Handling Adversity at Indy 500 Qualifying

This weekend's Indy 500 qualifying showed a contrast in how drivers handle adversity. I would like to look at three drivers and how they handled the stress, misfortune, and in one case the heartbreak that Saturday's qualifying and Sunday's bump day handed them.

During Saturday's qualifying, Danica Patrick qualified with a scarily ill handling race car that was capable of only the 23rd starting position. Obviously frustrated at her first lack of success at Indy and probably compounded by her team's lack of performance throughout this season, this is what she said when interviewed over the track's PA system: "I don't know. I'm very, very disappointed. I've never been bad here before. I've never been outside the top 10 on a finish or qualifying, so... it's not my fault. This car is not good." She continued to recount a previous qualifying attempt in which she qualified well with an oversteering car as proof that she has the skills to do well. The crowd booed this and well they should have. She got out of the car, and whether she meant to or not, publicly placed the blame for her ill handling car squarely on the shoulders of her team. Motor Sport is a TEAM sport; she shoulders just as much blame for the car's lack of performance as the rest of the team does. Sure, they didn't provide her with a car that was fast enough but you can also argue that she didn't provide the feedback needed by the team to make her car fast enough. I hope that, in retrospect, she regrets what she said. I also hope that she doesn't believe what she said, that it was just the frustration of a disappointing season and month of May bubbling to the surface.

Paul Tracy, one of my open wheel heroes, experienced the worst case scenario: not making the big race. He and KV Racing pulled a time that eventually would have made the race expecting that another car would bump them out. Tracy's car did not handle well in the afternoon heat and he ended up aborting the try because the speed wasn't fast enough to get in. Time ran out on Tracy and the KV squad and he didn't get a chance to go out again. Sadly, PT is missing the 2010 Indianapolis 500. Paul's response afterwards: "Turns out we would still have been in. But it's a team decision. And we worked as a team all week, and we made decisions as a team. And you win and lose as a team." This is how the situation should be handled. PT realizes that it is a TEAM sport. You win and lose as a team, something that Danica Patrick apparently forgot.

Tony Kanaan almost experienced the same fate as Paul Tracy and during the weekend proved why he is a champion. Kanaan destroyed a car on Saturday, missing not only the Fast 9, but the top 24 as well, forcing him to qualify on Sunday's Bump Day. On Sunday, he crashed again, this time sustaining damage to the car. The Andretti Autosport team labored throughout the afternoon, using parts from three of the other Andretti Autosport cars to rebuild Kanaan's car. Kanaan didn't place blame in public. He maintained his composure throughout then went out and put the car in the field with a 224.072 MPH four lap average with only 30 minutes left in qualifying. This is the first time Kanaan has qualified outside of the first two rows for the Indianapolis 500, yet he handled himself like the champion he is and carried himself like the team leader that he is. Here is what Kanaan posted on Twitter after his trying weekend: "Today I am a happy person,not because I qualifed, because I realize how many friends and fans I have.Thanks to all of you for the support." This is why TK is another of my open wheel heroes.

Mac McCormick III

NASCAR's 2010 "All Star Race"

I would have liked to have watched Indy 500 Qualifying and the ALMS race from Laguna Seca but I don't have Versus here in Brunswick and I don't have an internet connection most of the time other than a tethered Blackberry. Instead, I watched NASCAR's "All Star Race." My thoughts from an afternoon, evening, and night of a NASCAR overdose:

• SpeedTV coverage keeps calling the NASCAR All Star Race "Racing at its Purest.". Is it really? I don't think it is racing at its purest. This All Star Race still has segments and mandatory pit stops designed to fabricate drama and excitement. Instead of 100 laps split up into segments, if they wanted pure racing they should have just held a 100 lap race and let the teams stop when they wanted to, change the tires they wanted to, and add whatever amount of fuel they wanted to.

