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July 31, 2005
16th Place Finish for Michael Waltrip in Wallace Family Tribute
Reed Sorenson Wins, Mike Wallace Second
Instead of going on vacation like most Cup drivers probably did on this rare in-season off-weekend when there was no Cup race Michael Waltrip headed to St. Louis to race in the Wallace Family Tribute 250 Busch race. And things started off on the right foot after he qualified 6th which was an early indication that he had a good car. However, due to a "miscommunication" between his crew chief, Butch Hylton and himself, Michael missed the mandatory driver's meeting and had to start from the back of the pack. Mistakes and miscommunication are going to happen from time to time but I would guess that Michael was probably pretty irked that he missed the meeting. If he doesn't like being late anywhere as I've heard then he must really hate missing places he needs to be completely.
But Michael was soon making his way through the pack and thanks to some good calls in the pits took the lead for a while. That was an awesome moment! And he hung onto it for a while, racing back and forth with the second place driver (who it was is escaping me at the moment). Even after he lost the lead due to a bad pit stop he was able to race his way back into the top ten and it was obvious that he had an awesome car, probably the best Busch car he's had for quite some time. Since this car was built from scratch by Hylton I would say that is a very positive sign about the effect Hylton is going to have on Michael Waltrip Racing. But that was to be expected given the success Hylton had with Kevin Harvick, Inc.
Unfortunately the good vibes wouldn't last for Michael. While racing side-by-side with Kenny Wallace he slid up the track and into Kenny Wallace of all people causing both of them to spin out. Other than Rusty or Mike Wallace, I think that Kenny is probably the last person that Michael would have wanted to be involved in an on-track incident with given their friendship and that the race is in tribute to the Wallace family of which Kenny is obviously a part. I'm sure Kenny wasn't too thrilled when it happened but afterwards I'm sure he understood that it was just one of those racin' deals. Michael just doesn't get into people often and when he does unless it's someone who's been after him first like Jeff Green, you can be sure it was an accident. An extremely unfortunate one that was particularly costly to Kenny but as much as one tries to avoid it sometimes bad things are going to happen on the track and they may occasionally involve friends or teammates.
Both Michael and Kenny were able to continue racing but with damage. Kenny was unable to finish no better than 24th but in a testament to how good Michael's car was he was able to rally to finish 16th even with the damage. I'm sure he was pretty disappointed about that finish though - both because of the incident but also because with how good of a car it was. With how he led those laps he probably thought he might be a contender to end up in Victory Lane. I was certainly thinking that at one point! But it was not to be.
Perhaps it was predictable considering he was running the State Fair Corn Dogs scheme on the Busch car this weekend. Michael Waltrip Racing has struggled this season in general but every time they run the corn dogs scheme it seems as if bad things happen. Cars don't make races, accidents happen, Michael misses the driver's meeting - perhaps those darn corn dogs are cursed. But on Inside Nextel Cup Michael said they were going to try to sell some corn dogs and while I'm sure his goal was more than that, he certainly was successful in giving State Fair some exposure considering he led a number of laps and was on TV quite a bit besides.
Rusty Wallace also led some laps but ultimately spun and ended up out of the race. Martin Truex, Jr. overcame an early problem which put him a lap down to also be a contender for the win until tire vibration, which I believe was caused by a loose lugnut, took him comepletely out of contention and caused him to finish 28th. So in the closing laps it was Mike Wallace and 19-year old Reed Sorenson up front. Wallace was the sentimental choice to win if it couldn't be Rusty or Kenny and I'm sure the vast majority of fans in attendence were hoping that he would be able to pass Sorenson. But it wasn't to be. Second place was probably a bit disappointing for Wallace but he still seemed pretty happy considering how badly he usually fares in Cup in the #4. I think he was pretty thrilled to be in an Evernham car that is actually competitive. Sorenson was also pretty thrilled and it was nice to see a display of emotion in Victory Lane - sometimes the VL celebrations don't seem to have as much genuine emotion as I'd like.
In any event, last night's race gives me some hope that we will see some good things out of Michael Waltrip Racing for the remainder of the season and in the future.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:52 PM | Comments (0)
At the Trade Deadline Nothing Much Happens
I wasn't expecting any blockbuster trades once the Manny Ramirez deal fell through but I was definitely expecting a little more activity than what we saw as the trade deadline came and went. A few moves were made but there weren't any trades that I think will really have a huge impact on the teams involved. In the past the Yankees would almost always add a name like David Cone or David Justice who would help them as they marched towards the playoffs but this year the Yankees biggest move was aquiring Shawn Chacon from the Rockies.
What I can't really wrap my mind around is the Manny Ramirez trade situation. Last week he wanted a trade from Boston so badly that the Red Sox were trying to trade him to the Mets in a three-way deal that would have involved the Devil Rays. This week Manny says:
"Forget about the trade. This is the place I want to be," Ramirez said. "They want to win. I want to win, too. I'm back."
So last week when he was asked to play on a scheduled off-day by Terry Francona and refused he had quit on the team but now something has made him change his mind to the point where he's "back?" Reports are that Curt Schilling confronted Manny over his lack of dedication to his teammates to the point where they had to be separated by David Ortiz. Perhaps that was a bit of an eye-opener to Manny that his actions upset his teammates so much or perhaps he decided he wanted to remain in Boston when he discovered that he might be traded to a team that is scrappy but in last place in their division.
What happens with Manny now? More than likely he will be revitalized and play with renewed vigor for a while. But Manny being Manny more than likely the future holds more Manny moments where it leaves everyone scratching their heads trying to figure out his behavior.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:21 PM | Comments (0)
What's Wrong With This Article?
Pressure's Off For Drivers Who Turned to Trucks
Mike Harris, who covers motorsports for the Associated Press, wrote an article about former Cup drivers in the truck series that caused some distress and anger among some Steve Park fans. The reason being that the article doesn't mention Steve, who raced Cup full-time from 1998 to 2003 and won two Cup races during that time. Since last season Steve has been in the truck series, has won one race, won Most Popular Driver once (both the fan version and the one voted on by his peers) and is on his way to another fan-voted MPD award. So one would think that naturally Steve would be mentioned by name as he is in countless other similar articles that have been written about former Cup drivers in the truck series. However, the writer apparently looked at the top fifteen in points and unfortunately Steve is 17th in points. On top of that he's not the only former Cup racer not mentioned. Brendan Gaughan who was in Cup last season, Robert Pressely who raced Cup from 1995-2001 full time are full time truck racers who weren't mentioned. And Ken Schrader and Kevin Harvick who make spot starts weren't mentioned either.
It would be nice had Steve been mentioned in the article but I'm missing why his absence should raise my ire to the point where I should feel compelled to email the writer and let him know what a grevious oversight it was. Of course I've never been prone to getting as upset by what gets written in the media as most other fans, probably because of having worked extensively in public relations. Sometimes in spite of your best efforts coverage just isn't going to be as extensive or as positive as we might like. In addition, having dealt with any number of journalists, while I don't know any who cover motorsports, for the most part I've found that most journalists are hard-working who are trying to do the best job that they can. Most reporters want to put together the best article they possibly can. It doesn't always happen that way for a variety of reasons but in most cases it's not because a reporter has a personal problem with someone they're writing about.
Unfortunately the reality is that being outside the top 15 in points means that Steve and Brendan aren't going to get quite as much attention as some other drivers inside the top 15, no matter what they've accomplished in the past. To the fans what Steve has done earlier this season and throughout his career, as well as what an outstanding person he is, means that they feel he should be deserving of attention and coverage all the time. However, to a reporter, particularly one who is looking at certain stats and in this case showing how many former Cup drivers there are in the top 15, he's probably not going to take into account what Steve or Brendan has done in the past.
Stories just don't write themselves either unless you're talking about Dale Earnhardt, Jr. or Derek Jeter in which reporters flock to them no matter what they are doing, newsworthy or not. Something has to grab the interest of reporters or they need to be pitched an angle that is unique enough to get them to write about it. Since Steve won in February, and received a considerable amount of media coverage for it as he should have, the results on the track have not been consistant through no fault of his own, and he's not done anything off the track thus far to prompt too much media attention.
And even when you do something or have an event you think is worthy of media attention there's no guarantee that it's going to get much coverage. I'm sure Mike Snow, Steve and Brendan's PR person could attest to that and I certainly know from my own experience that surefire, no-miss events or happenings have sometimes not gotten much press when we expected a lot more interest. Then I've gotten surprised when things that I've pitched not thinking too many would run with it have generated feature stories and the media has gone wild with it. You never can tell sometimes. Occasionally if you're prepared in advance it can really pay dividends. Snow did a great job with the Orleans Racing reaction to the news that Talladega was going to be having a truck race in 2006. By having quotes from the Orleans Racing drivers and crew chiefs available immediately and presumably distributed to where they usually send press releases he insured that those quotes, including those by Steve, were used in any number of articles because it made things real easy for reporters.
Something else that I think may lower Steve's visibility or at least cut down on the amount or way that stories about him can be pitched is that he has no primary sponsor. Yeah, yeah, I've harped on that before. But when there's a primary sponsor typically there are appearances, promotions and other tie-ins that garner both the driver and the sponsor attention. South Padre Island has occassionally been the primary sponsor for selected races and when Steve did an appearance on SPI there was local coverage. With no primary sponsor that isn't in the family so-to-speak, there's not as many of those opportunities to take advantage of.
Of course my fellow Steve Park fans are far from the only fans to be upset at the coverage their favorites get. Yankee fans are constantly complaining about the bias that the media shows against the Yankees. I rarely see that. Instead I see journalists trying to analyze the team and unfortunately what they say isn't always going to be positive. Fans aren't always positive about the moves their team or driver make so why should the media? Personally I enjoy reading all sorts of perspectives and I would find it pretty boring if all I read or saw on TV were flower and rainbows types of stories.
Posted by silverdsl at 07:39 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2005
Photo of the Day - Rocks
Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2005. Yup, you guessed it - another photo taken on Marginal Way in Ogunquit. There's this cove which has hundreds of wave smoothed stones in it and I love climbing down to watch the waves come in and pick up a few of the smoothest and roundest. It's a neat place.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)
July 29, 2005
Some Fans Just Make Me Shake My Head
Not too long ago I wrote an entry in which I said that there is no such thing as "real" or "true" fans and that I don't get why some fans feel the need to tell each other that they somehow don't measure up. I still feel that way but after being at the racetrack this weekend and seeing some of the behavior of my fellow fans I might not be so inclined to say that there isn't any such thing as a "bad" fan. Because there are some truly rotton apple fans out there and they are giving the many good fans who know how to behave appropriately a bad name. And anything I'm saying here about some race fans can be applied to fans in all sports - there are simply some fans who think that they are entitled to behave in any way that they want.
The feeding frenzy at qualifying on pit road, and in general all weekend at Pocono, wasn't just astonishing to me it was downright scary at times. I admit that it's hard for me to relate to fans who come to the track with the goal of getting as many driver's autographs as possible because autographs don't have very much meaning or importance to me. But the single-minded focus and the willingness of some fans to do whatever it takes and say whatever comes to mind to get a driver's signature was appalling to me.
When the drivers and crews are at the track their primary focus is and should be on race-related matters. When players are at the stadium their primary focus must be on the game they have to play. That is what they are getting paid to do. While I strongly believe that there should be a maximum amount of interaction between fans and athletes it isn't always the place nor is there always time for it. I was astonished by how many fans didn't seem to realize any of this. The drivers and crews are out there on pit road getting ready to qualify and fans weren't just asking for autographs they were demanding them.
And unless every driver signed for every fan it wasn't good enough. Hello, if a driver isn't signing for fans on this part of pit road he might very well have signed for 50 people on the other end of pit road or in autograph alley as he walked out of the garage. Or in the case of Jeff Gordon he might be signing countless autographs later in the day at an event for members of his fan club. The drivers sign autographs constantly all weekend. I had seen some of this at Dover but I was astonished by how bad it was at Pocono - driver were signing as they walked through the garage area immediately after getting out of their cars, while giving interviews, as they walked up the ramp to driver introductions, there were people camped out in front of the driver's motorcoach lot, it was never ending. And so many of the drivers signed without complaint in all of these situations - yet some people still complain?
Even if a driver took the time to wave at fans who called his name that wasn't acceptable either. Which is unbelievable to me - when I used to stand at the press gate before and after Yankee games the vast majority of players never even bothered to wave at fans. Yet when drivers turn around and give a big smile and wave to fans at qualifying when they're just about to get in their cars fans have the nerve to feel slighted? I was thrilled the few times that Michael Waltrip seemed to notice me and wave at me. I've got plenty of autographs from him and have talked to him. I've love to do that all the time but I realize that just isn't possible. Race weekends are impossibly busy for all of the drivers and they are constantly on the go. On top of that there's no telling what else they might have on their minds. I don't expect any driver or player to drop everything for me. I am so appreciative when one of these guys does take the time to interact with me but I know that it's just not always going to happen.
What really bothered me was what happenend when some drivers did come over and sign autographs. I very nearly got crushed in the mass of people trying to get Brian Vickers and Greg Biffle's autographs. I understand that everyone wants an autograph and they aren't going to be able to sign for everyone so fans have to try to get their item as close as possible to the driver as quick as possible. But I don't want to get physically injured because someone is so desperate to get Biffle to sign a hero card that I get knocked down and crushed. I was determined to stick it out until Michael got in his car to make his qualifying run but after Biffle signed I was hoping that no one else came over to sign and luckily no one did.
There's a level of desperation in there that seems to override logical thinking and that's extremely scary. There was a man we encountered in the garage area who had a hot pass and was twice warned by security to get away from Michael Waltrip while he was still practically in his car. This man boasted about how he had defied them and got Michael's autograph. That man was risking getting thrown out and having his hot pass taken away - is it really worth it for an autograph? I have no idea what team or sponsor he got his hot pass from but they might be a little embarassed if he got tossed. What lengths would a fan go for an autograph? I'm not sure I want to know the answer to that.
It also puts Michael and other drivers in a bad position because he feels he can't refuse to sign because then the fan thinks he's a jerk and goes and tells everyone what an asshole he is. It's incredible what conclusions fans jump to - driver X didn't sign - he's an asshole, nevermind that he had an appearance to run to or his child is sick. Driver Y is stuck-up, he signed but he didn't smile, nevermind that he's sick or he's worried that he's going to get released. Driver Z is a fake prick, he signed and was nice to everyone at the appearance but it was obvious that he was faking it. And with the way things are fans immediately jump onto a message board to tell their fellow fans about their experiences with drivers and players both positive and negative. And it gets seen by many who base their own impressions on what others say.
Some of the things that were being said were also incredible. Of course there's the complaining, sometimes in not very nice ways, about the drivers who don't sign or don't acknowledge the fans. But other stuff too. In reference to Junior - "He better get his hot bod over here." I heard some variations of that kind of thing all weekend, about how the drivers better do this or that, and it made me uncomfortable. Junior is a human being and so are all the other drivers, not a piece of meat. He doesn't have to do anything. Not sign autographs, which is very difficult for someone as popular as he is, not wave, not cater to the fans. What he does have to do is try to qualify the car as good as possible which was a tall order considering that the #8 just wasn't too good all weekend. And what happend since Junior didn't come over? Is that woman less of a fan than she once was? Unfortunately it seemed as if there are quite a few fans who base their opinions on the drivers on whether or not they came over to sign autographs. Not if said driver was nice or funny or how good of a racer they were but whether or not they signed an autograph and how they did it.
And while I'm ranting about what I think is inappropriate behavior let me touch upon two other things that I think is excessive - fans who invade drivers or player's personal lives and fans who invade drivers or player's personal space.
There is always going to be some natural curiosity about off-the-track or off the field things. Some of it can be interesting and fun such as hobbies or what charitable causes they are involved with. There's nothing wrong with taking a healthy interest in who someone is as a person. What's not okay is tracking down where someone lives, taking photos and posting it publically. Nor is it okay to think of ways of sneaking into their condo development, house or the marina where their boat is kept. And it's not okay to follow someone as they leave the track or stadium unless you happen to be going in the same direction as they are anyway. Those type of behaviors and anything similar is being a stalker. There are way too many fans for my comfort who think this behavior is funny and encourage it.
I've participated in some discussions about drivers or players' significant others but there's a point at which my interest stops. There is something wrong with being intrusive to the point of digging up dirt on a significant other. Yeah, sometimes there are going to be things related to a SO that are newsworthy and negative. That's just the way life goes sometimes. But some people take it to an extreme and assume that every person who dares to go out on a date with the driver or athlete must be a horrible person who is only with that guy for their money or for the status that comes along with being with that person. That may be true in some cases but just as often those assumptions are completely incorrect. And guess what - even if the SO is a lousy person it's up to the driver or player to make that realization. That some fans feel that they should find out bad things about SOs to "save" the person they are a fan of - that's scary. And why a fan would complain about a SO when that SO obviously makes the player or driver happy is beyond me - I want the people I am a fan of to be happy.
Invading someone's personal space is unacceptable too. I am constantly worried about this when I go to take a photo with a driver, crew member or player. Usually I just start to put my arm around someone and then follow their lead as to how close they want me. It can be awkward since I'm so tiny and most folks loom over me. The last thing I want to do is put my arm around someone in a way that they might not be comfortable with. Unfortunately not every fan is as considerate - I've heard plenty of stories about fans grabbing body parts of drivers, crew members and players and unless it's accidental each time it makes me shutter. As a woman I'd be screaming for help if a stranger, and the vast majority of fans are pretty much strangers to these folks no matter how familiar of a face a fan might be, grabbed me inappropriately. So why is it okay for a female fan to do this to a driver, crew member or player they think is hot?
There are a lot of fans who think that they can behave in any way that they want and it's okay. That the player or driver will understand that they're just excited or desperate for an autograph. That they are just showing or proving how big of a fan that they are. That the driver or player has seen and heard it all so what's one more thing shouted at them? That it's all in good fun. That they paid good money to be there so they are entitled to something. That the player or driver meets so many people that they will never remember what any individual fan says or does. Well, I've got news for anyone who thinks like that - what you say and do is often noted and remembered even when nothing is said.
Another piece of news - just because you got away with doing something crazy the last time you were around the player or driver doesn't mean that you will get away with it again. I was sworn to secrecy on the details while back but I witnessed a fan who had been around previously physically removed from a situation when that person engaged in what I would consider stalker-like behavior. And I applaud the person who took it upon themselves to see to it that it happened. Granted it was part of their job but it said to me that they take these issues seriously as they should.
I'm far from perfect. I'm always taking photos and maybe it annoys some drivers or players when they see me taking their photo all the time. And I don't mean to make it sound like every fan should behave like I do. Far from it - I'm ultra laidback as a fan and that's not going to work for everyone. There's nothing wrong with some healthy exuberance, excitement and there's nothing wrong with collecting autographs. But I try very hard to have respect for all the people that I come into contact with and be aware of the circumstances and what is possible in any given situation.
Do I have some expectations? Sure I do but I try to keep my expectations very low. I would have liked to have gotten to talk to Michael this past weekend but I knew that I would have to get very lucky for that to happen and that there was a good chance that it wouldn't happen. I was perfectly fine with that. When I go to an appearance I'd love to have a conversation with someone but given the vast amounts of other fans that are usually present, I know that's usually not going to be possible.
If I have one expectation though it's to be treated the way that I try to treat others. Now I will excuse some less than positive behavior because there are times when drivers or players are going to be having bad days, not be feeling well, be dealing with things that I have no clue about or be rushed. I've definitely excused a few things over the years and normally it doesn't effect how much of a fan I am of someone. I accept that all these folks aren't perfect and are human beings with the full range of human emotions, both good and bad. But what I don't like is when there's a pattern of behavior and myself or other fans aren't treated with respect. Or when a situation isn't handled appropriately on someone's else's end. Those things bother me because it can be a two-way street. If the drivers/players and their representatives expect fans to behave in certain ways than they should also put some effort into being considerate of other people. Most do, unfortunately some don't always do that. And in those instances I think fans have the right to speak up and express their displeasure. It's when someone is trying their best to do the right thing as it relates to the fans and they still get flack for it that it's problematic.
There is something wrong with behavior which discourages players or drivers from wanting to deal with fans. And that's why I rant about these things all the time - I don't want my fun ruined by fans who can't behave appropriately, are too demanding or are ungrateful.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:06 PM | Comments (0)
Yankees Trade for Shawn Chacon
With Kevin Brown newly on the disabled list due to his fragile as glass back which may leave him done for the season and his career, the Yankees were in fairly desperate need for another starter. So after signing Hideo Nomo to a minor-league deal, the Yankees have traded for Shawn Chacon from the Colorado Rockies. What can I say about Chacon, other than he wears his baseball cap "in da hood" style rather than straight, which is apparently a big deal to some fans on NYYFans? Well, he's a warm body with major league experience and he's a righthander. He's also surprisingly under the age of 30 which makes it incredible that the Yankees traded for him given their preference for older-is-better. But Chacon hasn't won a game since April and spent a good chunk of June and July on the DL due to a hamstring injury. On top of that while he was an All-Star in 2003 he hasn't exactly been impressive for the Rockies since then when he was healthy. So I'm not sure what the Yankees will get out of him, though playing in Coors Field can do some very wacky things to a pitcher's ERA.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:57 PM | Comments (0)
July 28, 2005
Pocono - Race Day!
So race day at Pocono was just as fun as qualifying the day before was! Just as fair warning this blog entry will be just as long as the one about Saturday's events. Of course a day at the track wouldn't be complete without seeing Michael Waltrip but you'll have to read futher to find out where this was taken...
Worried about race day traffic we left again at 7 a.m. Like I said in the last entry I had been warned that the traffic would be horrible and that it would take us an hour to get to the track from only a mile away. Needless to say, we had no problems with traffic until we got to Long Pond Road, a couple of miles from the track, and even then the traffic was just slow, not unmoving. As it turned out the traffic wasn't even from people going to the track but rather because of a local newspaper trying to hand out free papers to motorists and a fire department conducting a coin drive. I can't fault the fire department for what they were doing because obviously they provide a valuable service to the community and a lot of their budget probably comes from that coin drive, but was it really necessary for the newspaper to try to hand out free copies? I say try because not too many people were taking copies, probably just as annoyed as Jim and I that they were causing a back-up.
On Saturday we had parked in the grandstand parking which worked out fine but was a bit of a walk to get to the garage area in the infield. But on Sunday we realized that with our credentials we could park in the infield. So we headed in and it was really interesting to me to see the infield with all the RVs and people who were camping out. Of course I've heard plenty of stories about how crazy things can get in the infields at different tracks but I had never seen what it looks like in person. Since it was early in the morning it was much quieter than it would be at night but I was amazed by how many people I saw drinking beer even though it was only nine in the morning. I guess that was to be expected though.
As we walked towards the garage area we passed the Speed-TV stage and I heard an announcement that Nascar This Morning would be filmed there live at 11 a.m. with Michael Waltrip as a guest host filling in for Kenny Wallace and Jimmy Spencer who were both unable to be there due to where they had raced the previous day. Immediately I knew that I had to be there! Seeing the production of a live show would be pretty interesting to begin with but that Michael was going to be on made it a must-see. I don't think Jim was as thrilled as I was but I wanted to be there to hear what Michael had to say but also cheer for him and show my support as well.
But before that we headed to the garage area. As I suspected there wasn't a whole lot going on other than the cars going through yet another inspection. I wanted to find out where the #15 pit was going to be so we also walked down to pit road but it was so incredibly crowded that the crew members could barely move their equipment down to their pits. So we decided not to add to the problem and go back to the garage. I know the track sells the pre-race pit passes for fans to walk up and down on pit road but it just seemed like there were so many people all over the place that it might be making things hard for the crews. Luckily we saw one of the #15 crew members headed in what we figured was the direction of their pit so we got some idea where it was and we wouldn't have to wander around too much later in the day. We then decided to get something to eat before heading over to the Speed stage.
After breakfast we went to the Speed stage nice and early to stake out a spot for the show. At first I was going to stand right behind the stage but I realized that I didn't want to stare at Michael and John Robert's backs all show. Not only that I had no desire to be on TV. So I went over to the side of the stage and discovered that would offer me a good view of the entire stage including the faces of those on the show - much better. So we spent the next hour hanging out there, me chatting with a nice woman next to me. I had been worried that it was going to get crowded which was why we went over so early but as it turned out while there were plenty of people who came over, I had no need to worry about staking out a spot since it was never as crowded as I thought it might get and certainly not on the side where I was since the people standing there don't get on camera.
