Friday, November 30, 2007
Sunday, November 18, 2007
- Jimmie Johnson starts from the pole; Jeff Gordon starts 10 places back. With the 86 point deficit, and the likelihood of Johnson leading at least the first (if not the most) lap/s, that means all Johnson has to do is finish 19th to lock up the title--no matter what Gordon does. For Gordon to win, Johnson has to implode early and finish well out of the top 30.
- Brian France, NASCAR's maximum leader, held a short "state of the sport" newser here in Homestead, and says his organization is pleased with the Chase, even with Johnson holding the biggest lead in Chase history. France is similarly not unduly concerned with declining TV ratings, but a reporter's question raising the point about the point gap prompted a response which could be termed nothing but high dudgeon, saying that it (reporting that fact) took away from Jimmie Johnson's accomplishment. Yeah, right.
- More after the Ford 400
Friday, November 16, 2007
Friday, November 02, 2007
- Speedway Motorsports, Inc. (SMI) is said to be buying New Hampshire International Speedway. What may well happen is that one or both of the Nextel Cup Races will go to another track in the SMI galaxy--likely Las Vegas. NASCAR (read the France Family) is not likely pleased, but feels it's better to deal with the devil you know, rather than the devil you don't (not that we call Bruton Smith, Jerry Carroll, John Henry, et al cousins of Beelzebub--it's a metaphor).
- NASCAR's Triple A series is making news for the wrong reasons. What was once a strict development series, morphed into Cup Lite...and is now exhibiting the same symptoms. The series needs more innovative marketing than simply printing an entry blank and opening the gates.
- Mercedes McLaren is protesting the Brazilian Grand Prix...no doubt trying to get Lewis Hamilton two points and the Driver's Championship in Formula One. The odds on whether the appeal would be successful are as long as Pinocchio's proboscis.
- Why did FIA boss Max Mosely trash Lewis Hamilton's accomplishment, and say that another dominant driver wouldn't be good for the sport?
My personal choice for Ignoramus of the Week--Josh Stewart for his column in the Long Island Press "Is the Military NASCAR's New Tobacco?". It contains a lot of Daily Kos/moveon.org rhetoric about military sponsorship of NASCAR teams, most especially Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
On balance, the military has helped more people, than it's harmed. Everyone of us who bangs on a keyboard, schleps a camera, or holds a mike owes the freedom to do that to brave young men and women who stand between us and those who want to kill us--and make no mistake, that is what terrorists want to do.
Why is it not allowable for organizations such as the US Navy and Army National Guard to use methods to reach their desired membership?
Point of Personal Privilege: the link for this column, and other comments are contained on the Frank A Johnson American Legion Post 758 Blog:
http://jcnylegionpost758.wordpress.com