Why ROWDY is great

So I've been around this website for a while (over a year). I have never met Buck, Bass, or Cutler, but I've posted my share of comments and blogs.

They don't really know me and I don't really know them. And yet, I find out on today's podcast that Bass apparently took some constructive criticism (opinion really) I made several months ago in a video comment to heart. He didn't have to do that, it's their website, their show.

What makes ROWDY great is these guys strive to make the best show possible for their fans and they respond to their fan base. That's why I keep listening every day. Even though we may have divergent views sometimes, that's why I keep coming back.

p.s. I did not get mad. First, I was surprised my name came up. Second, I found it pretty funny to watch you slip and then backpedal and Buck try to bury you.

p.p.s. I know Ms. Grammar is gone, but I don't want to be labeled Mr. Language Police. :)

Thanks for making a great show.

• 14 Comments

ESPN Fantasy Racing

So ESPN reset the driver values for segment 2 and it seems to me they are really trying to shake things up a bit. It seems to me that they have really upped the values on the top guys; there are 5 guys at 23 or higher. In the past there used to be 2, maybe three, up there.

And the guys in the 20-23 range is not a huge selection. It looks to me like they are really trying to make you dig for your picks and not let you overload the top of your team.

• 0 Comments
• ESPN, Fantasy Racing

Stewart's candor refreshing

It was very refreshing to hear Tony be so candid regarding what he's thinking and looking at for his next move.

It was a nice change from the denials and beating around the bush we get so often.

• 3 Comments

State of the Sport - what can we learn from F1

Forgive me for being a bit fuzzy on the details here, but I think you'll get the general point.

Several years ago F1 was in an uproar because it was pretty much a given that Michael Schumacher (or Rubens Barichello, the other Ferrari driver) was going to win every single race. He was nearly invincible. There were cries all over that it was terrible for F1 for a single driver to dominate the series. Some people claimed that it was terrible for the sport and was driving viewship down, making the racing boring, etc.

On the other side (mostly Ferrari fans) people claimed we should all bask in the glory that is Schmacher and tune it to be in awe at how awesome and great he is.

(As an aside, much the same arguments can be made for what Tiger is doing right now in golf.)

This is where I get a little fuzzy, so maybe Mike in Toronto or other F1 fans can clarify, but as I recall there was a lot of talk about adding ballasts to the Ferraris to make them slower and essentially handicap them to increase parity with the other teams. I believe they did this and some of the other teams caught back up for a while. From a very casual observers standpoint it seems that Ferrari is getting back to their dominant form.

So, the point of all this is, was it really unhealthy for F1 to have a super dominant team? Was it good to handicap the teams to increase parity? Should NASCAR handicap the superteams to give the little guys a chance, or give the little guys an advantage (like more horsepower) that is not given to the big teams? Should NASCAR look at a "luxury tax" or "salary cap" like in other sports that hampers the big spenders in some way?

What percentage of the drivers should NASCAR expect to have a legitimate shot at winning each week (25%, 50%, 100%). Looking around at other sports it seems pretty clear that salary caps and luxury taxes don't guarantee parity. See the NY Knicks. It still comes down to the talent that a team fields. And there are always going to be people who are more capable crew chiefs, drivers, pit crews, than others and they are going to rise to the top. You have to work to get better, some will achieve the top, others will not.

When does that become bad for the sport as a whole? Are there lessons we can take from other sports, especially F1?

• 1 Comment
• F1, State of the Sport

Gas Pickups

Everyone keeps talking about how the pickup is in the right-hand side rear corner of the gas tank and how when you're on banking the gas runs away from the pickup.

Can anyone explain to me why they don't simply put the pickup in the left-rear corner? Then the banking always brings the gas to the pickup.

I know the solution cannot be this simple, so there has to be a reason. Anyone know what it is?

• 6 Comments
• Gas Pickups

Why the 99 "cheated"

First off, the point of this post is not to call the 99 cheaters. It's more of a mental exercise in "why would they do that?"

I, and many others, have wondered why the 99 might even attempt to pull this stunt. It is so obvious. However, it seems to me they have plenty of reason to give it a try. Let's examine some datapoints:

1) The team is really on fire. It's early in the season, now is the best time for them to try something if they're going to.

2) The 10 bonus points for winning as a chase bonus are pure gold.

3) Based on the Nationwide penalties, they did not expect to get hammered as hard as they did. And they especially didn't expect to lose the 10 bonus points.

So, they think Carl is going to make the chase and they want to get him some extra bonus points. What do they have to give up: ~25 driver points, a little money, and Bob for a race or two. Is those 10 bonus points worth it? I say it makes a lot of sense to trade those three things for the extra 10 points.

This of course, is just speculation, but it seems to me they were trying to make what they thought was a low-risk trade for some huge benefit. Of course, now that they've got much heavier penalities than expected (especially the loss of the 10 bonus points), things didn't work out so hot.

• 5 Comments
• 99 penalty

Open-wheelers running fast laps

Cutler doubted today whether many open wheelers were used to running very fast lap times. Well, Cutler, the answer is "yes". In IRL cars, these guys run Richmond in 16 seconds, the Milwaukee Mile in 22 seconds, Homestead in 24 seconds, and Motegi in 27 seconds. Obviously Dario, Sam, and Juan have all run these tracks. I assume Jacques has run some or all of them.

• 2 Comments
• IRL Cutler

NASCAR Bulls#!t Penalty

First off let me say whoo-hoo to the 24 getting the win. Sweet.

Second, I can't take it anymore. NASCAR is full of crap with this "equipment out of the pit box penalty". On the whole, I don't have a problem with this penalty. It makes sense. It is just absolutely crazy that the 24 gets a penalty for a wrench being out of the pit box yet the 84 has crew men pushing the car down the pit lane WITH OTHER CARS FLYING BY AT 55 MPH!
I don't think you have to be a rocket scientist to see there's something wrong here! And this is not the first time I've seen this. Teams do it all the time.

• 1 Comment
• penalties

Geoff Smith needs to quit whining!

Enough whining about Carl's penalty! The fact is, there is a rule and a spec and their car did not meet it. If a top 35 car is too low (downforce track or not) after qualifying, they don't make the race. That is a base 35 point penalty, plus money, plus lost opportunity to make more points. Either you have rules and you enforce them, or you don't have any rules and make everything subjective. I'll take the former. This arguing about a sliding scale is utterly ridiculous. By that logic, if the infraction occurred in the next to last race of the season, the penalty should be slid down to 5 or less points because he has less opportunity to make up the lost points.

"Reasonable people" can certainly see the NASCAR side of this issue Mr. Smith!

• 1 Comment
• Carl Edwards, Geoff Smith, Penalty

Fantasy racing conundrum

So, I'm a Jeff Gordon fan, and I play the ESPN SCC fantasy game. The problem I'm facing is, Jeff's success this year has made him so darn expensive, I can't put him on my team. (One could argue ESPN is overcharging for him, but that's another story. I mean he's 1.6 points higher than JJ )

I want to have the 24, but I just can't afford his salary when building a competitive team. It makes for a lot of pain on race day, such as Pocono, when I was glad he won, but it really hurt my fantasy team because other guys I had finished lower.

Anyone else in the same boat? What did you do?

• 0 Comments