Michael got there about ten minutes before the show was due to start and I knew that he had arrived based on all the people running over to the other side of the stage so I knew he must be signing autographs. So I walked over to see if I could take a few photos but by the time I got there he was walking inside. Based on the look on his face I'm not sure he was so thrilled by the amount of people rushing towards him to get his autograph even though they were behind a barrier but perhaps I'm just reading into things. At any rate I went back to where I was standing to wait for him to come out on stage.
Eventually Michael came out to big cheers from the crowd. Of course he made sure to wave at everyone on all sides of the stage. I'm never good at knowing for sure whether or not someone is acknowledging me for sure because I always think that perhaps they're really looking at someone behind or next to me but it appeared that Michael spotted me and flashed me the peace sign and a nice smile. That was pretty cool that he seemed to recognize me even from the stage. Each time I see him I never expect him to recognize me since he sees so many people all the time but I had just seen him last month at the Tom Baldwin Golf Outing so I guess that helped as well as the fact that some of the times that I've seen him I've spent more than a few minutes around him so that helps when it comes to remembering my face. Michael sat down and began going over notes for the show with John Roberts. At one point while I was looking elsewhere Jim told me that Michael seemed to look over at me again but unfortunately I missed that due to being distracted by a dude with a mohawk in front of the stage.
I wish I could give a complete recap of everything that was said on Nascar This Morning but unfortunately it was a bit hard to hear on our side of the stage. Michael appeared to be in good spirits and based on the bits and pieces I heard he seemed to be upbeat about the race and enjoying himself on the show. He is criticized by some for his behavior on Inside Nextel Cup in that some feel that he interrupts others too much and doesn't pay attention to what the other panelists are saying. Some take that to mean that Michael does that kind of thing all the time. Well, he did none of that on NTM. He paid complete and obvious attention to John Roberts and from what I could tell sat quietly and listened rather than interrupting when someone else was talking. Yes, he looked around at times but he seemed focused to me on the show. Which indicates to me as I've always thought that a lot of the way Michael is on INC is due to the relaxed format of the show and also because he's playing up a certain role that people have come to expect from him. He's very capable of being different for a different kind of show like NTM, which is a more formal type of show.
Eventually the woman next to me who I had been talking with picked up on the fact that Michael recognized me and occasionally seemed to be looking over at me. So she told me that I should get him to come over at some point and sign autographs for everyone. He recognizes me but that's all! He's not my friend and while I think very highly of him, I really don't know him and I have no influence over what he does in any way, shape or form. And even if I did Michael's not a dog that I'm going to call over to perform tricks. I would never dream of asking anything from him. He's an extremely busy man when he's at the track and as much as everyone might like an autograph I know full well that it's not always the time or place for that, particularly if he's on a tight time schedule. Even when I see him at an appearance I would never dream of asking anything from him other than what he does for others - an autograph and a photo and that's if those things are possible.
The show started taping at 11 and the driver's meeting was scheduled for 11:40 so I had figured that Michael was only going to be on the show until then. I was wondering how he was going to slip out and as the time grew closer and closer to the driver's meeting I noticed there was some discussion during breaks with some of the production staff I assumed about his need to leave to be on time for the driver's meeting. I had been told by someone a while back that Michael hates to be late for anything so I watched with some amusement as he started checking his watch more and more frequently. Jim mentioned to me that Michael seemed to be less and less in good spirits as the show went on and I'm guessing that he was getting antsy about making the driver's meeting since the drivers get in trouble if they don't attend the meetings. Finally a break came at exactly the right time and Michael left.
At that point we decided we would leave too since we weren't too interested in hanging around to watch just John Roberts do NTM. So we headed back to the garage area ourselves. And oh, how I wish we didn't. The driver's meeting happens while the garage is still cold which boggles my mind. The reason being is that there is a massive crowd of people who cluster around where the meeting is going to be trying to get autographs and some of them are very aggressive. There must be some reason why the garage is still cold at that time but I strongly feel that the garage should be hot then to cut down on some of the people who rush the drivers. Maybe Nascar wants to give even those with just cold passes the opportunity to see the drivers but many people are incapable of just standing in one spot and being respectful of the fact that these guys are on their way to a work related meeting. I had seen some of this when we went with Michael to the driver's meeting at Dover last fall and didn't like it much then but at least in Dover the fans seemed to be kept a little further away from where the drivers had to walk.
It was particularly bad when Junior made his way to the meeting. Of course it's impossible for Junior to walk much of anywhere without a huge pack of people following. I thought it was a particularly sad commentary that instead of walking through the garage area like most drivers, Junior had to walk from presumably the motorcoach lot in back of all the haulers as close as he could to where the meeting was before walking out in the open. And as soon as he was spotted a massive group of people ran towards him. To Junior's credit he signed as many autographs as he could as he walked but one look at how blank his face was indicated to me that he's really not enjoying himself much when stuff like that happens, as much as he must come to expect it. I'm not a fan of Junior's in the least but I do have a lot of sympathy for him for some of the things he has to deal with off the track in terms of fans and other issues which are even more intense and magnified than it is for other drivers, with the possible exception of Jeff Gordon who also gets it bad.
Jim went to get something to drink and while I was waiting for him I didn't really know what to do with myself so I was just kind of standing around. Unfortunately based on the set-up no matter where I was I was going to be, unless it was all the way at the other end of the garage, I was going to be in the way since drivers were going to scatter in all sorts of directions once the meeting broke up. When we were at Dover it seemed like the Driver's meeting lasted for a while but it seemed to go very quick at Pocono. Once it broke up drivers and crew chiefs were all over the place with fans running after them in all directions. I tried to take a few photos of a few people but eventually gave up because it was just too impossible with how they were getting crowded. I nearly got swept away in the crush of people trying to get at Junior once more and was almost run over by Elliott Sadler who was walking, signing and carrying on a conversation with someone. With me being so short and him being so tall I don't think he saw me at all! The funny thing was that some drivers like Scott Riggs were just able to walk right out without any problems - no one was interested in his autograph in the least. I was tempted to go up to him, thinking it might make him feel good if at least one person asked for his autograph even though I'm not a fan of his, but I just felt too uncomfortable about approaching.
I had figured that Michael would stay for the prayer service which follows each driver's meeting as he normally does but much to my surprise instead he high-tailed it out of the garage area to go back to NTM. So of course we went back as well. I felt a little creeped out since we were following him around but given a choice between standing around in the garage area, being part of a crowd stalking drivers and watching Michael finish guest hosting NTM, I'll take the latter every time. When I got back to where I had been standing I asked if I missed anything, and a woman complained that now that Michael had returned he wasn't facing our side of the stage quite as much as he had been previously which made it hard to take photos. He's filming a freaking show for crying out loud, not on display for the fans! I don't mean to pick on this woman who was very nice but it was just one more example to me about how sometimes the expectations of the fans are that their needs should come before everything else to a ridiculous degree.
Not too long after that my contact that weekend turned up and I started chatting with him. He's really a great guy and I very much enjoyed talking to him. However, the woman I had been talking to noticed a logo on his shirt that indicated that he was involved with a team and started asking race-related questions. I thought that was going to chase him away but instead he shut her down by telling her that he never talks to the guys about racing. And I was tempted to add if he did he would never share what they said to her, me or any other fan. My big thing when I'm talking to someone who is involved with a team I try to be very careful about what I chat with them about. I almost never ask questions about the driver they work for, instead asking questions about the person themselves. That's because I am genuinely interested in these people for their own merits, not just for who they might work with.
Towards the end of the show I looked over at Michael and he flashed a big smile in my direction and a wave. Again, always hard for me to tell if that was really meant for me - for all I know someone just behind me was doing something to get his attention but I made sure to smile and wave back. By the time the show was over it was 12:30 so Michael had to rush off to get changed into his firesuit for driver introductions and the pre-race ceremonies.
Jim and I headed back into the garage which had gone hot once more. It was at this point that I saw something that caught my attention and that was Slugger Labbe, Michael's former crew chief and Tony, Eury, Jr., Michael's current crew chief in deep conversation near the #15 hauler. Now, on Saturday someone had taken some photos of the two casually talking and I had also seen Slugger talking to others from the #15 team outside their hauler. I didn't really think too much of it then since Slugger did work for DEI for several years so he's bound to still have many friends there. But this conversation really had my attention because of how serious it seemed and how long it went on. They could have been talking about anything from strip clubs to nearby restaurants to complaints about Nascar. I have no idea. But in light of some of Slugger's recent critical comments about Michael I sure did wonder what they were chatting about. I thought about taking a photo but given their body language and all I felt like it would be intrusive and perhaps not appropriate. They were out in the open but it just didn't feel right to start snapping photos at that moment.
One funny thing is that there were countless people clustered around the #8 hauler obviously waiting for Junior, thinking he was inside and that they could catch him for an autograph as he walked to driver introductions. But I've heard previously, probably read it in Jade's blog, that Junior doesn't go to his hauler before the race, instead choosing to spend the time in his motorcoach. I'd guess part of the reason for that is to avoid the pack of people who would naturally swarm him and so that he can have a little time pre-race more or less to himself.
So we drifted over to where there were some carts that the drivers were hopping into so they could get driven to driver's introductions. As I mentioned in relation to Scott Riggs, there are some drivers who get zero attention from the fans. And I always feel a little bad for those guys. On one hand they're probably glad that they don't have to deal with what a Junior or a Tony Stewart goes through each race weekend but I would think some of these guys wouldn't mind a few more fans taking interest in them and what they are up to. Mike Wallace, brother of Rusty and Kenny, is driver of the #4 car and he is one driver that no one really takes note of. Two times, including by the carts, I saw him and thought about smiling and waving at him, calling his name, something just to make him feel a little good about himself but both times I saw him he had such a serious look on his face that I was afraid to. For whatever reason particularly as he headed to driver intros. the look on his face really discouraged me but perhaps he was just concentrating on what he was going to have to do later in the race.
What was cool was that as Kyle Petty passed me in his cart he smiled and waved at me. I know it was at me because no one else was around me at the time, that's the only way I was certain! I guess he remembered me from last month's golf outing and perhaps the other times I've met him. A few other drivers passed by including a serious looking Dale Jarrett.
Jim and I eventually decided that we should head out to pit road to try and get a spot where we could see all the happenings at driver's intros. And what a spot we got! We really weren't sure where we should go or where we could stand especially since there was a security guard who kept yelling at everyone to get behind the tires - um, which tires? There were tires all over the place! But we ended up right next to the ramp all the drivers had to head up to so that they could get to the stage which meant that we could see every driver up close as they walked by us.
Drivers are introduced last to first so the first group of drivers were already on the ramp waiting to be introduced, Junior among them, since he hadn't qualified well. He chatted with Kirk Shelmerdine, who I think at one time was his father's crew chief, and some of the other drivers who aren't exactly big stars like Kevin Lepage on what seemed to be a completely equal level, as did Elliott Sadler who joined Junior a few minutes later. One big thing that I noted is that almost every driver talked and laughed with every other driver. That's not to say that every driver is best buddies with each other or even likes each other but no one shied away from talking to anyone else. There are some fans who believe that certain drivers such as Jimmie Johnson and Kurt Busch are complete outcasts in the garage area and none of their fellow drivers will talk to them because they are so disliked - wrong! Both of those guys talked to any number of their peers and I detected no trace of animosity on anyone's part though of course no one is going to let too much show in public. The only driver I saw who didn't really talk to too many others and seemed a little unhappy was Jeff Green. Matt Kenseth also seemed a bit unhappy and I later found out that he gave a post-race interview in which he discussed that he's not thrilled about not being consulted about the hiring of Jamie McMurray for the #6 and the way he found out - through the internet.
Some of the drivers would casually walk up the ramp and hang out chatting with their fellow drivers. Others would rush up, obviously having just arrived. Robby Gordon's name was announced and he literally had to run up the ramp to the stage with his firesuit only half on. That made everyone, including his fellow drivers, laugh. I wonder if there's a fine or other penalty if a driver misses driver introductions? I've never heard of it happening and I can't imagine any driver not being ready that close to race time but Robby did cut it awfully close. And while all of this was going on there were a couple of people on the ramp perhaps with charities or the track, who were getting the autographs of all the drivers.
At one point Tony Stewart comes walking up the ramp and I take one photo of him. Then I'm standing on tippy-toes trying to peek over the railing when suddenly Tony decides to lean against the railing right near me, sticking his ass right in my face. I guess Tony either didn't know I was standing there or didn't care. It was really hysterical, in fact I found it so funny that I had to take a photo even though I normally don't take butt shots of drivers or players. Yes, I kept my hands to myself even though his ass was well within arm's reach for a few minutes. Actually he might be lucky it was me and not some other fan standing there because another fan might not have kept their hands to themselves.
Kurt Busch gets a lot of flack from fans, many of whom think he's a jerk. I've never actually met him but both times I've been to the track and seen him up-close I've been impressed with how he seems to interact with the people around him at drivers introductions, even fans. He always has a smile on his face and he doesn't shy away from interacting with people and did so with Jim. It may all be for show but I have to give him credit for making an effort. Jim was wishing a lot of drivers good luck and most of them didn't acknowledge him, probably because half of them didn't really hear him or were rushing by at the time. Kasey Kahne was just about the only one other than Kurt who did look right at Jim and thanked him. I think that's funny that perhaps the most timid driver in the field was one of the only ones to talk to Jim.
After driver introductions were over I decided that we should walk down to where Michael's car was so I could take some photos of Michael and Buffy by the car before the pre-race ceremonies start. It ended up being quite a long walk as the #15 was all the way on the opposite end of pit road. As we walked through Kasey Kahne's pit which was right near where Michael's car was, I glanced at Kasey's crew who were leaning against a fence and dude, you aren't as much of all that as you think you are. That's about all I'm going to say about that. So the next pit was pretty much empty of people and equipment because it belonged to one of the extremely underfunded teams so I took the liberty of walking right into the pit and standing by the pit wall so I could have a good view of Michael and the other drivers by their cars.
After the invocation it was of course time for the singing of the National Anthem. Usually Michael sings along which is something that not many other drivers do so I turned around to look and discovered he wasn't singing but he was looking right at me for some reason. (Probably wondering if I'm a stalker!} That freaked me out so I immediately turned away rather than smiling like a normal person, so I probably came off like a complete weirdo. I just didn't expect him to be looking in my direction, since normally everyone on pit road pretty much stares straight ahead. I'm guessing since there were no TV cameras around Michael probably felt free to let his attention wander a little more than he might if he thought he was going to be seen on TV.
Once the pre-race ceremonies were over we stuck around to see Michael get into his car. He had walked off somewhere and when he got back to his car he plopped his hat on Buffy's head like she was a hat rack or something. I'm sure he meant it affectionately but it was a little amusing the way he did it. For some reason I find it really fascinating watching him climb into the car since he's so freaking big. I won't share the comment I had made earlier in the day to Jim that sounded really bad by accident but it certainly applied to Michael jamming himself into the car.
We then made the trek all the way back to the other end of pit road where Michael's pit was located. I attempted to use the scanner only to fuck something up and for a good chunk of the race I either couldn't get the scanner to work, couldn't get the volume high enough and/or couldn't get it to stick on the #15 frequency and not scan through all the drivers I had programmed in. So for the majority of the race I had no clue what was going on since all I could see was whatever happened in the pits around me and the cars as they passed on the track directly in front of the pits.
But that doesn't mean that the race was boring by any means. I absolutely adore watching the pit crews at work and I also love taking photos of the pit crews. So I had a wonderful time watching the crews do their thing. Those men are amazing - they do so much in fourteen or fifteen seconds! I did feel a little awkward standing in back of the #15 pit because I didn't want to get in anyone's way. So I'm glad that Michael's pit was located in a slightly wider area of pit road than where some others were. That mean there was more room for everyone, including myself to move around.
For a while we just hung out watching the happenings on pit road. At one point we walked down to the #8 pit because those guys are mostly all Michael's old crew who we had met in Dover last fall. A lot of them were looking at me and Jim, obviously knowing that we looked familiar, if not remembering fully why they recognized us. Unfortunately it was no time to strike up conversation and refresh their memories there on pit road. I wish that I had seen some of them under different circumstances since they were all so nice last fall and that was one reason why we had such a great time then.
A sad indication that even on pit road there are some fans who don't know how to act appropriately is that the #8 and #24 pits had to have barracades in back of them to prevent people from going into the pits that don't belong there. Every pit is set up within painted white lines and it's a no-no to go inside those white lines unless one is with the team, a member of the media or invited. Most of the time I tried to stay much futher back than that to ensure I didn't get in anyone's way. But apparently a lot of others aren't respectful like that since the #24 team had tires piled in an makeshift wall at the back of their pit and the #8 team had a chain stretched across the back of their's. Back in Dover I actually saw why the #8 team does this. During one pit stop I was absolutely appalled to see a pack of fans run up behind the #8 crew while they were in the middle of a pit stop and start taking photos. And I mean right in back of them - ridiculously close. Jade Gurss had to literally chase them out of the pit.
Once we walked back to the #15 pit I started noticing how hot it was. In reality it probably wasn't that hot in comparison to most of the tracks that they race at but to me it was really steamy. I was starting to wonder how I was going to manage to last though the entire race when our contact approached. I don't know whether he was just trying to be nice or noticed that the heat was starting to get to us but he offered to take us somewhere to cool down where we could still watch the race. And so we went with him. There is no way that I can possibly say where he took us but it's the last place I ever expected in a million years to watch part of a race from. After we left that place our contact arranged for us to be able to use a lounge whenever we wanted for the rest of the afternoon to cool down, or get something to eat or drink. The funny thing is that the lounge was really empty and the staff was obviously anxious for people to talk to. They kept trying to shove food at us and chat with us about various things. Very nice people but that is true of just about everyone we interacted with all weekend. Needless to say without the kindess of our contact I'm not sure I would have made it through the entire race without passing out so I am very appreciative to him for taking pity on us and helping us cool down.
After spending some time in the lounge we went back on pit road where we walked around a bit then mostly hung out near Michael's pit. Like I said I had no idea what was going on the majority of the race. Unless one of the cars in a pit near us had problems, and a few did, it was hard to know what was going on with any individual drivers. At one point Michael slid through his pit right into Travis Kvapil's pit - that was impossible to miss. Though he had to get backed up before his crew could go to work it didn't seem like it hurt them too much at that point in the race. At one point I did know that Michael was running in fourth place and I got very excited thinking he might have a chance to win. One of the few things that I did know during the race based on the bits and pieces I was able to manage to hear on the scanner was that Michael had a good car that ran towards the front most of the day in spite of him having to start from the back. I was certain he was going to get a top ten at least... only that was not to be.
The last pit stop was obviously an important one for the #15 group and they seemed to nail it. So I was feeling pretty good for Michael. Unfortunately for me, Jim was determined that we were going to leave to miss some of the post-race traffic. Of course I wanted to stay to the bitter end but Jim was insistant. If I thought Michael was going to win I would have put my foot down but since I figured he was probably going to end up with a good finish but not a win reluctantly I agreed to leave with about 25 laps to go. We profusely thanked our contact and made the trek back to the car, me wishing that I wasn't leaving, Jim probably saying "finally!"
Leaving ended up being a very good thing. Because it wasn't too much longer before Greg Biffle got into Michael when he was in eighth place and sent him into the wall. I probably would have burst into tears or did something equally embarassing had I been there in person when he wrecked. Michael's crew got him back onto the track... and he promptly wrecked again. I have no idea why he went back on the track - he said on INC that he would have finished 26th regardless but maybe they felt that they could lose positions if they didn't go back out. I really felt horrible for Michael because I know how much he likes racing at Pocono and how high his expectations probably were coming into the weekend. And he should have had a great finish, only bad luck bit him once more. Poor Michael, I really want a stretch of good luck for him, hopefully with at least one win in there.
Traffic wasn't too terrible getting out of the track and though we encountered some slow downs on the way home it actually wasn't as bad as I had thought it might be considering all the horror stories I had heard. Perhaps that was because we left early or maybe we just got lucky. What I do know is that it was an absolutely awesome and outstanding weekend! I don't know when the next race I'll go to will be and I might never get another hot pass ever again so I made the most of every second I was at Pocono. Truly a great experience!
Posted by silverdsl at 11:56 PM | Comments (0)
Photo of the Day - Marginal Way at Sunrise
Marginal Way, Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2005. The sun continues to rise over Marginal Way.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:54 PM | Comments (0)
Junior Goes 143 MPH... on Pit Road
I'm troubled by the attitude towards the incident on pit road during this past weekend's race at Pocono in which Dale Earnhardt, Jr. sped down pit road at 143 mph in an effort to beat the pace car. Some might be wondering why this is a problem given how fast they go on the track but the pit road speed is 55 mph. Junior was going more than double the speed limit on pit road. Some may still be saying so what but there's a safety issue there, one that Junior acknowledged if you read the transcript of his comments over the radio. If something were to go wrong at that speed many crew members are at risk.
What I'm bothered by even more than Junior's lack of judgement is that his team appeared to think this was funny and "cool" rather than a serious issue. I'm also bothered by how little attention this has gotten in the media. There's been some discussion about it but for the most part it's completely flown under the radar. In fact so far under the radar that even Claire B. Lang made note of the lack of coverage of what he did on "Dialed In" on Wednesday night. She said that unless someone was listening to Junior's radio or Nascar communications no one might ever know that anything happened. I imagine that's because other than being penalized a lap during the race and called to the Nascar hauler post-race for a chat, Junior wasn't given any kind of penalty.
Nascar fines and takes points away from teams and drivers for illegal parts and any "actions detrimental." Well, I'd like to know how speeding down pit road at 143 mph isn't detrimental? I'm not saying that Junior should be sitting out the next five races or anything. But I do think that a safety issue, and in my opinion that's exactly what this is, should be treated very seriously. Drivers just can't be speeding down pit road like that - in fact I can't recall another instance when a driver was tagged for going that fast unless we just never heard about it. What Junior did is irresponsible and shows a lack of concern, at least at that moment, for the pit crews. I understand that he was probably frustrated and he lost his head for a minute - he's far from the only driver to make a mistake due to emotion, their competitiveness or because they are to get back on track as quickly as possible. But that seems like a mistake that could have some very serious consequences, much more serious than issues related to what crew chiefs are trying to get away with on race day.
To his credit Junior realized the wrongness of what he did - I wish I could say the same for others on his team. I don't think it's "cool" as Mike Davis, one of Junior's PR people does nor do I think it's hysterical like Tony Eury, Sr. apparently does. Oh don't be silly, nothing would go wrong some are saying. But guess what? Things go wrong all the time. There's a reason why the speed limit on pit road is 55 mph. There's a reason why the crew members have to wear helmets when they go over the wall. There's a reason why there are other safety precautions on pit road. Because accidents can and do happen - just ask Josh Yost and other crew members who have been injured - and speed would make it even worse, particularly in the tight confines of pit road.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:37 PM | Comments (0)
Photo of the Day - Marginal Way at Sunrise
Marginal Way, Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2005. It wasn't as dramatic of a sunrise as last year but I did wake up one morning to take photos at sunrise while I was up in Maine. Actually I think of all the times I've woken up to take photos at sunrise this particular time featured the least impressive sunrise. But I don't think it will be easy to find anything that will compare to some of the photos I took one morning at sunrise last summer during that ultra low-tide. Still, I managed to find plenty of things to take photos of this year!
Posted by silverdsl at 12:05 AM | Comments (0)
July 27, 2005
Manny Ramirez Sits When Team Needs Him
I'm a little hesitant to throw Manny Ramirez under a bus because there might be a good reason for why he did what he did but that won't stop me from talking about this anyway. Ramirez was scheduled to have a day off and not play tonight's game for the Red Sox but in last night's game Trot Nixon injured himself and had to be placed on the disabled list. So Terry Francona went to Ramirez and asked him to play today, saying that the team was "in a bind" due to Nixon's injury. However Ramirez said he wouldn't play and that he needed the night off despite the Red Sox having an off day tomorrow.
