an editor who sees his work before it goes up? The answer to both those questions must be no, otherwise that photo would never had made it onto the site. Yes, it's just a blog but as a paid employee of Boston.com and by extension The Boston Globe, he should be subject to some oversight.

Over at SoSH there's a lengthy thread discussing this issue and many feel that BDD is a racist. I would say that he is ignorant for sure since he obviously doesn't know why using that photo was wrong otherwise he wouldn't have used it in the first place. Of course ignorance often forms the base for racism and prejudice in the first place. But it's hard to say if BDD is truly racist on the basis of what he posts on his website. However, it does raise some questions that some of the players he has gone after the most - Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez and Nomar Garciaparra are either minorities or of mixed backgrounds. It could just be coincidence but given the use of the photo one does have to wonder.

Since Nomargate a disclaimer has been added to the BDD site: "Boston Dirt Dogs is a fan site produced by Boston.com. The Boston Globe newspaper and its Sports Dept. do not oversee the site and have no role in its production. BDD’s content is solely the responsibility of Boston.com." The fact that both the Sports Department and the print paper, The Boston Globe, want to distance themselves from BDD makes it clear that all parties at The Boston Globe/Boston.com know that the BDD site if a problem for them. I'm sure they love the hits that he draws to the site but he also brings a huge amount of negative publicity. The next incident, and there will be a next incident because there always is with BDD, could be even worse. Why is Boston.com willing to take that risk for the extra traffic?

Posted by silverdsl at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day - Cape May

Cape May, NJ. 2001. A view from the top of the Cape May lighthouse looking towards Cape May.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:54 AM | Comments (0)

Chad Chaffin in Wyler Racing #60

If there's one subject that I'd love Mike Snow, Steve Park's PR person to address on Steve Park Central it's the situation regarding Jeff Wyler fielding a truck for Chad Chaffin in this truck race at Mikwaukee. Chaffin lost his ride with Germain/Arnold Motorsports earlier in the week and was replaced by Todd Bodine. At the last minute Chaffin was entered into the Milwaukee race in the Wyler Racing #60, another Toyota truck. At the time I thought that Wyler was just the primary sponsor with someone else as the owner and thought that curious enough. But now I see that Jeff Wyler, owner of all the Wyler dealerships via Wyler Automotive is also the owner of that truck. So what? Well, Wyler Automotive/Wyler Racing is also an associate sponsor of Steve Park's #62.

Again some are still saying so what? As it was pointed out to me on SPC Wyler has one Dodge dealership and one Toyota dealership so there's no conflict. Well, not so fast. First of all it seems unusual for a primary sponsor to also be an associate sponsor of another team within the same series. Associate sponsors will spread associate sponsorships out among multiple teams such as Coke with the Coke family of drivers or Kraft with Roush and DEI but most of the time a primary sponsor sticks with one organization within a series. But on top of that it seems like it's even rarer for an owner to be a sponsor of another team in the same series because he's pretty much giving money to his competition to help them succeed. Now perhaps this is a one race deal as a favor to Chaffin, Toyota or someone else but it strikes me as a little curious. Because essentially Jeff Wyler had two trucks out there competiting against each other that he has a financial interest in.

Steve's #62 has been lacking a primary sponsor for quite some time now. So I have to wonder why Wyler Racing is suddenly fielding an entire truck for Chad Chaffin yet they've never been the primary sponsor for Steve's truck in even one race. Not even in the state where their dealerships are located. Of course it's possible that's something that's planned for the future and it just hasn't been announced yet but usually sponsor news is a big deal that is announced well in advance for maximum publicity. Perhaps Toyota or someone else is footing the bill for Chaffin's truck. Or Orleans Racing is looking for even more for a primary sponsorship than the cost of fielding a truck for Chaffin for one race. But it seems to me that there might have been a missed opportunity there either for Wyler's to have additional exposure more than their associate sponsorship or by Orleans Racing who missed out on a chance to get some extra financial support from a sponsor who they are already involved with. After all, according to Snow on SPC the costs for running Orleans Racing are considerable so they apparently need all the help they can get.

Sponsors make the sport go 'round. More and more the sponsors have an increasing influence on what fans see on the track. From coverage during races on the TV side to what drivers get rides sponsors are extremely influencial. And the sponsorship game is a very complex one. So much goes into how different sponsors end up with different teams and drivers. From family relationships, to friendships, to companies marketing strategies to how much money a particular company wants to spend and so much more. And with how hard it is to find and keep primary sponsors the teams and drivers put a huge amount of time and effort into keeping sponsors happy. It's incredible how many obligations the drivers have to their sponsors, I'm amazed that some of them are able to keep up with it all without cracking. In fact Steve has an appearance scheduled for a Wyler Dealership in Kentucky in a couple of weeks - I wonder if Chad Chaffin will end up at that appearance as well?

Posted by silverdsl at 12:19 AM | Comments (0)

June 26, 2005

An Unwanted Honor

Tino Martinez Had Lead He Doesn't Want

Currently Yankee Tino Martinez leads the American League voting for the All-Star Game at first base. But he doesn't want to be leading. Like anyone who is voting on the basis of who is truly the best player at the position, he feels that Mark Teixeira of the Texas Rangers is much more deserving of the honor. And Teixeira's numbers are superior to Tino's. As much as I love Tino, .227 with 13 homers and 34 runs is okay but not deserving of a spot on the All-Star team. Particularly since most of those homeruns and a good chunk of the RBI came from a very hot streak and he was pretty cold at the plate both before and after. On the other hand Teixeira is among the league leaders in homeruns and RBI and his overall numbers are good. He's at a .289 average with 20 home runs and 58 R.B.I. Tino's lead has shrunk considerably as the voting has gone on and I hope that Teixeira eventually overtakes him. I love Tino and think he's been great in pinstripes but he just doesn't belong in the All-Star game. He's not even a full-time player. Tino has been at the All-Star game on prior occasions but as even he knows the time when he has been deserving of that honor is in the past.

Of course this speaks to an issue with every single one of these polls that fans don't vote on the basis of who is most deserving but for their favorites or for players on their favorite teams, regardless of how well they are actually playing. It's inevitable and it will never change which is why I wish that the majority of the All-Star voting was out of the fan's hands. I would like to see the All-Star teams selected by the managers and then perhaps the fans could vote on the reserves. I'm sure some deserving players would still be left off but odds are it would reflect a little more which fans are truly playing like All-Stars.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:15 PM | Comments (0)

Junior Talks of Leaving DEI, Racing the #3 and Mouths Off on Michael Waltrip's Future at DEI

It's Not Easy Being 17th

Ed Hinton of the Orlando Sentinel did lengthy interview with Dale Earnhardt, Jr. recently and he sure did have a lot to say. I'm not even quite sure where to begin with this one. What's amusing me is how any number of fans are falling all over themselves with sympathy for poor ol' Junior after this article. But I say - welcome to the real world Junior! Every team goes through dark days and struggles, it's inevitable no matter how good a team is. That Junior's career has been such smooth sailing on the track makes him very lucky but just like it was inevitable that the Yankees would stumble eventually it was predictable that sooner or later Junior would too. And after the off-season crew changes it shouldn't be that much of a surprise.

A lot of things are downright laughable about this article to me but let me start with one of the biggest things that's getting a lot of attention - that Junior wants to race the #3 and had entertained the idea of racing for Richard Childress Racing. Many fans are jumping on that and thinking that Junior is on the verge of leaving DEI but I highly doubt that it's going to happen anytime in the near future. I hate to have to be realistic but Junior is signed with DEI through 2007 and unless his contract has an out-clause or RCR is going to buy him out to the tune of many millions of dollars it's nothing more than a pipe dream until after his present contract runs out. And why exactly is Junior so desperate to go to RCR other than the issue of the #3 anyway? Kevin Harvick, Dave Blaney and Jeff Burton aren't exactly lighting the Cup series on fire this season. Yes, Harvick is in the Chase for the Championship at the moment but lately it seems like he's barely hanging on. Which has been par for the course the past few years at RCR. There have been some wins and fine moments for Harvick but overall RCR has issues to work on just like DEI does. I'm not sure that Junior would find the situation at RCR to be as much to his liking as he thinks it might be.

I think Richard Childress selling Teresa Earnhardt the rights to the #3 so Junior can run with it at DEI is nothing more than wishful thinking as well. Junior thinks that all the parties could come to an agreement on that in 24 hours but I think he's speaking as someone who is denied very little and probably has much of his requests fulfilled pretty quickly. (As an aside, I suspect one of Junior's biggest frustrations right now is that for the most part he probably always gets his way and struggling like this is most certainly not the way he wants things to be. But apparently there is little he can do no matter how much he complains to change the situation he's in.) I have my doubts about Childress selling the rights to the #3, an extremely lucrative number. It's not just the number to put it on a race car, it's also a trademarked logo that Childress probably makes a lot of money off of and probably partially funds RCR and other business ventures. Why would Childress give that up for sentimental reasons? Racing is a business first and foremost and holding the rights to the #3 is very much a business issue, regardless of the person it symbolizes. That said, I do think something will be worked out for Junior to race the #3 one day but I think that day is much further down the road.

Even more laughable is when Junior talks about the off-season crew swap. So many stories have been floated about how that exactly went down that it's impossible to know what the truth is. Immediately following the swap Junior gave an interview with Claire B. Lang on XM in which he indicated that he was very involved with the decision making process and that he gave the okay for Pete Rondeau to be his crew chief after he was presented with several different scenarios. He also said that he wanted the change because of how much fighting he was doing with the Eurys and he didn't want the in-race spats to cross over into their relationship away from the track. Then Michael Waltrip said in Las Vegas that the crew changes were all Junior and what he wanted. Suddenly everyone is saying in all sorts of interviews that Junior had nothing to do with the process, he was completely in the dark about all of it and was never consulted about what he wanted. Now in this interview he says that he was present in any number of lengthy meetings to try and decide what to do. But that he wasn't the one who made the final decision or asked to be away from the Eurys. So which is it - Junior was involved in the process or not? It's been a problem before at DEI and it will be a problem again, - no one is on the same page in terms of what they're saying. Or as in this case one thing will be said and then the opposite said later on. So it becomes impossible to figure out what the real story is or know who to believe.

By the end of the article Junior says that DEI is leaning towards having just two cars next season with Martin Truex, Jr. moving up to the Cup level with his entire current Busch crew. Junior says that of himself, Michael Waltrip and Truex, ""Martin is the best lock." Well, that's ridiculous. First of all Truex isn't even signed beyond this season yet. It's been said for the past month that his deal is on the verge of being done but it isn't yet. And based on the way things have been going at DEI perhaps Truex is having second thoughts about re-signing. So how exactly is he a lock? Yes, Junior and Truex are friends so he would know what Truex's thinking is but until there's a signed contract it's not a definite that he'll be back. Given what happened to Pete Rondeau in relation to his contract never being signed I think that Truex will tread very cautiously in this area.

Furthermore, Junior is signed through 2007 at DEI and there is no chance that he will lose his job. None what-so-ever, no matter how lousy his season gets he will always have a ride at the company that bears his family name. So why would Junior be talking about himself as if he's not a lock? So that leaves Michael - if Truex does re-sign essentially Junior is saying that Michael won't be re-signed. Well, that could look pretty bad for DEI considering right now Michael is higher than Junior in the points and runs better than him almost every race. How do you justify not re-signing a guy when he does what is asked of him? And if DEI really thinks that it's a good idea to continue having just two cars then they have even more problems than I thought. These days even two-cars isn't enough to be competitive.

As for Junior reuniting with the Eurys - if it didn't work in the past then why would it work any better now? Yes, they won races together but if Junior is the driver that everyone seems to think he is then he should be able to win races with a crew chief other than Tony Eury, Jr. or Tony Eury, Sr. Good communication between driver and crew chief is essential and arguing is not good communication no matter how much some people want to sugar-coat or try to forget about it. In the short term they may be able to work together again for a while but eventually I think they will find themselves in the same situation where they were before - the arguing becoming too much for everyone to handle. There is the perfect crew chief for Junior out there somewhere but I don't think a family member or anyone currently in the organization is it.

The worst thing about this interview is the damage that Junior did to his own team. What really gets me is how he and Richie Gilmore talk about how the #8 team didn't do too much to work on the cars during the off-season while the #15 team went balls out working on the cars to prove that they could make Michael a winner and that they weren't the problem with the #8 team. I have to ask how was that allowed to happen? How could Steve Hmiel see one team working hard and other other team not working as hard and not step in? Or Richie Gilmore? But it goes back to the issue of the teams not sharing information - that should never have been allowed to continue for as long as it did.

Junior says that no matter what his team will be taken care of no matter what but Junior isn't the one who makes those kinds of decisions (supposedly), Richie Gilmore is. So hearing Junior say that they might combine the #8 and #15 teams next season means that some people will surely lose their jobs. And that's got to be a very disheartening thing to hear for the #8 crew members on top of already struggling to get their driver good results. It's essential that a team feels secure and confident but if they have to worry about losing their jobs then it will surely effect what they do at the track because they may feel like they are on borrowed time at DEI. In a entry just recently about rumors I discussed the importance of addressing negative rumors with team members because it can effect morale and performance. So for Junior's sake I hope that DEI addresses these comments in this article not only with his team but with Michael as well. How can anyone be expected to perform at their best when they think decisions about their future have already been made?

Of course all the Junior fans are falling all over themselves to compliment Junior for being so honest about all these issues. Junior is candid about some of his personal feelings but I'm not sure he's always any more honest than any other driver about race-related issues. That is simply the nature of the game that the drivers are coached about what to say by their PR people and that there is a lot of strategy when it comes to interviews and interactions with the media as a whole. Yes, sometimes drivers are just answering questions and giving opinions but there are times when there is also motives being them saying certain things either to get certain messages out to the fans, for image reasons, for good PR reasons, for so many other reasons.

I guess a lot of people will think I'm being ridiculous but it occurs to me that this interview could be all about an attempt to distract fans from how truly bad Junior's season is getting. For a couple of weeks Junior wasn't granting too many (if any) media interviews but suddenly he does this one while he's sick with the flu - why? Then he talks about a subject that is a hot-button topic among fans - how did that come up? Some fans would like to think that Junior does all of this on his own but he is surrounded by a huge amount of people who manage things for him. He was two PR people through Budweiser in Mike Davis and Jade Gurss at Fingerprint, Inc. Another PR person at DEI. Richie Gilmore, Teresa Earnhardt and Steve Hmiel at DEI who call some of the shots. Kelly Earnhardt, his sister who gives him a lot of guidance. And who knows how many other people who are advisors? So I find myself being skeptical that Junior decided on his own to do a woe-is-me article that contained so much that would become instant fodder for all the fan message boards.

Regardless of how much coaching Junior had or what the motivations were for doing the interview, I can't emphasize enough how out-of-line I think it is for Junior to be addressing Michael's future at DEI in the media. He's done it in the past - it was wrong then and it's wrong now. The issue of whether Michael is re-signed at DEI is something that Richie Gilmore should be addressing and it should be done privately with Michael and/or his representatives, not in the media. That only leads to speculation and rumors which puts Michael and his team in a bad situation. The same goes for what happens with Truex. Yes, Truex is his friend but Junior needs to stay out of it.

I'm also amused by how many fans and some in the media are talking about how mature Junior is these days and how obvious that it by the way he's handling his struggles. With this article being touted as a a sign of his maturity. Well, I think maturity is accepting one's situation and talking realistically about how to improve it. Maybe there's a lot I don't know but talking about driving for RCR when he has a contract with DEI through 2007 doesn't seem very realistic to me. And being the judge of a bikini contest for Hooters doesn't strike me as a sign of the new "mature" Junior whose complete focus is on racing. You don't see Jeff Gordon panicing and talking about driving for another company and he's struggling just as much as Junior is. Nor do I see him judging a Hooters contest.

So I'm not finding myself being terribly sympathetic towards Junior and his plight these days. I have all the sympathy in the world for him in regards to the loss of his father and all the issues that revolve around that which are considerable. But I think if Junior wants to be Champion someday, let alone improve his results for this season, I think his approach in relation to a lot of things needs to change.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:03 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Finishes 22nd at Sonoma

Tony Stewart Wins

Considering the car was ill-handling all day, it could have been a much worse race for Michael Waltrip and the #15 team. But Michael ended up finishing 22nd in the road course race in Sonoma despite a late race spin. He loses one spot in the overall points standings but did make some gains on the points leaders so he is only 23 points out of the Chase for the Championship. Still, it has to be a bit of a disappointment considering Michael finished fourth in this race last year, managing that in spite of starting the race at the back of the pack on a track where passing is sometimes impossible.

This race was a disaster for Michael's DEI teammate, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. After a great qualifying run Junior started the race in fourth but due to transmission problems immediately dropped back significantly. Then contact with Mike Bliss caused him to spin, possibly from a cut tire. The Bud car ended up with heavy damage and Junior finished the race in 42nd place. Transmission troubles bit Jimmie Johnson, Robby Gordon, Kyle Busch, and Jeff Gordon as well. Perhaps Hendrick Motorsports has an issue with their transmissions that they need to address given that three out of their four cars experienced the same or similar issue. It had to be particularly heart-breaking for Jeff Gordon since he was leading the race at the time he experienced problems and this is traditionally a strong track for him so he had a good chance to win today.

Back to Dale, Jr, his problems dropped him one spot in the points to 18th. His chances for making the Chase for the Championship look bleaker and bleaker with each passing race. While anything can happen and perhaps he will go on a tear of winning races, it's looking more and more like he won't be in the Chase which has to be making Nascar extremely nervous, particularly since Jeff Gordon is out of it right now as well, though his chances of making it are a lot better than Junior's. It's definitely unexpected that Junior and Jeff Gordon are struggling so much but it's never a sure thing that any driver or team will make the Chase. They say in baseball "that's why they play the games" and I would say in racing "that's why they race the races." Anything can happen and this is an unpredictable sport as much as some fans think otherwise.

Of course many Junior fans are not taking his struggles well at all. And it's truly incredible how some fans think. No, it's not Michael's fault that Junior is experiencing problems - blame DEI if you have to blame anyone. Michael just races what's given to him and it happens now that most of the time he's being given better cars than Junior. Nor is the earth going to stop rotating on it's axis if Junior doesn't make the Chase. Yes, it's a huge disappointment and I understand that but the reactions of some fans is as if Junior has a life-threatening disease rather than that he's struggling on the track. (I may as well toss it in here while I'm talking about Junior fans - how seriously and intensely some fans took the sexiest driver voting was scary!)

As for Tony Stewart winning this race it was his first win of the season, his second overall at Sonoma. I fluxuate between liking Stewart and not liking him but there's no question that he can race. I'm a little surprised that it took him this long to win his first race of the season but I doubt it will be his last win. He's in fourth in the points and barring any mishaps like which made him a non-factor in the Chase last season, he should be contending for the Championship at season's end.

Next week is Daytona where both DEI cars should be a factor... that is if the DEI cars aren't behind the eight-ball like they seemed at times during Speedweeks in February. Michael ended up with an unbelievably good car in the Daytona 500 until the engine blew so I hope he's given a car equally as good this time around. Though I'd really like to see him get a non-plate win this season, seeing him in Victory Lane next week would be really awesome!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park and Brendan Gaughan Get Much Needed Top Tens at Milwaukee

Park Rebounds With Top Ten at Milwaukee

Despite not qualifying well (29th) Steve Park bounced back for a 7th place finish at Milwaukee and Brendan Gaughan who had a strong truck both in qualifying and during the race, started fourth and finished fifth. The incredible thing about this race was that Dennis Setzer had such an unbelievably fast truck that only four trucks were on the lead lap by the end of the race so both Brendan and Steve finished a lap down. But no matter it was still an outstanding race for both the #62 and #77 teams - strong finishes that both drivers really needed. The next race is next week in Kansas and hopefully Orleans Racing will be able to build on the momentum from Friday and get top ten finishes or better for both teams again. I would really love to see Steve be one of the dominant trucks that gets talked about all race long. Maybe that's hoping for too much but I'd love to see him have a race like Dennis Setzer did where it seems like no one else has a chance to beat him.

As for as the overall points go, in spite of what it says in the post-race report from Orleans Racing, according to Nascar Steve didn't move up any positions in the points so unless Nascar make a mistake in terms of the math, Steve remains in 17th position. On the other hand with his fifth place finish Brendan moves up to 22nd in the points, decreasing the gap between the two teams. At the end of the season it will be very interesting to see which Orleans Racing driver finishes higher in the points. I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up being Brendan given his recent upswing in the points. That's not a knock on Steve who is a terrific driver but he experienced a tremendous amount of bad luck to start the season and that could prove costly, particularly if any more bad luck befalls the team. Steve should be contending for the Truck Series Championship right now, he's that good of a driver, but a lot may turn out to be decided by mechanical failures and wrecks, rather than actual racing.

I can't say there's much else to talk about with this race. I peeked in here and there between commercials during the Yankee game and then watched the entire final hour of the race. Dennis Setzer won his second race in a row and took the points lead at the same time. Jack Sprague, who was the winner two races ago, finished second and it's clear that those two teams are really dialed in right now. Ted Musgrave and Ron Hornaday rounded out the rest of the trucks on the lead lap. Hornaday is in a Kevin Harvick, Inc. truck and he's currently in fourth in the points. Last season Matt Crafton finished fifth in the points and a lot of people thought that Harvick was crazy for replacing him. But it appears that Harvick might not have been so crazy - there's still plenty of racing left so anything can happen but it appears that Hornaday might at least duplicate Crafton's performance in that truck if not better it.

I still can't get over how few trucks were on the lead lap of this one and that has to be incredibly frustrating for a lot of the drivers who might be in the top ten but know that unless there's a caution and they're the lucky dog, there's only so many positions that they can advance. Actually they couldn't even hope for a caution since there was only one the entire race. So it's like there was a brick wall after fifth place. I would think that a lack of cautions makes for a very difficult race for the drivers since it was very hot in Milwaukee and the cautions serve as little breaks for the drivers. Apparently after the race a lot of the drivers, Steve and Brendan included, were pretty spent.

On to Kansas next week and hopefully more great results for Orleans Racing!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:21 PM | Comments (0)

June 24, 2005

Pennsylvania Struggling to Prevent Deaths in Abandoned Mines and Quarries

Four of Nation's Seven Deaths in Abandoned Mines and Quarries in Pa.

Abandoned places have always had a lot of allure to me and to others. But one thing that has always prevented me from doing a lot of exploration of abandoned places is the danger factor given that many of these places are just sitting there rotting with no one doing any upkeep. Pennsylvania has especially had a problem in relation to it's mines and quarries as there have been 50 fatalities at their mines and quarries since 1989 and only two of those were at active mines. In the past Pennsylvania focused most of their attention towards educating youth as to why they should avoid those areas but most of the deaths recently have been of adults from ATV accidents or drownings. It reminds me of all the books I've read about people finding misadventure in National Parks. Often it comes from human error or people not being familiar with their surroundings. Of course in National Parks often people have a false sense of security because there is a National Park Service that maintains and patrols the parks and no one does that in abandoned quarries and mines.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:49 PM | Comments (0)

Update on Red Rock Canyon Fire

Lightning Ignites Wildfires

From what I read today firefighters expected to get the fires in Red Rock Canyon under control but I can't find anything thus far which indicates that actually happened. In the article above there's a little more information about exactly where the fire broke out and based on the photo I can pretty much place where it is from what I can recall from when we visited a few months ago. Apparently there was some concern that the fire would spread to Bonnie Springs which is just a few miles away. In Bonnie Springs is a little town where they do re-enactments with people dressed up as cowboys. Jim and I stopped there for a bite to eat and we weren't impressed but perhaps kids would enjoy it. The highlight was seeing a wild burro. To the people who live in the area I'm sure that's no big deal and they are probably pests who get into things but to me it was pretty cool!

Posted by silverdsl at 10:40 PM | Comments (0)

Sigh....

On one hand I've had a few days off of work which is a good thing. But I've had to deal with some unfortunate things such as my less than year old car getting hit by a woman who didn't look when she was backing up in a parking lot and my father being in the hospital. So it's not exactly been a vacation. My father will be okay but he will have to take some medication to keep his heart rate under control. My car will also be okay once it gets fixed. So things could have been worse but it's definitely not been a relaxing few days, other than when I went to the Tom Petty concert, especially since I've been packing stuff for moving as well. But perhaps if I blog a few things it will take my mind off of some of this stuff that I've been thinking about all day today.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

California Turns to Goats to Stop Wildfires

Eat Grass and Brush that Fuels Fires

Last year was a bad year for California in terms of wildfires so the people of California are looking for any means they can to decrease the risk of their house or business getting damaged in a wildfire. So one of the latest ways to combat the risk of wildfires is to hire herds of goats to eat grass and brush that can fuel those fires. Near the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant they also serve a dual purpose in that the brush they eat also serves homeland security purposes as it makes for better visability in the area. I imagine there are a few private homeowners in addition to the businesses and the ranchers who make use of a goat or two for these purposes.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:19 PM | Comments (0)

June 23, 2005

Photo of the Day - Las Vegas

Las Vegas, Nevada, January, 2005. Just a random photo of The Stratosphere taken from the car as we were driving away on our first day in Las Vegas. We went up to the top of The Stratosphere and had lunch in the revolving restuarant up there, then went to the observation deck outside. There really are some incredible views up there! I just wish it had been a sunny day.

But I post this as a way for me to mention that since I've been blogging about so many Las Vegas related topics and posting so many photos from my trip that I created a Las Vegas category in case anyone is interested in reading everything that I've said on that topic, much like I have categories for Michael Waltrip, Steve Park, Photography, etc... I also created a category for Maine since I post a bunch about that beautiful state as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

Crew Chief Resigns from Michael Waltrip's Busch Team

From Jayski's: Two-time Busch Series Champion Crew Chief, Gere Kennon, has resigned from Michael Waltrip Racing and the #99 Aarons Dream Machine effective immediately.(Player Management International)(6-22-2005)

I can't say I'm surprised that he's leaving. I'll never know what the actual reason are for Kennon's departure from Michael Waltrip Racing but often in Nascar resigned is just a way of saying leave or you're fired. There's no sugar-coating it - as much as I like Michael, his Busch efforts this season haven't been good. So far it's seemed like half the time the car is falling apart due to mechanical failures and the rest of the time the car has been less than competitive. Then there's also been some spotter problems and who knows how many other issues that we've not heard about publically. Recently Michael ha been somewhat negative about his Busch program and has spoken about needing to address some things at MWR to get things back on track. Getting a new crew chief could certainly be the first step towards improving the performance of the #99.

