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.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Formula 1: The Most Popular Sport You May Never Seen Part 1
Part 1 is all about an introduction of Formula 1 and the future storylines sourrounding Formula 1. Part 2 will be a video history of some of the greatest, funniest, and sometimes tragic moments in this sport.
NASCAR is easily the most popular and most successful auto racing series in the United States. But what many people don’t know is that Formula 1 racing is one of the most popular and most exciting sports in the world. Formula 1 is a racing organization that schedule races from all around the world. There are no races in the United States (although maybe in 2011). Rumors are that the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) would like to have the race at night on the Las Vegas strip or Times Square. I doubt either happens, but there will probably be a race somewhere in the U.S. There are races in France, England, China, and even on the streets of Monte Carlo. Formula 1 is different than NASCAR because all the cars are different. Teams, or constructors, do their own research to create the best engines and most aerodynamic cars in order to win. Now, the cars are closer together aerodynamically because of lack of testing due to the economy, but there are still ways to gain an advantage. One of which I'll explain later. Some teams spend upwards to $400 million to have 2 competitive cars. Due to the economy, it's inevitable that costs must come down and there's a proposal next season on a cap of all teams to only spend $64 million. This has allowed for the formation of a new team in the United States in 2010. Ken Anderson and Speed F1 Pit Reporter Peter Windsor will form an "All-American" F1 team now called United States Grand Prix Engineering (USGPE), formerly USF1. They claim that except for some parts, the employees and the two drivers will be American.
The lack of American drivers and teams has led to a reason that Formula 1 isn't popular in the United States. Other reasons include that the races are usually shown live between 12 o’clock and 8 o’clock on Sunday mornings in North America. Races are usually shown on tape-delay Sunday afternoon and since there isn’t much TV highlight coverage, ESPN won’t spoil you with the results. Also, Brazil has the same problem with the time of races, but Brazil is one of the countries that have the most Formula 1 fans. Other reasons are that there isn’t a lot of passing because of the technological advances and racing on road courses. Currently the FIA has instituted different wings, tires, and a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that uses wasted energy from the car while under braking and use it as a sort of turbo and get an extra 80 horsepower for 6 seconds per lap, but the system weighs 50 pounds and has had reliability problems. Really there isn't really a need for Formula 1 to have a lot of passing to make it exciting. Because of this, drivers must be able to go all out in every moment of the race and must be able to race in the rain which at times can cause a driver to not be able to see because of the mist. Keep in mind that NASCAR races are about four or five hours and since there are always cautions throughout, there’s no need to take risks until the absolute end of the race. A Formula 1 race only lasts about an hour and a half and there are hardly any cautions, or safety car periods. Add in the lack of passing mentioned earlier and that’s why Formula 1 drivers need to take risks throughout, even when there are dangerous situations like rain or debris. When there’s debris, like a broken wing or part, on the track and you run over it and blow a tire or crash in Formula 1, it’s your own fault. The FIA will not stop the race to remove the debris, unlike NASCAR. Formula 1 has track marshals that remove the debris when there are no cars near. There’s also always a points battle because of how points are awarded. The points are awarded 1st-10, 2nd-8, 3rd-6, 4th-5, 5th-4, 6th-3, 7th-2, and 8th-1. It goes the same for drivers and constructors. A constructor has 2 identical cars and drivers and the drivers points get added to for the constructor points.
Here is a list of drivers and constructors:
# Driver (Country) Constructor (Country)
#1 Lewis Hamilton (Great Britan) Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes (GBR)
#2 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes (GBR)
#3 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (ITA)
#4 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (ITA)
#5 Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber F1 Team (GER)
#6 Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber F1 Team (GER)
#7 Fernando Alonso (Spain) ING Renault F1 Team (FRA)
#8 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Brazil) ING Renault F1 Team (FRA)
#9 Jarno Trulli (Italy) Panasonic Toyota Racing (JPN)
#10 Timo Glock (Germany) Panasonic Toyota Racing (JPN)
#11 Sebastien Bourdais (France) Scuderia Toro Rosso (ITA)
#12 Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Scuderia Toro Rosso (ITA)
#14 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull Racing (AUT)
#15 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull Racing (AUT)
#16 Nico Rosberg (Germany) AT&T Williams (GBR)
#17 Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) AT&T Williams (GBR)
#20 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India F1 Team (IND)
#21 Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India F1 Team (IND)
#22 Jenson Button (Great Britain) Brawn GP F1 Team (GBR)
#23 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Brawn GP F1 Team (GBR)
A couple of sites I recommend in finding out more about Formula 1 http://www.formula1.com/ and the highly detailed and accurate Wikipedia entries on Formula 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_1. Part 2 will be posted sometime in the next week.
NASCAR is easily the most popular and most successful auto racing series in the United States. But what many people don’t know is that Formula 1 racing is one of the most popular and most exciting sports in the world. Formula 1 is a racing organization that schedule races from all around the world. There are no races in the United States (although maybe in 2011). Rumors are that the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile) would like to have the race at night on the Las Vegas strip or Times Square. I doubt either happens, but there will probably be a race somewhere in the U.S. There are races in France, England, China, and even on the streets of Monte Carlo. Formula 1 is different than NASCAR because all the cars are different. Teams, or constructors, do their own research to create the best engines and most aerodynamic cars in order to win. Now, the cars are closer together aerodynamically because of lack of testing due to the economy, but there are still ways to gain an advantage. One of which I'll explain later. Some teams spend upwards to $400 million to have 2 competitive cars. Due to the economy, it's inevitable that costs must come down and there's a proposal next season on a cap of all teams to only spend $64 million. This has allowed for the formation of a new team in the United States in 2010. Ken Anderson and Speed F1 Pit Reporter Peter Windsor will form an "All-American" F1 team now called United States Grand Prix Engineering (USGPE), formerly USF1. They claim that except for some parts, the employees and the two drivers will be American.
The lack of American drivers and teams has led to a reason that Formula 1 isn't popular in the United States. Other reasons include that the races are usually shown live between 12 o’clock and 8 o’clock on Sunday mornings in North America. Races are usually shown on tape-delay Sunday afternoon and since there isn’t much TV highlight coverage, ESPN won’t spoil you with the results. Also, Brazil has the same problem with the time of races, but Brazil is one of the countries that have the most Formula 1 fans. Other reasons are that there isn’t a lot of passing because of the technological advances and racing on road courses. Currently the FIA has instituted different wings, tires, and a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that uses wasted energy from the car while under braking and use it as a sort of turbo and get an extra 80 horsepower for 6 seconds per lap, but the system weighs 50 pounds and has had reliability problems. Really there isn't really a need for Formula 1 to have a lot of passing to make it exciting. Because of this, drivers must be able to go all out in every moment of the race and must be able to race in the rain which at times can cause a driver to not be able to see because of the mist. Keep in mind that NASCAR races are about four or five hours and since there are always cautions throughout, there’s no need to take risks until the absolute end of the race. A Formula 1 race only lasts about an hour and a half and there are hardly any cautions, or safety car periods. Add in the lack of passing mentioned earlier and that’s why Formula 1 drivers need to take risks throughout, even when there are dangerous situations like rain or debris. When there’s debris, like a broken wing or part, on the track and you run over it and blow a tire or crash in Formula 1, it’s your own fault. The FIA will not stop the race to remove the debris, unlike NASCAR. Formula 1 has track marshals that remove the debris when there are no cars near. There’s also always a points battle because of how points are awarded. The points are awarded 1st-10, 2nd-8, 3rd-6, 4th-5, 5th-4, 6th-3, 7th-2, and 8th-1. It goes the same for drivers and constructors. A constructor has 2 identical cars and drivers and the drivers points get added to for the constructor points.
