Indianapolis, IN

Fri 27 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about giving kudos to John Marshall Middle School principal Jeffrey White. Indianapolis Public Schools picked a number of schools that are academically low and had them start the school year almost a month earlier than usual. John Marshall reported less than 50% in attendance for the first day, and other school that started back early reported similar attendance problems. The reason why I applaud Jeffrey White is because he himself went house to house rounding up the truant students. To me, that shows he truly cares about these students and their education. He’s not just some talking head that hides away in his office. (A few months ago when that 8th grade girl was raped at her bus stop, he was also very active in the investigation. I believe that he even offered up some of his own money in a reward for information.) He says that the students who did show up on the first day of school were the ones that had passed the ISTEP test. I think he’s trying to break the cycle of the uneducated in his community. Of course the ones who are truant are the same ones who haven’t passed the ISTEP. (Duh!) It’s really hard to convince some teenagers that it pays off to do well in school. To many students and their families, college is a pipe dream away. It’s too expensive, and they don’t have good enough grades to feel like they can apply. And they see the people who have college degrees, and they’re struggling to pay bills, they have a modest little car, and they work their butts off to just make it. But then they look around and see the guy on the street running drugs, and he’s got a Cadillac Escalade and all the bling and doesn’t worry about the money. So, what kind of message does that send? How to do convince them that getting an education is really the way to go? I don’t know; it’s hard. But I’m glad that there are people like Jeffrey White who are doing their damnedest to make a difference in someone’s life.

: Indianapolis Public Schools, John Marshall Middle School, academic achievement, attendance problems, ISTEP, Jeffrey White

Wed 01 August 2007

So, I’m thinking about exorcisms. Near Bloomington (in Monroe County), a 22-year-old priest-in-training gave an exorcism to a 14-year-old autistic boy. He claimed that he could cure the boy and “get the demons out.” Apparently, he tied the boy down and stuck his fingers down the boy’s throat and induced him to vomit. Then he punched the boy in the face for eleven hours. Ok, there are so many things wrong with this story. First off, he is just a priest-in-training. He had to convince the mother to let him do this. If I were the mother, I would have requested that someone who was a full priest be there and supervise. And second, I think I would’ve also got a second opinion. Don’t you do that if you have a serious medical problem, like cancer? That’s the problem with being a religious fanatic; they just believe what’s told to them. That makes about as much sense as having a med student perform a surgery. Thirdly, why induce vomiting? Does he have some kind of knowledge that the rest of us is not privy to? Did he find out that demons take the earthly form of vomit? Don’t tell AA about that. It might feed the fire. (“I wasn’t so drunk I vomited on your shoes. I was expelling the demons inside, and THEY landed on your shoes.”) And why beat the kid up? Is that in the Idiot’s Guide to Exorcisms? (Part 1: Make a bunch of promises you know damn well you can keep. Part 2: Make the boy vomit. If you need help, ask a bulimic. Part 3: Now beat the kid to a bloody pulp for 11 hours. Part 4: Run like hell!) Now the article did say that the mother did try to stop the exorcism. What did she do? Ask him nicely? If some guy was punching my kid in the face, I’d put a baseball bat to his head. So, I guess the moral of the story is that if you have a kid who has an incurable disease, and you are gullible to the persuasive speech of the neophyte priest, then at least make sure your insurance covers botched religious rituals.

: exorcisms, exorcisms gone wrong, religious fanatics

Tue 31 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about the Indiana “Tea Party.” Last week, many Hoosiers turned out at the Broad Ripple canal to throw their property tax bills into the canal. Inspired by the Boston Tea Party which took place Thursday, December 16, 1773, this incident was the reaction to the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767. They were citing that they were being taxed unfairly, and that they, as Americans, did not have representation in Parliament. The British claimed that they were “virtually represented,” but the Americans didn’t think these “virtual representatives” knew anything about America. This led to Rev. Jonathan Mayhew coining the famous mantra “No taxation without representation.” And this, my friends, is why we study history. Not just to fill up your schedule in high school. Not so that our youngsters can have naptime after lunch. No, it is because history will eventually repeat itself. Like now. Who knew that in 2007 we would still be fighting with “No taxation without representation?” Here’s the deal, I’m not even sure whose fault it is. But I do have a feeling that it seems like the government is trying to scam us all. (Not to mention that now they’re taxing more out of our paychecks as well.) But the point is that it seems like there is no one in our government who represents the “people’s voice.” (And the ones who do hear us, are “quieted” by the others.) Once you are elected, do you stop becoming a “person?” Do you have an orientation to learn how to be a cold, heartless bastard? Or is it a learned side effect? Regardless of the reason, our voice is not being heard, and we’re being hurt by the people we’ve elected and trusted. Just like in 1773 when the Americans were fed up with the British, desperate times lead to desperate measures. And I suppose we can all borrow a line from the 1976 film Network and say, “I’m mad as hell, and I’m going to take it anymore!”

