quillnews

A Super football player everybody agrees on

Super Steelers’ fan, Adam Illfelder, a buddy of my son Micah since their days at Penn, had his dreams come true when he and his new bride, Danielle, a Patriot’s fan, flew from Boston to Detroit to attend the Super Bowl Game at Detroit’s Ford Field, where Adam’s life long team won big time.  But the beauty part for Quillnews, was the trip home when Danielle and Adam ran into Boston football legend, Doug Flutie, and were able to enjoy cheering a football player we all can agree on!  (Pix of Danielle and Flutie at left) (Quillnews post)

Is NBC's anchor a redneck dirt tracker?

There are signs the suits that run the communications conglomerates are undertaking their massive brand repositioning for their "news" flag ships. (QN) CBS is all abuzz with the word that Dan Rather is about to get an early buy out. (TVMB) Now NBC is happy to have Brian Williams, their marque talent for the corporate brand, happily chat up his dirt track bona fides with Dave Letterman, who is a genuine Indy Car heavy weight. (TVMB, QN) Who says, corporate suits can't read polls?  (QN) When it’s all said and done, brand re-positioning by CBS giving a tainted Rather an early boot, or NBC encouraging Williams to tke on a red state tinge is all just show biz.  In NBC's case, what is going to count is what goes on between Williams’ earphones.  A decent guy, no doubt, but Williams was quick with the multi-cultural “we’re all the same and every value is equally valid” mantra a few weeks back when he said that King George probably considered Washington, the Founders and American rebels to be terrorists…  I’m still steamed about that one.

Why Indy Matters: the importance of “watching traffic” (part 2)

I’ve been a nut for motor car racing since I first went to the Indy 500 with my family in 1960.  My dad worked for GM subsidiary in Dayton, O. and got the race tickets from a customer.  We used the tickets to take a family outing. Our seats were just across the track from the pits at Gasoline Alley, and we watched the pit stops the entire hot afternoon. The senses were assaulted. The smell and sound.  What an eye opener. I couldn’t get over the speed of these machines, the steady nerve of the drivers, the complexity of the race team’s operations, the importance of teamwork and coordinated action, the grace when confronting danger. When Jim Rathman got the checkered flag he thought the previous year's champ (Roger Ward) was ahead of him and shouted: "where's Ward!"  But it was the sound that I remember most. It literally shook my innards; never heard (nor felt) anything even close to that loud before. I couldn’t understand how any human being could perform in that environment of speed, danger and sound. 

The thrill of that day stayed with me, and got me into gear when opportunity arose to seek out jaunts to race events at Sebring, Fla. and Lime Rock, Conn.  Later, when I was an oil company soldier in 1982 in Chicago, I organized a company crew to use a UK-based sponsorship by a company subsidiary of a British-based Formula One team to convince the company back into race sponsorships as a business building activity in the US.  The company’s marketers staged a customer hospitality program at the Formula One race in Detroit June 6 – using pit passes, pre- and post-race equipment inspections including all important gear wear, VIP interviews with designers, mechanics and drivers – that proved we could the race venue as a platform to increase sales of high value lubes and bulk volumes for initial factory fills, which we did. The company thereafter energized long-dormant racing sponsorships big time. Now, my son, an engineer and car nut, seeks out race events to enjoy.  I favor a vacation town near Daytona so we can soak up NASCAR’s vibe.  Quillnews essential safety tip: wear ear plugs!!!

This love of racing caused me to gig the NYT recently for the elitist tone it took when reviewing books about the NASCAR phenomenon.  The money Blue-State articulation of cluelessness in the NYT is here: "racing represents all that's unsavory about red-state America: fossil-fuel bingeing; lust for violence; racial segregation; run-away Republicanism; anti-intellectualism (how much brain matter is required to go fast and turn left, ad infinitum?)… they simply don't get it. What's the appeal of watching…traffic?”

The appeal is that the racetrack provides a public stage on which the community observes itself!  Like any other performing art in Media-ville, motorsports mirror the community’s hopes and dreams, its achievements and potential, and the possibilities that are available to all who aspire.  It is a race to see who and what among us will emerge victorious.  On Memorial Day in the USA in 2005, the person who nearly won the whole thing was a rookie girl!  This is in-your-face Americanism with a roar: Take that Osama and all you women-hating jihadists! Watch and learn.  This is the way free people do it. 

