I sometimes ponder this question while watching Soccer. Why isn't Soccer popular in the United States? There's no doubt that the "beautiful game" is popular among kids as it is one of the most participated sports among young people, me included. I wondered this Sunday when the United States was playing Egypt in the last game of the 1st round of the Confederations Cup, which is a prelude to the World Cup in 2010. After losing 3-1 to #4 ranked Italy and an embarrassing 3-0 defeat to #5 ranked Brazil, the #14 ranked Americans needed to beat #40 ranked Egypt by 3-0 and Brazil needed to beat Italy by 3-0 for the U.S.A. to advance to the Semi-Final. Egypt may be ranked #40, but in this tournament, they upset Italy and almost tied Brazil if it wasn't for a errant handball that resulted in a Penalty Kick goal by Brazil in the last few minutes.
Anyway, with both games happening at the same time, I clicked from one ESPN channel to the other watching both games as quickly as I can not to miss anything. The United States finally played with passion and beat Egypt 3-0. Here were the highlights. Apologies for the commentary not being in English.
Even though the U.S. won, they needed Brazil to do the same thing. Due to tiebreaker rules, Egypt and Italy couldn't score a goal and the U.S. and Brazil must score at least 3 goals. Brazil did just that and here are their highlights. Again, not in English, but listening to the Brazilian announcers makes up for it.
This was a great moment and in any other country, this would spell tremendous national pride in the media and the people. What did I hear afterwards. A majority of the ESPN non-soccer commentators are still mocking the game. I have to hear these "experts" say that the game is boring, low-scoring, and have too many theatrical performing floppers. One commentator specifically, Jim Rome, has constantly been outspoken in ridiculing Soccer multiple times on his radio show and his show on ESPN. Right after the upset against Spain, he says, "Soccer rules. Congratulations to the United States for beating the #1 ranked team in the world," or something along those lines. To Jim Rome and any other person who now is a Soccer hooligan after trashing the sport any chance they got, get off the bandwagon before I kick you off the bandwagon. To people who aren't Soccer fans and are now starting to become interested because of the U.S. success, welcome aboard and enjoy.
I also hear people I know say to me that Soccer is "sissy-football" and the players aren't physically tough enough, unlike Football. I'm not saying that Football players aren't tough, they are. But in my defense, I've played both Football and Soccer when I was younger and the sport that gave me a torn achilles' tendon and severely bruised ribs wasn't Football. And a professional, depending on the situation, still needs to go the full 90 minutes (Two 45 minute continuous halves) if they're hurt. Both sports have their fair share of toughness and injuries that can occur, so Soccer is by far not "sissy-football."
To let everyone know, I was planning this before Wednesdays game against #1 ranked Spain. I knew the game would be tough, and although I was optimistic, I didn't think U.S.A. would be able to win. In a 1980 Olympic U.S.A. defeating U.S.S.R. in Men's Ice Hockey miracle, the United States do the impossible and upset the greatest team in the world. Here are the highlights. The videos are the same, but the Mexican announcing team just livens up the game so much more.
In case you missed the game, it is on at 11 pm et Wednesday night on ESPN2. I highly recommend watching it, it is a classic sports moment. And the constant buzzing you are hearing are not a swarm of bees, but fans blowing plastic horns the entire game for every game.
On Thursday, Brazil plays home team South Africa and the winner will play the United States in the final Sunday at 2:00 et on ESPN. I've been a Soccer fan for 15 years and have been a long supporter of the U.S. National Team. It's a dream that's been realized, the United States has a good Soccer team. Win or lose on Sunday, they are winners and hopefully it becomes a trend in later years and they are one of the worlds elite. As much as the 1980 U.S. Mens Hockey Team helped the United States get through some tough times and bring patriotism back, this Sunday's game and next years World Cup can be our generation's version of that Hockey team. It'll be the "Miracle on Grass" and after seeing that game against Spain, I believe in miracles. Do you?
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Memorial Day Memories
It's that time of the year where we kick off the beginning of Summer with the Memorial Day Holiday. In addition to what Memorial Day is really about, race fans celebrate the weekend with three prestigious races that Sunday.
