murphythebear.com

Awards Sunday. The two biggest awards shows on the planet – on the same day. The Academy Awards and the Dailysportscar Awards. Six hours of the famous and the not-so-famous. The famously entertaining and the infamous. The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. (The Bear can never get too far away from his neighbor, can he?)

Down the coast in tinsel town’s Kodak Theater, Ellen Degeneres took her turn as the Mistress (Master? Or is that more than the Bear wants to know?) of Ceremonies for the 79th Annual Academy Awards. Earlier in the day, in a first ever live broadcast, John Hindhaugh and Graham Goodwin did the honors for the 3rd Annual Dailysportscar Awards in the UK’s Mulsanne Ballroom. (more…)

As Sebring looms (this Bear’s a pretty sofisicated wordsmith) most of the stories are out there already, just waiting for the news. Since news ain’t Murphy’s thing, he’s been sittin’ about watchin’ taxi racing, and considering the great questions of our times. Well, maybe not. Here’s some stuff that’s gone though his stuffed head lately.

Bubba and the Bear

Murphy’s read that the COT (that’s Car of Tomorrow. See? The Bear knows this stuff.) will be more stable on high speed ovals, meaning less crashes. Hmmmm… Four hours of freight-train left-turn oval racing without a wreck. That will test some theories about why Bubba (and the Bear, sometimes) tune in on Sundays, won’t it?

Porsches Piddling ‘cross the Pond

Murphy hears that there is still a Porsche 911 GT3 RSR unaccounted for that might – or might not – be delivered in time to make the Sebring grid. The same seems to be the case with that fifth Spyder. Since it’s not done yet, Hartmut’s “five cars from Porsche for the beginning” may not mean Sebring – or it might. (more…)

Murphy went out to Pebble Beach and Spyglass Hill to check out the Crosby this week. It’s now the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am but it will always be the Crosby Clambake to the Bear. Perhaps that traditionalist’s point of view is why he has been ambivalent about the idea of title sponsors in sports. That’s a bit of a sore spot for the American Le Mans Series, with even the most highly placed of officials admitting that such an agreement is overdue. It’s well to remember that some agreements are good and some are not so good. With that thought in mind here are some more Murphy’s Rools, this time for title sponsors:

1. No dumb names. Candlestick Park, home of the San Francisco 49ers, is now Monster Stadium. Geez.
2. Be sure the shoe fits. If you’re proudly pretentious, (as is the ALMS) so too should be your title sponsor. Dom Perignon will get it. Old Milwaukee won’t.
3. Get some dough. Purses would be nice, because at present they’re not World Class, they’re embarrassing.
4. Get visibility. TV and such stuff. Lots of it. Secret might work as a babe’s deodorant, but not as a title sponsor. (more…)