Sleeping Giant Graffix

Raining Champ

Wally — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 05:55:55 +0000

Sunday’s rain shortened NASCAR race in Pocono, PA was gift wrapped and handed to Jeff Gordon by the sanctioning body of NASCAR. Yes, it was raining and it is unsafe to run NASCARs on a rain soaked track. Granted. However NASCAR threw the caution flag just as Ryan Newman was about to overtake Gordon on lap 104. The broadcasters began dictating almost exactly how the race would play out about lap 80: Gordon pitted off sequence, the race would get to just over half way (lap 101) to be an “official” race, the rain would start, the caution would come out and Gordon would win his 4th race of the season.

Guess what happened?

Exactly as Bill Webber, Wally Dalenbach and Kyle Petty predicted. As if they were reading off a script.

As soon as the the cars were stopped under red flag on pit road, BEFORE the race was actually called, the rain stopped and the sun was back out. It seems to me NASCAR could have made an effort to dry the track, as it didn’t rain that long at the time and they wouldn’t have “lost” the track. Then NASCAR could have run until it became dark or at least sunset. But that wouldn’t have been in the script.

If I were a fan at that race I’d be pissed off to wait over 4 hours of rain delay to see that race turn out the way it did.

Jeff, you may have gotten the win, and I know, a win is a win, but you didn’t really beat anyone Sunday.

Technorati Tags: Jeff Gordon, NASCAR, Pocono, rain

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Wally — Sun, 20 May 2007 05:55:54 +0000

Looks like Kevin Harvick did tonight in the Nextel All-Star Challenge.

Ya know, it was a good night all around: A Hendrick car didn’t win, (at Lowe’s Motor Speedway mind you), the Busch brothers wrecked EACH OTHER and Kenny Wallace got the fan vote.

Man I love NASCAR.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Harvick, Lowe’s, All-Star Challenge

Flower Power

Wally — Fri, 18 May 2007 15:18:45 +0000

Ok, this is like the coolest thing I’ve seen all week. This guy rocks

Yes, my life is THAT exciting!

What’d he say?

Wally — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 23:12:23 +0000

This week Tony Stewart said that it appears NASCAR officials throw late race caution flags in order to influence the outcome of races. “They can almost dictate the race instead of the drivers doing it.” Immediately translated by the media; “NASCAR fixes races.”

Not at all what he said.

Apples and oranges.

I don’t necessarily disagree with Tony. It seems to me that NASCAR tends to throw caution flags for “phantom” debris at times. Most of the TV coverage is pretty good about showing the debris, WHEN they find it. I’ve also seen debris visually large enough to be seen on TV that has just laid on the track for several laps before a caution is thrown. These cautions can and do affect the outcome of a race.

But to say that NASCAR fixes races is just outright ignorant. That would require the other 42 drivers to lie down. I just don’t see that happening, ever.

What it does show is NASCAR’s inconsistency in enforcement of their policies. Something they continue to be criticized on by both drivers and fans.

Seems that the NASCAR sanctioning body is in violation of Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing) of the NASCAR rule book.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Tony Stewart, fixes races, caution flag, 12-4-A

Time Goes By

Wally — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 13:05:56 +0000

Surfing around on the net this weekend I found out some interesting news about the classic rock group Triumph and I was surprised by the reaction I had to the news.

Triumph was a hard rock power trio that came out of Toronto, Canada in the mid 70’s. I’m not going to re-write their entire biography here. If you’ve heard their name, you probably know the group, their music and probably their story. If not, check out their website here. You can find out more about the group and even sample some of their music. You can get look and listen at the bottom of this post from a YouTube clip I found. You can also check out a few midi file versions of some of their songs that I have transcribed below as well.

Now, for me, Triumph’s music was a big part of my life growing up. They have scored several cuts for the soundtrack of my life. I’m still a fan to this day.

I was first turned on to them in the summer of 1981 and purchased all of their albums, (you know, those big round black things with grooves on them), they had released upto then and since. I was really disappointed when they broke up in 1988. Through the following years, I had come to accept that they were gone and never going to reunite.

Anyways… A while back I had heard that Triumph was going to be inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame. Wow, I thought. What a cool honor for them after all this time. I was even more surprsed to see and hear that all three original members were on hand to receive the honor.

Over this past weekend, I came across interviews with Gil and Rik on the website Classic Rock Revisited that have been conducted since the group’s induction. It seems that the original members are at least communicating again and, although the possibility of a reunion is still not on the horizon, the fact that a reconciliation may be in process and that they may be working together sets just as well for me as if they anounced a full scale reunion tour.

Thinking about putting my thoughts and feelings about this news on Triumph, I swore I wouldn’t go cliche and use any of their song lyrics here. BUT… it does seem that these lines from their song Time Goes By from the album Thunder Seven do seem more than fitting…

don’t look back in anger,
don’t look ahead in fear
you just keep takin’ her as she comes
until she comes in clear

Midi Files

Technorati Tags: Triumph, Rik Emmett, Gil Moore, Mike Levine, reunion

Candle In The Wind, Part Deux

Wally — Tue, 27 Mar 2007 05:51:50 +0000

Is anyone really surprised Anna Nicole Smith’s death was caused by an overdose? I mean really? How else was she supposed to die?

Anyone that has seen video with sound of Anna Nicole in the past several years could come to the conclusion she was under the influence of something. This broad was Goofier than a month at Disneyland on a good day.