• Maybe I'm feeling cantankerous because my sinuses are raging, but... I watch racing for racing, not burnout contests and not over-the-top driver and team introductions. I've got an idea... How about they do away with the burnout contest and scale back intros and spend the money to put SAFER barrier all the way around the track. Do I really need to say anything else. Too much money is being spent on extraneous crap and not enough on the racing. It is ridiculous that a track that is making as much money as Charlotte is spending can't put SAFER barrier all the way around the track. Crashes don't just happen in the turns, they happen on the straights, too.

• TV folks know the first segment was a snoozer. DW: "Now folks don't get upset..." The majority of this race was boring to watch. The 48 dominated the first 3 segments and the racing wasn't all that good behind him. The last segment was good, but do we really have to sit through 90 laps of stale racing to see 10 laps of good racing?

• Good to hear from Keselowski about the #12's power steering issue: he wouldn't complain, just said "time to man up and go to work." I'm not a fan of Brad Keselowski, but I appreciate how he handled this situation. He really could have complained about the power steering but he didn't, he put his head down and pushed on. If he keeps that kind of attitude and matures a bit, I could be persuaded to look at him more favorably.

• Just got to see the end of the NASCAR race on the replay. Outstanding job by the #2 team to patch that thing back together for the win. On the other hand, 2 weekends in a row with uncharacteristic mistakes from Jimmy Johnson. It seems he is human after all. The Penske team did a truly great job of patching up a damaged race car; that car was pretty beat up in the first 3 segments but they fixed it up and adjusted things during the 10 minute break and Kurt Busch was able to storm through the field in the fourth segment. Jimmy Johnson put his left front on the apron and spun trying to catch Busch, but to be honest I don't know if he could have or not. As far as the Kyle Busch/Denny Hamlin business goes, I don't think Hamlin did anything wrong; he didn't force Busch into the wall with contact, but it was a race for "all of the marbles" and he did close the door on the outside very hard. If it was a points race, it would have been a different situation; I don't think Kyle Busch would have done anything different. He would have closed that door just as hard as Hamlin did.

Mac McCormick III

2010 Spanish GP and GP2 Race

This morning, I stayed up after work and watched the GP2 race and the F1 GP from Spain. I was really impressed with Sam Bird in the GP2 feature race, what an aggressive strong performance after problems early. I enjoyed watching his drive through the field, it was more fun to watch than the F1 race was. The F1 race was honestly a snoozer, as a matter of fact I slept through the start and the first 20 laps, waking up in the middle of the first set of pit stops. As much as I was impressed with Sam Bird's drive in GP2 I was disappointed with Button's drive. It seemed as if he really wasn't making an attempt to get around Schumacher, who seemed to be slower and was holding Button up. I can't help but think if it would have been teammate Hamilton in the same position, a pass would have been attempted if not made. Here are my weak attempts at punditry from this morning:

• @MrSteveMatchett, David Hobbs, and Bob Varsha in fine form this morning! Flying like a Bird, Riccing, Hope In Tung, Tung in Cheek...

• Sam Bird in the ART GP2 car is impressive. Very aggressive and so late on the brakes. What a blast to watch!Botched pit stop by Mercedes on Rosberg's car following a blazing one on Schumacher's car. #F1

• Already dozed off and missed start of #F1 race, woke up in middle of pit stops.

• Schumacher really holding Button up at Lap 25. Can't help but think a more agressive driver (like his teammate) would be around him by now.

• Don't know if I can stay awake thru this #F1 race; it is like Button isn't evev trying to get around Schumacher.

• Methinks Hulkenburg should be glad #F1 cars don't have fenders or Rosberg would used them; Hulkenburg blatantly blocking and weaving.

• Wil Buxton just took the cover off of the elephant in the room and I'm glad he did. Rosberg has been screwed by Mercedes...

• Rosberg was doing very good but the team changed the car all around to suit Schumacher! Been thinking this since Friday practice results.

• RT @Formula1Blogger: If Button overtakes Schumacher I'll eat my face! #F1 >> Don't worry, he isn't even trying.