: US history, American Revolution, No taxation without representation, Boston Tea Party

Mon 30 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about the Brickyard 400. First of all, I refuse to call it the “Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.” I hate corporate names. It’s so impersonal. It will always be the Brickyard 400. Nobody calls it the Allstate 400 around here. (Just like in my head, it will always be Deer Creek instead of Verizon Wireless Music Center, and it will always be the Hoosier Dome instead of the http://www.iccrd.com/or Lucas Oil Stadium.) But anyway, yesterday Tony Stewart made his second win at the Brickyard. I think it’s especially nice when someone from Indiana wins. Tony hails from Columbus, which is about an hour south of Indianapolis on I-65. My brother-in-law knows one of the guys who works on Tony’s car (or something like that). One year, they went to Tony’s house briefly on New Year’s Eve. They said that Tony’s house is just a plain house in a normal neighborhood, nothing to draw attention to it. He’s got some nice stuff in it, but the house itself is fairly modest. (Except that I think he has three houses like that.) Juan Pablo Montoya came in second place. He is the only driver to have raced at Indy as a Formula One driver, a NASCAR driver and as an Indycar driver. The Indianapolis Star reports that police arrested 29 people over the Brickyard weekend, mostly for public intoxication. In comparison, the Indy 500 weekend raked in 67 people in handcuffs, and the F1 weekend nabbed 12 with the silver bracelets. But regardless, I’d say that the Brickyard this year went off pretty well overall. I’m glad that Tony Stewart won since it didn’t seem like there was a lot of people rooting for him. They were mentioning him on the news because he was from Indiana, but not a whole lot of speculation on whether or not he was going to win. So, good for Tony! And good job to all the other drivers who completed the race without crashing. NASCAR fans seem to be some of the most diehard fans, especially in the Midwest. And these fans bring in a great economic impact was on the city. So, until next year, the Brickyard will always be the Brickyard.

: Brickyard 400, Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, Tony Stewart, Juan Pablo Montoya, Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Thu 26 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about making your own pasta. My husband always jokes with me that I’m not very domesticated. But every now and then, I get some half-baked idea in my head to disprove him, and this time it was to make my own ravioli. Now it seemed like a good idea right up to the point that I had to actually MAKE the ravioli. Well, first I had to go online to figure out how to do this. (This is one reason that I think the Internet can be such a wonderful place—all the things you can learn!) So, I found a website, and even though I chose to ignore the difficulty rating of a 4/5, I printed it off and went at it. I only chose that recipe, because I had all of the ingredients. And I thought, I have a college degree, how hard can this possibly be?? Well, the making of the dough wasn’t that hard. I handled that pretty well. And then making the stuffing for the ravioli wasn’t that hard. (You just mix a bunch of stuff together in a bowl.) But now it comes time to roll out the dough and cut the ravioli. That’s the part of the directions they left out. (I guess they assumed that people would have some kind of prior knowledge of these things. You know what they say about when you assume: it makes an ASS out of U and ME; well, mostly me in this case.) I tried and sweated and cried and cursed about getting the dough to right consistency, and then when I finally did, it was time to roll it out. Now maybe it would’ve also helped if I had owned a rolling pin, but never fear, I’m the queen of substitutions. (I used a can of cooking spray on its side as a rolling pin.) Once I started in this process, I could see that it was going to be a longer ordeal than I originally thought. So, instead of ravioli, I ended up making something that was like a pirogi, as big as a Hot Pocket. After about 40 minutes of muttering the words, “This is a horrible idea. This is the last time I’ll ever do this. What was I thinking?” about once a minute, I finally made six flat circles of dough. So, after I filled them with my filling, and folded them, I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled parsley flakes and baked them for 15 minutes or so. Afterwards, I did top them with my own tomato sauce that I made from scratch from a recipe I made up. Actually, they were so good, it was stupid good. I mean, they turned out really good. So, maybe I’ll give it another try, and learn from my trials and tribulations of making dough from scratch. And maybe next time, Emeril won’t cringe at novice pasta making stories.