In the morning, the Grand Prix of Monaco begins and the Formula 1 drivers spend the day running through the streets of the Principality inches from the wall being watched by royalty. Here's Monaco then in 1955.
And here's last years race in Monaco. Apologies that it's in another language and even though the two videos are 17 minutes long, it was a good race.
Here is one of the most classic races in Monaco, in 1982, the rain came and the leaders kept wrecking in the final laps.
In the afternoon, the legendary Indianapolis 500 Indy Car race begins and is still one of the most traditional sporting events ever. This year is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the speedway and 500,000 people come to the track every year. Every year, the pre-race festivities give such traditions as the playing of "Taps" and Jim Nabors singing "Back Home Again in Indiana."
The next two videos are from the first ever Indianapolis 500 in 1911.
Back then, the track was layered with 3.2 million bricks, hence the name the "Brickyard." Now the track is covered in asphalt, but there's still a yard of bricks exposed at the finish line.
As the day concludes into night, the longest race in NASCAR is beginning. The Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte is 600 miles and is meant to test both driver and machine. When the Indy 500 was on an hour earlier, drivers attempted to race both Indy and Charlotte in the same day. The last person to do this was Tony Stewart in 2001 where he finished 6th at Indy and 3rd at Charlotte. In the history of drivers doing the double, Stewart was the only person to complete all 1,100 miles and finish in the top-10 in both races.
I wrote this because I got to go to Charlotte to see the NASCAR race in 2006. My dad and I went down for the week and "roughed it" in a tent from Wednesday to Monday. Because Charlotte is where all the NASCAR teams have their race shops, we went to every teams shop on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons. Roush racing had a memorabilia sale and for $5, I bought Mark Martin's tire that blew in this wreck in the 2006 All-Star Race the previous week, watch the #6 car. It was the left front tire which my favorite driver, Kasey Kahne (#9) went into. It's all broken apart, but it looks cool. I want to get both their autographs on the tire someday.
Friday night, we went to the World Premiere of the movie "Cars." We got to see all the stars of the movie and everyone sat in the stands and watched the movie on a huge screen in the infield. Earlier that morning, "Regis and Kelly" were filming their show at the track close to where we were camping. If we had known about it, we would've gone there.
Saturday night, we went to the Busch race there and witnessed probably the worst racing weekend of Tony Stewart's life. In this race, he hits the turn four wall and injures his shoulder blade. He was right about the fans, it was pretty silent until he got out of the car. We were sitting after the finish line about a few hundred feet down the track. The one thing I remember from the wreck was Kahne running over the spring Darrell Waltrip mentioned and made a high pitched noise right in front of us because it must've popped the transmission into 1st gear.
Then on Sunday for the "600," Stewart plows into the wall and finishes off breaking his shoulder blade. The car came to rest right in front of us in turn two and again took Stewart a while to get out of the car.
I'm getting a little ahead of myself from that Sunday. Because the race is at night, a lot of the drivers hang around with the fans outside. Over the afternoon, I got to meet Richard Petty, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Dale Earnhardt Jr just walking around the facility. I came back to the campsite for lunch and we watched the Indy 500. It was a "blast from the past" because we watched the race on a tiny portable black and white screen. The duel between Sam Hornish Jr. and Marco Andretti has become one of the greatest finishes in Indy history. Here is the color version.
After that, we took the walk to the Lowe's Motor Speedway to watch the Coca-Cola 600. It was a long race, but when you pay the money required for tickets, you get your money's worth for 600 miles. My driver, Kasey Kahne, had a good car but it wasn't good enough to lead. As the race wore on, Kahne kept charging up the standings and was now a contender for the lead. Kahne kept pulling away and won his first Coca-Cola 600 race. Last year, he won his second race, but I'm glad to say I was there for the first. Here is a video of his burnout after the race.
There's nothing like Memorial Day Weekend. On Sunday, 18 hours of racing will take place among the three greatest races in motorsports. A total of 207 of these races have been run on this day. This year will be the 67th in Monaco, 93rd in Indianapolis, and 50th in Charlotte and this experience never gets old for a race fan.
In the morning, the Grand Prix of Monaco begins and the Formula 1 drivers spend the day running through the streets of the Principality inches from the wall being watched by royalty. Here's Monaco then in 1955.