• Hobbs just said what I tweeted, Hamilton would've passed Schumacher. At least he would have TRIED!

• Hamilton loses a left front with 2 to go! Game Over! Will Vettel be on podium with failing brakes?!

• Webber wins, Alonso takes P2 and Vettel is a lucky boy as he takes P3 with failing brakes. Wee bit of drama at the end.

• Next weekend: Monaco. Now that I've used #F1 for a sleep aid I'm going to bed.

This afternoon, Pressdog tweeted the following in regards to Speed TV's new pit lane reporter Will Buxton. My reply to him follows; so far I really like Buxton, he is a good addition to the Speed TV F1 team.

• pressdog Really like Will Buxton addition to F1 posse. Makes some great points like Rosberg greating hosed in favor of His Worship.

• kf4lmt @pressdog Very much agreed. He stated something that others chose to ignore. Welcomed honesty from Buxton in the pit lane.

Mac McCormick III

IndyCar 2010 Kansas Race Thoughts

I didn't get to watch the Kansas IndyCar race live, but I did record it and I watched it this morning. Here are a few of my thoughts from the race:

• Looks like Jay Howard has put SFR behind the 8 ball going into Indianapolis. I'm not sure how Sarah Fisher Racing is fixed for back up cars and spares, but that car looked heavily damaged. That team is really going to have work hard and hope for the best because Indy qualifying will be up coming up fast

• Hideki Mutoh and Takuma Sato were impressive until the restart with 14 to go. Sato did well for his first oval race. Hideki Mutoh did a good job prior to crashing with Takuma Sato, racing in the top 10 for part of the race. It looks like Newman Haas is getting their Oval house in order. I would have loved to have seen what Graham Rahal could have done with the car. Takuma Sato did quite well for his first ever oval race. No doubt racing for KV helped him out (I'm sure he got good advice from Vasser) but you have to be impressed with Sato being in the top 10 prior to the crash.
  

• Has the Kansas race been all that much better than the street course races? I'm sure some will disagree but I don't think so. While there was some good racing in the pack and there some battles for P2 and P3 at times, the race for P1 was never really in doubt. I just don't get how the Oval-Centric folks say that this is more exciting; road/street courses and ovals are equally exciting in different ways. On ovals you have wheel to wheel racing, on road and street courses you have the excitement of seeing who can brake the latest or who can control their car deeper into the corners.
  

• Andretti Autosport may not have fully sorted out the ovals, but it looks like @TonyKanaan and @RyanHunterReay certainly did for Kansas. Danica Patrick finished 1 lap down in P11 and Marco Andretti finished 2 laps down in P13 but Tony Kanaan finished P3 in front of Castroneves and Ryan Hunter Reay finished P5 in front of Ryan Briscoe. They didn't beat the Ganassi cars, but they did beat the Penske cars. Finishing in front of one of the giants isn't bad considering the Andretti team's last few seasons. Obviously there is improvement to be made by two of the Andretti cars, but this race shows that 2 of their cars are definitely getting with the program.
  

• P3 for @TonyKanaan! Good to see one of my favorites back on the podium. Congratulations TK!

Mac McCormick III

Thoughts on the F1 Chinese Grand Prix

Once again, I offer up a collection of my thoughts from the latest F1 race. Originally posted on Twitter either during or shortly after the race depending upon whether I was able to watch it live or not:

• Hamilton really racing hard, but it could be all for naught depending upon the stewards' decision on the pit lane episode with Vettel.

• I just don't understand why a decision can't be made during the race on the Hamilton/Vettel pit episode, it is on video

• Wisdom of Schumacher's #F1 return? He was just passed by Petrov. Schumacher could very well be tarnishing his career.

• Petrov doing well late in the race in the rain. He's passed both Schumacher and Webber

• Button wins over Hamilton. Good finishes by Rosberg in P3 and Kubica in P5. What will become of the Stewards' investigation?

