Friday, December 25, 2009

Great Book for Christmas


Merry Christmas from the Indy Idea.

My favorite gift that I received this morning is the book, "More than a Game," by Michael MacCambridge. The author tells the story of pro football's rapid ascent to Number One among U.S. spectator sports.

Everyone who makes decisions for the Indy Racing League should be required to read this book. The rise of the NFL in the television era was no accident. The process was planned and managed by the great commissioner, Pete Rozelle.

I'll stop there because Little Roggespierre is requesting that I put batteries in his new R-C Hot Wheels Team 7-Eleven Indy car.

Roggespierre

8 comments:

  1. Welcome back to the internet! Are you planning to continue the "New Day Rising" project here?

    This "Delta wing" chassis concept sounds frightening...it's amazing to see how the paradigm for Indy-style car design has shifted since the Dallara became the look of IndyCar. Everything is about "THE new car" now...revolution instead of evolution.

    Interesting-looking book ("America's Game", is it called?). What exactly is best for Indycar is a difficult question to answer, but the need for strong, visible leadership seems obvious.

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  2. Happy Holidays "R." And have a great New Year!

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  3. I ran across this clp on the IndyCar Nation forum. It's an interview with Tyler Carmichael founder the "social network" IndyCarGarage.com. It's worth a listen. Perhaps some of what he says can be incorporated into our discussion about the New Day Rising project.

    Happy New Year's to all.

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  4. Hi Guys,

    Forgive me for my prolonged absence. I needed to step back, cool off, and enjoy family, food and football this holiday season.

    My frustration had been building for several weeks. Perhaps I had harbored delusions of being a catalyst for a turnaround in IndyCar racing.

    The two big news stories that have coincided with my sabbatical are 1) Danica's nascent NASCAR career and 2) the reduction of the Month of May to the Two Weekends of May.

    Positive developments include a full-time Penske ride for Will Power and a possible Ganassi seat for E.J. Viso. Forgive me for being unimpressed.

    I anticipate returning to the Indy Idea full-time following the BCS Championship Game and the NFL Wildcard Playoffs. I shall again give the blog my almost undivided attention, taking time away only to follow the Colts' playoff run, which I anticipate shall be brief.

    Happy New Year to all.

    Best Regards,

    Roggespierre

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  5. Happy New Year to each participant at Indy Idea! May the new year bring joy and renewed hope that the braintrust removes its head from its butt, and we can see clear signs of interest returning to Indy Car racing. Above all, a much improved economy for everyone and the promise of better tomorrows! My best to everyone !!

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  6. HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE.

    I spent a few days trying to isolate to ONE thing that would save OWR----and after looking at and reading (again) many books on OWR I am totally convinced it is having an OPEN FORMULA.

    Check out any book on racing and it's about the CARS---they are the focal point even when the article is about the drivers.

    Call it a "Junk Formula" or a "New Age Formula", or "Formula Indy"---just set the rules and make them wide enough that many approaches to the same problem will be attempted. Make it wide enough and a cheaper approach will be assured.

    Write the rules and tell EVERYONE---BUILD TO IT AND YOU CAN RACE!!


    osca

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  7. Osca: That solution is so obvious, even a moderately intelligent fly on the wall could understand it. Hmmmm... wonder what that says about the current leadership of the IRL?

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  8. Roggespiere:

    I think you just suffered from blogorrhea when you started this thing. It is tough to keep that up.

    Indy Racing can't find a way to make itself interesting in December, so don't feel bad that you can't make it interesting in December either.

    Heck, Indy racing struggles to make itself interesting in May! :)

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