: make your own pasta, make your own ravioli, Italian food

Wed 25 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about tax hikes. Everyone knows about the growing pain in the arse problem with property taxes. And it’s not getting any better. Now the city-county counsel just passed on Monday night to raise income taxes 65%. So, basically it’s like they’re saying this: We’re going to make it so that you can’t afford to live in your house (the same house you’ve been living in for years), and force you into a foreclosure (which we can buy and sell to developers), and now we’re going to take more out of your paycheck. And we’re going to guilt you into the income tax hike because it’s going to go for public safety, and who doesn’t want to be safe, right? Not with the crime rate and all. Arrrrr… Who do these people think they are? It’s criminal what they’re doing, it seems like. They are making it so that people like us will never be able to work or afford a home in Indianapolis. I like Indianapolis. I wanted to stay here for a while. We thought that we would buy a house and work here until our kids were in college. But not anymore. We’re starting to look elsewhere to buy a house. Even if we buy a house, we will never truly own our home. Even if we pay off our house, we will always be paying property taxes, which are way more than the actual mortgage. (I guess that kind of makes you wonder at the term “homeowner.”) I heard that that this property tax fiasco is going to affect rent rates, too. Great. That’s just what I didn’t want to hear. So, now everyone can have something to complain about. We’re already being screwed on our paychecks as it is, and now starting October 1, we’ll be having more of our hard-earned dollars taken away from us. Basically, the end result will be this: There will be no middle class in Indianapolis and Marion County. There will be rich people who can pay the taxes and not worry about the income tax hike. And there will be poor people who survive on all of the state benefit programs, like Hoosier Healthwise, foodstamps, Section 8 housing, etc. So, I guess we’ll start saving our money (what money we still get), and start looking for a house somewhere else. At this rate, it might be just as cheap to live in Chicago.

: property taxes, income taxes, homeowners, Marion County

Tue 24 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about Mike Coolbaugh. He was most recently working as a coach for the Tulsa Drillers, a minor league baseball team. As he was standing near the first base, he was struck in the head by a line drive and died. The ball left him unconscious, and he stopped breathing on his way to the hospital. He left behind a pregnant wife (due in October) and two kids. Coolbaugh played during one season with the Indianapolis Indians in 2001.

It just seems sad to me that someone would have to go like that. I guess I always feel bad when people go in unexpected accidents, freaks of nature. I think those are the worst kinds of deaths. It’s one thing when old people die—you expect it. And even if someone is drunk and wraps their car around a tree, you think, well, they were drunk. But when you’re just standing there doing your job, then it’s harder to take, I think. My dad’s uncle died by cutting wood. Not by having a heart attack while doing it, but by the tree falling in a way unexpected and impaled him. It just seems tragic. So, I guess if I’ve got to go, I’d rather just die of old age. I just worry about his family and his wife. They will have a baby who will never know its father. I hope they get through all of this ok.

: Mike Coolbaugh, Tulsa Drillers, Indianapolis Indians, minor league baseball, unexpected deaths

Mon 23 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about the Partners of the Americas. Last week, a TAM Airlines Airbus skidded into a fiery crash in São Paulo, Brazil. The flight originated in the southern city of Porto Alegre, Brazil. Porto Alegre is the capital of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. (I spent three weeks there in 2003 volunteering in English schools and working on my Portuguese. I also spent one week in Curitiba, about 13 hours north.)

In 1963, President Kennedy helped create an organization called Alliance for Progress (now called Partners of the Americas). It was created as a “people-to-people initiative, one that would allow private citizens to work together for the good of the Americas.” (I was quoting from the Partner’s website.) Almost every state has a partner. Indiana’s partner state is the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the southernmost state in Brazil, bordered by the state of Santa Catarina to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the country of Uruguay to the south, and the country of Argentina to the west.

The reason this state was picked for Indiana is because Rio Grande do Sul has many similarities with Indiana. Agriculture is a very important industry. That area of the world has the best beef I’ve ever tasted. Most people think of Brazilians as being darker skinned, with dark hair and dark eyes, but that’s not the case in the southern part of Brazil. After WWII, this area was inundated with German and Italian immigrants. So, there are many blond-haired, blue-eyed Brazilians there. While the north of Brazil deals with poverty and illiteracy issues, it’s not so much the case in the south of Brazil. Rio Grande do Sul is the home of Mario Quintana (poet), Erico Verissimo (writer) and Gisele Bundchen (model). Porto Alegre is quite a modern city, with a population about the size of Indianapolis. It is often frequented by world class sports, entertainment and cultural events.