I hope they can find someone good to work with the #99. I imagine it might be difficult though to find the best of the best because the #99 doesn't run the full Busch schedule. I would think that a lot of crew chiefs would want to be with full-time teams, particularly since the money might be better with a full-time team. But hopefully they will be able to find someone who can give Michael cars that are competitive. I think it's increasingly tough for teams that aren't fielded by Cup organizations to find a lot of success in the Busch series, even for MWR who has some support from DEI, but there's no reason why the #99 can't be up-front more often and in contention for some wins like they were last season.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:29 PM | Comments (0)

Wildfire Burning in Red Rock Canyon

One of Several Fires Burning in Nevada

It's not a huge fire by any means compared to what firefighters are fighting elsewhere but there's a 25-acre wildfire burning in the mountains of Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas that was apparently sparked by lightning. The article doesn't give much details as to exactly what area the fire is in but the scenic road in Red Rock Canyon is closed so it must be fairly close to where Jim and I were when we visited Red Rock Canyon since we drove around the entire road. It truly is beautiful there and I hope the fire doesn't do much damage.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:46 PM | Comments (0)

Museum of Lighthouse History Recieves Rare Artifacts

Donations Came From Couple in Pennsylvania

In the previous entry I mentioned the Museum of Lighthouse History that I've been to in Wells, Maine. It's not a huge museum but it's filled with a lot of very interesting artifacts from lighthouses of all kinds. Judi and Tom Kearny have donated items to the museum in the past and now they've donated a number of items included a U. S. Lighthouse Establishment District Inspector’s Stop Watch and some rare documents. The stopwatch is a rare item that was used to time the flashes and rotation of the light in the lighthouses. The Kearnys are lovers of lighthouse history who have committed to helping to keep lighthouse artifacts out of the hands of private collectors so that they can be enjoyed by the public in venues such as the Museum of Lighthouse History. Which is a good thing because it means that lighthouse fans like me can visit the museum and see these things.

The Museum of Lighthouse History is right next door to the Lighthouse Depot in Wells, Maine. The Lighthouse Depot is a gigantic store that sells every kind of imaginable item related to lighthouses that's ever been made. A very fun place to browse for sure. There are items with lighthouses on them that I would never have thought existed if not for visiting the Lighthouse Depot. What I really love is that they have a whole room of books related to lighthouses. And not just the lighthouses of Maine either. There is a section for lighthouses in every part of the country and all over the world both fiction and non-fiction. I like the non-fiction books the best, particularly the ones about the life of lighthouse keepers and their families. Each time I'm in the area I make sure to stop in and pick up a couple of books and I'm sure this year will be no different.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:34 PM | Comments (0)

New Lighthouse Museum in Maine

Maine Lighthouse Museum

I think some version or another of this museum has been around for awhile but an expansive new Maine Lighthouse Museum will be opening this weekend in Rockland, Maine. A few years ago I visited Rockland with my parents and it's a really nice little town with some cute stores and a big art museum. Given how popular anything to do with lighthouses are, this new museum should be pretty popular. I know I would love to visit, especially since there's a great view of the Rockland harbor from the property on which the museum is on. Another item of note is that the gift shop there will be run by the Lighthouse Depot in Wells, Maine which has another lighthouse museum, The Museum of Lighthouse History, next door to their huge store on route 1.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)

Fox, NBC to Lanch "American Idol" Type Shows With Celebrities

Will Pit Celebrities Against Each Other

I'm not a huge fan of American Idol though I periodically watch. Sometimes it's like one of those train-wrecks that you just can't look away from. Both Fox and NBC will soon have very similar shows that will expand on the "American Idol" format to include celebrities. So various celebrities who are famous, but not known for their singing, will battle each other for a best singing title as voted on by the audience. In the case of the Fox show, "Celebrity Idol", the celebrity winner will recieve $1 million which will go to his or her favorite charity. I imagine that the producers are going to look for the biggest divas they can find, both men and women. They definitely are going to want celebrities who will be able to create drama, in addition to being able to sing well. Should be two interesting and potentially humorous shows depending on the celebrities that are involved.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:13 PM | Comments (0)

Shane Hmiel Could Be Back in 2007

Nascar Will Consider Reinstating Him Then

On June 3 Shane Hmiel was suspended indefinitely from racing in Nascar for testing positive for a banned substance. This follows a five-month suspension that ended in February of 2004 for another positive blood test. All other drivers who have tested positive for a banned substance have never been heard from again in Nascar - in essence their indefinite suspensions have been permanent thus far. But in Hmiel's case it appears he may get yet another chance in 2007. That's ridiculous. Nascar says they have zero tolerance for competitors who test positive for banned substances and they do... for drivers who don't have Hmiel as their last name.

Nascar says they will consider letting him back with a rehab program that includes medical and psychological evaluation as well as continued drug testing. Well, exactly how does that differ from the what he was required to do after his first positive test? And as we now know those requirements didn't work for Hmiel in the first go-around hence the second positive test. It's just astonishing to me - any number of Hmiel's fellow drivers indicated that they don't think he should get another chance and those are the people who have to race on the track with him. It's essential that the drivers are able to trust their fellow competitors given the element of danger in what they're doing and I think many of them will have an extremely difficult time trusting Hmiel, regardless of how much he might be monitored if he is granted permission to return to racing.

I'd say that I can't imagine any team taking a chance on Hmiel if he's able to return given the way that Braun Racing was burned but Steve Hmiel may be able to convince someone to give his son a ride. Given the DEI support of Braun Racing it appears that may be how Hmiel ended up in the #32. Perhaps Hmiel will even end up at DEI itself. But I can't imagine that it would be easy to get a sponsor to be willing to invest money in him. Winfuel has to be extremely upset with the way things played out with Hmiel and given that there is speculation, probably very incorrect speculation, that perhaps something in Winfuel caused Hmiel to test positive. That's very bad publicity for them and might discourage people from taking Winfuel if they believe they can test positive on a drug test after using it. So what sponsor will want to take a risk that they could get caught up in another scandal with Hmiel?

It's sad really. Most others would have learned their lesson after the first positive drug test. But not Hmiel. Maybe he thought he was invincible, that he'd never get caught, that his father could bail him or he was just putting his own needs ahead of everything else. We'll never know. But what I do know is that Hmiel wasted two good opportunities that countless other talented racers never get and the majority of those racers would never touch any kind of banned substance out of fear of ruining their careers. Well, maybe Hmiel doesn't need to worry about ruining his career because he might get yet another chance to put it back together. Any bets about if he gets a third chance if it will stick?

On the subject of Hmiel someone on SPC wondered why Hmiel would hire lawyers to fight the positive drug test, want to appeal and offer to submit all sorts of tests including hair samples to prove that he's clean if he actually used a banned substance. Numerous people plead not guilty and vow to fight when they are charged with even worse things than Hmiel. Nascar doesn't allow appeals so it's quite possible that all the noise about Hmiel hiring lawyers and wanting to prove that he's clean was simply a public relations move. Hmiel might have known that he'd never be allowed to appeal so he can talk big about submitting hair samples, knowing that it will never happen so it doesn't matter if he's clean or not. But others like the person on SPC will assume that if Hmiel offered to undergo other tests and fight the suspension that he must not be guilty. Meanwhile, no tests will actually ever happen because Nascar doesn't allow appeals.

I guess we won't know for sure what's going to happen until 2007 whether Hmiel will actually be allowed back or not. I guess it will be dependent on what he does while he's suspended. Though last time he was suspended he spent part of the time getting drunk off his ass on the Dale Jr. Fan Cruise so I have some doubts as to whether he will be the good boy he should be. Not that there's anything wrong with someone drinking but when one is on suspension for getting into trouble for being under the influence of a drug one would think Hmiel would want to be careful about avoiding any kind of drug or alcohol that could led to trouble. So it will be interesting to see what happens while he's on suspension this time. Maybe this will finally teach him the lesson that he might not have learned the last time... or maybe not.

Posted by silverdsl at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)

Saw Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers and the Black Crowes Last Night

I have a few days off of work to take care of some personal stuff but also because last night Jim and I went to see Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers with the Black Crowes at the Garden State Arts Center. It was an awesome show! I wasn't as into the Black Crowes as many in the audience were since I've never been a big BC fan but other than a few sound system issues that seemed to distort the sound a little, they put on a great show. But Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers were even better! What a terrific show!

The night started with a stop at Bahr's a seafood restaurant on the water in Atlantic Highlands. We discovered Bahr's a few years ago when we took a trip to the Sandy Hook National Recreation Area which is right there. Bahr's has really great seafood - nothing fancy but very high-quality and of course very delicious! What makes it a lot of fun is getting to sit at a table by the window, as we have each time we've been there, and in the warm weather watch all the boats go by. Definitely a nice dinner! I'd like to go back to the Atlantic Highlands area to visit Sandy Hook again but also go to the Twin Lights Lighthouse and also Mt. Mitchell Scenic Overlook. But of course with a concert to get there was no time for any of that yesterday.

But the main event was the concert and it didn't disappoint. By the time we got into the venue the Black Crowes were already on stage but that was okay because we saw the majority of their set. Our seats were towards the back of the second level but right in the middle so we had a great view of the stage. The Crowes had a neat stage set-up in which there were all sorts of fake candles on the stage which made for a cool effect, particularly when it got dark. The Crowes are definitely a jam-band and that was when I enjoyed them the most when they were just rocking out on a tune. Chris Robinson has great stage presence but his vocals were distorted at times and his singing isn't really the style that I enjoy so I didn't mind when it was just the band showing off their chops. The Crowes played a very long set which was pretty generous of Tom Petty to let them do, particularly since I think it makes it hard for him to get his entire show in before curfew.

After the Crowes were done there was a lengthy break for the break-down of the Crowes gear and the set-up of the Petty equipment as there is at all concerts. Jim and I decided that we would make stops at the bathroom and so did everyone else in the audience. The lines for both the men's and women's rooms were unbelievably long! Think of the longest bathroom lines you've ever seen and then double it - that was how long the lines were at all the bathrooms last night. The reason? This was an extremely heavy-drinking crowd. So the beer lines were also tremendously long and as such everyone needed to make frequent use of the bathrooms. Jim got into a conversation with a vendor when he was getting a bottle of water and apparently while beer sales are always brisk at concerts, they usually don't see such a demand for beer as they were seeing last night. Though I saw plenty of drunk people, some of whom had to be dragged around by their friends, luckily we didn't have any problems with drunk people acting out around us as will sometimes happen in a heavy drinking crowd.

Finally it was time for the Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers set. Almost as soon as he took the stage it was obvious how much Tom Petty loves to perform. Musicians always talk about how much they love being on stage but after a while it becomes a drag for some of them. While I'm sure Petty has his moments too at times the joy of being on stage and playing his music, even songs that he must have played hundreds of times before, was evident. Which of course makes for a better show when the musicians who are performing really feel the music. I can't remember every song that Petty performed but the vast majority of them were songs that I recogized and loved.

It's impossible for Petty to perform all his hits but he did perform a lot of well-loved songs such as "Free Fallin," "Last Dance with Mary Jane," "Don't Come Around Here No More," among many others. Petty & The Heartbreakers also played two of my favorite songs "Wildflowers" and "Breakdown." From what I can tell off of the Petty messageboard on his site, the band mixes up the set list periodically, if not every night, which is probably part of how it stays fresh for them, so I feel lucky to have heard two of the songs that I like the most that they do. I love his "Wildflowers" album perhaps the most out of all their albums, other than perhaps some of their very early music. I did wish they performed "American Girl" but time just makes it impossible to perform everything.

They also played two new songs "Turn This Car Around" and "Melinda." I really liked "Melinda" though I know that it probably isn't to a lot of people's tastes because it's long and it's fairly mellow. I really didn't care for "Turn This Car Around" but I suspect if will be a single off his new album which is going to be released by the end of the year. That will definitely be an album that I will have to pick up! I wonder if it will be a success or not? Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers have lasted 30 years and have a huge following but as I was chatting with someone about the other day, there doesn't seem to be the same kind of appreciation for good music as there once was. A lot of what's popular these days is somewhat on the shallow side.

Jim and I had hoped to leave before most everyone else by leaving after the first encore, before the second encore. Only there was no second encore. I imagine that might have been because of the time issue in that generally there is a curfew by which the band needs to get off stage. So we ended up leaving right along with everyone else so we expected we might get stuck in a bit of traffic. Jim also wanted to try and avoid being on the road with everyone who had been drinking so much at the show. I'd like to think that everyone has a designated driver in their group but the reality is that not everyone does that. However, thanks to where Jim and I parked not far from the entrance to the Garden State Parkway, we were able to zip right out of the parking lot without any problems.

So it was a great, great night and we had so much fun! It makes me want to go to more concerts like John Mellencamp who will be playing this area in July. I don't know if that will happen but I'm sure that would be a great show too.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

June 22, 2005

Lou Pinella Humilates His Own Player

Harper Rocked

Lou Pinella's treatment of Travis Harper was inexcusable in last night's game. He left him in despite it being obvious that he had absolutely nothing. Yes, there is such thing as taking one for the team but this was just abusive. More than likely Pinella was pissed off and trying to send a message to Harper and the rest of the players. Well, humilating a player and showing that you have absolutely no respect for your players is a lousy message to send. Pinella bitches and moans about how the Devil Rays owners won't invest any money in the team. But if I'm one of the owners and I see how he potentially ruins a young player by abusing him then I wouldn't be too inclined to invest money in players while he's around. Maybe Pinella deliberately kept Harper out there in the hope that it would lead to getting fired but it came off as incredibly mean-spirited and cruel. I can't imagine that too many of his players think very highly of him right now and once the manager loses the respect of his players he's lost control of his team. I hope Harper is strong enough to rebound from this - some players might not be able to do that.

Many Yankee fans have hoped that Joe Torre would get fired and that Pinella would be his replacement. Well, after seeing how Pinella treated Harper, which isn't the first time he's mistreated a player, I don't want him coming anywhere the manager's office. I've heard stories about how he will scream and yell at players, badgering them when he thinks they do something wrong to the point where they're practically afraid of him. That's no way to motivate young players to do better. Nor is humilating a player. Torre is far from perfect but he definitely respects his players and they respect him. He may overuse some members of the bullpen but unless there was no one else available there is no way that he would deliberately humilate a a player when they clearly had no ability to pitch effectively.

Pinella didn't just humilate Harper, he embarassed himself as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:25 AM | Comments (0)

Yankees Pound Devil Rays 20-11

Randy Johnson Shaky

What an eventful game! I'm not even sure where exactly to begin so much happened in this game. So I guess I'll start from the beginning - Randy Johnson was putrid tonight and was rocked for seven runs in just three innings on eight hits, three of which were homeruns. So things looked pretty bleak for the Yankees considering their ace starter looked horrendous and by the fourth inning the score was 10-2 in favor of the Devil Rays. Previously this season if the Yankees were behind by so much, or sometimes if they were only behind by a couple of runs, it seemed as if they would decide that the game was over even if it was early in the game. So that meant that there haven't been too many come from behind victories for the Yankees this season.

But tonight was a very different story. Slowly the Yankees chipped away at the Devil Ray's lead until they finally exploded to take the lead in decisive fashion in the eighth. In that fateful eighth inning 16 Yankees hitters went to the plate and it seemed as if just about every one of them knocked in a run, many of them via homeruns. It was Bernie Williams, aching shoulders and all, who gave the Yankees the lead, hitting a triple with the bases loaded which drove in three runs. After that it was game on for the Yankees as four Yankees - Jorge Posada, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui - hit homeruns. That was Matsui's second RBI hit of the inning as he started things off for the Yankees that inning with an RBI double. By the time the inning was over the Yankees had scored 13 runs, nine of them off of Travis Harper. Really an incredibly outburst by the Yankees offense! I thought that magic inning was never going to end!

Gary Sheffield had an amazing seven RBI thanks to an RBI single and two three-run homeruns. That was just incredible. I'm not a fan of Sheffield but he definitely knows how to get the job done at the plate. Lately he's looked like he's been playing very laxadasically but perhaps tonight will invigorate him along with the rest of his teammates. It's hard to pick out other offensive stars since there were so many but Hideki Matsui continued his hot hitting, going 4-5 with two RBI and a walk. Just named American League Player of the Week, Matsui has been unbelievably hot at the plate since last Tuesday. Something about spraining his ankle perhaps forced him to change his approach at the plate but whatever the reason he's really looking like a completely different player right now. Derek Jeter was 5-6 with an RBI and Alex Rodriguez also got in on the action, with an RBI single and his 20th homerun of the year, both in the eight inning.

While Scott Proctor and Tanyon Sturtze each game up a run, the Yankees bullpen was pretty solid which is what made it possible for the Yankees to mount this impressive comeback. Had they continued to give up runs, the Yankees would have had to score even more runs to pull ahead. It is a puzzle what happened to Randy Johnson though and I hope his poor outing isn't a sign that he has some sort of physical problem. He had pitched so well in his last two outings and I expected he would continue that trend against the Devil Rays but that was not to be.

Next up is a day game and I hope the Yankees are able to continue the hot hitting they began the night before!

Posted by silverdsl at 12:52 AM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day - Cape Porpoise

Cape Porpoise, Maine, July, 2005. In less than a month I'll be back in Maine! Yay!

Posted by silverdsl at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)

June 21, 2005

Bo Bice Never Wanted to Win "American Idol"

"American Idol" Label Not For Him

Bo Bice recently told the Associated Press that he never wanted to win "American Idol" and that he's happy he didn't win as that would have made it harder for him to play his own kind of music. I would have to agree that he will have slightly more flexibility to do what he wants as the runner-up than he would as the actual winner. So I have to wonder if he gave 100% at the end of the competition if he didn't really want to win it. I'm sure he would never admit to that but his comments do raise some questions.

I assume his goal was to go on the show and get as much exposure and publicity for his music career as possible. He certainly succeeded in that regard. He has a single coming out shortly and a full album sometime before the end of the year. It will be interesting to see how those do and whether he ends up overshadowing Carrie Underwood.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:45 PM | Comments (0)

Bobby Hamilton to Son: Find a New Ride

"Find Something Else to Drive"

Bobby Hamilton, Jr. is in his first year in Cup racing in the #32 car at PPI. To say that he has been having a dismal year is an understatment considering the team can't even make it into the top 35 in points, has zero top tens and failed to qualify for the race at Charlotte. Without coming out and saying it, essentially Hamilton, Sr. said that the #32 team sucks, with barely enough employees and resources to make it in Cup racing. That certainly doesn't sound like it bodes well for the team's future in Cup, let alone Hamilton, Jr. staying in that ride long-term. Based on Sr.'s comments about his son starting to look elsewhere, being fed up and staying around to fulfill his contract until someone else unfulfills theirs, I would guess that Jr. might not even make it until the end of the season. If I were Cal Wells I don't think I'd want a driver who has clearly given up on the team behind the wheel, regardless of the other problems that exist that are preventing them from being competitive. Every driver wants to win but perhaps Wells needs a driver who is realistic about what the car can do until he can get things sorted out with his Cup program.

What I don't understand is why Hamilton, Jr. took the ride in the first place. That team has struggled for a while now. Ricky Craven won while he was in the #32 but the last year or so that he was in that car he certainly experienced all the problems with having to deal with a non-competitive car as Hamilton, Jr. is experiencing now. And he did it without complaining, whining or otherwise publically expressing his displeasure with his team, either himself or by using a family member as a mouth-piece.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:30 PM | Comments (0)

June 20, 2005

The Rumors Game in Nascar

Rumors Make the Sport Go 'Round

The Williams Company is a North Carolina based public relations company that specializes in the motorsports industry. In the past couple of weeks they've had to spend time quelling erroneous rumors that were widely circulated about two of their clients. The first rumor indicated that Ken Schrader, driver of the #49 for BAM Racing was going to retire and would be out of the car at the end of this season. That wasn't true. Then there was a rumor that DCT Motorsports who fields a car for Stanton Barrett was being sold. That wasn't true either. At the time some folks from The Williams Company bemoaned how easily rumors spread in Nascar, particularly in the digital age when rumors are repeated over and over again on the internet. So this week they put together a release on the subject of rumors in racing, particularly in Nascar and the effects, both pro and con. Some of their clients had some very interesting comments about rumors, particularly Kyle Petty.

I think a lot of people don't see what the big deal is about rumors and gossip. But in reality rumors, particularly unfounded rumors can have considerable effects on race teams. Ricky Pearson, a crew chief at DCT said, "It can affect what your team is doing if you listen to them. ‘Momentum’ is just an attitude. Whether you have momentum or not, it’s still basically an attitude. And rumors affect that attitude, so they can affect your momentum. That’s one of the reasons I try to address rumors as soon as I possibly can if they have something to do with my race team. You have to stop it right away." First of all, I think that's an very important observation about momentum - that it is often something mental. So a rumor can bring momentum to a screeching halt if a team wrongly thinks that a driver change is on the horizon or other major changes are in the works. Considering all that's rumored about the #11 team and Jason Leffler I suspect this team has a hard time staying positive, feeling confident and building momentum because every week there's a new rumor about Leffler being replaced. As Pearson noted, it's important to address rumors up-front so that team members don't wonder where they or others stand. However, I don't think that all teams operate in this way. Or if they do address rumors I'm not sure they are always completely truthful. So that probably makes it hard for some drivers when they don't fully know where they stand like Casey Mears, another driver who has been in the rumor mill who seems to be getting conflicting information from Ganassi as to whether he will be with them next season or not.

I have a lot of respect for Kyle Petty for a number of reasons but one of those is that he speaks his mind, though it often goes unnoticed, and his comments on rumors are no less candid than he usually is. He said, "A lot of times NASCAR will float something. They will then read the newspapers, hear what the opinion is on it, and either go forward with it or pull away from it. It’s their way of kind of throwing something out there and seeing what the public thinks. They can also get a feel of what the drivers or teams think without having to go to them. It’s a game. Rumors are almost a little bit of a game sometimes. If you want something changed, or something done, make a comment and see if the press runs with it. If they do, see what the fans say about it. The fans always have something to say about things. If it’s positive then run with it, but if it’s not, then back off from it."

I don't think it's just Nascar that plays that kind of game either. I think the teams, drivers, and other entities in Nascar will also float various rumors to gauge the reaction of those in the garage area and the fans. I suspect that Speed-TV pulled some of that in relation to the changes that have been proposed to some of their programs such as "Nascar Nation" and "Inside Nextel Cup." More than likely they will go ahead and make the changes they want anyway but some of the way rumors and information, both correct and incorrect has surfaced over the past few months makes me think that they are trying to see how much fans will tolerate in terms of changes and to ease the blow when certain changes are made down the road. I also think that representatives from various organizations, will go to message boards to try and float certain pieces of information or opinions about their clients to try to sway the way the fans think about certain individuals or situations.

A lot of people think message boards are useless cesspools full of people spouting off about nonsense. Some can be like that. But some forums can also be used as tools and I think that they often are. I've seen be a complete disaster at times. When fans find out that they're being manipulated or someone has an ulterior motive for spreading information or rumors it often doesn't go over very well. However, I've also seen situations when someone floats information incognito quite successfully. (No, I'm not going to share how I became aware of who these people are at times without others knowing.) The problem is with being dependent on message boards for gauging fan reaction to certain things is that I don't think that online fans are always completely reflective of all fans. With some drivers I've seen a huge difference in what their fans on and off line believe. And then you have drivers like Michael Waltrip who have a huge amount of fans but those people aren't as strong of a presence online as they are off. So that can skew things as well. So sometimes it concerns me that some entities seem dependent on using online fans to get a sense of what all fans are thinking.

Petty also went on to discuss the pros and cons of rumors. He says (in part), "The worst thing that can ever happen from a rumor is a driver getting fired. That’s the worst thing... The next thing you know, the sponsor is saying, ‘Everyone believes there is a problem with our driver, we need to change drivers.’ That’s the worst thing that can happen." That's pretty interesting that an unfounded rumor can actually cause a sponsor to get nervous and ask for a change to be made. I guess in that case perception becomes reality. The fans hear the rumors and discuss it thinking that a change is both needed and imminent. Then the sponsor sees everyone talking and the percieved problem, which may not actually even exist, grows legs.

I think Steve Park got bit by this after his accident in 2001. There were quite a few rumors about his worthiness as a driver but also seemingly every week that he was going to lose his ride both when he was in the #1 and the #30. Which added up to a lot of negative discussion in relation to Steve and both of those teams which surely made Pennzoil and AOL unhappy. In reality the problems were with the lack of competitiveness of the cars that Steve was given to race with after he recovered from his injuries but a lot of people believed the rumors that were spread about him. So when he didn't do well their negative perceptions of his worthiness as a driver were reenforced. Not just among fans either - many in the garage area thought he was damaged goods but luckily Orleans Racing realized how wrong all those rumors were and hired him for the #62. Unfortunately in spite of the win at Fontana and no matter what Steve does in the future I have no doubt that there are many who will still believe all those ugly rumors that circulated about Steve in 2002 and 2003.

But Petty doesn't think that rumors and talk is all bad. He said, "The best thing that can happen is when teams, NASCAR, or anybody complains about something from a safety standpoint. They will say that something isn’t the safest, or wonder why this track didn’t put in barriers, or this and that. Someone picks it up and runs with it. All of the sudden, the next time you go the place the track has SAFER Barriers or has changed things. I think the pluses happen when someone runs with something that improves the sport." I can't help but think of Michael Waltrip and Jeff Burton. Michael will talk about SAFER Barriers and other safety issues from time to time on "Inside Nextel Cup" and Burton has also championed various safety issues. I think when Michael does it on INC it can particularly have an effect because Nascar and others know that show has a large audience. I have to agree with Petty that sometimes there is some good that can come out of rumors. Sometimes information needs to be floated to illicit certain reactions. Or because saying some things publically is the only way to make sure that some action is taken or that certain things get attention.

Ken Schrader addressed one of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to rumors and the online media - not fact-checking or taking rumors as fact without attempting to follow up with all the involved parties. He says, "But, now with the Internet… rumors take on a life of their own. If you get a couple people writing about it, folks start taking it as fact… and they haven’t even addressed the source to begin with. Sometimes they run wild with that stuff." I can't say how many times rumors are stated as fact by the online media without even the simpliest research to find out of there's any truth to it or not. Boston Dirt Dogs has definitely Is guilty of this in the past in a very big way and that just scratches the surface of those who will formulate opinions or report rumors as fact without doing any kind of fact-checking. Yes, sometimes it's impossible to fact-check rumors. But at least some meager attempt to discover whether the rumor is true or not should be made whether it's by sending an email or making a phone call. Even a "no comment" is better than nothing.

Obviously the internet has changed the way the media operates and also the way that rumors are spread. Marty Gaunt, General Manager of Red Horse Racing says, "The sport has always had rumors but the Internet has just magnified them. More people see the rumors so they spread faster and wider. In the ‘old days,’ one guy would tell one guy something and 15 people would hear it. Now it’s maybe 15,000 people by the end of the day." Which is one of the biggest problems about Jayski's. On one hand it's a great resource for news and information but on the other when he reports a rumor that turns out to be false it might be seen by thousands of people who will believe that it's true. Jayski does a good job of trying to clarify and correct rumors once he finds out additional information about their truth. But there's no guarentee that the people who see the rumor in the first place will return to see the correction. I've seen that a lot and not just with Jayski's where people will believe everything they hear and not seek any clarification or pay much attention to follow-up stories. So they end up holding some very inaccurate beliefs.

