the official jade gurss blog

Jumping the Shark: What's Next?

Several weeks back, I wrote a SPEEDtv.com column proposing NASCAR shorten the vast majority of Cup races if they intend for the TV ratings to grow. Since my choice not to travel each weekend this year, I haven't watched an entire race since losing interest sometime before mid-season. I Tivo the races, then watch in fast-forward, thus saving several hours of my life. In cultural terms, most of the 500-mile races have jumped the shark.

What else has jumped the shark in recent months? Here are a few of my suggestions:  MySpace jumped long ago and Facebook might not be far behind... does The Office seem flat this year?... our economy... the Dale Jr vs. Kyle Busch debate... baseball... robocalls... DEI... this blog... live TV shows where the crowd behind the stage is incredibly distracting to the program itself... and a growing number of folks calling for a new format or point system for the Chase. This is the fifth season of the format, and it's the first with an apparent runaway victor. There are four races left, so it's too soon to crown Johnson, but even if Johnson does continue his torrid pace, one season in five is a pretty good average for exciting points finishes.

How Impressive is the 48 Team?: What Johnson and Chas Knaus have achieved at Hendrick since coming into the Cup Series gets more impressive each season. To have their success and consistent excellence for an extended period is an amazing feat in a sport which is traditionally such a cyclical endeavor.

In many ways, it is tougher to win in NASCAR than in the NFL or other pro sports. Why? Because every single contest includes 42 other competitors. For example, in the NFL, certain weeks are easier than others depending on the opponent. While it is true that any team can beat another on a given day, on average it's much more likely a top team will be able to defeat the Raiders or the Chiefs more often than if they faced a top-rated opponent such as the Titans or Giants. In the Sprint Cup Series, to win each week means beating ALL of your top opponents head-to-head.

NEWMAN!: How about a 1-2 finish in the Atlanta truck race for KHI?! Nicely done as the #2 team gets their first victory of 2008.

Paul Newman

Sad news this morning about the passing of Paul Newman. Though he will be forever known worldwide for his acting (and other-worldly swimming-pool-blue eyes), he was a man of political activism and great philanthropy through his food products and the creation of his series of Hole in the Wall Gang camps for children - which were the model and predecessors to the Petty's Victory Junction Gang camp. The very private Newman had been gravely ill with cancer, prompting numerous rumors of his passing for the past several months.

Many have said if Newman had become a race driver at a young age he would have been a champion. He first found himself behind the wheel of a racecar while preparing for the 1969 movie "Winning," which co-starred his wife Joanne Woodward. He became hooked on driving, and would eventually become a winner in a variety of sports car categories (often entered as "PL Newman") and continued into his 70s - including becoming the oldest winning co-driver in the 24 Hours of Daytona at age 70. (He drove in the 24 Hours for the first time at age 54!)

Newman was co-owner of the Newman-Haas Indy car team, which won countless races and a series of titles with drivers such as Mario and Michael Andretti, Nigel Mansell and most recently Sebastien Bourdais. He was known to refuse to sign autographs or to talk about acting or his movies, but would happily spend time 'bench racing' at the racetrack. In the heat of the CART/IRL split, he believed the George family were inflating attendance figures at Indy, and famously paid Indiana University students to literally count every seat at the massive Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

My favorite Newman story took place in the celebrity-packed hospitality area of the Long Beach Grand Prix in the late 1990s. The event - then in its prime - drew huge crowds, and it seemed all of humanity were massed between the hospitality area and the starting grid. Before walking through the teeming crowds, Newman quietly slipped into a neon vest stamped "WORKER," just like the ones worn by the track volunteers. I followed him on a leisurely stroll to the starting grid and not one spectator did a double take or gave a second glance to the movie star, allowing him to glide onto the grid without hassle. (I would have loved to have done the same with Dale Jr. at some tracks, but it's near impossible to cover an entire red BUD uniform with a neon vest...)

The Coolest of the Cool: After a call this afternoon with former boss Bill Kentling from my days at Heartland Park Topeka, he reminded me of another Newman-related anecdote. When the track was new, the Newman-Haas team booked test time at our facility to do straight-line speed tests (using what was then the longest drag strip run-off in the country). It was a big deal for the small capital city of Topeka, and it was a big deal for the track itself. We were looking for as much national coverage and credibility as possible, and having a CART team of such fame was instant attention and affirmation. What it also meant for the city was a high-alert of people on the look-out for Newman (though I doubt Paul ever attended a far-off test session with the team). For months after, the phones at the track would ring - with citizens, hotel or restaurant managers insisting Newman (and/or Tom Cruise, post-Days of Thunder) had been spotted in town... and why was the track trying to keep it a secret?! Despite the interest and hoopla, I don't believe Newman ever set foot at our track, but merely the chance of a star of such coooool, of such world status MIGHT be in town did wonders for our image with sponsors and townspeople.

