Tuesday, July 29, 2014
Monday, July 28, 2014
The Myth Of The Retirement Crisis.
Are Rising Health Care Costs Creating a Retirement Crisis?
No, they're not. Progressives want expansion of the Social Security pyramid scheme. But the retirement crisis is falsified yet again by them.
No, they're not. Progressives want expansion of the Social Security pyramid scheme. But the retirement crisis is falsified yet again by them.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
Monday, July 14, 2014
NASCAR Enters The Bye
It's the All Star Break - and baseball has something going on this week, too.
NASCAR's mid-July bye week comes following the heat of New Hampshire, this on top of the heat of Daytona, and oddly enough the last two weeks and the few weeks before that have made for a curious shift in the series. Before the Brickyard beckons, some takes on the season so far and the last several weeks in particular -
The New Hampshire Weekend - The weekend itself was a bang-up weekend starting with the Sunoco 100 for the Modified Tour. The draft kicked in yet again and the battle for the lead was amazing down to the finish. It was fitting that after Richard Petty's #43 won the Firecracker 400 Mike Curb's Modified driven by Bobby Santos stormed to the New Hamsphire Modified win.
And the Cup race, while never able to match the Mods in competitive ferocity, nonetheless saw a striking level of passing up front and some dicey maneuvers on restarts. It wasn't as wild as Pocono has seen, but it was close.
Suddenly Ford Has Taken Over - Fords have won the last four races, beginning at Sears Point. At New Hampshire the Chevys never looked in particular contention while the Toyotas produced some muscle that's been missing much of the season, and with the season taking a decided turn for the worse for Toyota as the Brickyard is a place Toyota hasn't won at nor shown much muscle at.
It's The Full Keselowski Experience - We certainly didn't see this coming earlier in the year when it appeared Keselowski was losing his mind. Now he's won two of the last three races to go with March's Vegas win and looks to have recaptured status as top dog at Penske Racing. Contrast this with Joey Logano; Logano has four top ten finishes since winning the Richmond 400 and two 40th place finishes. Naturally he bitched about Morgan Shepherd in the New Hampshire wreck, but this is another case of getting what one deserves.
It's Not The Hendrick Experience - Jimmie Johnson now has consecutive 42nds on his results card and seven finishes below 18th so far. In contrast Old Man Gordon has put together a good run of finishes before running out of gas at New Hampshire. Dale Junior has also strung together a good run of finishes the last seven weeks. Surprisingly Kasey Kahne hasn't done that badly despite being MIA much of the time.
Roush Keeps Striking Out - Carl Edwards has a paltry one top ten since the 600 - the Sears Point win; he also hasn't led a lap since Sears Point. The issue of engineers has been a talking point sorts lately, and it isn't getting better with Edwards reportedly on the way out, Greg Biffle not producing - just one top ten since the Winston 500 - and Ricky Stenhouse proving he's a drafting bust.
Almirola Crashes To Earth - Starting last after a crash in practice, Aric Almirola never got above 21st and finished 23rd, this after a superb Kentucky effort that ended in a crash and then the Daytona win. Nonetheless the #43 has shown real muscle all season.
Stewart-Haas Takes A Hit - Kevin Harvick is the one screwed most by the points system, having won twice and led nearly 900 laps - only Johnson has led more so far - yet is 13th in points. Having said this, the last seven weeks have been a blow, with just two top tens and three finishes 20th or worse. And his teammates aren't doing any better - Stewart-Haas has combined for ten top tens among all four cars since the Winston 500. Tony Stewart's seventh was something of a surprise finish, only his second top-ten in the last eleven races.
RCR Trundles Along - Can someone explain how Mister MIA Ryan Newman is seventh in points? I grant he's posted three top-10s in the last seven races, but overall he and the RCR gang have simply been abysmal all season. Not that anyone noticed, but Austin Dillon got outclassed by Kyle Larson again.
Ganassi Keeps On Keeping On - Larson's New Hampshire finish overshadowed a respectable effort by Jamie McMurray.
The sport thus has some items to chew on during its bye week.