Steve Park's former crew chief with the #1, Paul Andrews speaks to the detrimental effects that rumors can have on a team. "When it’s rumored that a driver is going to leave the team at the end of the season, and it’s halfway through the season, you can almost count on it not being a great part of the season. It doesn’t matter if it’s rumor or fact. Once it becomes fact, most of the time, it’s not during a good season for the driver or team. Sometimes rumors get running so wild that you have to address them. Owners or drivers, sometimes, will have to lie because they can’t say they are going to leave or want to leave because other things aren’t done yet. It definitely affects the teams for sure." Of course I can't help but wonder if he has Steve in mind with any of those comments in that at various times there were rumors about Steve's future in the #1 and at DEI thanks to some issues with contract negotiations, even prior to the accident. I think that this happened with Michael Waltrip last season as well since there started to be talk about what his future at DEI might be towards the end of the season. I think that makes it very hard for a team and driver when there are rumors in the air about their future. And as Andrews notes, even when there's truth to what's being said, it can make things difficult. The #15 team knew that there was a lot of uncertainty hanging over their heads at the end of 2005, a lot of which continues into 2006, and I think that can be very discouraging and can make it difficult to give 100% if it seems as if the results won't matter because a driver change might happen anyway. I'm really glad that Michael has gotten so many great finishes this season because I think that has gone a long way towards easing some of the tension that might exist in terms of concern about who the driver of the #15 might be in 2006.

Jeff Green, the subject of a few rumors himself over the years says, "You can believe about two percent of the rumors. It’s one of the things that make our sport go around. We probably have more rumors than real factual stories most of time." The thing is that I've found that while there are some outlandish rumors that have zero truth to them, often rumors have some grain of truth to them. In that a rumor is started on the basis of something that is factual and someone elaborates on it and runs with it. Like the game of telephone in that what you end up with doesn't bare any resemblance to what you started out with. It's a matter of figuring out where the truth lies. I'm often skeptical of what teams, drivers and others in the sport say because often folks will spin a situation for their own benefit. Unfortunately sometimes people will even outright lie. I think sometimes fans turn a blind eye to the blatant untruths that are sometimes told. More often than not, I'd like to think that everyone is up front about what they are saying but I've seen some situations where one thing is said and then something completely different is said down the road. Both things can't possibly be true which means that someone, somewhere is lying. Of course it's not just Nascar where this happens either.

I think rumors in Nascar and rumor sites like Jayski's have their place. If not for some of those sites and rumors being spread I think Nascar, teams, drivers and others would be able to keep a lot of situations hidden from the fans a lot easier and that's not a good thing. Sites like Jayski's make it hard for everyone in Nascar to cover things up because odds are that someone will hear about it and it will get reported somewhere. As Kyle Petty and other said, rumors can cause reactions and that can be a good thing. However, rumors can also be very damaging. Care needs to be taken to phrase rumors in the proper way, particularly in the media, so that it's clear that what is being presented isn't confirmed as fact. Fans also need to be cautious about the things that they read, not take everything as fact and ask questions. And the PR companies, teams, drivers and everyone else involved can help by addressing rumors directly and honestly, as much as their might be a temptation just to ignore what's being said or in some cases to spin and lie their way out of situations.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:07 PM | Comments (0)

Experts Search for Possibly Hidden di Vinci Painting

Might Be Hidden Behind 16th Century Fresco

"Seek and you shall find" is the message painted in Italian on a fresco from the 16th century by Giorgio Vasari in the council hall of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. Some experts believe that this message refers to a lost Leonardo di Vinci mural the "Battle of Anghiari" that it is thought that di Vinci started but never completed. Many thought that Vasari painted over the mural but now a researcher believes that Vasari actually left a space between walls where the mural might be as that was a technique he had previously used to preserve other artist's work. "Battle of Anghiari" is compared to the Mona Lisa in this article so if it were located and had survived, it would be a very significant discovery. But the director of the Palazzo Vecchio museum says that permission to look hasn't yet been granted because the researcher hasn't presented them with a detailed report on his findings. I'm hoping that permission is granted and that this long lost treasure is found.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)

Brendan Gaughan on "Wind Tunnel"

Last night Brendan Gaughan was the guest host on Wind Tunnel along side of Dave Despain. Of course there is never any shortage of conversation when Brendan is around, though discussion with him was perhaps a bit curtailed because of what had happened in the F1 "race" in Indianapolis. But Brendan as always, had plenty of great things to say about Steve Park, all about how he was the best driver available and that's why they choose him for the #62 and lots of other nice things. Hearing positive things about Steve is always something I enjoy. Brendan also talked about the possiblity of going back to Cup someday and he definitely wants to do that. Though he deftly avoided talking specifics and about whether that could potentially happen in 2006 he did say that a key ingredient of any situation that he ended up in would have to be "fun." Which is no surprise when it comes to Brendan because fun is clearly his middle name.

Brendan also talked about what happened to him at Penske Racing last season in Cup. While he was very gracious in not blaming Penske for things not working out, which I think would be pretty easy to do, Brendan did make one very interesting comment. A few times I've discussed in this space the issue of gambling and Nascar, particularly as it relates to Brendan who had indicated that he has and may still bet on himself. It's been said that Nascar had a chat with Brendan regarding some of his comments about gambling and they weren't the only ones who were concerned. Last night Brendan said (roughly), "[Penske]... had some issues from the beginning about my background with Las Vegas, my father and the gambling business." For those that don't know the Gaughan family is heavily involved in the casino business in Las Vegas and has been for many, many years starting with Brendan's grandfather, Jackie. They run several very successful casinos including The Orleans, the primary sponsor of Steve Park's truck. I would love to know what the specific concerns were that Penske had and if those concerns had anything to do with why Travis Kvapil is now in the #77.

I never quite understood why Brendan wasn't given more of a chance in the #77, in spite of the way he struggled. One year just isn't long enough to see what a driver is really capable of doing and Travis isn't doing much better so I don't think the problem with the #77 is the driver. Also, Brendan is relatively young, has a dynamic personality, is fairly attractive, knows how to plug his sponsors almost as well as Michael Waltrip and is outstanding with the fans. So given the emphasis on personality and looks these days in Nascar I would have thought he would have lasted a little longer than just one season in Cup. I believe he'll be back sooner rather than later since there's no doubt that he's a talented racer but perhaps that Brendan isn't much for conformity, which is almost a necessity in Cup these days, combined with any concerns that Penske had about Brendan's gambling connections did him in. Of course much like everything else I wonder about, I will never know the real answers.

Brendan also said something that I'm sure not a single other person took note of but really made me laugh because it's in direct contrast to what someone else said about him and Orleans Racing recently. Which really puts that other person's comment in an even poorer light than when it was initially made.

Brendan would be an interesting person to sit down and talk to, particularly since he is often very candid in his comments. But I'm not sure he would enjoy our discussion as much as I would because I would want to ask him all kinds of hard questions about serious issues rather than the usual fun banter that most fans want to engage in.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:40 PM | Comments (0)

Navajo Indians in Canyon de Celly Protest Not Being Able to Live in Modern Houses

Living in a Time Warp

This is the article that actually led me to the one below about the Navajo newspaper suspending the ability for readers to comment online about stories but I never got around to blogging about this article last night. Apparently as many as 80 families live in Canyon de Celly National Mounument in Arizona but due to National Park Service rules are unable to live in modern houses. The protesters feel that the NPS hasn't changed those rules because of a wish to cater to tourists but the park says that the rules are based on Navajo law which prohibit modern houses inside the park. However, those laws date back to 1931 and it seems to me that a few things might need to be re-evaluated given that 74 years have passed since the rules were made to protect the canyon. Apparently there is already existing ill will between the residents and the park management over potential changes regarding how the monument is managed and the residents feel that there isn't a lot of respect there for them. I can't say too much about the issues that the residents are upset about because I don't know too much about it but it's interesting that people actually live in a National Monument. Other than those that work at the monument or park I hadn't realized that happens.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:27 PM | Comments (0)

Mike Mussina Wears Shirt Given to Him by Fan in Post-Game Interview

Chico's Bail Bonds

I forgot to mention this yesterday but Mike Mussina did something after yesterday's game which had to give one lucky fan a really huge thrill. At Mussina's annual Fan Club Dinner in January, a long-time and very devoted fan gave Moose a yellow "Chico's Bail Bonds" shirt. That being the sponsor of the little league team from The Bad News Bears. This many months later I can't quite remember the full story of how why this shirt had significance to Moose but I do remember based on the photos from the dinner, he was very excited to get that shirt. At the time he told the fan that he would wear the shirt in the Yankees clubhouse and that was the end of it. Until yesterday when according to the article above Moose gave his post-game interviews while wearing that shirt! Now that is the sign of a gift that it truly appreciated and liked - it's not like Moose saw this fan a few days ago and is making sure that she sees him wearing it to make her happy. Given that she doesn't live in the New York area and he knows this he has no idea if she's ever going to see him wearing the shirt so it's not like he felt obligated to wear it. He's wearing it because he wants to wears it and because he obviously truly likes it.

Athletes and other celebrities get gifts all the time from fans. A lot of times a lot of effort goes into making or picking out a gift that the fan thinks will really have meaning to the person they idolize. Unfortunately sometimes those things don't meet a good end in that the person gets so many gifts that not much seems unique, they don't have room for everything in their house/office/motorhome so some things get given away or put in storage or in the worst case scenario thrown away completely. Some people are probably reading this saying that my favorite driver/player/actor, etc... would never throw something away that a fan gave him/her. But it does happen. I heard one story of something that a fan handmade getting thrown into the garbage by a very ungrateful player once. That player ended up performing very badly in New York after that so perhaps they brought bad karma on themselves. But the end result is that I have no illusions that everything that is given to these folks is as valued or has an much meaning to the person getting it as the fans would like.

These guys/gals get stuff given to them all the time. So a lot of what they are given, other than the handmade items, is probably repeatative. Not to mention there are some things that a fan thinks their favorite celebrity is going to love but that person has no interest in. And unless the fan isn't present when they open it, the celebrity has no choice but to smile and act like they like it even if they hate it. Which is why I don't spend a lot of money on the things that I have given to drivers and I do it very sparingly because I have no idea if they truly want what I'm going to give them or if they will actually like it or just pretend that they do. I drew something for Steve Park and sent it to him a couple of years ago only because of how much he seemed to love a similar item that I had him sign. And I give Michael Waltrip the good luck stones because I've been told he really likes them and it does seem to enjoy getting them. But otherwise I don't think I would give too many presents out - particularly since I don't really know these folks so it's hard for me to truly know what they would like or want. Not to mention with the money that they have they can buy themselves virtually anything they want, and probably already have.

Which is why the fan who gave Moose the Chico's Bail Bonds t-shirt really scored. She found something different to give him, something that he truly liked that he would actually wear - and he did! Very cool!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:32 AM | Comments (0)

June 19, 2005

Photo of the Day - Tino Martinez

New York Yankees vs. Chicago Cubs. June 15, 2005. Tino Martinez has always been one of my favorite players and I'm glad that the Yankees re-signed him for this season. This is a photo I took of him at Saturday's game which was possible thanks to being in the field box seats for two innings. How I wish I could still take my honkin' big lens and monopod to the games with me - the photos I was able to get then! Even when I wasn't sitting close it was a lot of fun taking photos because I had the equivalent of an 800mm lens. Of course these days then don't let fans bring stuff like that into the stadium. But I'm so glad that I was able to take photos with that lens at so many games before the rules relating to security changed. But even now sometimes I can manage to get a few good shots like this one with my 300mm lens.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:57 PM | Comments (0)

Another Newspaper Forced to Suspend Online Comments

Navajo Times

While I was reading another interesting article, I came across a statement in which the Navajo Times, a publication for Navajo indians, was forced to shut down the forum on their website for reader comments due to comments filled with obscenities, vulgarities and threats which were being posted in such volume that the webmaster of the site was unable to keep up with removing them. The way it all unfolded is remarkably similar to what happened at the Ventura County Star in which they too were forced to shut down the ability for readers to comment on articles on their website after good discussions rapidly turned into something ugly. As I noted then, most message boards, fan forums, comment sections, etc... follow a similar pattern. Things start off good and then rapidly go bad. It can be controllable but there has to be a staff of people willing to work hard to stay on top of the problem and even then the site has to be willing to accept that they will never be able to have everything be perfect or quite like they were when the site first started.

In a perfect world people would always behave appropriately both online and off but as we all know this most certainly isn't a perfect world.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:48 PM | Comments (0)

Marlin Out, Stremme in #40 for 2006

Sponsor Forced Ganassi to Make Change

In another sign that performance is becoming less important in favor of personality, looks and the ability for a driver to be marketed and sell the product they are sponsored by, Felix Sabates said today that the decision to replace Sterling Marlin in the #40 in 2006 with David Stremme is based soley on marketing and not performance. Sabates said, "That was the only reason, really. Coors came to us and said their marketing strategy had to be changed to young people. That's who buys beer today. You don't find many 50-year-old men, old guys, drinking beer. This business is a young man's sport today. Coors brand is catering to the 22- to 30-year-old crowd. Unfortunately we all get old. Not that Sterling is old, but he's not a marketing dream." I guess I should be happy about this because it's good news for Michael Waltrip who is a sponsor and marketer's dream, except perhaps for his age, but I'm distressed by Sabates' comments.

I'm still trying to wrap my mind around everything that Sabates said. First of all, I know quite a few men over 30 who drink beer. I suppose Coors is trying to appeal more to a younger crowd than they do now, but the idea that older people don't drink beer is ridiculous. Maybe they've found that younger people who are heavy beer drinkers are more likely to reach for the brand of a competitor and they want to make their brand seem younger and more fun so that they will be the choice of young beer drinkers as well. But will Stremme help them do that? Yes, he's young but to me Stremme doesn't even seem like the type to be a big drinker. I guess he will be now! I have no idea how it's measured but I'd love to know if Stremme is actually going to sell more beer for Coors than Marlin.

What's also ridiculous is that the decision to replace Marlin is because he's "not a marketing dream." In essence this is a competely sponsor driven change and Ganassi has no choice but to go along if they want to keep Coors as a sponsor. Granted Marlin's performance on the track hasn't been steller in the past year or two so Ganassi might have been looking to make a change for 2006 regardless, but I don't think decisions about who should drive a racecar should be based on who will do the best job of selling product. Yes, that's always going to be a factor - that is just the direction in which the sport has been headed in for a long time and there's no turning back - but I think the biggest factor should be who will have the most success in that ride. Perhaps those at Ganassi feel that Stremme will get better results in the #40 and just don't want to say that but based on what they're saying it sounds like Coors simply wants a more marketable (more attractive, better spoken, younger) driver. I'm actually not convinced that Stremme will have better results in Cup than Marlin. Will Coors be fine with poor results as long as they feel Stremme is helping them market product to consumers in the 22-30 age group? From what was said today maybe so and that's a shame because it means that racing becomes less important than selling whatever the sponsor is hawking.

I have to wonder what this means for Dale Earnhardt, Jr. After all, he's also sponsored by a beer company, Budweiser. And he's turning 31 this year, which doesn't make him old by any means but puts him outside the 22-30 year old crowd. Perhaps Bud markets themselves to a different or more varied age group but I can't help but wonder if one reason why Junior has yet to mature in certain ways, at least publically, is because it would not appeal to the demographic that Bud would like to sell their product to. I'm sure that Bud will want to remain with Junior for quite some time given that in spite of some on-track issues right now he's still the most popular driver in the sport. But what happens down the road when Junior is older and he's headed towards his 40's? By then he might be married with a family and a lot less marketable than he is now. I don't think he'll ever be labeled as un-marketable like Marlin because he will always have certain things going for him such as the Earnhardt name that Marlin doesn't. But Junior may have to evolve and look for ways to make himself still relevant to Bud's demographic to ensure that they don't look to replace him in the future, particularly if he doesn't enjoy as much success on the track in the future as he has in the past.

Another item from today's press conference is that Ganassi and Coors worked out a three-year personal services agreement that they have offered Marlin in which Marlin would make six-figures and also race full time in the Busch series for Fitz-Bradshaw. Right now Marlin wants to find a full-time Cup ride so he hasn't accepted that deal but it's still an option for him if he doesn't find a competitive Cup ride. Which, while Marlin has been saying he might have something good lined up for 2006 in Cup, might be difficult given how much of a focus there is on young guns. I wonder how many other personal services contracts there are floating around, perhaps with some of the recently or soon to be retired drivers? That would certainly make the decision to retire a lot easier for some of these guys if they know they will get paid big money for a few more years and depending on the deal get to still do some racing as well as make appearances and remain involved in the sport.

In other Ganassi news it appears that Casey Mears' ride is safe for now. There was some speculation that given his uneven season in 2005 that he would be replaced with Reed Sorenson. But it sounds like Ganassi is going to expand to four cars in 2006 with Sorenson in the fourth car. Now, I think Sorenson is an awesome driver with a very bright future. But I think he could use another year in Busch with perhaps some selected Cup starts instead of rushing him right up to Cup next season. That seems too quick to me. Perhaps he can handle it but I would hate to see his career stalled or ruined because he's rushed up before he's ready just so Ganassi has another young gun. Then again if he's marketable maybe his sponsor won't really care too much about the end results.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:53 PM | Comments (0)

Copy-Protected CDs Can't Be Burned

Burner's Bummer

In a continuing effort to fight the digital revolution the record industry has a new tool. This time some record companies have developed software that limits the amount of times that CDs can be copied. So a whole CD might only be able to be copied three times and invididual tracks might only be able to be copied seven times. That includes both burning copies of CDs and uploading tracks onto digital music players. And even worse for IPods users is that the software is not compatible with those IPods so they can't upload music from those CDs at all. Which of course doesnt' make a lot of people very happy because most people are used to making as many copies as they want of their CDs whether it's to give to friends, for their portable music devices, as part of mix tapes and any number of other uses. So people who want to make more copies of these CDs or for IPods users put them on their devices, it means that they will be forced to pay for it either via a new CD or by paying to download digital tracks.

I understand the goal of the record companies. They are fighting declining record sales. In addition, both record companies and the artists themselves are trying to protect their rights to their own music. And I definitely support that - the artists should be profiting from their own music and they don't profit when illegal copies of CDs are made or music is passed around on illegal peer-to-peer services. However, I also enjoy being able to upload copies of CDs to my digital music device and also making mix CDs. So I don't know what the balance is. An argument can be made that once someone pays for something it belongs to them and they should be able to do anything they want with it. But then the artist, and the record companies, suffer. I don't know what the answer is so everyone is happy but I hate to see the day when the record companies completely prevent all copying, burning and uploading of all CDs.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Finishes Ninth at Michigan

Greg Biffle Wins 5th Race of the Season

Another week, another top ten for Michael Waltrip. In the last entry I was talking about bad karma and bad luck but for Michael it's good karma and good luck right now. Michael has really been bit by his share of bad luck in the past, including this season, as I've detailed in this blog, but recently for the most part everything has been going so well for Michael on the track. With today's ninth place finish Michael now has seven top tens for the season and would surely have at least two more if not for the blown engine at Daytona and getting wrecked by Junior at Charlotte. Michael has moved up to 14th in the points, just 63 points out of the Chase for the Championship which is really awesome considering the early problems the #15 team had. I have no illusions about how likely it is for Michael to make it into the Chase because there is so much competition for those spots. But I have such a good feeling that he's really going to make a strong run for the Chase and maybe open some eyes about what he's capable of doing with strong, competitive cars. I would be so happy for him if he made the Chase and I really hope it happens, as hard as it may be. If not the Chase, I think Michael is on the verge of winning a race and hopefully it will happen sooner rather than later.

A few interesting things in relation to the points. Jeff Gordon finished 32nd, his fourth finish of 30th or worse in the past five races which puts him into 12th place in the points standings and out of the Chase. He's not alone in terms of top drivers being out of the Chase. With a 17th place finish, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. dropped another spot in the standings to 17th and he is over a hundred points out of the Chase. Both of those guys definitely need a boost of good luck and karma just like Steve Park! My feeling is that the #24 team will rally and get back into the Chase, particularly since he's only out of it by three points. The #24 team from top to bottom including the driver is among the best in the sport and if anyone is capable of making up for this stretch of bad races it's this team. However, I think unless the #8 team puts together a big streak of races in which they get a bunch of top tens and some wins, I think they will have a very hard time getting back into the Chase. Anything can happen in this sport but I think they have a very hard road ahead of them, particularly since I don't see a lot of signs that the fortunes of the #8 team are going to turn around anytime in the near future.

The eventual winner of this race was Greg Biffle who I don't like too much but has now won five times this season so I've got to give him credit for being an excellent racer. Roush Racing really seems to have become the dominant powerhouse in Cup racing with Rousch drivers being a factor in almost every race. Out of his four teammates, three of them - Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin and Carl Edwards - finished in the top five. That was just today. This season Roush has eight wins and the past two years the eventual Cup champions have been Roush drivers - Matt Kenseth and Kurt Busch. I know that things tend to be cyclical so Roush will dominate for a while and then it will be another organization's time to shine. I also like Mark Martin and Carl Edwards so I don't mind seeing them enjoy a lot of success. But a lot of fans are very bothered by the Roush drivers, and to a lesser degree the Hendrick drivers, winning so many races. Personally, I think Roush deserves some accolades for working so hard to put themselves in the position where they have five strong teams. My favorite drivers aren't always going to be in contention to win races or the championship, that's just the way things work.

But otherwise, this race was pretty boring. That didn't stop me from listening since I love racing too much to turn it off. Not to mention since this is a very unpredictable sport there's no telling what might happen from lap-to-lap. But I just didn't feel like this race was really that entralling today. Next week the Cup series goes to the road course at Somona and I'm looking forward to that. Some drivers are better than others at road courses but some of my favorite drivers tend to do well such as Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Michael Waltrip. So I'm hoping that overall it will end up being a good race, a lot better than this week. And hopefully Michael will get another top ten!

Posted by silverdsl at 08:44 PM | Comments (0)

Steve Park, Orleans Racing, Bad Karma and Bad Luck

Wrecked and Finishes 31st

Yet again Steve Park was cruising to another outstanding finish in a race only to see it spoiled by something out of his control. This time while he was in 9th place with nine laps to go, a tangle between Todd Bodine and Ron Hornaday led to Steve getting spun and then hit by Bobby LaBonte, who was unable to avoid him. That knocked Steve out of the race and instead of a much-needed top ten he finished 31st. That dropped him to 17th in the overall points standings which really isn't too great. With an 11th place finish teammate Brendan Gaughan moves up to 25th in points and I hope it's not going to turn into a situation where I have to worry about Brendan (assuming he runs the rest of the season), who failed to qualify for a couple of races, possibly passing Steve, who should be racing for the truck championship right now, in the points standings.

As I've detailed in this space any number of times it seems like something is always going wrong for Steve on the track and often Brendan as well. Every team is going to get caught up in wrecks or experience mechanical problems from time to time but they make up for it with as many great runs as possible. When you have a bunch of top tens it doesn't make poor finishes very costly. So while Jeff Gordon has sunk to 11th in the points standings with a string of bad races, he is still very much in the hunt for the Chase for the Championship having won three times this season and overall has six top tens. Then you look at Steve who only has two top tens, one of those being the win, and it makes every time they experience trouble very costly indeed. I think it particularly hurts that a lot of their problems have seemed mechancial - the chassis not being set up correctly, engine problems, transmission problems, etc... I'm quite sure that Orleans Racing is working hard to address the problems that they've been experiencing but I wish that some of this had been addressed a little sooner, because now it's June. There's plenty of racing left to be done this season but Orleans Racing definitely needs to be sure that they do everything they can possibly do to make sure Steve and Brendan both have the best trucks they can possibly have, that are as mechanically sound as possible, so that getting wrecked won't be quite so costly.

What Steve also needs is a reversal of fortune. As already noted Steve had been plagued by an incredible amount of bad luck. I also believe in the concept of good and bad karma and I feel like there's a lot of bad karma hanging over Steve and Orleans Racing right now. Some will say I'm crazy because Steve had the ultimate good luck when he won in California early one but other than that it's been mostly bad news for the #62 team and often for the #77 as well.

It appears that Steve doesn't believe much in good luck charms as he recently said in a Q&A on his site in response to whether he carries anything for good luck, "I don't carry much of anything, I have tried it in the past and it didn't seem to help." He's also said in the past that he thinks that the team needs to make their own luck. I agree that teams make their own luck but on the other hand I also think that sometimes good luck charms and other positive rituals or items, for want of a better way of describing it, can lead to a positive mindset and a feeling of confidence. It's not that the good luck charm is responsible for a fine finish per say but I think it can lend to someone feeling an extra bit good about what the day will bring which can translate into more success.

Now all the positive thinking in the world can't do anything about other drivers wrecking him, but I just feel like Steve and Orleans Racing need to find some good karma and good luck somewhere. Maybe it's just a matter of surrounding himself with people who are positive people, who think positive thoughts and treat others in a positive way. Or maybe the team needs another lucky horseshoe like they've received from fans in the past. Or it could be as simple as Steve finding a good luck item or doing something when he's at the track that makes him feel like he's going to have good luck.

Each individual has to do what they feel comfortable with. I think Delana Harvick has lucky shoes she will sometimes wear for Kevin. Michael Waltrip carries good luck items in his pockets at times during races. Many baseball players are supersitious and will do certain things before and during games to bring themselves luck. Personally, for me I feel like what works for me is simply feeling good and getting myself into a positive mindset. The biggest way for me to achieve that is by doing something to help someone else. I feel like that brings me good karma and makes me feel good about myself.

I also become fond of certain stones which I get good feelings about. I gave one of my favorite stones to Michael Waltrip two weeks ago. I found it on Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine and I used to love rolling it around in my hands. And the funny thing is that I miss that stone. Yeah, I know everyone reading this is now laughing or thinking I'm a total weirdo. But yes, I do get attached to stones but I guess that's not surprising for one who collects gems and minerals. Michael had a great weekend at Pocono after I gave it to him so maybe some of that stone's good luck and karma rubbed off on him. So I don't regret giving it to him, but I do find myself wishing I still had that stone to play with. When I go to Ogunquit next month I will just have to find more stones to roll around in my hands that feel good and make me feel like it might bring me good luck.