It's possible that Ramirez's hamstrings, which have been a chronic problem for him, were bothering him or he has some other lingering injury that he feels would get better with the added rest but if that's not the case and he just wanted to have the two days off in a row like he expected he really let his team and his teammates down. Countless players have played through nagging injuries and pain when they weren't 100%, particularly when their teams need them. Gary Sheffield played through pain in his shoulder last season and Paul O'Neill played through all sorts of injuries. Yes, that can make an injury worse but many times players will put the good of the team ahead of their own needs.
There's no question that Ramirez does some strange things and doesn't always seem to play with 100% focus all the time. There are times when I think that some fans and the media over-react to the things that he does - some people just have a different way of thinking and doing things. But in this case I can understand why some are disturbed. Particularly since it comes on the heels of Ramirez not running out a grounder in last night's games and reports that he might have been asked to be traded.
I'm sure the team will be careful to make this as much of a non-issue as possible. And I doubt that they will trade Ramirez. Still, unless there's an injury issue to be concerned about I suspect some with the Red Sox might not be so thrilled with Ramirez at the moment.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:15 PM | Comments (0)
Yankees Sign Hideo Nomo to Minor League Deal
The Tampa Bay Devil Rays put Hideo Nomo on waivers and not surprisingly considering the state of the Yankees pitching staff, Nomo was signed by the Yankees to a minor league deal. That's really a bad sign about how dreadful the situation is internally for the Yankees in terms of starting pitching and also about their chances for getting a decent starter via a trade. Nomo wasn't good for the Devil Rays. The only up-side about him as compared to Kevin Brown or Carl Pavano is that as far as I know Nomo is healthy. Which almost makes his poor pitching even worse because at least with Brown and Pavano their injury issues give them an excuse for not being effective. I think we'll be seeing Nomo in the Bronx sooner rather than later and unfortunately I'm not expecting too much from him, though I hope to be wrong about that.
At least thus far Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina have remained healthy. Johnson was absolutely outstanding for the Yankees last night, giving up just two hits in eight innings and striking out eleven. That's exactly the type of pitching the Yankees expected to see out of RJ every night when they traded for him. Mussina has also been effective lately. But beyond both of them there are huge question marks. No one knows how much Al Leiter has left - the desire is certainly there and he's going to give the Yankees as much as he's got but other than his first start he's been so-so. Kevin Brown's back is an issue again that will probably prevent him from pitching any time soon. Pavano is still on the DL though he could potentially return soon. Wright is also still on the DL and even if he comes back he might not be in the starting rotation.
The Yankees have been hanging in there in second place in the division, only a game and a half out of first but I fear that the pitching woes could become an increasing problem.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)
Some IRL Drivers Upset Over Focus on Danica Patrick
Andretti-Green Drivers Boycott Autograph Session
IRL open-wheel racing gets zero attention in the United States in comparison to Nascar so naturally when female driver Danica Patrick became a media darling the IRL jumped on what they saw as a potential gravy train and promoted the hell out of her. Which has led to some disquiet among the other drivers who feel ignored in comparision to Patrick, who some feel is a lesser driver. So after discovering that at a mandatory autograph session there would be a separate line for fans who were there for Patrick and another line that said "Other Drivers" for everyone else, the Andretti-Green drivers Dan Wheldon the series points leader, Dario Franchitti, Bryan Herta and reigning series champion Tony Kanaan boycotted the session supposedly on direction of thier bosses at AGR.
I'm sorry but I think that boycotting an autograph session because they don't like how much IRL is marketing Patrick or the way the autograph lines are set up is inexcusable. Why should the fans have to suffer because the team and it's drivers are upset with IRL? It's been said that the drivers later did a separate autograph session which is great but that doesn't help the fans who made plans for the initial one. The AGR drivers may have very legitamite gripes but there are far better ways of airing those complaints than deciding not to show up to an autograph session to make a statement.
In his blog, Jade Gurss, Dale Earnhardt, Jr.'s public relations person says that it's the responsibility of AGR to market their drivers rather than waiting for IRL to do it and he's 100% right. While AGR has a right to be concerned about IRL focusing soley on Patrick, at the same time some of the time and energy they're spending complaining they could use to think of strategies to get their drivers added attention - and not the negative attention that comes from boycotting an event for fans. Stories just don't write themselves and there is no guarantee of coverage for everything or everyone, except for the most major events and personalities. So drivers, teams and organizations must think of ways to hook both the media and the fans.
AGR did something which could very well have upset any number of fans, some of the very people they are trying to market their drivers to. They might end up convincing IRL to focus less on Patrick, though I would tend to doubt it, but at what expense? I'm not going to be too inclined to think kindly towards an organization or drivers who think it's okay to boycott a fan event to make a statement about their own interests. I can't imagine too many Nascar drivers boycotting a fan event to make a statement but maybe because IRL gets so much less attention AGR felt that their drivers could get away with it without upsetting too many people.
As for being upset that there was a separate line and sign for Patrick and one for the other drivers, surely there's more to it than that, right? Because it seems to make sense to me to have a separate line for a driver who will have a much bigger line. Like it or not, fair or not, the reality is that Danica Patrick is the hottest thing going right now and she is going to have a large amount of fans who want her autograph. And is it really feasible to have a sign listing all the other driver's names? How do you fit them all on the sign? Maybe the issue was that all the rest of the fans were jammed together on one other line instead of being divided up and I can see how it might be easier if everyone's lines were divided up with only the fans who want their autographs on each individual line. But I just don't get why there was so much anger over the set-up at the signing. I can't imagine Dale Earnhardt, Jr. doing an appearance with other drivers and not having his fans in a separate line, with a separate sign, maybe even in a separate building. I'm not saying Patrick is on the level of Junior but when you're dealing with a popular driver there are going to have to be some things done to ensure that things run smoothly if a large turnout of fans is expected.
The bottom line in my mind is that regardless of what issues AGR has with IRL they should put them aside when it comes to an event for the fans.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:47 PM | Comments (0)
TV Guide Gets Big Makeover
I used to be a subscriber to TV Guide but as time went on I found myself watching less and less non-sports programs on TV and the listings that I did need were easily available online or in the newspaper. So I ceased my subscription. Many others have done the same, often also because of the increased ease of finding other sources for TV listings. That has spelled bad news for TV Guide who finds that they are down to 9 million subscribers from a one time high of 20 million. Which means that the magazine has been losing money.
So as a response TV Guide is completely making themselves over. Instead of the familiar pocket-size, the Guide will get bigger. In addition, instead of devoting 75% of the magazine to listings and %25 to stories, that will flip with 75% of the magazine's pages being filled by stories. And on top of that, while they will still be available on their website, TV Guide will be eliminating regional listings, instead only having one edition with two printings, one for the East Coast and one for the West Coast. My question is what about the people in the central and mountain time zones? Or were there not too many people buying the magazine in those areas?
Unfortunately unless these changes really make a big difference in how many people subscribe or buy TV Guide, one day it might be no longer which would be a shame considering it's been around since 1953.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)
Coast Casinos Puts Priority on Value Over Glamour in New Casino Restaurants
Restaurants at New Casino to Cater to the Value-Conscious
I thought this was a very interesting article about the approach that Coast Casinos has to it's new South Coast resort that will open next year in terms of the restaurants they are planning and the resort in general. The Coast Casinos, which include The Orleans, cater to a mix of both Las Vegas locals and tourists with perhaps a bit more towards the locals. So there is much less emphasis on glitz and glamour and more emphasis placed on value. Some of the restaurants will be spin-offs of existing Italian, Mexican and seafood restaurants in other Coast properties but they will also have a buffet (of course) and a 24-hour cafe that are very much geared towards local customers. To do that the buffet will change their offerings on a regular basis with return customers in mind and the 24-hour cafe will feature a prime rib and graveyard specials which are apparently popular with locals. There will also be a steakhouse that will be central to the South Coast. That's very much different from other hotel/casinos in Las Vegas that are increasingly featuring the fanciest and most expensive restaurants possible with the intention of impressing their customers as much as possible.
When I was at The Orleans in January it definitely stood out in contrast to the other hotel/casinos located directly on the strip. The Orleans has its share of flashing lights and ways that they tried to lure people but the luxury and glamour of the other casinos was definitely not there. I'm sure if I lived in Las Vegas I would have no use for the fancy resorts and would definitely gravitate towards the more low-key Coast Casinos properties. But as a tourist I definitely liked the fanciness of the non-Coast properties, including their restaurants more because if I was going to be in Las Vegas I wanted a true Vegas experience. I did really like the Italian restaurant in The Orleans though the service was horrible that day.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2005
Photo of the Day - Marginal Way
Marginal Way, Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2005. Just a simple, no-frills shot of Marginal Way. I bet it's even boiling hot up there right now like it is here.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
Pocono - Day One
I mentioned last week or the week before that I had been generously been given hot passes for the race weekend at Pocono. So that was this past weekend and it was so much fun! Of course I have a lot to say about it and I will say it all here so I can use this as a record of my experience. Believe me, I sure don't expect that there will be many who will be able to read the whole thing! I think I will split it up into two days to make it a little easier on myself.
So Jim and I set out bright and early on Saturday morning at 7 a.m. to go to Pocono. Having never been there we had no clue as to exactly how long it would take us to get there or how bad the traffic might be. Almost every track has bad traffic but it's been said that it's particularly bad, even for qualifying, at Pocono because there aren't many roads in the area to get to the track. But other than one minor place where we took a wrong turn thanks to the navigation system in the car not knowing exactly where we were going, it was smooth sailing to get the track on Saturday and we were there a little after 8:30 a.m. First up was getting our credentials from the Nascar trailer outside the track which are the cold passes which allowed us entry into the Cup garage. There was no problem there and putting the pass on really gave me a thrill of excitment because it made the whole thing seem so much more real.
I didn't want to call the contact who I had to get the hot passes from too early since I knew he might be busy with other things so we walked around a little and I got a scanner. That killed a lot of time because the person selling the scanner moved about as fast as a snail stuck in a puddle of molasses. I think Jim got a little antsy but I didn't mind because we had plenty of time. Finally we got the scanner and made our way over to the infield where the Cup garage was located. I made my first nervous phone call to my contact who didn't pick up which made me unsure of what to do - leave a message that I didn't know if he would get promptly or try back later. I opted to try again later.
So we made our first walk-through of the garage and I was in complete awe that I was actually there. Seeing the cars up close is just amazing! I see them on TV each week but having them meer feet away from me was incredible. Almost immediately we made our first spotting of a "name" and that was Slugger Labbe, current crew chief for Jeremy Mayfield, former crew chief to Michael Waltrip. As it turned out that was one of many Slugger sightings throughout the weekend. Jim and I had met Slugger last fall when we won the Operation Marathon Auction to be Michael Waltrip's guests at a race. That was just before Slugger parted ways with the #15 team. Since then he's made some comments that raise a lot of questions and has also made some critical remarks about Michael so even though he was extremely nice to us that day, he's not high on my list of people in the garage area right now. But to his credit at one point when he saw us he smiled and nodded, obviously at least realizing we looked familiar if not fully knowing where he knew us from. He was on the phone at the time and that was probably a good thing because if he had stopped to chat it might have been a wee bit awkward.
Much to my surprise I also ran into a friend who runs a Michael Waltrip website and her sister, who is a big Steve Park fan. They are members of the Nascar Members Club and they won the opportunity to have a brief visit to the garage area. So that was a nice suprise. I knew they were going to be at the track and I hoped to meet up with them at some point but I had no idea it would be in the garage. Good thing I saw them then though since I never ended up being able to find them on pit road during qualifying later in the day.
The cars were going through pre-qualifying inspection so we watched that for a while. But I soon realized that we should get something to eat because if we waited too much longer it would be qualifying and I didn't want to miss any of that having never experienced a live qualifying before. So we headed to the infield cafeteria and got breakfast. After another failed attempt finally I was able to reach my contact who directed us to meet him outside the driver's motorcoach lot. What was funny is that none of the four security guards we asked knew where it was. The reason that was so funny was that the motorcoach lot was directly in back of the garage, pretty much right in the same area where all the security guards we asked were stationed. The only thing I can think of is that they're told to play dumb so that fans can't try to stalk the drivers near the motorcoach lot but given that they kept asking others where to send us, it didn't seem like that was the case.
Once we got outside the driver's motorcoach lot I called my contact so he could come and meet us. As we waited I noted how many fans were clustered by the gate to the lot, waiting for a glimpse of a driver. While we were there Kevin Harvick was driven in on a cart but didn't stop or acknowledge any of the fans there. I wonder if any of the drivers ever stop to sign autographs? I kind of think that should be an area off-limits to autograph seeking since the gate to the motorcoach lot is like the gate to a private community of houses. On race weekends the drivers live inside and if you wouldn't camp outside of someone's house for their autograph I don't think it's cool to camp outside of the motorcoach lot for an autograph. Oh wait, some people do think nothing of stalking celebrities for autographs outside their houses. That's unbelievable to me that some fans think it's okay to invade people's privacy like that.
Eventually our contact pulled up on a cart and handed us the passes. I think he was about to take off but I asked him about someone that we both knew, who wasn't the person who arranged the hot passes for me or the person that person is affiliated with. This apparently peaked his interest so he stuck around and chatted with us for a while. Despite being around racing for a long time this person told me that he's not really a race fan which I found very interesting considering he's around it for a good part of the year. It quickly became evident that our contact was a very nice person. Then our contact offered to give us a ride to a shortcut back to the garage area so we hopped on and he took off. It's at this point that I will have to leave a few minor things out just because I don't feel right posting about it publically.
So once we were back in the garage area we weren't sure exactly where we should go prior to qualifing actually starting - stay in the garage or go out on pit road. We walked back and forth a few times then finally decided to go out on pit road. I will do a separate post regarding fan behavior this weekend but needless to say I was not overly thrilled with the zoo-like atmosphere on pit road. I understand that there are a lot of fans who like autographs a lot more than I do and aren't as laid-back as I am when it comes to being a fan which is fine but some of the things that I heard and saw this weekend were just appalling. I know people can get carried away when they are excited but the drivers and crew members are human beings whose first priority has to be with the things that have to do with racing.
I wasn't quite sure where to stand on pit road that would offer me the best view of all the happenings but eventually we decided to watch from fairly close to where the cars went out on to the track for their qualifying laps. It was a good choice because it was really, really awesome to hear the drivers start up the engines and take off! I just can't even begin to put into words how cool that was to me! There were two directions that drivers could come from to walk over to their cars for qualifying - one directly from the garage area that would take them through autograph alley where they could sign some autographs for fans behind a fence and then all the way up pit road or from the other side, presumably through the ARCA garage where they could miss having to deal with a lot of the fans. As one might imagine several drivers opted for the route where there were no fans including Dale Jarrett and not surprisingly Dale Earnhardt, Jr. Of course each time a driver would approach from the end that put them in the least contact with fans, it didn't go over very well with the people around me.
Brian Vickers and Greg Biffle were the two drivers who came over to sign at different times where I was and Jimmie Johnson signed a bit further down the line. I enjoyed taking photos of both Vickers and Biffle up-close as they signed but what I didn't enjoy was how everyone crowded against each other and practically crushed me in their haste to try and get those driver's autographs. So for the rest of the time we were on pit road I was kind of hoping that unless it was Michael Waltrip, no other drivers came over to sign. What was interesting to me was how many working photographers would run over when a driver started to sign. It definitely makes for a good shot when drivers sign for fans on pit road but there are probably twenty photographers who ended up with the same shot. Gee, you think that ever has anything to do with why a driver signs to get themselves and their sponsor a little extra publicity when the photos are published all over the place?
Eventually I saw Michael for the first time when he walked over to where his car was. It's always pretty easy to spot Michael since he's so much taller than just about everyone else. Michael has said before that if there's a time that he gets nervous it's before qualifying since there are only two laps to do something good. And it definitely seemed like perhaps he had some nervous energy. His car was second in the final practice on Friday and I'm sure he thought that he would be able to qualify very well, if not be a pole contender again. Michael seemed to be in excellent spirits, talking to all sorts of people. He would bounce around, sit down briefly, pop back up, go talk to someone, walk around, go talk to someone else, repeat over and over again. He never never approached too close to the pit wall but at one point someone to my left yelled his name. What made me laugh is that when he smiled and waved he actually waved more towards where I was then where the person who yelled at him was. It's possible he spotted me since we've met on a few occassions and he recognizes me on sight and was waving in my direction so I smiled big just in case but more than likely he just wasn't sure where the yell had come from.
Once Michael got into his car to prepare to make his qualifying run we headed back to the garage area so we could be there when he came back in afterwards. This made me feel like a bit of a stalker but let's face it he's my favorite driver and if there's anyone I'd like to get some photos of it was Michael. On our way back to the garage we saw Kasey Kahne signing autographs on autograph alley with his firesuit tied around his waist. I paused to take a few photos of him - he looked so tiny! I saw him last month at a charity golf outing and noted how small he was but he looked even smaller in his firesuit.
The garage was fairly quiet which was a nice change from the craziness of pit road. However, it wasn't empty and there was a large group of people hanging around near some of the haulers. It soon became clear why. Jeff Gordon pulled in, fresh off his qualifying run and as soon as he stepped out of his car and started to walk to his hauler he was mobbed by people who wanted his autograph. Jeff graciously signed and I guess he and every other driver have come to expect this but I was still taken aback by how aggressively those fans rushed at him and followed him right to the door of his hauler.
A few minutes later Michael drove into his garage after his qualifying run. Because I wasn't listening to the scanner and I wasn't out on pit road I had no idea how he did. After getting out of the car he conferred briefly with some of his crew members and then instead of walking towards his hauler like we expected he might he started walking in the other direction. Now I really didn't want to be one of "those" fans who chases down a driver like that group of people had just done to Jeff Gordon. But Jim told me that we should at least see where he was going so reluctantly I followed, much further behind the many others who were looking for autographs. Eventually Michael stopped to give an interview to MRN and I cautiously went around the group that had amassed around Michael.
Lifting my camera to my face I went to take a photo and noticed the dark look on Michael's face and realized that qualifying had not gone well. Immediately I felt guilty for standing there taking photos when it was clear that he should be left alone but seeing how unhappy he obviously was didn't stop microphones being shoved in his face or fans from throwing things at him to sign. Amazingly Michael both gave the interview and signed at the same time, telling MRN about how he had gotten loose and brushed the wall during his qualifying attempt. As he was doing this he would occasionally look up at me. I have no idea if he recognized me or not with the camera in front of my face but Jim kept telling me to take the camera away so Michael could see me since he kept looking at me. I decided that I wasn't going to do that since it was obvious how displeased Michael was with what had happened in qualifying and I didn't want to put him in a position where he might feel obligated to say something to me when all I'm sure he wanted to do was get back to his motorcoach. So once he was done with his interview I slid to the side and he walked past me. I caught a glimpse of his face as he passed and while he did a relatively good job of keeping himself composed while he was doing the interview he was much less so as he walked by and he looked like he had just sucked on the biggest, most sourest lemon ever. I felt horrible for him because I knew how high his expectations were for the weekend at Pocono, how much he probably wanted to qualify well and how hard he's probably trying to do everything exactly right at the track since he's looking for a new ride for 2006.
After that, we decided to leave even though qualifying wasn't completely over. I would have stayed longer but Jim isn't a Nascar fan so given that we would be returning the next day it was about all that he could take, particularly since Michael was done for the day. On the way out we stopped off at Michael's merchandise trailer where I spent a long time trying to figure out what shirt I should get. Unfortunately just about every shirt had #15 on it which won't be his car number after this season. The one shirt that didn't wasn't one that I particularly liked. I kind of reluctantly ended up getting one of the shirts with a #15 on it because it wasn't too expensive and once he's with a new ride I'll get a couple of new shirts then.
The other thing that happened is that at one point in the morning we realized that we had forgotten the sunblock in the car. On the way back we walked through the area where all the merchandise trailers are and suddenly I hear someone calling my name. As it turned out it was someone that I know from NYYFans.com who is also a big fan of Michael's. We had never met in person before but he recognized me from a photo of me on the site. I definitely never expected to run into him so randomly or be recognized based on a photo on the site! We chatted with him for a bit which was cool.
All in all, it was an awesome day getting to see qualifying for the first time in person both on pit road and in the garage!
Posted by silverdsl at 07:52 PM | Comments (0)
Why is Michael Waltrip Wearing Shorts On INC So Offensive to Some?
Just a random thought that occured to me and this is the space for it. Michael Waltrip wore shorts last night on Inside Nextel Cup because he had been at a charity golf outting out of state prior to the show's taping and didn't have time to change into long pants. The last time Michael wore shorts on INC they were ridiculously short and it looked like he was sitting there in his underwear so I can understand why it caused an uproar back then and led the producers to say that the panel always had to wear long pants. But on yesterday's show the length of the shorts was appropriate and given that Michael has nice muscular legs he looked fine. So I don't understand why some are freaking out that he wore shorts again.
If Leeann Tweeden can be on Nascar Nation with her boobs half hanging out and she and the other female host wear clothes that are as tight as possible, what's the problem with Michael showing a little leg? Seriously, both men and women wear shorts all the time in hot weather. There's nothing offensive about a bare male leg. And it's a complete double-standard for Leeann to be able to show, and probably be encouraged to show, as much bare flesh as possible, but it's not okay for Michael. The worst part is that Leeann and her co-host are deliberately being dressed in a way to attract viewers on the basis of the way that they look while Michael is simply showing up to film the show in what he was wearing earlier in the day.
Yes, I get the point that INC is a different kind of show than NN. But INC is still a fairly casual show. Some are saying that Michael is deliberately showing a lack of respect for the show and everyone else on it. Huh? Yeah, maybe at some point he could have grabbed pants to change into. But I'm guessing at 6 a.m. he and whoever went with him wasn't exactly giving too much thought about what he needed to do for INC.
The problem is that there are some people who dislike Michael so strongly that they are going to look for anything they can find to criticize him about. Every driver and player has anti-fans like that. Things that other fans give no thought to become a huge offense to these fans because it somehow "proves" what they percieve to be the worst about the athlete they can't stand. Meanwhile, often what they make into a huge issue is really nothing at all. I suppose that's true to a degree for everyone that some things are pet peeves that irk one person but go unnoticed to the next person. But when it comes to athletes it appears that some things are magnified even more.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)
Steve Park Finishes 12th at Memphis
Electrical Problems Strike Again
By some miracle Steve Park was able to battle hard and finish twelveth in Saturday's race at Memphis. I say by some miracle because an initial loose condition and an electrical problem gave Steve fits. It was hot as hades in Memphis on Saturday and from what people said at the race Steve had to shut off his fans and everything else because of the electrical problem. So I can't even begin to imagine how hot he was in that truck. Yet somehow he managed to race his way to a 12th place finish which is pretty impressive all things considered. Given that the electrical problem could have led to an early night for Steve I'd say that 12th is outstanding. Especially when one considers that qualifying didn't go well for the #62 team so they started at the back of the field.
I'm not really sure what else I can say about yet another mechanical problem for the #62 that hasn't already been said. There will always be some issues. But it seems like there have been a lot of mechanical problems that both Orleans teams have had to deal with. Luckily Brendan Gaughan had no problems and finished 3rd. If not for that problem might Steve have finished in the top ten or even the top five himself? Quite possibly and there are other races where one has to think that he would have finished better if not for various mechanical failures.
I'm just glad that a 12th place finish moved him up one spot in the points. At the very least I'd like to see Steve finish within the top 15 in points at the end of the season. I think that's very do-able. I'd love for him to finish in the top ten of course but I don't think that is realistic anymore unfortuntely. Without all the mechanical problems and getting wrecked he surely would have been in the top ten. It's a shame because he is such a better driver than he's been able to show for most of this season. The points certainly don't reflect his true skill behind the wheel but unfortunately that's all a lot of people go on - numbers.