Indiana Partners of the Americas has several programs and does many exchanges with our partners in Rio Grande do Sul. We have a Youth Ambassador program for 15-17 year olds, where they do an 8-week homestay overseas (we are always looking for host families!). We have had groups that have gone down to do medical learning trips/ volunteering. There are also a number of grants that people use to go do individual research trips in Porto Alegre and in Rio Grande do Sul. Partners of the Americas have a booth at the International Fest in Indianapolis every November. And every February (or March) we have the annual Feijoada (a traditional Brazilian dinner) in honor of the youth ambassadors from Brazil.

So, if you are interested in Brazil or have been there, come check out the Indiana Partners of the Americas booth at the International Fest in November.

: Partners of the Americas, President John F. Kennedy, Indiana, Indianapolis, Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre

Fri 20 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about online sex stings. Last year when Dateline NBC started airing “To Catch a Predator,” it opened up our eyes as to how prevalent online sex meetings between adults and children were. The majority of the cases were adult males meeting up with supposedly underage girls (which were actually police officers). I don’t know any person who hasn’t seen at least part of an episode or doesn’t know what I’m talking about. And what’s scary is that these teenagers think that talking to anyone online is safe. These creeps can find out anything about you and can come hunt you down if they wish, and still make you feel that they are as safe as your grandmother. Ok, but what I just can’t figure out is that there are still adults out there who still try to solicit sex from “supposed” 15-year-olds on the Internet. How many completely stupid people are there out there? Now maybe five years ago, there might be some people who didn’t know that cops will stake out a chat room and create a sting, but now in 2007? Last July a (former) teacher at Perry Meridian High School was charged for chatting online with an investigator who was posing as a 15-year-old girl. (He does get his sentence fully suspended because there was no meeting, and he doesn’t have a criminal record.) I just don’t get why grown men are even talking to underage girls online at all. In this day and age, you have to assume that they are all undercover investigators. His attorney was sited as saying (quoted in the Indianapolis Star), “The young man was guilty of indiscretion and poor judgment.” Oh, shut up. I have a better word for it: stupidity. Try getting another decent job with “sexual predator” on your record. Way to go, buddy.

: sex predators, Dateline NBC, To Catch a Predator, underage sex

Thu 19 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about school uniforms, again. WTHR announced that an Anderson couple is taking the Anderson Community Schools to court, saying that their decision to go with school uniforms is unconstitutional. I can’t believe these parents. This family has five girls in the school system, and their daughters say, “I express myself through my clothes, so I don’t like it.” So, one of them was wearing a Ball State T-shirt and another one was wearing a spaghetti strap tank top with her cleavage showing. First, I’m not sure how much “expression” you are showing in a college T-shirt, but ok, to each his own. Second, the girl in the tank top is exactly why we need school uniforms. I’m sorry, but it’s a distraction to teachers and other students alike to have these girls sitting there with their cleavage hanging out. And it’s disrespectful to the school, to the people who work there, to the other students, and to the community to show up looking like a streetwalker or a thug. It’s not a club or a party. It’s school. You know, that place where you go to get an education to carry you into adulthood. Now, I don’t know where these parents work, but I guarantee that if they went to their bosses wearing whatever they wanted “because I’m expressing myself” then they won’t have that job for very long. 99% of employers have some kind of uniform or dress code. So, why should school be treated any different. They can express themselves when they get home. Or after they graduate. So, anyway, these parents are calling this unconstitutional, claiming that this decision violates their freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Um, the last time I checked they were minors. And even if you are 18, but still a student in a high school, then you still have to abide by the rules of the school as long as you are a student (i.e. you still can’t have cigarettes or carry a handgun on school property even if you are of the legal age). I feel that the school uniforms fall under the clause that allows them to get rid of anything that disrupts the educational process (like seeing guys with pants around their knees, girls’ thongs showing out of lowrider jeans, cleavage, and T-shirts with questionable messages). While some researchers site studies that show that uniforms do not have any basis on attendance or behavior problems, many schools do show an improvement in the number of fights and more focus on school work. I just think that the role of parents need to be that they teach their kids that school is their job, and they need to treat it as such.