And here's last years race in Monaco. Apologies that it's in another language and even though the two videos are 17 minutes long, it was a good race.
Here is one of the most classic races in Monaco, in 1982, the rain came and the leaders kept wrecking in the final laps.
In the afternoon, the legendary Indianapolis 500 Indy Car race begins and is still one of the most traditional sporting events ever. This year is the 100th anniversary of the opening of the speedway and 500,000 people come to the track every year. Every year, the pre-race festivities give such traditions as the playing of "Taps" and Jim Nabors singing "Back Home Again in Indiana."
The next two videos are from the first ever Indianapolis 500 in 1911.
Back then, the track was layered with 3.2 million bricks, hence the name the "Brickyard." Now the track is covered in asphalt, but there's still a yard of bricks exposed at the finish line.
As the day concludes into night, the longest race in NASCAR is beginning. The Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte is 600 miles and is meant to test both driver and machine. When the Indy 500 was on an hour earlier, drivers attempted to race both Indy and Charlotte in the same day. The last person to do this was Tony Stewart in 2001 where he finished 6th at Indy and 3rd at Charlotte. In the history of drivers doing the double, Stewart was the only person to complete all 1,100 miles and finish in the top-10 in both races.
I wrote this because I got to go to Charlotte to see the NASCAR race in 2006. My dad and I went down for the week and "roughed it" in a tent from Wednesday to Monday. Because Charlotte is where all the NASCAR teams have their race shops, we went to every teams shop on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday afternoons. Roush racing had a memorabilia sale and for $5, I bought Mark Martin's tire that blew in this wreck in the 2006 All-Star Race the previous week, watch the #6 car. It was the left front tire which my favorite driver, Kasey Kahne (#9) went into. It's all broken apart, but it looks cool. I want to get both their autographs on the tire someday.
Friday night, we went to the World Premiere of the movie "Cars." We got to see all the stars of the movie and everyone sat in the stands and watched the movie on a huge screen in the infield. Earlier that morning, "Regis and Kelly" were filming their show at the track close to where we were camping. If we had known about it, we would've gone there.
Saturday night, we went to the Busch race there and witnessed probably the worst racing weekend of Tony Stewart's life. In this race, he hits the turn four wall and injures his shoulder blade. He was right about the fans, it was pretty silent until he got out of the car. We were sitting after the finish line about a few hundred feet down the track. The one thing I remember from the wreck was Kahne running over the spring Darrell Waltrip mentioned and made a high pitched noise right in front of us because it must've popped the transmission into 1st gear.
Then on Sunday for the "600," Stewart plows into the wall and finishes off breaking his shoulder blade. The car came to rest right in front of us in turn two and again took Stewart a while to get out of the car.
I'm getting a little ahead of myself from that Sunday. Because the race is at night, a lot of the drivers hang around with the fans outside. Over the afternoon, I got to meet Richard Petty, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards, and Dale Earnhardt Jr just walking around the facility. I came back to the campsite for lunch and we watched the Indy 500. It was a "blast from the past" because we watched the race on a tiny portable black and white screen. The duel between Sam Hornish Jr. and Marco Andretti has become one of the greatest finishes in Indy history. Here is the color version.
After that, we took the walk to the Lowe's Motor Speedway to watch the Coca-Cola 600. It was a long race, but when you pay the money required for tickets, you get your money's worth for 600 miles. My driver, Kasey Kahne, had a good car but it wasn't good enough to lead. As the race wore on, Kahne kept charging up the standings and was now a contender for the lead. Kahne kept pulling away and won his first Coca-Cola 600 race. Last year, he won his second race, but I'm glad to say I was there for the first. Here is a video of his burnout after the race.
There's nothing like Memorial Day Weekend. On Sunday, 18 hours of racing will take place among the three greatest races in motorsports. A total of 207 of these races have been run on this day. This year will be the 67th in Monaco, 93rd in Indianapolis, and 50th in Charlotte and this experience never gets old for a race fan.