NASCAR's mid-July bye week comes following the heat of New Hampshire, this on top of the heat of Daytona, and oddly enough the last two weeks and the few weeks before that have made for a curious shift in the series. Before the Brickyard beckons, some takes on the season so far and the last several weeks in particular -
The New Hampshire Weekend - The weekend itself was a bang-up weekend starting with the Sunoco 100 for the Modified Tour. The draft kicked in yet again and the battle for the lead was amazing down to the finish. It was fitting that after Richard Petty's #43 won the Firecracker 400 Mike Curb's Modified driven by Bobby Santos stormed to the New Hamsphire Modified win.
And the Cup race, while never able to match the Mods in competitive ferocity, nonetheless saw a striking level of passing up front and some dicey maneuvers on restarts. It wasn't as wild as Pocono has seen, but it was close.
Suddenly Ford Has Taken Over - Fords have won the last four races, beginning at Sears Point. At New Hampshire the Chevys never looked in particular contention while the Toyotas produced some muscle that's been missing much of the season, and with the season taking a decided turn for the worse for Toyota as the Brickyard is a place Toyota hasn't won at nor shown much muscle at.
It's The Full Keselowski Experience - We certainly didn't see this coming earlier in the year when it appeared Keselowski was losing his mind. Now he's won two of the last three races to go with March's Vegas win and looks to have recaptured status as top dog at Penske Racing. Contrast this with Joey Logano; Logano has four top ten finishes since winning the Richmond 400 and two 40th place finishes. Naturally he bitched about Morgan Shepherd in the New Hampshire wreck, but this is another case of getting what one deserves.
It's Not The Hendrick Experience - Jimmie Johnson now has consecutive 42nds on his results card and seven finishes below 18th so far. In contrast Old Man Gordon has put together a good run of finishes before running out of gas at New Hampshire. Dale Junior has also strung together a good run of finishes the last seven weeks. Surprisingly Kasey Kahne hasn't done that badly despite being MIA much of the time.
Roush Keeps Striking Out - Carl Edwards has a paltry one top ten since the 600 - the Sears Point win; he also hasn't led a lap since Sears Point. The issue of engineers has been a talking point sorts lately, and it isn't getting better with Edwards reportedly on the way out, Greg Biffle not producing - just one top ten since the Winston 500 - and Ricky Stenhouse proving he's a drafting bust.
Almirola Crashes To Earth - Starting last after a crash in practice, Aric Almirola never got above 21st and finished 23rd, this after a superb Kentucky effort that ended in a crash and then the Daytona win. Nonetheless the #43 has shown real muscle all season.
Stewart-Haas Takes A Hit - Kevin Harvick is the one screwed most by the points system, having won twice and led nearly 900 laps - only Johnson has led more so far - yet is 13th in points. Having said this, the last seven weeks have been a blow, with just two top tens and three finishes 20th or worse. And his teammates aren't doing any better - Stewart-Haas has combined for ten top tens among all four cars since the Winston 500. Tony Stewart's seventh was something of a surprise finish, only his second top-ten in the last eleven races.
RCR Trundles Along - Can someone explain how Mister MIA Ryan Newman is seventh in points? I grant he's posted three top-10s in the last seven races, but overall he and the RCR gang have simply been abysmal all season. Not that anyone noticed, but Austin Dillon got outclassed by Kyle Larson again.
Ganassi Keeps On Keeping On - Larson's New Hampshire finish overshadowed a respectable effort by Jamie McMurray.
The sport thus has some items to chew on during its bye week.
Bobby Santos Wins Sunoco 100 Whelen Modified Tour Race
A good write-up on Bobby Santos' wild win in the Mod Tour 100 at New Hampshire.
We once again witnessed - when the draft means more than handling, passing results.
We once again witnessed - when the draft means more than handling, passing results.
Wednesday, July 09, 2014
Monday, July 07, 2014
Sizing Up Brian France Entering The Second Half
NOTE: This has been updated since initial publication.
With the Firecracker 400's completion the Winston Cup season enters the second half in earnest, and we get more verbiage from Brian France as he pats himself on the back amid his discussion about "robust discussion" about the 2015 schedule. Whenever Brian France speaks he tends to put his foot in his mouth to at least a minor extent, and he does it again when he pats himself on the back that points racing has ostensibly been reduced with his new format where winning one race in effect locks a driver into the Chase.
