About an hour ago I tried searching for your original emails about Drive To Survive so I could reply and say “Thank you!”. I’ve been on your mailing list for maybe 10, 12 years? And during that time learned that we have similar tastes in certain areas. When you recommended DTS, I went “Hmm.” Next thing you know I’ve binged it in record time and start watching YouTubes to learn all I can.

I’m an older woman who generally likes sports but has never watched a car race; men driving around in circles in fast cars? Yuck. Then, DTS got me hooked. Telemetry, g-forces, the Halo, overtakes, understeer…all part of my regular vocabulary now. I set the alarm to wake up at 6:30am on both Saturday and Sunday to watch not only the race but qualifying too (depending on the location of course).

So thank you for the DTS recommendation months and months ago. Formula 1 is thrilling and fascinating. And I completely agree, Lewis got robbed today (though I’m a Carlos Sainz fan and am super excited for him doing so well in his first year at Ferrari.)

Nikki Vinci

____________________________________

Amen to all that.

Richard Griffiths

____________________________________

If an asterisk should ever be applied to a victory, this was it.

Jason Whittington

____________________________________

As a long time F1 follower, it felt like a return to the bad old days – but as I said to my son, it’s good for F1 to have the controversy and attention.

zaphodd

____________________________________

One of the very best things you’ve ever written.
You absolutely nailed it about Christian Horner, Max and Lewis.
I will begrudgingly accept Max won the title but his claim to fame will only be as a driver who is better than average. Lewis has done more for this planet this season alone than Max will ever do, nothing to do with Max’ age, everything to do with his personality.
The wrong man was given the title and that’s too bad.
But I expect Lewis will be back better and stronger and still as humble next season. I still believe the good win out in the end.
Thanks for turning more people on to this amazing sport of F1.

Sandee  Bathgate

____________________________________

With a bit of time for reflection on the F1, it does kinda feel like you’re fourteen points up in a pub quiz, then the quizmaster suddenly announces that to keep it fun the last question is worth fifteen points.

Andy Hollis

____________________________________

Gutted.

The sport lost (arrogance of the comment “it is called racing Toto”) and won (the sheer interest level), as is life.

Alan Cassidy

____________________________________

Totally agree.

That was some fucking bullshit today I was incandescent afterwards

Lewis has had to drive calmly whilst that petulant lunatic has driven like a dangerous prick all season putting others lives in danger.

I really wanted Lewis to win today so he’d have the 8 titles and overtake Schumachers record and retire.

I guess now hopefully he’ll be fired up to come back next season and right today’s wrong.

NICK HANSON

____________________________________

Set my alarm for 7:30 am today to watch pre-race show and the race itself.  Lewis was going for his 8th straight championship, 1 more than Michael Schumacher.  Oddly, his son, Mick hit Latifi, which sent Latifi into a wall and final laps into caution.  And then the ‘can’t pass’ to Max getting new tires and the lapping ‘incident’ gave Max the win. Shameful for F1, not to follow their own rules.  Mercedes has filed 2 protests, both denied.  Lewis Hamilton is a role model for the sport, hopefully next year he and his team get another shot at the championship.
Thanks for writing about it.

Sari Leon

____________________________________

Agree with you completely!

Max is a great driver but an awful competitor.

You mention the rules working out for Max but even those were not properly applied!! and Merc have lodged their complaints about that though I’m sure the FIA will find a way to explain away the Race Director inventing his own rules for the restart.

The end was a joke.

I’m sad for Lewis and the sport.

Matt Gorny

____________________________________

Today killed F1 for me.  How in the world can something happen (negate Lewis’ 10 second lead because there is a crash) and no one I know can explain how it became a one lap race, basically a match race between Max and Lewis.  The announcers just carry and go along with it and act like it all made sense…or not.

What a jerk off.  The F1 governing body make the IOC look like geniuses.  What are the goddamn rules.  It’s like screwing up the Super Bowl by having the referees say that there isn’t five minutes left on the clock, only :30 sec.

The sport finally blew up in the US because of the Netflix series and then at the critical moment, the one we’ve all been waiting for, they blew it.  The series was great and that is enough for me.

