The Victors: Project OSPREY
Big Ten Tournament, Round 1
(№ 6) Michigan 83-66 Penn State
26-6, Big Ten 13-6

The rubber match against the ferocious Nittany Lions was certainly more exciting than it needed to be, especially in the first half. I was horrified to see the valiant Wolverines fall behind by double digits early in the first half, that very opening sluggishness having typified our defeats, but was pleased with how they fought back to lead at the half, & with how they pulled away to close out the game. The loss at Penn State was still a bad loss, but at least now the valiant Wolverines having a winning record against the ferocious Nittany Lions, 2-1.

Next: Round 2 of the Big Ten Tournament, against Wisconsin tomorrow afternoon. We lost to the pesky Badgers in Madison, where they enjoy a tremendous home court advantage—winning something like 97% of their home games over the last five years—but the valiant Wolverines should have won that game, had it not been for a late-game collapse. The valiant Wolverines can & probably should win tomorrow.

Go Blue!

This Week in Motorsport
Rally Monkey
World Rally Championship
Round 3
Rally Mexico
Friday-Sunday, 7-10 March 2013

Sébastien Ogier of Volkswagen has staked his claim as the early favorite to be the first World Rally Champion besides Sébastien Loeb since '03, winning Rally Mexico in convincing fashion, three & a half minutes head of the second place finisher, Mikko Hirvonen of Citroën. Mexico was Ogier's second consecutive victory & in the young season's three rallies he has yet to finish worse than second. The fleet Frenchman's closest challenger was Mads Østberg of M-Sport (Ford), 'til the young Norwegian's Ford was sidelined by mechanical gremlins. Three & a half minutes is outrageous; it is rare for the victor to be more than a minute ahead of the runner-up at the end o' a rally. There are ten rallies left in '13, months of competition ahead, & both oceans to cross & continents to traverse before this year's campaign is over, but try as I might to keep a sense of perspective it is difficult to imagine how any of the other drivers will match, let along surpass Ogier.

The crowds at Rally Mexico, the W.R.C.'s lone stop in North America, were massive & enthusiastic. This was delightful to behold, a lovely counterpoint to the hyperbolic claims by some that our neighbor to the south is a borderline failed state. ¡Viva México!

Next: Portugal in one month's time. I miss the W.R.C. being on television (but still hold out hope that a deal might come together later in the year), but by following the series online—thanks to copious video highlight packages—I've caught rallies that I'd previously always missed, such as this year's opening trio of Monte Carlo, Sweden, & Mexico. Portugal, too, will be all new to me. The W.R.C. is such glorious madness!

By Endurance We Conquer
2013 is the last season for the American Le Mans Series (A.L.M.S.) & the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series as separate competitions. Next year, they will merge into a single, combined series, the name of which was revealed today: United SportsCar Racing. I'm certain that I could come up with an even worse title for what is supposed to be an exciting motor racing competition, but I'm equally certain that I'd have to think long & hard to come up with that even worse title. Nothing else seems more appropriate than an exasperated, wow. Wow. I suppose it would have been too obvious to just call it the Lame Dull Boredom Series?

This weekend sees the last running of the 12 Hours of Sebring as the opening event of the A.L.M.S. season. From 2014, it will be a part of the United SportsCar Racing calendar. (Should that be initialized as U.S.R. or U.S.C.R.? I hate incorrectly capitalized faux words such as "SportsCar" like a drowning man hates water. "SportsCar" isn't a word, sports car is a phrase. I suppose I should have expected nothing else from the N.A.S.C.A.R. brain trust.)

Formula Fun!
This weekend will also see the first Formula One grand prix of the year, the Australian Grand Prix. Yippee, F1 is back! From what I've seen so far, I am cautiously optimistic about N.B.C. Sports as the new U.S. broadcaster, in no small part because N.B.C. hired fully three fourths of Speed's old F1 on-air personnel.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day
Danny Elfman, "Main Titles/End Titles" (from Beetlejuice) via iTunes (T.L.A.M.)