Of course, racing is hardly the only medium to convey America’s ideals.  The normal interactions of Americans in their daily lives, in their homes, in their communities in the world place and in commercial interactions around the globe, in their sports, in their arts and in their spirit.  Another conveyance is government actions, in all its forms.  Of the most prestigious and perhaps most elegant is the serious-minded public diplomacy of First Lady Laura Bush and Secretary of State Rice.  As a department chief and member of the President’s cabinet, Rice oversees a vast bureaucracy of programs and policy, particularly US support for Women Worldwide, and the Women’s Pillar in the Middle East Partnership Initiative.   

Mrs. Bush, as First Lady, symbolizes the nation, and her performance as actor on stage in Media-ville has been flawless. She represented the voice of freedom best in her recent Middle East trip and in remarks at the World Economic Forum at The Dead Sea, Jordan May 21, 2005:  As freedom becomes a fact of life for rising generations in the Middle East, young people need to grow up with a full understanding of freedom's rights and responsibilities: The right to discuss any issue in the public sphere, and the responsibility to respect other people and their opinions. People who can read a magazine or a newspaper or a textbook can gain the knowledge and skills to help shape their countries, and their own futures. Every person should have the ability to read -- and even more than that, the freedom to read what they wish, to form their own opinions, and to speak their minds without fear. Freedom, especially freedom for women, is more than the absence of oppression. It's the right to speak and vote and worship freely. Human rights require the rights of women. And human rights are empty promises without human liberty.

Note: The importance of "watching traffic" - Part 1

Why Indy Matters: the importance of “watching traffic” (part 1)

The importance of Danica Patrick performance at this year’s Indy 500 has not diminished in the few days since the race. Her nonchalance at the significance of appearance among the field of drivers, her refusal to deny her “girly” nature as a marketing tool for her sport, together with her ground breaking driving performance earn her a Quillnews plume.  Zowie. 

The emotional and patriotic power of the Memorial Day sporting event, the overt love of country and what it stands for, and flag waving symbolism were all a backdrop to showcase this 89th running of this particular motorsport race as a Media-ville extravaganza.  (In the competitive motorsport business, The Indy Racing League has to be chuckling: eat your heart out Formula One, Champ Cars, and NASCAR).  And her performance rose to the occasion. Accounts of the race are here, here and here.  Money quote from the LAT:

The 23-year-old rookie, in only her fifth Indy car race, led for 19 laps in Bobby Rahal's Honda-powered Panoz and twice swapped the lead with Wheldon, a 27-year-old Englishman in his third 500, before losing it for good six laps from the end. No woman had ever led a lap before. She even survived a stall in the pits on Lap 79 that dropped her from fourth to 16th and a spin on Lap 155 in which her car collided with fellow rookie Tomas Enge's Chevrolet-Dallara and damaged her front wing, forcing her to pit for a new one.  After Wheldon drafted past Patrick in the first turn of Lap 194, she slowed to preserve fuel and was passed by Vitor Meira, one of her Rahal Letterman Racing teammates, and veteran Bryan Herta, one of Wheldon's Andretti Green Racing teammates. "A stall and a spin and then I was leading the race at the end," she said. "I think I was back in something like 16th after the stall. To finish fourth, it feels very good. I am pleased with our performance today and actually all month. I got to lead in my first Indy 500 and actually had a chance to win the thing at the end."

The Indy Racing League’s Indianapolis 500 event remains the pinnacle of motorsport in the US, and enjoys a robust competition for fan affection with other existing circuits – Formula One, Champ Cars, NASCAR – which each target slightly different fan bases and market niches.