Here is a list of drivers and constructors:
# Driver (Country) Constructor (Country)
#1 Lewis Hamilton (Great Britan) Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes (GBR)
#2 Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) Vodaphone McLaren Mercedes (GBR)
#3 Felipe Massa (Brazil) Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (ITA)
#4 Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro (ITA)
#5 Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber F1 Team (GER)
#6 Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber F1 Team (GER)
#7 Fernando Alonso (Spain) ING Renault F1 Team (FRA)
#8 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Brazil) ING Renault F1 Team (FRA)
#9 Jarno Trulli (Italy) Panasonic Toyota Racing (JPN)
#10 Timo Glock (Germany) Panasonic Toyota Racing (JPN)
#11 Sebastien Bourdais (France) Scuderia Toro Rosso (ITA)
#12 Sebastien Buemi (Switzerland) Scuderia Toro Rosso (ITA)
#14 Mark Webber (Australia) Red Bull Racing (AUT)
#15 Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Red Bull Racing (AUT)
#16 Nico Rosberg (Germany) AT&T Williams (GBR)
#17 Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) AT&T Williams (GBR)
#20 Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India F1 Team (IND)
#21 Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India F1 Team (IND)
#22 Jenson Button (Great Britain) Brawn GP F1 Team (GBR)
#23 Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Brawn GP F1 Team (GBR)
A couple of sites I recommend in finding out more about Formula 1 http://www.formula1.com/ and the highly detailed and accurate Wikipedia entries on Formula 1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formula_1. Part 2 will be posted sometime in the next week.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Playoffs... In College
First of all, I'd like to apologize for the month break from posts. I promise the next posts won't be so spread out. I'm preparing my next post about the beginning of the Formula 1 season, which will be finished in about 2 weeks.
It's been almost 3 months since the BCS in College Football and everyone currently is immersed in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. A vast majority, including the President of the United States, has expressed the need for a playoff in College Basketball. I hear people all the time saying we need a playoff, but no one has a solution. I wrote a paper on how the BCS can still be intact, still use their formula, and have a true playoff. I don't have the length to have the entire paper, but these are some excerpts.
The Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, began in 1998 and it consists of five prestigious bowl games at the end of a Division I College Football Season. The Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, and Rose Bowls are the four bowl games that are played on New Year’s Day or after and the National Championship game is played one week after the previous bowl game that venue hosted. The National Championship game alternates between the locations of the four bowl games mentioned earlier. This past season, the National Championship game was played in Miami, Florida, which was the same venue as the Orange Bowl.
The BCS started when there was confusion over who was really the national champion. The BCS’ goal is to guarantee a game where the #1 and #2 teams in the country play against each other in order to have a National Championship game. Before 1998, the top two ranked teams rarely played at the end of the year because of time tested traditions on what conferences played in what prestigious bowl game. The Rose is played by the Big Ten and Pac 10 champions, the Sugar is played by the SEC champion, the Orange is played by the ACC champion, and the Fiesta is played by the Big 12 champion. The Big East champion and 4 other teams are also included. Now since there's a seperate National Championship Game, at-large teams play in the game where that Conference Champion was supposed to play.
How the teams are chosen is that 6 computers perform a ranking of each team. The top and bottom result is thrown out and the 4 results are averaged by 100. That's 1/3 of the result. The Harris Interactive Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll each take 1/3. People rank what they think are the top 25 teams. 1st gets 25 points, 2nd gets 24 and so forth. The total score a team has is divided by the total possible points and all 3 results are added together to get the final result. The goal is to have a ranking that is closest to 1. Ten teams are chosen and these games are wanted because schools get at least $14 million for an appearance. 10 teams are chosen and 6 are automatic bids given to the champion of the 6 BCS Conferences. The other four are at-large bids and there is specific criteria that each team have to comply to get in. It's easier for a team from a BCS conference and Notre Dame, who's an Independent. It's much harder for these non BCS teams (like Utah and Boise State)to get an invite.
I also listed the controversies and big money involved in the BCS, but ESPN goes into so much depth with that (especially the controversies) that it would be redundant and so many to list.
My system would not be like the NCAA Tournament where there are 65 teams. This would be a 16 team playoff. There can still be a BCS and we can still use the formula. The first thing is to get rid of Automatic Bids. The top 16 teams at the end of the season BCS Standings play with 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15 and so forth. To deal with so many games, we could get rid of one Non-Conference game in the regular season. Usually these games are played against bad teams and no one outside of their fans really care to watch. This also won't prevent the student-athletes from schoolwork because the playoffs will be played in December and January and schools typically go on semester break at least a few days before the first round.
The first round will be a home game for the top 8 seeds and will be played on the Saturday before Christmas. If Christmas falls on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, the games will be played the second Saturday before Christmas. That means the first round will be played on a date between December 15 and December 21.
The winners will advance and we start to go to neutral sites. We'll use the sites from the BCS games and actually play the Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta Bowl in the second round. This way, the traditional bowl games can still have the best teams playing. Two sites will alternate hosting the third round every other year and all four sites will alternate hosting the National Championship Game every four years just like now.
The second round (or Elite Eight) will take place the Saturday before New Year’s Day. If New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, the games will be played the second Saturday before New Year’s Day. That means the first round will be played on a date between December 22 and December 27.
The third round (or Final Four) will take place on New Year's Day. The National Championship final will be played around one week after New Year’s Day which would be January 8 or a more suitable date more than five days after the third round games and less than ten days after the second round games.
I know it is a little tedius to read and a little complicated, but I trully believe this is the best system proposed right now. The ideal date for the National Championship Game in this system is January 8. Last year's National Championship Game was on January 8. So this system will not extend the season like people against a system sometimes say. Also, with more games, there would be more revenue money for all who are associated. I'm pretty sure President Obama doesn't read my blog, but Mr. President, I know having a playoff in College Football is important to you and you have many other serious things to take care of at the moment. Create a position in your cabinet for Secretary of Sport and appoint me so we could get the ball rolling to save College Football.