Looking at the overall racing doesn't show any appreciable increase in competitive intensity. Certainly there have been good competitive spots - apart from the plate races the season has seen unusually good racing at Fontana, Bristol, Martinsville, and to a lesser extent Kentucky. But it also saw Dale Junior's admission at Talladega that he backed off trying to win because he already had a win and thus had no incentive to fight harder.
Yes, it bears repeating that the issue of competition is not solely a points issue; that it a myriad of issues between the cars being too fast, handling being too important instead of the draft (see the Kansas Truck 200 back in May for the best non-plate race example where the opposite was the case), and the unraceability of radial tires. And it bears remembering that even in NASCAR's competitive apex era of 1971-84 more races didn't produce as much passing than did; it's to be expected in any endeavor to have bad days as well as good.
Yet for all that, one should not let France off the hook, for the points racing ethos still exists. That the win by itself is not incentivized, and that most laps led remains grossly under-incentivized, remains a blind spot for the sanctioning body.
Daytona and Talladega both saw over 40 lead changes; it is manifestly false that the sport can't once again get over 50 there and at Pocono, Michigan, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Kansas, Kentucky, etc.
*****
There is also the seemingly unending issue of NASCAR's over-control of the racing, shown again in the Firecracker 250 finish and the controversy over NASCAR's no-push-drafting rule. The foolishness of NASCAR was shown for all yet again as it tried to justify having a rule that gives the officiating tower a control of the racing it has no right to have. Kasey Kahne and Ryan Sieg push-drafted to the win as did others, and only James Buescher got penalized for it.
It bears repeating how push-drafting had evolved by 2013 - shown in the Truck 250 at Talladega - away from the bizarre look of 2011 back toward conventional pack racing, and the net positives of increased passing, especially for smaller teams able to fight the big boys straight up, outweigh negatives. And it is just part of the problem of the officiating tower being given more control when NASCAR needs to be taking such control away and giving it back to the racers, whether it's closing pit road when the yellow flies, dictating how fast cars can enter and exit the pits (before NASCAR started closing pit road in March 1989 there was no pit safety issue; that happened AFTER NASCAR began closing pit road), and limiting what parts of the asphalt drivers can pass on (see Junior's 2003 Talladega win and Tony Stewart's 2008 non-win).
Brian France needs to give NASCAR a major philosophical change - the belief that the sanctioning body has to meddle has to go. Sensible rules are always needed; meddling isn't a sensible rule
*****
Brian France wants more team owners in the sport, and "is continuing to look at ways to reduce costs for teams." It does beg the question of why he's still allowing the likes of Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush not only to field three or four racecars but to control the engine and chassis supply of almost everyone else. And it is a question the manufacturers need to be asked - isn't it time to help other teams build their own engine shops and thus build their own engines?
As for manufacturers, there remains a need for explanation of why Dodge quit the sport and why Honda so far has not entered it. Richard Petty's Daytona win is an unrealized boon that would have benefitted Dodge - and still can if/when Dodge returns to the sport.
Related to such issues remains NASCAR's exclusivity deals, notably its deal with Goodyear; such deals have either taken away potential team sponsors or outright shut out certain companies from participating in the sport. No one can credibly claim Goodyear exclusivity has made the sport better, or that Firestone and Hoosier can't help the sport by helping more teams.
And the wildcard thrown into the mix is the new Race Team Alliance, a business alliance involving Hendrick, Roush, Richard Childress Racing, Petty, Ganassi-SABCO, Michael Waltrip Racing, Joe Gibbs, Stewart-Haas, and and Penske. The stated purpose is to pool ideas on cost-saving in relation to travel and to parts acquisition, with the idea of getting a hotel partner for raceteams being floated. Some have compared this to the now-defunct Formula One Constructors Association, an alliance of F1 teams that worked together in negotiations with the FIA, the F1 series' governing body. Rob Kaufmann, the co-founder of Michael Waltrip's team, is head of the group.