• What might have been for Alonso if he hadn't jumped the start?

• Once again, the rain has made for an interesting #F1 race. Would like to have had more timely Stewards' decisions though.

Well, essentially the Stewards investigation into Hamilton and Vettel in the pits came to naught. That is truly a shame as racing side by side in the pit lane as they did, with Hamilton in the area where crewman could be working, was dangerous. The whole episode makes a mockery of pit lane safety. Seems to be a NASCAR-like decision to me.

Mac McCormick III

Obama Hatred

The hatred that many people have for President Obama never ceases to amaze me. This morning on Facebook, I noticed that more than one person likes this:

DEAR-LORD-THIS-YEAR-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-ACTOR-PATRICK-SWAYZIE-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-ACTRESS-FARAH-FAWCETT-YOU-TOOK-MY-FAVORITE-SINGER-MICHAEL-JACKSON-I-JUST-WANTED-TO-LET-YOU-KNOW-MY-FAVORITE-PRESIDENT-IS-BARACK-OBAMA-AMEN

Since when has it become acceptable to wish death upon someone just because you don't like them? People who consider themselves Christians are hoping that the President dies. Unbelievable. I didn't particularly like George Bush but I would never have wished death upon him or expressed that I wished that he would have died. I don't believe that Obama has done a good job as President, but I don't wish that he would die. I'm sure that the person who created this believes that it is an attempt at humor. It really isn't funny.

We live in truly sad times when we cannot argue our differences civilly and peacefully, instead resorting to things like this. It is bad enough that someone would have these feelings in the first first place, but instead of making comments like these, perhaps people should put their energy into campaigning against Obama and electing representatives that they believe can counter his policies.

Mac McCormick III

CNN Contributor Calls Confederate Soldiers Terrorists

In recent telecasts and on the CNN website, CNN contributor Roland Martin has repeatedly called Confederate Soldiers from the Civil War terrorists. In an online column yesterday, he defended his actions.

First, it is just as divisive of Mr. Martin to refer to them as terrorists as he claims that the Virginia Governor was in honoring the Confederate Veterans this month and leaving out any mention of slavery. Mr. Martin certainly understands that he lobbed a hand grenade into an ammo dump when he made his comments. There is no doubt in my mind that he knew he was being inflammatory. Second, Mr. Martin uses faulty reasoning to come to his conclusion that the Civil War Confederate soldiers were terrorists.

Mr. Martin states that Confederate Soldiers served with the "desire to continue slavery." That is inaccurate. Many average soldiers did not own slaves. Additionally, if left to some Confederate generals, they would have begun the war after freeing the slaves in the Confederacy. Just as the Confederates' primary war aim was not to keep slavery intact, neither was the war aim of the Union to free the slaves. There was still slavery in the Union during the Civil War and the Emancipation Proclamation freed no slaves in the North! Although slavery was a contributing factor in the war, it was only one of the contributing factors.

"If a Confederate soldier was merely doing his job in defending his homeland, honor and heritage, what are we to say about young Muslim radicals who say the exact same thing as their rationale for strapping bombs on their bodies and blowing up cafes and buildings?"

There is a big difference between a Confederate Soldier serving as part of an organized Army subject to government control and a terrorist who straps a bomb to his body and blows up cafes and buildings. With notable exceptions, the Civil War was fought by one Army against another Army. Confederate Soldiers did not attack and kill civilians, they fought against the Union Army in a declared war. If terrorism is defined as the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, esp. for political purposes and a terrorist is defined as a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism then using Mr. Martin's logic, could you not label the Union Army during Sherman's "March to the Sea" as terrorists? Using his logic, where do you draw the line between soldier and terrorist?