It's been almost 3 months since the BCS in College Football and everyone currently is immersed in the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. A vast majority, including the President of the United States, has expressed the need for a playoff in College Basketball. I hear people all the time saying we need a playoff, but no one has a solution. I wrote a paper on how the BCS can still be intact, still use their formula, and have a true playoff. I don't have the length to have the entire paper, but these are some excerpts.
The Bowl Championship Series, or BCS, began in 1998 and it consists of five prestigious bowl games at the end of a Division I College Football Season. The Fiesta, Orange, Sugar, and Rose Bowls are the four bowl games that are played on New Year’s Day or after and the National Championship game is played one week after the previous bowl game that venue hosted. The National Championship game alternates between the locations of the four bowl games mentioned earlier. This past season, the National Championship game was played in Miami, Florida, which was the same venue as the Orange Bowl.
The BCS started when there was confusion over who was really the national champion. The BCS’ goal is to guarantee a game where the #1 and #2 teams in the country play against each other in order to have a National Championship game. Before 1998, the top two ranked teams rarely played at the end of the year because of time tested traditions on what conferences played in what prestigious bowl game. The Rose is played by the Big Ten and Pac 10 champions, the Sugar is played by the SEC champion, the Orange is played by the ACC champion, and the Fiesta is played by the Big 12 champion. The Big East champion and 4 other teams are also included. Now since there's a seperate National Championship Game, at-large teams play in the game where that Conference Champion was supposed to play.
How the teams are chosen is that 6 computers perform a ranking of each team. The top and bottom result is thrown out and the 4 results are averaged by 100. That's 1/3 of the result. The Harris Interactive Poll and the USA Today Coaches Poll each take 1/3. People rank what they think are the top 25 teams. 1st gets 25 points, 2nd gets 24 and so forth. The total score a team has is divided by the total possible points and all 3 results are added together to get the final result. The goal is to have a ranking that is closest to 1. Ten teams are chosen and these games are wanted because schools get at least $14 million for an appearance. 10 teams are chosen and 6 are automatic bids given to the champion of the 6 BCS Conferences. The other four are at-large bids and there is specific criteria that each team have to comply to get in. It's easier for a team from a BCS conference and Notre Dame, who's an Independent. It's much harder for these non BCS teams (like Utah and Boise State)to get an invite.
I also listed the controversies and big money involved in the BCS, but ESPN goes into so much depth with that (especially the controversies) that it would be redundant and so many to list.
My system would not be like the NCAA Tournament where there are 65 teams. This would be a 16 team playoff. There can still be a BCS and we can still use the formula. The first thing is to get rid of Automatic Bids. The top 16 teams at the end of the season BCS Standings play with 1 vs. 16, 2 vs. 15 and so forth. To deal with so many games, we could get rid of one Non-Conference game in the regular season. Usually these games are played against bad teams and no one outside of their fans really care to watch. This also won't prevent the student-athletes from schoolwork because the playoffs will be played in December and January and schools typically go on semester break at least a few days before the first round.
The first round will be a home game for the top 8 seeds and will be played on the Saturday before Christmas. If Christmas falls on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, the games will be played the second Saturday before Christmas. That means the first round will be played on a date between December 15 and December 21.
The winners will advance and we start to go to neutral sites. We'll use the sites from the BCS games and actually play the Rose, Orange, Sugar, and Fiesta Bowl in the second round. This way, the traditional bowl games can still have the best teams playing. Two sites will alternate hosting the third round every other year and all four sites will alternate hosting the National Championship Game every four years just like now.
The second round (or Elite Eight) will take place the Saturday before New Year’s Day. If New Year’s Day falls on a Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday, the games will be played the second Saturday before New Year’s Day. That means the first round will be played on a date between December 22 and December 27.
The third round (or Final Four) will take place on New Year's Day. The National Championship final will be played around one week after New Year’s Day which would be January 8 or a more suitable date more than five days after the third round games and less than ten days after the second round games.
I know it is a little tedius to read and a little complicated, but I trully believe this is the best system proposed right now. The ideal date for the National Championship Game in this system is January 8. Last year's National Championship Game was on January 8. So this system will not extend the season like people against a system sometimes say. Also, with more games, there would be more revenue money for all who are associated. I'm pretty sure President Obama doesn't read my blog, but Mr. President, I know having a playoff in College Football is important to you and you have many other serious things to take care of at the moment. Create a position in your cabinet for Secretary of Sport and appoint me so we could get the ball rolling to save College Football.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The Daytona 500: The Great American Race
The beginning of the NASCAR season is this week and the first event is the biggest of the year. The other sports, the big event is at the end of the season but not NASCAR. Every February around Valentine's Day NASCAR arrives in Florida two run what is called "The Great American Race." I don't like to compare events as the Super Bowl of ..., but "The Daytona 500" is the Super Bowl of NASCAR. This is a race where the greatest of drivers have won, but every competitor has a chance.
Before Daytona International Speedway was built in 1959, racing was done on the actual beaches of Daytona Beach, Florida.
After the cars were getting faster and faster and racing on the beach was getting more dangerous, a 2.5 mile track was built inland. At that time, only the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was as big an oval track.
Now some say that the popularity of NASCAR was fueled by what happened in The Daytona 500. It would take too long to recap all 50 runnings so I'll only mention some of the more well-known ones. To get a great insight on all 50 '500's, watch the 5-disc set of The Daytona 500. It has a 10 minute recap of every Daytona 500 race from the first in 1959 to last year's race.
1959 was the first Daytona 500 and there were many worries from the drivers and from NASCAR. No one had ever gone this fast (150 mph) in a stock car before and some were worried that any small mistake could bring possible fatal consequences. Astonishingly, there wasn't a single caution flag and ended up as one of the greatest and closest finishes in NASCAR history featuring one of the greats, Lee Petty.
The 1976 Daytona 500 featured the two winningest drivers in NASCAR history. Richard Petty, Lee's son, and David Pearson were laps ahead of the field and used the last half of the race to battle it out themselves. In one of the most crazy finishes in NASCAR history, two rivals battle to the bitter end.
The 1979 was the beginning of a new era in NASCAR history. This was the first race to be shown live and be shown flag-to-flag from beginning to end. This has been regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR races ever and NASCAR received many fans because of this race and specifically this finish. My father was at this race and said that it was one of the greatest finishes he ever saw.
Exactly 22 years after one of the greatest days of NASCAR, the sport experienced one of the worst when Dale Earnhardt, one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR was fatally injured on the last lap of the Daytona 500. Trying to block the rest of the field to allow his two owned cars which included his son fight it out for the win, Earnhardt got accidently tapped from behind and was turned into the wall dying on impact. The first video features the finish shown live and the second is a tribute to Earnhardt.
