Nascar ratings down in 2006.

I'm not really surprised. Brian France has pretty much alienated all the
die hard NASCAR fans and taken what was once a great series and turned it
into a money making greed-fest where dollars, kids, TV censors now rule the
day.

I really have zero interest in seeing yet another 18 yr old media-described
wonder boy put into the best equipment then given EVERY OPPORTUNITY for
years on end because he has a purty smile on TV.

The chase SUCKS! The last 10 races Id bet I watched less than 1/3 of each
race. Just a couple years ago it was a preposterous idea that I'd miss any
part of any race. I don't want to see every non-chase driver just pull over
to let a chaser go by. That aint racin.

Toyota, Montoya, Erin Crocker and Bill Lester.... None of which belong
anywhere near any Nascar vehicle.

I want to see fights on the backstretch and cussing at each other after a
wreck. Racing is emotion and Nascar has effectively killed any/all emotion.

And to top it all off we get to watch an endless cycle of bad commercials.
Literally more commercials than racing. Then come back from commercial for
yet another caution due to a self spin or roll bar pad. How many tracks
the past couple years have broken their long held caution records?

Nepotism rarely works and Nascar is yet more proof of the failed concept..


Mitch

I agree with most of that, altho I really have no problem with JPM in a
cup car or with Toyota joining the series. It's good to see a
manufacturer in NASCAR who actually builds cars in the United States.

racist pig

Mitch_A wrote:

My only problem is he's only here to cash in on the Nascar money-train. I'd
be curious to know how he felt inside about Nascar in the past. With the
prevailing F1 elitism I could hazard a guess but thats all it'd be For
some reason the term "redneck" comes to mind but I could be way off, hehe..

Mitch

"jason moyer" <jmoyer (AT) pair (DOT) com> wrote

Just for you Freddy.

The head of the UN's anti-drugs office has said that cannabis use has turned
into a major pandemic which is causing as much harm as cocaine and heroin.
Antonio Maria Costa also implicitly criticised countries such as Britain for
relaxing the law on the possession of cannabis.
"Policy reversals leave young people confused as to just how dangerous
cannabis is," Mr Costa said. "With cannabis-related health damage
increasing, it is fundamentally wrong for countries to make cannabis control
dependent on which party is in government. Today, the harmful
characteristics of cannabis are no longer that different from those of other
plant-based drugs such as cocaine and heroin."

What is cannabis?

The most commonly used illicit drug in Britain, if not the world, also
called marijuana, it is produced from certain parts of the Cannabis sativa
plant and comes in various forms - dried leaves, concentrated resin known as
hashish, or distilled oil. The strongest parts of the plant are the female
flowering tops, which are prevented from going to seed by growing them in a
pollen-free environment. Sensemillia, as this form of cannabis is sometimes
called, is strong because none of the plant's energy goes into making seeds,
but instead produces the psychoactive substances which cause the desired
effect.

Cannabis grows wild in many parts of the world, from Poland and Hungary to
Afghanistan, India and China. Its dried leaves or resin have been smoked by
varied cultures over many thousands of years. Cannabis has been used in
societies ranging from the Hindus of India, the Thracians of southern Europe
and the ancient Scythians, who liked to smoke it in a steam room. Indeed the
charred seeds of cannabis have been found at a Stone Age burial site in
Romania, and cannabis was first documented as a herbal remedy in a Chinese
pharmacy text of the first century AD.

Why do people take it?

Cannabis is a psychoactive substance; in other words, it affects the brain.
But it also affects other parts of the body. It increases pulse rate,
decreases blood pressure, causes bloodshot eyes and increases appetite.
However, it is the effects on the brain that cause the feelings of calm
euphoria and gentle elation that many users enjoy.

The drug has a mild sedative effect but the experience depends greatly on
individual mood and the social environment at the time it is taken. Some
people get the giggles and become talkative, others become subdued and
quiet - the classic symptoms of being "stoned". Many people feel less
inhibited while under the influence of cannabis, in much the same way as
drinking alcohol, which is why it is a common party drug.

What does it do to the brain?

The most active ingredient of cannabis is a chemical called
tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). It can pass across the biological barrier that
separates the brain from the bloodstream, and in doing so penetrates the
central nervous system. Here, it acts on the natural proteins or receptors
that control nerve impulses passed from one part of the brain to another.

Cannabinoids such as THC act on a specific protein receptor that is widely
distributed in the brain. As a result it interferes with concentration and
thought, memory, pain perception and muscle co-ordination. THC particularly
interferes with the cerebellum - the "autopilot" of the brain - which is
important for balance, posture, and co-ordination of movement. The drug also
affects the hippocampus, which is important for the formation of memory.

These influences on the brain help to explain why cannabis intensifies
ordinary sensory experiences, such as eating, watching films or listening to
music. They also explain why users get a false sense of how time passes, and
why they suffer from various problems with short-term memory, poor reaction
time and general unsteadiness.

Are there any more dangerous side-effects?