Monday, May 18, 2009
What Grinds My Gears #3
You know what grinds my gears, the person or people in the Obama Administration who approved Air Force One to fly over the Statue of Liberty for a photo op. Regardless of political beliefs, this is a dumb move by the Administration regardless if the President knew of it or not. I have a plan to save millions of dollars, military equipment, and the sanity of people in New York City who thought they were under attack because they didn't know what was happening and still get convincing real-life pictures. It's called PHOTOSHOP. After giving the Prime Minister of Great Britain DVD's and the Queen of England an IPod, maybe they can chip in together and buy the President the software. Just goes to show you, people in Government may be smart, but some (probably most) have the common sense of Paris Hilton. And that's what grinds my gears.
Monday, May 11, 2009
What Grinds My Gears #2
You know what grinds my gears, the newer episodes of The Simpsons. I grew up on this show and I feel like anytime I see a show made past the year 2000, I die a little inside. You know there's problems when Bart is actually helpful and good to people, and when in the hell did he start playing Little League? I started watching the show when I was a few months old when it was on the Tracey Ullman Show and loved it. Some of the jokes and situations were more for adults, but I didn't have to get every single joke to love it and seeing those older episodes now, I have a new appreciation for those episodes. Now it's just catered to a younger audience with absolutely no depth when it comes to jokes and that's okay as long as Fox makes money. Fox and The Simpsons have spit in the face of every Simpsons fan who watched them through those first few unpopular years when the show was criticized by George H. W. Bush for it's content. In 1989, The Simpsons was edgy and controversial. In 2009, The Simpsons is probably the most appropriate family show in prime-time tv and it's obvious they can't get the jokes to make it work. And that's what grinds my gears.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
What Grinds My Gears #1
If you watched the Family Guy movie, you know what I'm talking about. Peter Griffin's "What Really Grinds My Gears" has a lot of truth in today's society. This will be a new feature that will be updated once a week. These 1 paragraph rants should be fine to keep up. The things discussed are the things that rub me the wrong way.
You know what grinds my gears, Reality TV. Some reality shows are good and actually help the contestants (The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, and The Mole are examples). But have you seen these other shows. Primarily reality shows that are on VH1 other than Celebrity Rehab. All those shows do is exploit the people on them because they think they'll make it big by being on the show. Even shows like American Idol and Dancing With the Stars are farces. Think about it, it's not really about who the best singer or dancers are, it's about who's popular and gets the most votes. In American Idol's case, usually if you're truly good enough, you'll get a record deal with or without winning which completely defeats the purpose of the competition. I'm still not convinced that some of those shows are fixed (I'm looking your way The Bachelor). And that's what grinds my gears.
You know what grinds my gears, Reality TV. Some reality shows are good and actually help the contestants (The Amazing Race, The Biggest Loser, and The Mole are examples). But have you seen these other shows. Primarily reality shows that are on VH1 other than Celebrity Rehab. All those shows do is exploit the people on them because they think they'll make it big by being on the show. Even shows like American Idol and Dancing With the Stars are farces. Think about it, it's not really about who the best singer or dancers are, it's about who's popular and gets the most votes. In American Idol's case, usually if you're truly good enough, you'll get a record deal with or without winning which completely defeats the purpose of the competition. I'm still not convinced that some of those shows are fixed (I'm looking your way The Bachelor). And that's what grinds my gears.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Formula 1: The Most Popular Sport You May Never Seen: Part 3
One of the attractions of Formula 1 is the danger. There's a small part of every Formula 1 fan that is attracted to the danger and incredible risk the drivers take every race. Here are some of these dangerous situations where all the drivers walked away.
Biggest crash in F1 history.
Hard impact during the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Martin Brundle narrowly escapes injury in 1996 in Australia.
The only race where everyone crashed, or crashed before the race except for the winner at the 1975 British Grand Prix.
Sadly, all the drivers didn't walk away. When Formula 1 started in 1950, safety was the furthest thing from everyones minds. The only forms of safety were an open faced helmet, and an "optional" lap seat belt. It wasn't until the 60's when Sir Jackie Stewart spoke out about everyone doing their part to make the sport safe. In a time where team owners, track operators, and even fans pretty much told the drivers, "Shut up and drive!" he stood up against them and formed a drivers union. He once said that back then, if you were a Grand Prix driver, you had a 2/3 chance you would not see your career end because of a fatal accident.