Because of his death, there have been tremendous advances on safety. The Head And Neck System (HANS) device prevents a driver's head from whipping forward in a high-impact crash. SAFER barriers were built in the turns of all NASCAR tracks that help absorb a car's impact into the wall. There are things I feel NASCAR should do something about. SAFER barriers should be placed around the entire track instead of in the turns and removing restrictor plates on the bigger and faster tracks that slow the cars and causes close racing and dangerous wrecks like Earnhardt's, but that's something for another time.
There have been 50 memorable chapters of "The Great American Race." Sunday will be another chapter and it should be no different than the previous races. The drama of the last few laps of the race. The danger of the close racing and the risk of crashing in any of the 500 miles. And the dedication of a driver and team of working for months before and dreaming throughout their entire lives about winning this race.
And if you think the recession has hurt NASCAR, it has, but it also created new opportunities. Two drivers, Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs are driving for teams that were just formed with crew members who were laid off from, more successful teams. Many of these people have been working for nothing and both teams knew they were long shots to even make the race. Now that they have, the crew members are getting paid and they both have a chance to pull off the upset. If you have the drive and determination, you can win the greatest, richest, most prestigious auto race in the world. That's the epitomy of the "American Dream" and why it's called The Great American Race.
Before Daytona International Speedway was built in 1959, racing was done on the actual beaches of Daytona Beach, Florida.
After the cars were getting faster and faster and racing on the beach was getting more dangerous, a 2.5 mile track was built inland. At that time, only the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was as big an oval track.
Now some say that the popularity of NASCAR was fueled by what happened in The Daytona 500. It would take too long to recap all 50 runnings so I'll only mention some of the more well-known ones. To get a great insight on all 50 '500's, watch the 5-disc set of The Daytona 500. It has a 10 minute recap of every Daytona 500 race from the first in 1959 to last year's race.
1959 was the first Daytona 500 and there were many worries from the drivers and from NASCAR. No one had ever gone this fast (150 mph) in a stock car before and some were worried that any small mistake could bring possible fatal consequences. Astonishingly, there wasn't a single caution flag and ended up as one of the greatest and closest finishes in NASCAR history featuring one of the greats, Lee Petty.
The 1976 Daytona 500 featured the two winningest drivers in NASCAR history. Richard Petty, Lee's son, and David Pearson were laps ahead of the field and used the last half of the race to battle it out themselves. In one of the most crazy finishes in NASCAR history, two rivals battle to the bitter end.
The 1979 was the beginning of a new era in NASCAR history. This was the first race to be shown live and be shown flag-to-flag from beginning to end. This has been regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR races ever and NASCAR received many fans because of this race and specifically this finish. My father was at this race and said that it was one of the greatest finishes he ever saw.
Exactly 22 years after one of the greatest days of NASCAR, the sport experienced one of the worst when Dale Earnhardt, one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR was fatally injured on the last lap of the Daytona 500. Trying to block the rest of the field to allow his two owned cars which included his son fight it out for the win, Earnhardt got accidently tapped from behind and was turned into the wall dying on impact. The first video features the finish shown live and the second is a tribute to Earnhardt.
Because of his death, there have been tremendous advances on safety. The Head And Neck System (HANS) device prevents a driver's head from whipping forward in a high-impact crash. SAFER barriers were built in the turns of all NASCAR tracks that help absorb a car's impact into the wall. There are things I feel NASCAR should do something about. SAFER barriers should be placed around the entire track instead of in the turns and removing restrictor plates on the bigger and faster tracks that slow the cars and causes close racing and dangerous wrecks like Earnhardt's, but that's something for another time.
There have been 50 memorable chapters of "The Great American Race." Sunday will be another chapter and it should be no different than the previous races. The drama of the last few laps of the race. The danger of the close racing and the risk of crashing in any of the 500 miles. And the dedication of a driver and team of working for months before and dreaming throughout their entire lives about winning this race.
And if you think the recession has hurt NASCAR, it has, but it also created new opportunities. Two drivers, Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs are driving for teams that were just formed with crew members who were laid off from, more successful teams. Many of these people have been working for nothing and both teams knew they were long shots to even make the race. Now that they have, the crew members are getting paid and they both have a chance to pull off the upset. If you have the drive and determination, you can win the greatest, richest, most prestigious auto race in the world. That's the epitomy of the "American Dream" and why it's called The Great American Race.
Monday, February 2, 2009
The STEELERS are SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!
It's been twelve hours since it happened and I still can't get over the fact that the Steelers are champs once again. I was born in the 80's and never got to see the reign of the 70's Steelers. After year after year of disapointment of the Steelers getting so close to winning, they finally won Super Bowl XL. It wasn't one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played, but I still thought it was one of the greatest games ever. I finally got to see my team be like those great Super Bowl teams of the 70's.
I saw the schedule for this season, which was the toughest regular season schedule in NFL history, that if the Steelers make the playoffs, they will win the Super Bowl. They would be so playoff tested from playing 16 tough games that the playoffs would be a breeze. While it wasn't all easy, they still pulled it out and here's the recap from a Steelers fan's point of view in case you lived under a rock and didn't watch the game.
The first quarter was all Steelers. They marched down the field and got the field goal. The touchdown that was reversed was the right call. Roethlisberger did not get in the end zone when his knee touched. That was the exact play I said they should've done. when he was in Pittsburgh, Coach Whisenhunt called on Ben Roethlisberger to run a bootleg to the left in Super Bowl XL in the first quarter. I do, however, thought they should've gone for the touchdown instead of the field goal. One, it's six inches. If you can't gain six inches on a QB Sneak with a 235 pound QB, you don't deserve to score any points. Two, even if the Steelers don't get the touchdown, the Cardinals get the ball on the 1 and the best defense in the NFL can easily get a safety. Hell, the Cardinals did it later in the game.
The Cardinals got it going in the second quarter. First impressions on the Cardinals were that they were too tentative on offense. They ran too much instead of targeting Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston. If the Cardinals just allowed Kurt Warner to throw lobs to Fitzgerald so he can only catch the ball, the Cardinals would've dominated the entire game instead of only the 2nd half. The half was defined by James Harrison with the longest play in Super Bowl history.
I was prepared for the Cardinals to kick the field goal and tie the game. This changed everything in the game. As far as whether he scored or not. I saw it that Harrison had the ball on Fitzgerald's leg and he was clearly in the endzone. The rule about being down is that the elbow or the knee must touch the ground for someone to be down by contact. The helmet doesn't count and I thought it was an easy touchdown. James Harrison was the overwhelming choice for MVP at that time.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed in the Halftime Show and I have to say I was disapointed in the performance. It wasn't really Bruce's fault, but in the HD feed, I could barely hear him. The sound was horrible and that brought down the performance in my opinion.
The second half was all Cardinals. I thought the Steelers were too conservative for the Cardinals. I know the Steelers have historically been conservative when they have the lead in the second half, but you don't do it against a great passing team like the Cardinals. The Cardinals are never out of it and the Steelers should've known better.