There were a few items that gave this particular race some added juju – her team is co-owned by Media-ville fav David Letterman, a native of Indianapolis, who, like Paul Newman, is the real deal in racing.  Letterman and Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal operate an excellent team, which fields competitive cars and ace drivers.  It was market magic that Rahal Letterman signed Danica Patrick, an attractive, accomplished natural who is a true racing pioneer and, well, a babe. Competing race circuit NASCAR is taking notice.  So too was every girl and young woman in the world who saw what Danica Patrick did Memorial Day under a blue sky with balloons and flags flying at the Indy 500 and who dream of winning the race they are in too… 

Note: The importance of "watching traffic" - Part 2

Blue State’s NYT is color blind. South Park NASCAR fans are red, white & blue

The Red-State/Blue-State narrative is a getting a bit tired. (QN) No human reality is so neatly divided. (Purple UMich)  But every once in a while the electoral college color-coded score-card still helps tell the story.  And never did a newspaper show its true Blue-State colors more obviously than did The New York Times in a recent book review of two new titles dealing with NASCAR.  (Sunday Money, and Full Throttle). 

Writing in an effete Blue-State voice, NYT reviewer Jonathan Mills’ money quote:  NASCAR triggers among Blue-Staters “the kind of fearful trembling the citizens of Gaul felt as the Huns came thundering over the hills. To these (Blue-State) people, stock-car racing represents all that's unsavory about red-state America: fossil-fuel bingeing; lust for violence; racial segregation; run-away Republicanism; anti-intellectualism (how much brain matter is required to go fast and turn left, ad infinitum?); the corn-pone memes of God and guns and guts; crass corporatization; Toby Keith anthems; and, of course, exquisitely bad fashion sense. What's more, they simply don't get it. What's the appeal of watching . . . traffic?”

Instipundit justifiably tweeked the over-the-top elitism implied in the NYT for so completely dissing its down-market competitors for the hearts and minds of the people.  (Also, Grim’s Hall). Still the NYT has its strengths. Editors paid attention to their sociology studies and absorbed the liberal arts argument that the principles of science applied in math and physical world can also be applied to human beings and their interactions for insights and truth. The NYT series elsewhere in the paper on Class in America is the best of the type, and the graphic treatment of its studies is well worth a long browse. Despite the insights that sociology can elicit, Quillnews doesn’t buy the NYT class arguments.  The reason is that such a study model ignores the central human truths that social science abhor: the reality of faith and of individuals' beliefs about what is right and what is wrong, and as they actually function in the lives of the study subjects. (The year long NYT study upon which Blue-Staters would justify so much public policy measures only: income, education, wealth and occupation.) Intangibles such as faith or beliefs are rarely included in your average social science model, no matter how well designed, because this kind of faith and belief system is considered by any good social scientist as anti-intellectual and, well, for NASCAR lovers from Red-States.

(Editor’s aside: speaking of class and sociology, an example of the worst of this breed of sociologist is the recent appointment of a complete jerk as chairman of the Brooklyn College sociology department.  This professor gets away with calling people of faith “retards.”  How’s that for class?!)

It is precisely this elitist contempt that fuels the relentless drive of the Red-Stater’s political behavior, and is emblematic in NASCAR race fans who celebrate the sport of driving hard and fast in ovals to see who wins. It is the clarity of the contest, the heart and bravery required in the doing, and the simplicity of the result. The exquisite beauty of the sport’s structure is its appeal.  If fans also get to rub shoulders with like-minded neighbors, imbibe, dance and socialize in uncomplicated settings while celebrating this sport so much the better.  In these unpretentious settings the uncomplicated and direct appeal of product marketing is out there – like the bosomy star of Stacked – for all to see. The young men who drive these cars are celebrated for their driving prowess and their movie idol looks. In abundance are primary colors, deafening sounds and adrenalin pumping speed. Come on. It’s great.

NASCAR and its fans don’t do nuance.  Nor do they seek the approval of "world opinion," multilaterialism, multiculturalism, relativism and an obsession with making sure you internalize and approve of the validity of the "other person's point of view." (Pinkerton) Nor do NASCAR fans concern themselves with the opinion of the landed, the coastal planters, the members-only country club set, the upper church knobs who are more than happy to delineate their society into upper, middle and lower classes, with gradations, ranks, positions and other methods of precise measurement as to who is not quite as worthy as them.   

