Looking For Handouts, While Throwing Punches

First Wall Street told us the sky would fall if they failed. Financial CEO’s with they big dollar salaries and perks galore told the federal government if they didn’t give them money, the entire economy would collapse. Going against public opinion, the government decided to hand out billions of dollars of taxpayer money to prop up Wall Street. We now find ourselves on the other side of the bailout, and not much has changed. Expect for companies like AIG who could afford their all expense paid business trips, Wall Street continues to grind along.

Not only did the sky not fall, but Black Friday sales were up this year!

Now it’s the automakers turn to strong arm the nation. Their first trip to Washington did not go well. They were sent packing as nothing more than greedy CEO’s looking for a handout. As one leader said, “They arrived on Capital Hill in their private jets with a tin cup in their hand.” Not only did Capital Hill not buy it, but the nation has not bought the song and dance either. A recent CNN poll reveals that once again the majority of the people in the nation are against any kind of bailout. Of course the automakers are quick to say it’s not a bailout. They say they’re looking for a loan. But, if one were to check their credit report, I would say it doesn’t look good and therefore their credit rating number is rather low.

Of course we know what that means, if you have a low score, you don’t get a loan.

Read on …

The 2008 NASCAR Chase For The Championship Is Winding Down!

With just four races left, Jimmie Johnson is taking what appears to be a commanding lead over the rest of the field. He extended his winning streak again yesterday with a win in Martinsville. He’s now heading into the home stretch of the Chase, with just four races left. If last year is any indication of what this year will be like, it appears Jimmie Johnson is heading for his third straight championship as he won the last four races of the season last year.

Read on …

The Chase is on! Race Three in Kansas…

I have to admit when NASCAR introduced the whole Chase for the Championship format a few years ago, I was not impressed. Not to say I’m one of those “stuck in the past type people,” but I just didn’t see anything wrong with the old point system. I couldn’t understand why NASCAR would want to tweak something that worked. As the old saying goes, “If it ain’t busted, don’t fix it.” But, the powers-to-be in the NASCAR head office hauler had some changes in mind. With 10 races left, the top 10, now the top 12, in the points would have a magic wand reset their points. Then, in somewhat of a play-off fashion, during the final 10 races of the season, they would race for the championship.

But, now I must admit the Chase format is certainly creating some very exciting racing, and yesterday was no exception. Coming up in this post I actually have three things I want to address;

1. Cousin Carl’s Best Quote Of The Race
2. Kyle “Cry-Baby” Busch Proves Why He’s NOT Championship Material
3. Remembering An Acting/Racing Icon

Read on …

The mid-week penalties have been announced by NASCAR.

If you don’t follow racing closely, Tuesday is always known as penalty day for NASCAR. That’s when the higher ups in the sport sit down and decide what the penalties will be from any weekend infractions. Many teams sit on the edge of their seat wondering what will happen. Depending on the infraction, some wonder about losing a Crew Chief for a race or two, the loss of points, or even a lighter wallet. Sometimes drivers are placed on probation, and other times, there’s simply a slap to the wrist. True to form, NASCAR have announced their penalties for the week, this time taking aim at Kyle Busch and Carl Edwards.

Just as a refresher here, the drivers were under the magnifying glass by NASCAR as a result of some on track incidents after Saturday night’s race in Bristol. Carl Edwards pulled off the famous, or maybe infamous, bump and run to shoot past Kyle Busch in the closing laps of the race and take the win. For a full description of what transpired Saturday night you can find it here in an earlier blog entry I entitled Do Unto Others…

So, what happened yesterday when NASCAR handed out their penalties. In my opinion, once again, NASCAR wimped out…

Read on …

The dust has settled, the smell of rubber has dissipated, and the crushed sheet metal is ready for straightening. Another NASCAR weekend at Bristol Motor Speedway is in the record books, and once again, what a weekend it was. Bristol is always a big show for race fans. The short track packs in some 160,000 fans. It’s called the Thunderdome for a reason — it’s usually very loud once those 43 cars fire up their engines after hearing the famous words — Gentleman…start your engines!

Aside from the racing action, the fans set a new world record for the largest crowd to do the wave at a sporting event. The Guinness folks were on hand as the green flag dropped to signal the start for the fans to take part in the gigantic wave. Now that some 160,000 fans successfully kept the wave going all the way around the stands, the Guinness people have record the new world record. It might stand for quite some time too since very few sporting events draw such a big crowd.