Next week the truck series goes to the Milwaukee Mile and I hope that Orleans Racing finds better luck there.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:46 PM | Comments (0)

Rare Plant Found In Wind Cave National Park

Iowa State University Botanist Finds Plant in South Dakota

Some reading this might think, so what? What's the big deal about finding a rare plant? Well, this plant is so rare that the last time it was found was in 1973 in the Black Hills National Forest and at that time only a single plant of it was found. The plant in question is Botrychium campestre, a variety of moonwort fern, found on prairie remenants in Iowa and Minnesota but very rarely more West of that. Talk about looking for a needle in a haystack though - I have no idea how big the fern gets but I can't imagine it's easy to find in densely forested areas. Apparently botanists from the Black Hills National Forest have been looking for it for the past ten years. Since it's found so rarely, particularly in that area, I can only imagine that the botanist who found it must be feeling like he won a multi-million dollar lottery or the World Series right about now.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:36 PM | Comments (0)

Seeing Derek Jeter's First Career Grand Slam in Person

Yankees Win 8-1

Yesterday Jim and I went to the Yankees-Cubs game and we were lucky enough to see a 8-1 win. Or see as much of the game as we were able to last thanks to the people we were seated near, which I will get to a little later in this entry. But we were there for most of the game and I was very happy to see the team playing so well. One of the best parts of the game is that Jim's boss had Field Box seats about ten rows behind the Cubs dugout. So he got us in to sit near him for about two innings and it was so cool! I've never sat so close to the field before and it really was amazing to see all the action up close. No missing what's going on that way as sometimes happens when you sit far away. It made it so hard to go back to our seats way up in the upper deck. I took some photos and hopefully I'll be able to throw one or two up in this space at some point later.

One of the other highlights of yesterday's game was getting to see Derek Jeter hit his first career grand slam. It's hard to believe but it took Jeter ten years to hit his first grand slam! I don't know what Michael Kay, John Sterling and the other broadcasters are going to talk about when Jeter comes up to the plate with the bases loaded because it seemed like that was all that they would harp on everytime he was in that situation. Well, he did it yesterday and it was a huge shot into the Yankees bullpen. Which is a very good thing for Jeter because it means that he will get that ball instead of having it end up in the hands of a fan who would more than likely want to keep it for themselves or demand some sort of ransom before they hand it over to Jeter. I think I'd probably just hand it over without demanding anything. It would be great if Jeter or another player whose milestone ball I caught would volunteer on their own to give me something autographed in exchange but to me giving the ball back without asking for or expecting anything for it is the right thing to do, at least for me.

The only negative about yesterday's game was a pretty big one unfortunately. We were sitting in front of some truly obnoxious fans who had zero consideration for anyone around them. So they made things pretty miserable for everyone sitting in our section. One of my biggest pet peeves about going to a game is fans who think that buying a ticket entitles them to behave in any way that they want and that was certainly true of the jackasses sitting behind us. There weren't just a couple of them either - there were five of them so that really made it impossible to ignore them.

One of the biggest problems is that they didn't stop talking the entire game. Which might have been fine except for the fact that "talking" consisted of screaming, yelling and conversing at the top of their lungs. When one of them kicked me in the head and didn't even apologize I almost lost my mind. The only thing that prevented me from doing that was that it would probably have turned into a fist-fight between Jim, myself and those losers which would have resulted in all of us getting thrown out of the stadium. So I didn't even turn around even though it hurt. Worst of all was that they started making veiled anti-semetic comments about someone walking up the stairs and how he "looked" Jewish. Pleasant.

So that chased Jim and I out of our seats and away from the game early. We weren't the only ones to flee the section either. What was a full section at one time was a lot emptier by the time we left and I can only imagine that was because other people found watching the game in the presence of those jerks just as unpleasant as we did. Unfortunately that kind of behavior isn't the first time we've encountered bad fan behavior at Yankee Stadium and it won't be the last either. Some fans, usually those that are intoxicated, seem to think that being at a game is an excuse to act like an animal at the zoo. No, scratch that - animals at the zoo are sometimes better behaved than some fans at games. As much as I love the Yankees and going to games the fear of who I might be sitting next to has really discouraged me from going to as many games as I used to. It's not like I expect people to act like they're at the library or not to drink when they're at the game but I do expect people to remember that there are others sitting all around them and act accordingly.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)

New York Yankees Sweep Chicago Cubs

Have Now Won Six in a Row

A week ago I was bemoaning how horrible the Yankees were playing but suddenly they've gone on a roll and have won their last six games in a row, sweeping both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Chicago Cubs. Mike Mussina was solid today, pitching six innings, giving up just two runs on five hits and Chien-Ming Wang was just as solid in yesterday's win. That's been one of the biggest keys for the Yankees success recently in that the pitching has really been very good. Alex Rodriguez continues to hit well, knocking in his 60th and 61st RBI. A-Rod leads the majors in RBI, is second in homeruns and is among the leaders in batting average. Other than a few issues at third base which seem to have cleared up A-Rod has really been outstanding so far this season. I really enjoy watching him play and he's definitely the type of player that you pay attention to when he's at-bat.

I just wish I could trust that the Yankees were going to continue playing this well for the rest of the season. This team seems incredibly streaky so far this season. Win ten games, lose ten games, repeat over and over. There seems to be no consisistancy. They will play lifeless and lax baseball for a while, then suddenly turn it around and play with some energy. Then run out of energy again and put up not one bit of fight against the teams they are facing. It's incredible that this team who have played so well as of late is the same team that got swept by the worst team in baseball. If they can continue to rack up the wins then I'd say they will be in the thick of the post-season hunt by the end of the season. However, with the way things have been going unfortunately I expect they to suddenly start playing lousy baseball again. But for now I'm going to enjoy the winning as long as it lasts.

Posted by silverdsl at 06:33 PM | Comments (0)

June 17, 2005

Pay a Fine, Get it Back - Only in Nascar

From Nascar Scene via Jayski's: $384,000 in 2004 Fines Redistributed: NASCAR collected fines of $384,495 from 73 Nextel Cup penalties in 2004 and redistributed the money to the top 25 drivers, The Wall Street Journal reports today. As a result, champion Kurt Busch, whose team was fined $21,000 for various infractions during the season, collected $84,588. The newspaper says the NBA, the NFL and MLB turn over the fine money they collect to philanthropic organizations.(NASCAR Scene Daily Newsletter)(6-17-2005)

What a farce the fines are that Nascar collects for various infractions, at least when it comes to the top 25 teams. Every other sport donates that money to charity but Nascar redistributes it to the top 25 teams. It's a farce because as is shown in the case of the #97 team they paid Nascar $21,000 in fines and got back four times as much. So what's the point of fining teams in the top 25 if they're just going to be getting the money back at some point? Perhaps Nascar needs to increase the dollar amount of the fines or give the money to the bottom 25 teams who really need it. Best of all would be if they did like all the other sports did and gave it to charity - the Victory Junction Gang Camp would certainly be a worthy beneficiary.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)

Domino's to Sponsor August 20th Busch Race, Michael Waltrip's #99

Domino's Pizza 250

I always check out PR Newswire for sports and entertainment related press releases because sometimes there are items that I might miss otherwise that are of interest. Particularly Nascar related since there are so many sponsors that make annoucements of one sort or another that often get lost in the shuffle. So today I came across this item about Domino's, the official pizza of Nascar, and how they will be sponsoring the August 20th Busch race in Michigan, the Domino's Pizza 250, and will also be the primary sponsor of Michael Waltrip's #99 Busch car. Michael was apparently present at the press conference today though the press release doesn't include any quotes from him.

What occured to me is that Domino's is a pretty major sponsor that Michael has for himself. They are the primary sponsor for some Busch races on his Michael Waltrip Racing #99 and an associate sponsor on his #15 at DEI. They've also done promotions with him such as a special at Domino's franchises when he finishes well and they've used him and Dale, Jr. in commercials. I wonder if down the road when he expands MWR if Domino's might be inclined to take an even larger sponsorship role? That would certainly be a big coup if he could one day have them as the primary sponsor on a MWR Cup car.

Michael does an outstanding job of taking care of his sponsors. There are few drivers who do better. He tries to mention all his sponsors as much as he can, makes countless appearances and does any number of promotions on their behalf. Even the packet from his fan club contained some sponsor related items. What's funny is that some fans are constantly criticizing him for "sucking up" to his sponsors all the time. Well, I'm guessing that even the people who hate when he talks about his sponsors can name a lot of them from hearing him list them all the time. Mission accomplished in that case.

Plugging sponsors is just part of the job for the drivers and I think Michael does an exceptional job of it which is why he has some fairly major sponsors involved with his Busch program such as Domino's, Citizen Watches, Aaron's Rent, etc... No doubt some sponsors of his Cup car would be sponsors of the #15 no matter who would be behind the wheel but I doubt they have any complaints about how well he promotes them. All the drivers learn to be pretty good at the sponsorship game but Michael's outstanding approach to his sponsors is paying dividends for him now and will certainly pay off in the future as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:26 PM | Comments (0)

Yankees' Bernie Williams and Red Sox's Bronson Arroyo to Perform at Charity Concert

Hot Stove, Cool Music Concert

Following a Yankees-Red Sox game on July 16th assuming the proper city permits are granted, Yankees Centerfielder Bernie Williams will take part in a concert at Fenway Park along with Red Sox pitcher Bronson Arroyo to benefit Red Sox general manager Theo Epstein's foundation, "A Foundation to be Named Later." Epstein's foundation benefits community programs for at-risk, underprivileged and disadvantaged youth and this particular concert will help seven different programs, all of which I assume are in the Boston area. Besides Williams and Arroyo, Peter Gammons, who created the "Hot Stove, Cool Music Concert Series" this is a part of, and Boston area musician Juliana Hatfield will also take part among others. Instead of using all of Fenway Park, the organizers plan on only selling a limited amount of seats to make for an intimate experience inside Fenway Park. Tickets will be $50 and $100 and I expect they will have a sellout of what sounds like a fun event.

It's predictable that any time a celebrity gets involved with a charitable effort inevitably someone will come out of the woodwork to criticize their involvement. And such is what has happened with Williams donating his time to this cause. It's astonishing that someone believes that a sports rivalry between the Yankees and the Red Sox is more important than raising money for needy children. I see absolutely nothing wrong with Williams playing a concert that benefits a charitable foundation, regardless of where it's taking place or who else might be performing. That some can't see that there are some things that are more important than sports, message boards, rivalries, etc... is pretty sad. Williams and everyone else taking part in this event should feel good about themselves for raising money that will eventually benefit children who really need the help.

There are few things more important than helping others and the involvement of celebrities in charitable causes garners those causes much more attention than they would otherwise, plus raises a significant amount more money than they would without those people's involvement. It's amazing how many people don't realize that the involvement of those that are well-known is central to any kind of significant development and fundraising work. That's why most charitable causes try to enlist celebrities to get involved. But a lot of people think that the celebrities must have self-serving motives for getting involved. That may be true for some celebrities but I would say a significant amount of them are simply trying to help others.

When Jeff Gordon donated $1 million of his own money towards the children's ward of a hospital many people questioned his motives and said he was just doing it for good publicity, that if he was really serious then he would have made the donation secretly. I guess those fans don't realize that in a lot of cases it's the cause that wants to publicize the celebrity's involvement. They know full well that people are more likely to support causes that they know their favorite drivers, actors, musicians, etc... donate time or money to. And $1 million is quite a bit of money, even for Gordon, just to get himself some positive press.

When celebrities become involved with charitable events in terms of making appearances there's no doubt that more tickets are sold than they would be otherwise. Take the Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing that I went to that raised over $40,000 for several causes including the Victory Junction Gang Camp, the Autism Society of America, the Susan G. Koman Breast Cancer Foundation and the Village of Bellport Concert Series. While a lot of people would have come to remember Tom Baldwin regardless of who was there no doubt there would be less golfers and much fewer spectators without the involvement of the Nascar drivers, crew members and TV broadcasters. Some complain and say that the celebrities are multi-millionares who should be donating their money not just their time but no one knows how much money these folks might donate to causes they believe in without fans ever hearing about it.

In addition, just as there are charitable causes that fans believe strongly in, the same is true for celebrities. Michael Waltrip put together Operation Marathon to benefit the Victory Junction Gang Camp and it was because he dearly wanted to do something to raise money for the camp because of what good work they do and also because of how close he is to the Petty family. He made a major committment in terms of time and effort to Operation Marathon and my guess would be that along the way he's donated some of his own personal momeny separate from what he raised via OM as well. Elliott Sadler and Jamie McMurray raise money for autism because their families have been touched by it. Curt Schilling raises money to combat ALS/Lou Gehrig's disease because it's a cause he feels strongly about and I know for a fact he has no problem donating his own money to that cause. U2's Bono crusades against poverty because that's a cause he feels strongly about. The list goes on and on. It's like some feel that once people have a lot of money they become uncaring, unfeeling robots who only think about themselves. That is far from the truth.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:38 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip to Race Before Home State Crowd This Weekend in Kentucky

Waltrip Holds Court in Homecoming

In the above article Michael downplays that racing in his homestate feels any different than it does anywhere else but I'd guess that there probably is a little extra incentive to win when he takes to the track in Kentucky. Michael grew up in Owensboro, about 160 miles from the Kentucky Speedway where he will race in Saturday's Busch race. I would imagine that since the track isn't too far away from his hometown there will probably be lots of people from Owensboro who will come to see him race. It's probably really weird for some of those people who knew him as a kid to see him now as a well-known Nascar driver. If he won on Saturday that would be a very popular win indeed!

However, Michael has not enjoyed the same level of success with his Busch team that he has in Cup. So far he's yet to have a top five in the nine races he's run in his Busch car which stands in stark contrast to his Busch season last year which featured a win already at Nashville and during which he posted nine top tens. Someone on one of the boards I freqent mentioned that it's seemed like they've struggled since Bobby Kennedy left for Michael's brother's truck team and it may be a matter of needing some good personnel to take his place. Michael has a lot of sponsors at Michael Waltrip Racing so there's money coming in besides his own funds, but it takes a significant amount of money to run competitively, even in Busch, so I think even for Michael who isn't of limited financial means by any stretch of the imagination, might have a tough time just like all the other Busch teams when it comes to competing with the Cup-backed teams. Of course Michael has some support from DEI for things such as engines, but it's not the same as one of the Hendrick, DEI or RCR cars that are funded, built and staffed completely from those organizations with sometimes seemingly unlimited funds, resources and personnel.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:49 AM | Comments (0)

Big Unit Strikes Out 11 in Complete Game Win

Yankees 6, Pirates 1

For the first time in fourteen starts as a Yankee, Randy Johnson had a double-digit strikeout game as he dominated the Pittsburgh Pirates in fine fashion. It wasn't a shutout like Mike Mussina pitched on Tuesday, but The Big Unit was still extremely effective, giving up just five hits, walking no one and pitching a complete game. Over the course of his last two starts Johnson has given up just one run. What's incredible is that this is the first time this season that Johnson has won two consecutive starts - when the Yankees traded for him I think most fans assumed that he would win just about every start. Aside from Johnson's outstanding performance on the mound what was great that the Yankees finally played a game that moved quickly. The time of the game was a very managable two hours and nineteen minutes. Some of the Yankees games this season have just seemed to drag on and on and on, but I guess that's what happens when the team isn't playing very well. But suddenly they look like a much improved team. And while I'm not sure how long it's going to last it sure it great to see it now.

John Flaherty caught Johnson for the second start in a row and Joe Torre indicated that he would catch his next start as well instead of regular catcher Jorge Posada. It might just be coincidence that Johnson has pitched so well with Flaherty as his catcher but it had seemed at times as if Posada and Johnson had trouble getting on the same page. So if Flaherty behind the plate helps Johnson, I have no problem with him being there. Some feel that if Flaherty becomes Johnson's personal catcher that will become a problem in the post-season when Posada will be behind the plate for every game. But right now the Yankees are in a position where they need to do everything they need to do to win as many games as they can to get to the post-season because that definitely isn't a sure thing this season. So if Johnson getting a personal catcher is something they have to do then so be it. Flaherty wasn't a total zero at the plate either as he got two hits.

I suspect a lot of fans figured that Jason Giambi would follow-up his big homerun in Wednesday night's game with an 0-fer last night. Not so. Giambi had an RBI double, walked and scored two runs. That's not bad for a guy who at times this season has looked done at the plate. Only time will tell if this is just a brief hot streak or a sign he's back on track but I have my fingers crossed that he will be able to keep hitting. Other hitting stars last night were Hideki Matsui with a first inning two-run homerun and Gary Sheffield, who had been just 4 for his last 25, who hit a two-run double with two outs in the fourth.

This weekend inter-league play continues as the Chicago Cubs come to town. I'll be at the game on Saturday and I hope it's a good one for the Yankees!

ETA: I forgot to mention one of the most important things about last night's win - the Yankees swept the Pirates! Which is huge considering how badly they were playing last week. Sure, the Pirates aren't exactly a powerhouse team but a sweep is a sweep and if the Yankees win a few more series in such descisive fashion they will be in much better shape than they are now.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:26 AM | Comments (0)

June 16, 2005

Photo of the Day - Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon, Las Vegas, Nevada, January, 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)

Most Teams Do Some Sort of Drug Testing

In this week's Nascar Scene there's an article about the drug testing policies of the various race teams and as it turns out the majority of them are much more pro-active than Nascar. Robert Yates Racing is the most strict of all the organizations, testing every single employee. Most organizations will test all potential employees. Those companies are DEI, Penske, Gibbs, Evernham, Hendrick and Ganassi. Some also follow up with random drug tests of employees each year such as DEI and Penske. The others will test all employees initially and then only follow-up if there is some suspicion that someone is using. Three teams follow Nascar's lead and only test when they suspect there's a problem and those are Petty Enterprises, RCR and Bill Davis Racing.

What the teams do when an employee tests positive varies as well. DEI and Penske both have zero tolerance for those that fail a drug test as they feel that they can't have people working in a potentially dangerous environment who are under the influence of anything that might effect how they do their job. What was most interesting to me is Richie Gilmore's comment, "We actually lost a good employee over that. He failed his drug test. It was random and we had to let him go. He was one of our great employees." That opens all sorts of questions as to who that person might be. Perhaps it's someone who fans would never have heard or perhaps it's a name they might recognize who left the company under unexplained circumstances. We'll never know but it certainly does make one wonder. Some of the other companies such as Hendrick and Ganassi make a determination about what consequences an employee who tests positive will face on a case-by-case basis. I assume that's because in some positions drug use is more dangerous than others, plus they would want to give employees the opportunity to get help and clean themselves up if they can.

Despite all the teams saying that they won't tolerate drug use I wonder if their intolerant attitude towards drug use would change if it were a driver or crew chief to test positive. Would the companies with zero tolerance policies bend those rules? I'd like to think that they wouldn't treat the drivers and crew chief any different than any other employee, just like I would hope that Nascar wouldn't look the other way if a top-tier driver tested positive. But there is so much tied up in the drivers especially and there would probably be a huge temptation to quietly force the person to seek outpatient treatment while carrying on with business as usual.

When Shane Hmiel tested positive it got, and still continues to get, quite a bit of coverage from the media who cover motorsports. But for the most part there's not been a huge amount of coverage in the mainstream media about Hmiel, besides brief mentions, that I saw. But if a top driver in Cup tested positive it would be a huge story that the mainstream media wouldn't ignore. So I can see all involved parties trying to keep a lid on a positive drug test for a big-time driver. Nascar has always touted themselves as a family sport that doesn't have the problems that other sports do and a positive drug test by a big-time driver would not fit in with that image that Nascar tries to cultivate. Which is personally why I think they only test when they have "reasonable suspicion." Because they just aren't too anxious to discover exactly who might be taking something on the banned list. Especially if they really do have zero tolerance for anyone who fails a drug test.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:55 PM | Comments (0)

You Had to Know This Was Coming...

Book and Movie Deal for Felt Family

The family of Mark Felt, recently revealed as Deep Throat, have signed a deal with PublicAffairs Books for a book to be published on Felt's life. In addition, Universal Pictures has optioned the book for a movie that will be produced by Tom Hank's production company, Playtone. Speculation is that Hanks could possibly play Felt in the movie. What's interesting is that apparently the family had a difficult time getting publishers interested in their book proposal which surprises me a little considering how much public interest there is in how Felt operated as Deep Throat. But apparently there was concern about Felt's mental condition as well as the publication next month of a book by Bob Woodward that would compete with the Felt book.

The Woodward book is being rushed to print and I imagine that Woodward might have been working on this book for quite some time in anticipation that the day would finally come that Deep Throat would be revealed to all. Otherwise I don't know how they could get it in print so quickly. Based on an article Woodward wrote that I read in Newsday when Deep Throat's identity was first revealed the book should be fascinating. July 7 is the release date for Woodward's book and this will probably be the rare book that I don't wait for it to come out in paperback before I get it.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:57 AM | Comments (0)

June 15, 2005

The Giambino Strikes!!!!

Jason Giambi Finally Comes Through With Big Hit

To say that Jason Giambi hasn't had a good 2005 is an understatement to say the least. He's been awful at first base and barely any better at the plate. But at least for one night he looked like the Jason Giambi of old, hitting a game-winning, walk-off, clutch homerun in the 10th inning to give the New York Yankees a 7-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. I was so thrilled to see Giambi hit that homerun! It was huge too - it seemed to take forever for it to land! The best part was when Giambi got to home plate every single one of his teammates were there waiting to celebrate and offer congratulations. And they all seemed genuinely thrilled both for him and that they won the game.

I have no illusions that Giambi is suddenly going to be on fire at the plate. The reality is that he will never be the MVP-type player he once was. He may not ever even be able to be an adequate player. However, hitting that homerun had to give him a huge boost of confidence and make him feel like he can contribute to the team. Being in a positive mindset and knowing that he is responsible for the Yankees win tonight, instead of stewing over all the negativity about how much he's failed the team, can only help Giambi. It's just wishful thinking I know, but it would be awesome to see Giambi put together a few solid games at the plate. For himself and for his team as well.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day - Paulinskill Viaduct

Paulinskill Viaduct, New Jersey, April, 2005. Usually each spring I take a ride out to the Paulinskill Viaduct but this year I didn't get out there. Which is a shame because there's more and more talk that an active train line is going to be put in across the viaduct which means that access to it will surely be restricted. That's very unfortunate because as I've noted before it is a very cool place. I'm not sure we'll get there in the summer due to the bugs and how overgrown it probably gets underneath but hopefully we can visit in the Fall. I'm sure we'll always be able to walk around underneath but it would be cool to be able to get up top at least one more time.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:44 PM | Comments (0)

Yankees Announce Plans for New $800 Million Stadium

Would Be Ready for 2009

I'm not quite sure what I think of this yet, particularly since I haven't heard all of the specific details of what the plan entails. But at a news conference today, the Yankees unveiled plans for a new stadium that they would pay for themselves. Pending approval by various governmental entities since the state would have to contribute $70 million for parking and presumably some of the other projects around the new stadium such as the creation of a new park, improvments to the subway station, a new Metro-North station, etc..., the Yankees would like to start construction next year for a targeted completion in 2009. The current Yankee stadium would be turned into some sort of museum.

As much as I love the history and tradition of the current Yankee Stadium there is no doubt that the stadium is outdated. From the Yankees point of view that there are just 18 luxury boxes is a major problem so the new stadium would potentially have as many as 60 luxury boxes. From my point of view I would be very happy with improvements to the consessions as all the newer stadiums seem to do an excellent job of offering fans quite a variety of food and beverage choices in much roomier areas than what is now present at Yankee Stadium. Of concern is that there will be 5,000-6,000 less seats which might present a problem considering it is already very difficult to get tickets to games. Otherwise, I can't say that I love the idea or hate the idea - perhaps a new Yankee Stadium just doesn't seem real yet.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:24 PM | Comments (0)

Kodak To Stop Making Black and White Photo Paper

Ilford, Other Companies Will Still Sell It

In another sign that digital photography is rapidly making film photography obsolete, Kodak, the world's largest film manufacturer, has announced that they will stop production of black and white photo paper, though they will continue to make black and white film and processing chemicals. The reason being is that as more people move to digital ways of taking photos they are less and less likely to use traditional film cameras, therefore even less likely to be developing and printing their own black and white photos. Kodak as a whole has had to make quite a few adjustments to the digital revolution since their entire business was based on film. So they have turned their attention to the digital market with digital cameras, inkjet paper, photo kiosks and online photo finishing, x-ray machines, etc... Though Kodak will no longer be producing black and white photo paper, several other companies will still make it including Ilford, though they've had financial difficulties as of late.

I learned photography by taking black and white photos and then developing the film and printing the photos myself at the photo lab in my high school. I still have a lot of those prints. So I have always had a fondness for black and white photography. While there will always be black and white photography as it is still very popular with digital photographers, there is something about controlling every aspect of the photography process manually, by hand, from taking the photos to developing the film to making the prints that is really satisfying. Of course these days the ease of digital photography appeals to most photographers. There's no doubt that traditional black and white photography that involves printing one's own photos is a time-consuming process. But it is a unique one and I'm glad that I got to experience it all those years ago.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:30 PM | Comments (0)

Las Vegas Centennial Cake Not Free After All

Cake Cost $95,000

Somehow the Las Vegas Centennial Celebration Committee thought that that the humongous cake, measuring 102 feet long, 52 feet wide and 20 inches high and weighing over 130,000 pounds, that they served to thousands of people as part of the Centennial Celebration was a donation from Sara Lee. Not so fast, says the spokesperson from Sara Lee who indicated that the only agreement was to deliver it at a discount. So the committee will have to pay $95,000 for the cake. Which given that the retail value of the cake is $250,000 is still a substantial discount, especially considering the cake had to be baked in North Carolina and then shipped to Las Vegas which was probably no easy task. Seems like that's a pretty big misunderstanding for the committee to think they're getting it for free and Sara Lee expecting to be paid $95,000.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:19 PM | Comments (0)

Mike Mussina Pitches Dominant Five Hit Shutout

Yankees Beat Pirates 9-0

Everything worked perfectly for the New York Yankees last night as the Bronx Bombers' offense, defense and pitching combined for a strong 9-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates in inter-league play. Best of all was the outstanding pitching of Mike Mussina who pitched a complete game five-hit shutout in which he struck out six and walked just one. Mussina was perfect into the fifth inning until Daryle Ward hit a grounder over first base that both Jason Giambi and Mussina mistakenly thought was a foul ball. But Mussina didn't get flustered and the Pirates were unable to get anything done against him. An absolutely wonderful pitching performance for Mussina and I'm sure it had to have given his teammates some extra incentive to raise their own level of play last night so his fine pitching didn't go to waste.

Mussina has struggled at times this season but he has also shown flashes of being the ace-like pitcher that he has been in the past. Last night's game was probably his best game of the season. Mussina threw just 109 pitches, 76 of them strikes. With last night's game he lowers his ERA to 3.89 which isn't bad and his record is 7-4 which isn't terrible either. With some help from his teammates Mussina could end up with a pretty decent season. Unfortunately Mussina has suffered from a lack of run support from the Yankee hitters on occasion which has spoiled some great games for him but luckily that wasn't a problem last night.

Starting things off offensively for the Yankees was Hideki Matsui who hit a solo homerun in his first at-bat against Kip Wells. Due to the ankle injury he suffered in Sunday's game Matsui was the DH which I'm sure disappointed a lot of people who were hoping his consecutive games played streak would come to an end. But I think it's going to take a lot more than a minor ankle sprain to keep him out of the lineup completely. Matsui was replaced in the later innings of the game for Ruben Sierra who hit a two-run single in the eighth with the bases loaded. I make note of that hit coming with the bases loaded because recently that has been something the Yankees have struggled with - getting hits with the bases loaded.