Some will say it's too early to start thinking about next season but silly season in Nascar starts earlier and earlier each season. So unless Steve signed a multi-year deal with Orleans in the past off-season, and I don't think he did, it's going to be interesting to see if he'll be back in the #62 in 2005. I think all parties, both Steve and the Gaughans, are very fond of each other so there's no problems there. But Nascar is a business and everyone has to look out for their own best interests which sometimes conflicts with personal feelings. So it could be interesting to see how everything plays out.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:53 PM | Comments (0)
Another Fire in Red Rock Canyon
Right around the same time last month there was a fire in Red Rock Canyon outside of Las Vegas and just this past weekend lightning started another fire in Red Rock Canyon that forced the evacuation of the Visitor's Center there. The fire is now out but the loop road around the park is closed as firefighters continue to clean up after the fire. It's such a beautiful place that it's a shame that they keep getting hit with fires but I guess that's part of the course of things in nature, particularly when it's so hot and dry out.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:43 PM | Comments (0)
July 25, 2005
Sleepy...
Had a great weekend, much to talk about in relation to that and other things. But I'm way too tired now...
Posted by silverdsl at 03:28 PM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2005
Photo of the Day - Through the Window
Fort McClary, Kittery, Maine, July, 2005. Aside from being fascinated with taking photos of stairs, I'm also fond of taking photos of doors and windows. I guess it's the idea of what lies beyond and how a photo might envoke that which I find so enticing. So while I was at Fort McClary I took a bunch of window pics, more than a few of which will probably follow this photo into this blog.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:41 AM | Comments (0)
July 21, 2005
Gypsy Sweethearts in Ogunquit
I also ate dinner at Gypsy Sweethearts in Ogunquit, Maine just like the woman who wrote this restaurant review. And it really was a great meal, probably one of our best while my Mom and I were in Maine. The service was excellent, the food was outstanding and the decor of the restaurant was really nice as well. I had pasta with lobster in it as well as a yummy goat cheese salad. No dessert though since I didn't have any room by the time I finished the rest of the delicious meal. In my previous two visits I had never ate at Gypsy Sweethearts but I definitely will go again the next time I'm in Ogunquit.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:07 PM | Comments (0)
July 20, 2005
I Know Nothing; Am Nobody of Significance
Countless people try to claim that they have insider knowledge of different things that are happening or are going to happen. With baseball with the fast approaching trade deadline all sorts of people make claims about hearing this or that from people with an "in" regarding what huge trades are going to be made. On racing boards once silly season kicks into high gear you're got all sorts of people who claim that they know exactly where this driver or that sponsor is going. The funny thing is that all of these people can't possibly have insider knowledge because all of their information is usually in conflict with each other. Meaning that more than likely they have no real insider information what-so-ever or they have one or two tidbits of information that they're running wild with. Of course there are some people who really do have insider information and are reliable sources but in my experience the majority of people who are actually in the position to know something for sure don't come to message boards and those that do are extremely close-mouthed about everything that they do know.
It's so epidemic over the past few weeks that it seems as if every single place that I visit no matter what sport it's related to has someone claiming to "know" something, usually related to some juicy piece of news that everyone is dying to find out about. With that in mind, I would just like to announce what I know - nothing. Yes, that's right, I know absolutely nothing about anything of importance in terms of trades or where any drivers or sponsors are going to end up. Ok, I do know a few tidbits of information that have been told to me by people who actually are in the "know" for sure but aside from the fact that I wouldn't consider any of it to be of very much significance, though it would probably be of interest to some, I would never tell share those items publically. On the other hand I have made some observations when I've been lucky enough to be around drivers or baseball players that I might talk about from time-to-time but I tend to leave out any details that I think might not be appropriate for me to share. Actually, come to think about it in some cases there's a lot of details that I leave out. But the bottom line is that I know exactly nothing, zero, zip, nada, zilch, when it comes to any kind of hot news.
I'd also like to take this opportunity to announce that I am also nobody of significance. I'm just a simple events planner and fan of many things who likes to write in her blog. And while I have been present at a lot of events with well-known people and talked to many famous people and their representatives through work and other means, I can say that my connections are few in terms of anyone of interest and those that I do have I would never in a thousand years exploit for any kind of information.
I had a golden opportunity today to ask a few questions and get some information from someone about something that a lot of people are wondering about but I would never even casually bring it up in conversation. Particularly since I'm interacting with this person for their own merits not because of who they are connected with. Hell, I even sat with Michael Waltrip once and talked to him one-on-one right around the time when the whole controversy over Inside Nextel Cup was brewing and I didn't say word one about it.
It's not that I don't care about these things - I do. One only needs to read just a few days entries to know that I care and am interested in a lot of things. But it just doesn't seem appropriate to ask questions that put someone on the spot and can't be easily answered... or answered at all at that time. I can wait like everyone else until the answers that I'm dying to know about are revealed to all. Oh, I will read everything I can find and speculate about this or that with the best of them. All the time. But I'm just a little nothing fan, one of thousands of fans, nobody of importance, who knows nothing of significance.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:31 PM | Comments (1)
Silly Season Silliness
Nascar fans might notice I'm not posting too much about the various items related to silly season, even those that involve Michael Waltrip. The reason is that there's just too many rumors flying in all sorts of directions that I'd rather wait until there's something more concrete or something that really catches my interest before I discuss it. But there are some interesting happenings for sure and there will probably be some moves that haven't even been talked about at all that will surprise some. Jamie McMurray to the #6 was definitely a surprise as it was expected that he would end up in the #2 so I think there will be other unexpected announcements like that.
I think a lot of the current rumors are based on people spotting drivers talking to members of other teams in the garage area, whether it's another driver, owner or crew member and they jump to conclusions that the conversation is about a potential ride. In reality it's probably just as likely they are talking about the best place away from the track to get a bite to eat or the woman with the big boobs that just walked by. My guess is that the majority of discussions about driver or sponsor movement are happening well out of view from prying eyes. That was certainly the case for McMurray going to the #6 because I don't think word one was mentioned about that anywhere prior to it happening.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:26 PM | Comments (0)
Justice Department Opposes National Shield Law for Journalists
Says Would Impair the Government's Ability to Enforce Law and Fight Terrorism
I've followed but not discussed in this space the Valerie Plame affair in spite of the fact that it involves confidential sources, a subject that regular readers of this blog know interests me. The reason being that the Plame case involves a great deal of politics and political games, something which I have pledged to avoid discussing much here. However, out of the ashes of that saga comes a push in congress to protect journalists with a National Shield Law so they wouldn't be forced to reveal confidential sources. I strongly support a National Shield Law. Though I believe that journalists don't always use care when it comes to sources, confidential or otherwise, I also believe that it is in the public's best interest that journalists feel they have the freedom to use information provided to them by confidential sources without fear of landing in jail for protecting those sources. Yes, even with a National Shield Law there would be some instances where journalists would be compelled to testify as to who their sources are but a prosecutor would have to show that they have exhausted all other avenues of gathering information as well as that a crime occured.
I never got around to discussing it unfortunately but there's at least one newspaper, I believe in the Midwest, that killed a story that involved confidential sources on the advice of the paper's legal team, even though they said that the story was something that was in the public's best interest to know. That's chilling, particularly since I'm sure that isn't the only newspaper to make that choice in recent months. I shutter to think about what might go unreported on because a journalist fears landing in jail like Judy Miller. It's essential that the press be allowed to operate with as much freedom as possible to ensure that as much news that benefits the public, whether it's about political issues or otherwise is disseminated.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:51 AM | Comments (0)
Kodak to Cut Up to 10,000 More Jobs
22,000-25,000 Total Jobs to Be Cut By 2007
In another sign that Kodak is having continued financial issues they have announced that they will cut as many as 10,000 additional jobs by the time their restructuring is finished in 2007. This bit of news caused their stock prices to drop 9% and comes on the heels of losses for a second quarter in a row, despite sales being up 6% from last year. It's incredibly really considering how many people know the Kodak brand name and use their products that if they don't make even bigger in-roads in the digital photography market than they already have that they could face an even tougher road ahead. Kodak was founded in 1881 and virtually dominated the photography market until the 1980's when Fuji became a strong player. Now Kodak must adjust once more to a changing market.
Of course this makes me wonder what's going to happen with Kodak's sponsorship of the Penske Racing #77 driven by Travis Kvapil. When they went over to Penske from Morgan-McClure where they had been a sponsor for 18 years, they signed a multi-year deal so I assume the sponsorship will continue until the completion of the contract. But after that? In the face of losses and jobs cuts which will reduce the workforce to less than 50,000 I'm not sure that Kodak will be able to justify a multi-million dollar investment in a team whose results aren't very good for much longer. No doubt Kodak isn't paying as much to sponsor the #77 as they would for a sponsorship with a big-time team like the #97 or #24, but they are probably spending at least $10 million or more a year. Which is probably a drop in the bucket in comparision to the overall money that they deal with each year, but still looks bad to all the employees when they have colleagues who have lost their jobs.
And what of Travis Kvapil? His results thus far this season haven't been much better than Brendan Gaughan's last season and Brendan didn't last more than one season in the #77. I don't know how long of a contract Travis signed and considering we haven't heard word one of him being a player in silly season Penske and Kodak might be perfectly happy with him. Particularly since they could probably put Tony Stewart in the car and more than likely the results wouldn't be any better. But Travis and the #77 get very little attention on race day and that can't make Kodak very happy since they are there to move product, something which they obviously need to do as much of as they can.
From all reports Travis is a very nice guy who is great to his fans but he sure isn't as much of an attention-getter as Brendan was. When a driver has the ability to draw fans and others in due to their personality it's a real asset but Travis seems more laid-back which might or might not work to his detriment, if not now, in the future. I'd like to see what Travis could do in Cup in a more competitive ride because I think he is capable of more than he's been able to show in the #77, just like Brendan. I'm just not sure when his time comes to be a free agent that he will draw as much attention as some younger, prettier and flashier drivers, unless he can somehow get some impressive results on the track.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:23 AM | Comments (0)
July 19, 2005
Photo of the Day - Rocky Shore
York, Maine, July, 2005. The coast of Maine is very rocky in some spots. There is sandy beaches in some parts, including a very nice one in Ogunquit, but there is also lots of rock formations where the water meets the land. And I love to see the waves crashing against the rocks. There weren't particularly impressive waves at any point when we were near the water in Ogunquit but I still loved sitting and watching the waves roll in. This photo was taken near the Nubble Lighthouse.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:52 PM | Comments (0)
And Balco Goes Away Quietly Into the Night...
Conte, Anderson, Valente Plead Guilty to Reduced Charges
It's likely that there will be no trial for those charged in relation to the Balco steroids scandal because the key participants have pleaded guilty to reduced charges. Therefore unlikely that any of the athletes implicated as Balco clients will ever have to testify publically about their involvement. And yes to those Yankee fans who were still holding out some hope in spite of how well Jason Giambi has been hitting as of late - it just about slams the door completely on the possiblity that Giambi's contract can be voided somehow. No wonder he was so carefully guarded when he addressed the media during spring training - his lawyers probably knew at that time that he might not have to testify and as long as he makes no statements in public that implicate him directly as a steroid user the Yankees hands are tied.
Essentially Balco and the outrage over steroids is going to go away. And that's exactly the way Major League Baseball, the players, teams and many fans would like it. No one wants to deal with the pesty issue about how many players might have or may still be using performance enhancers unless they're forced to. MLB can point to the players that have been caught with the enhanced testing as a sign that the system is working, never mind the fact that players could still be using HGH, amphetamines or designer steroids that aren't detectable by the current testing. So now everyone can go on their merry way putting their heads in the sands, trying to convince themselves that the problem is over and done with now that the Balco case is essentially over. That's a shame because it may lessen the chances that MLB will strengthen the testing program even further or address the amphetamines issue.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:53 PM | Comments (0)
Chris Long, the "New Guy" in Charge at Speed Makes Me Get My Rant On
I was just listening to Chris Long, the new guy in charge at Speed-TV who is making all sorts of changes, be interviewed on XM and let me tell you that this guy took a golden opportunity to win over some fans and instead more than likely pissed some of them off even further. First of all, if I ever run into Chris Long, give him some feedback and he calls me "baby" he's going to hear it from me. That's what he called a female listener who emailed Claire B. Lang to say that she likes the idea of replacing Johnny Benson on Inside Nextel Cup with Kevin Harvick. Sorry, but females, fans or otherwise, aren't your "babies," "babes" or any other term you might be used to referring to them out in California.
Let's be clear about one thing - Long doesn't care one iota what the fans think or how much they might hate the changes he's making. He keeps talking about how the changes he's making "might not be for you." Meaning if you don't like it, don't watch and I don't care if you do or not. He says that viewers don't like everything they watch on any other channel so it's no problem for the shows he oversees on Speed. Long says that viewers can just watch something else. Well, he's right about that... something else on another channel. Nascar Nation isn't for me so I'm watching something else but it's not another show on Speed. If Michael Waltrip is replaced on Inside Nextel Cup, and it sounds like he won't be, I'll be watching something else and it won't be a Speed show. On top of that Long feels that fans are only being resistant to change and haven't given much thought to these changes, are just protesting just to protest change. Nope, not true. I like the idea of adding Harvick to INC so I'm not against change. I simply hate the majority of other ideas that he's had.
After watching INC for three months Long decided that the panel had become too comfortable with each other and that they went off on too many tangents. So he felt that Alan Bestwick had to be replaced with Dave Despain who was more likely to get more in-depth insight out of the panelists and keep them on target which will make for a better show. Well, that's if Despain lets them talk without interjecting his own opinions, many of which are anti-Nascar. Not to mention the whole reason why INC has been such a fan favorite for all these years is because of the easy banter and joking around among the panelists. Not because of interviews with crew chiefs, excerpts from in-car audio or because the panelists will eventually be able to point things out on a flat-screen TV as Long says will happen. He envisions a show in which the panel does an in-depth analysis and that sounds great as long as it's not at the expense of the great personalities that make the show what it is. Otherwise it becomes a boring review of the race and they've already got that with Victory Lane.
What amazes me is how casually Long discusses replacing Johnny Benson. Hello, this man has fans... a lot of them! Take the opportunity to speak to those viewers who like Johnny and act like you care that they're upset that he will no longer be on the show. Besides that Alan Bestwick and Johnny Benson are human beings not chess pieces to be shuffled around. Johnny and Alan have been on that show since day one - ten years! I'm sorry it's a big deal that they're being replaced and it's not just because viewers hate change like Long seems to think. It's because Johnny is an intelligent man who added to the show and because viewers enjoyed Alan, another bright man, as host.
What really bothers me is that Long pretty much admitted that Michael's claim that he voluntarily left Trackside was almost certainly complete bullshit. Long says that he approached Michael and told him that he was over-exposed on Speed and that he was better off being on less shows. And that they wanted him to stay on INC. Perhaps Michael had some say in the matter and got to choose which show he stayed on but based on what Long said it sure didn't sound like it to me. And no where did Long mention that Michael's decision had anything to do with the craziness of his schedule or the need to focus on race weekend activities as Michael claimed. And that bothers me - don't throw Michael under a bus. Perhaps at some point it was decided, maybe to quell the fan uproar or possibly so that Michael didn't look bad, that Michael had to say that the decision was his even if it wasn't entirely. Well, now Long made him look pretty bad because he apparently lied to some degree or another, on INC when he said that it was soley his choice to leave Trackside. If you've got some respect for someone at least try to keep what you're saying in line with what Michael said previously. But Long probably doesn't care about how Michael looks but he should at least care about making it look like everyone is on the same page.
Long also thinks that fans only objections to Nascar Nation besides the aforementioned fear of change is that viewers are judging the pretty faces of the hosts and assuming they know nothing about the sport. Wrong. My problem is that Leeann Tweeden does not belong anywhere near any media-related show, no matter how fluffy it might be, when she has personal relationships, perhaps even intimate ones, with the people that the show covers. Long says that Tweeden knows more about Nascar than 95% of the viewers - I say if that's true she should start showing it because she sure hasn't acted like it in any piece she's ever done for any show on Nascar. Oh and I've got news for Long this female fan doesn't care one bit about the marital status of any of the drivers. I'm not watching because I hope to marry a driver some day. Nor am I interested in what their houses look like either. Some lifestyles pieces or "day in the life of" segments are interesting but a whole half hour show four days a week? No thanks and that's what I'm hearing from the majority of other fans too. Not that Long cares about what we think.
Long's job is to improve Speed-TV and it's ratings. And he may very well do that particularly if he's going to find ways to incorporate as much scantily clad women into the shows as possible like he's done on Nascar Nation. But in the process he may very well alienate a lot of fans who could potentially make Speed's ratings even higher, particularly if he doesn't learn that it's not only his message that matters, it's his way of delivering it.
Posted by silverdsl at 05:18 PM | Comments (4)
Live in Fantasyland Much?
The Time is Right For Waltrip to Take the #3 Wheel
Anyone who has even casually glanced at this blog would know that I am a huge Michael Waltrip fan who thinks very highly of him. So naturally that means that I want him to be in the best possible ride. However, the scenario presented in this article is laughable to me - at least at this time. The writer of the above article thinks that Richard Childress should take the #3 out of retirement and put Michael behind the wheel. While I wouldn't mind seeing Michael at RCR, I don't think this idea has much chance of happening. Yes, four years have passed since that horrible day in Febuary, 2001. But in the minds of most fans the events of that day are way to fresh for them to easily accept the #3 being back on the track, particularly with a non-Earnhardt behind the wheel.
I think at some point the #3 will return to the track but it will be with either Kerry Earnhardt or more likely, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. behind the wheel. And it probably won't be for several more years yet. However, the idea of Michael behind the wheel of the #3 probably isn't as outrageous to some as it is to the fans. Michael and Dale, Sr. were close friends and if I were in Michael's shoes I would want to do something in tribute to a man who I was so close to, a man who did so much for me certainly professionally and probably personally as well, a man who Michael probably still thinks about on a regular basis, if not every day. So from his point of view driving that #3 might not be so crazy. Nor might it seem so crazy to those who understand that when it comes to a tribute to someone, it's not necessarily about wins or who is the most talented racer. That said, I highly doubt that Michael would get behind the wheel of the #3 before Kerry or Junior, unless he had their and Teresa's blessing.
But it's kind of funny to me to picture the reaction of the fans if Richard Childress announced tomorrow that he was putting Michael behind the wheel of the #3. The very idea, as proposed in this article, has created some outrage. If it actually happened I think both Richard and Michael would have to go into hiding - and I'm not kidding about that. Fans take things like this incredibly seriously and I've seen threats made over things that are much less significant.
Of course Nascar is a business. And while I'm sure great care will be taken in relation to the #3 by any and all parties who would be involved in the process of putting it back on the track if that day were ever to come to pass I also think that every consideration will also be made in terms of maximizing profit and visibility. That's just the reality of the way things work. Though an interesting idea to me would be for the revived #3 to be run as a way to raise money for a charity, the Dale Earnhardt Foundation or otherwise. Sales from a die cast and other memorabilia, which would be huge, could go to that charity. Of course that's just wishful thinking as RCR and others would probably be unwilling to give up the revenue that would be generated by the return of the #3.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:14 PM | Comments (0)
Yankees Finally in First Place
Beat Rangers 11-10 in Wild Game
It's almost hard to believe considering how poorly the Yankees were playing at points this season but finally they are in first place in the American League East. Lately they've been on a real tear, winning last night for the 11th time in 13 games and moving nine games over .500 for the first time this season. Considering at one point they weren't even playing .500 baseball that's pretty good. The Yankees have had to depend on the offense to get the job done since the pitching staff is an utter mess. Players like Jason Giambi, Alex Rodriguez and Gary Sheffield have really stepped it up and been big reasons, along with most of the rest of the offense for why the Yankees find themselves in first place.
I'm not sure they will remain in first place but I will certainly enjoy the time that they spend there. I guess some fans might take issue with my uncertainty about whether or not this team is capable of holding on to first place but the reality is that despite how well they're playing the team has some major issues. First of all the pitching - Jaret Wright is on the DL long-term and he was lousy even when he was able to pitch. Carl Pavano is on the DL with a shoulder issue and he has been inconsistant. Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees most consistant pitcher this season, might or might not need season ending surgery for an injury which might or might not be a rotator cuff tear. Kevin Brown just got off the DL but he was rushed back and will probably be rusty for another start or two and that's if his fragile back holds out. On top of that the bullpen isn't always a strength either. Tanyon Sturtze, Tom Gordon and of course Mariano Rivera are successful more often than not but they can't be used every day and everyone else is a bit iffy. If the hitting suddenly goes cold the Yankees could be in some major trouble.
Then there's the outfield situation. Melky Cabrera didn't work out so he was shipped back to the minors and Bernie Williams is back out there. Yikes doesn't even begin to cover how dreadful of an error he made during last night's game. He's very lucky that the Yankees came back to win because he would be a big time goat for sure today otherwise. I cringe everytime I see Bernie is playing the field but the Yankees don't have many options at this point. It's Bernie or Bubba Crosby in center or left since Tony Womack is no longer an outfield option. Crosby has a great attitude and will do fine in a limited role but he's not the guy you want in the outfield on an every day basis.
Even if the Yankees do manage to hang on to first in the division what happens in the post-season? It could get ugly fast when they have to face some tough pitching and after Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson the Yankees have... who exactly? In the post-season strong pitching is absolutely essential. And a good defense is also essential. Making an error in the post-season can be fatal. As much as I love Bernie I would be very nervous seeing him and his noodle arm out there in the post-season.
So I'm very happy that the Yankees are playing so well but I remain concerned about how much longer they will be able to maintain this level of play.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:11 PM | Comments (0)
On News Vs. Commentary
Handling Discourse Without the Attitude
I thought this was a pretty interesting column on the difference between news and commentary, the lines of which are getting increasingly blurred. I think the column is geared towards those that write and read about politics but some of the lessons within can be applied to all forms of news and journalism. The writer of the column, Charles M. Madigian, has a great definition of what news is -
"Something happens today that didn't happen yesterday, you work it out as best you can and then write a clear, accurate account of it. That is the newspaper model. What you think about it doesn't matter. How you feel in most cases doesn't matter either."
That should be the principals by which most journalists operate. The goal should be to portray an accurate picture of what actually happened for readers as possible. Of course it's not always possible for reporters to fully know the complete story of a news event or pass it along to their readers but every effort to do so should be made. However, many reporters don't bother to fullfill this basic principle of journalism, nor do they report stories in an unbiased way without somehow interjecting their personal opinions into it.
It's a hard task to ask on some stories for a reporter to stay objective. Here at work we had a reporter on a conference panel who was assigned to report on a story that dealt with an issue that he clearly had a personal opinion on, yet he made every effort to ensure that he told both sides of the story in an extremely fair way. And he made sure while he was speaking on the panel to keep his personal opinions out of it completely. That's impressive because often reporters are unable to report objectively. Sometimes it's obvious and unfortunately sometimes it's not which is all the more dangerous in my opinion, because then you have no idea whether a reporter's coverage of a story is influenced by a personal relationship they might have or their personal feelings on an issue.
Madigian writes about the increasing difficulties in covering news because of how hard it is to gain an audience in the face of so many media outlets, including those online. The result is that news outlets are forced to become more and more provocative to do what ever it takes to lure readers or viewers. Which means that simply reporting the news and telling the audience what happened is not always good enough. I think I might be in the minority because while I like reading commentary on some issues I first would like to know as much as I can about the facts of an event or issue. How can I have a real understanding of the issues if I don't actually know what happened, I only know what someone else is telling me I should think because it happens to be their opinion?
Online I think it's a particular problem in that fact-checking, confirming sources and writing clear and accurate articles sometimes takes a backseat to throwing something up on a website that will draw hits before the next website comes up with something better. It's actually not just a problem with straight news either. A lot of times articles that are commentaries are full of horrendous inaccuracies and laughable conclusions because the writer doesn't take the time to check or think about anything they're writing about.