John Brodey

____________________________________

As w/ all of them, I did watch it.
Lewis Hamilton is a brilliant driver in the best engineered car on the planet , supported by the best crew in the world.
Max Verstappen is another superb , aggressive driver who is managed by  an amazing and motivating manager.   Is with whom he’s married actually a factor ?!?
Christian Horner of Red Bull followed the rules at a critical moment, changed tires and won the race for his driver.
As a former Ferrari owner and fan—I’m depressed but accept reality.

Kind regards
Bob Sherwood

____________________________________

You are not alone in your dislike of Chritian Horner. I’ll admit, at the start of the season, I was pulling for Max to win the championship. But as the season progressed, I grew more and more turned off by Horner, and began to pull for Lewis and Toto. Lewis is an elegant champion, and I do appreciate the things he stands for and the commitments he’s made to change things. A fascinating season nonetheless, and now looking forward to where the soap opera goes from here…

Todd Schnick

____________________________________

So, so well said. I concur!

It’s going to fuel the goat and next season, watch out. But with new cars, it’s anyone’s guess.

Edwin Rojas

____________________________________

Bob, just like you, Netflix got me hooked on F1. The way the race was handled today was disgraceful and I seriously hope Mercedes challenges the outcome of this race to the very end. Everyone with a working set of eyes could see the Hamilton had this race won and then to change the rules on the last lap is a joke.  Formula 1 should look up the definition of credibility.

Jay Headrick

____________________________________

Totally agree. I’ve been following F1 for decades – been to a handful of races – and have seen a lot of crazy drama. This year and this race may be at the top. Mercedes totally got screwed in the mistaken fear of the race director of ending the race under a yellow flag. And exacerbating that mistake by clearing the back markers, something that would not have been done if the flag was earlier in the race.

The only solace, I suppose, is that Mercedes won the team crown – and that’s where the money is.

Tom Wszalek

____________________________________

I’ve been watching F1 for decades. I was Ferrari, always Tifosi,
started pulling for Red Bull 3 years ago because Mercedes/ Hamilton
was too efficient, no contest, no sport.

Today was the strangest F1, Max had pole but Lewis was faster in a longer run.

Max was going to lose to Lewis … but .. in last week’s race, and in
today’s first lap, every official  judgement went Hamilton’s way, the
last call gave Max a chance, he won the last lap!

The sport’s next season will be more anticipated because the greatest
driver in its history finally lost.

Paul Zullo

____________________________________

The FIA is in a spot of bother here.  Michael Masi, the race director did not apply the safety car rules correctly.  Under the safety car rules (Article 48.12) he should have let ALL the lapped cars unlap themselves and the safety car should then have stayed out for one more lap after the last lapped car had unlapped itself.  Instead he let selected lapped cars unlap themselves and then sent the safety car in straight away.  That gave Christian Horner the “one more [racing] lap” he demanded of Michael Masi and enabled Max’s win.  So Mercedes should and will appeal to the International Court of Arbitration.  The decision on local appeal in Abu Dhabi was that the race director has an overriding discretion under another rule (Article 48.13) to call the safety car in at any time but Article 48.13 contains none of the legal language (e.g. “provided always”) that suggests it is an overriding discretion.

So Mercedes will win the appeal, Masi will be fired as a sop to Mercedes to keep them in the sport but the race result will stand.  As such Max’s championship will forever be tainted and the sport will have lost all credibility.  Honestly, why have pages of rules that dictate how flexible a wing can be when the race result can be manipulated a spineless race director with a moaner like Horner chewing at his ear?  The only bright spot of today is that Lewis Hamilton remains his usual classy and gracious self in the face of sporting immortality being stolen from his grasp.  I’m prouder than ever of Britain’s greatest ever sporting son.

Andrew Harting

____________________________________

I have been an F! fan since the 1950’s when Juan Fangio and Sterling Moss were driving.  I have seen F1 races live since the 1960’s and watched a lot on TV.

