Superstar of the Week: Ryan Hunter-Reay
On Saturday night at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California, the IndyCar Series concluded their 2012 season with 500 miles of intensity in the MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships. Ed Carpenter won the race with a thrilling last lap pass of Dario Franchitti. While the race was outstanding, Carpenter’s victory was secondary to the real story of the weekend: the two-man battle for the IndyCar Series Championship between Will Power and Ryan Hunter-Reay. Power went into California with a 17-point lead over Hunter-Reay. Both men qualified in the rear of the field and were running together in 13th and 14th respectively when the championship became Ryan Hunter-Reay’s to take on Lap 56. Will Power crashed and, for the third consecutive season, failed in his quest to win a championship with a DNF in the season finale. With Power out, Hunter-Reay still had to finish 5th or better win claim the title; a feat he accomplished with a 4th-place finish. The championship was the culmination of a long, trying road to the top for the Texas-based wheelman.
Debuting in 2007 with Rahal-Letterman Racing as the replacement for Jeff Simmons, he won Rookie of the Year honors and scored his first career victory at Watkins Glen in 2008. In 2009, Ryan Hunter-Reay bounced around in the IndyCar Series after losing his ride at Rahal-Letterman Racing to budget cuts. His once-bright future looked bleak. Then, he signed with Andretti Autosport in 2010. Hunter-Reay won at Long Beach and appeared to be on the verge of superstardom when the wheels fell off for Hunter-Reay. Still, he received the utmost in confidence from team owner Michael Andretti and lead sponsors DHL and Sun Drop despite struggles that included a nadir of not qualifying for the 2011 Indianapolis 500. After that low point, Ryan Hunter-Reay rebounded to finish 2011 with a win in New Hampshire and eight top tens in the final nine events. That momentum that carried into 2012. Hunter-Reay scored four victories over the season (Milwaukee, Iowa, Toronto, and Baltimore) and was able to capitalize on the late-season misfortunes of Will Power to claim his first IndyCar Series Championship. Hunter-Reay’s championship victory is the first for an American since Sam Hornish in 2006.
Congratulations go out to Ryan Hunter-Reay - the Superstar of the Week and 2012 IndyCar Series Champion!
Jerk of the Week: Nakoula Basseley Nakoula
I am sure many who do not follow the news are wondering who I am talking about at this moment. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula is an Egyptian-American responsible for writing, producing, and distributing the anti-Islamic film Innocence of Muslims. Many are citing the trailer and clips of this film posted on YouTube as a cause for some of the attacks on United States embassies that started on September 11th and are still underway in much of the Middle East. Among these attacks, one in Benghazi, Libya killed US Ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens and three others. In total, 39 are dead and over 400 are injured from the attacks started as a reaction to Nakoula’s movie.
It is easy to throw everybody from the Muslim world under the bus because of these attacks and their reaction to a stupid, poorly made film intended to do nothing but incite riots. However, I am choosing ultimately to pin the blame for all of this on the film’s creator himself: Nakoula Basseley Nakoula. He knew what this first was going to do and made the movie anyway. This was an attempt to provoke a group of easily provoked people volatile towards the western world to start with. Someone should tell Nakoula “mission accomplished” because many innocent people are dead or injured because of this little film. I am positive that is all the man intended from the beginning of production. That is why I also believe that authorities should arrest and charge this man with the same crimes as the Muslim terrorists who actually committed the heinous acts in Libya, Egypt, and at the other embassies.
Babe of the Week: Miranda Lambert and Danica Patrick
A Melancholy Happy Trails to…
- Sid Watkins, 84 - British neurosurgeon and Formula One Safety and Medical Delegate (September 12th)
A Special Get Well Soon to… Jerry “the King” Lawler
On the September 10th episode of Monday Night RAW, commentator Jerry Lawler suffered a heart attack live on the air during the Daniel Bryan/Kane vs. Darren Young/Titus O’Neil match. Rumors are that Lawler was dead for almost 20 minutes, shocked seven times via defibrillator, and had CPR performed backstage for minutes in order to keep the King alive long enough to make it to a Montreal hospital. I did not see the incident live as I no longer watch World Wrestling Entertainment programming. When I initially heard about it from messages on Facebook and Twitter, I questioned whether the show was so bad that Lawler’s body attempted to shut down in order for the King to escape. Yeah, I know it was a mean joke. It was still funny and a valid question considering what WWE offers on a weekly basis. Anyhoo, Lawler underwent a procedure and appears to be well on the road to recovery. That is awesome news considering how tragic and horrific the incident appeared on television.
Get well soon, Jerry Lawler. Sexual predators everywhere need their wrestling role model and the business needs “The King.”
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