It will be interesting to see where this goes, and if it brings about something close to the spending controls - aka salary cap - that racing has long needed.
*****
France stated he won't limit Cup driver participation in lower series, and thus remains blind to how Cup drivers have bled the Busch Series dry - to where only fifteen drivers ran the full schedule in 2013 and only seventeen have run the full schedule in 2014. The Truck Series is in the same boat even though Cup drivers for the most part don't race there - only seventeen drivers have run all the races, and while few Cup drivers race in the series Kyle Busch has run five times with five wins, versus just two other drivers winning even once in eight races entering July.
While France hinted a new sponsor for the Busch Series is pretty much around the corner, the fact basically no one can make any money there or in the Trucks remains a black spot for him. Would it really hurt him if he switched some of the multi-billion dollar TV money into the purses in support races?
*****
There was the usual talk about Iowa Speedway, and curiously missing seemed to be discussion of the validity of hosting non-points races such as the All Star Race. Such events have outlived their usefulness as evidenced again in Charlotte's All Star Race.
There was also talk about attendance declines, with Dover singled out for some criticism. Overlooked is that Dover is still drawing quality crowds; they look smaller because the track overbuilt the way Michigan and Rockingham did. Dover does warrant criticism in that it has proven two things -
* Concrete is worthless as a racing surface, as Dover has struggled to produce competitive racing for the twenty years it has run concrete.
* Shorter is not better. Dover cut to 400 miles after 1996 because NASCAR raised the sanction fee for a 500-mile race - and Dover's 400s are nowhere close to its 500s in competitive depth. If anything other tracks in addition to Dover need to go to 450 miles or back to the full 500.
So Brian France has thus spoken again, and the 2014 season has gotten more enjoyable of recent, in spite of him.
With the Firecracker 400's completion the Winston Cup season enters the second half in earnest, and we get more verbiage from Brian France as he pats himself on the back amid his discussion about "robust discussion" about the 2015 schedule. Whenever Brian France speaks he tends to put his foot in his mouth to at least a minor extent, and he does it again when he pats himself on the back that points racing has ostensibly been reduced with his new format where winning one race in effect locks a driver into the Chase.
Looking at the overall racing doesn't show any appreciable increase in competitive intensity. Certainly there have been good competitive spots - apart from the plate races the season has seen unusually good racing at Fontana, Bristol, Martinsville, and to a lesser extent Kentucky. But it also saw Dale Junior's admission at Talladega that he backed off trying to win because he already had a win and thus had no incentive to fight harder.
Yes, it bears repeating that the issue of competition is not solely a points issue; that it a myriad of issues between the cars being too fast, handling being too important instead of the draft (see the Kansas Truck 200 back in May for the best non-plate race example where the opposite was the case), and the unraceability of radial tires. And it bears remembering that even in NASCAR's competitive apex era of 1971-84 more races didn't produce as much passing than did; it's to be expected in any endeavor to have bad days as well as good.
Yet for all that, one should not let France off the hook, for the points racing ethos still exists. That the win by itself is not incentivized, and that most laps led remains grossly under-incentivized, remains a blind spot for the sanctioning body.
Daytona and Talladega both saw over 40 lead changes; it is manifestly false that the sport can't once again get over 50 there and at Pocono, Michigan, Charlotte, Indianapolis, Kansas, Kentucky, etc.
*****
There is also the seemingly unending issue of NASCAR's over-control of the racing, shown again in the Firecracker 250 finish and the controversy over NASCAR's no-push-drafting rule. The foolishness of NASCAR was shown for all yet again as it tried to justify having a rule that gives the officiating tower a control of the racing it has no right to have. Kasey Kahne and Ryan Sieg push-drafted to the win as did others, and only James Buescher got penalized for it.
