Where have the rivalries gone?

For my entire adult life, I have maintained that my two favorite sports teams (Washington Redskins and the NC State Wolfpack) had two very distinct rivals, the Dallas Cowboy and the UNC Tarheels. I have honored these rivalries by faithfully despising these two foes and ridiculing them at every opportunity. However, recent events have led me to question whether a rivalry actually exists and more importantly, whether these teams are worthy of my attention.

NC State - University of North Carolina

Tobacco road is filled with the detritus from the hate and discontent that existed between these two universities. When I was a student and NC State in the 1980's, there was little doubt who our rival was. UNC was simply the most despised entity to ever compete in the ACC. I have maintained this stance in the intervening 25 years, but now I wonder if it's valid. At a televised basketball game in February of this year, several of the UNC faithful were wearing shirts emblazoned with the words "NC State is not our rival". I even made mention of this slogan in a blog entry earlier this year. Since then, I have discussed this point with UNC faithful and they clearly feel that their true rival is Duke rather than the Wolfpack.

Washington Redskins - Dallas Cowboys

I have always felt that this was the greatest rivalry in the NFL as it represented a real-world Cowboys and Indians conflict. What could be better than that? During the glory days of the 1980's Redskins fans could be heard chanting "We want Dallas" because a Redskins drive to the Superbowl wasn't really valid unless it steamrolled through Dallas. This sentiment was recently struck a heavy blow when the Cowboys opened their new stadium. It seemed that the Cowboys wanted to make a splash with a big game and they petitioned the NFL for a date with the NY Giants. The Giants? Are they serious? Several interviews with the Cowboys players revealed that they hate the Giants more then anybody else. Guess what? Your most hated team is your rival. The fact that the 'Boys invited NY instead of Washington speaks volumes.

I strongly believe that the players, students, and Alumni decide who their rivals are; not the media, and certainly not the past. That said, from this day forward, the UNC Tarheels and the Dallas Cowboys are no longer worthy of my attention. I will repay their indifference to my teams with my own. From this point forward, I will no longer concern myself with the outcome of a contest between these teams. It's now just another game. Time seems to have played out the importance of these games and I will follow suit. Screw 'em.

2009 Brentsville Relays

Today, Austin competed in the Brentsville Cross-Country Relays held at the High School. There were 40 high schools represented today and while that may sound like a lot, it has been downsized from the 75 teams that arrived last year. The town of Nokesville simply could not handle the volume.

The format is a 2.5K (1.5 Mile) course that would its way around the school grounds. The Varsity and JV runners compete in a 5 runner, 5 lap relay race. Austin's team competed in one of two 'Extras" race for the developing runners. Austin ran well and finished the course in 10min10sec.

I wanted to get a feel for the course, so I competed in the parents/coach "Open". It's the first time that I have really felt old as the course was very difficult to run at speed, even my speed. I ran with a friend/neighbor, Chris, who despite running a half marathon this morning, was still forced to wait up for me. If that wasn't enough, I completed the single lap in 12min52sec. That's nearly 3 minutes slower than my son. The only good news was I did not finish last.

Kara also ran in the Middle School race.

Austin may have found his "thing". He loved the event and had made lofty goals to get faster and move up the runner's hierarchy. He told Tracy this evening that he "loved" running.

Meanwhile, Austin has fully recovered ... and I haven't.


Pictures

Rossi's Suprising Reaction

Valentino Rossi - The King of Kings, the GOAT, has recently been quite outspoken on the decision by MotoGP to switch from 990cc of engine displacement to 800cc. One would think that Rossi would applaud the move since it has benefited his career and financial status in a positive way. Rossi remains the most popular motorcycle racer to ever swing a leg over a bike and commands the largest salary ever paid to a 2-wheel pilot.

He is also the only rider to successfully make the transition between the two bikes. Nicky Hayden, the 2006 champion, and the last 990cc champion has never had a whiff of the top rostrum spot since the transition. Casey Stoner, the 2007 champion, who is currently tied with Rossi for the lead in 800cc wins, never won a race on the 990s. This leaves Rossi as the only rider to continue his winning ways across the two classes. Naturally, Rossi would seem to be the first in line to praise the Yamaha 800cc bike, which Wayne Rainey recently praised as the greatest GP motorcycle ever rolled onto a track. He isn't. Rossi is well known for his distaste for changing the status quo. He was very outspoken when the 500cc 2-strokes were retired in favor of the big 990cc 4-stroke because he found the 4-strokes too easy to ride. Rossi likes a challenge because it enables him to separate from the pack. The easier a bike is to ride, the closer a lesser rider can get to him.