Jorge Posada and Gary Sheffield were also responsible for a few Yankee runs but it was good to see Jason Giambi get in on the action as well. He was getting booed but in the fifth inning he hit a double which scored two runs so presumably that made the crowd a lot happier, if only temporarily. I don't really understand how fans think that booing Giambi is going to help. He knows he's been hitting horribly. It's as if they think he's not trying or he doesn't want to hit better. I'm quite sure he does. But if the ability is no longer there all the desire to go better and all the boos in the world aren't going to do much to change the reality of what Giambi is capable of.

Some might say that it's not so impressive that the Yankees played so well against the lowly Pirates but with the way the Yankees have been struggling any dominant game like that against any team is impressive these days. That's a kind of sad commentary on the state of affairs with this team right now. But a win is a win and hopefully tonight they will win again to get themselves going on a nice win streak.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day - Purple House

Cape May, NJ, 2002. There's a neat Victorian house in Cape May that I always like to take a walk by whenever I'm in town because it's all purple. I love the way the house is painted! It's hard to take a picture of it that does it justice but here's a piece of it. I don't think I'd ever paint my own house that color - probably needs a lot of repainting. But it's cool to look at.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)

June 14, 2005

Terry LaBonte to Replace Jason Leffler at Infineon

Will Be Teammates With His Brother

In another sign that Jason Leffler's days as the driver of the #11 for Joe Gibbs Racing are probably numbered, the semi-retired, two-time Cup champion, Terry LaBonte will take his place behind the wheel of the #11 at Infineon. The #11 is outside the top 35 in points and they obviously have some questions about Leffler's ability to qualify the car well enough to make the race, especially considering it will be even harder to qualify than usual with some road-course ringers like Boris Said entered in the field. With LaBonte behind the wheel, the #11 is guaranteed a spot in the race since past Cup champions can take advantage of a champion's provisional in case they don't qualify well and are outside the top 25 in points.

I'm not a fan of Jason Leffler, particularly after his run-in with Michael Waltrip in last season's July Daytona Busch race. He wrecked both Michael and Junior in that race and it looked pretty intentional and I'm not usually one to see intent on the part of most drivers. But in spite of not liking him too much I never thought that he would have this much trouble in Cup. He's not the greatest driver in Nascar but he's not the worst either. More than that he's in a ride with a big sponsor in Fed Ex at a well-funded organization. So while I didn't expect him to light the Cup series on fire I figured he'd be higher in the points than 36th.

So the question is how long will he last in the #11 and who will take his place? It's been said by Gibbs Racing that Leffler won't be replaced mid-season but I'm not sure I believe that. Fed Ex is a big sponsor and I think Gibbs would want to keep them happy. Constantly wrecking out of races, bad qualifying and poor race results can't be very satisfying to them. So I would not be surprised at all to see a change made in a month or two, if not sooner. Ward Burton is an option or perhaps Gibbs will try to get someone from another team such as Sterling Marlin. Or maybe Gibbs will wait until the end of the season so they can see which drivers will be available for 2006 and beyond. They was talk that they tried to sign Martin Truex, Jr. and if that was true my guess would be that if they had been successful we would already have seen a driver change in the #11. But I can't imagine Leffler staying in the #11 beyond 2005.

Unfortunately, while Tony Stewart is doing pretty well this season, Leffler's other teammate, Bobby LaBonte, Terry's brother, has also had his share of problems that have mired him far down in the points. As of late things have seemed to have gotten slightly better for LaBonte but he is 29th in points and every other week seems to fall victim to some sort of bad luck, usually getting caught up in a wreck. This past weekend at Pocono he wrecked himself and that didn't help his cause any. Luckily for him he is also a former Cup champion so even if he sinks lower in the points he is always guaranteed a spot in the race.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:24 PM | Comments (0)

B.J. Hickman - Michael Jackson "Super-fan"

Served with Restraining Order

There were many die-hard fans of Michael Jackson who stood outside the courthouse during his trial to offer their support. But of all those people one fan made quite a name for himself as a Jackson "super-fan." That would be one B.J. Hickman, who is either 18 or 20 depending on different articles, who moved from Knoxville, Tennessee to the Santa Maria, California area so he could be present at the trial every single day. Hickman has two part-time jobs which apparently allow him to support himself in this venture and gave him the schedule flexibility to be there. As the trial dragged on Hickman made quite a name for himself, being extremely vocal in his support of Jackson, waving a sign proclaiming Jackson's innocence, yelling obscenities at those who he views as Jackson foes and making his presence known to such a degree that media outlets took notice and CNN did a profile on him.

But Court-TV's Diane Dimond didn't find Hickman's antics harmless. So last week she filed a temporary restraining order against him which means that he has to stay at least 20 yards away from her. Hickman's response was to show up at court with a lawyer and a spokesman, further adding to the circus-like atmosphere of the proceedings. He's being widely called a super-fan in the media but Hickman's behavior seems somewhat excessive and obsessive to me. When it gets to the point where restraining orders are filed there's a problem. It's hard for me to relate to someone who moves across the country because they love Michael Jackson to begin with, even harder to understand their motives when they allegedly harass members of the media as well just because they don't like them.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:59 PM | Comments (1)

Deep Throat Assigned to Investigate... Deep Throat

How Deep Throat Fooled the FBI

This is a pretty interesting article by The Nation in which they indicate that during the Watergate period when Mark Felt was acting as Deep Throat and feeding information to Woodward and Bernstein at the Washington Post, he had also been assigned to be the FBI's point man to investigate who Deep Throat was. Which gave him the ability to throw the Nixon White House and all others off his scent. The Nation read through some of Felt's old memos in the FBI archives and they revealed how he had to investigate himself. One tactic Felt used to divert suspicion from himself was to throw it on someone else. One memo that Felt wrote in 1972 implicated the county prosecutor in Miami, Richard Gerstein, as possibly being Deep Throat, even though Felt knew no such thing was true. The more that comes out, the more amazing it is what Felt was doing and how he manipulated any number of people and situations.

What's also interesting is that according to tape recordings Nixon and those around him suspected Felt of being Deep Throat but decided that they were powerless to go after him if he was in fact the one leaking information to the Post because of how much damaging information he knew due to his position at the FBI. Which is pretty incredibly that Felt was able to put the President of the United Staes in a position where he felt like he couldn't take action. Felt was somehow able to cover up what he was doing enough to fool a lot of people and prevent those who suspected him from going after him which really speaks to how much time and effort he put into being Deep Throat and making sure he would never be caught. Which he never was - we would still be wondering who Deep Throat was if not for his family's choice to reveal his identity.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:52 AM | Comments (0)

Comments are Re-Enabled

If anyone has anything to say comments have been re-enabled on my blog. They had been disabled months ago due to a potential spamming issue which has apparently been resolved. Hopefully it will continue to not be an issue so I can give people the opportunity to comment here if they so choose.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:49 AM | Comments (1)

Cream Puffs Make Comeback

New "In" Dessert

Apparently the demand for cream puffs is rising and there are places popping up to sell them both fresh in bakeries and also via mail order. In Japan cream puffs are as big as donuts are in the United States so a couple of companies have decided to turn their attention to American consumers and are successfully marketing cream puffs to people with a sweet tooth. I can't say I can recall having seen an increase in cream puff marketing or advertising prior to this article but I have no complaints about an extra supply of cream puffs. Yum! At some spots in Manhattan customers will wait on long lines to get their hands on what they consider to be the best of the best cream puffs. I don't think I'd be willing to wait on a long line for a cream puff - my sweet tooth just isn't that sweet. But reading this article does make me want to go seek out a good cream puff, one of which I haven't had in a very long time.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:17 AM | Comments (0)

June 13, 2005

I Like This Smilie

It's not coming out quite right on this blog for some reason as compared to NYYfans but I think the idea is there. Just makes me laugh.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:36 PM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day - Kasey Kahne

Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing, Bellport Country Club, Bellport, NY, June 9, 2005. Everybody loves Kasey Kahne. So may as well give the people what they want. I wonder if one day Kasey will be more popular than Junior? If I had a magic eight ball to consult I suspect it would say "All signs point to yes." As whether I'll ever know the answers to some of my other burning questions I'd say the eight ball says "outlook not so good."

Posted by silverdsl at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)

More on Hermie Sadler

In the interest of accuracy, or at least as accurate as one can get considering how everyone involved in particular situations are apt to spin, spin, spin everything I have an update to the confusing tale of Hermie Sadler and the #66. Hermie denied that he was being fired from the #66, then just days later announced that he was resigning from the team. Turns out that Sadler wasn't getting fired but the team was putting together a deal with another driver to race in the #66 for five races plus potentially leasing the car to someone for the road race at Infineon. So essentially Sadler would become a part-time driver which he wasn't interested in. So as is often the case the truth of the matter is somewhere in between what was first reported by Jayski and what was next reported in Hermie's statement.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:39 PM | Comments (0)

Kerry Earnhardt to Race the #99 Aaron's Dream Machine at Daytona in July

Will Replace Michael Waltrip

Michael Waltrip was slated to race his own Busch car in the Winn-Dixie 250 at Daytona on July 1. But it was announced today on Michael's site that Kerry Earnhardt will be in the #99 instead. Kerry was in the #99 for Michael Waltrip Racing for three races in 2001 and earlier this season finished fifth in the #98 MWR Busch car at Talladega. In the press release it's said that his fine finish in that race is what led to him being in the #99. However, Michael as everyone knows does exceptionally well at plate tracks himself. Now as much as I love seeing Michael race I actually can't say I have too many complaints about him running one less plate race considering how nervous those races make me.

In the press release, Ken Butler, President of Aaron's says, "Michael and I want to give Kerry the opportunity to make his dream of racing at the top levels of NASCAR happen." So perhaps this is simply about Michael helping someone out as he has been known to do in the past. But putting Kerry in his car is a move that makes me wonder if this is also a favor to someone. It would certainly make sense that Michael would want to make the Earnhardt family happy considering his future at DEI is still up in the air. In any event, hopefully Kerry will get another great finish for Michael Waltrip Racing at Daytona in a few weeks like he did at Talladega.

Nascar Nation actually had some other Kerry related news just a few minutes ago in that the planned test for him with Richard Childress racing at Daytona for this week has been cancelled. Hmmmmm. Probably no connection as Kerry is still supposedly running the #33 for RCR in the Cup race that weekend. But it is interesting. Another interesting item from the past - we never did hear the full story as to why Kerry left the #15 in the truck series. It probably had something to do with sponsorship but the details remain murky.

Kerry gets a lot of opportunities. I'm not sure if that's because his last name is Earnhardt, he actually has racing talent that he hasn't gotten a chance to really show or people just want to help him out if they can. It's really hard to say. His Nascar career really hasn't been impressive thus far but I have no idea if that's just because he's never been in cars competitive enough to show what he can really do. Michael certainly knows what that's like to have people judge him on the basis of poor results even though some of that was due to being in cars that weren't really too good. Maybe it will end up being the same story with Kerry and someday he will really surprise a lot of people.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Jackson Found Not Guilty

Acquitted of All Charges

Unless someone reading this blog has been under a rock today you probably know already that Michael Jackson was found not guilty by a jury of all charges he faced in his child molestation trial. Thus far the jury hasn't said much about why they acquitted him but early comments indicate that the accuser's mother made a terrible impression on the jury, staring at them and snapping her fingers at them. Things like that do matter and I'm surprised that the prosecutation didn't coach her better on how to behave in the courtroom, particularly in relation to the jury. I'm sure much more will be said in the coming days about exactly why he was acquitted but even though I didn't follow the case that closely from what I did hear it seemed as if the credibility of the accuser and his family was going to be a problem so I can't say I'm surprised he was found not guilty. However, that still doesn't convince me that he is truly innocent of molesting children.

What I am sure of is that Jackson's behavior is bizarre and at the very least inappropriate. Adults should not be sleeping in the same bed as children period, except perhaps in the case of parents with sick children or something unusual like that. But Jackson should not have been having sleep-overs with children. Unfortunately what this verdict means is that Jackson will feel that he can get away with anything and he has no motivation to stop his strange behavior or perhaps even the sleep-overs. Somewhere out there I would guess there are probably parents who are willing to overlook Jackson's oddities and let their children come into close contact with him just because he's Michael Jackson. Not to mention a whole host of people who will say "yes" to any request and help him do anything he wants. Scary.

The other effect of his acquittal is that radio stations will now probably play a lot more of Jackson's music than they were while he was on trial. Especially songs like "Beat It" and "Smooth Criminal" which can be used to lead in or out of discussions on his trial. I actually like a lot of Jackson's classic songs but I always feel funny listening to it considering his recent legal problems.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:11 PM | Comments (0)

Cape May Lighthouse

Lighthouse Casts Spell Over Cape May Point

Whenever I go to Cape May I like to try and visit the Cape May Lighthouse and a lot of other people do too. The view from the top is absolutely gorgeous! It's possible to see 360 degrees in every direction and on clear days that's very far! I haven't been able to go to the top as often as I might like because it is a steep and difficult climb up all the stairs which is particularly hard to do in the summer heat, which is when I'm most often in the Cape May area. But it's worth the effort and maybe at some point in the near future I'll be able to go up there again. But the lighthouse itself is really awesome to see, even from the ground.

I really love lighthouses. Even though all of the ones in the United States are unmanned and the their usefulness is increasingly going away due to technological advances like GPS, they are still fascinating to me. Aside from often being very picturesque so I always love taking photos around lighthouses, I also really enjoy reading books about lighthouse keepers and their families. Since some lighthouses are in the middle of the ocean or otherwise in difficult to reach areas, the lighthouse keepers were often stranded there for long periods of time. They also faced many hardships and it's incredible what conditions they sometimes had to put up with, particularly during storms. But lighthouse keepers and their families saved many lives back in the day when lighthouses were still manned.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:06 PM | Comments (0)

Shawna Robinson's Busch Pole Trophy Up for Auction on Ebay

Storage Unit Bill Went Unpaid

Shawna Robinson was one of Nascar's only female drivers and made a few Cup starts through the years with limited success. I have no idea how this happened but much of her personal belongings including the trophy she got for winning a Busch pole in 1994, the only female to do so, were in a storage unit in Charlotte. For some reason the bill on the storage unit went unpaid and the contents were auctioned off to this person who is now selling Robinson's trophy on Ebay. Apparently also in the unit were nine boxes of clippings and magazines that cover her career as well as her first uniform, wedding photos, love letters and other personal momentos. I think it's a very sad commentary that some very personal items in that storage unit will now be in a stranger's hands. She did make five Busch starts this season so it's not like her life is in complete disarray but it really seems strange that the bill went unpaid to the point where everything in the storage unit was auctioned off. Maybe she didn't remember the stuff was there.

If I had some spare cash I would bid on that auction and figure out a way to get that trophy to Robinson. Maybe she doesn't want it anymore, considering her career wasn't exactly outstanding but it still seems like it deserves better than being auctioned off in an Ebay auction to a stranger.

ETA: It's really none of my business but it just unsettles me the idea of personal mementos that should go to her children being auctioned off as racing memorabilia in an online auction. I emailed the PR person of the last organization she was with and perhaps they know how to get in touch with her and will let her know that this stuff is being auctioned off. Maybe they don't care. But I feel like it was the right thing to do to try and let someone know. I just wish I could find a way to directly contact her or one of her representatives.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:43 PM | Comments (0)

June 12, 2005

Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing

Finally I have the time to talk about a very cool event I went to on Thursday. And yes, that is me in the photo above sitting next to my favorite driver Michael Waltrip. Getting to talk to him one-on-one for a few minutes was a definite highlight of a few fun day! I'm sure not too many people will have the patience or the interest to read all of this but it's pretty much just a way for me to have a way to remember all that happened.

So let me begin from the beginning - Tom Baldwin, the father of Kasey Kahne's crew chief, Tommy Baldwin, Jr., was a legendary modified series racer who lost his life in a racing accident last August at Thompson Speedway in Connecticut. Baldwin lived on Long Island where he also had a business and apparently other than racing golf was another of his passions. So a golf outing featuring Nascar drivers, crew members and TV personalities was held last Thursday as a memorial but also as a way to raise money for some very worthy charities including the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Of course when I found out that Michael Waltrip might be there I wanted to attend but I also had some personal reasons why I wanted to go which I am not going to detail here. I wasn't sure how the day was going to go but as it turned out it was an outstanding day!

What worked really well about this event was that all the spectators were divided into groups of five or six and assigned to various holes. So when each "celebrity" came around with their golfing group it made it very easy to talk to each person for a few minutes. At first, since I have a bit of social anxiety, it was difficult for me to know what to do with myself. But then I decided that it was too good of an opportunity to talk to these guys in a relaxed setting to pass up so I approached as many crew members, drivers and everyone else as I could to chat with them and find out what they do at the track. The biggest turnout in terms of crew members was naturally from Evernham Motorsports, where Tommy Baldwin, Jr. works.

I talked to a bunch of crew members from the #19 team of Jeremy Mayfield and the #9 of Kasey Kahne but the two who stick out in my mind are Mike Shiplett, car chief of the #19 and Alan "Boo" Whitiker, shock specialist for the #19. I had a bunch of questions that I thought of to ask the crew members to get conversation going such as "What do you do?" "Have you been to Long Island before?" "How long have you been with the #19?" "What other teams have you worked with?" etc... And it ended up working out really well. Shiplett in particular had a lot to say and shared some thoughts with us about what might happen at Pocono this weekend. He thought that it might not be very exciting racing (right) but also that there would be a lot of blown engines due to veterans forgetting that they shouldn't be shifting (wrong). He also said that some of Nascar's new rules that were meant to help the teams save money don't save them much at all - no surprise there. I realized later on that Slugger Labbe would probably have been there except that he's still recovering from Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. (Unless he was there and I missed him but I probably would have recognized him). It's unfortunate he wasn't there because I would have liked to have seen him again. He was very nice to Jim and I when we saw him in Dover when he was still Michael's crew chief.

The first driver who rolled up on his golf cart was Kasey Kahne and as soon as he pulled up he looked over at those of us assembled with a look of fear. Now, it's not like there were a hundred people there. More like 15 maximum. Five of us fans, three event staff including Tammy Baldwin, Tom's daughter/Tommy's sister, who he knows, Mike Shiplett, who he also knows and some other golfers. So not really an unmanagable group. But still Kasey looked like he wanted to hide to the point where I wasn't sure he was actually going to come over to us. I even commented to Mike that Kasey looked frightened and he confirmed that Kasey is indeed "a timid one."

But Kasey managed to sign autographs, barely saying a word, and posed for photos. I put my arm around him while I was taking a photo with him and instantly regretted it because he didn't put an arm around me as most do when taking photos like that. I felt bad afterwards because I realized with how shy he is me throwing an arm around him might have made him even more skittish than he already was. But he seemed okay afterwards so I suppose there was no harm done. He wandered over to talk with Tammy Baldwin and even with her he was extremely soft-spoken. He was swinging a golf club around and it was revealed that his golf game could use some major work. Which is a surprise because I thought that almost all of these guys get to be fairly decent because they end up golfing so often. At one point I said something to him and he actually answered me but again, he was so quiet and he seemed to have trouble actually looking at me. Tammy congratulated him on getting his first Cup win and he said "finally!"

My impression of Kasey is that he seems very fragile and child-like in some ways due to how shy he seems to be. To have lasted in this sport and to be such a good racer he must be a strong person but I have a hard time figuring out how he's managed to survive. Most of the appearances he does involves way more people than what he faced on Thursday so how he deals with it being as timid as he is, I'll never know. The crazy thing is that I've heard that he used to be even more shy than he is now! I hope for his sake he learns how to come out of his shell even more because with the way his popularity is growing he's going to find himself being pulled at by lots of people even more than he already is. I heard that at Pocono that a fan got upset with him for sticking by his PR person and not signing autographs on pit road even though his entire crew did. I think I read somewhere that he signed at another point and there's no way of signing for everyone at the track. But beyond that with how shy he seems to be I don't think it's as easy for Kasey to deal with screaming fans waving things at him as it is for other drivers. So I anticipate more stories of fans being upset at being dissed when they might not realize how shy he is.

Following close behind Kasey was Michael Waltrip. Real big surprise there! Michael seems to have taken a liking to Kasey, perhaps because he wants to take him under his wing knowing how timid he is, perhaps just because he likes him as a person but whatever the reason Michael seems to enjoy being around him. That and he likes to joke about Kasey being "cute." So as someone mentioned that they had found out on the last hole that Kasey is "cute." Michael quipped that everyone is cute in their twenties but when they're his age no one is cute (I beg to differ!) and they end up wearing hats like he was wearing. I suspect Michael has a bit of a complex when he's around the much younger and smaller Kasey.

What was cool was that Michael recognized me right away when he saw me and gave me a big smile. That really thrills me that my favorite driver recognizes me! Granted in the couple of times that I've encountered him I've been lucky enough to spend a bit more time around him than just a minute here or there at an appearance but it still surprises me that he remembers me months later given how many people he meets. He greeted me when I first went up to me and again I was amazed that he recognizes me. He flashed that big smile at me and I imagine it makes him feel good to see fans that are familiar to him that he knows are big supporters of his. I had him sign a card for someone I know who is undergoing major surgery and then I took a photo with him. Unfortunately both photos that were taken of us came out horribly - one we're looking somewhere other than at the camera and the other I'm blinking. Yeah, I don't know how it's possible to blink in a photo where there's no flash either! Maybe I was just overwhelmed by being in his presence - I try to be cool about it but there's no doubt that I'm a nervous wreck because he is my favorite driver.

Each time I see Michael I give him a good luck stone and this time was no different. I drew a design loosely inspired by the sun on a wave-smoothed rock I had found on Marginal Way in Ogunquit, Maine. I figured that there had to be a lot of luck in a stone that is able to survive taking a beating on the rocks without breaking apart. I did explain a bit of this to him but I left out that I thought that kind of stone was appropriate to give to him because he too is a survivor - 16 years in Nascar before his first win yet he stuck with it and he's still there in spite of getting jerked around at times. It's funny but apparently when I told him that I had something for him he said, "Lay it on me sister!" But I didn't hear that because I was in such a daze that I was talking to him. After I gave it to him he told me that he wasn't going to "use" it that day, he was going to put it in his pocket and save it for this weekend. Of course I was immediately curious about how he might "use" the stone, how he was going to make sure not to use it on Thursday and whether he actually intended on having it with him at Pocono. In light of how well this weekend went for him now I'm really curious as to whether he had the stone with him! I hope that the good luck in that stone rubbed off on him not only for this weekend but for the future as well!

But the best was yet to come. I had gone back to put down the card I had Michael sign and when I turned around I saw that he had gone to sit in the shade by himself while waiting for his turn to golf at our hole. Now, normally I hate to be one of "those" fans who go over to the drivers and bug them when they'd rather be alone. So I had really huge reservations about approaching him. But I saw that he looked relaxed and his body language was very open so I figured he was in a good mood. And I had told myself that if I got a chance I wanted to put in a good word about Brooke, his publicist at Michael Waltrip Racing, because she's always been so great to me and he is her boss.

Talking to strangers, and that's really what Michael is to me in spite of having seen him a few times before, isn't easy for me. So I was extremely nervous. But I half sat, half knelt down next to him, being careful not to get too close because I didn't want to get in his personal space and annoy him. And I just started talking. First about Brooke and then the conversation went from there. Nothing of significance, just about the weather, Long Island, golfing, the folks he was golfing with, his golf game (he insisted he's terrible even though he was one of the better golfers out there), just casual small-talk to pass the time. Inside I was really quaking and I wasn't sure what to say to him but hopefully that didn't show on the outside. Of course afterwards I thought of all sorts of things to ask him about but it's probably better that none of that came to mind so we just had a normal conversation more like any two people, not fan and driver. In fact there was only one mention of something racing related when he told me that Pocono is one of his favorite tracks. I'm not even sure where that came from as it seemed like he busted out with that out of the blue.

Time seemed to be moving really slowly while I was sitting there with him, probably because I was so incredulous that I was actually sitting there having a conversation with him one-on-one. But eventually someone came over to take a photo of us. It was funny because she asked me whether she could take a photo of us and didn't give him much of a choice! But I'm really glad that photo got taken because it's the one above that came out really great. It's pretty obvious based on the look on my face how happy I am to be talking to him and he has a big smile on his face too which is cool to see. Deej and her sister sat down with us for a minute or two but then it was just about Michael's turn to golf so he got up. I was shaking so badly after that when I went to take some more photos of him golfing and then sitting on his cart before he left that some of them didn't come out too good because I was beside myself with excitement and happiness. I try to stay so collected when I'm around well-known people, including my favorite drivers and baseball players, because I don't want to come off like a crazy fangirl. But the truth is that being around my favorites excites me just as much as anyone else, I just try to keep most of that excitment inside. I really can't believe I had the courage to go over to him and I truly hope that I wasn't bothering him, though if I didn't go over I'm sure someone else would have eventually.

Bob Dillner from Speed was one of the next to show up and he started looking at me pretty intently as soon as he got out of his golf cart. He shook everyone's hands and when he shook my hand he said that he was sure he knew me from somewhere. I was sure that I didn't know him from anywhere but after a minute or two he asked me again. Well, as it turns out Bob is from Long Island and before he worked for Speed he worked at News 12 Long Island, the cable news station out here. At the same time he was at News 12 I was working in public relations at Hofstra University and we worked extensively with News 12. I would go to News 12, see folks from News 12 at events and they would come to our events so my guess is that during that time our paths probably crossed multiple times. In thinking about it I think I can vaguely remember him at News 12 but it was quite some time ago. In any event he was fun to talk to. I think Larry MacReynolds might have come by before Bob but I took a ride to the ladies room and didn't really interact with him much when I got back.

Next up was Tony Eury, Jr. None of us had any idea that he was going to be there and that was quite a thrill seeing him because of how awesome he is doing as Michael's crew chief this season. In fact when I first complimented him on having a great season he thought I was talking about Michael but I clarified and said that he too is doing great this season. And he is - there's no doubt that a big reason for Michael's success in 2005 is because of Eury. Just like all the others I ended up asking him if he had ever been to Long Island before and he said no. But he told us that he always goes to Manhattan every New Year's for some partying and fun which is a good way to kick off the new year before it's time for Daytona. He said that he much prefers country living to city life and that he lives outside of Charlotte in Kannapolis which is great because it's out in the country but an easy drive to everything.

Of course Tommy Baldwin came around eventually and he thanked us for coming. I didn't get to talk to him too much though I got a photo with him but someone asked him what other "celebrities" might be coming our way. He mentioned Richie Gilmore, Director of Motorsports at DEI, who we hadn't seen yet. And we never did end up seeing him. I don't know if that was because he had been there and left or he was keeping a low profile and we missed him. I suspect the later is true because he would have seen the people in my group with Michael Waltrip gear and the woman with the Earnhardt shirt and not wanted to hear it about the sad state of affairs at DEI right now. I highly doubt anyone in our group would have gotten too aggressive with him but I guess he had no way of knowing that.