Then, with the record in the books, it was time to drop the green flag for the drivers. With just three races left until the final Chase for the Championship starts, there’s a lot on the line for some drivers who are clinging to one of those top 12 spots to get into the Chase. Bristol always provides door to door, rubbin’s racing excitement. But, as usual, some of the rubbin’ was simply uncalled for. I addressed the situation in an earlier blog post called Do Unto Others Sunday morning.

Sparks flew after the race as Kyle Busch was once again mad, proving that he’s a sore loser, decided to use his car as a weapon. When the race was done, Busch decided to use his car as a weapon and rammed into the winner, Carl Edwards. Busch was called to the NASCAR hauler for his actions, and I hope penalties will follow.

Of course while Busch’s actions are totally irresponsible, some reporters are calling it a rivalry. As for me, I’d like to ask the question — Is this a rivalry or is this simple stupidity?

Read on …

What will it take for NASCAR to finally start parking drivers for aggressive on-track actions. It’s only happened once, that I can remember, and that was in the truck series. Kevin Harvick found himself parked for aggressive on-track actions. Some would say that was the turning point for Harvick which went a long way to help mature him as a driver.

But, aside from the truck series, NASCAR officials seem to turn a blind eye to the dangers of drivers using their cars as on track weapons. Emotions run high on the road, and police arrest you for road rage. Emotions run high in a NASCAR race, and NASCAR officials turn a blind eye saying it’s just all part of racing. Sorry boys, but the phrase is “Rubbin’s racing” not “Intentionally aiming your car at another car is racing.” If NASCAR doesn’t soon address this very dangerous issue, someone is going to get killed. The sad thing us, that someone will probably end up being some unsuspecting fan, or some unsuspecting pit crew member. The drivers won’t get hurt. After all, they’re pretty much protected by the weapon, which in some cases has more safety features than a tank. But, as almost happened when Kurt Busch took a run at Tony Stewart in the pits last year, some poor pit crew member might get hit by a car and die.

This whole scenario came to light once again as a result of Juan Pablo Montoya’s on-track actions at New Hampshire last weekend. Apparently he was somewhat upset with Kyle Busch. So, what does he do? He aims his car at Busch, and takes him out. What does NASCAR do? They penalize Montoya by taking away two laps. Yeah, right. That’ll show him!

Come on NASCAR, give me a break. It’s time to smarten up and tighten down on such conduct. What will it take for you to finally figure out drivers who use their car as a weapon, need to sit out a race or two. It’s called road rage, and certainly does not put out the family-oriented image you’re trying to present. It’s pretty sad when parents have to explain to their kids that what the driver just did, you should never do in real life on the road.

Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus

Once again Kyle Busch, the driver of the 18 M&M’s car in NASCAR, has proven he does not know how to race. Everyone thinks he’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, but reality is this. He does not know how to race. He’s a wreck waiting to happen everytime he climbs into the seat of a race car. It doesn’t matter if it’s a car, or a truck, he’s always one stupid move away from taking out half the field. Which, by the way, he has done many times.

Sunday’s Aaron’s 499 in Talladega serves as yet another example of the fact Kyle Busch does not know how to drive. There’s a saying in racing — Rubbins’ racing. In other words, many racers rub up against one another with their cars to move the other guy out of the way. But, for Kyle Busch, all he knows how to do is block. In other words, he erratically swerves all over the race track blocking people behind him who are trying to make a pass. That’s not racing, that’s an accident waiting to happen. On Sunday, true to form, Jeff Gordon and others were coming up behind Busch, who happened to be in the lead at the time, going 200 miles an hour. It was obvious they were going faster than Busch. But, what does Busch do, He decides to swerve all over the track blocking those behind him, causing them to slam on their brakes to avoid a major crash.

Again, that’s not racing. It’s simply stupid driving by a young kid who needs to be parked before he kills someone on the track. Making matters even worse, his owner, Joe Gibbs, thinks it’s great. That’s sad, I thought Joe Gibbs knew better.

Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus

Another weekend has come and gone and that means it’s time to look over some weekend sports blunders.

1) NBC Hockey
When will these guys get it right! Okay, they’ve figured out how to fix the white balance so you’re no longer blinded by the bright white ice. You can actually see the players and you can also see the lines on the ice. However, for whatever reason, the NBC control room audio guys must all be deaf. Once again I tried watching the Red Wings game, but had to turn it off because the noise of the crowd drowned out the announcers calling the game. Come on guys, it’s the play-offs and now they’re almost done. Hello NBC execs — do you think you can get your sound guys to figure out the play-by-play announcers are more important than the roar of the crowd?

2) Danica Patrick
Okay, so it took her 50 races, but she finally made it to Victory Circle. Danica Patrick won her first IRL race over the weekend in Japan. But, while Tom Hanks declared — “There’s no crying in baseball” — someone should tell Danica — “There’s no crying in racing!”