More Paul Newman stories from Robin Miller.

Your Mileage May Vary

Sorry for the dearth of posts the past week or so. It's been a mix of writer's block, ennui, depression and a series of other projects which have put the ol' blog on the backburner. Look for the next "Faster. Louder." column tomorrow (Tuesday) at SPEEDtv.com.

I think the ESPN Sprint Cup broadcasts have been smooth, competent and professional - but lack real emotion and spirit. (More Brad Daugherty!) The sport needs more than the bland suit-and-tied-Disneyfied coverage ESPN is bringing to the tub right now. Plus, am I the only one bothered by their blatant audio sweetening at the start of each race? It's an old trick from the early days where the sound of cheering crowds would be inserted to give the illusion of more excitement. This isn't a sitcom: give us real audio! I urge everyone to turn up their surround sound at the green flag from Pocono and hear for yourself...

I've long had a soft spot in my heart for Rosanne Cash. I still rate her "Rhythm and Romance" album (released some 20+ years ago) as a gem. It's the perfect blend of country tradition and pop smarts. She's also a superb live performer who has survived some serious health issues in the past year. But now I've discovered her latest endeavor - an online column for the New York Times. Cash, along with other unique songwriters such as Peter Holsapple and Suzanne Vega, writes about the art of music and the creative process in general. Rosanne has an intensely personal style of writing which conveys the challenge of creativity - no matter what the art form - and has laid bare her strengths and insecurities in brilliantly written segments. If you like music - or just good writing- check it out and be inspired.

Another Strong Woman:  She doesn't have a ride right now, but Leilani Munter is kicking ass politically and with the media. Her latest grab? A column at the Huffington Post. Good for her....

8 Miles a Gallon: I've seen Scott Miller live twice in the past couple of weeks. Once solo with acoustic guitar and again with his band the Commonwealth. Scott was born in a small Appalachian town near the border of Va. and W. Va. and now is based out of Knoxville, TN. He's a gifted and prolific songwriter who captures the history of the region better than anyone I can think of with humor, smarts and melodies (appropriate since I'm told he has a degree in history). He leads the house band for the show "Blue Collar TV."  His "8 Miles a Gallon" ought to be the NASCAR theme song. The PG-13 version is below (the original version would earn him a major fine and at least a 25 point loss from NASCAR speech monitors...). Check out any of his discs - or look him up on YouTube for some entertaining footage.

This Headline Redacted for National Security

As a publicist, it can be rote pitching the same ol' ideas and stories. But sometimes a story comes along which means a little more.

Today's Associated Press wire service has a story by writer Pat Graham about Doug Herbert and his boys, which will hopefully soon appear in your local paper. You can read the story on the Sports Illustrated site. To the left is the photo Herbert keeps in the cockpit of his Top Fuel dragster (and is mentioned in the article). It's a moving story, and you can find the interim website for BRAKES at:  http://www.putonthebrakes.com

An ESPN Debut: If you watched the NHRA qualifying coverage Saturday night (probably not too many viewers - as it conflicted with the end of the Cup race on another network), you may recall a short feature about Herbert, a pilot since 1990, getting a chance to climb into a flight simulator to 'fly' an A320 Airbus. That story marked my debut as a camera operator for a national cable network. Finally, after so many years, my degree in broadcast production has paid off! Thanks mom and dad! But there's SO much more to the back-story.

Herbert was invited to try the simulator a few weeks back, but once we landed in Denver, we learned access to the facility (site name redacted for national security) was limited only to American citizens who can provide a current passport per the Dept. of Homeland Security. We also learned ESPN wanted to cover the visit, but had no staff available. Herbert, ever the quick thinker, decided I'm now a camera operator! When we arrived, Doug's better half, Dr. Ginger, was allowed inside without passport (she jokingly offered a credit card instead), while I was cheerily greeted as "the ESPN guy!" with my borrowed HD-cam in hand.