Kyle Petty was one of the last to come to our hole. I had him sign a photo that was taken when we were in Las Vegas for Operation Marathon related events and he joked with me about whether I was going to run the next marathon they did for OM. I don't know if that's because he remembered me saying to Michael within his earshot after being asked that I couldn't run the 5K, just walked it, bringing up the rear. But at any rate, I asked Kyle about possible future OM events and he said that he and Michael had just been talking about it that morning, and that they might not run a full marathon but perhaps a half marathon or other 5Ks. I really hope that there's some other event that I can go to because not only is it a lot of fun but it makes me feel good to be able to donate to such a worthy cause and at the same time support my favorite driver.

As the day went on I got to talking to Tammy Baldwin a bit since she overheard that I worked for Hofstra and she knew people that went there. As it turns out she's in events planning just like I am and she's doing something really cool. She specializes in putting together small, specialty weddings at bed and breakfasts or other unusual locations. It definitely sounded like a very fun job! At one point I mentioned Steve Park who she grew up with on Long Island. It was neat hearing her talk about how she used to play with him in the sandbox then lost touch with him, only to end up spending a lot of time with him as an adult for a while when she dated Matt Yocum, a good friend of his. Tammy had a lot of good things to say about Jessica, Steve's girlfriend now and then. It's been seven years since Tammy has seen either Steve or Jessica but assuming they are both the same as they were then, Tammy said that they are "meant for each other," which was neat to hear because Steve having someone who makes him happy is a very good thing.

She also mentioned a few things about Jessica and there are definitely a lot of misconceptions about her out there. First, that she's only with Steve for his money. Well, I had already accidentally stumbled across the information that Jessica comes from a very well-off family herself and Tammy confirmed that. So it's definitely not money and I would say not status either that keeps Jessica with Steve - it's a real relationship which is probably a disappointment to a few people. Tammy also mentioned that Jessica wasn't treated well by quite a few of the other driver's significant others because of her age, attractiveness and questions about her motives for being with Steve. But Buffy Waltrip was the only one who was nice to her and they've since become good friends. Which is no surprise that Buffy would reach out to the girlfriend of her husband's close friend.

Lastly was Matt Yocum, Tammy's ex. Conviently she took a ride elsewhere when he came over to our hole. I didn't recognize him at all when he came over and I don't think any of us really talked to him either. By that point we were getting a little worn out since it was such a long day. Not too long after that we collected our things and walked back to the club.

There was one funny thing that happened. Someone, who isn't a driver, that I was talking to asked me if I was going to any races this season. So I said maybe Pocono to which he said, "This weekend?" with excitement in his voice. So I said, no, that I was possibly going in July. So his response was to give me his phone number and tell me to give him a call if I ended up going. Now, I'm engaged so I have no interest or need for anyone's phone number but this person was not at all subtle about any of this so I just took his number and played along so as to not embarass him in front of the many people who were watching and listening in. The funniest part was that later on he sent one of the event staff back to tell me to give him a call and he would get me tickets for Pocono. I just wonder how many other women he gave his phone number to! I know there are some women who think this person is attractive so I'm sure there probably are a lot of women who would be very happy to be in my shoes but given that I will be getting married in September I won't be doing anything with that number.

There was also a women at our hole who was one of the event staff who got extremely rowdy by the end of the day due to how much she was drinking. She was a very, very nice and friendly woman but it's probably a good thing that the drivers, particularly Kasey Kahne came by early in the day. Kasey would probably have ran and hid from her later in the day. But luckily she didn't get too out of hand until the end.

Overall, it was a wonderful day and I hope they have this event in 2006 too!

Posted by silverdsl at 09:31 PM | Comments (0)

Michael Waltrip Finishes Fifth at Pocono!

Carl Edwards Wins

What a weekend for Michael Waltrip! He followed up his first pole in fourteen years with a fifth place finish in today's race. He even led 29 laps in today's race early on which was awesome to see! A fifth place finish is so outstanding, especially considering the car seemed to get way tight for Michael mid-race and he dropped all the way back to 21st. But Michael and the team pressed on and slowly he began working his way back towards the front. A race-ending caution flew on the white flag lap, just as Michael was passing Mark Martin, who suffered a cut tire, so whether he finished fifth or sixth was in some question. But after a review Nascar gave him fifth and I'm so happy for him! Michael moves up to 15th in the points - he's still not in the Chase for the Championship but any move upwards is a good thing. I keep saying it but it bears repeating - if not for the two blown engines, getting wrecked by Jeff Green twice and wrecked by his own teammate Michael would be in the top ten no doubt! Wow! I'm so impressed with the way he's raced this season!

When I saw Michael on Thursday at the Tom Baldwin Memorial Golf Outing I was lucky enough to get to talk to him for a few minutes. He was all smiles and seemed like he was in a good mood. While we were sitting there it seemed like out of the blue Michael said to me that Pocono is one of his favorite tracks. I don't remember exactly what I said in response but I probably expressed some surprise since I don't recall him finishing particularly well at Pocono in the past. But he was obviously feeling confident about his chances at Pocono and I think that positive feeling and a great car from Tony Eury, Jr. really paid off. I'm a very firm believer that positive thinking and good vibes can help the drivers. They've got to have the talent and the car to be competitive but a great mindset goes a long way too.

Quite a few teams experienced tire problems, some of them multiple problems. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was one driver who had more than one cut tire, including one that led to a small fire that had to be extinguished. Junior was able to return to the track but he finished six laps down. Which puts Junior into 16th place in the points standings, one position behind Michael. Which, in all honesty, is a bit of a surprise. But I have no complaints - Michael is finally getting the team and equipment to show that he can race with anyone and hold his own. However, the Junior fans are predictably up in arms. It's not even worth taking up space complaining about the attitude that Junior is more deserving of wins and good finishes than anyone else. Ridiculous.

Something interesting in regards to Junior which will probably be completely lost is that when he had his first blown tire, instead of taking four tires, Junior insisted that they only change two tires for a faster stop. Well, had they not had the second blown tire, a four-tire stop might have paid dividends down the road. As it was discussed on the broadcast that's a call that Steve Hmiel needs to make, even if it means overridding his driver. But he was apparently unwilling to put his foot down which doesn't bode well in my opinion for his tenure as Junior's crew chief or for his ability to do what he needs to do at DEI overall. I think that also highlights the problem between Junior and anyone who might become his crew chief. It will take an exceptionally strong personality who isn't afraid to put Junior in his place if it will help the team get a good finish in the end. Ultimately I think Junior needs to give up some control and learn to trust his team to make some decisions.

But other than Michael's fine finish I can't say this was a very exciting race. But I really didn't expect it to be. A couple of the crew members I spoke to on Thursday predicted that it might not be much of a thriller. And it wasn't. Whenever the leader got out in front they pretty much took off and that doesn't really make for compelling racing if there aren't that many lead changes. Other than when Michael led early on, the race was pretty much dominated by Brian Vickers and eventual winner Carl Edwards. Vicker's second place finish was his best of his Cup career to date. Lately Vickers has raced a lot better and perhaps it's an indication that talk of his Cup career coming to an end is premature. I have no complaints about Edwards winning - he's a decent guy and a very talented racer. I've thought from the moment he stepped into the #99 that he would be a big-time racer in Cup and so far I'm right. I hope he continues to race as well as he has been.

I'm glad that Pocono race two is only next month because hopefully Michael will be able to get an even better finish than he did today!

Posted by silverdsl at 07:53 PM | Comments (0)

Another Dismal Weekend for the Yankees

Yankees Lose 5-3

It gets so I don't even know what to say. Yesterday Randy Johnson pitched an excellent game for the Yankees, going seven strong shutout innings to lead the Yankees to a 5-0 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. But today the Yankees couldn't follow up with a win and they've now lost their fifth straight series in a row. The Cardinals have a very strong team so I knew this was going to be a difficult series for the Yankess but I thought that somehow after Johnson finally looked like the ace he is supposed to be, the Yankees might be able to put together the start of a win streak. It would have certainly made a statement and given the Yankees a shot of confidence to beat such a good team two games in a row. But it was not to be.

Worst is that Carl Pavano pitched well today giving up just one run on six hits over six innings. And the Yankees still lost. That kind of an effort from a starting pitcher should allow the Yankees to win. But Tanyon Sturtze allowed four runs in less than an inning and it was game over for the Yankees. All of this means that the Yankees were a horrendous 3-9 on the road trip and are now two games under .500. Completely unacceptable for a team with this kind of payroll and talent level.

I haven't heard an update to find out how serious it is but apparently Hideki Matsui suffered a leg injury during today's game. That puts his streak of 1,637 consecutive games played dating back to his time in Japan in jeopardy. For his sake so he gets some extra rest that streak should come to an end anyway but it's unfortunate that it might come due to an injury rather than voluntarily. But perhaps with an off-day tomorrow he will be able to rest and will end up being in Tuesday's lineup.

Joe Torre was Captain Obvious after the race saying in response to a question about how the road trip was, "Terrible, I guess." You guess? No guess, I know. This road trip was not only terrible but pathetic and embarassing. A team headed for the post-season can't be playing like this. Torre also said, "We won three games and tried to build on it but we really couldn't put anything together. And if we're expecting to get back into the middle of it and get our confidence back, we need to start stacking some wins." No shit, the Yankees need to start going on a tear and winning a bunch of games. Who didn't know that? But the more important question is will that happen? I'm not really feeling too confident about that right now.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:20 PM | Comments (0)

Many Problems in Texas For Orleans Racing

Numerous Problems Ruin Texas Race for Steve Park

Electrical Problems Ruin Race for Brendan Gaughan

In five races prior to Friday night, Brendan Gaughan had four wins and one second place finish. So one would expect Orleans Racing to have a very strong race for both teams on Friday night. However, that was not to be. Gaughan even had his winning truck "Lonestar" but a faulty battery doomed Gaughan to a 27th place finish. Steve Park qualified well in 11th place and overcame the power steering failing, the shifter breaking and the transmission becoming stuck in fourth gear to be in line for a top ten finish thanks to a good call by his crew chief, Charlie Wilson. However on a final pit stop under green with only nine laps to go Steve came in for a quick splash of gas and was caught speeding off of pit road. According to the post-race report this was due to the transmission problem and it was costly as he ended up finishing 16th, two laps down. Luckily, Steve still ended up gaining one spot in the points standings but I imagine that a top ten would have allowed him to pick up even more positions.

I can only imagine how disappointing this race must have been for Brendan especially considering how awesome he's been at Texas in the past. I'm sure he envisioned getting back to Victory Lane either via the win himself or by being there for Steve. In some ways that has to be a bit heart-breaking. Brendan didn't have a steller rookie season in Cup and it's not been a great season for him in the trucks so a win at a track where he's previously dominanted would have made a nice statement.

The question was posed at SPC as to whether there are problems at Orleans Racing which account for all of the mechanical issues that seemed to have plagued both teams this season. While it's impossible to know for sure exactly what's going on over there I would say that there probably are some issues that need to be addressed. There is no team that isn't going to experience mechanical problems from time to time over the course of a season but there seems to be a lot of costly mechanical issues that have ruined potentially good runs. Brendan has spoken recently about having addressed some issues and about how well everything was coming together for both teams but I suspect they might have some further work to do. It's especially of concern to me when these problems pop up at a track where Orleans Racing should be strong. At that kind of a track where Brendan should be contending for the win, even more attention should be paid to making sure that these issues don't crop up. Of course there's a certain percentage of things that are totally out of the control of the teams but it does raise some eyebrows when both teams have problems.

Mike Snow commented on SPC about how expensive it is to run two truck teams and I wonder if some of the issues facing Orleans are financial ones. As I've harped on before there is no primary sponsor for the #62 and I would guess there's a limit to how much personal money the Guaghan family is willing to put into Orleans Racing in spite of how financially well off they are. More financial resources usually mean better personnel and more money to put into making the trucks as competitive as possible. The personnel factor could be key because if Orleans has trouble luring top people to Las Vegas to work for them because they can't pay them more than a similar team in North Carolina that could present some roadblocks for them.

I've probably said the same thing any number of times in this blog but championship caliber teams have to minimize problems and errors. Not only that but if they do experience problems they have to be able to overcome them. Steve was able to overcome his issues and get into the top ten but sped off pit road. I guess he had no way of knowing how fast he was going but that didn't seem to be an issue for him on earlier pit stops unless the transmission problem popped up after those pit stops. It just seems like almost every race there is some issue that Steve has to deal with instead of just being able to race his way up front. California with the win and Charlotte with the top ten seemed to have been his only clean races so far and that's a shame because he's certainly capable of racing better than the points standings reflect. Michigan is up next week and I have no idea what to expect out of either Orleans Racing team. Even when they're running well you have to hold your breath that the truck isn't going to fall apart or other bad luck isn't going to befall them.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:31 PM | Comments (0)

June 11, 2005

Michael Waltrip On the Pole!!!!!!!!

I don't have time to blog about much but I had to say something about how excited I am that Michael Waltrip is on the pole for tomorrow's race at Pocono! It's his first pole in 14 years! Wow! I bet he had almost given up on ever getting another pole again but he did it! I'm so happy for him! This also means that he will be in the 2006 Bud Shootout. Just really outstanding and a big suprise to a lot of people. But I've always believed that Michael could do anything as long as he's got the car to do it - and he certainly has an awesome car this weekend! Some will go so far as to say that it's all car but the driver behind the wheel has to know what he's doing too. And Michael most certainly does know what he's doing.

When I saw Michael on Thursday he said that Pocono is one of his favorite tracks. I bet it's even more of a favorite now! Qualifying is on tape-delay so I've been watching and even before it's over just after Michael ran he was interviewed and the smile on his face was really something to see. He just couldn't stop smiling! He's got to be so happy right now! I bet by the time qualifying finished that smile got bigger and bigger. Yay!

Apparently the car Michael has this weekend is one of DEI's new chassis and already it's paid dividends for Michael. There's no telling what will happen during the actual race but so far, so good. Tony Eury, Jr. has really done such an awesome job for Michael in terms of setting up the cars for him exactly as he needs it. During the races their communication is really good and Eury is able to understand exactly which changes Michael needs. It's incredible that Junior couldn't work with his cousin but Michael and Eury are working out so well together. That's a partnership that I hope continues beyond this season. Of course the Junior fans aren't too happy right now since Junior didn't qualify very well which means they are directing some of the ire towards Michael. But that's just sour grapes - Michael deserves success just as much as any other driver on the track.

Michael and the entire #15 team should be flying high right now. What a great boost of confidence for Michael heading into tomorrow's race! As I've mentioned before my biggest wish for Michael is that he wins a non-restrictor plate race and while that may not happen tomorrow I have so much confidence that he's going to do it before too long. I can't wait for tomorrow's race!

Posted by silverdsl at 06:41 PM | Comments (0)

June 10, 2005

Domain Problems

Yesterday I didn't post anything here because I was out the entire day at a very cool event which I will have to talk about at some point this weekend and by the time I got home I was exhausted. But today there was an issue with the domain that needed to be resolved so the site was unaccessible for a while. But it should be okay now, keeping my fingers crossed.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:42 PM | Comments (0)

June 08, 2005

Brendan Gaughan to Relieve Mike Bliss at Pocono

Bliss Still Recovering From Hernia Surgery

Mike Bliss had surgery on Monday for a hernia and apparently he isn't up to a full weekend of race activities and particularly not running an entire race. So in addition to running the truck race in Texas Brendan Gaughan will be relieving Bliss in the #0 car during Sunday's Cup race, as well as helping out in practice as well. On Thursday Brendan will practice and qualify his truck in Texas. Then he will head to Pocono on Friday where he will practice the car for Bliss. After that he will fly back to Texas to take part in the truck race. On Sunday Bliss will start the race in the #0 for the points and then at the first opportunity get out of the car and Gaughan will relieve him for the rest of the race. So no matter how well Gaughan races, or how poorly for that matter, Bliss will be credited in the standings with the points. I wonder if they will have to do something like this in Michigan as well where both the trucks and Cup are racing in the same place?

Posted by silverdsl at 04:30 PM | Comments (0)

How Far Would You Go?

A question was posed over on one of the racing boards that I frequent and I thought it was kind of interesting to think about in terms of what fans might be willing to do. The specific question was about how far someone might go in terms of doing some sort of challenge to get hot passes to a race, a tour of a favorite driver's motorcoach and the opportunity to spend an hour one-on-one talking to that driver. When I say challenge I mean something in terms of what contestants on Fear Factor have to do such as eating gross foods or getting in a tub full of maggots. My immediate reaction was no way but then I wondered that was colored by the fact that I already had a similar kind of opportunity in that I got hot passes for a race and got to talk to Michael Waltrip outside of his motorcoach, though no where near an hour, via winning one of the Operation Marathon auctions. So I know it's possible to get to do things like that without having to do anything crazy. I've also heard stories of fans who don't even have to win auctions to have opportunities like that - sometimes they just happen to be in the right time and the right place or know the right people and it happens. So what if I had never had such an incredible experience as I did last year - would I still say that I wouldn't do anything? I think the answer is still no - I wouldn't eat intestines or bugs and I won't get in a tub of worms. Everyone has to choose for themselves what they are comfortable with but to me doing some of those things are kind of degrading. And if I'm in the position to talk to a driver or other athlete I don't want them looking down on me if they might also think that someone putting themselves in that position is degrading or ridiculous.

There's another aspect for some female fans, though this didn't come up on that board. The sexual aspect. What would some female fans be willing to do sexually to get close to their favorite drivers? In racing groupies are called pit lizards and they are certainly present. Those are women who are there solely in the hopes of hooking up with a driver or in some cases anyone who happens to be associated with a team. I wonder if some women, pit lizard or not, might sleep with someone else associated with a driver if they thought it might get them access to that driver. I'd like to think that most women would have more respect for themselves than to do things like that but I think it does happen based on some of the stories that I've heard. Even when I was single I certainly wouldn't have sex with anyone just to get close to a driver.

I guess maybe some people think that the things that I have done are crazy - bidding on the Ebay auction to be Michael Waltrip's guest at a race or going to Las Vegas to support him when he ran the Las Vegas Marathon and take part on other OM events. I guess in both of those cases I knew that I was supporting a very good cause and it wasn't just about Michael, it was also about the Victory Junction Gang Camp. But I don't think either of those things degraded me at all in terms of how Michael or anyone else would view what I was willing to do to meet him. But still some people probably have and continue to pass judgement on me for being willing to do those things.

I might have to think about posing that question about how far fans would be willing to go to meet or spend time with their favorite drivers in a couple of places in the future. I'd also like to hear some of the stories about what people already have done. The answers might be interesting.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:38 PM | Comments (0)

Orleans Racing Website Finally Updated

Orleans Racing

A couple of times I've mentioned in this space about how hard it is to find any information on the Orleans Racing teams, one reason being that the Orleans Racing website was woefully un-updated for a very long time. Well, I'm pleased to say that finally the site is looking good with a bit of a re-design to feature current photos on the front page and also links to current news such as the pre- and post-race reports. In addition, there is now a page with links to all the past news items and it appears that there were pre- and post-race reports done for every race but they just never turned up anywhere. Having all of this information available on the site is really a very good thing for both Orleans teams and it makes it much easier for fans who are looking for information about past races. Not only that but fans love photos and they will surely see an increase in hits to the site with photo albums full of photos from each race.

So what lead to this sudden change on the Orleans Racing website? Apparently it was in the works for a while but all the complaining at SPC by fans is part of what prompted the PR person over there to make it a little higher on his priority list. That's a wise move on his part because it's always important to have current news and information on a company's website. Even more so as the racing season heats up and the truck races are more and more frequent. Fans are constantly looking for information on their favorite drivers and the frustration level increases, the less that's easily available.

Now if someone could just explain why they won't be putting those pre- and post-race notes on Steve Park's offical site as well. That still boggles my mind. There's even a note on his site to that effect with a link to the Orleans Racing page. I just don't understand what the webmaster there knows about why not having that information on Steve's official website is such a good idea as opposed to the PR people and webmasters of every other driver's official site. Those articles are even on Brendan Gaughan's official site so it's not like it's an Orleans Racing thing where they don't want them up on the driver's sites for some reason.

Speaking of Steve's website a while back there was talk about a Member's Only section to his site. There will also be a Member's Only section of Michael Waltrip's site soon. I'm very interested to see how the two compare. Of course I'm biased towards Michael's site but that's a whole other story.

Posted by silverdsl at 01:39 PM | Comments (0)

Pathetic

Yankees Lose Another to the Brewers

Pathetic. Embarassing. Disgraceful. Disheartening. Disappointing. All of these words and so many more can describe the way the Yankees have been playing for the last ten games. I've not felt inclined to blog about the Yankees lately because I'd mostly just be repeating what I've said about them over and over again but the recent stats have gotten so horrible that I've got to express my extreme displeasure with the way things are going for this team. This team has now lost nine of their last ten games and to say that it's not fun to watch is an understatement. I suppose I should wait until the conclusion of tonight's game and the series against the Mikwaukee Brewers but what bother? More than likely, the outcome will be the same - another Yankee loss.

Without further ado let's see the cold hard facts about how bad this team is playing right now. In two games against the Brewers, eighteen innings total, they have only been able to muster eight hits. Seven of those eight hits were singles and the only extra-base hit being a double by Robinson Cano. During this losing streak the collective team batting average is .192. Even worse is that the batting average with runners in scoring position is .141. That's horrible. No team is going to be able to do much winning if they can't get a hit with RISP. That the Yankees set a new record for the longest o-fer with the bases loaded at 0-25 really says it all. 25 times in a row this team has had an opportunity with the bases loaded and 25 times they've failed. No other team has had a longer 0-er streak with the bases loaded since 1973. Add into that the Yankees have lost their last four series in a row and have dropped to under .500. Dreadful.

I'd like to be more positive about this team, really I would. But they are mired in a truly horrific slump and I'm beginning to think it's not just a slump but a true sign that these players, with just a few exceptions, are in a collective decline due to age. If that's the case they can have all the desire to win, heart, passion and fire in the world and it's not make too much of a difference because they're just not going to be able to play baseball on the level that they need to in order to get to the post-season. Of course that decline wouldn't explain the things they can do something about - the mental errors and other sloppy play but perhaps they all realize the gravity of the situation they are in and the pressure to make something happen immediately is getting to them.

Steinbrenner is being way more patient than I figured he would be and hasn't yet ordered anything rash to be done like trade Cano and Wang for Roger Clemens. Nor has he fired anyone but I anticipate that will be happening sooner rather than later. But I suspect that they could fire the entire managerial staff and it won't make that much difference. When you've got an entire team full of veterans they know what they're supposed to be doing out there and how to get it done and the coaching staff probably doesn't have all that much to offer like they might with younger players. Trading away more of the future for another ancient veteran who wouldn't be around for very long would be a major mistake but it's exactly the type of move I expect from the Yankees these days. Of course even getting Clemens might not make a difference because even if he pitches well if no one else does and there's no hitting the team is still in trouble.

I dearly hope the Yankees prove me wrong but as more and more games are played and the losses pile up I think the odds of the Yankees getting into the post-season are looking worse and worse. If that's not enough to get these players playing better then I don't think anything will.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:58 AM | Comments (0)

June 07, 2005

Photo of the Day - Hudson River

Stony Point Battlefield, Stony Point, NY, June, 2005. A view of the vast Hudson River from between the trees.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:43 PM | Comments (0)

Man With Bloody Chainsaw Let Into U.S.

Had Killed Two People In Canadian Hometown

If a man with a bloody chainsaw simply has his arsenal of weapons confiscated and then is let into the United States at the U.S./Canadian border, then what would happen if a terrorist showed up at the border? You know a terrorist isn't going to oblige custom agents by making it as obvious that they're up to no good as this mentally disturbed individual did. The U.S. Customs Agency claims that since he was a U.S. citizen and there were no warrants for his arrest at that time they couldn't detain him, particularly since there's no crime lab up there to tell them if what was on the chain saw was actually blood or not. Meanwhile, he was due in court on that day to face charges for assaulting the son-in-law of one of the people that he killed. Scary.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:02 PM | Comments (0)

Dallas Cowboys Use Photo Without Permission

Will Pay $250,000 To Settle Lawsuit

Back in 2000 Walter Smith of Impact Images took a photo of the Dallas Cowboys' Emmitt Smith which he gave to the Cowboys to potentially use on season tickets the following year. Another design was ultimately used but the Cowboys bought 250 copies of Smith's photo to sell to fans. End of story? Not so fast. Smith (the photographer) discovered, at the Cowboy's booth at the Texas State Fair, that without permission the Cowboys had been using his image on t-shirts, sweatshirts and other memorabilia. So naturally he took them to court as he should.

The terms of the settlement are that the Cowboys must pay Smith $250,000 and agree not to use the photo again. However, there is also a clause in the settlement that Smith is not allowed to ever take photos at a Cowboys game again. I don't understand that. Maybe there are some pieces to the puzzle that are missing but it seems to me that the Cowboys are the ones who screwed up, not Smith. So why should he be barred from taking photos at Cowboy games? Smith was simply going about his business as a sports photographer. And protecting his rights as such when it became evident that the Cowboys had used his image without permission and in a pretty major way. If they don't want to run into trouble with Smith again they simply don't use his images without permission again.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)

*Thud*

Something has just happened which is incredibly cool. In fact so amazing that I'm almost at a loss for words right now. I never in a thousand years thought that kind of an offer would be made, ever. It didn't even cross my mind. It's probably no big deal to the person who offered but to me it's just incredible. I don't know if everything will work out so that it happens but even that this person offered is just amazing to me. Someone who will have to go unnamed is very kind and very awesome! Wow!

Posted by silverdsl at 11:41 AM | Comments (0)

June 06, 2005

Photo of the Day - Leaves

Stony Point Battlefield, Stony Point, NY, June, 2005. I know, I know nothing special. But the for some reason the bright green of the leaves against the blue of the sky looked pretty cool to me.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)

Turns Out Jayski Got It Right Afterall

(From Jayski's in part)UPDATE 4: Hermie Sadler has officially resigned as driver of the #66 Peak Performance Motorsports Ford effective immediately. Sadler has attempted to qualify for all 14 NASCAR Nextel Cup Series events this season, successfully making eight races. The #66 currently stands 40th in the owners' points. Sadler, a veteran racer of 13 years in NASCAR's top three series, agrees that the split is amicable and is the right decision for all involved parties. "I appreciate the opportunity given to me at Peak Performance Motorsports, but I feel at this time it is best that I step aside and allow the team to search for the combination that will help it improve," stated Sadler.(6-6-2005)

Just last week Hermie Sadler denied a rumor posted on Jayski's which said that he was no longer the driver of the #66 car. Hermie's statement was rather strongly worded and criticized Jayski for running this rumor without checking with anyone on the team to verify that it was true. Well, turns out that this was no rumor as Hermie is out of the #66. They're saying that he resigned but sometimes resigned is just a nice way of saying "Asked to leave voluntarily otherwise we'll fire you." Of course they could put Jeff Gordon behind the wheel and I think it's unlikely that the results would be any better. It's simply not a very good ride but that's not surprising since Peak Performance is an independant team which is probably lacking in a lot of resources.