I just have one thing to say about the James Harrison punchng that caused the Steelers to be on the 1 yard line. He should've been tossed from the game. That was no excuse for what he did and it almost doomed the Steelers. Due to a holding penalty in the end zone, the Cardinals got a safety and were only down by four points. The Steelers conservative nature got the better of them and Fitzgerald got an long, easy touchdown.
Now, with 2:30 in the game, that is plenty of time to get a Super Bowl winning drive going. We've seen great winning drives in the Super Bowl in past years, but never a winning drive where the same two players are involved in every important play of the drive.
Ben Roethlisberger always looked up to Quarterbacks like John Elway and Joe Montana. Two Quarterbacks known for comebacks in big games. Now, Ben Roethlisberger is with that pantheon of great Quarterbacks and is now a lock to go to the Hall of Fame. As for Santonio Holmes, I forever regret about thinking the Steelers were wrong to trade up in the NFL Draft to select you. I wanted Sinorice Moss and thank goodness the Steelers didn't listen to me. With the catch at the end, the camera angle showed that Holmes was possibly pushed out of bounds and I thought that would be what would deny them the touchdown. That was a great catch and was what saved the game for the Steelers.
I liked the fact that Joe Namath presented the Vince Lombardi Ttrophy. The story about Namath and the '68 Jets is a great story and I'll write something about them in the future. I have always been a Namath fan and he's from western Pennsylvania, so it was fitting. It also must've meant something for Namath, because the last time he was a prominate figure at an NFL game, he was publically drunk and hit on a sideline reporter on live, national tv. He since gotten control of his drinking and now he's turned his life around.
All in all, it was really one of the legendary Super Bowls. It might not have been the greatest ever, but it was in the top 10 of Super Bowl games. Now I must leave and get one of those Super Bowl Champion T-Shirts and Hats. They really look nice.
I saw the schedule for this season, which was the toughest regular season schedule in NFL history, that if the Steelers make the playoffs, they will win the Super Bowl. They would be so playoff tested from playing 16 tough games that the playoffs would be a breeze. While it wasn't all easy, they still pulled it out and here's the recap from a Steelers fan's point of view in case you lived under a rock and didn't watch the game.
The first quarter was all Steelers. They marched down the field and got the field goal. The touchdown that was reversed was the right call. Roethlisberger did not get in the end zone when his knee touched. That was the exact play I said they should've done. when he was in Pittsburgh, Coach Whisenhunt called on Ben Roethlisberger to run a bootleg to the left in Super Bowl XL in the first quarter. I do, however, thought they should've gone for the touchdown instead of the field goal. One, it's six inches. If you can't gain six inches on a QB Sneak with a 235 pound QB, you don't deserve to score any points. Two, even if the Steelers don't get the touchdown, the Cardinals get the ball on the 1 and the best defense in the NFL can easily get a safety. Hell, the Cardinals did it later in the game.
The Cardinals got it going in the second quarter. First impressions on the Cardinals were that they were too tentative on offense. They ran too much instead of targeting Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston. If the Cardinals just allowed Kurt Warner to throw lobs to Fitzgerald so he can only catch the ball, the Cardinals would've dominated the entire game instead of only the 2nd half. The half was defined by James Harrison with the longest play in Super Bowl history.
I was prepared for the Cardinals to kick the field goal and tie the game. This changed everything in the game. As far as whether he scored or not. I saw it that Harrison had the ball on Fitzgerald's leg and he was clearly in the endzone. The rule about being down is that the elbow or the knee must touch the ground for someone to be down by contact. The helmet doesn't count and I thought it was an easy touchdown. James Harrison was the overwhelming choice for MVP at that time.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed in the Halftime Show and I have to say I was disapointed in the performance. It wasn't really Bruce's fault, but in the HD feed, I could barely hear him. The sound was horrible and that brought down the performance in my opinion.
The second half was all Cardinals. I thought the Steelers were too conservative for the Cardinals. I know the Steelers have historically been conservative when they have the lead in the second half, but you don't do it against a great passing team like the Cardinals. The Cardinals are never out of it and the Steelers should've known better.
I just have one thing to say about the James Harrison punchng that caused the Steelers to be on the 1 yard line. He should've been tossed from the game. That was no excuse for what he did and it almost doomed the Steelers. Due to a holding penalty in the end zone, the Cardinals got a safety and were only down by four points. The Steelers conservative nature got the better of them and Fitzgerald got an long, easy touchdown.
Now, with 2:30 in the game, that is plenty of time to get a Super Bowl winning drive going. We've seen great winning drives in the Super Bowl in past years, but never a winning drive where the same two players are involved in every important play of the drive.
Ben Roethlisberger always looked up to Quarterbacks like John Elway and Joe Montana. Two Quarterbacks known for comebacks in big games. Now, Ben Roethlisberger is with that pantheon of great Quarterbacks and is now a lock to go to the Hall of Fame. As for Santonio Holmes, I forever regret about thinking the Steelers were wrong to trade up in the NFL Draft to select you. I wanted Sinorice Moss and thank goodness the Steelers didn't listen to me. With the catch at the end, the camera angle showed that Holmes was possibly pushed out of bounds and I thought that would be what would deny them the touchdown. That was a great catch and was what saved the game for the Steelers.
I liked the fact that Joe Namath presented the Vince Lombardi Ttrophy. The story about Namath and the '68 Jets is a great story and I'll write something about them in the future. I have always been a Namath fan and he's from western Pennsylvania, so it was fitting. It also must've meant something for Namath, because the last time he was a prominate figure at an NFL game, he was publically drunk and hit on a sideline reporter on live, national tv. He since gotten control of his drinking and now he's turned his life around.
All in all, it was really one of the legendary Super Bowls. It might not have been the greatest ever, but it was in the top 10 of Super Bowl games. Now I must leave and get one of those Super Bowl Champion T-Shirts and Hats. They really look nice.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
LOST: It's coming
It's no secret that I love TV. Sometimes, I spend too much time watching TV, but that's for another time. Anyway, my favorite show is coming back on Wednesday, Lost. I guess you could say I'm one of those "Lost Geeks" that are constantly on the Lost websites and discussing about everything that happened in past episodes and theorizing what will happen next.
I started watching Lost because of the plane crash rescue scene in the beginning of the series. It was so intertwined by the many characters and situations and with the great music as accompanyment, really made the show like a movie. The Lost crew are the ones responsible for making Lost look like a 45 minute movie each episode. Consider that it may take three months to film a 90 minute movie. It takes eight days to film an episode of Lost and the cinematography quality of each is similar.
I got addicted to Lost with the fourth episode of the series "Walkabout." The episode featured a mysterious survivor in John Locke, played by Emmy winning actor Terry O'Quinn. On island, he was out and about hunting for boar and encountering, "the eye of the island." Off island, he worked in a box factory and desprately talking on a sex-line to a woman "named" Helen. At the end, Locke flies to Australia to take part in a Walkabout through the Australian Outback. If you've never seen Lost, look at this scene and see why going on a Walkabout is a problem.