: school uniforms, pro-uniforms, constitutional rights, student’s rights

Thu 19 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about school uniforms, again. WTHR announced that an Anderson couple is taking the Anderson Community Schools to court, saying that their decision to go with school uniforms is unconstitutional. I can’t believe these parents. This family has five girls in the school system, and their daughters say, “I express myself through my clothes, so I don’t like it.” So, one of them was wearing a Ball State T-shirt and another one was wearing a spaghetti strap tank top with her cleavage showing. First, I’m not sure how much “expression” you are showing in a college T-shirt, but ok, to each his own. Second, the girl in the tank top is exactly why we need school uniforms. I’m sorry, but it’s a distraction to teachers and other students alike to have these girls sitting there with their cleavage hanging out. And it’s disrespectful to the school, to the people who work there, to the other students, and to the community to show up looking like a streetwalker or a thug. It’s not a club or a party. It’s school. You know, that place where you go to get an education to carry you into adulthood. Now, I don’t know where these parents work, but I guarantee that if they went to their bosses wearing whatever they wanted “because I’m expressing myself” then they won’t have that job for very long. 99% of employers have some kind of uniform or dress code. So, why should school be treated any different. They can express themselves when they get home. Or after they graduate. So, anyway, these parents are calling this unconstitutional, claiming that this decision violates their freedom of speech and freedom of expression. Um, the last time I checked they were minors. And even if you are 18, but still a student in a high school, then you still have to abide by the rules of the school as long as you are a student (i.e. you still can’t have cigarettes or carry a handgun on school property even if you are of the legal age). I feel that the school uniforms fall under the clause that allows them to get rid of anything that disrupts the educational process (like seeing guys with pants around their knees, girls’ thongs showing out of lowrider jeans, cleavage, and T-shirts with questionable messages). While some researchers site studies that show that uniforms do not have any basis on attendance or behavior problems, many schools do show an improvement in the number of fights and more focus on school work. I just think that the role of parents need to be that they teach their kids that school is their job, and they need to treat it as such.

: school uniforms, pro-uniforms, constitutional rights, student’s rights

Wed 18 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about food stamps. The other day, I went to Kroger to pick up a couple of things. This lady who was in line ahead of me had an iPod clipped to her belt. I can’t stand when people go grocery shopping with their Bluetooth ear pieces and iPods and crap. How anti-social are we? So, anyways, the cashier asks her for her Kroger card, at which the lady answers that she forgot her card. So, being the nice person that I am, I let her use mine. I’m looking at her iPod, because I am in the market for one. I’ve looked and compared them all on Best Buy’s website. I’ve drooled over them at the store. Not only did she have one of the nicer ones (probably one that’s about $250-300—not the bottom of the barrel), but she had it in a leather case strapped to her hip. And then (here’s the kicker), she paid for her groceries with food stamps. WHAT THE HELL?? And I let her use my stupid Kroger card! My husband busts his butt to make ends meet for us, and we can’t afford an iPod. In fact, when I was about eight months pregnant with my daughter, we went to Family and Social Services Administration (or FSSA) to see if we qualified. I was on unemployment and my husband receives Social Security (so in other words, neither of us were working at the time). They told us that we make too much money to receive food stamps. How can two people (one of them pregnant) who aren’t working make too much money to receive food stamps? (But yet, I made so little that I qualified for Hoosier Healthwise and WIC.) They lady told me that once the baby was born to come back and then I “was sure to qualify.” Whatever. She made me so mad that I never went back. (It turns out that I went into labor the next morning.) When my mom was younger, she witnessed the same thing, except the woman paying with food stamps had a fur coat on and got into a Cadillac. But that’s the thing—we had practically nothing and didn’t qualify for food stamps (when we really needed it), but yet here’s a lady sporting a nice iPod, and she gets food stamps. Of course, if we didn’t have to pay for groceries, maybe we could afford one too.