Mac McCormick III

IndyCar Debuts at Barber Motor Sports Park

I enjoyed watching the first IndyCar race at Barber Motor Sports Park in Birmingham, Alabama yesterday afternoon. I saw a lot of tweets and comments online about how boring the race was or how much of a snoozer it was. Not all races can be pass fests and even though this one didn't feature a lot of passing, it was still an interesting race from a strategy standpoint. Even though there weren't a lot of passes, there was still a lot of pressure being applied. I imagine you could probably ask Marco Andretti about the pressure that Helio Castroneves was putting on him. That said, some change could probably be made to the track to make for more passing opportunities and I understand that the facility has made promises to do so.

Congratulations to Helio Castroneves on his win. Good to see him climbing the fences again!

Mac McCormick III

I watched the F1 Malaysian Grand Prix last night but I wasn't able to tweet any live comments on it like I've been trying to do with some races. I did tweet some thoughts later in the morning, though. I'll pull them together here to give my thoughts on the race:

• Overall the F1 Malaysian GP was pretty good. There was really no podium fight but the fight for P5 back with McLaren and Ferrari was great!

• It was a shame Alonso's car gave up on the last lap. He put up a heck of a fight with a car that had downshift issues.

• Could it be a Red Bull season in F1? They are certainly the fastest and seem to be sorting out the reliability issues.

• Well Done Force India! A solid drive from a good starting spot by Sutil yields P5 in a dry race

• Well Done Nico Rosberg. 2 straight P5s now a P3 finish. He's outperforming Schumacher on a regular basis too.

• Re: Hamilton blocking early, Don't think he was blocking but instead trying to break the draft on the straight. Once common in NASCAR.

Mac McCormick III

F1 Australian GP

I stayed up early this morning and watched the F1 Australian GP and I'm glad I did. It was an exciting race and provided my only racing fix today; both NASCAR and IndyCar have been rained out until tomorrow. For much of the race Massa, Alonso, Hamilton, and Webber had a great fight (up until Hamilton tried to pass Alonso and Webber slammed into the back of him). Vettel went out due to brake failure and left the race in the hands of Button, who had stopped first for slicks after the track began to dry. Button ran a tire management race and did a great job of it; he went close to 3/4 distance on soft tires while some of the other cars stopped for new softs halfway through and used up the new tires trying to get back toward the front. Kubica did an outstanding job in a lesser car, finishing second in the Renault with Massa coming in third.

Here's some of my observations and commentary from Twitter (end of race at top, beginning of race at bottom):

• Good race by Button and Kubica, Massa follows in P3. Thinking McLarens are being built by Audi after seeing Hamilton's car survive! #F1 (Hamilton's car survived several instances of contact; it reminded me of how well the Audi R-8 and R-10 stood up to crashes)
  
• Webber and Hamilton crash as Hamilton tries to pass Alonso! #F1
  
• Heck of a race for P4-P6 now. Great Stuff!! #F1
  
• Hamilton and Webber almost to rear wing of Alonso and Massa. Business is about to pick up. #F1
  
• Kubica doing great job holding off the Ferraris, surprised that Ferrari hasn't pulled a shennanigan to get Alonso in front of Massa. #F1
• Can't see these tires lasting the whole #F1 race, already blistering on rears. (Boy was I wrong!)
  
• Vettel Off!!!! Brand New Race in #F1. Bad luck...
  
• Good action for P5-P8 in #F1
• Massa holding up Hamilton and Alonso is stalking them both. Still the Vettel show at the front though. #F1
• What a series of passes and errors: Webber, Hamilton, and Massa #F1
• Button is the guinea pig for slicks, let's see what happens #F1
  
• At least 4 cars off to start the race and the Safety Car is out due to massive crash. Good start by Massa though.
  
