The Brickyard, Needed or Not?

Tomorrow, NASCAR’s best start their engine at one of the world’s greatest racetracks–the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since the inaugural Brickyard 400 in 1994, this race has become the second-biggest race in NASCAR. However, for the past week, fans have been displaying their dismay for the summertime race on Sirius/XM’s NASCAR channel.

A lot of fans think the racing isn’t great at Indy. I can’t say I disagree with that. Lets’ face it, there’s not a lot of passing; clean air is premium, and there’s going to be a lot of empty seats for tomorrow’s race. The empty seats are happening all across NASCAR, but also in other sports too–so NASCAR isn’t alone in the in-person attendance category. The fans want to see Indy off the schedule; why? They need to have a valid reason.

Some fans haven’t come back to Indy since the epic 2008 tire “disaster”. The economy hasn’t picked up-so some don’t want to fork out all the money for the in-person experience and others have been, but claim the views’ at the track are not good. Are these reasons to pull NASCAR away from the historic track? No. If that were the case, then why does Pocono still have a race? It’s the exact same as Indy–just the track is a triangle–not four-cornered, or rectangle like Indy.

I agree with NASCAR blogger, Pete Pistone–NASCAR’s relationship with Indianapolis is important. Drivers view this as the “second” Dayton 500. Even though there may just be 138,000 people at the race tomorrow–that’s nearly 30,000 more than any college football, NFL, MLB, MLS or any other sports venue can hold. It will, at the very least, double what the Olympics opening ceremonies held–maybe triple.

Also, Indy has tradition–kissing the bricks. Champions tend to rise when Indy rolls around. Four-time champion, Jeff Gordon, leads all drivers with four wins at Indy; five-time champion, Jimmie Johnson, has three wins, and defending series champion, Tony Stewart, has two wins. Eight winners have gone on to win the championship in the same year (three mentioned above are apart of the group). Will this weekend’s winner be launched to a Sprint Cup Series Championship? Who will kiss the bricks? I don’t think the winner will win the championship, however, it will be someone who’s never won the race before. Maybe it will be Joey Logano, winner of the June race at Pocono. What about Kyle Busch? He’s had a terrible season, but a victory at Indy can turn everything around. It won’t be either of them. My pick for tomorrow, Kasey Kahne.

Kahne–winner of the Coca-Cola 600 in May, and last race at New Hampshire–is firing on all cylinders right now. He’s hungry to show his dominance at Hendrick Motorsports. A win tomorrow would pretty much secure his spot in the final 10-race chase for the Sprint Cup.

Paul Menard–defending Brickyard champion–was a surprise last year. Do I expect another surprise tomorrow? No, but that doesn’t mean someone couldn’t sneak in for the victory.

Tomorrow, a new chapter is written into one racing’s most-historic tracks. It’s not going anywhere–no matter what people say.

Favorite Cartoon

During my last post, I shared my favorite Nickelodeon shows, however, they weren't the cartoon shows. I had to save cartoon-list for another post. When I remember my favorite cartoons, several come to mind. Only a few stand out, though. They all were under the Nickelodeon umbrella. It was my ritual–like most kids–to watch cartoons. Even flipping through channels now, I run across the Nickelodeon channel and I see Hey Arnold! or Doug on. It takes me back to when I was kid. Wow, those days went by so quick. Here’s my list of my top-5 cartoons:

1. Rocko’s Modern Life

No debate about my no. 1 show. Rocko’s Modern Life was my favorite cartoon show. I thought it was hilarious, gross, dumb, etc. As a kid, you could care less about the “educational” value of a show. This show had ZERO, however, it was my favorite. You had Rocko the wallaby; his friends Heffer the cow and Filburt the turtle, Rocko’s neighbors the Bigheads’ and of course Spunky, Rocko’s dog. All the memorable shows (if you’re a fan). Do you remember when Heffer had his brain sucked into the big screen television? Or what about Ed Bighead’s “Magic Meatball” (a play off the magic 8-ball). One of those has to be my favorite episode. As mentioned earlier–not “educational”–but hilarious.

2. Rugrats

How many adventures did you go on as a a kid? I can remember a few, but no kid took adventures like Tommy Pickles. That kid saw everything it seemed like. He would go to places with his grandfather’s stories. He got locked in a toy store–not a good thing–but he had fun in there. The adventure was fun for me as a kid. Tommy was the coolest toddler around. We all have a faithful sidekick–Tommy was no different; he had Chuckie. We all know a Chuckie; doesn’t want to get into anything because he’s afraid of getting in trouble. Then, we all know a Phil and Lil. Two twins who wanted to get into everything. Then last, but certainly not least, there was Angelica–Tommy’s cousin. We all have the cousins’ who pick on us when we’re smaller; Tommy was no exception to that rule. I remember many days of wanting to be a “rugrat”. What I didn’t know was we all are in our smaller years.