Within moments of arrival, I had staff approaching me to ask all kinds of TV questions, including "do you know (name redacted for national security)? She works at ESPN!" I managed to fumfer my way through the first few questions with "well, you know I'm a free-lancer. I don't know everyone..." But the questions continued from a variety of staffers. Dr. Ginger stifled laughs as I manged to side-step one query after another.

We were allowed briefly inside the giant simulator, but was only allowed to shoot extreme close-up video of Doug and his view through the "windshield" of the simulated terrain. I was not allowed to shoot any instruments or items inside the simulator - and had an employee literally over my shoulder watching every second of footage. (That makes some sense, though I'm told you can find exact diagrams of the A320 cockpit on the web.) When they were ready for Doug to 'fly,' Dr. Ginger and I were escorted quickly out of the capsule to prevent us from providing secrets to the Taliban. Even though we were graciously led to the break room, we were accompanied at every moment. Everyone was nice, but it was still odd to be watched so intently.

Despite the limitations, I somehow managed to shoot several moments of barely usable footage for ESPN, but the adventure wasn't over.

Several of the instructors were big drag racing fans, so Doug offered them weekend passes to the Mile-High Nationals and to the Snap-On hospitality area. Not a big deal - except it meant I would now have to continue the ruse throughout the rest of the race event. When they arrived, I was decked-out in my team gear, and had to explain Doug was without his former PR rep (the truth) and since my TV duties were light, Doug had hired me to fill in for the weekend (also sorta true since I won't be traveling each week).

Each day brought new questions and new creative answers.

"You look like you're really fitting in..." 

"Yeah, the secret to a good free-lancer is to act as if you really fit in..."

Seems the ruse worked and no one was the wiser, at least until they read this. Sorry guys - hated to lie, but your site (name redacted for national security) received national TV coverage... (This blog post will now self-destruct in five seconds. Step back if smoke begins to pour from your screen.)

How many bumper stickers are on your car?! I love unique scientific studies - even the ones which don't seem too world-changing yet provide interesting data and conclusions. Here's one: the more bumper stickers (or, to quote Office Space, FLAIR) on your vehicle, the more likely you are prone to road rage! Here's the story to explain the study further. What's on YOUR bumper?! And from now on, I'll know to steer clear of the pickups with the bootleg decals of the number 3 with angel wings and the Calvin cartoon character urinating on a Ford logo.

No Cup race?! What will everyone do this weekend? You know where to leave the comments.

Your Mileage May Vary

Random Musings while imagining the future of Cup racing with 11 teams of four cars each and the dire near-term future of the Nationwide Series... Big "attaboys" to Patrick Carpentier and Landon Cassill for their first NASCAR pole positions. Having worked with Patrick and Dario Franchitti back in their open-wheel days, I must admit to small surprise seeing the very likeable Patrick out-perform Dario. I think a lot has to do with the performance of the GEM program being vastly superior to Ganassi's so far in 2008... speaking of open-wheel, I'm slightly encouraged (history tells me not to get my hopes up until it happens) to hear the IRL could switch to a more attractive chassis and multiple engine manufacturers for 2011. Even more exciting, they are exploring the use of turbocharged engines, which not only act as an easily controlled speed limiter, but also make beautiful noise. It's like the soaring sound of a Les Paul guitar through a Marshall stack versus the current noise of a farting tuba through a fast-food drive-thru speaker...Imagine the level of salivating in the media center when Hendrick officially announced Casey Mears' exit from the No. 5 car. Silly Season is now officially wide-open. How serious is Tony Stewart on becoming a car owner versus his desire to win races? That could determine if he jumps into the 5 car - and creating an even-more-super superteam...

Rarely am I envious of media hits for other drivers (Jeff Gordon hosting Saturday Night Live was an example - but Junior absolutely refused to consider the idea of hosting or even making a brief cameo appearance, so my hands were tied), but the Freakonomics/New York Times blog is currently featuring an intriguing "Ask a NASCAR driver" segment. They've chosen Kyle Busch instead of someone more well-spoken and thoughtful like Jeff Burton. A quick sample of the questions shows a lot of disdain for NASCAR, and someone like Burton would seem to be more appropriate to counteract them.

Why is it the most intelligent political and social discourse on TV is limited to the faux-news or comedy shows? The world of shout-and-pout cable news could learn a helluva lot from Jon Stewart. Here's foreign/war correspondent Lara Logan on The Daily Show. In the same vein, if you'd like an intense, emotional and personal look at the path of a young soldier killed in Iraq, carve out an hour or so to read from Esquire Magazine's "The Things That Carried Him."