When I do entries in this blog, I am making a commentary full of my opinions based on the information I have available to me. I may be mistaken in any number of things that I blog about but one thing I try to do is present the facts as I know them as best as I can. And if more information becomes available down the road I try to post a follow-up if I can to ensure that I'm presenting a complete picture as possible. Even if that doesn't fully fit into what I might have blogged about in the first place. Unfortunately I can't say the same for all bloggers or all members of the mainstream media, which does the audience a major disservice.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)
July 18, 2005
Photo of the Day - Stairs
Fort McClary, Kittery, Maine, July, 2005. I don't know why but I've always been fascinated by taking photos of stairs. Perhaps it's because they are symmetrical and I like patterns. Or perhaps it's because a good picture of stairs make you wonder where they go or who might have walked on them. So I came across these stone steps at Fort McClary, I couldn't help but take a photo of them.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:33 PM | Comments (0)
Kenny Rogers Has Words for Another Cameraman
Yeah, it can't be pleasant to be filmed while being booked on misdemeanor assault charges but that still doesn't mean that it's okay for Kenny Rogers to get into it verbally with yet another TV camera person. He's being booked for attacking a camera person for crying out loud! If he can't control himself and just ignore the camera people who are around him and save his outrage for when they're not around he has some serious problems. But one might have already come to that conclusion considering how he attacked the other camera person without being provoked. Didn't Roger's lawyer warn him that there would be camera people there and that it was important that he behave? Instead Rogers is headline news on ESPN once more and it's not because of what he did on the mound. Asshat.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)
Dave Despain Replacing Alan Bestwick on Inside Nextel Cup
As Alan himself said tonight after almost ten years on Inside Nextel Cup, the powers that be at Speed decided that it was time for a new host. I can't even begin to say how displeased I am that Alan is being replaced, even more so when I found out that Dave Despain is his replacement. Dave is an intelligent guy and he speaks his mind so in those regards he will add something to the show. But there is something about his approach that I find to be a turn-off. I also anticipate that it might be some rough going in terms of acclimating him to the rest of the panel. Alan has always been one of my favorite broadcasters and his reduced role on race day coupled with his removal from INC doesn't sit well with me at all.
However, the above article indicates that Kevin Havick may eventually replace Johnny Benson. As much as I like Johnny I'm an even bigger fan of Kevin's and I think that Kevin would fit in well with Michael Waltrip and Ken Schrader, assuming that TPTB intend on keeping those two, which I think they will. Kevin's got a good sense of humor and he also doesn't hesitate to call things the way he sees them, at least as much as a Cup driver can. So he may be able to meld well with the rest of the panel. He would also add a younger driver's insight, which is apparently something that Speed wanted, yet Kevin is still a veteran and has a lot of personality to boot. That would be a change, one of the few that Speed has made recently, that I would actually like.
So without further ado a few random thoughts on tonight's INC:
-Michael said surprisingly little about his parting of the ways from DEI. Perhaps he felt that he's said all that needs to be said or perhaps he's not as comfortable with the idea of leaving DEI and exploring other opportunities as he'd like everyone to think.
-The panel also discussed the #6 car and whether Jamie McMurray or Mark Martin would be in that ride in 2006. As soon as Alan brought it up Kenny Wallace looked over at Michael which I thought was very interesting. Was it just coincidence that he looked over at Michael or was he trying to gauge his reaction? Of course Michael had no reaction what-so-ever, he's too wily to give anything away like that, even though he's surely had some sort of discussion with Jack Roush, even in a casual way, about going to Roush. But does Kenny know something in terms of there being a discussion about Michael being in that car for a year with NAPA as a sponsor as has been rumored (one of many rumors about where Michael could end up) or does Kenny know nothing and he was hoping that Michael would give something away?
-I thought Ken Schrader seemed a little off at points during the show. Turns out the reason might be because Ken never put in his ear piece so he couldn't hear any prompting from the producers. Why the heck did no one tell him during a commercial break to put it in?
-Much talk from the panel about good racing, ability to pass, etc... during Sunday's race - maybe it was due to the crappy quality of the TV broadcast which wouldn't surprise me but the race seemed devoid of much good racing and excitement to me. But those guys were actually there in the driver's seats so I guess they would know better than I.
-Some talk about the heat and how it contributed to short tempers which led to some incidents. Claire B. Lang also talked today on XM about the heat and how almost every driver had to sit down on the pit wall to collect themselves after the race. It really shows what the endurance level the drivers have to have and how they really must be in relatively good shape despite what the common perception is about drivers not being athletes. Because if the drivers weren't in good shape there is no way they could last an entire race without passing out.
-Kenny Wallace made another plea for a sponsor for his Busch car. How is this car unsponsored? I would think that sponsors would be lining up the second they heard that Stacker 2 wasn't going to be Kenny's sponsor anymore. He's fifth in the points and can get his sponsors an incredible amount of visibility. It's also cheaper to sponsor a Busch car than a Cup car and even more so since there's only half a season left. Yet thus far no one seems willing to step up to the plate. It's really a shame and I think it speaks to the sad state of affairs in Busch and with sponsors in general that Nascar may be forced to address eventually.
So Alan's annoucement means that I will have to enjoy the last few shows with the panel as it stands now because it appears that their time together is very much limited.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:24 PM | Comments (2)
July 17, 2005
Photo of the Day - Harbor View
Kittery, Maine, July, 2005. A harbor view as seen from Fort McClary. The big stone blocks were leftovers from when one of the forts on the site were being built.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)
Tony Stewart Wins a Snoozer of a Race
My apologizes to the Tony Stewart fans but when a driver takes the lead and basically checks out for the majority of the race it doesn't make things very interesting. But that was to be expected at this track where passing can be difficult. I spent the majority of the time packing for my upcoming move while keeping up with the race via Michael Waltrip's radio on Trackpass so I can't say I watched every single lap. But it appears that the majority of the "excitment" other than Stewart winning was provided by Jamie McMurray being wrecked by future teammate Matt Kenseth and the Busch brothers briefly making a run at the lead simultaneously. Kurt Busch eventually took the lead for a while but that didn't last long.
As he did at Daytona Stewart climbed the fence in front of the grandstands to celebrate with the fans. It makes for a cool moment, some great photos and the fans love it. But I can't help but be nervous that Stewart is going to fall on his ample ass one of these days, just like I get nervous every time Carl Edwards does a backflip that he's going to crack his head open. And before someone gets on me about the ample ass comment, Stewart himself has made reference to his weight and that climbing the fence isn't the easiest thing in the world. I hate to say it but it's probably a good thing that he keeps his helmet on, just in case he slips. I'm not a huge fan of Stewart but I would really hate to see him hurt himself in what should be a happy moment.
Michael Waltrip finished 17th today and that had to be a disappointment for him. During some of his media appearances on Friday in conjunction with the announcement that he and DEI were parting ways Michael talked about looking forward to racing well in today's race and potentially winning. Well, it was obvious pretty quick that was not to be. They didn't qualify very well which made for a long day to begin with and based on the way Michael was talking over the radio the car was dreadful. Previously this season Michael seemed to take ill-handling cars in stride and remain positive. In that he would talk about what the car was doing and put all his trust in Tony Eury, Jr. that he would make the necessary adjustments to improve the car and they would get a good finish. Today Michael seemed sour, irritable, unhappy and in general sounded down right from the start. It's possible that the car was just that bad or that it was so hot in the car that it was getting to him. But he really sounded more upset than I've heard for a while. Even in his pre-race interview I thought he looked worn-out. So I can't help but wonder if the reality of his split from DEI is sinking in not to mention perhaps some of the stress of everything is possibly getting to him. Regardless of the reasons I feel pretty bad for him and I hope that something positive happens on the track for him soon to make him feel better about things.
Next week is Pocono where I will be in attendance and I'll have my fingers crossed for a good race for all my favorites but particularly for Michael.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:21 PM | Comments (0)
Nice Turn Around for the Yankees
Considering the way the Yankees were playing early on it's almost unbelievable that the Yankees are now within half a game of first place in the American League East thanks to winning ten of their last twelve games, including taking three out of four from the division leading Red Sox in the series that concluded tonight. It's especially astonishing when one considers how many problems the Yankees have had with their starting pitching the past couple of weeks. Carl Pavano has a balky shoulder that has him on the disabled list, Chien-Ming Wang joins Pavano on the DL with a shoulder injury that could be season ending, Jaret Wright has been on the DL for quite some time with a shoulder problem and Kevin Brown is just coming off the DL as well. So the Yankees are left with just Randy Johnson and Mike Mussina, then a bunch of fill-in starters. But the rest of the team has really stepped up and the Yankees are once more looking like a solid team.
Tonight's game featured a dominating pitching performance from newly acquired Al Leiter. I've been a fan of Leiter's for a very long time because he is outspoken and also big on donating his time to charity. And in his prime he was an excellent pitcher. Of course those days are long gone which is why Leiter was released by the Marlins. It's not surprising that the Yankees picked him up. Not only did they show interest in him during the off-season but Leiter is a former Yankee, having started his career in pinstripes, and the Yankees loved reaquiring former players. I didn't expect much out of Leiter today but boy was I pleasantly surprised! It may just be that he's revitalized by his return to New York and that his fine pitching will only last one or two starts. But it sure was great to see today. Already he's helped the Yankees and I hope he can help them more as the season goes on.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
Stratosphere Considers Expanding
62% of Revenues Come From Activities Other Than Gaming
Apparently the Stratosphere, located in Las Vegas at the Northern most end of the strip, is thinking about expanding by adding more rooms and a convention center. I imagine they're probably looking to do everything they can to lure visitors because they're definitely in an inconvienent location as compared to other casinos, many of which are clustered very close to each other. The other problem that the Stratosphere faces, in addition to how much of a hike it is to get there, is that the neighborhood around the hotel and casino isn't the greatest. It looks worn-down and definitely not as well-taken care of or as upscale as other parts of the strip. I'm not surprised that more of their revenue comes from attractions other than gambling considering how much they publicize the rides at the top of the Stratosphere and also the view from the observation deck. So a lot of people are probably going there for reasons other than gambling, particularly if they have families. I am surprised to learn that the same is true of other hotel/casinos, that more of their revenue comes from non-gambling activities.
I enjoyed visiting the Stratosphere even though it was a cloudy day. Going there was on my list of things to do when I went to Las Vegas because I wanted to see the view from the top and I wasn't disappointed. Even on a cloudy day it was still very impressive. The food wasn't anything memorable in the revolving restaurant but I really loved sitting there and getting to see far and wide in all directions all around Las Vegas while we were eating. I'm sure it would be even more impressive on a sunny day or at night. I don't think I would stay there if I went back to Las Vegas in spite of the cheap hotel rates, but I would definitely go back to go up to the observation deck up top.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:38 PM | Comments (0)
Michael Waltrip, DEI To Part Ways After 2005
Michael Will Need to Find New Ride for 2006
I'd like to say I'm shocked that Michael Waltrip will have to look for a new ride in 2006 given that it was just about two weeks ago that Richie Gilmore and Michael both claimed that they were still trying to get a new deal together for Michael to stay at DEI in 2006 and beyond. But I'm not surprised in the least. I thought prior to the start of this season that DEI probably had their minds made up that they were going to sever ties with Michael unless something dramatic happened. For a while he probably made it difficult for them since he was racing better than Dale Earnhardt, Jr. but once bad luck bit the #15 team to the point where they dropped in the standings back behind Junior I think DEI probably reverted to some of their previous thinking on Michael. On June 30, Marty Smith wrote that Michael had been informed he was out at DEI and while it was just days later that Gilmore claimed he was working on a new deal with Michael, I think there was a lot of truth to the Smith story, only DEI and perhaps Michael himself weren't prepared at that point to officially announce that it was a done deal that he was out. Or perhaps someone at DEI got a bit nervous about the prospects of Michael taking a large chunk of sponsorship with him if they didn't re-sign him, something which I think they still have a lot of reason to be concerned about.
Michael and Gilmore both say that it was a mutual parting of the ways, that they just couldn't come to an agreement. But I think that's a fancy way of dancing around some of the realities of what happened. Michael in particular talked about how DEI couldn't give him any assurances about Tony Eury, Jr. being his crew chief past 2005 and indicated that he was concerned about DEI's chances for successfully running a third team, that those were things that led him to feel that he was better off looking elsewhere for a ride. But I think the bottom line is that if DEI really wanted Michael back they would have made more of an effort to give him what he wanted. I don't think re-signing Michael has ever been a priority for DEI and they weren't particularly interested in doing much to make him happy. And let's face it - I love Michael dearly but his last name isn't Earnhardt so at DEI he would always be in Junior's shadow. That was, is and always will be where the priority lies. Pity poor Martin Truex, Jr. who may find that loyalty puts him in a situation that isn't as much to his liking once he's Junior's teammate. I also feel bad for Michael because regardless of what the real deal is about why he won't be at DEI past this season I think he dearly wanted to finish his career at DEI because of Dale Earnhardt, Sr. who hand-picked him for that ride. That they couldn't work things out to make that possible has to be a sad feeling for him.
Overall it seems to me that DEI doesn't have a very clear plan or picture for the future. In that regard perhaps Michael is better off elsewhere because there's no guarentee that the #15 would be a strong team in 2006 if it's even around. It seems to me that DEI has no clue whether or not they will have a third team in 2006, despite what they are saying about how they would like to do that. They have no clear plan for who the driver will be, no set sponsor, since they will have to re-sign NAPA, something which I think is far from a done deal regardless of what Gilmore says about NAPA wanting to come back. When an organization has to present a plan to the sponsor to lure them back with and they haven't the foggiest clue as to who the driver will be, who the crew chief will be and whether they can even run a third team, I don't think they're in a very good negotiating position with the sponsor.
So perhaps there's truth to the line of thinking that NAPA will leave DEI with Michael. There's no doubt in my mind that NAPA is extremely happy with their affiliation with Michael. Of course NAPA could leave DEI after this season but choose not to sponsor Michael. There's been some talk that NAPA has interest in sponsoring the #6 at Roush Racing for a year, which will be either with Mark Martin or Jamie McMurray if he can get out of his contract with Ganassi. I guess it's a long shot that Michael could end up in that ride. There's also been strong talk that both Michael and NAPA are headed to the #0 car. Then there's also the other sponsors that Michael has a relationship with such as Domino's. I listened to Michael's two addresses to the media on Friday and what he said on Trackside via XM and it got my attention that when he was questioned about NAPA he also mentioned Domino's. Perhaps it was just a random comment or perhaps Domino's could be a player in all of this.
Some fans are really unhappy with the idea of Michael in the #0 car. I can understand that since it's not as competitive of a ride as the #15 has been and it's a single-car team and those cars tend to struggle. However, an influx of sponsorship dollars from NAPA could help the team and they are associated with Hendrick. I would love to see Michael in a top ride at Roush, Penske or Hendrick. But the reality is that the most desirable drivers are those that are in their 20's, not those that are in their 40's like Michael is. Luckily for Michael he has made himself into an exceptional spokesperson for all of his sponsors, he is highly visible via his work for Speed and he is very popular among fans. All of those qualities will mean that he will have a ride in Cup in 2006 but I think the question is how good of a ride will it be?
There's also a rumor that Michael will sign with some team for a season then he and Tony, Jr. will join with Toyota in 2007. I think the strongest part of that rumor is Michael going to Toyota at some point. It was said somewhere that Toyota wants him because he is a proven driver but I would think they would also want him for his exceptional ability to sell his sponsors or in this case his car manufacturer since Toyota faces a lot of opposition in Nascar from fans. Michael's brother, Darrell, is already affiliated with Toyota in the truck series and two drivers that Michael is friendly with, Johnny Benson and Mike Skinner are Toyota drivers. So Michael is very familiar with how they do business. So it wouldn't surprise me to see him racing for Toyota at some point in the future, something that wouldn't bother me in the least.
I don't care what team Michael ends up with on what level. Of course I'd like to see him in the most competitive ride possible but in the end I just want him to have a ride and more importantly than that be happy. I will support him and follow him no matter who he races for or where he's racing. Michael has been hurt by a tremendous amount of bad luck while he's been with DEI. A lot of very strong runs have been ruined by circumstances out of his control. I think he would have several more wins if not for gas cans getting stuck during pit stops, engines expiring, blown tires and getting wrecked. He would certainly have been in the Chase for the Championship right now if not for some of those things. So Michael really deserves some happiness and good luck on the track.
What I worry about moving forward is how the rest of the season is going to go for Michael. Today he fought mightily to finish 17th with a lousy car that didn't seem to get much better no matter what was done to it until the end of the race. But that 17th place finish dropped him to 20th in the points. Michael has said that he and the team will work as hard as they can to see if they can win some races before the end of the season. But will DEI give them the resources to do that with? Now that Junior is hovering around the cutoff for the Chase again, the priority is going to be throwing everything they have into making sure he gets there, not with trying to get wins for a driver who is out the door at the end of the season. The Eurys have been working more with the #8 team and I hope that Tony, Jr. isn't pulled so far into what the #8 team is doing that he doesn't have time to take care of his responsibilities with the #15 team. Then there's what I'm most afraid of - that DEI will decide to replace Michael in the #15 before the end of the season. Truex is moving up to Cup next season and it's expected that they will want him to run for Rookie of the Year, meaning that he can only make a limited amount of Cup starts this year if he wants to still be considered a rookie next season. But what if DEI decides that getting him seat time in Cup is more important? I would just hate it mightily for Michael to have him have to sit on the sidelines to finish out the season particularly after hearing him talk on Trackside this past week about how proud he's been to have made so many starts in Cup over the course of his career. I think I would be absolutely heartbroken if Michael was replaced in the #15 before the season ends.
What also bears watching is the Tony Eury, Jr. situation. He is also not signed past this season. The assumption is that blood is thicker than water and that he will stay at DEI. But there's no doubt that he is most certainly getting offers from other teams, some of them probably very generous. I would have thought that DEI would have made re-signing him a priority but since they apparently haven't or perhaps have taken the family connection for granted, they may end up getting a surprise. I think most likely there will be a reunion of the two Juniors at DEI but I think that it would probably benefit Eury, Jr. to spread his wings and go elsewhere, even if it was just for a few years. Particularly since DEI seems to have some uncertainty in their future. I think what happens with Eury, Jr. could end up having some major implications for how DEI fares in 2006.
I suppose I should be angrier with DEI. In some ways I am angry because I don't think they've always treated Michael fairly or given him the best equipment and resources to give him the best chance to win. I think if Dale Earnhardt, Sr. is looking down he wouldn't be pleased with the way DEI has treated Michael or Steve Park for that matter. But on the other hand business is business. When it comes to business everyone is looking out for their own best interests. Right or wrong moves, DEI is looking to do what they think will give them the most chance for success. Michael is looking to do what is best for himself and his career. And sometimes the two sides are in conflict. So while I'm less than thrilled with DEI overall and haven't been for a few years now, I'm not as furious as some fans - racing is a business and it's to be expected that these things will happen as much as I might not like it.
There's some saying or another that goes something like the closing of one door often leads to the opening of another door with bigger and better things behind it. I most sincerly hope that is true for Michael. He is truly an outstanding person who has effected a lot of people's lives in a most positive way. And on top of that, while he may not be an elite racer, he's still very much capable of racing up front and winning races. So I hope that a new ride presents itself to him which will allow him to do exactly that.
Posted by silverdsl at 06:49 PM | Comments (0)
July 16, 2005
What to Think, Part II
ETA: Just to be clear - I like Kyle Petty tremendously (and Steve of course) and think the world of him. I just think that his comment about those that donated in Steve's name was ill-advised.
Before I left for Maine I discussed a comment that Steve Park said that Kyle Petty made to him about some Park fans who made a donation to the Victory Junction Gang Camp in his name. For the sake of accuracy I'm going to post what was apparently actually said and yes, it appears the crazy comment was made by Kyle in some form or another.
Steve:"Kyle called and said something about some crazy girls and some money."
Susan:"Hang on, we'll get to that..."
Steve:'I told him,"That's ok, it's just the Sparkies!'"
Sparkies, for anyone who doesn't know is what Steve calls his fans, though who is covered by that term varies in some fan's eyes and some fans of Steve's choose not to call themselves Sparkies. I'm quite sure that some who will come across this entry or the last one are thinking that I'm trying to take something away from the quilt or how happy Steve was upon getting it or knowing that the extra money was donated to the VJGC. Not so by any means. Stories about how fans interact with their favorite athletes in positive ways always bring a smile to my face and I'm personally thrilled that Steve loved the quilt so much. Steve gets a lot of happiness from his fans and what they do for him and that is a good thing to see considering some of the unhappy things that have happened to him.
However, hearing the full context of the comment as it was said in Kentucky doesn't make me feel any better that it was said. Perhaps there was more to the conversation between Kyle and Steve that explains why Kyle called a group of people who donated to the VJGC in Steve's name "crazy." Or I'm still missing something in terms of what was actually said. But given what's been said to me off-line by a variety of people and for a few other reasons, it still bothers me that this comment was made and that it was repeated by Steve. I suppose Kyle thought it was okay to say this to Steve because he assumed it was a private conversation, having no idea that Steve would repeat it, but that doesn't mean that it's okay that a potentially negative remark was made about people who donated to Kyle's cause.
It's not such a big thing really, just something that's nagged at me and will be filed away for future reference, something to add to the growing pile of things in that area. I just hope when I donate to the VJCG in the future, and I'm certain that I will be since I think it's an outstanding cause that benefits a lot of deserving kids, that I'm not viewed as "crazy" for some reason.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:08 PM | Comments (0)
Photo of the Day - Nubble Lighthouse
Nubble Lighthouse, York, Maine, July, 2005. This is a view of one of the most photographed lighthouses in Maine, the Nubble Lighthouse in York, as seen from a distance from York Beach. Each year I go up to Maine I visit the Nubble Lighthouse, even if only briefly. I had an outstanding time in Maine and of course I came back with lots and lots of photos, some of which... okay, lots of which will end up in this blog.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:08 AM | Comments (0)
More to Follow...
Naturally I've got quite a few thoughts on the Michael Waltrip-DEI situation. But I'm still digesting it all and I'm a bit too tired to get too in-depth with any of it now. So I think I will wait until tomorrow or Sunday to tackle this particular subject. All I know is that above all I just want Michael to be happy. I would like him to end up in the most competitive ride possible for 2006 but I will support him no matter what organization he races for on what level.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:01 AM | Comments (0)
July 15, 2005
I Can't Believe It!
I've been walking around with a huge smile on my face the past few days that even the news of Michael Waltrip being out at DEI after this season can't dampen. Why? Because I found out that I've been gifted with hot passes for the Cup race at Pocono this weekend. Last fall I had the priviledge of having hot passes to a Cup race at Dover because I won an auction as part of Operation Marathon. While I was in the garage then I tried to take in everything I could because I figured I would never be lucky enough to ever have hot passes again. But thanks to someone incredibly kind who arranged it for us, Jim and I will be in the garage at Pocono!
I should mention that this has nothing to do with the anonymous person who took a liking to me at the Tom Baldwin Golf Outing and said that he would get me tickets to the race if I call him. I never called him and don't even know where his number is. At that time I knew that it was a possiblity that I might get the passes so it made that incident all the more humorous to me. But I figured that getting the hot passes would never actually happen. After all, I'm nobody. So I figured that I would be so far down the food chain that after sponsors, friends, family, and other people of actual importance were taken care of there probably wouldn't be any passes left. But apparently there was!
I can't even begin to express my gratitude towards the person who set this up for me! Just that the offer was made was enough to make me smile for days, so one can imagine how I feel now that I know that it's actually going to happen. Even before I had any inkling that I might get these passes I felt like I owed this person and one other so much for a variety of reasons so for another nice thing to be done - well, I really wish I had some way of repaying the kind deed. I've tried in a few ways and I will try to do more in the future but I don't know if I can ever fully do enough. These people probably will never have any idea how much of a positive impact they've had on me and not just because of the hot passes.
I guess to some my excitiment seems ridiculous since some get hot passes all the time and know lots of people in the garage area. But that's very far from the case for me so to me this is something so incredible. Even if I don't see any drivers it would still be fascinating to me to see all the crews at work and what goes into putting a race together. I will probably be afraid to do much more than stand in one place looking around in awe because I will be so afraid of getting in someone's way. Ok, scratch that - just like last time I will be rooted in one spot, afraid of moving but I will be taking photos like a mad woman! But what else is new?
At any rate, I'm beyond excited, so yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by silverdsl at 10:47 PM | Comments (0)
July 10, 2005
Off to Maine...
Tomorrow morning I leave for Maine with my mother so given that it's unlikely that I will have any internet access, except perhaps to briefly check my email, this blog probably won't be updated until next weekend. But when I come back I will hopefully have lots of pics from Maine. Have a great week everyone!