3. Doug

Doug Funnie and Mosquito Valentine brought junior high to a younger generation. Nickelodeon gets a lot of props from me. Looking back now, we all dreams of a special girl we really like; we dreamed of being a hero (or I did). Doug brought us complex, but simple characters. “Skeeter” was Doug’s best friend; Roger was the class bully and Patti Mayonnaise was Doug’s love interest (or crush). I could relate to the cartoon. We all knew these people growing up. Sometimes, I wanted to turn into Quailman or Durango Doug. How funny to look back now. This show should be in everyones’ top-5.

4. Hey Arnold!

“Football head!” What a nickname for a kid. Arnold–who’s head was shaped like a football–was a great kid in the show. I remember thinking that my friends and I were a lot like Arnold and his friends. We all played baseball in the neighborhood and we all went to school together. That’s just like Arnold and his friends. Looking back now, I never realized how much his grandfather looked like Old man Herbert from Family Guy.

5. Rocket Power

How can we forget the kids who love to skateboard? Otto, Reggie, Twister and Squid–they took us on some wild journeys on their skateboards. Everywhere they went, they were on a skateboard. They lived on a California beach, so naturally they surfed. They loved anything extreme. They were doing things only I could imagine at a young age. I’d be willing to bet they made extreme sports relative to a younger demographic, and we can think this show. Even though I didn’t watch every episode, I watched enough. That’s why the show is in my top-5.

Honorable Mentions: Aaahh!!!! Real Monters, Angry Beavers, CatDog, Ren & Stimpy

Remembering the Days

I’m sifting through Twitter, reading all the tweets, looking to see what’s trending–then it caught my eye. Not a picture or a specific tweet–but a hashtag that read #NickelodeonClassics. I couldn’t believe it. I read as people were talking about their favorite Nickelodeon shows. It made me sit back and think, “What were my favorite Nickelodeon shows?” This is my top five list.

1. Legends of the Hidden Temple

What a great show! I remember being scared of the temple guards when I was younger. Who didn’t want to go through Olmec’s temple? He had everything you could think of. Swings, ladders, observatory, etc. My favorite room in the temple–the ledges. I’d always laugh when a team chose to start through the ledges. A temple guard would always pop out, and they were down a pendant of life right off the bat. My favorite team–Purple Parrots. This is when I really rooted for underdogs. I only saw the Parrots’ make it to the temple one time–guess what? They won! It was educational, but most of all, fun to watch.

2. Wild and Crazy Kids

Wow! This is a close second. I remember spending hours watching the no. 1 show along with this one. Wild and Crazy Kids had some of the funnest games imaginable. Do you remember bumperball? What about Raging Waters episode? How about rolling a house in toilet paper? Or when they took over Universal Studios Hollywood? They were on the movie sets for all their games. Only on this show could kids go all out with their imagination. One other thing–Omar Gooding Jr. Hard to believe he was a host on this show–especially with the movies he’s been in.

3. Are You Afraid of the Dark?

This show was part of the Nick’s Saturday night lineup. I always felt the show didn’t get the credit it deserved. Coming on after All That must have been tough (not on my list though). It always made me think something scary will happen. The ending–no one wanted to be the last person around the open campfire–because they’d have pour the water out over it, and no one else would stick around to help them. Where did they come up with some of these stories? For a little kid, the show did its’ job. It left an impression

4. Guts (all versions)

“Do You Have it?” A memorable slogan from the show. Mike O’Malley–main character of the popular show, Yes Dear–hosted Guts. All the players competed for a glowing piece of aggro rock. The Aggro Crag was a beast towards the end of the show. I liked the fact they used many different sports during the show. Strong show, lots of love–but it didn’t crack my top three. However, it did have to the coolest arena name–Extreme Arena.

5. What Would You Do?

No–this is not the show hosted by John Quinones–this was hosted by Marc Summers. The show feautured different things, like the pie pod, the pie wash, pie coaster, etc. Who can forget the Wall O’Stuff? I know I can’t. I’d laugh when people would get a pie to the face, or the pie sprayer would soak them. They would present their token with a big smile–then the smile went away (in most cases). How many laughs this show gave me, I’ll never know the answer to that.