I can only speculate because I'm sure I'll never know but I wonder if Jayski didn't need to check his information with Peak Performance Motorsports because he got that item directly from someone with that team. On one of the message boards I visit someone posted this morning that Hermie was out and that Mike Garvey might be taking his place and said that they had heard this from someone with the team. This was posted hours before anything was posted on Jayski's or anywhere else to confirm this rumor as fact. The end result of all of this is that Hermie doesn't come off looking too good because he released a statement five days ago that says he's committed to racing with the #66 through the entire 2005 season and now he says he's leaving the team. I wonder if Hermie even had a hand in putting together last week's statement and if he had any choice but to put it out in his name? Or if when he put the statement out last week no one at Peak Performance had filled him in completely about their plans? Just kind of odd - it's not unusual for a driver to get a vote of confidence and then be released but usually more time passes before a parting of the ways.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:44 PM | Comments (0)

June 05, 2005

Snoozer in Dover

Gordon vs. Stewart

Usually I have a few entries about the Cup race each Sunday night but there really isn't much to talk about from today's race so it will be all in one big entry. It was that boring that I felt like not much happened and what did happenend isn't important enough for individual entries. Greg Biffle won and I'm really not a big fan of his so I can't say I was too excited by seeing him in Victory Lane.

There's almost always some sort of controvery in every race and today's was Tony Stewart getting into Jeff Gordon and wrecking him. So predictably afterward both men took potshots at each other and blamed each other. As an indication of how boring I found the race today is that my reaction to this after relief that Gordon was okay was - whatever. Yeah, I'm not thrilled that Gordon dropped in the points but I think he'll probably be in Victory Lane again so it's probably not going to matter much by the time it's all said and done. He wrecked - big deal, stuff happens. If it were Michael I'd be a lot more upset considering he can't afford to lose positions in the standings but Gordon will be in the Chase no doubt and he's also not fighting to keep his ride.

Gordon said after the wreck, "All I can say that the next time Tony's holding me up, it won't be very long for him to be out of my way." I really don't like it when guys threaten each other considering that there is an element of danger in this sport and there is the possibility of someone getting injured in a wreck. But that said, I also can't say I'm disappointed about Gordon's show of emotion. He doesn't usually say things like that even if he might be thinking it. I think it shows that even after everything he's accomplished in his career when he could rest on his laurels, he still cares passionately about racing. Stewart said among other things, "Jeff is always whining like that. I mean, if somebody does something to Jeff, it's always their fault, that is just Jeff Gordon." Which I found really humorous because Stewart basically whined about Gordon being angry with him and then whined about Gordon whining. I'm sure the media and the fans are going to make a big deal out of this "feud" but a lot of it is just two guys blowing off steam.

Michael Waltrip had an okay race, finishing 13th. Nothing spectacular but not a bad race either. At one point there was a pretty big radio problem in which he couldn't hear his spotter or crew chief but during a caution they got that sorted out so it didn't really seem to effect them too much. I would have liked to have seen Michael get another top ten but I know he's not going to do that in every race so I can't really complain too much about a 13th place finish. I don't like that he's still only 17th in the points and out of the Chase for the Championship but he did move up one spot. There's not too much else Michael can do about where he is in the standings other than just keep on trying to get as many good finishes as possible and hoping for the best. While I'd love to see him in the Chase I'm not sure that's realistic so I'd at least like to see him finish within the top 15 in points and I definitely think that's do-able. What really gets me is that without some of the bad luck in terms of engines blowing, being wrecked by Jeff Green and his own teammate and some other issues out of his hands Michael would unquestionably be in the Chase. I hope DEI recognizes that.

Dale Earnhardt Jr fans are freaking out over another poor race for him. He finished 22nd which isn't dreadful but sure isn't stellar. I think some people were thinking that getting rid of Pete Rondeau would pay immediate dividends because that's the way DEI has positioned it but I didn't think things were going to turn around so fast. And indeed the car that Junior was given today was pretty stinky. If Junior has an uncompetitive car he's not going to be able to get good results from it no matter how hard he tries. Based on the reports by those who were listening to Junior's radio via Trackpass it definitely didn't sound like the #8 bunch was very happy this week which doesn't bode well for Steve Hmiel being the solution to Junior's problems. Junior remains in 15th place in the points but is no longer in the Chase. If DEI decides to get rid of Michael I wonder how they're going to justify it if Junior isn't much higher than him in the points. Or if he finishes higher in the points than Junior?

The only other thing of note from today's race was the hard wreck between Dave Blaney and Ken Schrader. Blaney wrecked and came back up the track directly into the path of Schrader who hit him head on. There was just no where for Schrader to go. Luckily both drivers were okay but I was worried for a minute. It was really a shame for Schrader because it looked like he had the beginnings of another decent run going. Yes, being in 18th place isn't that great but for the #49 considering they are in no way able to competete with quite a bit of the field any finish in the top twenty is usually a cause for celebration.

But this race really was boring. Hopefully next week's race in Pocono will be better.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:34 PM | Comments (0)

Photo of the Day - Stony Point Lighthouse

Stony Point Lighthouse, Stony Point, New York, June, 2005. Yesterday Jim and I took a ride up Route 9W along the west side of the Hudson River. Periodically we'll just take rides to areas that's we've wanted to check out just to see what we come across. So we came across the Stony Point Battlefield and Lighthouse overlooking the Hudson River. The lighthouse sits on a peninsula that was the site of a battle during the revolutionary war on July 15-16, 1779. Now it's a historic site with awesome views of the Hudson River. It's almost hard to believe that one is looking at a river, the Hudson is so immense. I suspect the battlefield doesn't get many visitors and it was pretty quiet when we were there with only a few other people. Which was cool because we were able to hear all sorts of sounds from the river and also from the wildlife in the woods. A very nice place to visit for a little while.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)

Resurrecting Motley Crue

Part of VH1's (Inside)Out Series

Just by chance Jim and I stumbled upon a fascinating show last night while we were flipping channels before we went to sleep. VH1 has a series (Inside)Out that focuses on celebrities who are facing some sort of personal or professional issue. They call it a documentary but it's more like a reality show of sorts. What "Resurrecting Motley Crue" focused on was the band's management's attempt to get the Crue to reunite to record a few songs to go on a greatest hits package and then go on a two-year tour. So while there were plenty of interviews and scenes with the band members, a lot of the show was done from the management team's perspective and showed a lot of the business side of things in terms of meetings, phone calls, photo shoots, etc... I have no idea how this show came about but I'm guessing that perhaps the management pitched the idea to VH1 as a way to promote the tour and it was an excellent idea. It definitely showed a side of Motley Crue that isn't often seen.

To say there was some resistance from the members of the band about the reunion was an understatement. We missed the first few minutes of the show but my impression is that this idea came from Nikki Sixx as he was pretty much right on board from the start. So was Vince Neil, as long as the personal issues that caused the band to fall apart years before would no longer be problems in the present. Which meant that while the idea of touring with the Crue appealed to him that he and Tommy Lee strongly dislike each other was a major roadblock. Tommy was extremely resistant to the idea, though the exact reasons why weren't really detailed too well. Okay, Tommy talked about a few things but it seemed like really lame reasons as to why he couldn't do the tour. Perhaps the biggest problem was that for a while Mick Mars's where abouts were unknown and then once they did find him his health was so bad that they weren't sure he would be physically capable of touring.

At one point management had a meeting with Nikki, Vince and Tommy to see if there was any possiblity the reunion could happen and I was shocked that Nikki and Vince both came off as semi-intelligent together people, despite all the problems I know they both have, while Tommy came off as immature, selfish and not terribly bright. I had thought some of what he does publically is an act to fulfill people's expectations for him but maybe not. While Nikki and particularly Vince tried to hash out some issues, Tommy's attitude was like he really didn't care about whether or not they worked anything out. That had to be frustrating for everyone else because a lot was going into trying to make the reunion happen.

It can't be emphasized enough how sick Mick Mars was while they were filming this. He suffers from a chronic disease which causes fusing of his bones and not only is it extremely painful but it causes his body to become deformed. So due to what was happening to him after the band broke up Mick became a recluse, addicted to painkillers and wasting away. Both management and Nikki tried to get in touch with him by phone but weren't able to get him so finally they went to his house. That's when they discovered how bad off he was. At the time of their visit he weighed less than 100 pounds and was in terrible condition. Band management got him to a bunch of doctors and really took control of trying to get him as healthy as possible for someone with that disease.

But despite Mick's health problems he wanted to do the reunion so he got hip replacement surgery and gained his strength back. It's incredible really how much he did to ensure that he could tour with the band. When Mick showed up to a photo shoot after his surgery it was the first time Tommy and Vince had seen him in years and they were shocked by his appearance. I can't even begin to describe how frail Mick looked at that shoot. He could barely walk and he was hunched over. The guys in the band clearly had no idea what to say to Mick or what to do. But there's no doubt that this reunion saved Mick's life because without that to focus on he probably would have stayed a recluse. He pretty much said that he was embarassed by his appearance which that's what led to him hiding away and probably contributed to his addition to painkillers.

At a later photo shoot Vince, Nikki and even Mick show up but Tommy is five hours late. That blew my mind - five hours late, they had no idea where he was but they still waited for him. This despite Nikke having family obligations, Vince having flown in from Vegas and Mick still being somewhat fragile. What was incredible to me is that at that point they still had no idea if Tommy was fully on board with the reunion or not. Well, given that Mick got a hip replacement so he could do the tour, Tommy doesn't really have any good excuses for being late or not being fully into the tour. If Mick could do it in his condition, there's no reason why Tommy couldn't. I can't imagine the effort that Mick put into getting himself into a condition that he could do the tour and I'm sure that wasn't lost on his bandmates. Though given Tommy's attitude he might not have picked up on that quite as much as the others might.

I remember back when the reunion was announced Nikki tried to claim that it was a spur of the moment thing and that they just decided to do it. Well, this show proves otherwise. The reunion was planned and worked on for months. Yes, it took a while for everyone in the band to be fully down with the idea but there's no doubt that the reunion was being planned, marketed and sold for months before the official annoucement. And that's the way it had to be if it was going to be a success when it was actually announced as a definite. But the management company had to be holding their breath for a while praying that nothing happened to screw it up.

Overall, a very interesting show. I'm always intrigued by what goes on behind the scenes given that I'm an event planner myself. An incredible amount of work, far more than what was shown on "Resurrecting Motley Crue" had to go into making this reunion happen.

Posted by silverdsl at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)

Two Cool Operation Marathon Items

Michael Waltrip Operation Marathon Sports Center Opens at the Victory Junction Gang Camp

Earlier in the week the Michael Waltrip Operation Marathon Sports Center was dedicated at the Victory Junction Gang Camp. Outside the Center is a pretty cool looking 18-foot charicature statue of Michael and given how awesome everything is at the camp, I'm sure the inside of the sports center is equally as awesome. All of this was made possible because of the $1 million that Michael and his wife Buffy raised via Operation Marathon. The VJGC is truly an amazing place for terminally and chronically ill children and the Sports Center will be used by children at the camp for years to come. The cost of the sports center - $1 million but the children getting to have fun and not think about their problems - priceless.

My donations to Operation Marathon are only a teeny-tiny fraction of a fraction of the $1 million but it still makes me feel really good to know that in some small way I helped to make that Sports Center possible, as did all the countless other people who donated to Operation Marathon. It's really special to me because I made those donations with my grandmother in mind who passed away last spring. At the unveiling of her headstone a few months ago the Rabbi said that since she was a good person who always tried to help other people her memory would live on when the rest of us did things to help other people. So I feel like a bit of my grandmother's spirit lives on at the camp in some way.

The other piece of Operation Marathon news is that Michael and Buffy were honored for what they did with Operation Marathon by the National Motorsports Press Association who named them recipients of the first quarter's NMPA/Pocono Spirit Award. That's pretty cool that they got that award and I hope that they will be honored by other organizations for all that they and everyone at Michael Waltrip Racing and elsewhere did to make Operation Marathon such a success. It really is incredible what was done with Operation Marathon. I think Michael did at least one appearance a weekend to benefit Operation Marathon and considering all his other responsiblities that was a huge committment in time and effort. Of course he ran the marathon at a personal best time which was also no small feat. Truly impressive what he and everyone else who worked so hard on Operation Marathon did. Brooke Hondros, Michael's PR person, did a huge amount of work organizing events and doing countless things behind the scenes as PR people always do so she should feel good about herself too. There has been some mention that they might continue Operation Marathon in the future with other events and I hope that happens.

Posted by silverdsl at 12:07 AM | Comments (0)

June 04, 2005

More Bad Luck for Orleans Racing at Dover

Yes, you guessed it. Another bad race for both Orleans Racing teams, completely due to bad luck. Steve Park was wrecked on lap one of the race in Dover when he was run over by Robert Huffman. Lap one! That wreck also collected another of my favorite truck drivers, Johnny Benson, so I'm not thinking too kindly towards Huffman right now. Mistakes can happen but drivers shouldn't be running over each other on the first lap of the race and it's especially bad when about five trucks are wrecked at the same time.

The race seemed like it would be much better for Brendan Gaughan but with ten laps to go he got a flat and that dropped him back. So both teams ended up finishing worse than they thought they would considering how confident they were in their trucks heading into this race, though Brendan finished 15th which is a lot better than Steve's 36th place finish. Brendan went up in the points standings to 27th which isn't that great but any movement upwards is a good thing.

This was Steve's comment after the race: "I got tapped from behind, but we didn’t even complete a lap. I’m disappointed in myself right now and disappointed for the whole team. There’s nothing left to do but try to get it fixed and go out and salvage as many points as we can." I have no idea why Steve is disappointed in himself for something that was completely out of his control. But if there's anyone who is going to find something to get down on himself about in a situation like this it's Steve because he cares so much about not disappointing other people and about doing well. He must be totally disheartened by the situation today given that he didn't even get a chance to race and he must also feel like he's let people down by not having more good finishes so that he would be higher in the points. And indeed he did take a hit in the standings dropping to 17th in the points. I understand why he's so upset, frustrated, angry and disappointed, yet I wish that he wasn't turning that inwardly on himself. I don't think that's a good mindset for him to get caught up in.

Unfortunately it's not really that surprising. When we talked to Steve in Vegas in January the season hadn't even started yet and he had any number of things that he was down on himself about. And the craziest thing was that none of these things were in any way such a big deal that he should be concerned with it to the degree that he seemed to be when we were talking to him. So I'm not that shocked that after he gets wrecked that he's going to be disappointed in himself, even though there's no way that wreck was his fault in any way, shape or form. He qualified well and by all accounts he had a great truck so it was really a matter of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Huffman wrecked him no doubt about that and I hope after further review Steve stops feeling like he's in any way at fault or that he's somehow letting people down.

Steve got Orleans their only win this season and it's was Japser's first win as a sponsor - those are awesome things that he should be proud of. I do think Orleans has gotten themselves into a hole with the chassis problems that they had earlier in the season but if that's all straightened out they could find themselves in Victory Lane again this season. I really hope that happens for Steve. He was so happy in VL and I'd love to see him that happy again.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:37 PM | Comments (0)

Brendan Gaughan's New Look

Today at the truck race Brendan Guaghan unveiled his much anticipated new look and as one can see by the above photo he's had his hair braided in cornrows. Personally I think it looks terrible on him. I've seen quite cornrows on quite a few people that looks great but it's definitely not a look that works for Brendan. Of course being that it's his hair, he's got to do what makes him happy so if he wants it in cornrows all the more power to him. More than likely this is just one more way of getting attention, much like his caveman look earlier in the season, which I also thought looked pretty bad on him. But when it comes to appearance, unless there is some sort of workplace dress code, and obviously there isn't for Brendan, I think he should be free to express himself as he so chooses.

A couple of months ago I wrote a fairly long entry about Brendan and the way he's expressing himself now that he's back in the truck series so I'm not going to repeat myself too much now. But needless to say I think Brendan's look is a way of attracting attention and also a way of thumbing his nose at the conformity that is imposed on the drivers in Cup. In Cup uniqueness and outspokenness is discouraged and those are two qualities that Brendan very much has. But since he's very happy racing in the truck series for Orleans Racing it's fine if he wants to have fun and be a little crazy. It's only going to be a problem for him if he decides he wants to go back to Cup. Because then he has a choice to make about what's more important to him - being an individual and expressing himself the way he wants or fitting in and doing what's expected of a driver on Nascar's highest level. I suspect that unless Orleans Racing expands to Cup Brendan is likely to stay in the truck series for a while longer. And as long as he's happy there's nothing wrong with that.

I'm not always a huge fan of some of the things that Brendan says and does which is evident to anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis. However, one thing I definitely admire about Brendan is his willingness to be different from everyone else around him. That's a very good quality to have, not being afraid to say and do what you want and not being afraid of what other people think. I hope that Brendan continues to do what he wants, when he wants to do it.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:17 PM | Comments (0)

June 03, 2005

Not Enough People Riding Las Vegas Monorail

Fare Increases May Loom

Unless more people start riding the $650 million Las Vegas monorail that transports visitors up and down the strip, the fare to ride may be increased from $3 to $3.85 due to lower than expected ridership and higher than expected costs. Based on what I saw when I was in Vegas in January, I'd say they will need a lot of luck to get more riders. Signage for the monorail was poor to non-existant so it was almost impossible for me to figure out where the monorail stations were. In addition the monorail doesn't seem to be in a highly visible spot so out-of-sight, out-of-mind. Another problem is that in Vegas valet parking is free. So it's very easy to go from one casino to another if a visitor has a car. During the peak busy times during the warm months I'm sure it's not as convienent to drive everywhere like Jim and I did in January but it seems like it's probably easier than it is in cities like New York where parking anywhere costs an arm and a leg. I would also think that with so many forms of entertainment, restaurants and gambling available in a small area, some visitors may choose to not go very far up or down the strip from where they are staying, unless their hotel is located off the strip. So while a monorail seems like a good idea to have in Vegas I think they are going to need to do a lot of work to promote it to get more people to ride.

Posted by silverdsl at 03:40 PM | Comments (0)

Orange County Choppers Making Yankees Themed Bike

Will be Auctioned to Benefit The Jorge Posada Foundation

On July 31st, a Yankees themed bike built by Orange County Choppers from American Chopper on the Discovery Channel will be autioned off at the Heroes for Hope Gala in Manhattan on July 31. The proceeds will benefit The Jorge Posada Foundation, a charitable organization founded by Yankees catcher Jorge Posada, to fight craniosynostosis, a birth defect in which infant's skulls grow abnormally. While last reports indicate that he is fine now, Posada's son, Jorge, Jr. was born with the condition and had to undergo five surgeries to correct the abnormality. What's cool is that Jorge himself called up OCC to ask them to build the bike to have it auctioned off. I don't know whose idea it was, Jorge's or someone else's but it will probably net the Foundation a considerable amount of money. Especially considering the bike will be featured on a future episode of American Chopper. It's going to be pretty neat to see what the finished product looks like.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

Yankees Swept By Worst Team in Baseball

Royals 5, Yankees 2
2005 Baseball Team Salaries

Sweep! Sweep! That was what was heard in Kaufman Stadium last night as the Kansas City Royals beat the Yankees 5-2. The Royals hadn't swept any team in the 78 series that they had played prior but they did it with the win last night. While the Yankees played lifeless baseball, the Royals were the complete opposite, playing with enthusiasm and excitement. I was pretty down on the Yankees chances for making the post-season after the way they played in April and I'm even more dishearted now. Yes, a team can overcome a rough start to the season but they can't let themselves get caught in any lengthy losing streaks and right now the Yankees have lost their last five games in a row.

It's pretty incredible really. The Kansas City Royals have the worst winning percentage in all of baseball yet they still swept the Yankees easily. Sure, good teams lose to bad teams all the time but I think it's pretty bad that not only were the Yankees unable to win even one game in the series, they didn't even seem to put up any fight. When a team loses close games where they battle and really play hard it's a lot easier to take than when the team just seems to give up early on. What's really pathetic is that the Yankees have a payroll of $205,938,439 and that's not getting them much these days. Then you have the Royals whose payroll is $36,881,000.

It's at the point where I don't really even know what to say about this team anymore that isn't just repeating what I've already said time and time again. Yes, the season is far from over. Yes, they could go back to playing the way they were in May when they won 16 of 18 games. But they sure are playing dreadfully now. Tonight the Yankees play the Minnesota Twins and that could be the start of a big streaks of wins for the Yankees. Mike Mussina will be pitching for the Yankees and he is more than capable of shutting down the Twins. But will the offense score any runs for Moose? Will the mental errors be a thing of the past? If the answer is "no" to both of those questions the Yankees could have Cy Young on the mound and it won't make much of a difference.

It's way too early to say that the Yankees are done by any means. But they sure are looking crispy around the edges. Maybe they'll play well enough the rest of the season to get into the post-season but what happens if they do get there? In the post-season not playing hard, making mistakes in the field or on the basepaths, a weak offense and shaky pitching means an early exit. The scary thing is that I can't imagine what crazy moves George Steinbrenner will force Brian Cashman to make if the Yankees don't go to the post-season in 2005.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:07 PM | Comments (0)

June 02, 2005

Photo of the Day - Rio

Las Vegas, Nevada, January, 2005. A shot of the Rio Hotel and Casino at night. I might have posted this one I'm not sure. But I was thinking about how awesome the view is from the top of the Rio. There's a cool bar up there with some very yummy exotic drinks. Apparently the Rio is an all-suites hotel so I wouldn't mind staying there in a future visit to Las Vegas. It was really hard to take a photo that does justice to how cool the neon that lights the Rio up looks at night.

Posted by silverdsl at 11:32 PM | Comments (0)

Predictable

Already I've seen one person "in the know" implying that Shane Hmiel really didn't do anything wrong because it wasn't an illegal drug he was taking it was a legal one that was prescribed. So predictable. I'm sure a lot more of those people will turn up too. Or those who will claim that it was just pot so that makes it okay too. Guess what, a banned drug is a banned drug. It's banned for a reason.Perscription drugs can still have effects that would impair a driver. They can also be very much abused. As for pot that too can be abused and certainly isn't something that a driver should be taking before going out on the track.

Just like clockwork these people are going to show up and there will be more of them to make all of Shane's excuses for him because that's what happened last time. They say they're in the know and I bet that they are because I have no doubt that it's damage control. One might think that Shane and his people have more important things to worry about but this is Nascar where image is everything. And besides Jayski's no where does news travel faster than on message boards.

But as I said above the bottom line is that he tested positive for a banned substance. For the second time. So he should know better than to take any substance on the banned list, perscribed or otherwise.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:35 PM | Comments (0)

Shane Hmiel Suspended Indefinitely for Drug Use

Tests Positive for Second Time

I'd like to say I'm shocked that Shane Hmiel tested postive for a drug on Nascar's banned list and has been suspended indefinitely but I'm completely not. At the time of the first positive test a bunch of people who claimed to be in Shane's inner circle spread the word that it was all some big misunderstanding, that what Shane tested positive for was a perscription medication and that essentially Nascar was screwing Shane. Well, a second positive test indicates that there's a habitual problem of some sort. The last time he was suspended for just four months. I just don't think that is long enough for someone to address a problem with drugs, particularly when they work in an high-pressure atmosphere like Nascar. In addition, Shane's defiant attitude, seemingly encouraged by his father Steve Hmiel, Dale Jr.'s new crew chief, and reports that he was drunk publically while on suspension the first time made me think that it was likely in the future that he would get caught again. I just never expected it would be this soon.

I've never liked Hmiel but I always thought that he had a bright future ahead of him. And he certainly got quite an opportunity this season with Braun Racing in the #32 car with Winfuel as the sponsor and engines from DEI. In addition, Shane was being featured prominently on NBS 24/7 on Speed and also was racing in some truck races. He had also been talked about as a candidate to take over for Michael Waltrip in the #15 at DEI at some point. Well, I'd say that Shane just ensured that he can kiss all of that goodbye and very likely his entire career in Nascar. Even if Nascar lets him back there is no way that any team or sponsor will be willing to give him another chance. I can't even imagine what Todd Braun is thinking right now, let alone Winfuel.

I'd like to say that Hmiel is a moron for using drugs despite knowing that he was going to be tested, probably for the rest of his career. But stupidity doesn't even factor into it. Even intelligent people can develop drug problems and it can drive them to do things that they would never do except for being caught in the hold of whatever drugs they're addicted to. I have no idea what Hmiel might have tested positive for and we'll more than likely never know but it's likely that he does have some sort of drug habit if he tested positive again. Maybe he had it under control for a while or maybe he was just able to beat the drug testing system for a while. I hope that this time he is able to get the help that he needs to beat his problem but unfortunately often drug problems are life-long battles.

I'd love to know what other drivers think about this. Did any of them know he was using again? Shane has said that he doesn't have a lot of friends among the other drivers so perhaps no one would know if he started using again. He was appearing in commercials with Junior for Winfuel so I'm sure Junior isn't all that pleased to be associated with him right now. Michael Waltrip has spoken well of Shane in the past so it will be interesting to see what he has to say on the next Inside Nextel Cup.

I think a lot of people are going to feel really let down and betrayed by Shane. People who trusted him that he wouldn't get into trouble with drugs again or people who just believe in him and supported him like Michael. Then there's all his fans and there were a lot of them. It was probably hard for a lot of people to stand by him when he tested positive the first time but a significant amount of people did, particularly because of the Junior connection. But I think a second positive test will make it a lot harder for him to retain that kind of support among the fans.

I've said before a time or two that Nascar should be doing many more random drug tests. This is a dangerous sport and the last thing the drivers or the crews need is anyone on the track who is a drug abuser. Nascar will probably point to their current policy and use this as an example of how well it works. I would like to see all drivers and maybe even crew members as well randomly tested at least once a season. But I have a feeling that will never happen because Nascar will probably be afraid they will find other Shane Hmiels.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:01 PM | Comments (0)

Def Leppard Warns of Fake Band Autographs on Ebay

Joe Elliott Warns Fans
Band Website Instructs Fans How to Spot Fakes

Unfortunately for buyers, many autographs that are sold by memorabilia dealers, and particularly on Ebay are fake. Apparently members of the band Def Leppard were astonished to find that when they went to Ebay countless people were selling fake autographs of theirs. I'm astonished that a) someone would go through the trouble to fake the autograph of someone in Def Leppard and b) that there is such a demand for Def Leppard autographs. But that's besides the point. To combat the problem the band has posted on their website a guide to what their autographs look like including examples so that it may guide fans who wish to purchase autographs from dealers. Of course the safest way for fans is if they see the items signed in front of them but that's just not possible for a lot of people.