Rossi has won a title on 500s, the 990s, and is the current 800cc champion, but has chafed at every transition. His latest comments indicate that he considers the 800s to be the least favorable of all the bikes.

In his own words:

“The 990 motorcycle was 'rough' and wild, but with a great motor and a lot power. The 800 is worse, simply worse, it is the same motorcycle with less power. I was very sad at the beginning, now it has improved, yes... But the power from the 990 made it a lot more fun."

“With the 800... I believe that the 800 are the biggest mistake the world championship has made in the last 15 years. We have lost a great part of the spectacle and part of this is because electronics have advanced so much."

“For me the manufacturers committed a great error when they changed to 800cc. The 990s were better in every way.”

Here a couple of stats that reinforce what Rossi is trying to say:

1. No Satellite rider has ever won a 800cc race. Zero wins. If this keeps up, they won't bother to race.
2. There were 14 different 990cc winners vice 7 different winners on the 800s.

The plan was to lower the cost of entry and improve safety by switching to a smaller displacement bike. It has failed on both accounts. The decrease in horsepower lead to tremendous R&D costs for the electronic control systems so the bikes can be ridden with little concern for keeping the throttle WFO in the turns. The satellite teams are always a generation in electronics behind the factory boys and that explains why they simply cannot compete. The safety improvements never arrived because to compensate for the lack of low end grunt, the riders are forced to carry tremendously higher corner entry speeds and simply crash at higher speeds than ever before. The 250cc high corner entry riding style has slanted the winners towards former 250 riders and away from the back-it-in, tire smoking riders like Nicky Hayden.

To prove my last point, let's look at the list of 800cc winners:

Valentino Rossi: Former 250cc Champion
Jorge Lorenzo: Former 250cc Champion
Casey Stoner: Former 250cc Champion Runner-up
Loris Capirossi: Former 2500cc Champion
Dani Pedrosa: Former 2500cc Champion
Andrea Dovizioso: Former 250cc Champion Runner-up
Chris Vermeulen: World Superbike Champion

I am going to go out on a limb here and suggest that there is a 2500cc bias to this list. In fact, Vermeulen's lone victory came in a field-leveling wet race that more or less puts an asterisk next to his name. All of the incoming new talent is from the 2500cc class (Bautista/Simoncelli) and the AMA and SBK guys are ignored. The lone exception is Ben Spies who appears poised to make the leap to MotoGP next season.

I think it's time to go back to the big bikes and let the best riders win rather than the best electronics package. The bad news is that Rossi would probably dominate ever more than he does now.

3rd Week in September

A lot of things going on this week in the Clark household. Austin ran in his first Cross Country meet on Wednesday. I am going to post his time so we have a history for him to compare himself to. He ran the 5K in 23:15 to set a baseline time for the year. The qualifying runs are only 2 miles so they don't compare to the actual race distance. He will be running in the Brentsville Relays this weekend in the wildcard race, so I will have another time for you next week.

Kellie just cheered her third football of the season and cheering seems to be one of many things this year's team needs. They are currently 0-3 after a heartbreaking loss to Skyline High School last night. Final score 34-20, but the game was broken wide open in the final minutes and was far closer than the final score would indicate.

Tracy continues to run the apparel sales for the Booster Club, so if you want the latest and greatest in Tiger Wear, give her a call.

Yesterday, young James Austin celebrated his 15th birthday. I kicked off the celebration by taking he and his buddies to a celebratory lunch at Hooters followed by a family/neighborhood cookie/ice cream party. I remain somewhat shocked that someone as youthful as myself can have a second child reach the ripe age of 15, but stranger things have happened.

9/11 Remembrance

I stumbled across this

http://revver.com/video/59686/september-11-2001-what-we-saw/

today. I had never seen this video before today and it offers a somewhat personal view of the events of that day.