This list could not have been possible without our honorable mention list: Salute Your Shorts, Double Dare, Figure It Out, Kenan and Kel, Nick Arcade and Hey Dude. Now, I know there weren’t any cartoons, but that’s to come at a later date. We’re going to have a whole other debate for Nickelodeon cartoon supremacy.

Els’ Triumph

(Credit to Bleacherreport.com for photo)

Ernie Els returned to the major championship winners’ circle Sunday defeating Adam Scott by one shot to win the 2012 Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes.

Els–who hasn’t won a major since his 2002 Open Championship victory–birdied the eighteenth hole to card a 2-under 68, 7-under overall.

“Last year I was absolutely nowhere. I started believing a little more and somehow, here we are,” said Els. “I feel very fortunate, but I also feel Adam Scott. He’s a great player and a great superstar.”

Scott–who remains majorless–held a four shot lead walking off the 14th hole, however, Els’ birdie on 18 cut the deficit to three, then Scott made four consecutive bogeys.

He (Scott) failed to convert an up-and-down from a bunker on the fifteenth hole. Then he three-putted 16. The seventeenth hole, Scott pulled his approach shot left from the middle of the fairway. Finally, his pulled 3-wood into a pot bunker on 18 forced Scott to pitch-out sideways and get up-and-down from the fairway. He hit his third shot to 7 feet, but was unable to sink the putt.

“I had it in my hands with four to go,” Scott said. “I managed to hit a poor shot on each of the closing four holes. Look, I played so beautifully for most of the week. I shouldn’t let this bring me down.”

For Els, his major disappoinments’ have to come to a halt. Since his last major victory, Els’ closest calls came during the 2004 season. He finished second to Phil Mickelson at the Masters, lost in a playoff to Todd Hamilton in the Open Championship–his last runner-up finish in a major–and missed a playoff by one shot at the PGA Championship, won by Vijay Singh

Credit: ESPN.com and PGATour’s Twitter for the quotes and helped statistics in this article.

Vikings Hold the Cards

The setting: New York City, the place: Radio City Music Hall, the occasion: the 2012 NFL Draft and what we know? Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III are off the board to the Colts and Redskins respectively. They’re all the hype right now, but it may be the team sitting in the third-spot who stands to gain the most from tonight.

The Minnesota Vikings are scheduled to select third in the NFL draft. This pick can have high-value. Alabama running back Trent Richardson, is looking to go off the board at No. 4 to the Cleveland Browns. If Tampa Bay wants him at No.5 they’ll have to trade up to Minnesota’s No.3 pick. If this trade happens, Minnesota can still get LSU (Louisiana State University) corner back Morris Claiborne or USC (University of Southern California) left tackle Matt Kalil. According to the NFL Network and Charley Casserly of CBS Sports, the Buffalo Bills want to trade up for Matt Kalil.

If these reports turn into reality, then the Vikings can start stockpiling draft picks and their needs can still be met at a later draft spot. If the Bills picks, the Vikings will now pick at No.10. At No.10, the Vikings may field more phone calls from teams around the league. According to “The Fifth Down” blog of the New York Times, South Carolina corner back Stephon Gilmore, is the No.11 ranked player in this draft. The Vikings at the tenth-spot can easily swipe him away, plus take away another pick from the Bills.

The Vikings may trade down either further. According to an ESPN article, the New York Jets have contacted Trent Richardson, and they’re willing to trade up to get him. The Vikings may get contacted only if the Browns and Buccaneers don’t want to trade their draft spots. The Vikings don’t need Richardson. Why? They’ll have Adrian Peterson back in the starting role, or they hope too. Last year, Peterson had an injury plagued season, which was cemented when he tore his ACL and MCL against the Redskins last Christmas Eve.

The Vikings needs are the secondary and the offensive. Any wheelin’ and dealin’ can allow them to position themselves to cover all needs. Or, if they stay at the No. 3 spot, they’ll still be able to cover these needs. Any move they make determines how the teams behind them draft.

This year will also be a telling year for quarterback Christian Ponder, but if he doesn’t have support on either side of the ball, then his time in Minnesota may be short. How will the Vikings do in the draft? We’ll find out beginning with the first round of the NFL draft. It’ll be the precursor to how the season will turn out.

Trending Worldwide: Athletes and Twitter

From Nascar to golf, football to WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), Twitter has swept the world of sports. Every week, I watch WWE’s Monday Night Raw, and during the course of the program, they throw the Twitter hash tag up, and people begin to tweet about the show. As the show progresses, they will show what from the company is trending worldwide. This is just one example of how Twitter is making an impact on sports.