I started watching Lost because of the plane crash rescue scene in the beginning of the series. It was so intertwined by the many characters and situations and with the great music as accompanyment, really made the show like a movie. The Lost crew are the ones responsible for making Lost look like a 45 minute movie each episode. Consider that it may take three months to film a 90 minute movie. It takes eight days to film an episode of Lost and the cinematography quality of each is similar.
I got addicted to Lost with the fourth episode of the series "Walkabout." The episode featured a mysterious survivor in John Locke, played by Emmy winning actor Terry O'Quinn. On island, he was out and about hunting for boar and encountering, "the eye of the island." Off island, he worked in a box factory and desprately talking on a sex-line to a woman "named" Helen. At the end, Locke flies to Australia to take part in a Walkabout through the Australian Outback. If you've never seen Lost, look at this scene and see why going on a Walkabout is a problem.
I like this show, because it's not just a TV show, it's really a book in visual form. The creators say that each season is a chapter in a book. It makes you think on such a high level about what happened and what will happen next that it isn't like the other mind-numbing crap currently on TV (like reality shows).
The other thing I like about Lost is that it's the only show that I enjoy the "love stories." Well, some love stories, the Jack, Kate, Sawyer, and Juliet storyline is so convoluted for me to even enjoy that. The Desmond and Penny storyline is really the essence of a great Lost storyline.
Penny is the daughter of millionaire Charles Widmore who we found out has some sort of personal and possibly financial stake in the island. Desmond asks Charles for permission to marry his daughter, but when he finds out Desmond isn't worthy of his daughter, Charles denies Desmond and calls him a coward. Hoping to prove him wrong, Desmond breaks up with Penny and enters into a boat race around the world that's sponsored by Charles. Due to bad weather during the race, Desmond ends up on the island and is taken to The Swan station to push the "button." This is where it gets strange. Because of the electromagnetism on the island, Desmond experiences "side effects" when he finally leaves the island and jumps back and forth through time back to 1996. Through this time travel, Desmond learns that he needs to have a "constant" that is both on the island and back in 1996 or he'll die from a brain aneurysm. The only person or thing he could think of as being his constant is Penny and while on the Charles Widmore sent, Kahana boat 80 km offshore from the island he tries to contact her.
This is the phone call scene from "The Constant" which was voted Best Episode on TV in 2008 by Time Magazine and was nominated for an Emmy for Best Drama. This acene features Henry Ian Cusick, Sonya Walger, and Naveen Andrews.
The new season starts this Wednesday at 9:00. I highly implore that if you haven't watched an episode of Lost, watch it on DVD or abc.com (which currently has each episode on their website for free) because you won't understand what's going on. There's really something for everyone. Whether it's the characters, the Sci-Fi, and/or the romance, you will like at least one thing about this show. I guarantee you that when you know what has happened in the series, you will enjoy Lost and maybe even be a "Lost Geek" like I am.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
2008: The Greatest Sports Year Ever, Part 3 of 3
Let's just get right into it, shall we
Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing, China, August 8-August 24, 2008
I'm glad I didn't have to go to school or work in these two weeks. With DirecTV, I got every channel the Olympics were on, in addition to an all Basketball and Soccer channel. The free package also had schedules of when the events were taking place and constantly updated medal counts. The Olympics were on at least one channel and I probably averaged 3 or 4 hours of sleep and watch about 20 hours of Olympics coverage per day. I'm one of those people who is more willing to watch the lesser known events. I mean, the Olympics are probably the only place where there are events like Badminton, Handball, Synchronized Swimming, Field Hockey, and Water Polo on American TV. It's also a great Geography lesson. If you look at the introduction of the athletes in the Opening Ceremony, how many of you knew that Lesotho is the country that South Africa sourrounds.
While I applaud NBC of their coverage, my one complaint was that it had too much of an American influence and I know I'm not the only one who thinks this. I would like to know the big stories of athletes from the other countries and even see events that the United States are not expected to win. Some American stories were unavoidable to cover and I'll get to that later, but lets get to some of the highlights.
The Opening Ceremony was one of the greatest shows I ever saw. Yes, there were some controversies sourrounding the event, but looking at those performances that celebrate Chinese history and the Olympics was unbelievable. It was evident that the thousands of performers had lots of practice and I'm glad it was performed to perfection.
Since I don't want to go too long on this, I'll mention the more important moments of the Olympics. Some of the ones that I want to mention briefly are the "Redeem Team" winning gold in Men's Basketball. The United States winning the Men's Volleyball gold medal days after the coaches in-law's were involved in a mugging and stabbing resulting in the death of his father-in-law. Also, 41 year-old Dara Torres finding the fountain of youth to win the silver and narrowly missed out on gold in the 50m freestyle.
With all the talk of the Gymnastics competition about whether the Chinese female gynmasts wre old enough, the Americans did pretty well considering. The United States won the silver medal in the all-around team competition (vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise). Nastia Liukin won gold in the individual all-around competition, silver in the balance beam and uneven bars, and bronze in the floor exercise. Shaun Johnson won gold in the balance beam, and silver in the all-around, and floor. Amid all the controversies in the Gymnastics competition, the American athletes handled all of it with class and accepted whatever awards they received.
Usain Bolt of Jamaica made history by breaking the World Record in the 100m and 200m at the same event. What makes it even more intresting is that when someone usually breaks a World Record in the 100m, it is by no more than a few hundreths of a second. Bolt broke the record by almost a tenth of a second and if he hadn't celebrated before the finish, he would've been even faster. If it wasn't for a certain man winning a lot of gold medals, Bolt would've been the story of the Olympics.
I can't talk about the Olympics and not talk about Michael Phelps. You talk about the absolute pinnacle of drama in sports, this was it. Seven out of eight gold record winning races ended in World Record times, the eighth race was blamed because of faulty goggles that made Phelps virtually blind. It was those goggles that caused him not to know where the wall was, kept taking strokes and won by 1/100th of a second.
What I like about the Olympics is that you don't need to be a sports fan to enjoy the events. My mother is not a sports fan, not even close. During the Olympics, she got into the competition and cheered for the American athletes to achieve gold. It truly is the new way to show to the world you are the best country in the world. Even up to 100 years ago, warfare was the way to gain respect and instill nationalistic pride. While there is still war, now, healthy sports competition has thankfully replaced that nationalistic pride people have in their country. Look at the 1980 Winter Olympic USSR vs. USA Men's Hockey match as an example. It is that added element that makes the Olympics a delight every two years.
In closing, here is the official music for the medal ceremony that I thought was great and suitable for the occasion. It's called "Mo Li Hua" which translates to "Jasmine" in English. Also, below it, here are videos of many Olympic Sports from www.nbcolympics.com Enjoy!