WARNING: The next videos do contain footage of fatal accidents, mostly at the scene. I mean no disrespect and only post these because of it's historical accuracy and if it's tastefully done. Even though the footage may be hard to bear at times, it's necessary to paint a realistic picture of Formula 1 and what risks the drivers go through.
Sir Jackie Stewart paints a picture of the dangers of Grand Prix racing in the 60's.
Part 1 of a well-done tribute to all the Formula 1 drivers who have lost their lives racing from 1950-1967.
Unfortunately Part 2 was taken down by the FIA. There was another video, but after watching that, I thought it was way too graphic and it contained scenes that no one should ever see. I'm just going to mention the people who have died and the drivers who have been killed during Formula 1 races.
Bob Anderson 8/14/67, Test in Great Britain
Jo Schlesser 7/7/68, French GP, unavailable video
Gerhard Mittner 8/2/69, German GP practice
Piers Courage 6/7/70, Dutch GP
Jochen Rindt 9/5/70, Italian GP qualifying (Rindt is currently the only posthumous World Champion)
Jo Siffert 10/24/71, Exhibition race in Great Britain
Roger Williamson 7/29/73, Dutch GP
This was at the same part of the track Courage had died. This video proves the drivers took care of their own. Fellow driver David Purley stops his car, sacrifices his race, and sacrifices his own life to try and save his friend.
Francois Cevert 10/6/73, United States GP qualifying
Cevert was Sir Jackie Stewart's teammate and protege, his death occured in Stewart's last race (Stewart was to retire after the race). He withdrew and didn't race his last race in respect to his teammate.
Peter Revson 3/30/74, Test in South Africa
Helmut Koinigg 10/6/74, United States GP
Mark Donohue 8/19/75, Austrian GP practice
Tom Pryce 3/5/77, South African GP
I decided not to post a video for this crash because it was too graphic. A car broke and was on fire. Two track marshalls crossed the track tending to the fire. Pryce drove over the hill and couldn't avoid one of the marshalls. Both were killed instantly.
Brian McGuire 8/29/77, Exhibition race in Great Britain
Ronnie Peterson 9/11/78, Italian GP
Amazingly he didn't die at the scene. His fellow drivers who were in the crash pulled him out. He died after surgery when bone marrow seeped into his bloodstream after doctors reset 7 fractures in one leg and 3 fractures in another leg. His teammate Mario Andretti won the World Championship that day. Ironically the only 2 American drivers to have won the World Championship won during the same race where their teammates were killed in racing accidents. Phil Hill won and Wolfgang von Trips died in 1961 at the same track.
Patrick Depailler 8/1/80, Test in Germany
Gilles Villeneuve 5/8/82, Belgian GP qualifying
One of the greatest drivers to never win the championship hit another car at such an angle, that the front of the car broke apart and he was launched (while still strapped in his seat) 30 feet in the air.
Riccardo Paletti 6/13/82, Canadian GP, Murray Walker says it all in the video
Elio de Angelis 5/15/86, Test in France
I wanted to write this for today because of what happened 15 years ago today 5/1/94. Three accidents occured that weekend that forever changed the way Formula 1 is viewed today. It started on Friday the 29th, where Rubens Barrichello had a horrible crash that resulted in injuries. He currently races in F1 today for the Brawn GP team.
Saturday, during qualifying, Roland Ratzenberger crashed after his front wing on his car was failing. Not knowing it was failing, he took a turn at full speed and the car wouldn't turn. He hit the wall head on and died. This begins the controversey that is the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
After the many deaths at Monza, Italy passed a law stating that anyone who dies at the scene during a race weekend, the event is automatically cancelled and the track is closed for investigation. In the live footage of qualifying, the camera zoomed in on Ratzenberger and he is clearly not moving. His time of death would suggest that he died at the hospital, but Doctors at the track are coming forward saying that Ratzenberger died instantly. The cancellation of the race would've saved what happened on the 1st.
Three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna was affected deeply following Ratzenbergers death. F1 Head Doctor, Dr. Sid Watkins, told a crying Senna that he shouldn't race if he doesn't want to. Senna did everything possible and that he can take off and no one would be mad. Senna replied, "There are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on."