Michael Jordan - Basketball Hall of Fame

In the coming days or weeks, Michael Jordan will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. Those of you who know me may be wondering why I would care why an alumnus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is joining the illustrious brotherhood of roundball. Truth is, I don't care at all. What has captured my attention in this instance is MJ's choice to speak at his induction. The choice that MJ made is a curious one that belies the man's apparent mental deficiencies. In other words, I have never considered Mr. Jordan to be the sharpest knife in the drawer and his collegiate academic record stands in clear evidence of this claim.

Despite establishing his legacy and making his fortune in the National Basketball Association, Jordan did not select a former NBA teammate or coach to make his formal introduction to the Hall,but instead chose another player who was equally famous as an ACC alumnus.

Michael Jordan played his collegiate basketball at the major university in Orange County, North Carolina. There were several famous teammates and coaches who accompanied Jordan during his stay at the Orange County University. Let's take a quick look at some of the notable names to see if any of them made the cut:

Dean Smith: Mr. Smith was the head basketball coach during Jordan's entire collegiate career. Dean Smith is quite well known within the State of North Carolina for his long and somewhat distinguished career at UNC-CH. Was Dean chosen to represent MJ as the shaper of the NBA star's early career?

NO.

Sam "The Rubber Man" Perkins: A teammate of Jordan's for 3 years and known for his ability to tie his shoes without bending his waist might qualify as the Jordan presenter. Did he?

NO.

James Worthy: Worthy played with Jordan on the 1982 ACC Champion team, but only for that year. Did the glory of besting all comers on the 1982 ACC Tournament make James worthy of the honor? (Pun intended)

NO.

Matt Doherty: Better known as the White Doherty, Matt also played with MJ for three years. He also later became famous as the UNC-CH coach who threw Dean Smith out of his office in the athletic department. Was Michael able to overlook this discretion and choose Matt as his presenter?

NO.

Brad Daugherty: The current NASCAR broadcaster, aka the Black Doherty/Daugherty, played with MJ during his final 3 years as a member of the Powder Blue Boys. Did this long tenure elevate him for consideration for the HOF dais?

NO.

Steve "Vidal Sassoon" Hale: Hale, much more famous for his beautifully manicured locks than his basketball skills, also played with MJ for 3 years. Did Steve offer enough hair care tips to impress Jordan?

NO.

Kenny "LSU" Smith: Kenny Smith, famous for trying to take it to the house at LSU in 1984 and coming away a little worse for the wear, played in the NBA and went on to an undistinguished career as a broadcaster. This body of work may have been influential enough to sway Mike to select him. After all, Kenny did show MJ how not to go into the paint. Was this enough?

NO.

Scottie Pippen: The most famous #2 man to ever play for the Bulls. Scottie and Michael conquered the NBA world together. Surely, MJ's sidekick for so many years earned a spot on the podium with him, right?

NO.

Phil "Zen" Jackson: Jackson lead the Bulls to every one of their Championships. Phil's leadership and station in life as MJ's mentor surely makes him eligible for the induction ceremony.

NO.

Dennis Rodman: No mystery here, no one wants to put this crazy bastard in front of a microphone, so ...

NO.

If all of these notable players and coaches never captured the attention of Jordan as he down-selected for his HOF celebration, who did he pick?

A little background before we unveil the mystery man. Michael Jordan was a much better professional basketball player than he was a collegiate player. Conventional wisdom has always stated that he was held back by an über-conservative college coach that did not know what to do with him and simply forced players into his system rather than the other way around. I believe that Jordan simply had talents that were better suited to the more open pro game and he shined because of it. In contrast, the man that Jordan selected to speak on his behalf in the coming days was a world-beater in college and although he had very notable flashes of brilliance at the next level remained far more famous for his collegiate exploits.

Michael Jordan, the favorite son of Orange County denizens around the globe selected David Thompson as his presenter. David Thompson is simply the best player ever to step on a court in an ACC game. This is not subject to discussion. Despite the Jordan heroics trumpeted by the FOBB (Fans of the Baby Blue), Michael was simply never Thompson's equal at the collegiate level. You can cut the irony with a knife because we all know that Thompson never played with Jordan, and he certainly didn't play at UNC-CH. That's right campers, Thompson played at a rival school, North Carolina State University, and remains the pride of Wolfpack fans through the land.