As an upper Blue-Stater might dismiss the clarity of a car race to see who drives fastest, so too do they ignore the clarity of right and wrong, and the simple imperatives of achieving victory.  The Red-Stater sees the enemy and knows his duty. He ignores the opinions of the fashionably positioned and schooled; what persons with time on their hands think or say. When an enemy lurks, academic credentials mean nothing; character is all. 

It is here that the Blue-Staters get in trouble, as the current political embodiment of the Red-Stater – Bush 43 – is behaving in the central conflict of our time in a way that is achieving the enemy’s destruction and preparing for a victory by righteousness. 

Evidence that Bush 43’s forthright and decisive actions are working has been ignored by too many Blue-Staters. (VDH, WSJ, LAT) Some are beginning to get the picture, and speak up. (HT: Powerline)  But these are few. The Blue-State high priesthood – the major institutions of the MSM – are exposed as frauds (USNews JLeo) running marginal businesses their customers no longer patronize. (VDH, BuzzMachine) Many still look on as in snotty contempt as the world becomes – to them – more vulgar and crude as it celebrates the common sense of average people who have faith in themselves and their God, know what they believe and are willing to drive fast to victory.

Baseball's astrisk* era

News Corp publisher’s HarperCollins publicity department for Regan Books imprint hit the jackpot this week when a House committee had one of the conglomerate’s authors center stage to explain to baseball fans how it is that MLB players – including some legendary ball field icons – cheat like he said in this new book.  Oh, right.  That wasn’t the MSM story line offered up.  But it was true, nonetheless.

Disgraced ex-slugger Jose Canseco’s smell-all book might make him a bit of money, but it will also sell all manner of ad time on Fox too, where Canseco was interviewed on all the shows. Who can tell if Jose’s telling the truth about anything?   

Hall of Fame Pitcher and Sen. Jim Bunning of Kentucky testified: "When I played with Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, and Ted Williams, they didn't put on 40 pounds ... and they didn't hit more home runs in their late thirties as they did in their late twenties." Given the size of today’s ball players it looks like they are all juiced.  (Better weight training?  Hmmm.)  Bunning said records set by juicers should be wiped from the books: "Take them away. They don't deserve them."

Quillnews favorite Mark McGwire had, well, a pretty bad day. He wanted to look forward toward the positive, and he “didn’t come here to talk about the past.”  McGwire looked in denial, actually.  Said ex baseball commissioner Fay Vincent: "He basically took the Fifth. I think he got hurt very badly… McGwire's achievements are clearly tainted."

McGwire’s manner reminded Quillnews of delusional testimony by gangster Frank Costello back in the day. So did Sammy Sosa's, who couldn’t speak English Thursday, but at least denied the allegations, using a version of the refrain: that’s my story and I’m sticking to it.  Both guys lost points.  I believed Palmeiro. Boswell nailed it.  Credit to Thomas and Shilling. Forget MLB and Player Rep apologists. Shame on them for not adapting to reality – like the Olympics did. Quillnews never bought the right wingers no-government crowd taking shots at Davis, Waxman and the others. Exposure of this kind was an appropriate function of the people’s house: the hearing was a model of how a “show trial” ought to work in a democracy. Respectfully, seriously, lawfully and with all the openness and honesty possible. The people saw what they saw. 

Ball fans everywhere – and at-risk kids coming up from now on – know that roids kill and their use put the “asterisk” to an entire generation’s stats -- forever.  This is a judgment glory seeking athletics understand.  Still, baseball lives in the same world as US society: racism, segregation, witch hunt victims, gambling scandals, why not doping?  There is the dead ball era, the fixed World Series of The Black Sox, Pete Rose, and now the stats of the juiced era.  And as far as stats go, astrisks come and astrisks go.  Maris' records stands a clean 61 in '61.

Who gets the astrisk now?

Quillnews concedes that Barry Bonds was juiced and his stats will have an East German Track & Field record book stink to ‘em forever.  But what about Quillnews favorite Mark McGwire?   That House steroids hearing this Thursday should make interesting viewing.