• I NEVER get tired of Sam Posey's intros to the #F1 races on #SpeedTV.
• Rain starting to fall in Melborne! #F1 race could get interesting

Mac McCormick III

ALMS Timing and Scoring For Smartphones

I got a tweet from the American LeMans Series this afternoon introducing their live timing and scoring for Smartphones. I tried it out during the afternoon test and session and it was pretty cool; it updates every few seconds with positions, times, driver in car, etc. To keep up with the ALMS test sessions, practice sessions, and races, try it at: scoring.americanlemans.com/m

Mac McCormick III

B&J's Seafood and Steaks

Thanks to a suggestion from some Co-Workers, I tried out B&J's Seafood and Steaks in Darien to satisfy another hungering for seafood. B&J's is on the west side of US 17 in Darien; it is a rather small building, so don't go too fast or you might miss it (or get stopped by the Darien PD or McIntosh SO!). B&J's isn't much to look at and it is not fancy, but the food is great and the service is friendly. I ordered the fried shrimp basket for $10.95 and sweet tea. The shrimp basket is 1/2 lb of wild Georgia shrimp, texas toast and fries. You can also get a full pound shrimp dinner for $15.95 but unless you're going to share it with someone get the basket. A bonus is that the fried food wasn't greasy at all. It's definitely a good place to stop and grab dinner if you're near Darien while traveling I-95 or US-17 and it is not too far to go from here in Brunswick to satisfy a hungering for Seafood.

Mac McCormick III

Lil Wayne Going to Jail = Elvis Serving in the Army?

Yesterday an interesting news story made it's way across the Google News website. I wouldn't know Lil Wayne if he was standing in front of me nor have I ever listened to any of him music, but the headline of the article drew me to it: "Lil Wayne Going To Jail Is Like Elvis Being Drafted."

With all due respect, I can't see a comparison between Lil Wayne going to prison over a firearms charge and Elvis doing his military service. This article compares the effect on pop music between the two events and a friend of Lil Wayne states that the effect will be similar. Perhaps so, but Lil Wayne is going to prison. Elvis was drafted, did his service without complaining and by all reports was a good soldier while he was in.

I am not an Elvis fan, but in the end, there is just no comparison. It really is disrespectful to Elvis Presley to make that comparison.

Mac McCormick III

Another "Culinary" Adventure in Brunswick

I tried a new place for lunch in Brunswick today: Salvador's Delicatessen. It is in downtown Brunswick at 205 Gloucester St. Finding a spot to park at some times of the day may be problematic (I got there before noon, I suspect more downtown parking spots will be filled after the noon hour) but it is like downtown Savannah, the walk really isn't all that bad. I ordered the Philly Cheese-steak, which came with chips and a pickle spear with a Jumbo sweet tea. The chips were regular "Lay's" type chips but the sandwich was great; it had sauteed onions and bell pepper but I wish there would have been an option for mushrooms. My only complaint was the size; my total order came to around $7.95 so I wish the sandwich would have been a little bigger. That said, I will be a repeat customer.

Mac McCormick III

Possible Slave Gravesite Found in Dowtown Savannah

From the WTOC Story:
http://www.wtoc.com/Global/story.asp?S=12032853

A possible Slave grave site was found while construction crews were doing demolition work at some property on East Waldburg St. in Savannah. The demolition has been stopped until archaeologists and historians can look at the site and determine exactly what was found. It should be interesting to follow this in the news; hopefully WTOC will continue to cover the story as it develops.

Mac McCormick III

Danica Mania for the Second Week in a Row

Before anyone thinks I've got something against Danica Patrick, let me assure you that I don't. I really wish her well in both NASCAR and the IRL. Once again, this week, my problem is with the media. Just as they did at Daytona, they completely over covered Danica Patrick to the detriment of everyone else at the track. Never before have I seen a backmarker, and let's be honest - that is what she was at California, get so much TV time.

To be honest, I feel sorry for Danica and the microscope she's been under. It's really unfair to have such attention and expectations placed upon you when NASCAR's rules don't allow for a lot of testing. She has not had the chance to test in these cars and learn about them before coming to the race tracks. It really puts her behind the eight ball because most of the other rookies come from a stock car background rather than the open wheel background she comes from.