At the start of the race on the 1st, 9 fans were hurt after a tire and parts went into the crowd following a crash.
On the restart, leader Senna took the green flag. On lap 7, Senna's car bottomed out on the track and veered straight into the wall. One of the greatest race car drivers ever was dead.
Although he took a massive hit, it didn't look as serious as the previous two wrecks of the weekend. How he died was his right front tire broke apart. At the same time, a small piece of the suspension pierced his helmet striking him above the eye, a larger piece of the suspension also struck him in the head and the right front tire forced Senna's head to violently crash against the headrest. All three impacts played their part in the death.
Again, Doctors were for some reason forced to say that Senna died at the hospital. Now they are coming forward that Senna died at the scene. Dr. Watkins, who was performing an emergency tracheotomy on Senna on the track said in his book, "He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am totally agnostic, I felt his soul depart at that moment."
Here's a report from the BBC about Senna's death.
One of the more heartbreaking observations was when Doctors pulled Senna out of the car, they found an Austrian flag covered in blood. It was later revealed that if Senna had won the race, the Brazilian would've waved the flag in honor of Ratzenberger.
Although this was a horrible day in motorsports, many improvements came about because of it. Tracks were made so they are slower and have proper runoff areas, drivers now use the HANS device to prevent someones neck from snapping from high impact, and tethers attach the tire to the car to prevent it from flying off and hitting anyone. No Formula 1 driver has died since.
Biggest crash in F1 history.
Hard impact during the 2003 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Martin Brundle narrowly escapes injury in 1996 in Australia.
The only race where everyone crashed, or crashed before the race except for the winner at the 1975 British Grand Prix.
Sadly, all the drivers didn't walk away. When Formula 1 started in 1950, safety was the furthest thing from everyones minds. The only forms of safety were an open faced helmet, and an "optional" lap seat belt. It wasn't until the 60's when Sir Jackie Stewart spoke out about everyone doing their part to make the sport safe. In a time where team owners, track operators, and even fans pretty much told the drivers, "Shut up and drive!" he stood up against them and formed a drivers union. He once said that back then, if you were a Grand Prix driver, you had a 2/3 chance you would not see your career end because of a fatal accident.
WARNING: The next videos do contain footage of fatal accidents, mostly at the scene. I mean no disrespect and only post these because of it's historical accuracy and if it's tastefully done. Even though the footage may be hard to bear at times, it's necessary to paint a realistic picture of Formula 1 and what risks the drivers go through.
Sir Jackie Stewart paints a picture of the dangers of Grand Prix racing in the 60's.
Part 1 of a well-done tribute to all the Formula 1 drivers who have lost their lives racing from 1950-1967.
Unfortunately Part 2 was taken down by the FIA. There was another video, but after watching that, I thought it was way too graphic and it contained scenes that no one should ever see. I'm just going to mention the people who have died and the drivers who have been killed during Formula 1 races.
Bob Anderson 8/14/67, Test in Great Britain
Jo Schlesser 7/7/68, French GP, unavailable video
Gerhard Mittner 8/2/69, German GP practice
Piers Courage 6/7/70, Dutch GP
Jochen Rindt 9/5/70, Italian GP qualifying (Rindt is currently the only posthumous World Champion)
Jo Siffert 10/24/71, Exhibition race in Great Britain
Roger Williamson 7/29/73, Dutch GP
This was at the same part of the track Courage had died. This video proves the drivers took care of their own. Fellow driver David Purley stops his car, sacrifices his race, and sacrifices his own life to try and save his friend.
Francois Cevert 10/6/73, United States GP qualifying
Cevert was Sir Jackie Stewart's teammate and protege, his death occured in Stewart's last race (Stewart was to retire after the race). He withdrew and didn't race his last race in respect to his teammate.
Peter Revson 3/30/74, Test in South Africa
Helmut Koinigg 10/6/74, United States GP
Mark Donohue 8/19/75, Austrian GP practice
Tom Pryce 3/5/77, South African GP
I decided not to post a video for this crash because it was too graphic. A car broke and was on fire. Two track marshalls crossed the track tending to the fire. Pryce drove over the hill and couldn't avoid one of the marshalls. Both were killed instantly.