Here's to Chicago getting the Summer Olympics in 2016. I'll do all I can to be there to witness the Olympics live.
Games of the XXIX Olympiad, Beijing, China, August 8-August 24, 2008
I'm glad I didn't have to go to school or work in these two weeks. With DirecTV, I got every channel the Olympics were on, in addition to an all Basketball and Soccer channel. The free package also had schedules of when the events were taking place and constantly updated medal counts. The Olympics were on at least one channel and I probably averaged 3 or 4 hours of sleep and watch about 20 hours of Olympics coverage per day. I'm one of those people who is more willing to watch the lesser known events. I mean, the Olympics are probably the only place where there are events like Badminton, Handball, Synchronized Swimming, Field Hockey, and Water Polo on American TV. It's also a great Geography lesson. If you look at the introduction of the athletes in the Opening Ceremony, how many of you knew that Lesotho is the country that South Africa sourrounds.
While I applaud NBC of their coverage, my one complaint was that it had too much of an American influence and I know I'm not the only one who thinks this. I would like to know the big stories of athletes from the other countries and even see events that the United States are not expected to win. Some American stories were unavoidable to cover and I'll get to that later, but lets get to some of the highlights.
The Opening Ceremony was one of the greatest shows I ever saw. Yes, there were some controversies sourrounding the event, but looking at those performances that celebrate Chinese history and the Olympics was unbelievable. It was evident that the thousands of performers had lots of practice and I'm glad it was performed to perfection.
Since I don't want to go too long on this, I'll mention the more important moments of the Olympics. Some of the ones that I want to mention briefly are the "Redeem Team" winning gold in Men's Basketball. The United States winning the Men's Volleyball gold medal days after the coaches in-law's were involved in a mugging and stabbing resulting in the death of his father-in-law. Also, 41 year-old Dara Torres finding the fountain of youth to win the silver and narrowly missed out on gold in the 50m freestyle.
With all the talk of the Gymnastics competition about whether the Chinese female gynmasts wre old enough, the Americans did pretty well considering. The United States won the silver medal in the all-around team competition (vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor exercise). Nastia Liukin won gold in the individual all-around competition, silver in the balance beam and uneven bars, and bronze in the floor exercise. Shaun Johnson won gold in the balance beam, and silver in the all-around, and floor. Amid all the controversies in the Gymnastics competition, the American athletes handled all of it with class and accepted whatever awards they received.
Usain Bolt of Jamaica made history by breaking the World Record in the 100m and 200m at the same event. What makes it even more intresting is that when someone usually breaks a World Record in the 100m, it is by no more than a few hundreths of a second. Bolt broke the record by almost a tenth of a second and if he hadn't celebrated before the finish, he would've been even faster. If it wasn't for a certain man winning a lot of gold medals, Bolt would've been the story of the Olympics.
I can't talk about the Olympics and not talk about Michael Phelps. You talk about the absolute pinnacle of drama in sports, this was it. Seven out of eight gold record winning races ended in World Record times, the eighth race was blamed because of faulty goggles that made Phelps virtually blind. It was those goggles that caused him not to know where the wall was, kept taking strokes and won by 1/100th of a second.
What I like about the Olympics is that you don't need to be a sports fan to enjoy the events. My mother is not a sports fan, not even close. During the Olympics, she got into the competition and cheered for the American athletes to achieve gold. It truly is the new way to show to the world you are the best country in the world. Even up to 100 years ago, warfare was the way to gain respect and instill nationalistic pride. While there is still war, now, healthy sports competition has thankfully replaced that nationalistic pride people have in their country. Look at the 1980 Winter Olympic USSR vs. USA Men's Hockey match as an example. It is that added element that makes the Olympics a delight every two years.
In closing, here is the official music for the medal ceremony that I thought was great and suitable for the occasion. It's called "Mo Li Hua" which translates to "Jasmine" in English. Also, below it, here are videos of many Olympic Sports from www.nbcolympics.com Enjoy!
Exclusive Summer Olympics news & widgets at NBC Olympics.com!
Here's to Chicago getting the Summer Olympics in 2016. I'll do all I can to be there to witness the Olympics live.
Monday, January 5, 2009
2008: The Greatest Sports Year Ever, Part 2 of 3
In case you haven't read Part 1, I'm reviewing the four best sports events of the past year. I previously covered Super Bowl XLII and in this part, I'll be covering two more events which are similar. Sorry about not posting Part 2 over the weekend but I was working 30 hours over a weekend, so I really didn't want to do anything else other than sleep.
U.S. Open Golf Championship, Rocco Mediate vs. Tiger Woods in an 18 hole playoff, June 16, 2008
I have to admit, as much as a sports fan I am, I'm not the kind of person who takes time out to watch Golf and Tennis (which will be discussed next). Sure, I watch the major events and I know the names of the top athletes in both sports, but I enjoy other sport more than Golf and Tennis. This match, in addition to the next match, kept me glued to the television all throughout the event. When it comes to Golf majors, there is usually one person who is an underdog and rarely ever wins. Rocco Mediate was that underdog. The 46 year old was always a consistent golfer, but back trouble would hinder him to be a superstar. He had hoped that the U.S. Open would be his coming out party and finally win a major event. Tiger Woods has been the best golfer over the past ten years. He is currently on pace to break almost every record in Golf history. During the event, people noticed that Tiger wasn't 100% healthy as he was wincing in pain. What we didn't know was the extent of the injury.
Over the four round event, Woods and Mediate stayed in the top 5 throughout and on the last day, vaulted into the top 2. Because they were tied, the two golfers needed to play an 18-hole playoff to determine a winner. After being three strokes behind on the tenth hole, Mediate roared back to be one stroke ahead by hole fifteen. Tiger was one stroke behind going into the last hole one stroke behind and needing to catch up to either extend or win. In an amazing display, he caught up that stroke and extended the match by another hole. That momentum put Woods over the top and won the U.S. Open. It was later revealed that Tiger was playing on a torn ACL and a double stress fracture in his left tibia. Now I haven't felt the pain of a bone fracture or a torn ligament (knock on wood), but I did partially tear my achilles tendon once and was in so much pain that I was screaming and cursing everytime I took a step, so what Tiger went through must've been painful.
Wimbledon, (2) Rafael Nadal vs. (1) Roger Federer, July 6, 2008
U.S. Open Golf Championship, Rocco Mediate vs. Tiger Woods in an 18 hole playoff, June 16, 2008
I have to admit, as much as a sports fan I am, I'm not the kind of person who takes time out to watch Golf and Tennis (which will be discussed next). Sure, I watch the major events and I know the names of the top athletes in both sports, but I enjoy other sport more than Golf and Tennis. This match, in addition to the next match, kept me glued to the television all throughout the event. When it comes to Golf majors, there is usually one person who is an underdog and rarely ever wins. Rocco Mediate was that underdog. The 46 year old was always a consistent golfer, but back trouble would hinder him to be a superstar. He had hoped that the U.S. Open would be his coming out party and finally win a major event. Tiger Woods has been the best golfer over the past ten years. He is currently on pace to break almost every record in Golf history. During the event, people noticed that Tiger wasn't 100% healthy as he was wincing in pain. What we didn't know was the extent of the injury.