Mac McCormick III

Newman Hass Lanigan Signs Mutoh

I read several sources over the last couple of days that indicate that Newman Haas Lanigan has signed Hideki Mutoh for the 2010 IRL season. This leaves Graham Rahal out in the cold as far as a ride for 2010 goes. It shows the sad state of affairs the IRL and Motor Sports in general is in when a mediocre driver gets a ride instead of a race winning driver just because the mediocre driver can bring money and a sponsor. I can make the list longer: Takuma Sato, a driver with no experience in Indy Cars (but with F1 experience) gets a ride with KV Racing yet drivers like Paul Tracy and Oriol Servia go rideless. Once again, Sato gets the drive because of money and his connections with Honda, not because he is the best driver available.

Mac McCormick

DanicaMania Invades NASCAR

The Danica 500 week, sorry - I mean Daytona 500 week is over. No offense to Danica Patrick, but SpeedTV, ESPN, and other media outlets made it seem like it was the Danica 500 instead of the Daytona 500. She isn't to blame. The media is and they went overboard.

First, entirely too much attention was paid to Danica. The coverage seemed, at times, to be All Danica, All the Time. No doubt she was a major story line for the week, but you would have thought she was the only story of the week. What about the stories of Mike Bliss, Max Papis, and Joe Nemechek making the Daytona 500 with small under-budget teams? What about what seems to be the best restrictor plate package in Cup in quite awhile? What about teams who are working hard to make a full season in Nationwide or Cup but don't have the sponsorship; some media attention to their efforts could help them find that sponsorship.

Second, there were some absolutely ludicrous statements made during the course of the last week's NASCAR coverage. One analyst referred to Danica Patrick as the most important driver to come along in decades (not a direct quote, but a paraphrase). Huh? Seriously? Just to go back one decade, are we going to say she is more important than Dale Earnhardt Jr, Jimmy Johnson, or Tony Stewart? Another analyst stated that coming to NASCAR would make Danica Patrick a better driver in Indy Cars and inferred that the reason Dario Franchitti won last year's IRL title is that he spent a year in NASCAR (He also won an IRL championship BEFORE he came to NASCAR!). When she heard talk like this, I can't imagine how embarrassing it must have been for her.

In closing, I would like to say that I think Danica Patrick did a great job this past weekend. She raced well and finished well in ARCA and got an education in the Nationwide race. Her performance bodes well for her IRL season in that she seemed to handle adversity even better than she did last year; her temper control seems to be getting better. I don't understate her importance in NASCAR either; she probably has the best chance of any female to win a NASCAR race given the team she is racing for.

Mac McCormick III

Jinright's Seafood House

Last Friday, I decided to treat myself to a seafood dinner. I hadn't had seafood in awhile and it sounded like a good idea. I was out and about in Brunswick and stopped by Jinright's Seafood House off of US17 just south of the Golden Isles Parkway.


View Larger Map

The first thing I noticed on the menu was a disclaimer that the service may not be quick, but that the quality would be good. After perusing the menu further, I ordered the fried shrimp and scallops dinner for $14.95. The service was actually pretty quick; the meal was out in no time and I was surprised with the portions. The plate was piled with shrimp, scallops, and fries along with a bowl of cole slaw. The shrimp and scallops were great, not overly greasy as you can find with a lot of fried foods and the fries were thick and plain with no fancy seasonings. The slaw was simple (just like I like it).

I'll definitely be visiting again!

Mac McCormick III

Luge Death in Vancouver - The Track Design is to Blame

I'll preface this by acknowledging that I am not a winter sports expert, much less a luge expert. I am a racing fan though, and as soon as I saw the video of what happened to Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luger at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, it was obvious why he died. The track is unsafe. It was built unsafe and it should be obvious to anyone but a blind man why it is unsafe.

In this instance, it matters not what caused him to lose control of his sled. The simple fact of the matter is that he did lose control. What killed him was a product of track design. His death was from injuries sustained when he hit vertical supports of some sort that were immediately at track side. When he came off of his sled, momentum slung him into those poles causing horrible injuries. Those poles should not have been that close. You also have to wonder why they didn't back the poles off from the track and provide catch fencing, a wall, or something to prevent the lugers from hitting the poles. Motor Racing tracks, even temporary road courses provide some sort of barrier or catch fencing when there is no choice but to have something like a light pole immediately trackside.