Joe Elliott is also upset about people who get things sign and then put them on Ebay to sell. He says that they always know who those people are because they don't want things personalized, will immediately try to remove where they personalized the item or don't have things that "real" fans would have. Elliott says that a "real" fan would have a worn CD or other items that show use instead of a freshly bought CD. While many who are just looking to turn a profit probably do show up with new items, die-hard fans probably do too. I know I've bought things special for autograph signings and I assume other fans do as well.

In any event, if more bands, athletes and other celebrities followed the example of Elliott and Def Leppard and spoke out on this issue perhaps it would cut down on the number of fakes and people getting autographs just to sell for a profit. Putting samples of their autographs on their site is especially a good move.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)

Mystery Graves in Yellowstone National Park Puzzle National Park Service

Ask Public for Help

What is thought to be two graves are located in Yellowstone National Park near the park's new Yellowstone National Park Heritage and Research Center. However, the National Park Service knows little about them. A few years ago a retired park service worker had told them that his grandfather had told him that they were the graves of two people who were buried under a sheet of metal. But no one, even the park's historian, can find any information about who they might be. It's thought if there really are people buried there that the graves date to the 1880's. At some point they may dig in the spot to find out if the area really does contain two graves but for now they are just asking for the public's help to see if anyone might have any information that might be useful to them.

Posted by silverdsl at 04:01 PM | Comments (0)

Deep Throat Revealed: The Aftermath

Shows the Value of Anonymous Sources

The Washington Post's Lost Scoop

On the Trail of the Secret Informant

Unless you've been living under a rock somewhere most people are probably aware that Deep Throat, the anonymous source who blew the lid off of Watergate to Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, was finally revealed after 33 years to be 91-year old Mark Felt, who was the second in command at the FBI during the Nixon Administration. The way this has evolved is pretty fascinating to me given my interest in the way the media operates, journalistic integrity and ethics and the use of anonymous sources. There has been much said and written about the revelation that Felt was Deep Throat but I picked out three articles that were different but interesting.

The first article by Zachary Coile from the San Francisco Chronicle says that Deep Throat is a reminder that despite the recent Newsweek fiasco in which they were burned by improperly using an anonymous sources, that sometimes anonymous sources are of tremendous value. James Bettinger who directs the John S. Knight journalism fellowship program at Stanford University said, "There are certain kinds of reporting that cannot be done without sources who are unnamed, in particular reporting on national security or defense ... because people jeopardize their careers and in some cases their legal status by disclosing things." That is 100% true. Felt would never have come forward if not for the promise that he could stay anonymous given his position in the FBI. Had he not acted as a source for Woodward and Bernstein, consider how much about the Nixon adminsitration would have gone unknown and how much would have been different. I think that anonymous sources most definitely have their place in journalism otherwise a lot of things would never be known to the public. However, anonymous sources should be used under strict guidelines and the information they provide checked as much as possible with other sources. Woodward and Bernstein were careful to say that they didn't just rely on Felt for the stories they wrote but also had other sources.

Howard Kurtz at the Washington Post writes about how the Post got scooped on a story in which they were deeply involved. And it all revolves around the promise Woodward, Bernstein, and then executive editor, Ben Bradlee made to Felt 33-years ago that they would keep his identity confidential. But it wasn't just the promise that kept them silent. Given Felt's health and failing memory they thought that he didn't have the capacity anymore to release them from the promise. Though Woodward had been in contact with Felt, his daughter and even the lawyer who ended up writing the article for Vanity Fair the public disclosure of who Deep Throat was came as a complete surprise. I imagine that the Vanity Fair article was kept such a secret so that the Post wouldn't be able to rush out their own article on who Deep Throat was. But the journalistic integrity of Woodward, Bernstein and Bradlee that they never revealed to anyone who Deep Throat is should be a model to other reporters. Keeping a secret for 33-years, particularly one like that, couldn't have been easy.

In News Virginian J. Todd Foster writes about how he could have exposed Felt as Deep Throat as early as 2002 but ultimately didn't. At the time Foster was working for People Magazine on a story about Deep Throat. During the course of his work he became convinced that Felt was in fact Deep Throat and got in touch with his family. Eventually the family approached him about doing a story about Felt as Deep Throat but they wanted a significant amount of money, which People wouldn't agree to give them. As Foster says, "Reputable news organizations don't pay a penny for news." Which makes me wonder if Vanity Fair had to pay the Felt family anything? But Foster took the project to Harper-Collins publishing which naturally was interested in a book and they agreed to pay the Felt family's price. However as Foster talked to Mark Felt based on the transcipts he provides in this article it's very clear that Felt has dementia. That made doing the book impossible.

But it highlights why Woodward and Co. at the Post also had reservations about revealing Felt as Deep Throat. He was just not in any shape to understand if he was asked about revealing who he was. Which also makes me wonder how his family knew that he wanted everyone to know or even if he understands what's going on now. Kind of sad really. And more than likely unless Felt kept some diaries any book won't have much input from him. That's unfortunate because it would have been interesting to read his perspectives and thoughts on what he did.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

Joe Torre Holds Closed Door Meeting After Lifeless 3-1 Yankee Loss to Royals

Randy Johnson Gets Loss Against the Royals for the First Time in Twelve Years

Yesterday, I was hoping that the Yankees loss to the Royals, the worst team in baseball, was just a one game aberration and that they would not only win last night but go on a nice win steak just like they did for much of May. However, that was not to be. Instead the Yankees dropped a second consecutive game to the Royals, which was their fourth loss in a row. And they looked flat and lifeless almost the entire game. That's the most disheartening thing. It's not like they played hard and lost a close game. Instead, they looked like they gave up in the first inning. That's just not a fun game to watch.

Randy Johnson pitched a complete game and pitched pretty well, giving up just three runs on seven hits and seven strikeouts. So he certainly pitched well enough to give the Yankees the chance to win, except that the offense let him down. The only problem is that Johnson wasn't aquired to give the Yankees a chance to win. They traded for him to be their ace, the dominant pitcher who could shut down any lineup and would almost guarantee them a win on the days that he pitched. And while Johnson hasn't been dreadful he is certainly not been the dominating pitcher that they thought they were getting. Giving up three runs isn't awful by any means but as Michael Kay pointed out on the post-game, knowing that the offense is struggling and the team is in the midst of a losing streak, Johnson should be trying to pitch a shutout. He should have been out there blowing away the Royals hitters and that's not what happened. I would add especially since the Royals last beat him in 1993 so this is a team he's always pitched well against. After the game Johnson said that he's having trouble adjusting to the American League and that he doesn't know any of the guys he's facing. Which I can understand. But on the other hand as a whole he has just not looked as dominanting on the mound as he once did in terms of the way he's throwing and that's a problem. The expectations for Johnson are high and thus far I think he's been a bit of a disappointment.

It's not just fans who are displeased with the way the Yankees are playing. Joe Torre held a closed door meeting in which he told them in no uncertain terms that he didn't like what he was seeing out of his team from the weak at-bats to the mental errors on the basepaths. I'd like to think that they will respond tonight with a pounding of the Royals but thus far they haven't been able to get much done against the Royals, why would tonight be any different? The other thing is that Torre can get angry all he wants but he's not the one out there playing. The players have to find it within themselves to play harder and better, something that every single one of them is capable of considering how much talent there is on the Yankees roster. But will they?

I didn't expect the Yankees to keep on winning as many games as they did in May but I at least figured that the slopppy and lifeless baseball they were playing in April was a thing of the past. But it's looking like that's not the case. Which means that watching the Yankees play isn't as fun as it once was. Of course that doesn't mean that I'm going to stop being a fan or stop watching but I find myself a lot less into the games than I once was and a lot more easily distracted while I'm watching than ever before. And it shouldn't be this way. This lineup should be able to play exciting and top-notch baseball but just aren't. That's very unfortunately both for the fans and for the team itself because even though there's still plenty of baseball left this season it makes their chances of making the post-season this year not look so great.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:40 AM | Comments (0)

June 01, 2005

Ezboard, Inc. Hacked

9,000 Message Boards Severely Damaged

And oh what a number the hacker did on the Ezboard systems! Unbelieveable amounts of data in the form of posts, board members and community chests funds, not to mention entire forums on some boards completely disappeared. Ezboard is going to attempt to restore the lost data based on backups I would assume but that is a massive task. It's going to be a messy job too since new posts are being made on these boards and any restore would most likely wipe out the new posts and replace everything with an earlier version of what was on the boards. Even now a lot of the boards are doing some pretty funky things such as that on some boards threads can be started but not replied to. Or users show up as being members but can't post. All sorts of wacky stuff.

Clearly this is going to take quite some time to fix each board so that it funtions properly. Some Ezboards might only have a few hundred members or less but there are some boards with thousands of users and I can't even imagine how many threads and posts. For those boards fixing everything may truly be a project. I imagine that Ezboard is going to lose quite a bit of business over this since a lot of folks will probably look into going elsewhere. With that in mind I'm sure Ezboard is anxious to find the perpertrator. I wonder if they ever will? Most hackers know how to cover their tracks very well and since this person was able to do this much damage, I imagine they know how to not leave clues to their identity.

Hopefully everything will get sorted out for the sake of the board owners who put so much into running their sites and for the sake of their community members who love to visit.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:10 PM | Comments (0)

The Money's Not Bad in Nascar for the Drivers

I had meant to discuss something about this much sooner but a comment today reminded me of this. Ford has Kasey Kahne in court for breech of contract because he ended up in Cup in 2004 with Evernham Motorsports which runs Dodges instead of sticking with them and Robert Yates. Kahne's lawyers say that Ford couldn't provide a "suitable" (whatever that means) Cup ride for him. So in the course of the suit the details of Kahne's contract with Yates were made public.

In part from Jayski's: Kahne's contract with Yates shows it was signed Feb. 4, 2002, and was for the 2002-04 seasons. Yates' team had the option to extend the contract through 2006. According to the contract, Kahne was to be paid a $100,000 salary in 2002 while in the Busch series. His salary was to increase to $150,000 the next year and go to $225,000 in 2004. The contract states if Yates moved Kahne to Cup in 2004, Kahne's salary would be $700,000 for his rookie season. The salary was scheduled to increase to $850,000 the following year and go to $1 million in his third year in Cup. The contract stated Kahne would receive 35 percent of the race purse minus bonuses designated for the team. He would receive 50 percent of the race purse for a top-three finish. He would receive 35 percent of the season-ending money based on his placement in the driver standings. If he finished in the top three, he would receive 50 percent of the money. (News and Record)(5-22-2005)

I'm sure that every contract that every driver signs is quite different. And of course the more veteran and successful the driver the more they probably earn in base salary, incentives, percentage of race purse, etc... Maybe even some include a percentage of merchandise sales though that could be something separate. Kahne's base salary for his rookie year in Cup, $750,000 is pretty good and when you add the percentage of winnings onto that it's a decent living. Maybe not in comparision to Jeff Gordon and one could argue with the risk involved in the sport the drivers should be earning even more starting their rookie year. Especially when one considers that the drivers have to pay for things like health insurance out of that money. But for the most part if that contract is similar to what many drivers at larger organizations earn they aren't really hurting for money in comparision to many of their fans.

But today a representative of a driver formerly in Cup, now racing in another series referred to that person's paychecks as "meager." I'm going to keep the driver and the person who made the comment anonymous, though some people who might read this will have seen this comment for themselves and know who I'm referring to. The reason being I would like to think that the representative meant the comment as a joke or I'm misunderstanding something. Because I can't wrap my mind around how anyone could refer to the paycheck that a Cup driver receives from a large organization as meager. Yes, if you're Morgan Shepard and you have an independant team with no sponsor and no financial means what-so-ever to support your organization then your paycheck probably is pretty meager as compared to what your expenses are. But if you drive for a large multi-team organization where most expenses are more than likely not your concern then your "meager" paycheck which this representative said Driver X might like for entertainment and general expenses really isn't all that meager.

I have no idea what our mystery driver might have earned as a base salary. So let's say they didn't even earn a base salary or any incentives. Their paycheck came soley from their share of the race purse. Well, a glance at a list of 2004 earnings shows that Driver X earned nearly $3 million in 2004. I can't talk with any accuracy about how much of that money actually ended up in their pocket because of the aforementioned differences between different driver's contracts and how complicated the whole thing is. But for the sake of argument let's assume that they are getting at least 10% of that $3 million. I don't know about you but that figure sure isn't meager to me. Yes, I'm sure that Driver X has plenty of expenses and that when they looked around and saw drivers earning far more it made what they earned seem paltry in comparison. But meager? I don't think so. I assume that Driver X wouldn't refer to his paycheck as "meager" and that was simply a statement by his representative in the course of discussion whose true meaning was lost.

Because I know people who truly earn a meager paycheck and they worry about buying clothes for their children or paying the mortgage on their house. Some people even worry about where their next meal is going to come from. Oh what they could do with the "meager" paycheck that Driver X got racing Cup last season! No matter how small it was I strongly suspect it was still bigger than what these people will earn over the course of several years. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if Driver X's monthly paychecks were bigger than what most of his fans earn per year. Driver X given his background has more than likely never worried about whether he might lose his house, how he was going to buy groceries or how he was going to afford to get Christmas presents for his (non-existent) kids. So I assume that Driver X being an intelligent guy is aware of that and wouldn't himself refer to those paychecks as meager.

Of course it appears that Driver X currently has a lot of expenses now since the implication was that their own personal money was being used to run the family business. So perhaps that's why the money they earned previously seems so "meager" now, at least to their representative, because having earned a lot bigger paychecks in the past might make things easier at the family business. For the representative too who is surely doing a ton of work with limited means/resources, or so it seems.

I guess it strikes the wrong chord with me when athletes (or in this case their representatives) bemoan their lack of financial resources. A few months ago I talked about Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and how his complaint about how expensive it was to get a plane was a little ridiculous considering that he earned more money in the previous year than Alex Rodriguez who used his extra cash to buy a Picasso. Funny how countless of Junior's fellow drivers, almost all of them who earn less than he does are able to afford planes. Of course even the wealthiest person should be careful with their money so that they make sure they have enough to last them their entire lives. But the majority of athletes make far more than their fans will ever make. So comments and complaints about money and expenses are better kept to one's self.

Posted by silverdsl at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

So in the unofficial, informal "Gets it/Doesn't Get it" standings that's another mark in favor of the blue team. *thud*

Posted by silverdsl at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)

More From Pete Rondeau

Apparently Pete Rondeau was interviewed by Dave Moody on Sirius Speedway and he had quite a few interesting comments about his release as Dale, Jr.'s crew chief. Of course there are two sides to every story but I don't think his comments paint a very pretty picture of what's going on at DEI. I doubt we'll get any kind of response from DEI because they probably don't want to engage in a war of words with him, particularly if there's any truth to what he's saying. I'll take his comments item by item, all of which came from his interview on Sirius via Jayski's.

"At the beginning, he said he wanted me to be the crew chief, and let him be the driver. I tried giving him information over the radio on race day, but he told me I was talking too much. I stopped giving him that information, and not long after, I was shown the door. Now they say I wasn't communicating. I'm not sure they even know what they want." So let me get this straight. Rondeau tries to communicate with Junior exactly the way Junior wanted first by giving him all sorts of information, then by not saying much on the radio. But not only was neither way acceptable but the second way, which was by Junior's request, led to DEI claiming that communication wasn't good over the radio on race day and that's why he was removed from the position. Sounds to me like that's a no win position, not only for Rondeau but for any driver that steps in as crew chief full time. Because it sounds like Junior wants someone who can read his mind and somehow magically know what what to do. Talk to me! No, don't talk to me! Anyone might be confused after both ways of being on the radio don't seem to be right.

Previously it had been mentioned that Rondeau's contract with DEI that contained a clause which indicated he had to be given six-weeks notice before being let go due to performance reasons was never signed by Teresa Earnhardt. Rondeau said to Moody, "I asked about it a couple of weeks into the season, and was told that `It fell through the cracks.' I signed the contract, but I never got it back. Looking at the way things turned out, I guess I understand why." Contracts shouldn't just be falling through the cracks. Not at top organizations. The implication is that it deliberately wasn't signed and on that count it sure doesn't look good for DEI. That's a dreadful way of doing business. I've heard there are other organizations that operate on hand-shake deals but Rondeau was certainly under the impression that DEI operated via signed contracts. The way that went down seems extremely shady to me. Yeah, I understand they wanted to give themselves an out in case things didn't work out, but they shouldn't have put together a three-year contract and agreed to the terms with Rondeau if Teresa wasn't going to end up signing it.

Then at Talladega Rondeau said that he tried to talk to Junior about some things that were said over the radio. "We had some issues at Talladega, and some things got said that I wasn't happy with. I told Junior that I wanted to talk with him about it after the race was over, but it never happened." From what was said over on the pit board, at Talladega Junior went off on his crew over the radio for letting him get a lap down when he was involved in an accident. I understand that drivers get upset and say things they don't necessarily mean over the radio. But to yell at his crew because he got a lap down while they were fixing damage? Come on. Sometimes teams can do the work and not lose laps but it's very difficult, particularly if the damage is bad. What's worse is that Rondeau asked to meet with Junior and hash everything out - perhaps work on their communication a little - but it didn't happen. So how exactly is Rondeau supposed to communicate and do what Junior wants when he won't even have the courtesy of meeting with his own crew chief after the race to discuss what happened?

Rondeau also says that he talked with Tony Eury, Sr. who is supposedly DEI's Director of Competition exactly once and that was at Daytona to begin the season. "I voiced my concerns about the lack of information being exchanged between the teams, but I ran into a stone wall. It became pretty clear to me that that's the way it was going to be, and there wasn't much I could do about it." First of all, what the heck is Eury, Sr. doing as Director of Competition besides stirring trouble between the two teams? It's obvious he's working with the #15 team, why not with the #8 team? That boggles my mind. Yes, his son is the crew chief of the #15 but Junior is his nephew. In addition, if he's supposed to be working with both teams why wasn't he ever told to do so by Richie Gilmore or anyone else at DEI? It's also incredible that Rondeau brought up the idea of sharing information between the teams and was rebuffed yet now that he's gone suddenly that's a great idea. Information sharing should have been happening a very long time ago and it's appalling that when an idea that other teams are succesfully using gets brought to the table it's shot down.

The more that gets revealed about the inner workings of DEI the more I'm not so sure I want Michael Waltrip to stay there despite how well he's working with Tony Eury, Jr. right now.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)

Jayski Gets it Wrong, Then Gets it Right

Part of a statement from Hermie Sadler via Jayski's: "After the rumor of my departure from Peak Performance Motorsports was erroneously reported on several websites last week, I wanted to personally respond to all the media and fans. First of all, I am committed to staying with the Peak Performance Motorsports team for the entire 2005 season and am hopeful that relationship lasts beyond that. While we are disappointed with our performances so far this season, we are working together as a team to improve. Although we have a way to go, we are steadily making progress. It concerns me that a website [Jayski.com] would post a rumor that could be fatal to an up-start team such as ours without consulting with the team owner, public relations representative, or the driver. Not only do we have employees that may be affected, but this can also be detrimental to our hunt for additional sponsorship, which is vital to the growth of our team."

Last week Jayski published a rumor on his site that Hermie Sadler had been let go from the #66 team. Which as nice of a guy as Hermie apparently is, wouldn't surprise a lot of people because as hard working as Hermie and the rest of his team is their results this season haven't been stellar. However, as it turned out the rumor that Jayski posted was completely false. Unlike Boston Dirt Dogs, Jayski didn't try to insist that the story had truth to it or make any other kind of excuses. Instead he printed the full statement on his site including the above passage that was critical of him for failing to check out this rumor as carefully as he should have before posting it. I think that says something about Jayski because he could have edited out those remarks before posting Hermie's statement. But he didn't.

Hermie is 100% correct that given the large audience that Jayski's has a rumor like that could be very detrimental to the team if everyone thinks that they are about to fire their driver or even fold. There's no doubt that the team probably attracts extra attention than a small team like that might normally because Hermie is the brother of Elliott Sadler, who is extremely popular. That's just like any team that Kerry Earnhardt drives for is going to get extra attention simply because of his family ties. So if there's any suspicion that those ties might disappear I can see how that might make sponsors or others leery to get involved.

So Jayski posts the statement which both corrects the false rumor he posted and is critical of him. Yet compare that to Boston Dirt Dogs. Yet again he ran with a story that was shaky in truth at best. He claimed that a source told him that Keith Foulke went to Alabama to get his injured shoulder checked out by Dr. James Andrews. Well, as it turns out Foulke did go to Alabama, something intitially denied by the Red Sox, but he's not injured. He went to work on his pitching mechanics. When confronted with the real facts of the situation BDD apparently responded by calling Foulke a liar on the radio and by trying to shift blame for reporting information that wasn't completely accurate to Sons of Sam Horn where he apparently lifted the original information from.

Both of these two men run very similar sites, though Jayski doesn't include the parodies that BDD does. Yet their response to being confronted with having neglected to follow up completely on material provided to them by sources which later turned out to be untruthful is completely different. Perhaps it's due to the organizations they are affiliated with - ESPN in the case of Jayski and Boston.com in the case of BDD and the differences in philosophies at those two sites. Or maybe it's a difference in approach by the individuals who run the sites. I think Jayski probably has a better understanding of why it's important to face up to those things so that his site is taken seriously as a source for Nascar news and information. And that means being able to admit to a mistake when one is made.

Posted by silverdsl at 02:36 PM | Comments (0)

Do the Yankees Function as a Team?

Too Many I's to Spell Team

Jon Heyman of Newsday says no, that instead of a team-first attitude many of the players have a me-first attitude. I don't agree with everything Heyman says in this column but the overall point that the Yankees don't play like a cohesive team like they did in the past with much success is a valid one. Heyman spends a little too much time blaming the individual players for their me-first attitude such as Randy Johnson complaining about being given a extra day's rest or Gary Sheffield whining about deferred payments. But these players are who they are. And the Yankees had to have known this going in. They put together a team full of high-priced superstars who just do not gel together like the great Yankee teams of the recent past. That isn't the fault of the players, who can't suddenly become different people when they put on pinstripes. That's the fault of the decision makers in the Yankees front office.

During the great run of 1996-2001, the Yankees had players who somehow fit together perfectly. Aside from David Wells, there wasn't a lot of open complaining, even when players were benched. That was because those players understood that moves were being made for the good of the team. While every player thinks about their own interests, so many of the players during that time had such a great attitude towards winning and making sure they were a team. That's not to say that there weren't some players at that time who didn't quite fit into the clubhouse culture or who were more successful than others. But for the most part the philosophy wasn't to try and corner the market on every super-star player they can get their hands on which is sometimes what it seems like the Yankees do these days. Now you've got Randy Johnson and Kevin Brown, both well known for being sulky and difficult when things don't go their way. You can add in Gary Sheffield who occassionally falls into that pattern of behavior as well. Then there's A-Rod who, by virtue of his status as one of the best and highest paid players in the game, would find it impossible to fit in as "just one of the guys" in viritually every clubhouse in baseball.

The approach at the plate often reflects the lack of team-first thinking. There are times when every player looks like he is trying to be the big hero with the huge hit to put the Yankees ahead or win the game for them. Which might be fine when there are men on base but isn't so fine when players come up with the bases empty and instead of simply trying to get on base somehow so the next guy can try to knock them in for a run still look like they're trying to hit a six-run homerun. It's also in the way that everything seems to go bad at once. If the pitching's bad then often so is the defense, the hitting and the baserunning. A team that is fuctioning well together will recognize when one part isn't on the top of their game and find ways to compensate. So if the hitters are slumping the pitching staff might go out and try extra hard not to give up too many runs. It's a hard thing to do but it seemed like the Yankees were often more successful with this in the past.

The biggest problem is that it's unlikely that this philosophy of me-first is going to change any time in the near future. George Steinbrenner seems to believe that the more highly paid veterans, particularly of the superstar variety the team has, the better their chances are of winning. In the meantime the Yankees would be much better off taking the time to build a team in which the pieces really fit together to truly form a team.

Posted by silverdsl at 10:44 AM | Comments (0)

Yankees Lose in Unimpressive Fashion to Royals 5-3

Yankees Fizzle in KC

Once again sloppy fielding and errors on the basepaths in combination with shaky pitching and a so-so offense led to the Yankees undoing this time against the Kansas City Royals. Yet in spite of an early offensive spark provided by a two-run homerun by Hideki Matsui, his first since April 8, the Yankees couldn't beat the team with the worst winning percentage in all of baseball. Don't even get me started on Tony Womack being picked off first base with A-Rod up at the plate - that just can't happen. In the fourth inning it all came apart for the Yankees with an inability to turn a double play and a rushed throw by Robinson Cano to Tino Martinez leading to an error which allowed the Royals to score which gave them the lead. In the fifth, a Terrence Long sac fly put the Royals ahead 5-3.

However, all hope wasn't lost for the Yankees yet. In the seventh inning Gary Sheffield, who had been given the night off to rest his troublesome finger, came off the bench with runners at the corners and two outs. Unfortunately, Sheffield hit a ball that was caught by one of the Royals outfielders and that pretty much sealed the deal for the Yankees. The scary thing is that the starting pitcher for the Royals, Zack Greinke had been winless in his last eleven starts so this was his first win this season. Overall, the Royals had lost their last six games so this is a pitcher and a team that the Yankees should have been able to take advantage of but they were unable to do that.

Maybe the Yankees will go on a big win streak for the rest of the extended road trip. But this definitely doesn't start the trip out on a good note. After losing the last two games in the series against the Red Sox the Yankees really needed to capitalize on playing one of the weaker teams in baseball. If they can't play well against the Royals it makes one wonder who they can play well against? Apparently not against the Red Sox who are a much better team than the Royals. If they can't win the next two games against the Royals I think that would be a very bad sign for the Yankees. Yes, they are obviously capable of playing very good baseball given that streak in which they won sixteen of twenty games in May. But now it's June and they need to make June a winning month too if they want to get back to the post-season.

Joe Girardi managed the Yankees last night in place of Joe Torre because Torre was serving a one-game suspension. But in reality Torre was still more than likely calling all the shots from inside the clubhouse. Brian Cashman was also in attendance having been sent on the road trip at the last minute by George Steinbrenner. Perhaps Steinbrenner feels the team might play better with Cashman looking over their shoulders, though that certainly didn't work last night, or maybe he's trying to punish Cashman by making him see the Yankees ineptitude in person. Regardless it's going to be interesting to see how much patience Steinbrenner shows if the Yankees go into a period in which they struggle again. The worst thing for the Yankees would be to trade away their future in promising young players Robinson Cano and Chien-Ming Wang, but I fear that's exactly what's going to happen because Steinbrenner will be unable to tolerate the possibility of not going to the post-season and will want to get Roger Clemens or some other over-paid, ancient veteran for half a season.

Posted by silverdsl at 09:34 AM | Comments (0)