Over the four round event, Woods and Mediate stayed in the top 5 throughout and on the last day, vaulted into the top 2. Because they were tied, the two golfers needed to play an 18-hole playoff to determine a winner. After being three strokes behind on the tenth hole, Mediate roared back to be one stroke ahead by hole fifteen. Tiger was one stroke behind going into the last hole one stroke behind and needing to catch up to either extend or win. In an amazing display, he caught up that stroke and extended the match by another hole. That momentum put Woods over the top and won the U.S. Open. It was later revealed that Tiger was playing on a torn ACL and a double stress fracture in his left tibia. Now I haven't felt the pain of a bone fracture or a torn ligament (knock on wood), but I did partially tear my achilles tendon once and was in so much pain that I was screaming and cursing everytime I took a step, so what Tiger went through must've been painful.
Wimbledon, (2) Rafael Nadal vs. (1) Roger Federer, July 6, 2008
At Wimbledon, Roger Federer, the number one Tennis player in the world, was the king of Wimbledon. He won the last five Wimbledon events and was gunning for a record tying sixth. Rafael Nadal, the number two Tennis player in the world, always would finish behind Federer except for the Clay surface court events. This was a Grass surface court and Federer was unstoppable, until now.
In the five set match, Nadal won the first two sets. While rain would interupt action the rest of the way, Federer won the next two sets resulting in a fifth set. Needing to win six games and win by two games to win a set, they both were tied two games to two when rain came again. They both were tired and traded games all the way until the 16th game. In that, Nadal fought through a competitive opponent, rain delays, and the occurance of darkness to win his first Wimbledon title and achieving the rank of #1 Tennis player a few months later. Even without the rain delays, the game lasted 4 hours and 48 minutes. With the rain delays, the match lasted almost eight hours.
After Wimbledon, the roles were reversed. As I said, Nadal became the #1 Tennis player in the world and is now the unstoppable force in Tennis. Federer has been suffering minor injuries and is showing the decline of a veteran Tennis player. The torch was passed on that day in Men's Tennis.
Part 3 will be posted soon.Thursday, January 1, 2009
2008: The Greatest Sports Year Ever, Part 1 of 3
I don't normally like to say something is the best or something is the greatest ever. When I see something like that in the media, I view it as a ploy to make something bigger than it already is. That, and also there will always be something even better and greater in the future. I do have to take one exception in that there was no greater sports year than 2008.
There were so many great sports moments that I cannot mention them all in this entry. Some of the honorable great events would be the 50th running of the Daytona 500 that ended in a last lap pass. The NCAA Men's Basketball Championship that resulted in Kansas coming back from nine points down to defeat Memphis in overtime. The Boston Celtics, who were once prominent years ago and fell to obscurity relied on Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen to shine again and win the NBA Championship over their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers. The United States defying the odds to defeat Europe in the Ryder Cup in Golf. And last, but not least, the Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series and bringing a major championship to Philadelphia for the first time in 25 years.
Those sports events would be tremendous highlights for a sports fans year in any year but this one. There are four sports events (listed in chronological order) that transcended any normal sporting event and made 2008 the greatest sports year ever.
Super Bowl XLII, New England Patriots vs. New York Giants, February 3, 2008
Whether you like the New England Patriots or not, you must admit that the 2000's Patriots rank as one of the greatest teams in NFL history. They had an opportunity to cement that by being the second team to have a perfect season and the first team to go 19-0. The New York Giants were the kind of team that played well enough to win, but weren't an impressive team. They weren't really expected to make it to the Super Bowl and surprised most people when they did. Because of that, the Patriots were heavy favorites to achieve perfection.
The first three quarters were rather slow with the Patriots leading 7-3. The fourth quarter would be the "magic hour" as both teams traded the lead. After the Patriots scored with 2:42 left, Eli Manning and the Giants needed to move down the field to make history. With a little over a minute and on third down, Manning needed to make a play and after escaping from an almost impossible situation, slinged the ball deep to David Tyree, who was a backup Wide Receiver, caught the ball over his head and using his helmet to keep from dropping the ball.
After that, Mannning threw the ball to Plaxico Burress in the corner of the end zone for the Super Bowl winning touchdown. With the score 17-14, the New York Giants completed one of the biggest upsets in sports.
Because of length, I'll have part 2 available Saturday.
There were so many great sports moments that I cannot mention them all in this entry. Some of the honorable great events would be the 50th running of the Daytona 500 that ended in a last lap pass. The NCAA Men's Basketball Championship that resulted in Kansas coming back from nine points down to defeat Memphis in overtime. The Boston Celtics, who were once prominent years ago and fell to obscurity relied on Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen to shine again and win the NBA Championship over their rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers. The United States defying the odds to defeat Europe in the Ryder Cup in Golf. And last, but not least, the Philadelphia Phillies winning the World Series and bringing a major championship to Philadelphia for the first time in 25 years.
Those sports events would be tremendous highlights for a sports fans year in any year but this one. There are four sports events (listed in chronological order) that transcended any normal sporting event and made 2008 the greatest sports year ever.
Super Bowl XLII, New England Patriots vs. New York Giants, February 3, 2008
Whether you like the New England Patriots or not, you must admit that the 2000's Patriots rank as one of the greatest teams in NFL history. They had an opportunity to cement that by being the second team to have a perfect season and the first team to go 19-0. The New York Giants were the kind of team that played well enough to win, but weren't an impressive team. They weren't really expected to make it to the Super Bowl and surprised most people when they did. Because of that, the Patriots were heavy favorites to achieve perfection.
The first three quarters were rather slow with the Patriots leading 7-3. The fourth quarter would be the "magic hour" as both teams traded the lead. After the Patriots scored with 2:42 left, Eli Manning and the Giants needed to move down the field to make history. With a little over a minute and on third down, Manning needed to make a play and after escaping from an almost impossible situation, slinged the ball deep to David Tyree, who was a backup Wide Receiver, caught the ball over his head and using his helmet to keep from dropping the ball.
After that, Mannning threw the ball to Plaxico Burress in the corner of the end zone for the Super Bowl winning touchdown. With the score 17-14, the New York Giants completed one of the biggest upsets in sports.
Because of length, I'll have part 2 available Saturday.
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Enjoy, as I discuss observations and things that have to do with anything and everything. Some will be topical, some will be of interest to me, and some will just be out of the ordinary. I'll try to average at least a post a week, depending on when I'm free.
"Old friends, new lovers, and the disabled. Welcome all!" -Michael Scott, The Office
"Old friends, new lovers, and the disabled. Welcome all!" -Michael Scott, The Office
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