3) NASCAR Should Have “Parked” Kyle Busch
The new wonder-boy of NASCAR is at it again. For years I’ve said Kyle Busch is not a good driver. Everyone thinks he is, but in reality, he’s nothing more than a pimpled-face kid who knows how to mash the gas, but that’s about it. Why am I picking on him today? It’s because of something he said during the Nationwide race in Mexico. Scott Pruett led most of the race and in the closing laps Kyle Busch was in second. Busch, who doesn’t know how to race clean keyed his radio and told his crew — “I’m getting tired of Pruett. I’m going to spin him out into the wall so I can take the lead and win.” At that point NASCAR officials should have keyed their radio and said — “Okay Kyle Busch, it’s time to park your car.” But, they didn’t. They just let their wonder-boy drive. Come on NASCAR. When a driver says he’s going to use his car as a weapon, it’s time to park him.

Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus

It’s the start of another new week. With that in mind, I’d like to spend a few moments discussing some major sports blunders from the weekend. I have two blunders to look at today.

Blunder Number One
NBC should be ashamed of themselves! I know NHL hockey viewership took a hit a few years ago during the strike. But come one, now everyone seems to be jumping on the NHL bandwagon trying to reclaim the sport. I’ve discovered a great new channel on my lineup, it’s the NHL Network. I love it! I can find all kinds of hockey pretty much every night. So, what happened with NBC yesterday? They decide to carry their big game of the week between the Red Wings and the Blackhawks. I figure this is great! I’m a Blackhawks fan so I plan to watch the hockey game before the race starts. Well, that didn’t last very long. The white balance was so far off on the cameras you couldn’t even see the lines on the ice! Making matters even worse, the Blackhawks were wearing white which meant all you could see was black skates moving across the very bright white of the ice and big red blobs of Red Wings players.

Come on NBC…aren’t you smarter than that? If you’re going to carry a hockey game, make sure you balance the color on your camera before hitting the air. It was more like watching a bunch of Polar Bears playing hockey than players fighting it out for a playoff spot.

Blunder Number Two
This blunder goes to the many NASCAR drivers who keep complaining about the handling of the new race car. Jimmy “Cry-baby” Johnson finished second in Texas but the first thing he says when he emerges from the car is that he now knows what everyone else is talking about because the car handles poorly. He says he, along with others, want NASCAR to do something about the car because he’s tired of having to work so hard when driving the car. Further down the line the new Golden-Brat-Boy of the sport, Kyle Busch, complains that he hasn’t worked so hard in all his driving career as he had to over the weekend. Why did he have to work so hard? Because he says the car needs to be worked on by NASCAR because he has to work to drive the car.

Excuse me for a moment boys, but aren’t you called racecar drivers? Give me a break. You’re complaining because you have too work to hard to drive the car? You’re paid millions of dollars to drive the car so stop your complaining. Oh, and by the way, I for one believe NASCAR has accomplished exactly what they wanted to. They said the driver needs to be more in control of the car while driving instead of just getting in the car and mashing the gas. They’ve done just that. Suddenly the driver has to work and understand how to control the car.

Reality is, what’s happening in NASCAR this year is exactly what I’ve been saying for years. We’re suddenly discovering the so-called stars are no stars at all. Those whom some in racing held up as stars were nothing more than gas-mashers who sat behind a steering wheel, went fast and turned left. Now all of a sudden the true drivers are rising to the top. The ones who understand there’s more to racing than just going fast. Sometimes, as DW always says, you go faster, by going slower.

Stop your complaining guys, and take a few driving lessons. Then maybe you’ll figure the new car out.

Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus

If you follow NASCAR, then you know Tony Stewart is sponsored by the Home Depot. He’s driven the orange Depot car for a long time. However, during the past few years, Stewart has also done some stupid things which have gotten him in trouble with both NASCAR officials and his Home Depot sponsor. When a business spends millions of dollars on sponsorship they frown upon their spokespeople casting a bad light on their product.

That being said, could there be something in the wind as far as sponsorship goes? The new Home Depot commercial does not mention Tony Stewart at all. It’s an obvious NASCAR commercial, but this time around the name dropped throughout the commercial is the driver of the 17 car, Matt Kenseth. Could it be that Home Depot is sending a strong message to the driver of the 20 car? If I were Joe Gibbs racing I’d be saying it’s time to reel in my driver named Tony Stewart before they suddenly see millions of dollars in sponsorship money walking out the door.

Just my two cents,
Dr. Rus