Fast Forward to April 1, 2011, WWE’s biggest event, WrestleMania, celebrated its 28th anniversary in Miami. The buzz was focused around the return of one Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock. The build-up could not have been bigger. The WWE gave Twitter and social media a pat on the back for the event’s success. WWE held their first-ever, live WrestleMania press conference via YouTube (another social media outlet). They sent out Twitter hash tags for fans to tweet about their favorite superstars. Next, the WWE launched a social media campaign, the reason, globalization. An article I found talked about why they wanted to reach out and be even more interactive with the fans. Not only were the superstars given a platform, but the superstars have been given a platform as well.

Throughout the semester, we have been posting our trends to the digital culture Facebook page. For me, this was an opportunity to research, to dig deep and find how articles about how athletes use Twitter, good or bad. One of the first links I posted was about Nascar driver Brad Keselowski. Keselowski used the red-flag delay during the Daytona 500 to tweet pictures to his followers. During the broadcast, the announcers on FOX talked about him doing this, and by the end of night, Keselowski had gained 100,000 new followers. His actions led to a lot of speculation and questions. Should he have been tweeting during the delay? In the NFL, you cannot tweet during a game. Should Nascar have stepped in? My answer, NO! Brad brought eyes to the race. Some people who might have not watched Nascar before turned the channel to the race, or looked up who Brad was.

One of my favorite Twitter trends came just last week. New Masters champion, Bubba Watson, made a ruckus over the weekend. The reason, he tweeted a picture of the General Lee, which was the car used in the show Dukes Of Hazzard, and Watson bought the original General earlier this year for $110,00. The picture showed the General Lee jumping over the lawn, in front of the clubhouse at Augusta National Golf Club.

Significant? When you consider the rich history of Augusta National and The Masters golf tournament, some people may speculate a consequence for the picture. My opinion, I think the picture is just out of fun, and it shows who Bubba Watson is as a person.

Another aspect to the Bubba Watson Twitter phenomena, last year, Watson lost followers due to his profession of faith as a Christian. I found an article from the Billy Graham website, and in their it explains how Watson lost followers, and how he gained followers. Also, after winning this year’s Masters tournament, Watson tweeted everyone who tweeted them. He probably spent a long time tweeting back, but he did because it is his platform to the fans.

Overall, this semester has been a fun one. I found a lot of unique trends and videos to share with the class. The power of Twitter is changing the world around us. News, announcements, friends, etc. They are all instantly tweeting and connecting with the world around them. Bubba uses Twitter to show who he is off the golf course. WWE uses it to connect with the fans, and Brad Keselowski used it to show what the Daytona International Speedway looked like after the fiery crash, but little did he know his one tweet would gain him some so many followers. I use Twitter all the time. It is fun to interact with other fans and let your voice be heard. I am a part of the Twitter sub-culture. I will leave with this, athletes, no matter where they come from, no matter their back background, they come from all walks of life, have one thing in common now, it is Twitter, #Sports.

Citizens’ Taking Over

Citizen journalism, good thing or bad thing? Take your pick. The emergence of new technology and the internet has brought along aspiring journalists. Or is it people who want to give their opinion? The gray area is hard to determine. One thing I’ve learned, citizen journalism can be helpful, but it can be a detriment.

We saw how the kids in Brazil were able to start their own citizen journalism program. It helped inspired the future students to join in. They had a platform where they could aspire to be a journalist. In that sense, citizen journalism is a good thing. The program was pushing students in the right direction to become a journalist.

The picture above can illustrate what a problem with citizen journalism is. Their is no fear, which may not be a bad thing, but it can be. If a citizen journalist isn’t careful, they may run into the ethical issues. Matt Drudge, creator of the Drudge Report, broke the story of the Monica Lewinsky-Bill Clinton scandal (or caught word that Bill Clinton was being questioned). If the story had been false, Drudge would have faced a potential lawsuit. He would have been in violation of the libel law. Both Clinton and Lewinsky, may have sued him. The story turned out to be true.

In December 2011, CNN, a world news organization, laid off at least 50 staff members (www.wired.com). According to the report, CNN was looking in the direction of the Ireport. The problem with the direction of Ireporting and citizen journalism, the professionals are being put out of a job. It is cheaper and easier for a news outlet to have people send in videos of an event. They do not have to pay one of their reporters to go out and cover the event. They can have contributors to a blog, and it’s voluntarily. Good thing? It’s smart, but now the people who want to be a professional are having to find a new avenue to become a major writer. In that respect, people have to think outside outside the box, whether it be starting a blog, contributing to a major blog outlet or they are working harder than everyone to get their chance at writing. In the end, I believe the major news outlets will allow the cream to rise to the top.