Posted by silverdsl at 10:46 PM | Comments (0)
Chase Hopes Dashed For Michael Waltrip
Junior Wins, Many Tire Problems
There is a problem with the tires that needs to be addressed by Goodyear and pronto. I'm sick of seeing drivers in the wall due to blown tires. Tony Stewart got injured badly enough on Friday to have to go to the hospital and any number of cautions today were due to blown tires. Is it going to take a serious injury before the problem is properly addressed?
This is the second week in a row that Michael Waltrip had a good run ruined by a blown tire and not only was it a hard hit into the wall but it was extremely costly for him in the points. Thanks to a 36th place finish, he dropped to 19th in the points and it's very unlikely that he will be able to get back into contention for the Chase for the Championship which has to be a huge disappointment for him given how well he's been racing this season. That is when bad luck doesn't strike him in the form of a blown tire, mechanical problem or getting wrecked by another driver. I feel really terrible for Michael right now because I'm sure he was thinking that he had a chance to finish higher in the points than he ever had before - in fact I was feeling confident about that too. But the last two weeks have really made that a tough order. Not impossible but really difficult.
Michael was realistic in his interview after he wrecked - they are out of the Chase but that doesn't meant their season is over. They can still win races and I most certainly hope that happens for him. Pocono is in two weeks and they were excellent there just a few weeks ago so perhaps we will see something good happen for the #15 team there. Michael and Tony Eury, Jr. are such a great pairing and assuming DEI doesn't pull Eury, Jr. away from Michael too much to work with the #8 team to the point where it takes away from what he's doing with the #15, I still believe very strongly that they are a team that is capable of winning a few races this season if everything goes their way.
The eventual race winner was Dale Earnhardt, Jr. which should shut up a lot of members of the media and fans who were bemoaning Junior's fate this season. I was pretty sure that Junior would win sooner or later in spite of his struggles and I was right. I don't really like Junior too much but I am absolutely thrilled that he won. Why? Because his crew is the old #15 crew, many of whom I met last Fall in Dover. I saw then first-hand what a talented, hard-working, outstanding group of guys they are. I wish they were still with Michael but I'm so happy for them that they went to Victory Lane with Junior today. I heard a number of interviews he did on XM and he spoke very highly of his crew and that was great to hear. So congrats to the #8 team!!
Posted by silverdsl at 10:29 PM | Comments (0)
Baseball Players Will Sign Autographs... Sometimes
To me it seems like baseball players almost never sign autographs outside of scheduled appearances where fans have to pay big money for the signature of their favorite player. Occassionally some players will sign when they're on the road but there aren't that many players who regularly sign for fans. And after reading this article it's no wonder why. Apparently it's a regular thing for players to be followed from the stadium home. Or find the same fans always hanging outside their favorite restuarants or near their apartment. Or see the same older fans who they know are only getting autographs to sell. Or see parents send their children over for an autograph, also to sell.
What really astonishes me is the fans who essentially stalk the players to their houses. Of course I've heard about that in all sports - some fans think nothing of finding out where their favorite athletes live and hang out in the hopes of seeing them. Personally I think a celebrity's house or apartment is off limits and I would never even dream of trying to find out where a celebrity spends their off-hours in the hopes that I could get an autograph there. But apparently a lot of fans, particularly in baseball, don't see things my way. And that kind of behavior discourages players from wanting to engage fans and sign for them.
There are some players who will sign anyway like David Wright who is in only his second year in the majors. I would guess that eventually he will have some bad experiences and stop being as willing to stop and sign for everyone as he once was. Then there's guys like Pedro Martinez. He makes Sundays the day that he signs for fans and he makes an effort to sign for as many people as he can. During batting practice prior to the Nationals/Mets game on July 4th I saw him signing balls and throwing them to the crowd.
As much as I don't care for some things that Pedro does on the mound, I have a lot of respect for players who make an effort with the fans. As described in the article there are some fans who do things that are inappropriate but for every fan like that there are two more who just want an autograph from their favorite player or a chance to wish them well. Those fans aren't going to sell the autographs that they get, they're going to treasure whatever they got signed and tell the story of how they got the autograph over and over again in excitment. That's a good thing.
Some of the players like Mike Piazza seem hardened completely to fans asking for autographs. He says "it's just an autograph" and talks of getting burned out by signing so he ignores fans who ask him for autographs. Yes, it is just an autograph but it means something to some of the above mentioned fans who get so excited when they interact with their favorite players. And it can encourage fans to become more enthusiastic about the team and the game.
I guess there's really nothing that can be done about fans who stalk the players or immediately put autographs on Ebay. I just wish there was because someday there won't even be players like David Wright or Pedro Martinez.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:15 PM | Comments (0)
Michael Waltrip's First Cup Owner Passes Away
From Jayski's: Sad News: Charles 'Chuck' Galen Rider, 64, of Hilton Head, SC, formerly of Charlotte, passed away July 8, 2005. Rider was the owner of the #30 Bahari Racing Winston Cup team from 1986 to 1999. Drivers included Michael Waltrip and Johnny Benson [remember the total yellow #30 Pennzoil Pontiac?], Jeff Green and Derrike Cope. In 365 starts, his cars had 16 top-5's, 70 top-10's and 5 poles. Waltrip scored the best two finsihes for Rider with two seconds [Pocono 6/88 and Charlotte 10/94].(7-9-2005)
The owner for whom Michael Waltrip raced for a significant part of his early career in Cup racing passed away on Friday from cancer. Apparently Michael remained close with Rider so understandably he is probably racing with a heavy heart this weekend. I feel bad for Michael because in the past few years three men who have had a big influence on him in one way or another have passed away - his father Leroy from cancer in 2000, Dale Earnhardt in the Daytona wreck in 2001 and now Chuck Rider. I would hope for a great race for Michael anyway but today even more so given that he is probably a little sad today.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:13 PM | Comments (0)
Steve Park Finishes 8th!
Nice run for Steve Park and the #62 Dodge at Kentucky - an 8th place finish. That had to feel good. Steve was as high as 5th at one point but a late race pit stop put him back to 11th. He rallied back and appeared to be moving nicely towards the front once more but suddenly he started dropping back and the rest of the race he hovered around 9th-10th, until the last few laps when he ended up 8th. Unfortunately despite the fine finish, Steve didn't move up any in the points so he remains in 18th. I really thought he might move up a spot or two. The #62 team is apparently going to have to put together a very strong series of races to make any progress in the standings.
Tomorrow is Brendan Gaughan's birthday but it turned out to not be a very good birthday weekend for him as he was caught up in a wreck. At first it appeared he might clear it and be fine but someone came up and hit him, sending him into the wall. Brendan was eventually able to return to the track but he finished 29th, which keeps him in 22nd in the points.
The trucks are off next week but return to action on the 23rd in Memphis. Hopefully it will be a good race for both Orleans Racing teams.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:56 AM | Comments (0)
July 09, 2005
What to Think?
I've given some thought about whether I should blog about this or not because it might not sit well with everyone who might stop by here but it's been on my mind. As I've said recently I don't blog about things that I wouldn't say to someone's face and I also don't think that saying something that might upset a few people makes me a bad fan. And this is my blog on my own domain and I can say pretty much what I want anyway. Still, it's just one of those topics that I debated a little about whether I should post about it or not.
One woman on the Steve Park Central site organized a big project in which fans of Steve's decorated fabric squares with messages for him which were sewn together into a quilt which was presented to Steve this past Thursday. Apparently Steve loved the quilt as expected since he loves anything that his fans do for him. So the extra money that everyone had sent in for the costs of the quilt that went unused was sent as a donation in Steve's name along with a nice note to the Victory Junction Gang Camp. One of the people who was present when the quilt was presented to Steve said on SPC that he was already aware of the donation because Kyle Petty had called him to say that "a bunch of crazy women" had made a donation in his name. I hope that some of the context of that comment is missing, that I'm misunderstanding or there's some kind of joke there because that comment troubles me.
I know that some people use "crazy" in a good way to indicate passionate fans. But often it's not said as a term of endearment, particularly when it relates to fans. Unfortunately not every driver and player views some things that fans do to show their support of their favorites, even if it's with the best of intentions, in a positive light. So that Kyle would say that, and I have no idea how he would come to that kind of conclusion based on the donation and the note, in reference to fans who donated to the VJGC bothers me a little. And it bothers me that Steve would repeat it. Perhaps Kyle didn't actually say it and Steve was making a joke. Perhaps Steve thought it was a funny comment. But that remark nags at me for a number of reasons that I won't fully get into in this space. And I wasn't the only one who thought as I did. When I mentioned this to Jim his reaction wasn't very good either. Why would Kyle say something like that, if he did, about people who made a donation to the VJGC?
What I will say is that this "crazy" woman whose name was listed as one who contributed to that donation, has been a big supporter of the VJGC through Operation Marathon and otherwise, as I'm sure have others who contributed to that donation. And this "crazy" woman, if that comment had a negative connotation, like many others, has supported Steve for years in a very non-"crazy" way.
I'm sure I will never know what exactly was meant by that remark or the exact context and circumstances under which it was delivered, though I was tempted to try and find out. I think I'm just going to try and convince myself that "crazy" was meant in a positive way and it might very well have been. But taken with a few other things it's not the type of thing that I like to hear.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:14 PM | Comments (0)
Tony Stewart Will Race on Sunday
Wrecked in Practice on Friday, Went to Hospital
Yesterday Tony Stewart wrecked hard in practice and had to be taken to the hosptial for evaluation because he was complaining about pain in his "upper torso" and also because he appeared disoriented when he got out of his car. Even though he was released from the hosptial J.J. Yeley had to qualify his car for him so it was definitely a hard lick that Stewart took. In fact so hard that it was reported on Nascar Live on Speed that Stewart had a mild concussion and Nascar had to clear him to race on Sunday. But based on his participation in today's practices he has been given clearance to race.
I can't say for sure that Stewart definitely had a concussion given that other than the mention on Nascar Live I can't find anything about it anywhere but Stewart mentioned in the above article that he has no memory of wrecking. Which gives an indication that Stewart did in fact have some sort of minor head injury and possible concussion. If that's the case it concerns me that Stewart was given clearance to race on Sunday. It was said after Dale Earnhardt, Jr. hid a concussion so he could continue to race a couple of years ago that Nascar was going to be much more strict about that sort of thing. But apparently not.
Of course Nascar's doctors and those at the hospital know much better than I, but any time a driver has a concussion I don't think they belong on the track in a race just a couple of days later. I have to wonder if Nascar would allow another driver - say a Mike Wallace or Bobby Hamilton, Jr. - drivers who aren't the superstars of the sport back on the track so quickly? Maybe they would - after all I don't know for sure that Stewart actually had a concussion or whether it would even impair him on Sunday. I just don't feel completely comfortable with the idea of a driver with a possible concussion racing on Sunday.
But I have no illusions - I'm quite sure every race there are drivers who are out there who aren't at 100%. Whether they are sick, like Junior has been for the past few weeks, battling some sort of minor injury from a wreck or are distracted by off-the-track issues or pressures to finish well, odds are there are some guys who aren't completely able to focus on racing. Also given a few things that I've heard I also believe that there are drivers out there at times who have no business being out on the track because they might be a danger to their fellow competitors. Of course you have Shane Hmiel type situations if anyone is using a substance on the banned list. But I've heard about one driver who at one point had a medical issue that made him a danger on the track that everyone turned a blind eye to. I've also heard that some drivers are given clearance to race when they shouldn't. Why do these things happen? Because there is a lot riding on a driver being behind the wheel given that a driver must at least start a race to get points. That puts a lot of pressure on the driver and their team to ensure that the driver is behind the wheel no matter what - even if they shouldn't be.
I'm sure Stewart will be fine on Sunday. He might not even have had a concussion and he's a tough guy. But I will be the slightest bit nervous, particularly because I would hate to see him involved in another incident.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
David Wells is an Idiot
Compares Kenny Rogers Incident to Sexual Assualt
David Wells has mouthed off about a lot of things but this may be the time when he stuck his foot in his mouth further than he ever has before. Last week Kenny Rogers wigged out and assaulted a couple of camera men as he walked out onto the field for batting practice prior to a Rangers game. So this week Wells stated that he would have done the same thing and compared the incident to a sexual assault. During a radio interview for a Rhode Island station Wells said, "Some guy's being aggressive with a woman, and she says no, and he keeps on doing it. Well, you know what's going to happen. No is no in anything, when it comes to sexual or you know, whatever it is. No is no. And I'm sure Kenny said, 'Hey, get it out of my face, don't do it.' But no, they want the big story, they want the scoop, you know?"
Maybe Wells should try being informed about what he's talking about because Rogers never said "Get out of my face." He simply walked up to the camera man and attacked him. Yes, Rogers has had run-ins with the media in the past and has boycotted them for much of the season. But there is still no comparison between a sexual assault and Rogers not wanting to deal with members of the media. A sexual assault is a violation of a woman's body, of her soul, of her spirit. The media not leaving Rogers alone is an probably something that makes him angry but it's something that comes with the job. The media have a job to do too and that they are trying to get a story isn't a violation, as much of a pain in the ass as it might be for Rogers. It's something he needs to expect and deal with - a woman doesn't expect a sexual assault, nor should she have to deal with it.
Apparently Wells also made some comments about how Red Sox fans are better than Yankee fans that some Yankee fans are freaking out about since Wells used to be a Yankee. I say big deal. First, because I think his sexual assault comments make any comments about fans pale in comparision. But also because Wells is now a member of the Red Sox himself - of course he's going to say that that team's fans are better. There's no way that he can say that Yankee fans get more into games when he no longer plays in the Bronx. So that kind of statment is to be expected.
I never liked Wells even when he was a Yankee. He pitched a lot of great games for the Yankees and I loved seeing him pitch that perfect game of his. That was awesome as any perfect game is. So I appreciated everything he did on the mound. But he always ran his mouth off as a Yankee and he hasn't stopped since he left. As I've said many times before I wish that more players were candid in their opinions - but there's such thing as being too candid. The content of what Wells says often just makes me shake my head and wonder what he was thinking.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:25 PM | Comments (0)
Steve Park's #62 Team Running Out of Trucks
At Sparta Park Aims to Dodge His Foes
This article details some of the bad luck that Steve Park and the #62 team have experienced this season and how they hope to have a good run tonight in Kentucky. In the course of the article it's mentioned that Steve's gotten into so many wrecks, mostly not of his own doing, that the team is starting to run low on trucks. I'm sure they will not get to the point where they're on the verge of running out of trucks but what does a team do if they are down to their last truck or car? I assume that every team is constantly working on building cars and trucks but considering that they have to work on getting them ready for that week's race I imagine it's a slow process to build news ones from scratch. I wonder if it's ever happened if a team has run out of cars or trucks completely? Maybe to a smaller team.
Another item from that article is this comment by Brendan Gaughan: "When you have two or more teams, you always hear of one team having better equipment. Steve is in the position where his other teammate is the general manager, and if it comes down to it, and we have two trucks that are very similar, he's probably going to get the better one." Probably? Or will? That's the problem when one of the drivers is also the general manager who is making decisions about the teams. Brendan is a great guy so I have no doubt that he wants the best for Steve as much as anyone else. However, Steve and Brendan aren't separated by all that many positions in the points, though as of now Brendan has just been wrecked out of tonight's race so he will take a hit in the points. Brendan is a racer and every racer is intensely competitive - I'm quite sure he wants his own trucks to be the best they could possibly be as well. So I suspect it's probably harder than Brendan makes it sound to give up the best truck if he's ever in a position where that has to happen. Not that he won't, but he is a human being and a racer so giving yourself the lesser equipment can't be easy.
But I think the goal should be to make both teams as strong and as competitive as possible. It's true that most organizations have one team, or two teams with the biggest organizations like Roush or Hendrick, that consistantly get the best equipment and run up front every week. I just hate to hear about there possibly having to be a choice about who gets the better trucks. Brendan has alluded to Orleans Racing wanting to expand so for that reason also it's important to be able to field more than one consistantly competitively good truck. More than that of course it would be great to see Steve and Brendan be able to race well and be in contention for wins on a regular basis, something that hasn't happened all that often thus far this season.
A dream race for me one day would be to see Steve in Victory Lane (again) with the next four drivers behind him be Brendan, Ricky Craven, Johnny Benson and one of the female drivers. And then have both Orleans Racing teams race up front for every race after that.
Posted by silverdsl at 08:55 PM | Comments (0)
July 08, 2005
You Never Know Who Might Be Reading...
Whether it's on this blog or on a message board I try to never post anything that I wouldn't have a discussion with that person about or say to their face. Because you never know who might be reading what you write. Oh boy, do you never know. Some of the people I suspect have read this blog... or know that have read this blog... or have wandered by message boards I post on... But if I had a dime for every time someone has ripped someone else thinking that the other person will never read it and is then confronted by said other person, I'd be a rich woman right now. Sometimes it's hysterical when the person doing the ripping is so far out out of line and they get called on it. Other times it makes you shake your head because the person who is getting discussed sometimes over-reacts to what is being said and the results aren't always pretty. But it's often kind of amusing for a number of reasons.
I've been confronted via private message by someone in the public eye who I posted something critical about on a message board. It was actually a pretty mild criticism in comparison to some of the other comments being made about this person. But I think I had a legitamite gripe so while I apologized for possibly hurting this person's feelings I also explained my reasoning and that I stood by what I said. I hate to make someone feel bad but at the same time not everyone is going to like everything that everyone does or says. I'm sure there are plenty of people who hate this blog or think I'm an idiot. I can't please everyone all the time. Then I've also been sent nice emails by people who have appreciated something that I've said publically about them or their website so it works both ways.
But there are times when I try to phrase things in this blog delicately, knowing that someone that I might be discussing or one of their associates might come across it. As I said above the majority of the time I'm posting things that I would say to any of the involved parties if I ever had the chance to talk to them about it in person but there are a few topics that I use extra discretion on because there are one or two people out there who I care about what they think more than others.
But for the most part I don't worry too much about saying the "right" things. I think there is some concern at times about saying the "right" things at Steve Park Central because Steve has been known to come by the board, Brendan Gaughan might as well and Mike Snow, their PR person, has posted there. But that concern is probably for naught, particularly in the case of Brendan who says what he wants when he wants without caring what other people might think about it.
However, it pays to think about what you're saying and how you're saying it. If you wouldn't call someone a name or insult them to their face, why post it on a public message board or elsewhere that they could easily see it? I guess the point that I'm getting at is that when posting something be darn sure that you don't mind the person you're talking about seeing it.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:14 PM | Comments (0)
Kenny Wallace to Race Corn Dogs Car in Cup at Chicago for MWR
From KennyWallace.com/Jayski's: Kenny Wallace in the #92: Kenny Wallace in cooperation with MWR, has decided to run the #92, State Fair Corn Dog Car in Chicago Nextel Cup race this weekend. "The MWR Team is working hard to build some new cars, has a new Crew Chief [Butch Hylton], so we are taking a little side step this weekend to get in the Chicago Race." Wallace will be driving with a DEI engine, and Front Row Motorsports crew chief Fred Wanke.(Kenny Wallace site)(7-8-2005)
Of course what isn't mentioned here but might be in play is that every time Michael Waltrip has attempted to run the Corn Dogs scheme this season either in Busch or at the Winston West race in California the results have been dismal... if they've even made the race. So my guess is that one reason for this could be to get Corn Dogs some extra exposure that they might have missed out on when the cars they've sponsored have dropped out of races prematurely. Because even a poor run in Cup generates way more exposure than all but the best of runs in Busch. So being on a Cup car should make Corn Dogs happy. Of course Kenny still has to qualify and make the race on time because he's not guaranteed a spot. And sad to say but the MWR cars have been a little shaky this season. But hopefully the addition of Butch Hylton to MWR will take care of some of those issues.
While poking around for some information on Kenny I went to the ppc Racing website and immediately noticed how well-designed that site is. It's really a nice looking site, with lots of information, that is easy to navigate. So out of curiosity I checked who designed the site, because those things always interest me, and it turns out that it's Tina Gibson who I believe used to do Steve Park's website a couple of years ago. She did a good job with Steve's site then so if it is the same person it's not a surprise that the ppc Racing website looks so great. I wonder what other racing sites she's designed? I also wonder what led to her no longer working with Steve, though perhaps after he was no longer in Cup money was a factor because her services might not have come cheap.
Another interesting item in relation to Kenny's entry in the Cup race this weekend is that he will apparently be racing the #92. I think the #00 is being used by Carl Long this weekend so that may be why Kenny needed to use a different number, though the numbers issue can get confusing. But Front Row Motorsports, is where Fred Wanke is apparently normally the crew chief for the #92 which has been driven by Stanton Barrett and most recently Hermie Sadler. However, according to the above item from Jayski's it's definitely a Michael Waltrip Racing car but they are somehow working with Front Row Motorsports hence the lend of the crew chief and presumably the number. I vaguely remember earlier in the season that maybe Hermie Sadler had Aaron's or another MWR sponsor on his car after the MWR entry failed to make a race but I'm pretty sure that was with the other organization he was with so probaby just coincidence. Still, it's interesting how MWR is apparently working with a number of different organizations in terms of their Cup program - DEI for engines, Bill Davis Racing for the Cup car for Kenny last week, and now Front Row Motorsports.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:51 PM | Comments (0)
As Much As $7.5 Million in Prize Money For World Series of Poker Winner
If there's any doubt about the popularity of Poker and the amount of money that changes hands during games and tournaments consider this. At the World Series of Poker which started yesterday somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000-6,000 people paid $10,000 each to take part. $10,000! So right off the bat the organizers of the WSoP are taking in $50-60 million. Apparently the top 100 players get some sort of prize money with the potential for the overall winner to get $7.5 million and instant stardom, at least within the Poker world. But even after all the prize money has been handed out and all other expenses paid, I would guess that the organizers are still making quite a profit. Incredible.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:15 PM | Comments (0)
Giambi Continues His Hot Hitting, Cabrera Promoted
Mike Mussina, Jason Giambi and the New York Yankees cruised to a 7-2 win over the Cleveland Indians last night in the Bronx. Giambi hit his third homerun in as many games and Alex Rodriquez and Derek Jeter also hit longballs. Mussina was solid, pitching seven strong innings giving up just two runs on six hits. Recently the Yankees have been playing much better than they were just a week or two ago which has vaulted them into contention for the division lead again. Now they are only 3 1/2 games behind the Red Sox, who are in first. Shockingly that that's the closest the Yankees have been to first since April 23rd. But before they can worry about the first place team the Yankees need to worry about getting into second place. With some more well-played baseball, hopefully that will happen. All they need to do is what they have been doing recently - winning as many games as they can.
Besides the continued hot hitting by Giambi, the story of the game was the promotion of Melky Cabrera to the majors. Some are wondering what the significance is of that since players are brought up from the minors all the time. Well, in this case Cabrera is joining the Yankees specifically to play centerfield every day which means that Bernie Williams' playing time will be cut even more than it already has been. That's a sure sign, as if the writing on the wall wasn't already clear, that Bernie's time in pinstripes is rapidly coming to a close. Cabrera was just 1-4 in last night's game but that one hit will be one he will always remember for the rest of his life because it was his first hit in the majors.
Williams has played centerfield for the Yankees since 1991 and it's almost certain that the next few months are his last playing in the Bronx. While it appears that Williams has at least a little left with the bat, his skills in the outfield have gotten almost embarassingly bad. And the last thing the Yankees need next season is another DH so it's likely that Williams will either have to retire or look for another team to play for. It's sad to think that Williams will no longer be with the team after this season considering what a huge role he played in the Yankees success from 1996-2001. Not only was he a key member of the team on the field but from everything his teammates have said he was exceptional in the clubhouse as well, even though he was one of the quieter guys. What will Williams do next? Perhaps he will find another team to play for or maybe he will concentrate on his second love, music.
The other thing that promoting Cabrera does is that it means that Hideki Matsui shifts back to left field and Tony Womack is relegated to a bench role. I'm sure Womack is even less happy with that move than when he was thrown out in left field so Robinson Cano could play second, but he's been dreadful for the Yankees and they can no longer play him every day. Womack can probably be useful to the Yankees as a pinch-runner but I'm sure he wants to be playing on a much more regular basis. However, based on the stats he is just about the worst player in baseball so getting benched can't be completely unexpected. I'd like to say that I expect the next move the Yankees make is to trade Womack but I can't imagine that there are too many other teams that will be interested in his services.