Before today, I would have been absolutely, 100% convinced that these facts were lost on Jordan, but, as sometimes happens, I was wrong. It seems that MJ knows his basketball history and despite his education, knows basketball royalty when he sees it. One must wonder what the UNC-CH faithful think about this turn of events. Thompson paved the way for later stars such as Jordan and perhaps Jordan is displaying his loyalty to the great basketball players in North Carolina (The State, not the University) with this selection. I venture to suggest that the FOBB will see this as a slap in the face of their special little club, but not enough of one to turn their backs on the favorite son.

I applaud Jordan's decision and stand surprised at the decision, if for no other reason than he appears not to be as dumb as his choice of college would indicate.

Motorcycle Roadracing Nicknames

Like any sport, the world of motorcycle racing is full of nicknames for the most popular riders. Those of who follow the sport use the nicknames almost without thinking about it, so here is a handy guide to the most popular names, including riders of old.

The Doctor: Valentino Rossi
Kentucky Kid/Trick Daddy: Nicky Hayden
Tommy Gun: Tommy Hayden
Countryboy: Roger Lee Hayden
Eboz: Eric Bostrom
Texas Tornado: Colin Edwards
34: Kevin Schwantz
Roman Emperor/Mad Max: Max Biaggi
Elbowz: Ben Spies
King: Kenny Roberts
Steady Eddie: Eddie Lawson
Samarai of Slide/Nitro Nori/Haga-san: Noriyuki Haga
Fast Freddie: Freddie Spencer
Mike the Bike: Mike Hailwood
Hopper: John Hopkins
The Flying Finn: Mika Kallio
Foggy: Carl Fogarty
Ago: Giacomo Agostini
Foggy: Carl Fogarty
Mugger: Karl Muggeridge
Spiderman: Rubén Xaus
The Stalker: Chris Walker
The Chief: Scott Russell

That's all I can remember for now.

MotoGP - Silly Season is over

This year marked an unusually turbulent end of season guessing game concerning who goes where in the MotoGP paddock. Rumors flew around the possibility of Jorge Lorenzo going to Ducati, Dani Pedrosa going to Ducati, Nicky Hayden riding the Yamaha, the possibility of Mika Kallio taking Nicky's Ducati seat, the possibility of Ben Spies arriving in MotoGP, etc, etc.

In the end, none of the big names went anywhere and status quo was maintained. Lorenzo stayed at Yahama, Hayden was retained by Ducati, and Dani Pedrosa will again ride the Honda. Alex De Angelis was rewarded for his career high Indy finish (2nd) by getting fired, and it remains to be seen if the Texas Tornado (Colin Edwards) and James Toseland will remain on the Tech 3 Yamaha squad.

Big Ben coming to MotoGP remains the only real item of interest on the plate.

Indianapolis - 2009

Once again, the Clarks made the cross-country trip to the Temple of Speed to see the best motorcycle racers in the world, hear the ear-splitting roar of an unmuffled 800cc four stroke, see the impossible lean angles, watch the 2-wheel power slides, and soak in the glory that is MotoGP. To top it all off, it was even dry this year.

This year's highlights:

• We met Dad, Uncle Mike and Ché in Charleston, WV and rode in from there as a group.
• Telling Uncle Mike and Ché the story of Austin's new shoes. Austin was complaining about his size 6 shoes hurting his feet and Tracy told him to stop complaining. When he was sized for his cross-country shoes, he actually wears a size 8 1/2. They got a big kick out of this and called her several times to rub it in.
• Listening to the distinctive sound of the Ducati MotoGP bike. If this thing is that loud from the stands, how loud is it when you are 5 feet behind it?
• You can watch races on TV all you want, but there are things you cannot see on TV. For example, both of the Pramac Ducati team riders were trying to ride behind Rossi during warmups. Rossi repeatedly slowed up to let them by and they slowed as well to stay behind him. In fact, throughout the weekend, Rossi came out of the pits last in order to prevent this type of scenario.
  