One place where citizen journalism has flourished, disasters. The book in class talked about the tsunami of 2004, which was the first event that truly brought citizen journalism to the forefront. The 9/11 terrorist attacks had raw footage from the citizens of New York City, but it took some time for the videos to be gathered. In 2004, technology had allowed for a video to be instantly uploaded and viewed. The tsunami disaster saw videos being posted instantly. The great thing about the raw videos, first hand accounts. We are able to see what happens before any news sites are able to get there. The videos are sad. When you see a person being killed, or you see destruction looming, it really can hit hard. Should it be shown? I don’t know. It’s not for me to answer. Ultimately, it’s up to those who make the video and post it.

Not only are disasters major in citizen journalism, but politics overseas are a major story. The Egyptian revolution was started by social media, then was played out in front of the world. Saddam Hussein’s execution was supposed to be private, but someone recorded the execution, then put it online. Former Libya leader, Muammar Gaddafi, was killed, and then his body was shown on video and in pictures. The visuals may be hard to look at, but I think the people wanted to show he was dead. Citizen journalism did its part. They ensured the rest of the world knew what was going on in their part of the world.

Overall, citizen journalism has changed the way news is reported. You have to be extra careful if you go the citizen journalism route. Know the ethical laws, and be a good reporter. One thing the book taught us, as long as a truthful account is being presented, no one cares if both sides are being reported. They may not be a good thing, but every story has some biased to it. You just have to find a niche that comes across as impartial. My opinion, citizen journalism is on the rise, and it will make it harder for myself and others to land a job in the writing field. With hard work and dedication, the work I produce will allow myself to land a job with someone. Starting a blog would not be a bad thing either. I can find my niche and get noticed.

Wiki-Wiki

Wikinomics, not to be confused with Thuganomics (WWE’s John Cena), is a term used to describe information sharing. What do I mean by information sharing? The information sharing of anything, but it is shared through the internet. Examples of Wikinomics are WikiPedia, Pinterest, blogs, Facebook, MySpace, and the list goes on and on.

The whole point of information sharing across the internet, or the various sites listed above, so people can give feedback. People who view certain things will be able to give their own opinion, and they will be able to come up with their own assumptions as to whether a product is good or not. It is also ‘Mass Collaboration’. You have so many people commenting and reading about something that it is an online community.

Possibly the most used site for sharing is…..YouTube. YouTube is used for uploading videos to the world. Some people have their own shows on YouTube. Others use it to view videos in their spare time. I have a video discussing Wikinomics. Through my blog, and through the video, here are two ways Wikinomics is being used.

Another way Wikinomic is used is through social media. I mentioned Facebook and Myspace, but I almost forgot about one, Twitter. In the next video, you may notice it is from a popular show, the Celebrity Apprentice. In the episode, the celebrities are giving a presentation about a new Buick automobile. Not only are they presenting to a live audience, but it is being shown on Buick’s Twitter feed. The celebrities then take questions from people in the audience, as well as on Twitter. So information is not only being shared in person, but across the internet medium.

http://www.nbc.com/assets/video/widget/widget.html?vid=1389848

On my Facebook right now, at 11:18 pm, there is a video ESPN posted, and it has nearly 1,000 comments already. The mass collaboration gives us a forum to read and to comment on. These are the different tools we have at our disposal to make decisions on. That is what I take away after doing the reading. 

HACKERS, GOOD OR NOT GOOD

What to think about a hacker? Are they doing good works, or are they a risk to national security? In our world today hackers are at the front of controversy. WikiLeaks is a group that wants to bring confidential documents to the public eye.

The hacker group, Anonymous, has been at the front of controversies as well. Anonymous, like WikiLeaks, wants to show the public how easy it is for someone to hack into accounts, and they want to expose things to the public. Is this an issue of national security? Are their intentions good? Maybe, maybe not.

Our founding fathers believed in a check-and-balance system. It is apart of our constitution. People keeping a check on the government is not an issue; however; in America, we elect officials to do that. Sometimes our representatives may not do a good job, or they may not be the most credible people for the job. A group like Anonymous wants to take the responsibility. They want transparency in America. They contradict this thought. If you are going to bring something to light, why not, in the words of coach Herm Edwards, put your name on it? Why not own up to the discoveries? Not as group, but as a man or woman. They want transparency, yet they hide behind a mask. They are the vigilante to America, like Batman is to Gotham City. Sometimes we do not need the vigilante. The vigilante does not always win.