It bears repeating how push-drafting had evolved by 2013 - shown in the Truck 250 at Talladega - away from the bizarre look of 2011 back toward conventional pack racing, and the net positives of increased passing, especially for smaller teams able to fight the big boys straight up, outweigh negatives. And it is just part of the problem of the officiating tower being given more control when NASCAR needs to be taking such control away and giving it back to the racers, whether it's closing pit road when the yellow flies, dictating how fast cars can enter and exit the pits (before NASCAR started closing pit road in March 1989 there was no pit safety issue; that happened AFTER NASCAR began closing pit road), and limiting what parts of the asphalt drivers can pass on (see Junior's 2003 Talladega win and Tony Stewart's 2008 non-win).
Brian France needs to give NASCAR a major philosophical change - the belief that the sanctioning body has to meddle has to go. Sensible rules are always needed; meddling isn't a sensible rule
*****
Brian France wants more team owners in the sport, and "is continuing to look at ways to reduce costs for teams." It does beg the question of why he's still allowing the likes of Rick Hendrick and Jack Roush not only to field three or four racecars but to control the engine and chassis supply of almost everyone else. And it is a question the manufacturers need to be asked - isn't it time to help other teams build their own engine shops and thus build their own engines?
As for manufacturers, there remains a need for explanation of why Dodge quit the sport and why Honda so far has not entered it. Richard Petty's Daytona win is an unrealized boon that would have benefitted Dodge - and still can if/when Dodge returns to the sport.
Related to such issues remains NASCAR's exclusivity deals, notably its deal with Goodyear; such deals have either taken away potential team sponsors or outright shut out certain companies from participating in the sport. No one can credibly claim Goodyear exclusivity has made the sport better, or that Firestone and Hoosier can't help the sport by helping more teams.
And the wildcard thrown into the mix is the new Race Team Alliance, a business alliance involving Hendrick, Roush, Richard Childress Racing, Petty, Ganassi-SABCO, Michael Waltrip Racing, Joe Gibbs, Stewart-Haas, and and Penske. The stated purpose is to pool ideas on cost-saving in relation to travel and to parts acquisition, with the idea of getting a hotel partner for raceteams being floated. Some have compared this to the now-defunct Formula One Constructors Association, an alliance of F1 teams that worked together in negotiations with the FIA, the F1 series' governing body. Rob Kaufmann, the co-founder of Michael Waltrip's team, is head of the group.
It will be interesting to see where this goes, and if it brings about something close to the spending controls - aka salary cap - that racing has long needed.
*****
France stated he won't limit Cup driver participation in lower series, and thus remains blind to how Cup drivers have bled the Busch Series dry - to where only fifteen drivers ran the full schedule in 2013 and only seventeen have run the full schedule in 2014. The Truck Series is in the same boat even though Cup drivers for the most part don't race there - only seventeen drivers have run all the races, and while few Cup drivers race in the series Kyle Busch has run five times with five wins, versus just two other drivers winning even once in eight races entering July.
While France hinted a new sponsor for the Busch Series is pretty much around the corner, the fact basically no one can make any money there or in the Trucks remains a black spot for him. Would it really hurt him if he switched some of the multi-billion dollar TV money into the purses in support races?
*****
There was the usual talk about Iowa Speedway, and curiously missing seemed to be discussion of the validity of hosting non-points races such as the All Star Race. Such events have outlived their usefulness as evidenced again in Charlotte's All Star Race.
There was also talk about attendance declines, with Dover singled out for some criticism. Overlooked is that Dover is still drawing quality crowds; they look smaller because the track overbuilt the way Michigan and Rockingham did. Dover does warrant criticism in that it has proven two things -
* Concrete is worthless as a racing surface, as Dover has struggled to produce competitive racing for the twenty years it has run concrete.
* Shorter is not better. Dover cut to 400 miles after 1996 because NASCAR raised the sanction fee for a 500-mile race - and Dover's 400s are nowhere close to its 500s in competitive depth. If anything other tracks in addition to Dover need to go to 450 miles or back to the full 500.
So Brian France has thus spoken again, and the 2014 season has gotten more enjoyable of recent, in spite of him.
Sunday, July 06, 2014
Daytona: Welcome Home, Richard
There are many reasons why the heart grows fonder. In racing the passage of time has that effect perhaps like no other sport. Seeing Richard Petty's #43 return to victory at Daytona International Speedway, regardless of the rainy circumstances, showcases what he means to racing, because where Daytona has showcased the excellence of David Pearson, Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison, Dale Jarrett, Sterling Marlin, and others and they have more than proven themselves as genuine competition heroes, Petty's absence from winning was still wrong.