• Austin seeing his first Flat Track race. Flat Track is the only truly American form of bike racing and several of the MotoGP stars showed up to watch the race. Valentino Rossi even took the time to address the crowd.
• Ron M. would have loved the flat track bikes, because the weapon of choice is a Harley Davidson XR750. The venerable XR750 was introduced in 1972 and ceased production in 1980. It remains the dominant bike in dirt track racing today. It was not, however, the only twin there. Ducati and KTM had riders in the race as well. Hondas seemed to dominate the singles events.
• I noticed that all the Harley's ran their chain on the right side of the bike, while the other manufactures ran the chain on the left. My bike's chain is on the left, so seeing it on the right simply looks weird. Sort of like seeing the gear shift lever on a Norton on the right.
  
• Watching a horrific accident in the Flat Track race where a rider was catapulted over the retaining fence and left the track. Broken disc in his back.
• Watching King Kenny Roberts throw caution to the wind and drop the hammer on his 1975 TZ750 for a few serious hot laps. The TZ50 was raced only once in the 1975 Indy Mile and is widely considered the most unmanageable and dangerous dirt tracker ever ridden in competition. Roberts did not practice before the event, he just jumped on the beast and roared around the track like he owned the place. Kenny got completely sideways on the track and showed everybody that the old man still has it. Note: If you know anything about motorcycles, consider that the TZ750 is a 2-stroke engine, on dirt no less, and you can begin to understand why even the King found the beast intimidating. Two strokes have no power band. The power hits all at once. The thing had so much power that it spun the wheels on the rim when Kenny roared down the straight to win the iconic 1975 race.
• Watching Dani Pedrosa take pole position in a runaway qualifying session that saw Dani as the only rider to drop into the 1:37s. Although he seemed to be the man to beat in the race, Dani would drop the bike right in front us while leading the race, negating any chance he had to win.
• Watching Nicky Hayden "making it wide" as he slid into the last few corners to keep Dovizioso at bay and take his first podium on the Ducati this year. Easily the best battle to watch during the race as Jorge Lorenzo disappeared for the easy win. Nicky is riding for his job, so this may help.
  
• Seeing Valentino inexplicable drop the bike in turn one while fighting Jorge Lorenzo for the lead. It was the Doctor's first DNF in 2 years.
• The two riders most represented by the fans were Valentino Rossi and Nicky Hayden. Rossi is the most well-known motorcycle racer in the world and Hayden is the favorite American.
• Ché and I saw one of Hayden's most fervent fans. She was wearing a T-Shirt that said "I would rather be riding Nicky".
• Ché and I also saw "Silicon Sally" in the merchandise tent.
  
• We saw a guy riding a Pink sportbike when we left the Track on Friday night. Very strange choice of colors. It also had several dangling parts to it and all the front fairing pieces were conspicuously absent.
  
• Rossi might be the most popular rider, but the prices at his merchandise tent were jaw dropping. $45 for a hat. Wow.
• The new VMax has to be seen in person. The best way to describe it is "an engine with wheels". It is 1700cc and looks bigger.
• The new BMW sportbike is definitely not the typical BMW. Very out of the box and very comparable to the Japanese sportbikes. Should be interesting to follow.
• I don't really care for the new R1. Yamaha need to put covers on the headlights. It looks like they are missing. Looks aside, the sound of the new R1 is head turning. Very twin-like with the new uneven firing order.
  
• The new Ducati 848/1098/1198 bikes look badass. The Italians can make a good looking machine.
• There were two old guys working a booth in the vendor area with a sign that read "Pictures with us are OK". I regret not getting a picture with them.
• I did take a picture of Austin with the Ducati girls on Ducati Island.
  
• 76,000 fans at Sunday's race. For a bike race in the US, this is nothing short of amazing.
• Another amazing thing. At Indy you can park right outside the gate for as little as $10. There are houses that sit less than a quarter mile from the gate and a mere 100 feet from the track. IMS is not in the middle of nowhere. It is essentially downtown.
  
• We booked our hotel for next year and found out before we left the city that is already completely booked for next year.
• Even after visiting the place last year, the sheer size of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway still impresses. I still can't get over how the city envelopes the track.
• Say what you want about about Ducati, but if you buy one, you enter a special club. Every race track has their own "Ducati Island" where Ducati owners enjoy their own tent city, separate vending area, special parking, and reserved seating for the race.