So if the Yankees keep playing well and everything else comes out in their favor they have a chance of taking the division lead away from the Red Sox in the second half of the season. It might be a tall order considering they still have pitching problems to overcome but I'm hopeful that they will be able to do it.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:46 PM | Comments (0)
July 07, 2005
Schilling's First Try at Closer Doesn't Go Well
A couple of days ago the Red Sox decided that since their closer Keith Foulke, was going to have to go on the disabled list with knee problems and Curt Schilling was a long way from coming back as an effective starter, they would try Schilling in the closer's role. On one hand the idea has a lot of merit since Schilling when he was healthy was often a dominating pitcher. However, being a starter is radically different from pitching out of the bullpen. The mentality and attitude is different, the way that a starter as opposed to a reliever warms up is different and in general there's a lot to adjust to. Of course it can be a successful transition - John Smoltz is one recent example and there have been others who have pitched well in the bullpen after long careers as starters.
But I'm not sure how well Schilling is going to do. There's no question that the will and desire to be sucessful and win is there. But if he's not yet ready to be back on the mound as a starter is he even ready to be back on the mound as a closer? And can the Red Sox afford to wait out the inevitable adjustment period, which is sure to have it's shaky moments, as Schilling gets used to pitching out of the bullpen? If this experiement is a success Theo Epstein will be praised as a genius but if it's a failure Epstein will be raked over the coals, maybe even by his own players.
Usually when teams make moves the players say all the right things no matter how they actually feel about what the team is doing and at the most are only willing to offer some mild criticism. The exception is when a player gets traded or released who is popular in the clubhouse - that may prompt some more vocal complaining. But for the most part players keep any issues they have with what their teams are doing inside the clubhouse. Not the Red Sox players. They aren't happy that Schilling is being named closer over other Red Sox pitchers already in the bullpen and they're going to let everyone know how they feel.
Johnny Damon said, "You got a lot of upset people in here. You've got a lot of guys busting their butts in the bullpen all year" among other things. And one anonymous player said that the move was "a slap in the face" to the other relievers. And I think they have a point. Because essentially the Red Sox are saying that they don't trust the other guys in the bullpen to get the job done. Terry Francona says that the move is a way to help Schilling get back into a position where he can start again but if that was really the goal he could do that just as well in the minors. I wonder if this move is going to end up creating so much friction between players in the clubhouse that the negativity will outweigh any of the benefits?
Posted by silverdsl at 11:21 PM | Comments (0)
Photo of the Day - Marginal Way Benches
Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2004. Another one I took at sunrise on Marginal Way. Hopefully a week from now I'll be sitting on one of those benches!
Posted by silverdsl at 11:18 PM | Comments (0)
Kenny Wallace/ppc Racing Part Looking For New Primary Sponsor
Kenny Wallace ppc Racing Start Sponsor Search
Kenny Wallace is having a great year in Busch this season as he's currently 5th in points. In addition, he's very visible since he's on three different TV shows and he's extremely fan friendly. Stacker 2 has been associated him for a while now and has followed him from one organization to another and put him in their commercials. Everything sounds great right? Apparently everything wasn't so great with Stacker 2 after all as Kenny and ppc Racing are now looking for a new primary sponsor for his Busch car. No specific reason for why Stacker 2 is no longer the sponsor is mentioned but I've seen speculation that perhaps Stacker has financial problems and couldn't afford to pay for their sponsorship anymore. That does make some sense to me because with how well Kenny's been racing this season, plus how wonderful of a spokesperson he is, I can't imagine Stacker 2 suddenly deciding to sever their relationship with him mid-season unless it was because of money issues.
I would think that there will be a number of sponsors who will be interested in getting involved with Kenny, considering how much airtime and visibility he would probably get them. However, the only thing working against Kenny is that he's not a young gun anymore and many of the sponsors want to be associated with youth. Personally I'll take Kenny's uniqueness and sense of humor any day over some of the stiff and bland young guns but a lot of sponsors and teams seem to see things differently than me. But I hope that they are able to find a sponsor to take Stacker 2's place because it may be hard to continue to run well if there's no one to pay the bills.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:56 PM | Comments (0)
Jamie McMurray to the #6 for Roush in 2007
It's been widely rumored for months that Jamie McMurray was going to leave Chip Ganassi Racing for another organization. However, most people seemed to think he would end up as the driver of the #2 replacing Rusty Wallace since McMurray has dated Wallace's daughter on and off and has become good friends with him. However, it was announced today that starting in 2007 McMurray will be the driver of the #6 for Roush Racing. I have to say that I'm really surprised that McMurray was signed to a deal before his current deal with another organization is over without a buyout of the last year of his deal with Ganassi but I guess both parties were anxious to get something in place.
But before he can join Roush, McMurray has the rest of 2005 and 2006 to get through. Currently, he's 7th in the points and I assume that Ganassi is going to go everything they can to make sure that he gets into the Chase for the Championship. But what happens in 2006 when they know he's leaving? Will he still get the same kind of equipment? I'm a little surprised that there's been no talk of a buyout of the last year of McMurray's contract at Ganassi but perhaps that would have involved too much money and legal complications. So McMurray could have a very interesting year in 2006 where he may be caught between two organizations - the one he currently drives for and the one he is contracted to in 2007.
Now there are a few big questions facing both Roush and Ganassi. Who gets the #42 ride? The obvious answer is Reed Sorenson unless he ends up in the #41 currently driven by Casey Mears. I think Ganassi would be better off having Sorenson race another year in Busch and continue to develop there before throwing him to the wolves in Cup. As talented as Sorenson is, there are a lot of pressures and expectations in Cup and much for any driver to deal with and adjust to. So hopefully Ganassi will show some patience and Sorenson will be slotted for the #42 in 2007.
Roush needs to find a long-term sponsor for the #6 to replace Viagra but also a short-term driver for 2006 for that car. Most are assuming that Ricky Craven will be the fill-in for 2006 and I think that would be great for him. The #6 will probably be a much more competitive car than he's driven for quite some time on the Cup level and it would give him the opportunity to open some eyes for a potential long-term deal in Cup with another organization. Or if things continue to go well for him with Roush he can potentially drive for them again in the truck series or in Busch. Announcing McMurray as the future driver of the #6 now gives Roush the opportunity to attract a big-time primary sponsor for that ride. A lot of sponsors will be interested in working with McMurray considering he's a young driver with some success on the Cup level who is expected to have a bright future ahead of him.
I like McMurray. I wouldn't call him a favorite or anything but he's grown on me as time has gone on. Unlike some of the other young drivers who seem to take great pains to be as bland as possible out of fear of ruffling some feathers, McMurray actually flashes some personality. He seems to have a great sense of humor and isn't afraid to show it. Granted, much like most of the rest of the drivers he's not one to be too candid in his opinions or say anything too controversial but he stands out a little bit in comparision to some other drivers. In fact, I think he stands out in relation to his future teammates - Kurt Busch, Matt Kenseth and Greg Biffle. Of course McMurray is also exceptionally marketable so I think that whoever his new sponsor is will take advantage of that.
Overall, I think McMurray is probably going into a very good situation starting in 2007, particularly given that there is some instability and change that is happening over at Ganassi which may effect what happens on the track for those teams a while.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)
Evan Hunter, Author of Ed McBain Detective Mysteries Dead at 78
Also Author of "The Blackboard Jungle"
I used to read 87th precinct mysteries all the time when I was really into mysteries in my younger years. Hunter was quite proficient with the series, putting out countless books as Ed McBain, some even recently. But he was also known for writing The Blackboard Jungle, under his "own" name. I say his "own" name because Evan Hunter wasn't his real name either. He was born as Salvatore Lombino but changed his name because he thought his work might get rejected by publishers with such an Italian sounding name. Another thing I didn't know about Hunter is that he helped Alfred Hitchcock adapt the screenplay for The Birds for the big screen. In any event perhaps I will have to pick up an 87th precinct novel for old time's sake.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:58 PM | Comments (0)
Everyone Has a Blog These Days... Even (Alleged) Criminals
More and more you hear about how someone who somehow ended up in the news has or had a website or blog. Sometimes it's just someone who is on a reality show or lands on some unexpected good luck. Unfortunately when an article gets written by the Associated Press about their site, when the site isn't the news itself, it's often because they have either fallen victim to something sinister or done something criminal to someone else. And such is the case for Joseph Edward Duncan III, the man in Idaho who is suspected of kidnapping two children. He is also suspected of killing their family before kidnapping the kids. And what might you ask was Duncan blogging about? His struggles as a convicted sex offender and his complaints at the way he was treated by the local law enforcement. Apparently he also anonymously submitted questions online to a local police chief in North Dakota about sex offenders as well. As one might imagine prosecutors are expected to use his blog as potential evidence against him.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:37 PM | Comments (0)
Spam From Nascar.com
I just got an email from Nascar.com offering me 20% off on Trackpass for the remainder of the season. A special offer, the email said, just for Park fans, presumably referring to Steve Park who I must have put down as my favorite driver at some point when signing up for something at Nascar.com. There's a couple of problems with this email the biggest being that Steve currently drives in the truck series and you can't use Trackpass to follow the truck series, except perhaps to listen to the radio fed of the race. So it's a wee bit ridiculous to send out a special offer to fans who can't benefit from Trackpass in that it doesn't help them follow their favorite driver any closer. In fact I checked, thinking that Trackpass was going to expand their services to the other series, something I dearly hope they will do, but the entire email talks about the Cup series. I guess the email just goes out with each person's favorite driver listed without regard for what series they might race in but it seems to me that perhaps the body of the email needs to be modified a bit to reflect that it's a general offer, not because someone at Nascar.com is still under the impression that Steve is still in Cup. Beyond that I'm already a Trackpass subscriber. I guess there's no way for Nascar.com to know who is a Trackpass subscriber and who's not when sending out a bulk email like this but it seems to me they need to target people who aren't subscribing already.
As I mentioned above I would love it if Trackpass expanded their services to the point where everything that was available during a Cup race was also available during Truck and Busch races. It makes it really easy to follow how each driver is doing in a race when you can watch a leaderboard that updates very quickly rather than have to wait for the entire scroll to crawl across the TV screen. But even better is the feature that allows Trackpass subscribers to listen in on selected driver's radio communications. Getting to listen to Michael Waltrip and his team each race really adds so much to my enjoyment of the races. I don't have to be dependent on waiting for the TV broadcasters to mention how he's doing in a given race, I can just listen to what's being said on the radio to know what's going on. Any number of times I've heard things that I never would have known about except for having listened to the radio via Trackpass. So I'd love for that feature to be available for truck and Busch races too. It would be awesome to one day be able to listen to Steve's radio communications during a race and not have to be at the track to do it!
Posted by silverdsl at 01:29 PM | Comments (0)
Terror in London
Thinking about what happened in London this morning makes me ill. That some people have no regard for the lives of other human beings because their belief in their cause is so strong, their hatred for others is so great. I don't know a single person in London and just thinking about it makes me sad. It's also a reminder that we can't be complacent and think that just because there haven't been any attacks here recently doesn't mean that there won't be. It makes me glad that I no longer take the train to Jim's each weekend, I drive. Just a horrible day for many in London.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:27 AM | Comments (0)
July 06, 2005
Photo of the Day - Marginal Way at Sunrise
Ogunquit, Maine, July, 2004. I'm going to Maine! I'm going to Maine! Hopefully when I'm there next week I will wake up early enough at least once for some sunrise photos on Marginal Way!
Posted by silverdsl at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
There is No Such Thing as a "Real" or a "True" Fan
Before I get into the heart of this entry let me preface it by saying that no one should get their knickers in a knot because I don't have any one person, group of people or incident in mind when I decided to write this entry. Anyone who knows me knows how I feel on this issue and it's a topic that I've touched upon previously in this space. However, over the past few weeks I've seen an increase in the amount of fans who accuse each other of not being "true" fans, fans who tell each other some variation of "If you were a 'real' fan you'd do or think X or Y," or fans who tell each other that they are better than other fans for the things that they do or say. I've got news for all those people - it's all a myth. So put on your big girl panties (Michael Waltrip said that one time on Inside Nextel Cup and I've been dying to use that somewhere ever since) and read on if you so choose.
Why is there no such thing as a real or a true fan? That's because there is no right way or wrong way to be a fan. People are a fans of whoever or whatever they choose in whatever way makes them comfortable. When someone decides to be a fan no one hands out a handbook full of rules that says that everyone must think these certain things or act in this certain way otherwise someone is inadequate as a fan. There is no fan police who penalize those who don't do or say the "right" things. Thinking certain things or doing certain things doesn't make one any "realer" or better of a fan than the next person. Well, maybe in some people's minds it does but in reality the concept of "real" and "fake" fans or "true" fans is as much fantasy as unicorns are.
The beauty of being a fan is that everyone can choose for themselves how they support the person or team that they are a fan of and act accordingly. Some people are relatively low-key about the people and things they are a fan of. Others are more exuberant and vocal about their fandom. Some people are casual fans who support quite a few people they admire. Then there are die-hard fans who are focused on one or two people or things that have all their attention. There are some people who travel great distances to support their favorites as frequently as they can and others who won't go to see their favorites unless it's minutes from their house. All of that is fine - there's nothing wrong with any of these approaches or any of a hundred other approaches. The reasons why people become fans are so complex and are often deeply rooted and sometimes deeply personal. So the way that people express themselves as fans is often deeply personal as well, probably a large reason why things can go bad between fans, even fans who support the same teams, players or drivers.
I'm a fairly low-key fan. I have my drivers and teams that I support but I don't get crazy about it. Maybe that's due to the nature of my personality in general which is also fairly low-key and laid-back. There are certain ways that I express my fandom, but I don't go to a huge amount of races or games, though I try to watch as many as possible on TV. I think some people look down on fans like me because we don't outwardly show our fandom quite as obviously as some other fans, don't attend as many events or spend as much money on merchandise or tickets. But I am every bit as much of a fan of the drivers, players and teams that I support as anyone else. And as it's turned out my way of being a fan has worked out really well for me. Incredibly well in fact. I gain a lot of enjoyment, satisfaction and happiness from a lot of things in life and one of those things happens to be from being a fan of the people and team that I support.
There is also room for all sorts of opinions within a fandom. As I've said before, the world would be a very boring place if everyone had the same opinion. I am constantly amazed by how many fans seem to think there is no room for a diversity of opinions. That there are "right" opinions and "wrong" opinions and if you say the "wrong" thing driver/player/actor/etc... X will somehow think less of you or that your right to call yourself a fan should be revoked. I've got news for anyone who thinks that way - the drivers/players/actors/etc... who get it, and the majority of them do, understand that their fans have the right to have any opinion they want even if it's one they personally disagree with. Some of those drivers/players/actors, etc... understand that because they have their own strongly held opinions or causes they believe in that other people disagree with them on. So they wouldn't want anyone telling them how to think so why would they want some of their fans telling other of their fans what to think or how to act? And if it should happen that there is a player or driver who thinks that all their fans should support them blindly no matter what or never have an independent opinion, then that's someone who I don't think I want to be a fan of.
In addition, there is nothing that makes any one fan better than another. There is no scorecard upon which fans rack up points that put them ahead of other fans. Or a hierarchy in which some fans are placed higher than others. Particularly since there is nothing that any fan can do that hasn't been done by another fan before them or won't be done by another fan in the future. The vast majority of drivers/players/teams/celebrities value each and every fan that they have because they understand that their careers might be radically different without the support of their fans. All of their fans. There have been times when someone has subtly or obviously pulled out the "I'm better than you because..." card and tried to rub it in someone's face. I've seen that so many times in so many places. After I'm done being annoyed it really makes me laugh, the thing is that I, and everyone else who knows that being a fan isn't a competition, don't think that we're better than anyone else is. I'm just a small cog in the big engine that fandom is. I'm simply me - a fan of Michael Waltrip, Steve Park, Kevin Harvick, Ken Schrader, Kyle Petty, Jeff Gordon, Tino Martinez, David Cone, Jason Giambi, Mike Mussina, The Yankees and so many others just like thousands of other people just like me.
I've met and talked to quite a few famous people in a wide variety of fields. Some of them whose names would be reconizable on not just a national level, but internationally as well. And in all the times that I've been around someone who is a celebrity of some sort not one of them has ever tested my fandom. There's never been a test of whether I'm a "real" fan or a "true" fan. No one has every questioned my right to buy tickets. Or if I have the right opinions or go to enough games or races. Whether I'm a big enough fan to be in their presence, get their autograph, or talk to them. Perhaps I've been lucky but I've never met anyone who hasn't been appreciative of my support or treated me just as well as any other fan. And just like if someone doesn't respect my right to have my own opinions I won't feel inclined to continue to be a fan of theirs, if someone doesn't seem particularly appreciative of all their fans, that's someone who loses some respect in my eyes too. While no one who I've ever met has treated me any less than wonderfully I have read some stories that make me shake my head. I have all the understanding in the world for players or drivers having bad days and the craziness of their schedules so I don't expect them to be able to accomidate everyone or be perfectly happy all the time but I have heard a few things that have made me view a couple of players and drivers a little differently and not in a good way.
Of course there are some times that I get down on my fellow fans for reasons other than when they question each other's fandom. That's when a fan behaves in a way that is grossly inappropriate doing things such as stalking, invading someone's personal space when it's not wanted, treating the celebrity like they are a possession not a person or otherwise behaving in ways that can create a scene or get someone in trouble. I think the vast majority of fans know how to behave appropriately but the small minority who don't give all fans a bad name since those things are definitely noticed and often responded to in a way that ruins things for the fans who are well-behaved.
But why do some fans tell other fans that they aren't good enough fans? Perhaps they think that they're protecting the person or team that they're such a big fan of. Perhaps it's because they're insecure in their own fandom and deep inside they feel that they don't measure up either. Perhaps it's a way of drawing attention to themselves. Perhaps they think that the person or team they are a fan of will eventually see or hear and recognize them for it. But regardless of the reasons I wish it wouldn't happen. In any fandom, ever. Disagree with someone - great! Have a discussion about differing viewpoints - always fun to debate various things. But to tell someone that they are inferior or question their fandom if they don't say or do certain things that is something I can't stand.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:25 PM | Comments (0)
Giambi Back to Being a Productive Hitter?
Quietly Jason Giambi began making a statement last month that he wasn't done yet and recently he's putting the exclaimation point on a resurgence at the plate that can't be ignored. It's possible that it's just a hot streak, since even the worst of hitters can go through periods where they get locked in at the plate. But what Giambi has done recently is a good sign that he can still contribute for the Yankees. Not too long ago the Yankees wanted to send Giambi to the minors to work out his problems at the plate and most Yankee fans were writing him off as a waste of space. But suddenly Giambi has brought his batting average up to .268 and he's started to hit with some more power. I have to give him credit for insisting back when the Yankees wanted to send him down for knowing that he could regain his form at the plate in the majors just as well as in the minors and he was right.
Yesterday Giambi was 3-4 with a homerun, which followed a two homerun game for him on Monday. So when Giambi was lifted for pinch-runner Tino Martinez during yesterday's game, Giambi actually got an ovation from the Yankee Stadium crowd, who had been booing him just a few short weeks ago. I think one of the keys for Giambi turning things around is that he got two big game-winning hits very close together last month which may have given him some extra confidence. While another big reason for his recent success is probably also Don Mattingly, who has been working with Giambi incessantly, I think Giambi needed to feel like he can still help the Yankees win. And he can. Giambi may not continue to hit as well as he is right now but I think he will find ways to be productive for the remainder of the season and hopefully beyond.
What really gets me is that already a few people are saying that maybe Giambi is back on steroids and that's the reason why he's suddenly hitting well. That's ridiculous. First of all, the players are under much more scrutiny now in relation to the use of performance enhancers. While I have no illusions that there aren't players still using in spite of the stricter drug testing, I would think that all of the players who were named in Balco are going to be a lot more careful since testing positive would be an even bigger disaster, potentially career ending, for any of them, than it would be for other players. In addition, steroids don't give players the ability to hit - they must naturally be able to see the ball and hit it. Steroids simply gives them the ability to hit the ball harder and faster than others. So Giambi can hit on his own without using a performance enhancer to do it, I think the question is how much.
In addition, someone said that Giambi's head looked bigger during an interview and that's the evidence that he's back on steroids. That's ridiculous too. Aside from the fact that lighting in a TV interview can sometimes distort how a person actually looks, I think how big or small someone's head looks is a really bad way of judging whether they are using steroids or not. Did someone measure how big Giambi's head was when he was on steroids, then when he went off of steroids and again now? Of course not. It's nonsense. Unfortunately it's the kind of nonsense that Giambi is going to have to deal with for the rest of his career, though I can't say I feel too sorry for him for that given that he brought a lot of this on himself by choosing to use steroids.
Posted by silverdsl at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)
July 05, 2005
Photo of the Day - Mike Piazza
New York Mets vs. Washington Nationals, July 4, 2005. Jim and I along with his sister and her husband went to the Mets vs. Nationals game yesterday which the Mets ended up winning. We aren't fans of either team but we love baseball and someone had given us his season tickets which were awesome seats! This photo of Mike Piazza wasn't taken from our seats but I took it one of the times I wandered around the stadium taking photos. Unlike at Yankee Stadium where they are very strict about where you can stand, when and how close you can get the field if you don't have tickets for the really expensive seats, the Nationals are much more lax about that kind of thing. So I was able to get pretty close while Piazza was warming up for the game and borrow some seats at various points behind both dugouts during the game to take photos. Though it was hot as anything it was a lot of fun! I just wish that the National's Nick Johnson, a former Yankee, hadn't been on the disabled list because it would have been great to see him play.
Posted by silverdsl at 11:51 PM | Comments (0)
How Does This Happen?
Tony Eury, Jr. Misses Drivers' Meeting
This is far from a big deal since the only thing that happens is that Tony Eury, Jr. gets fined but somehow he ended up missing the Drivers Meeting prior to Saturday's race. Attendance at the drivers meeting is mandatory since it's when Nascar goes over rules, necessary information for the race and the drivers have the opportunity to ask questions or bring up concerns. I attended a drivers meeting at Dover last fall and half the drivers don't pay attention, presumably since they've heard the same thing over and over again, and it bore a startling resemblance to being in class except with Nascar's top drivers and crew chiefs as your classmates. Not exactly a thriller of a gathering. But the drivers and crew chiefs are required to be there. Otherwise a driver who misses the meeting gets sent to the rear of the field and a crew chief who misses the meeting gets fined. So Nascar does take it seriously.
Apparently there was much joking when Eury missed the meeting that he had "flown the coop" in apparent reference to the problems at DEI that might make anyone want to run and hide. But Eury said in another article that he was used to being car chief on the #8 where he didn't have to attend the meeting and he got so wrapped up in working on the #15 that he forgot he had to go. Um, okay. It's not like it's his first race as crew chief. Maybe that's what happened but how is it that no one tried to track him down? Maybe no one could locate him but I would think that if he was with the car he could be found. If there's one thing that Michael always seems to have with him it's his cell phone and I would think that a couple of phone calls or text messages would send someone running to find Eury. Just seems odd that no one noticed he was still working on the car when he needed to be at the meeting and that he didn't end up being found once it was determined that he might (and did) miss the meeting if he was with the car.
Again, no big deal, just one of those things that I wonder about.
Posted by silverdsl at 07:49 PM | Comments (0)
I Might Be Watching Some More Mets Games In the Future...
David Cone Could Get Job With Team
As I've mentioned a few times in this space my all-time favorite baseball player is David Cone, who is both a former Yankee and a former Met. When Cone attempted a comeback with the Mets a couple of years ago he angered George Steinbrenner so much that he's apparently persona non grata in the Yankees organization. Which is unfortunate because at one time it seemed like Cone would be a lock for a position in the organization either in the front office, on the coaching staff or with YES, the Yankees TV Network. Now it appears that there is a good chance that he will get that opportunity with the Mets. I feel sad about that because I had really hoped that Steinbrenner would forgive him but it appears that's not to be. So I may be checking out even more Mets games in between Yankees games than I already do to keep up with what Cone is up to.