It is my belief that the fault for this athlete's death lies in the track design and in the hands of the officials who didn't see that there was a safer venue for the race. This appears to be a death that did not have to happen. The organizing bodies for luge, skeleton, and bobsled have to look more closely at track design and layout and plan safer tracks.

Mac McCormick III

The Blackberry

I've had my Blackberry Tour for and I've come to love it. I rarely use it as a phone; it sees much more use a mini-computer. I'm notoriously bad with dates and remembering events so the calendar and its reminders is frequently used. Likewise, I can't remember phone numbers, so the address book is also frequently used. I even use the Blackberry software to synchronize my Outlook address book on the computer with the Blackberry address book. I frequently find myself without internet access so the Blackberry often times serves as my internet access, allowing me to keep up with friends via Facebook and to keep up with news and events via the internet and Twitter. I've found the Blackberry to be a very useful tool as well as a fun toy.

I'm not a Blackberry expert nor am I a software, technology, or application expert, but here is a list of suggested Blackberry apps that I've come up with based on my experience:

The Google App
The Google App is my favorite app for the Blackberry. It includes Gmail, Google Maps, Google News, and the Google Reader all wrapped up in a free App. The best part of this app is Google Maps. It integrates with the Blackberry's GPS and radio and turns your Blackberry into a personal navigation device. You can not only see where you are but also get search results based on your location and directions. You can search for what is near you and then tell the application to give you directions to that location. You can also activate Google Latitude and see where other friends that use Latitude are at on the map. Did I mention that this app is free? You can get part of what it does from cell providers at an extra fee, but the Google App is absolutely free.

Facebook
Facebook is a good way to keep up with friends and family. The Facebook Blackberry App is a simplified and basic Facebook interface you can use to keep up with your Facebook News Feed. It's not as full featured as the web version, but it is easy to use on the go. It also integrates with the Blackberry address book and calendar so you can link contacts and dates with Facebook friends, their birthdays, events, etc. You can also set the app to alert you when you have Facebook messages and replies.

Uber Twitter
Uber Twitter is a Twitter client for Blackberry. It goes beyond other mobile Twitter clients in that it can tag your Twits with your location. It can use your location from the GPS or a general location based on the cell tower that the Blackberry is working through.

Twitter is a great way to not only keep up with your friends, but also keep up with the news and what is going on around you. Among the Twitter feeds I follow are: (I tried to follow WTOC as well, but it says that they have blocked me...)

• WSAV
• WJCL
• Savannah Chatham Metro PD
• Federalfire (he posts public safety incidents)
• GeorgiaEMA
• noradnorthcom
  

The Weather Channel App
For obvious reasons... The Weather Channel App also intergrates with the GPS and radio to determine you location and you can get weather based on you current location. You can also create a list of locations to check the weather for. In addition to current conditions and forecasts, you can also check weather alerts, get weather radar imagery overlaid on maps, and airport weather/delay information.

The Bolt Browser
More advanced than the Blackberry Web Browser, the Bolt browser views not only mobile sites, but does a much better job on regular internet sites than the Blackberry browser does. It also works, in my opinion, much faster than the Blackberry Browser.

Fuze Messenger
Instead of using seperate clients for AOL IM, Yahoo Messenger, etc. you can use the Fuze Messenger client which is like a Blackberry version of Trillian (if you are familiar with it). You can use AOL IM, Yahoo Messenger, Google Chat, etc. all from the same application.

BBScanner
The BBScanner App is a must for radio geeks. It integrates with Radioreference.com's online scanners and other online scanners and lets you listen to scanner audio from all over the country and the world on your Blackberry.

Mac McCormick III, KF4LMT