So it's been awhile...

But I finally got to see the automotive challenge I (and the rest of the car community) have been waiting to see. The trio at top Top Gear made a trip to somewhere in the Middle East, and borrowed a McLaren F1, and a Bugatti Veyron, for a one mile drag race.

Finally.

Everyone knows that Top Gear does these types of shootouts all the time. Lambo vs. VW GTI, Ferrari 430 vs. Aston Martin DB9, dump truck vs. an RV.

This drag race, however, actually means something to me. More specifically, the McLaren. In 1998, an F1 costs $1,131,120 to have shipped over from the UK and brought up to US spec. It was the lightest, fastest, and most expensive production car in the world. It was the dream. A Formula One car, redesigned for the road. This fantasy was powered by a BMW V12, pushing out 650 horsepower and 520 ft/lbs of torque. A beast for it's time. The driver even sat in the dead middle to give the true feeling of driving a racecar.

The Daytona...380?!

Ulgh...NASCAR is really starting to hack me off.

OK, they started a long time ago. I was talking to my buddy Josh, and I told him, "Ya know, I think I like the old NASCAR better, even though I never followed it back then."

You can just tell things are different. All the commercialization, the sponsors, the gimmicks, the tight rules, "this pit stop brought to you by [insert strange minor business here]," the cars, the engines, the rivalries...they've all changed.

I'll (try) to keep this post relatively short.

The Daytona 500 is NASCAR's premier event. They have their Superbowl at the beginning of the year. It's so unique that there's even a two-week qualifying process; "Speedweeks" they're called. It's a wild time with bands, infield parties, and more beer consumed in a two-week period than Anheuser-Busch produces in a year.

You get the idea.

So all of this Redneck madness culminates in the apex of stock-car racing. The Daytona 500. The "500" being 500 miles. That's 200 laps of Daytona's 2.5 mile track. Seems simple enough.

However, mother nature can, and has in the past, have her way with this event. These cars don't have the ability to run in the rain (yet) at these speeds (close to 200 mph in the draft), so they don't run in the rain. And that's where I have a problem. Several years ago, Daytona Superspeedway was retrofitted with lights, allowing racing during the night.

Ok...I'll cut to the chase. Today's race was shortened by rain. NASCAR says they will make all attempts to finish the race later if they can. (FYI: Once a race goes one lap over halfway the race is declared official.) So it starts raining on lap 152. So we have the Daytona 380 and waiting to finish. FOX walks up and down pit road doing a few interviews, always mentioning how, "If we can, we'll go back and finish the race." They cut back to their broadcast booth, about 30 minutes later and declare the race over.

Just like that...

The most anti-climactic ending to a race I've seen in a long time. (Let alone the "Superbowl" of racing.)

The track has lights! Tomorrow is holiday! PLEASE NASCAR...FINISH THE RACE TOMORROW!!!!

Nope. All done. Finished. Go home.

...weak.

(Congrats to Matt Kenseth for the win. Seriously. Just shows that the only lap you need to lead is the last one.)

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

The A-Rod Thing...

As previously mentioned, I don't play sports.

If I do, I'm usually pretty bad. Except for Tiger Woods 2004 and Mini Ping-Pong.

However, if I were to play sports, (especially professionally), I would feel the need to produce and compete on a crazy high level. Between winning games, my contract, endorsements, kids looking up to me, one has to perform. Now would I ever cheat? Probably, but if I did, knowing me, it would probably be on accident. Whether I knew immediately it was wrong, or later after someone had told me I messed up, things would change. At that point I would ask for forgiveness, rectify the situation, and assure all parties it would never happen again. From then on, I would try my hardest to never repeat that action, or any other detrimental action again. 

Now if I were to cheat on purpose...that's a different story. Once I did it, I would just hope I never got caught. 

It's been almost a week since Alex Rodriguez (3rd Baseman, New York Yankees, 2004-present), said on an interview with ESPN's Baseball Analyst Peter Gammons, that during his tenure with the Texas Rangers (2001-2003) he tested positive for a banned substance. In the years following, his name, along with 103 other MLB players ended up on a list that tested positive for banned substances. According to the players, that list was to never be released to the public or any other organization. Earlier this week, A-Rod came out and stated that he had used the substances.

The full video interview is here.

I just wanted to briefly share my view, however skewed, on this "discovery."

Contrary to popular belief, I'm not dumb. I may be stupid, but I'm not dumb. Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire...yeah...they juiced. All of them. They are freakin HUGE! There's no way they can do what they did, when they did them as a normal human being. The numbers they put up, their years in the league; they're not human. Unless you're Jeff Bagwell and stay with the same team and become some sort of indestructible robot baseball machine. But I digress.

The fact is, the "Steroid Era" of baseball is just beginning. Players, damn good ones, who did use these substances, (HGH, etc.) will eventually have to face the music and admit what they did and that they got caught. It's so sad. Kids, Teachers, Parents look up to these athletes for how to live right and give young kids dreams and aspirations for their future. And now they will have to have someone tell them that they didn't get to where they are naturally. That they cheated on purpose. If I were a father, I would never want to tell my child that story.

The only good thing that has come out of this is that A-Rod did what no one else has done. He came out and admitted he messed up. On his on free will. 

No one to this point has done that. Clemens, Bonds, & McGwire were all brought before a congressional hearing, and had to testify to congress that they had never used banned substances. Now it is my opinion that they were/are lying, they will get caught, and they will have purgery charges brought against them in the future. A-Rod has avoided this (for now) and has set himself apart from the rest of the pack, by coming out and telling everyone up front. 

Am I disappointed in A-Rod? Yes. 

Am I surprised? Sort of.

Is this the first of many "confessions"? Youbetcha

It's tough times in the world of sports. Let's just hope it gets better soon.