When Quillnews was first gripped in baseball dreams, I was taken with Roger Maris quest for 61 in ’61.  The smart set went with Mickey, but it was my lot to have a soft spot for the stolid plodding types who the crowd finds fashionable to dis. (I was and remain in Joe Frazer’s camp.  I never bought Ali’s act.)  Guys like Maris have to overcome more; and because MLB was led by cretins he had to endure not only the athletic challenge of getting those HR, he had to compete with the Babe Ruth ghosts, cranky newsies and also league execs.  One put the asterisk next to his tally 61* to make sure Ruth’s legend remained undiminished.

Maris went on to St. Louis in ’66 and finished his 12-year career with a .260 BA, and 275 HR.  When fellow plodder McGwire was coming up, he showed the same stolid promise.  After a early bash of 49 HR in ’87, McGwire hit 52 in ’96, 58 in ’97, then 70 in ’98!  The twin performance by Sammy Sosa gave the chase drama, but it was McGwire's performance, his respect for Maris' achievement, and the Maris family's reciprocal support along the way that put McGwire in the Quillnews Good Guy Hall of Fame.  Will McGwire's records need a real asterisk now?  Quillnews pleads:  “Hey, Mark, say it ain’t so…” 

Ball players: Think! What would Martha do?

It's hard for Quillnews to take too seriously congressional committees that plan their hearings for TV cameras.  But as a player, long time baseball fan and father of a son who was schooled for years in the justice of baseball, the game of the people is too important to be left to the MLB owners and players' union reps. Northern Va.'s Rep. Tom Davis chairman of House government reform committee is as good a public servant as any to rake this muck!  (Update: Good Davis profile here.)

"It is important the American people know the facts on baseball's steroid scandal," Davis said in a statement, "...we need to better understand the steps MLB is taking to get a handle on the steroid issue, and whether news of those steps - and the public health danger posed by steroid use - is reaching America's youth."

Quillnews advice to the baseball witnesses: Tell the truth.  UPDATE:  On the other hand, you could follow your lawyers advise and refuse to show up (which I bet Martha wishes she had done when the FBI called to chat).

Super Team: Pats make it 3 wins in 4 years…

Your editor was surprised at how much fight the 15-4 Eagles gave the 17-2 Patriots in the sloppy but solid Super Bowl XXXIX. Let’s face it; the Patriots have the best team in the NFL, an excellent coaching staff and front office, and a balanced team of self-less players, who also happen to play excellent football. They deserved their 3rd Championship in 4 seasons with the 24-21 win in Jacksonville. Belichik joins Lombardi with 9 straight post season wins, and sets a new 10-1 total post season record. Eagles’ TO earned Quillnews respect with his self-less performance on a wheel he busted just seven weeks ago; taking in nine receptions for 122 yards. Brady had an ultra-solid 23-for-33 for 236 yards and two TDs, though he lost his 3rd MVP to winner receiver Deion Branch who pulled in a record 11 catches in the game. Eagles QB McNabb was a story of good (30-for-51 with 357 yards, and three TDs), bad (3 ints, 4 sacks) and ugly (Philly offense time management; jeeze, needs work)! They were hemorrhaging time in the final minutes.

Show biz point: Last year viewers got Janet’s bobbed boob; this year Jacko’s trial haunts TV land.  But the half time show was spot on! Finally a rock and stage performance that was meaningful, professional and stuck to the basics. No wonder: the producers turned to Beatle Paul McCartney, rock's steady-on icon,and not punky wannabes.

Pittsburgh and Atlanta never in games; Pats and Eagles easily take AFC, NFC

Quillnews went 1-1 on the playoff picks, miscalling the Eagle's easy win. The 11-5 Falcons who easily handled the 8-8 Rams, never showed up Sunday in Phily; whose 13-3 D shut down the Vick Experience, while McNabb earned a well deserved NFC championship on his third try. The 27-10 Eagle win wasn't even close. On the other side of the Keystone, the 14-2 Pats dominated Pittsburgh, building on the three turnovers by the Steelers in the early heart beats of the game, including 2 ints by the rookie QB Rothlesberger. The 15-1 Pittsburgh had a great season, with rookie Rothlesberger showing promise (and future headaches for the Ravens), but New England is the best balanced team on the field lately (credit to Belichick and his recruiting) and easily took the 41-27 win. Quillnews call for the Superbowl: Patriots.