Brian McGuire 8/29/77, Exhibition race in Great Britain
Ronnie Peterson 9/11/78, Italian GP
Amazingly he didn't die at the scene. His fellow drivers who were in the crash pulled him out. He died after surgery when bone marrow seeped into his bloodstream after doctors reset 7 fractures in one leg and 3 fractures in another leg. His teammate Mario Andretti won the World Championship that day. Ironically the only 2 American drivers to have won the World Championship won during the same race where their teammates were killed in racing accidents. Phil Hill won and Wolfgang von Trips died in 1961 at the same track.
Patrick Depailler 8/1/80, Test in Germany
Gilles Villeneuve 5/8/82, Belgian GP qualifying
One of the greatest drivers to never win the championship hit another car at such an angle, that the front of the car broke apart and he was launched (while still strapped in his seat) 30 feet in the air.
Riccardo Paletti 6/13/82, Canadian GP, Murray Walker says it all in the video
Elio de Angelis 5/15/86, Test in France
I wanted to write this for today because of what happened 15 years ago today 5/1/94. Three accidents occured that weekend that forever changed the way Formula 1 is viewed today. It started on Friday the 29th, where Rubens Barrichello had a horrible crash that resulted in injuries. He currently races in F1 today for the Brawn GP team.
Saturday, during qualifying, Roland Ratzenberger crashed after his front wing on his car was failing. Not knowing it was failing, he took a turn at full speed and the car wouldn't turn. He hit the wall head on and died. This begins the controversey that is the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
After the many deaths at Monza, Italy passed a law stating that anyone who dies at the scene during a race weekend, the event is automatically cancelled and the track is closed for investigation. In the live footage of qualifying, the camera zoomed in on Ratzenberger and he is clearly not moving. His time of death would suggest that he died at the hospital, but Doctors at the track are coming forward saying that Ratzenberger died instantly. The cancellation of the race would've saved what happened on the 1st.
Three-time World Champion Ayrton Senna was affected deeply following Ratzenbergers death. F1 Head Doctor, Dr. Sid Watkins, told a crying Senna that he shouldn't race if he doesn't want to. Senna did everything possible and that he can take off and no one would be mad. Senna replied, "There are certain things over which we have no control. I cannot quit, I have to go on."
At the start of the race on the 1st, 9 fans were hurt after a tire and parts went into the crowd following a crash.
On the restart, leader Senna took the green flag. On lap 7, Senna's car bottomed out on the track and veered straight into the wall. One of the greatest race car drivers ever was dead.
Although he took a massive hit, it didn't look as serious as the previous two wrecks of the weekend. How he died was his right front tire broke apart. At the same time, a small piece of the suspension pierced his helmet striking him above the eye, a larger piece of the suspension also struck him in the head and the right front tire forced Senna's head to violently crash against the headrest. All three impacts played their part in the death.
Again, Doctors were for some reason forced to say that Senna died at the hospital. Now they are coming forward that Senna died at the scene. Dr. Watkins, who was performing an emergency tracheotomy on Senna on the track said in his book, "He looked serene. I raised his eyelids and it was clear from his pupils that he had a massive brain injury. We lifted him from the cockpit and laid him on the ground. As we did, he sighed and, although I am totally agnostic, I felt his soul depart at that moment."
Here's a report from the BBC about Senna's death.
One of the more heartbreaking observations was when Doctors pulled Senna out of the car, they found an Austrian flag covered in blood. It was later revealed that if Senna had won the race, the Brazilian would've waved the flag in honor of Ratzenberger.
Although this was a horrible day in motorsports, many improvements came about because of it. Tracks were made so they are slower and have proper runoff areas, drivers now use the HANS device to prevent someones neck from snapping from high impact, and tethers attach the tire to the car to prevent it from flying off and hitting anyone. No Formula 1 driver has died since.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Formula 1: The Most Popular Sport You May Never Seen: Part 2
I can explain what Formula 1 is, but to see what this sport is. It'll give you a picture of the complexitites of Formula 1. Thanks to YouTube, this is a video history of the greatest, funniest, and unfortunately tragic moments in Formula 1.
