Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1798944,00.html

A report in a US academic journal (damn those librul academics!) shows that there is an inverse correlation between societal health and the predominance of religion in many countries, including, er, the USA..

Link: http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article315804.ece

In which Labour Party stewards ejected an 80-something pensioner (a Labour Party member for 57 years) for shouting "rubbish" during a conference speech.
Since the expulsion, the party conference organizers have been in damage limitation mode, as well they should be. Ideally somebody's head should be on a platter for this.
My question: what would have happened in the USA if this guy had been a protester at the Republican Party Convention?

There is a lot of fevered speculation about Ganassi Racing's plans for 2006 and beyond in the IRL. With Toyota already leaving that series, all sorts of rumours are out there - Chip is leaving the IRL, Chip is staying, he's running in both series, he's going to leave open wheel, the earth is square (I just put that one in to see if you were awake)... the list goes on and on.

Let's look at the bigger picture:

1. TCGR is in a precarious engine supply position right now.
Toyota is leaving after 2006. It is difficult to imagine them being prepared to spend a whole lot of $$$ on a competitive motor in 2006. As the TRD factory team, under the terms of his current works deal Chip has to take the motors given to him by TRD. He cannot do a Penske and work on them to make them better. So, he is (probably) looking at another uncompetitive year with Toyota power.
If Toyota does want to walk away from the IRL after this year, according to some rumours, Chip's engine supply issue changes from a problem to a stark reality - a sum of money in the bank, but possibly a missing lump behind the fuel tank in his cars.
Cosworth is out after this year due to the IRL manufacture badging requirement.
Chip upset Honda in 1998 when he abruptly terminated his deal with them in CART to run Toyota power from 1999 onwards, in exchange for a large sum of $$$. It is unlikely that Honda is going to be feeling charitably inclined to forgive and supply.

2. He has had a disastrous 2005
Leaving aside Scott Dixon's victory at Watkins Glen, the rest of the year has been a series of disasters, poor performances, crashes, crashes and more crashes. Even an optimistic totalling of crash damage comes out at around $4m. Along the way he has fired his best-scoring driver, and converted that car into a revolving door for replacement drivers. Something is wrong with the whole team engineering set-up. They cannot put a safe oval car on the track.

3. One old Lola does not make a CCWS team
To run even 1 driver in CCWS for 2006, Ganassi will need at least 2 chassis, probably 3, plus spares, engine supply etc. etc. Reclaiming a show car for possible use is only a small first step on the road to running in CCWS.
The question that action begs: why is he doing it and why is he doing it now?

Given all of the above, what would you do or would you be trying to do if you were Chip Ganassi?
Here are some possibilities:

1. Threaten to walk from the IRL and return to CCWS
2. Threaten to walk from the IRL and return to CCWS
3. Threaten to walk from the IRL and return to CCWS

As a founding member of the collection of IRL "superteams", Ganassi departing for CCWS or commencing a transition back to CCWS would send a powerful negative message through the whole OW landscape. It might destabilize the IRL. By sending signals that he is considering leaving, Ganassi is hoping that IRL leadership will "persuade" him to stay. That persuasion would involve some combination of $$$ and an assured competitive engine supply for 2006/2007, preferably both. Whether the IRL does that by abolishing the manufacturer badging rule, or by leaning on Honda to "forgive" Ganassi, probably bothers Chip not one whit as long as he gets the $$$ and material he needs to continue.

Remember, with owners like Chip Ganassi, it's all about the money.

Link: http://www.speedtv.com/commentary/19880/

Short story...Altadis, the parent company of the Gauloises and Fortuna brands, who sponsor the Yamaha factory team in MotoGP, which happens to have Valentino Rossi as its lead rider, is threatening to pull its sponsorship and sue Yamaha after the revelation that Rossi's recently-signed contract with Yamaha for 2006 apparently allows him to race for the factory Yamaha team without tobacco sponsorship.
The rumour is that Rossi agreed this deal with Yamaha as part of signing with the team for 2006 in order to be able to test with Ferrari in 2006, prior to possibly joining Ferrari in 2007 in Formula 1. Since Ferrari is sponsored by Marlboro, they would have not been happy to have Rossi wearing rival tobacco branding in MotoGP while testing for them.
This looks like a sponsorship and legal trainwreck for Yamaha at present. See the article for the gory details.

Link: http://www.dallasobserver.com/Issues/2005-09-22/news/schutze.html

...finally made it to City Hall, and it sounds from this report in the Dallas Observer as though certain residents couldn't wait to show what horse's asses they can be, given the opportunity. Sort of like they thought that this was Their Reality TV Moment...
Brief synposis: some residents in the Preston Hollow area of Dallas want to enact a special local tax to pay for additional police protection in the neighborhood (probably to be provided by Dallas policemen moonlighting from their day jobs). Presumably those residents feel that crime in their neighborhood is out of control. However, they clearly want to pull up the drawbridge, and to hell with the rest of the city.
That's what I love about a sense of community. You can make your community as small as you want...

The Champ Car race planned in 3 weeks' time for Ansan, South Korea, has been officially cancelled, reducing the 2005 OWRS Champ Car series to 13 races. It had been clear for some time that the circuit was largely complete, but none of the spectator facilities were completed.
This cancellation was expected. However, what annoys me is that OWRS, in the announcement, is trying to describe this as a "postponement". Sorry, my BS detector just started beeping...this is not an effing postponement. If they run the race in 2006, will it count towards the 2005 championship? If not, then the race was cancelled. C-A-N-C-E-L-L-E-D.
Note to Kevin Kalkhoven - stop your PR guys from insulting the intelligence of fans...

Link: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/8898660

....contains this interesting stat about the chances of your high-school footballer making it to the NFL...

Robin Schultz of Hoover, Ala., noting the stat that 1,057,640 boys participated in high-school football last year in the United States, factors in the 1,696 active players on NFL rosters and computes that even if there were total annual turnover at the pro level, "Only .0016035702129268938391134979766272 percent of the high school players will play in the NFL." This is an estimate, of course.

...when it leads to an excellent sports coach being run out of town because of her sexual orientation.
And people wonder why the "Piney Woods" area of East Texas has such a bad reputation...more detailed information on how events unfolded here.

The quarterback carousel spins rapidly...the New York Jets did the smart, conservative thing and signed Vinny Testaverde today to be the #2 behind Brooks Bollinger. The Jets expect to start Bollinger next weekend, which makes sense since Testaverde has no knowledge of the current Jets playbook.
At the same time, the Arizona Cardinals pre-empted the Dolphins' interest in former New England Patriots QB Rohan Davey by signing Davey to a 1-year deal. It appears that Kurt Warner's injured groin will not allow him to play next weekend, and he may be out for longer.

Robert Clarke of Honda Performance Development was ostentatiously present in Las Vegas on Friday of last week, meeting with Kevin Kalkhoven and Tony Cotman.
He clearly was trying to sell them some idea. According to Robin Miller, he is trying to get a common engine formula with the IRL.
Honda's problem is that they have no current leverage with Champ Car. KK owns Cosworth, so engine supply for Champ Car is assured. With a captive engine supply, team budgets can be controlled. More engine manufacturers simply blows the budget landscape to hell and back.
Robert Clarke can only say "pretty please" to OWRS right now, and the air at Vegas was replete with complimentary statements about KK from Clarke, who is rather transparently posturing in public where the IRL leadership can see him.
The bottom line is that I have trouble seeing how it is in the interests of OWRS to let Honda in any time soon as an engine supplier.