Monday Morning Ramblings 2005, Issue XXIV

Yes, I realize it's Tuesday afternoon smart guy! It's just that I needed time to recover and regroup from this past weekend's trip to Indianapolis for the US Grand Prix. I have time to read some articles and watch some of the practice and qualifying on my DVR and I'm still up in the air with how I feel about what went down.

Sure, I'm pissed that I was basically ripped off but hey, F1 is global, people traveled from all over the globe to come to Indy to see this race. It would be selfish of me to gripe about a nine-hour trip from Pittsburgh so I won't. It does go to show you how fan-unfriendly F1 really is. I cannot imagine a stunt like this going down in any other racing outfit or any other sport for that matter.

What bothers me is that if the tires (or should I say "tyres") were so bad, why did the teams feel safe enough to qualify on them? Sure they tinkered with the air pressure at Michelin's request but the cars still were safe enough to qualify. No tires failed on the hot laps, in fact, qualifying was pretty uneventful. There were no real incidents, the Minardis and Jordans were at the back like usual and the usual suspects (Kimi, JPM, Truli, Alonso, the Ferraris) were quick. In fact, Michelin tires were on the pole so I'm not so sure what the deal really is/was.

As for the request of adding a chicane on Sunday morning after the cars have been practicing and qualifying is just plain silly. If that's the best compromise that could be reached I'm glad it was shot down.

Hey, maybe the FIA should have let Michelin ship the tires in, maybe Michelin should have had better product, maybe the teams should have done their homework better on the track. It was re-surfaced (at least the oval part) recently and may have caused problems with the tires. I don't know, I don't care, I just want my money back.

Rumors have been floating around that the promoters of the Grand Prix of Cleveland (Champ Car) may offer a free ticket to anyone that presents a stub from the USGP. Ironic enough for me as that is a race I used to attend reguarly (back when CART was still around and real drivers were in the circuit). Also, I was going to return to that race this year but opted not to since we would be heading to Indy. More to come on this for sure.

Needless to say, this will be talked about for years and years to come by F1 enthusiasts. The silver lining is I can say I was there. I was there when the Ferraris, Jordans and Minardis did 73 test laps and they called it the USGP!!!

I will be posting some pictures from the Indy weekend, including a stop at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton as soon as possible so stay posted.

In other sports news the Pirates appeared to have been starstruck by their recent trip to baseball meccas Yankee Stadium and Fenway Park as they won a whopping one game over the seven-game roadie. Things didn't get any better last night on the return to PNC as they dropped the first game of a three-game set against the Nationals. I'm afraid the good feeling I had about the Buccos becoming respectable is going to be a sinking feeling and I'll be calling for Lloyd McClendon's head again.

Pitt's Carl Krauser will announce his future plans today at 5p.m. He was strongly advised by NBA types at a pre-draft camp that he's not quite ready for primetime. I think I'm the only person in Pittsburgh that would love to have this guy back on the Pitt roster. I don't get why the sports media in this town doesn't embrace this guy. He's friendly, outgoing a great quote, everything these guys normally enjoy. However, most media peeps are sour on Carl, saying he's too flashy, too streetball. According to the Post-Gazette, he's going to stay in the draft. If he doesn't go to the NBA, there is still the D League and Europe. There's also the And 1 tour!