A couple weeks ago, the FTB crew was musing aloud about the status of Baron Davis’ contract negotiations. And by musing aloud, I mean arguing. As with most of our staff meetings, adult beverages were involved and opinions were flowing like wine.
An unnamed New York tabloid had reported on the possibility—however, improbable—of Baron Davis becoming a New York Knick. In turn, this was parroted onward and upward in the local media. As we considered some of the possibilities out there for our avatar and namesake, one additional possibility dawned on me.
Why not just ask him for an interview? Baron’s pretty public facing as athlebrities go. What could it hurt to ask? Of course, if he said “yes” some diplomacy would have to be exercised. Nothing too specific numerically, of course. But, Boom willing, we could at least confirm that he’s digging the Bay Area and wants to stick around.
And so it was. We asked. And we got our interview. And then we made a bigger ask. A challenge, actually. We figured that the whole deal-making process needed an infusion of karma. Contract talks are a natural pain point for GM, athlete and agent alike, so why not go out and try to tip the great karmic scales in the sky a bit. Be the change, as it were.
Boom was with it.
The results are above, in convenient, linkable YouTube format. Hopefully, this is our little karmic gift to the process as well. Good luck to all at the table. Breathe deeply and work together in good faith. And as for us, we’ll be releasing segments from the sit-down interview over the coming weeks.
In victory,
Daniel Turman, on behalf of all of us at www.fearthebeard.org
PS. The long list of shout outs and credits to follow. Read More »
Either there was a far-reaching conspiracy to stop my pedantic Formula 1 updates, or our (generally) kind hosts’ servers were stricken by a 20-hour case of the gremlins. I suspect the former. Anyway, pardon the interruption in FTB-ness.
Ever hear a hundred thousand people groan at the same time? Well that’s what happens if the most popular driver in Formula One takes out the number one driver on the most popular team. The groans get louder if the accident happens in the pits instead of on the track. The circumstances were a true head-scratcher. Basically, Hamilton failed to see a red light at the end of pit lane; worse it was a red light that Ferrari’s Raikkonen and BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica had stopped for. Hamilton hits Raikkonen. One hundred thousand groans as jumbotrons tell the tale.
The only people not groaning were the rather substantial Polish contingent and related sympathizers (above right). Suddenly, their guy was in the lead. The fact that he had nearly been killed here a year earlier in a horrifying accident gave the story additional nuance and likeability. But moreover, his would be the first-ever F1 victory by a Polish driver and the first win by BMW Sauber as a team.
I’m not sure that any of this can convey the spectacle though. There is a certain orientation to the event here that’s more like an Olympics than anything else and that has to be experienced to be believed. For right now, I’m hoping to be back next year. I’ll submit photographic evidence as a follow up.
Screw the NBA finals. Here’s the real competition. Following the filming of the TV spot for “Zohan” Baron Davis challenged Mr. Sandler to a staring contest. Peep.
Ok, now that you know who delivered the beat down, perhaps you can help me figure out why Baron stole Patrick Swayze’s hair piece.
Hamilton waves to the crowd. Photo: Adrian Alleyne, man-cation veteran.
Sometimes, Grand Prix qualifying runs unfold predictably. Sometimes, they do not. Today, looked like it was unfolding predictably enough for the first hour or so. Then there was some movement at the top. After setting a fast lap early, Lewis Hamilton looked secure as the pole sitter. But BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica put in a remarkable lap with time running down and rain imminent and briefly held the top slot. According to the post-session interview, this information was not even relayed to Hamilton until after he started his final run. No matter. The kid put the hammer down and recaptured pole position as the clock wound down on the day’s final efforts to take the top of the grid. The Ferrari faithful had to settle for a third from Raikkonen, who then went on a well-recorded tirade about track conditions.
“The car has been good all weekend but going into qualifying is quite a joke with the circuit,” Raikkonen said. “The circuit breaks down and it is like you missed the corner because there is so much sand.”
Uh, okay party boy. Quit crying and go have a Finlandia and tonic. Speaking of drivers out on the town, Honda pilot Jenson Button slipped to the back of the grid after dissing me at dinner last night. See, we got seated at an adjacent table and homeboy had the nerve to ask for another table after we had sat down. I think he just wanted to make sure that he was seated front and center, instead of being holed up in a “VIP” corner next to some off duty Internet types, but still. Dude! My name was on your frickin’ car last year. I even installed some energy-efficient light bulbs to make it happen bro. That was messed up.
Turman
PS. Somewhere, there is basketball being played? I’m not sure any more.
During F1 weekend there are a lot of support races to keep 300,000 fans busy. This makes for all kinds of mayhem. Today, for a split second at the end of the Porsche GT3 contest, I really thought that the winner was going to get all sideshow on us. After stomping everyone up, when he threw open his door and started waving to the assembled, for a moment, I was positive that he was going to go 18 dummy. Door open mayne! But he didn’t, and I’m sad to say that the world would have been a richer place if he had burned a lurid donut then undone the safety harness and ghost-rode the GT3.
Yeah, you heard me. P. Diddy isn’t the only one who can enjoy an international weekend of fast cars and overpriced meals. Some months back a friend invited me to jump onboard for a “man-cation” of epic dimensions: Formula One weekend in Montreal. Turman approved.
So, today’s two-part practice at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve marked my first experience watching the marquis level of international motorsport. For those not familiar, the rising star of Formula One is Lewis Hamilton. Because of his mixed-race heritage, he also owns the distinction of being the first driver in the nearly sixty years of the series’ history to claim African lineage. Basically, he’s a younger and (ahem) “cooler” Tiger Woods. He also missed out on last year’s driver’s championship by a whisker after dominating much of the season and displacing reigning World Champion Fernando Alonso as the number one hot shoe at Mercedes McLaren. This year? More of the same. He currently leads the driver’s standings, and is coming off of an epic win in the wet at the storied Monaco GP two weeks ago Sunday.
With qualifying scheduled for tomorrow, today’s practice is mostly about getting the cars dialed in. Well, after a morning dominated by Ferrari and an early afternoon surge by BMW-Sauber driver Robert Kubica, Hamilton found his line and set fast lap for the day on his final turn around the circuit. Nice last-minute psych job, if you ask me. Especially, since he took his first-ever win here last year.
But that’s enough about racing for today. The city awaits. Updates to follow.
The New York Times is reporting that Barack Obama will address an audience in St. Paul, MN tomorrow to claim victory as the Democratic nominee. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton appears poised to make another sort of announcement.
Mrs. Clinton’s decision to return to her home state to deliver her speech was made at the last minute, and thus she picked an unusual site for a major political event: the Baruch College athletics and recreation center on the East Side of Manhattan.
The most likely situation, some of Mrs. Clinton’s aides said, was that she would suspend her campaign later in the week and would probably—though not definitely—endorse Mr. Obama.
I will refrain from much in the way of further commentary until sometime after the results have been tabulated. But it must be news indeed if the “Gray Old Lady” of American mainstream media is warming up to sing.