Morning Workouts...They're Not For Everyone.

I didn't work out last night. No idea why. I was dressed and ready to go, but I guess I was busy on the blog or something. So I told myself, "Self, Im going to I workout in the morning."

...anyone who knows me knows I am not a morning person. But, by golly, I was going to pull it off.

Fast forward 6 hours to about 6:30 this morning. I heard my alarm. Sat up. And then thought to myself, "Self, you can get a few minutes more of sleep." Then I realized I was short-changing myself.

Long story short: I did manage 30 minutes on the elliptical and honestly feel great and pretty awake. The question is, can I do it again tomorrow?

Have a good day everyone!

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

A questionnaire.

I'm curious to know...

What does everyone (which is probably only Ava and Kirby at this point) think of four-door sports cars?

I haven't been into cars for that long, (relative to other car enthusiasts), but I do know the basic ideas of a good, fast car. Lightweight, Mid-Engine, rear wheel drive, and a big motor. Oh yeah, and one other thing: 2 doors. I guess it would be better to put my view on the four door sport cars out there.

Not a fan. At all. 

You make fast, expensive, luxurious, sports cars. Stick to it. This means you: 

Porsche,

Aston-Martin, 

and Lamborghini. 

Two doors, heck, even a 2+2 configuration says, "Hi driver! I'm only going to stick you and a friend/college/spouse/date in one of my seats and rip your face off by pulling face-melting Gs and warping your mind into next year." 

A four door sports car says, "Good afternoon, driver and family. I would like to quickly escort all of you around town in a, 'Hey, look at that four door sports car' kind of way. I will most likely sacrifice all handling and high-speed cornering, and overall power-to-weight ratio due to you and your three other friends." 

Ferrari, most notably, has said they will never build a four door. Thank goodness. 

I agree that, yes, some of them do look, ok. I just can't like them for what they are. They're fast moving cabs to me. 

I don't know. Am I too purist? Thoughts?

I can talk about whatever I want? Really?!

Anyone who knows me, knows what content will go in this blog. Most people would call it boring, stupid, or it's something that only "guys" or "dudes" talk about. However, it's my blog and I don't care if anyone reads it. At least I get to at least put some, if not all of my thoughts out there. The truth is, for me, the majority of topics on here don't seem like a big deal at all, however, I think they are items that have shaped and defined our lives, especially in the last 100 years and for sure in the years to come.

In no particular order, here are those topics:

- Gadgets: I think my fascination with all things electronic started when I stumbled upon "Get Smart" on Nick-at-Nite when I was at least in grade school. They had more wacky gadgets, gizmos, doohickeys and thingamajigs than you could count! So naturally, I wanted my own thingamabobs and oozits and whatzits galore.

Wait...wrong part of childhood.

Moving on. Gadgets have become an integral part of the 21st century techno-craze. iPhones, Netbooks, wireless networks, intelligent washing machines, refrigerators with TVs in them, vacuums that never lose suction, Flat Screen TVs, 7.2 surround sound, HD EVERYTHING, e-ink, operating systems (working and non), digital picture frames, dSLR Cameras...the list goes on and on and on. My point is, without these things in our life...or maybe it's just mine, things would not be quite as entertaining.

- Sports: I will do my absolute BEST to not put anything of or relating to the University of Mississippi's (Ole Miss) Rebels. Whew, now that that's out of the way...

I found out at an early age that not all people are necessarily good at playing sports at a higher level. Which would include me. Thanks God. However, shortly after I learned about my All-American lack of talent, I learned that I could do one thing. Act like a complete fool and yell and scream and be one hell of a fan. Athletics in all forms, yes, even curling, can have its religious moments. A perfect throw, a monster tackle, buzzer beaters, and an impossible shot. Sports stretches the human being to the ends of its possibility, then shocks the world with a new standard. Heros, Idols, and Legends are born from these moments; stories that will be passed down from one family to the next.

However, the fan is the most integral part of sporting today. Without them, they'd just be playing a pickup game.

I lied when I said these weren't in any particular order. I did save the best for last.

- Cars: I'm first going to preface this with the background to the blog url.

I went to grade school at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock, AR. I've always been a big believer in the Trinity as taught by most churches. I took a fond liking to the trinity symbol, or triquetra. Through the years I've always drawn it on notepads or post-its, and there's even a sketch of a tattoo I drew that I keep in my wallet, (for when I get brave and finally decide to get one.) Fast forward to two or three years ago when I was deciding my "dream" goal of the future. I had decided I wanted to open a high-end motor salon that services Ferrari's, Aston-Martins, Lamborghini's, etc., adding turbos, exhaust, custom carbon body kits, and the like.

So there I was with my dream job, but no name. I thought about it for awhile and finally found something that had always found its way into the back of my mind: the Trinity symbol. Hence, Trinity Motorsports was born (in my head at least.) Trinity Engineering is mainly a way to incorporate the Gadgets and Sports into this blog.

Cars have only found their way into my heart and soul fairly recently. I didn't get my car kick until just after I had started college. Since then, well, if it has four wheels and an engine, I like it. Or I'll at least take a look. There is something special in the bond between man and machine. Art in motion. That's kinda what it is for me. To most people, cars are just a means of transportation. I believe that every car has a story to tell and a different way to get you into that story. They're art to me. Rolling sculptures. Feats of engineering.

I still don't see how a two-and-a-half ton machine can go 0-60 mph in less than 4 seconds. That's about as long as it takes for you to read this sentence out loud. Just amazing.



I'll be posting my thoughts on these subjects, and I would kindly ask that everyone comment, debate, discuss, tawlk amongst yaselves, on anything I do or don't say.

Goodnight world.