Posted by silverdsl at 06:44 PM | Comments (0)
Not So Fast... Michael Waltrip May Be Back at DEI After All
Waltrip Would Like to Return to DEI in 2006
Gilmore Says DEI Working to Re-Sign Waltrip, NAPA
Less than a week ago Marty Smith wrote a column for Nascar.com in which he said that he had been told by a source close to Michael Waltrip that DEI had no intention of re-signing Michael for 2006 and beyond. Not surprisingly, while the Smith column wasn't addressed specifically, the following day Michael was saying how much he wanted to stay at DEI and how he was still talking to DEI about working out a new deal. Then on Saturday Richie Gilmore was saying that DEI wanted to re-sign Michael and NAPA so that they would have a three-car team for 2006 and that he was confident that this would happen. Gilmore's words are quite a reversal from what he said in recent weeks about how DEI wasn't sure if they would have a two or a three car team next season for a variety or reasons including what a drain it would be on the DEI septic system. Yes, the man actually said that in an interview. Then you have Junior who said just two weeks ago that DEI was leaning towards only fielding two cars in 2006, neither of which would be Michael. And Tony Eury, Sr. followed with some similar remarks about the uncertainty of DEI's plans in relation to how many cars they would have in the future. Yet somehow it has come to pass that DEI has decided that they will in fact field three cars next season one of which will be driven by Michael if everything works out.
So what happened? Was the Smith article total bullshit? Maybe Smith was fed a line of bull in relation to Michael being told that he was out at DEI but I think that the remainder of the article was probably full of a lot of truth in terms of the possiblity that Michael could take a lot of sponsorship with him from DEI to another team and that he was actively exploring his other options. Michael said himself that he has a "Plan B" in case he doesn't get re-signed by DEI. That Plan B and other options might not be anything more than Michael fielding a Cup car for himself or racing the entire Busch season with Michael Waltrip Racing. But no one has to know that. So I think the Smith article was a way to jump-start contract negotiations by the source, who could be Michael himself for all we know, putting the idea out there that he doesn't have to wait around for DEI to decide they want to re-sign him because he can take himself and a large chuck of sponsorship elsewhere if DEI drags their feet too long. Which could have served to make a few people at DEI a bit nervous. I find it particularly interesting that Gilmore met with representatives from NAPA this past weekend in Daytona. I would think that there's only a limited amount of people who would know that meeting was going to take place so that further makes me think that the Smith article was a way to influence what happened at that meeting. Because if DEI thinks that $20 million in sponsorship might end up somewhere else with Michael, the tone of that meeting might have been a lot different than it might have been otherwise.
Of course just because both Michael and Gilmore are saying all the right things about Michael getting re-signed in the next few weeks doesn't mean that it's actually going to happen which would be unfortunate. I think I said in the entry I wrote on the Smith article that if Michael and DEI addressed that topic they would both say that they hoped to get a deal done even if there was little hope of that happening. That gives them the flexibility to change their minds, especially since it's probably in all parties' best interests to come to an agreement for 2006 and hopefully beyond. DEI must field a third car if they are going to be successful and be competitive with the larger organizations. There is no question of that. While they could choose to replace Michael with another driver, a big sponsor like NAPA isn't so easy to replace. So if NAPA wants Michael then DEI will probably have to re-sign them both as a package deal, otherwise risk not being able to have that third team in 2006. And from Michael's point of view he is better off not having to search for a new team, particularly since he is doing so well with Tony Eury, Jr. right now.
Another piece of the puzzle that is DEI's future fell into place on Friday when Martin Truex, Jr. re-signed with the organization for three years, a deal that will see him race in Cup with Bass Pro Shops as his sponsor. Of course everyone is claiming that things were so crazy at DEI that it just took two months to get the contract finally signed. But I think it's more likely that Truex, and his father who was handling contract negotiations for him, were investigating what other teams might offer them. Truex specifically mentioned loyalty in his Victory Lane remarks when he announced that he had re-signed. So I think he was definitely weighing other options and decided that he wanted to stay with the organization that had gotten him this far. And he Truex has had a very fine career so far with one Busch championship and the possiblity of another this season.
In some ways I would have liked to have seen Truex go to another organization, one because I think it would have increased Michael's chances of being re-signed but two, because I would have liked to have seen what might have happened with Truex's development as a driver elsewhere. DEI has problems there is no getting away from that and as talented as Truex is, he will still need a considerable amount of support and resources as a Cup rookie in 2006. I hope that will happen despite what is sure to be DEI's focus on getting the #8 team back on track. It will also be interesting to see how fans react if Truex should happen to do better than Junior in 2006. Many Junior fans have turned on Michael this season since he has struggled less than Junior and I wouldn't be suprised to see that happen with Truex should circumstances turn out in such a way that Truex is higher than Junior in the points. Which is unfortunate because the drivers simply race what is given to them and it's not their fault if a teammate struggles.
So Truex is re-signed and the assumption is that now DEI can focus on getting Michael re-signed. Though with how much they wanted to re-sign Truex and it still took them quite a long time I don't expect to hear an annoucement of a new deal for Michael for a while - perhaps until after who the drivers for the Chase for the Championship will be is totally settled - if it will come at all. Until the actual official annoucement is made by Michael or DEI I'm not going to feel comfortable that Michael actually will be back at DEI in 2006 and maybe beyond. There's just been too much conflicting information circulating, even from the same people, that I'm not sure that DEI had a definitive plan for the future until recently, and maybe still not yet.
Posted by silverdsl at 05:27 PM | Comments (0)
A Great Run Turns Into Another Dismal Finish for Steve Park
Late Race Accident Ruins Promising Kansas Run
Coming off of a 7th place finish in last week's race at Milwaukee, this past weekend's race in Kansas would have been the perfect place for Steve Park and the #62 to pick up even more momentum by getting another top ten. And at first it appeared that this might be possible given that Steve qualified 14th and spent the first part of the race in the top ten. However, Steve was nabbed for speeding off of pit road and instead of restarting the race in 6th place he had to re-start in 29th. Drivers are always going to make mistakes, particularly as it relates to speeding on and off of pit road considering how much Nascar is cracking down on speeding this season, but it's essential that Steve and the team eliminate as much of these kind of mistakes as possible if they want to rack up as many good finishes as they can. Getting sent to the back of the field is deadly at some tracks and anywhere it makes finishing well much harder because the driver then has to work his way back to the front of the field. And indeed making his way back into the top ten is where Steve found trouble. So while he was working his way back up to the front of the field Steve made contact with Rick Crawford while racing for position and ended up hard into the wall. Thankfully Steve was fine after the wreck and that's the most important thing, but a 32nd place finish drops him two places in the overall points to 18th which means he's got it even harder if he's going to make it into the top ten by the end of the season then he did before. This team just can't afford any more poor finishes regardless of what the reason might be.
Just like the Yankees season is pretty disappointing to me, so is Steve Park's season. I had really high hopes for how he would fare this season, particularly after he won at Fontana, and I thought he might be contending for the Championship for most of the summer. Instead I'm starting to think that he's not even going to finish the season in the top ten and that's really not very good considering the caliber of team and driver we're talking about. Some will shake their heads while reading this saying I'm being too negative, but I say I'm being realistic. Just like I think there's a good chance the Yankees might not make the post-season, I think there's a good chance that in spite of the wonderful win, overall this season isn't going to be a very good one for Steve based on what the season had wrought so far. Of course unlike the person who came to Steve Park Central to talk about how they were about to give up on Steve, even though I'm disappointed with the results for Steve on the track this season, I will still be a fan of his and I would guess that most other people will be too.
When I think about it a lot of my favorite teams and athletes are having disappointing seasons in 2005. The Yankees have been playing .500 baseball for most of the season, hovering between 3rd and 4th place in their division. Mike Mussina has been inconsistant. Jason Giambi has struggled until recently. Steve has had trouble plagued race after trouble plagued race. Kevin Harvick and Jeff Gordon have had their share of on-track problems as well. Michael Waltrip with his seven top tens is perhaps having the best season of anyone but he's also had to endure so much bad luck that he's not as high in the points as he should be. Then there's guys like Ken Schrader or Kyle Petty who I knew right off the bat would have little hope of contending for anything this season. Sounds bad right? Well, despite all of that I still love watching baseball and racing as much as ever. And I will never stop being a fan of any of those players, drivers or the Yankees regardless of how bad it gets.
I think it's hard for some fans because they invest so much of themselves in whoever they cheer for that it becomes so frustrating and difficult when their favorites struggle that they have to remove themselves from the situation. The person who came to SPC was most likely trolling for attention but there are a lot of people who just can't bare to watch things go wrong for their team or favorite athlete. And I can understand that. I find it aggrivating watching the Yankees in those games when they play sloppy and lifeless baseball. That's just not any fun no matter how much I love the team and the players involved. I also find it disheartening watching races in which fine finishes by Michael Waltrip or Steve Park get ruined by mechanical problems or by getting wrecked. That just isn't very enjoyable and it's even less fun when those bad finishes or losses come one after another, usually through no fault of the drivers themselves.
Sometimes I wonder how Steve feels about his season thus far. Outwardly he's always had a great attitude in which he's stayed positive and tried to keep the poor results of the race before in the past by looking forward to the potential of a great finish in the next race. But inwardly? Well, it's got to get to anyone to keep having good runs ruined so frequently but particularly to someone who seems to worry about disappointing others. And how does Steve trust that even when he's running well something isn't going to happen to put him out of the race, because almost every week it seems like something does. So by the time it's July and that's still happening I think it's got to start to wear someone down, no matter how awesome the organization is that they're with or how great their teammate is.
Two other items of note from this race - one is that Todd Bodine won in his first race reunited with Germain/Arnold Racing. He won two races with that team last season and I still don't understand why he wasn't re-signed for 2005. But now he's back and I suspect this won't be the last time we see Bodine in Victory Lane. Personally I don't care for Bodine as a racer and most others don't as well. However, I think he takes a lot of heat as a person for stuff he does on the track, not all of which I'm sure he deserves. So I have to admit that it gives me a certain sense of satisfaction when someone who is such an underdog, so disliked, thought to have so little racing talent ends up in Victory Lane. I too, think he's done some dumb things on the track and there's plenty of other drivers I'd like to see win more, Steve most of all, but I think it shows that no driver should ever be counted out - they might just surprise you.
Something else about this race is that Brendan Gaughan got his second top ten in a row, finishing eighth in this race. That's a good thing for Orleans Racing because it shows that both teams are hopefully headed in the right direction. But I ask again what I've asked in the recent past - is Brendan going to end up finishing higher in the points than Steve? Crazy, some are saying. Maybe not considering they are only separated by a little over a hundred points and four spots. If Brendan continues to finish races well and Steve continues to experience problems I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility. Which would really say something considering Brendan has run two less races than Steve and a few of the other people he's ahead of in points. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
Kentucky is next week and as I say seemingly every week when I discuss Steve's results from the week prior - I hope that this race brings much needed better results for the #62 team.
Posted by silverdsl at 04:28 PM | Comments (0)
War of the Worlds
On Sunday night we went to see War of the Worlds, the new movie with Tom Cruise in it based on the H.G. Wells book of the same name. It was a pretty good movie though there were a few things that left me puzzled, particularly the anti-climatic ending. But overall the acting was strong and the cinematography and special effects were outstanding. I was surprised by how creepy and scary the movie was in some spots. Virtually the entire movie is about death and people dying in horrific ways. Definitely not a movie for young kids and in fact one woman had to take her child out midway though the movie he was so scared.
A couple of things didn't make sense to me though. One being that at the beginning of the movie when the aliens first "hatch" from Bayonne, Ray picks up a piece of rock from where the lightning struck the street. Then as he is running away everyone around him is being vaporized but he isn't. I thought it was because he had picked up that rock, that it somehow gave him protection and that it would be key to the way the aliens were defeated. Instead nothing ever came of it. Also, when the lightning first hit it caused an electromagnetic pulse which caused everything electronic or with a battery to fail completely. We see Ray trying to get everything in the house, including his wristwatch to work, to no avail. Yet when the aliens burst out of the street we see a man videotaping and then see what he sees through the camera before he gets vaporized. How could his camera possibly have worked when nothing else would?
(Spoiler warning - read the rest only if you want to know how this movie ends)
Then there was the ending. How did Ray's son manage to survive a fireball to make his way to Boston to meet Ray and his daughter is one burning question. But more than that, the way the invasion was stopped was pretty ridiculous. They spend the whole movie building up these aliens as these highly intelligent beings who are invincible and indestructible. They ravage the planet, killing thousands of people. One would think that they would be impossible to stop. Not so. Ultimately the aliens are killed by getting sick from viruses and bacteria that humans have developed a tolerance for over hundreds of years. It wasn't even that humans figured this out and somehow infected them with the bacteria. No, the aliens simply were exposed to things in the environment that they couldn't handle and they all keeled over and died. Just like that. Lame.
I would say that it's worth seeing but I wouldn't run to see it in the theater unless you need something to do one night. Like most other movies these days you aren't missing much if you wait until it comes out on DVD to see it.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:27 PM | Comments (0)
Live-8
Jay-Z, U2, Madonna, Pink Floyd Among Highlights
I have a ton of things to discuss in this journal given that the only computer I had access to had a dial-up connection to the internet, and a very slow one at that. So I could check a few sites to keep up on news but I wasn't too inclined to do much on the 'net because it took so freaking long. But in any event the first subject for me to tackle is the Live-8 concerts on Saturday. Yet again I was very grateful that we had XM on Saturday because on our ride down to Maryland to visit Jim's sister and her husband we were able to listen to some of the Live-8 concerts.
What XM did is really cool. They devoted one channel for every location where a Live-8 concert was taking place plus one other channel which served as a guide to the overall Live-8 experience and played excerpts. Each channel did a great job of covering their location - playing all the songs that each musician or band performed, interviewed the artists and also frequently mentioned which acts were coming up in which order so that listeners could switch channels to another location and know when to come back for the act they were really waiting for. So we ended up hearing quite a variety of music from Will Smith and Bon Jovi in Philadelphia to Velvet Revolver and Sting in London, among many others. Most of the time we listened to the London show which had some of the biggest names, but also because the Pink Floyd reunion was what we wanted to hear most of all.
When we got to Maryland, Christi and Chris were watching Live-8 on MTV but MTV's coverage, which was also shown on VH1, paled in comparison to what XM did. Aside from the message which was to try to influence those at the G-8 conference in Scotland in relation to the issue of poverty, the concerts were about the music. But MTV - Music Television - seemed to forget this. So instead of playing each artist's performance in their entirety, they would play parts of songs, then jump to an interview, then jump to their correspondants with fans, then jump to another location. I know these days no one has an attention span longer than a gnat's but this was ridiculous. It felt like I was seeing more of the MTV hosts than I did of the acts on the stage and it was impossible to figure out what was going on they jumped around so much. The one thing that MTV did do right is show segments and promos related to the reason the concerts were taking place in the first place - poverty and the children that are going hungry as a result.
Finally it was time for the Pink Floyd reunion and although some of their voices were a little shaky, it was still an awesome sight to see! They performed "Breathe," "Money," "Wish You Were Here," and Comfortably Numb." If the vocals weren't what they might have been in the past, their skills as musicians haven't faded one bit. It really shows that age doesn't matter when it comes to performing unbelievably good music. But MTV did something that caused all of our jaws to drop. In the middle of "Comfortably Numb," one of Pink Floyd's best known songs, the producers have one of the hosts break in and start talking to take them to a commercial break. Before the song is finished!!! I would guess that a huge amount, perhaps the majority of viewers, at that point were watching for the Pink Floyd reunion but MTV didn't seem to think it was important to show the whole thing! That blew my mind. Yes, I know Pink Floyd isn't exactly the type of music that MTV plays when they actually play videos these days but even MTV should be able to recognize the significance of what was happening on that stage in London. Jim and I ended up rushing out to the car to turn on XM so we could listen to the rest of the song.
I would have liked to have heard the performances by U2 and Annie Lennox especially but I did get to hear a lot of really great music and even better the whole purpose of the day was to draw attention to a most worthy cause.
Posted by silverdsl at 02:57 PM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2005
Might Not Be Any Entries For a Few Days...
My access to a computer will be limited over the next few days so I might not be able to blog much, if at all, until next week. By then I'm sure I'll have plenty I want to say though! I hope everyone who celebrates the 4th of July has a great holiday!
Posted by silverdsl at 03:42 PM | Comments (0)
Just Walk Away Tony!
Tony Stewart Has Words With Fan
It's hard to make heads or tails of exactly what happened in this incident, though it doesn't sound much different than what happens on highways throughout the country, where one driver does something annoying, another driver gets angry, engages the first driver, then they both end up pissed off and yelling at each other. Only this incident involved Tony Stewart apparently getting upset and confronting a female driver who was driving in front of him into the Daytona Motor Speedway infield so it ended up in the newspaper. Supposedly Stewart cursed this woman out before he drove away with a friend who was also in the car with him. Regardless of who was at fault, whether he cursed at her or not, or how badly she may or may not have been driving, Stewart's got to walk away. He can't be engaging fans in shouting matches no matter how angry they make him.
Stewart's been tagged as one of Nascar's bad boys with an anger management problem. And any time that he gets into a confrontation with someone more is going to be made of it by the media than if someone else were involved. That's true with anyone well-known that the slightest thing can turn into a huge issue. But particularly with Stewart. He has to know this. So instead of making the situation worse by going up to her to engage her, he's has to just cuss a little to his friend and drive the other way. Is that hard to do? Of course. When someone is angry it can be hard to make wise decisions and you want to lash out at someone. But somehow Tony needs to make sure as much as he can not to put himself in situations where he opens himself up to this kind of negativity and criticism... again.
Posted by silverdsl at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
Minnesota Government Shuts Down
Due to the a failure to approve a new budget or pass an emergency plan to keep things going until a budget was approved, most of the Minnesota state government has shut down. Which has left 9,000 people out of work and will cause chaos during this holiday weekend if a new budget isn't passed. Apparently this has happened in other states including Tennessee in 2002, but it boggles my mind that they have no provisions to keep things running just in case this situation comes up. Luckily, a judge ruled earlier this month that Minnesota must continue to provide services to protect health, safety and property so the police, nursing homes and health department will continue to function. But services such as the D.M.V. have been shutdown and I can't imagine how many people are inconvienced by the shutdown of other areas. I hope for the sake of the people of Minnesota that a new budget is passed quickly.
Posted by silverdsl at 01:00 PM | Comments (0)
Ogunquit May Have to Cancel July 4th Fireworks Display
Piping Plovers, Crowd Issues a Concern
Twice I've been in Ogunquit, Maine for the 4th of July and have watched the fireworks display there. The show takes place over the ocean and is set off near Ogunquit's main beach. As one might imagine it attracts very large crowds. Last year Jim and I sat on the rocks in Marginal Way to watch and it was terrific! But this year Ogunquit may not be able to secure the necessary permits to have the show. There are two reasons one of which is that there are apparently endangered piping plovers who have a nest near where the crowds would be. The other reason is that there are concerns by the town fire chief and police chief about debris from the show blowing into the crowd as has happened in the past.
For an endangered species piping plovers sure do get around. At least two fireworks displays on the East End of Long Island have had to be cancelled for the same reason. And in the Outer Banks they've closed some areas of the beach due to the presence of the birds. Apparently if the show were to go on inspite of the birds presence Ogunquit would have to close a six-mile stretch of the beach where people normally view the show from, which would necessitate man power the town doesn't have. I'm going to Ogunquit a week from Monday and I'll be interested to see if there are any special precautions taken even when there's no fireworks show to ensure that the piping plovers aren't disturbed.
As for the issue of debris blowing into the crowd, that was something that occured to me when I watched last year given the location of where the fireworks are set off as compared to where the crowds are allowed to stand. What's incredible is that as the police chief noted, it took the presence of the birds for anyone to really examine the issue of where the fireworks show was held. It's obvious that both the fire and police chiefs have had concerns for a while about where the debris from the show was landing, both on people and buildings. But why wasn't anything said sooner, even by them? Apparently 30 people were injured by the display in 2003. That seems like a lot of injuries to ignore.
That this was first discussed on June 30, just a few short days before the 4th doesn't seem to bode well for the fireworks display in Ogunquit. Which I'm sure doesn't make a lot of businesses there very happy since a lot of poeple who might come to town for the day and then stay for the fireworks will go elsewhere instead.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:44 PM | Comments (0)
Gary Sheffield Suspended Two Games
For Outburst at Umpire During Mets Game
During last Sunday's game against the Mets, Gary Sheffield disagreed with a blown call by umpire C.B. Buckner so harshly that it earned him a two-game suspension and fine from Major League Baseball. After being called out at first, Sheffield threw his helmet and was promptly ejected. He then went over to Buckner to "discuss" things. Only his way of making his point was considered "overzealous" by MLB. Sheffield, the Yankees and fans are of course upset. And I can understand why Sheffield was angry since the call was an incorrect one so many other players would have been equally as upset as Sheffield. The problem is that the majority of other players would simply have walked away mumbling a few choice words under their breath. Which is the wise thing to do because no matter how right a player may be, it's almost always going to turn out bad for the player when there's a confrontation between themselves and an umpire.
More than likely Sheffield's suspension will be lowered on appeal to one game and he might not even have to pay the fine. So in the end it probably won't be a big deal. However, Sheffield could face an additional penalty from MLB for his comments the other day which he admitted were a deliberate attempt to ensure that he couldn't be traded. Bud Selig, who Sheffield played for when Selig owned the Brewers, apparently took a dim view of Sheffield's comments and I think that many baseball executives were probably less than thrilled. It sets a precidence that other players may try to follow in which they create their own no-trade by threatening misbehavior. I have my doubts about whether Sheffield will actually get fined for his remarks but perhaps someone from MLB's home office will have a chat with him at some point.
Speaking of his comments about what might happen if the Yankees traded him, Brian Cashman said yesterday that the Yankees were "delighted" by the sentiments expressed by Sheffield. He said, "He's a guy who wants to stay here and be here, and I applaud that. Sheff is more a part of the solution than any problem we have." I agree that Sheffield has a lot of use to the team and could be a big part fo the Yankees turning things around. But applauding a player who makes the kind of remarks that Sheffield did? Please! The Yankees should consider themselves extremely lucky if during his time in pinstripes Sheffield doesn't pull any of the antics that he threatened if he was traded or like what he's done in the past while he's played for other teams. Of course Cashman might be doing damage control to try and tone down Sheffield's comments but I think it's incredible that the Yankees would applaud a player for sabatoging their attempts to make the team better.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:02 PM | Comments (0)
A Return Engagement for Kenny Lofton in the Bronx?
The article seems to be just random speculation by Bob Klapisch rather than based on anything factual but the Yankees would be insane to consider reaquiring Kenny Lofton. I can't even believe that Klapisch wrote an entire column on the possiblity and actually has real quotes from Lofton about it. Lofton just didn't work out as a Yankee last season. Joe Torre didn't seem to know exactly how to use him and Lofton had trouble adjusting to a situation where he wasn't going to play every day. At times Lofton complained and overall he didn't endear himself to the Yankees or their fans. So I can't imagine the Yankees seriously being interested in bringing him back.
In addition there's this from the column:
"Lofton, after all, was never crazy about batting ninth, and he bristled every time Torre had him on the bench. Truth was, Lofton, edgy and moody, just never fit into the Yankees' ultracorporate environment.
That became obvious as early as the first week of the 2004 season, when Lofton filled the clubhouse with rap music from his personal stereo. A few Yankees turned away in embarrassment. Others looked on in horror. Lofton finally got the message, but the moat between him and the club's hierarchy was never bridged after that."
I don't see any way that the Yankees trade for a guy who just last year didn't fit in with the team either on or off the field. And while I think it's a little ridiculous that some players were embarassed/horrified that Lofton played rap music on his stereo, if that's the way the clubhouse is a player needs to be able to adjust to the climate of his new team. Something that Lofton was obviously unable to do. So I don't see any chance of Lofton being back in pinstripes any time soon.
Posted by silverdsl at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)
Photo of the Day - Flower
I think this was taken at Hofstra as a lot of my photos of flower are. It was taken back in 2001 with my first digital camera which explains the graininess of the photo since it was probably only a 2MP camera.
Posted by silverdsl at 12:02 AM | Comments (0)