This was a cute video from Canada a few years ago where a groundhog tries to cross the track during a practice session.
Keeping up with the animal theme, former F1 driver and current NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya, talks to his team manager about a deer on the track at Austria in 2001
The next two videos had to do people running onto the track. It isn't funny as much as it's stupid. This happened once in the 70's where a track worker was hit while running across the track trying to attend to a wreck. Both the driver and worker were killed instantly. The first video features a former Mercedes worker protesting the company after he was laid off with the commentary of the legendary Murray Walker of British TV. The second video was of Irish priest Neil Horan, who has interupted numerous sports events with his "message."
Starts at 9:27
ends at 4:00
In one of the greatest races, in Brazil last year, a fierce championship battle pitted Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton for the World Championship. This final race was in Massa's home country of Brazil and even his home track. He was born about 50 feet from the track. For Massa to win the championship, he needed to win and Hamilton needed to finish 6th or worse. In a strange race with weather, it went from sunny to monsoon-like weather to sunny in about 30 seconds at the start and it started to rain at the end of the race. With cars with different strategies and tires, it creates drama in Formula 1. Here is the last lap of this legendary race.
In one of the greatest last lap duels, Rene Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve battle it out for 2nd place in the 1979 French Grand Prix.
In one of the more stranger starts, the teams know rain is coming, but the track is still dry. Only one person, Markus Winkelhock, who drives the very slow Spyker in his home race and in his first start takes the risk and starts with wet tires. This is what makes Formula 1 exciting.
Winkelhock fell back after the safety car and the car eventually broke later on, but in his only Formula 1 race, he was able to lead in front of his home fans and was able to give some hope for the absolute underdog. Also note, during the wrecking in the first turn, the Safety Car has the sense to speed up because it almost got plowed by a spinning Vitantonio Liuzzi.
There are many more great moments, but you can find them out yourself. I decided that there will be a part 3 about the safety and tradegy of Formula 1. I hope to get it posted on Friday for a very special reason. The 15th anniversary of the darkest day in Formula 1, a day that should never be forgotten.
This was a cute video from Canada a few years ago where a groundhog tries to cross the track during a practice session.
Keeping up with the animal theme, former F1 driver and current NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya, talks to his team manager about a deer on the track at Austria in 2001
The next two videos had to do people running onto the track. It isn't funny as much as it's stupid. This happened once in the 70's where a track worker was hit while running across the track trying to attend to a wreck. Both the driver and worker were killed instantly. The first video features a former Mercedes worker protesting the company after he was laid off with the commentary of the legendary Murray Walker of British TV. The second video was of Irish priest Neil Horan, who has interupted numerous sports events with his "message."
Starts at 9:27
ends at 4:00
In one of the greatest races, in Brazil last year, a fierce championship battle pitted Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton for the World Championship. This final race was in Massa's home country of Brazil and even his home track. He was born about 50 feet from the track. For Massa to win the championship, he needed to win and Hamilton needed to finish 6th or worse. In a strange race with weather, it went from sunny to monsoon-like weather to sunny in about 30 seconds at the start and it started to rain at the end of the race. With cars with different strategies and tires, it creates drama in Formula 1. Here is the last lap of this legendary race.
In one of the greatest last lap duels, Rene Arnoux and Gilles Villeneuve battle it out for 2nd place in the 1979 French Grand Prix.
In one of the more stranger starts, the teams know rain is coming, but the track is still dry. Only one person, Markus Winkelhock, who drives the very slow Spyker in his home race and in his first start takes the risk and starts with wet tires. This is what makes Formula 1 exciting.
Winkelhock fell back after the safety car and the car eventually broke later on, but in his only Formula 1 race, he was able to lead in front of his home fans and was able to give some hope for the absolute underdog. Also note, during the wrecking in the first turn, the Safety Car has the sense to speed up because it almost got plowed by a spinning Vitantonio Liuzzi.
There are many more great moments, but you can find them out yourself. I decided that there will be a part 3 about the safety and tradegy of Formula 1. I hope to get it posted on Friday for a very special reason. The 15th anniversary of the darkest day in Formula 1, a day that should never be forgotten.
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