You know… who could really blame her, either? It seems that celebrity definitely has its perks and privileges, but it comes with a pretty high price tag.

She did have a bit of a difficult life; losing a husband, legal battles and, most recently, losing her son. God knows I wouldn’t want to live my life in the public eye as celebrities do. Imagine being stalked by paparazzi and having every move you make, good or bad, printed for the entire world to see and gossip about.

She had an obsession with Marilyn Monroe that has turned out to be almost prophetic. Both women used and abused by the men in their life and other hardships throughout their lives. Both died in solitude due to misuse of drugs. Both left behind mysteries surrounding their deaths.

Maybe we should watch who we worship and how we worship them lest we not make their mistakes and suffer their fates.

In the end it seems as though Anna Nicole’s story concluded the only way it could; the way it was destined to. Tragically and stereotyped forever; the last of the blonde bombshells… for now.

Britney… Can you hear me now?

Technorati Tags: Anna Nicole Smith, drugs, Marilyn Monroe, tragedy

Ghost Rider

Wally — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 02:10:48 +0000

Since when did the white lane division lines become an acceptable lane of travel for motorcycles? I’m not just refering to coming to the front of the line at intersections. I see this all the time now in traffic, and not just in bumper to bumper, snail’s pace traffic either. They drive like that on the freeway in traffic flow of 60 Mph or more. In my opinion, this is a very dangerous habit. Annoying too. It makes for unsafe lane changes for all vehicles as they come speeding right up out of nowhere. If they want to kill themselves, that is cool, just don’t use my car to do it. Just because you can do something doesn’t mean you always should. Think about big women in spandex. just because they can squeeze into it . . . Just because motorcycles can dart though traffic . . .

Wise up, dumbass.

Technorati Tags: motorcycles, traffic, dumbass

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Wally — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 04:00:16 +0000

Saturday’s Busch race in Las Vegas turned out to be a much better than anticipated event. And the best moves made by a driver all night were made off the track, after the race ended.

Prior to the dropping of the green flag, the majority of the driver’s comments were not too positive about the reconfigured, repaved speedway and the tire Goodyear provided for the event. Tony Stewart ridiculed LVMS President Chris Powell naming him primarily responsible for destroying what was once a descent track. Kevin Harvick said that the resurfacing job must have been done by “people who pave parking lots.” On the other hand, Jeff Burton, echoing an attitude from his friend, mentor and former team-mate Mark Martin basically said this is what we have to deal with; let’s deal with it.

And guess who was a strong contender throughout the crazy, caution filled race? Guess who mounted a late race charge to win on the final lap? Jeff Burton. Positive attitude equals positive results.

However, the best thing about Saturday night’s race occurred after the checkered flag waved. It was a revelation of lessons learned and it had nothing to do with the racing surface, car setup, size of the fuel cell or stiffness of tires. Respect was given and respect was earned.

I am referring to the true sportsmanship displayed by Kyle Busch when Jeff Burton pulled along side him on pit road immediately following Jeff’s win and Kyle’s loss. Angry, dejected and probably embarrassed to come so close to winning and lose in front of his hometown crowd, Kyle started climbing out of his crashed, 2nd place vehicle.. You could see it in his face, he was pissed. He immediately began walking from his car toward pit road. My thought was that he was heading to Burton’s pit to confront members of his crew and show the immaturity he’s so often times displayed. However when the 29 car pulled alongside Kyle on pit road, the two drivers shook hands, affirming things were cool between them and that the results of the dash to checkers was truly just “one of them racin’ deals.” Kyle’s post race comments to the TV crew also displayed a more mature driver than I recall seeing from the younger Busch brother.

Now, anyone that knows me personally knows I am by no means a Kurt or Kyle Busch fan. Don’t know why; I’m just not. After Saturday night, I’m still not. However, I do have a new found respect for Kyle along with hope. Kyle may or may not ever attain the series title of Cup Champion like his brother Kurt has, but he is at least beginning to show that one day he may be worthy of the title.

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Busch, Jeff Burton, Kyle Busch, Las Vegas

Let ‘er ride

Wally — Sat, 03 Mar 2007 08:06:01 +0000

There is alot of talk in the NASCAR world about Mark Martin leading the points right now and he’s only planning on running a partial season. I think he should run the full season, at least as long as it is mathmatically possible for him to win the Cup. Although he has said he is going to retire, he is still pretty competitive. Experience is worth a ton. Look at Rudd after a year off; first race back he sits on the front row at Daytona. Mark, you’re a racer, you’ve proven it time and time again, it’s what you do. Can you really stay out of the car at Bristol if you are still leading the points by then? If you do, you will wonder every day for the rest of your life; “Was 2007 my year and I walked away from it?” If you ain’t in it to win it all, why are you in it at all?

Technorati Tags: NASCAR, Mark Martin, Chase, Cup

I’m so blue baby.

Wally — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 05:08:53 +0000

Boston Terriers are cute, huh? They do lots of cute things too. They are very playful, have lots of energy and are very curious too. They do tend to chew on things they find from time to time though. Things like, oh, I don’t know. . . maybe like an INK PEN? It is a good thing he is cute, otherwise he would not live long enough to grow from a pup. Yeah, he is feeling kind of blue right now. I just hope he doesn’t puke, I’d have to have to clean THAT up.

Technorati Tags: Boston Terrier, blue, ink, chew, dog