Carpundit

So I Watched the Daytona 500 on TiVo

So I watched the Daytona 500 on TiVo.  Knowing Harvick won, I was sitting there at lap 185 wondering how the hell he gets from mid-pack to the front of the field.  Amazing finish, but I feel bad for Mark Martin.  If they’d thrown the yellow when they usually do -just at the crash- that would have frozen the field and ended the race with Martin winning.  Instead, Harvick got that 1/4 oval and eeked it out.  Amazing finish.  (I’ve never seen a car slide across the finish line upside down before – the 07 car in 18th place, that is.) JPM was humbled, running much of the race a lap down and finishing about 20th or so.

It’s a different kind of driving, NASCAR.  Where “loose” is oversteer and “tight” is understeer it’s hard to translate into F1, though JPM seems to be working on the lingo.  At Daytona, they might as well run without brakes – it was flat-out all the way.  Daytona –most of NASCAR, really- is overgrown go-karts.  Yanking the wheel left and right to make minor course corrections, shifting up until you're at speed and then leaving everything alone, but the throttle down.  That much steering wheel movement in an F1 car would make a 360. Anyway.

It’s a different show, for sure, but what a great one.  Now if only they’d learn to speak English.

Toyota Camry Runs on Sterno

I'm talking about Toyota's NASCAR effort- one team had to put Sterno -or something like it- inside the intake to make the engine competitive.  The driver and team owner were heavily penalized, and the crew chief booted.  It's a rough sport.  Cheating's in the culture.

I don't much care for the racing, but JPM and Boris Said are running this year, and I might just watch.

Cognitive Dissonance From NASCAR

SI.com on NASCAR's season debut:

"Toyota, which is making its Nextel Cup debut this season, had a horrendous qualifying effort and will need brilliant qualifying races to get the bulk of its Camrys into the field."

I had to read that three times.  Then there was this part:

"Juan Pablo Montoya flirted with the front row, putting his new No. 42 Dodge in the second spot only to be bumped from it moments later by teammate David Stremme."

I can't make it work, mentally.  When I think of Camrys and JPM, I get those images at left.  Not this or this.

Fire and Ice in Formula One

I'm sorry, did you say Kimi Raikkonen went to Ferrari?  Yes, I guess you did - I mean, I guess he did.  I don't pay attention in the off season, so this sort of surprised me. Ferraris are known as hot-blooded cars, after the people who make them.  Kimi's nickname is Iceman. 

Could be a fun season.

The Football Game's In Indianapolis, But Big Brother Is In Boston

Police patrols and numbers are being increased in Boston in case of rowdiness due to the playoff football game being held in the Midwest.  I'm not sure I see the sense in that.  I understand the mayor's concern, especially after the Snelgrove and Grabowski tragedies.  But some of this is going too far, I think:

"Area liquor stores must report to the city the name and address of  any individual buying a keg of beer."

"In addition, city bar and tavern owners have been told to just say no to television crews that want to broadcast from such establishments because such live shots only fuel rowdy behavior, said a stern-faced Mayor Thomas M. Menino."

I think that last one is probably unconstitutional, by the way.  And what's with the keg-reporting?  Is it just me, or is this a bit too much security for our own good?

Lawyers Helping Lawyers

I got several emails and a nice write-up from fellow lawyers and law bloggers as a result of my David Ortiz scoop of the MSM.  Thanks for the cards and letters.  I got lucky.

Red Sox Slugger Back to the Hospital

David Ortiz back to the hospital. I hope it turns out to be nothing but anxiety or some such.  This new episode proves you can't keep big stories down, even without obscure blogs.

"[A]n obscure website." -Dan Shaughnessy

Well, he's right - this is an obscure website.  I even use a Typepad URL.  If David Ortiz brought you here looking for the latest in Boston sports news, I think that was it.  I write about cars, mostly, with a good dose of Boston, politics, and law thrown in.  Oh, and weekends are usually dead around here.  Stop back next week.

My thanks to Dan Shaughnessy for the mention; it was gracious.

And also to Tony Massarotti, who put the URL in his follow-up piece:

Somewhat incredibly, all of this took place unbeknownst to many. It was not until Thursday, when rumor of Ortiz’ visit to Mass. General first appeared on an Internet blog (http://carpundit.typepad.com/carpundit/) that there was any hint of a problem.

Yes, Red Sox Slugger David Ortiz Was In the Hospital During the Disastrous Yankees Series.

I heard from a credible source that Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz was hospitalized last weekend, during the disastrous Yankees series.  I was told he was at Mass General for a heart issue, possibly an abnormal heart rate.  I'm told the visit was ultra hush-hush and that some MGH employees were fired on the spot for intruding on Ortiz's privacy by asking for an autograph while he convalesced in the high-priced Phillips House wing.

UPDATE: I am certain it's true, because Ortiz confirmed it to the MSM according to an article in the Boston Herald by sportswriter Tony Massarotti, who was big enough to credit "the Internet" with breaking the story.

Look, the Herald didn't have to credit anyone, because they got Ortiz to confirm the visit.  Still, it would have been nice to see "Carpundit"in the MSM.  My thanks to Jay Fitzgerald and Adam Gaffin for publicizing my scoop.

The Bernalillo County Jail 500

I don't know what happened here, but I bet it's pretty hard to get arrested in Albuquerque when your name is Unser.  They must have been trying.