: food stamps, iPod, Hoosier Healthwise, Medicaid, WIC

Tue 17 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about dumb parents. In Muncie, a 26-year-old woman is facing felony charges over her (alleged) decision to leave her two kids (an 8-year-old and a 6-month- old) with a drunk neighbor (according to www.indystar.com). The neighbor also faces felony charges as well. Not only was he drunk and watching her two kids, but three other kids as well. At one time, he couldn’t find one of the kids, and he didn’t even know the last names of the women whose kids he was watching nor did he know where they were going. In fact, he told police that he really wasn’t sure how many kids were in his care. How stupid can you be?? What the hell is wrong with these people?? But evidently there are several stupid women in that same housing complex who left their kids with this man. (Maybe they all have a “I’m with Stupid” T-shirt on.) It also reminds me of a story I read a few days ago that takes place out in Nevada (I think) where a couple was charged with child neglect because they were so busy playing Dungeons and Dragons online and didn’t take care of their kids, letting them starve. It’s not like there wasn’t food in the house, they were just too involved in their videogame to feed their kids. One of their kids was 22 months and the other one was 11 months. They were dehydrated and had rashes from not having their diapers changed. Again, how stupid can you be? (Now, they’re claiming they have a videogame addiction. Whatever. Call it what you want, but stupid is as stupid does.) It just blows my mind how stupid parents can be. There comes a point after you have a baby when you realize that as a parent, you have to put your child first. And sometimes you don’t get what you want. Now, I’m not saying that I’m the best parent in the world, but come on… is there no internal signal that tells you, “Maybe this isn’t a good idea to leave my child here. This might be potentially dangerous.” I don’t know. Most of these things fall under “common sense,” and how do you teach common sense? I just don’t know. I guess we can just let Darwinism take its course.

: child neglect, public intoxication, video game addiction, common sense, bad parenting, Darwinism

Mon 16 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about that missing mailman. For three days now, he has been missing, apparently just disappeared from his mail delivery route in Greenfield, Indiana. Some of his mail had been delivered, but most of it had not. Search dogs had traced his scent to the river, but then lost him. So, apparently what had happened was that he had got into a canoe (according to WTHR) or a kayak (according to the Indianapolis Star) and traveled south down the Brandywine Creek to the White River. He had brought a tent and provisions and camped out at night. Three days later, he finally ended up in Columbus, IN where he went to a laundromat and the lady there saw he had a .38 caliber handgun in his bag. Police arrested him on weapons charges. All of these things were unknown to his wife and two teenaged daughters. Family and friends say that he was having money problems, living paycheck to paycheck. The whole situation just sounds sadly bizarre. There just aren’t any questions being answered about what was going through his mind. I’m sure his wife and daughters are wondering the same thing. What makes a man snap like that? We know what it’s like to live paycheck to paycheck. (We go through that every two weeks.) We know what it’s like to pay all the bills and only have $50 left for groceries and gas for the next two weeks. We know what it’s like to get into the vicious cycle of visiting Pay Day Loans. But then we just figure how to hustle some extra cash and move on. You look at your budget. Money matters are one of the leading causes of divorce in this country, and the pressure to have money is great. But I wonder if at any point did he ever falter in his plan to just “run away.” Did he think his problems would just run away too? Did he think about the stress he was adding to the problem? If he thought he didn’t have money before, try adding in the court costs, other legal fees and time off from work. Where was he trying to get to? Shangri-la? I just hope that he gets some help, and I hope his family can deal with it all and come out better in the end.

: missing mailman, financial problems, weapons charges, family budgeting

Fri 13 July 2007

So, I’m thinking about the Formula One, again. But this time, it comes as an announcement that Formula One will no longer be in Indy, at least for the 2008 race. IMS chairman Tony George and F1 owner Bernie Ecclestone (whom I almost share a birthday with) could not come to an agreement on a contract for the next year, but they did leave it open for possible future races. The Formula One race is the third largest event held in the city of Indianapolis. This year, it brought in about 100,000 people. However, the last eight years the F1 race has been here hasn’t been all sunshine and flowers. The 2005 race, completed with only six drivers due to safety concerns with Michelin tires, was the beginning of the downward spiral of the relationship between IMS and F1. The IMS’s road course won’t go unused next year, however. MotoGP (like F1 for motorcycles) is scheduled to race in September 2008. (It’ll be like watching the video game, but for real!) We’re kind of excited for that. But one thing that Bernie Ecclestone said that was one reason why he didn’t think F1 should come back to Indy was that it wasn’t well promoted. I actually have to somewhat agree with him. In a WTHR-Channel 13 online poll, only 33% of the people were disappointed that F1 wasn’t coming back. Almost half (49%) said that they wouldn’t miss it. I really hope it’s not that Indiana is full of a bunch of close-minded morons who fear foreigners. But I really think that what the bigger problem is, is that Hoosiers are getting tired of Eccelstone’s attitude about Indiana and the United States on a whole. He acts like everything European is so much better than anything here, like having races here are a complete waste of time and money. And I don’t think Hoosiers (or Americans for that matter) really appreciates it. So, I guess we can just show up and support the MotoGP while we wonder if F1 will ever return to Indy. (And maybe wonder if Ecclestone will ever step down.)

: Formula One race, MotoGP, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Tony George, Bernie Ecclestone