Speaking of Sad and Pathetic: I had to call "B.S." when I read recently the former Swift Boat machine belly-aching about a lack of financing and not equipped to challenge Obama. Don't believe it for a second. Especially after seeing the newest political button (pictured, right) being distributed by the Texas Republican party - the same geniuses which gave us Dubya, Dick, DeLay, Rove and a seemingly endless list of Neo-Cons. It's only going to get more bloody. Such as Grover Norquist (infamous for saying he'd like to see the government eliminated until it's "small enough to be drowned in the bathtub") saying Obama is "John Kerry with a tan." I guess "coded" racist terms will no longer be so coded.

File in the "WTH? Folder": Add another line to the resume, as I'll be an adjunct professor/lecturer this fall as a part of the UNC Charlotte Sports Marketing MBA program. I'll be a part of a duo teaching "Management of Motorsports" (that's course number MBAS 6361 in case you're scoring at home) alongside all-around Good Joe (and fingerprint guest blogger) Dr. Jack Cathey.

We'll hopefully have a few new loud and fast projects in the pipeline sometime soon. Stay tuned. Film at 11.

The Democratic Process: A Helmet Poll

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE: The helmet has arrived, and it is... ORANGE! But beautiful. We'll see how many tenths are cut from my lap times at Wednesday's Golden Benny Karting League event.

Yet, somehow it doesn't fit my head exactly right...  (Mac's Photo Booth is SO cheesy but SO fun...)

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UPDATE: The popular vote wins... it's the mysteriously named SPIKE ORANGE on the way... Thanks!

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It's time for a new noggin' protector, allowing me to retire my Mercedes-Benz/Alexander Grau special to the trophy case. With so many bitchen' choices, I figured we'd see what the blog community thinks. Here's your shot to help select which helmet design I should consider. (Disclaimer: the vote is non-binding per the whims of my mood on any given day.)

Blog Issues Solved

We believe the problems with Internet Explorer are solved... Whoo hooo... Tell your friends it's safe to come back in the water. Seems a rogue widget was the source of trouble. Damn those rogue widgets!

It's still a good time to download the vastly superior Firefox browser...

In the meantime, well done Leilani!

More news and info likely to appear Thursday. It's a busy week 'round here at fingerprint inc...

Kansas Jayhawks: 2008 NCAA Basketball Champs

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK

KU 75, Memphis 68 in OT.

Not a bad few months for Kansas:

2008 National Basketball Champs / 37-3 record

Orange Bowl champions / 12-1 football season

Welcome. And Welcome Back.

Welcome to readers new and old.

Since creating the first "insiders" blog for the NASCAR world waaaay back in the good old days of 2004, I used a versatile lil' piece of blog software which had not been updated for several years. The lack of development meant change was inevitable.

With so many new endeavors for fingerprint inc. and myself personally, now is the perfect time to make the break. If you've enjoyed the fingerprint blog previously, you'll see much of the same, but in a more versatile and useful format. The new set-up offers many new options, such as allowing me to update or add new posts and photos directly and instantly from my iPhone. That means more entries and quicker updates.

If you're new, strap in and hang on. We'll have photos, audio and video, snarky commentary, musical highlights, motorsports insights, political rants and other elements which have marked the past several years and hundreds of blog posts. In short, we'll continue to rant and rail against injustice and stupidity everywhere.   

If you miss the old site - it will remain online. You'll still be able to go back and enjoy infamous entries like the - ahem, cough - "helmet lickers" story, the "Wilson the Volleyball" entry, and even the "MTV Music Video Awards" series of entries from the UNofficial Celebrity Report category.

Please change your bookmarks and your RSS readers to this new address. The URL and the look has changed, but the fun we'll have will only increase. If you'd like to read my bio or email me, click on the "About" header in the right-hand column.

A massive "thank you" to all who have read the blog and continue to make it a rewarding experience for me. Keep the comments coming. And keep clicking back. You don't want to miss anything.

Thanks.

jade.

Eight fingers. Nine lives. Hang ten!

I'm fascinated - for no apparent reason other than being a writer of sorts - by the new book called Not Quite What I Was Planning by authors Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser.  Can you tell your life story in only six words?! It's hard to imagine 240+ pages of six-word biographies being an interesting read, but the entries from celebs top-to-bottom are alternately funny and intriguing.

Use the "comments" section to enter your own 6-word biography. It's fun and more challenging than blabbering on-and-on like a usual bio. Try it, then show us your best.