Richard did what others have not done - made an entire sport his showcase and made it a positive one. His rivals in Pearson, Cale, the Allisons, Buddy Baker, Isaac, Benny Parsons, AJ Foyt (his equal and then some in Indycar racing), Fred Lorenzen, and others all need no justification as Hall Of Fame racers and people who made racing excellence for all involved; indeed together they grew the sport at least as much as the Frances and others involved in its gestation such as the Vogts, Joe Littlejohn, John Holman and Ralph Moody, the Wood Brothers, the Ranier family (Lorin still wields influence on Jamie McMurray's Chevrolet and that car runs strong as a result), Clay Earles, the Mattiolis, and more than can be remebered off-hand here.
Yet Richard Petty was able to go an extra mile in integrating with all involved as well as going the extra mile to win. He combined guile with aggressiveness and at his best he was amazing to watch wheeling that blue and red Dodge through traffic for the lead.
For all of its faults, racing offers enormously in terms of competitive virtue, and the 2014 Firecracker 400 offered some excellent racing as the battle for the lead was a true battle. The criticism that racefans want to see the wrecks got examples for certain, notably Kyle Busch's set-to with nineteen others near what was the race's end. The battle between Kurt Busch and Petty's driver Aric Almirola was as good a bout of racing as the sport has seen in 2014; even more impressive has been Almirola's surge after a patch of poor results that was at times ugly. He resurrected himself at Kentucky until a mid-race melee swept him up, and now he's taken the next step.
Of course there's the next step beyond that - winning again, and again. Pocono has a Petty history as do Michigan, Atlanta, Martinsville, Charlotte, and Talladega. Almirola now has to take that next step, but now we can see he has that ability. And now we can say - for one week anyway - racing order has been restored.
Welcome home, Richard.
Richard did what others have not done - made an entire sport his showcase and made it a positive one. His rivals in Pearson, Cale, the Allisons, Buddy Baker, Isaac, Benny Parsons, AJ Foyt (his equal and then some in Indycar racing), Fred Lorenzen, and others all need no justification as Hall Of Fame racers and people who made racing excellence for all involved; indeed together they grew the sport at least as much as the Frances and others involved in its gestation such as the Vogts, Joe Littlejohn, John Holman and Ralph Moody, the Wood Brothers, the Ranier family (Lorin still wields influence on Jamie McMurray's Chevrolet and that car runs strong as a result), Clay Earles, the Mattiolis, and more than can be remebered off-hand here.
Yet Richard Petty was able to go an extra mile in integrating with all involved as well as going the extra mile to win. He combined guile with aggressiveness and at his best he was amazing to watch wheeling that blue and red Dodge through traffic for the lead.
For all of its faults, racing offers enormously in terms of competitive virtue, and the 2014 Firecracker 400 offered some excellent racing as the battle for the lead was a true battle. The criticism that racefans want to see the wrecks got examples for certain, notably Kyle Busch's set-to with nineteen others near what was the race's end. The battle between Kurt Busch and Petty's driver Aric Almirola was as good a bout of racing as the sport has seen in 2014; even more impressive has been Almirola's surge after a patch of poor results that was at times ugly. He resurrected himself at Kentucky until a mid-race melee swept him up, and now he's taken the next step.
Of course there's the next step beyond that - winning again, and again. Pocono has a Petty history as do Michigan, Atlanta, Martinsville, Charlotte, and Talladega. Almirola now has to take that next step, but now we can see he has that ability. And now we can say - for one week anyway - racing order has been restored.
Welcome home, Richard.
Saturday, July 05, 2014
Pocono And Racing Attendance Problems
Pocono may not run Indycars after 2014 and the issue of declining attendances at racing (and other sports) remains a sharp one.
Tuesday, July 01, 2014
The Good News from Afghanistan
The good news from Afghanistan is that it is a country that can become a genuine civilized state. The US made that possible - Obama can throw that away.
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