Formula 1 is Ready to Start
The 2016 Formula 1 racing season is gearing up with the Australian Grand Prix on March 20th. Formula 1 is one of the world’s most expensive sports. However, revenues are seriously down. Fan attendance at races is way down — perhaps because ticket prices for races have jumped to the $1,000 per seat range to see some of the individual events. More importantly, television revenue is way, way down, particularly in Europe. Nobody is watching races on television anymore and sponsors won’t pay the exorbitant rates to ran ads during the races. Fans say that the races are too predictable and boring. Races are being compared to parades with no actual racing, just cars running the circuits hoping the leaders will break down. Eighty-five year old Bernie Ecclestone, who is the CEO of Formula 1, says that the competition is the worst that it has ever been and the problem is that the racing teams are “selfishly” concerned about what favors their own individual organizations, rather than what is best for the sport as a whole and they definitely do not consider the big picture. Ecclestone thinks Europe is going to hell in a handbasket because of “democracy.” Bernie is a big, big fan of Vladimir Putin and sincerely believes Putin should be put in charge of Europe. Ecclestone also has privately said that the drivers are going to have to drive more competitively, in other words take more chances.
Thirty-one year old Lewis Hamilton is the defending champion, driving for Mercedes Benz. He also won the F1 Championship in 2014 and 2008. He was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire England in 1985. His mother is white English, but his father is black English. He has been the target of open racism in many of the races he has competed in. Spanish and Italian fans have been particularly hostile. Northern European white men see him the way many white men in the United States saw Tiger Woods at the beginning of his career — an open threat to the dominance of white men in what previously had been “white men only” sport. There are those who say that Hamilton is the reason interest in F1 is down. In the 1980s, South American drivers such as Nelson Piquet and Ayrton Senna were dominating the championship, Ecclestone decided to start pushing the European drivers back into predominance on the F1 circuit. I cannot say that this will not happen again with Lewis Hamilton. Remember what happened to Tiger Woods.
The Indianapolis Colts have released linebacker Jonathan Newsome. Newsome was arrested for possession of marijuana on Feb. 17. Zionsville police responded to a complaint of loud music in the early morning hours and found the former Colt with some weed in his apartment. Newsome is 25 years old and is from Cleveland, Ohio. Newsome attended Ohio State but after being suspended for violating a team rule he transferred to Ball State and became a defensive star at linebacker.
The Colts drafted Newsome on the fifth round of the 2014 draft. After a slow start, Newsome caught fire and led the Horseshoe with 7.5 quarterback sacks and made 47 combined tackles helping to ease the loss of Robert Mathis. He seemed to be one of the Colts’ draft picks who made good and the Colts hoped he would continue to grow as a potential defensive star. Last year was a different story. Newsome was in on only four tackles and had only one quarterback sack. He seemed to disappear from the Colts defense. Newsome thanked the Colts and coach Pagano for the opportunity.
snicewanger@yahoo.com
Newsome Gone