This is a hotly disputed topic. Cannabis does not produce physical
dependency, as does heroin, but some people who use it regularly can become
psychologically dependent. Cannabis smoke is carcinogenic, and so can
contribute to lung cancer, just like tobacco smoke. And regular smoking can
exacerbate existing respiratory problems, such as asthma, bronchitis and
wheezing.

A few studies have suggested that regular users may also have impaired
immune systems, and there is little doubt that driving while stoned is
dangerous - one study found that smoking cannabis doubles the risk of fatal
car crashes. According to a study in The Lancet, large doses of THC produce
confusion, amnesia, delusions, hallucinations, anxiety and agitation. "Such
reactions are rare, occurring after unusually heavy cannabis use; in most
cases they remit rapidly after abstinence from cannabis," it says.

The really important issue is whether cannabis can cause serious, long-term
problems for a person's mental health. Earlier this year the Advisory
Council on the Misuse of Drugs concluded that there may be a link between
cannabis use and the onset of psychotic illnesses, although there was
insufficient evidence to state that frequent users were more likely to
develop schizophrenia. Nevertheless, several studies have suggested that
there may well be an association between smoking cannabis in adolescence and
mental illness in later life - including schizophrenia.

What does the stronger version do to you?

It has been suggested that the smoking of more potent forms of cannabis,
known as "skunk", can result in something called cannabis psychosis,
although this has not been conclusively proved. Skunk is a generic name used
to describe the 100 or so varieties of cannabis plant that have
higher-than-average levels of THC. Skunk may also contain higher levels of
the 40 other substances in cannabis that are thought to be capable of having
an effect on the body.

Traditional varieties of cannabis have a THC content of between 2 and 4 per
cent, while some varieties of skunk can have THC levels of up to 20 per
cent. Some users say the immediate effect of smoking skunk is that they get
stoned more quickly. They also report higher levels of transient
hallucinations, which are particularly common in people who have already
taken LSD, a known hallucinogenic drug.

Skunk's potency can sometimes catch people out if they have been used to
more dilute forms of cannabis. As a result they can suffer from anxiety
attacks and feelings of mild paranoia. However, there is no evidence to
suggest that smoking skunk poses any new risks compared with the heavy
smoking of weaker forms of cannabis.

Is cannabis medicinal?

Cannabis has a long history as a folk remedy, and some of its natural
constituents are reported to have therapeutic value for illnesses such as
asthma, glaucoma, mild to severe muscle spasms and pain, as well as anorexia
and mood disorders.

Is smoking cannabis really that bad for you?

Yes...

* There is convincing evidence to suggest a link between heavy use and
serious mental illness

* Cannabis smoke is just as dangerous as cigarette smoke in causing lung
disease

* Driving while even mildly stoned significantly increases the risk of fatal
accidents

No...

* There is no evidence that cannabis causes physical dependency in the
manner of heroin or cocaine

* Mild users of cannabis are not more likely to become addicted to 'harder
drugs'

* Many long-term users of cannabis lead normal, healthy lives which they
find enhanced by recreational use of the drug

Mitch_A wrote:
didn't nbc say they were droping nascar from next year ? the whole
presentation is just slicked down to entertain an 8 year old it seems,
in my opinion. then you have speed, which is only conspiring to be the
nascar only channel, to innundate us with endless pre and post race
dribble-- honestly, if you see all the meandering reports they
broadcast you can see they are just striving to fill up all the alloted
broadcast time, and are having a hard time doing it, meanwhile real
motor vehicle racing of any type- the presumed subject of the speed
network- goes unaired. I honestly don't understand the popularity of
nascar in the states, surely it is not the racing, as you would expect
them to be race fans and yet they are not- they are nascar fans- so it
is the marketing to trailer park trash types- for which one must
congratulate the nascar marketeers on a fine sales job at the expense
of motor vehicle racing.

Mitch_A wrote:
Welcome to Stereotype Theatre! Your host....Mitch_A!!!!!

Foreign auto mfg., Columbian driver, a female and an African
American....hmmmm.

Xenophobia or just pure racism?

raamman (AT) hotmail (DOT) com wrote:

What series are they not airing at the expense of NASCAR? WRC, F1,
SPEED World Challenge & MotoGP are a few of the other series I have
seen myself or ads for.

Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of the SPEEDTV NASCAR lineup that I
would ditch, and I LIKE the Nextel Cup series. But to say that they are
omitting something else that they have a license to air seems
preposterous. Look, a lot of it comes down to who pays the bills. It's
a business, first and foremost and when it comes down to deciding
whether more ppl. will watch a NASCAR based show or boat racing, it's
kind of a no brainer. Sure, the boat racing fans (or any other genre of
racing that has a tiny TV audience) get pissed, but they are so in the
minority that catering to them is a recipe for financial ruin.

Nascar sucks, damn Demmycrats control Congress, if your sister
cuts you off its gonna be a really bad year for you down in the trailer
park, ain't it?
WS


"Mitch_A" <naman (AT) nospam (DOT) pacbell.net> wrote

Mitch_A wrote:
commercial time. If I recall correctly, it was about 1/3 commercial and
2/3 racing. So that's about 20 minutes per hour for commercials.
I'll try to find that web site again. I think it was for a charity of
some sort.