This race was the “NASCARization” of F1.  NASCAR always found a way to bring out the yellow flag close to the end of the race to group the field so as to have a close finish…have a big show.  The Latifi crash five laps from the end was a promoter’s dream, a way to bunch the field to allow a dramatic ending. The stewards decided to “let them race.”  Lewis didn’t get penalized for his “shortcut” on the first lap in today’s race after Max aggressively forced him off the track…;”let them race.”  In the latter stages of the race, Mercedes decided to let Lewis finish on hard tires while Max was brought in for a switch to soft tires.  All were strategy risks that might not play out.  Then the freak Latifi crash. The stewards did everything they could to get the track cleared so they could…”let them race.”  One lap left they…”let them race.”  On the last lap, Max exhibited his youth and daring and made a clean pass on Lewis after driving his heart out all day with a lesser car.  We got to see some great driving. Great finish. Glad I got up early to watch the race at 5am Los Angeles time.

John Anderson

Torrance

____________________________________

Fucking brilliant, and extremely accurate. No one could have written that ending to that race and been believed. We all watched it live, and knew that Hamilton had been robbed by the rules. A very calm and quiet former world champion GP 500 motorcycle racer named Eddie Lawson once got pissed off, and devastated the field. Mercedes will be very pissed off right now. Watch the result. This is going to be fun.

Stewart Bailey

____________________________________

I was pissed!

Lewis was robbed!

Louis Joachim

____________________________________

Thanks for this insight. I used to be a lifelong F1 fan until more or less 10 years ago… I even went to Indianapolis in 2003 when they built a circuit inside the oval. Then it fade away until a couple of months ago, I was browsing Netflix and discovered the F1 show. All of the sudden I remembered what brought me to the sport in the first place! Now I am eager to find out in real time what happened, but more importantly I am waiting for next season to learn the inside dealings.

Thanks for this article, I enjoyed it very much.

Best

Daniel Castano

____________________________________

Thanks for you extensive in depth depuzzelization(new one) of
what went on today. Lewis is the best but Max and his team were
smarter as they found chance in tactics and a little luck on the side.

That is the essence of Formula 1 these days. It’s not the faster car that prevails.
That would be Formula Bore 1. Red Bull was  looking for a bunny in a top hat.

And they found one.

These are are cunning and interesting times.

Cheers from Holland

Hein Fokker

____________________________________

Sour grapes, old man.

Rick Jonews

____________________________________

Couldn’t agree more.  We wus robbed!!

The ending was unbeleivable… to reverse the decision regarding the lapped cars in the middle of the lap was nothing less than highway robbery.  You can’t help but feel that the fix was in!

Lewis is everything that Max isn’t,  and the world is a better place because of that.

Joe Wallace

____________________________________

I think that you are exaggerating the Netflix effect on Formula 1 when you refer to global viewership.  Netflix obviously boosted viewership in the English-speaking world but there has always been a huge contingent of TV viewers pre-Netflix in all countries except perhaps in North America.

In 2020 the TV and Digital average audience per Grand Prix in 2020 was 87.4 million (source https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.formula-1-announces-tv-and-digital-audience-figures-for-2020.3sbRmZm4u5Jf8pagvPoPUQ.html).

The 2021 Formula 1 season has been averaging 947,000 viewers across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, an increase of 56 percent over the shifted 2020 season (608,000 viewers) and up 41 percent over the 2019 season average (672,000 viewers). (Source https://espnpressroom.com/us/press-releases/2021/11/formula-1-has-triumphant-return-to-north-america-viewers-respond-to-u-s-mexican-grand-prix-telecasts/#:~:text=The%202021%20Formula%201%20season,season%20average%20(672%2C000%20viewers).)

So the U.S. TV and Digital market for F1 is tiny compared with the rest of the world.

Mark Jackson

____________________________________

The rules did not fall Max’s way in the least. They were cravenly, and falsely, manipulated by the race control director, Michael Masi, to produce just this result. And people are right to see the corruptive handprints of Netflix and Liberty all over it.

bmaz

____________________________________

Your read on it is interesting in that I feel differently while watching the same race.

I like both drivers but was pulling for Max because I tend to love underdogs and wanted him to have his first championship.

Mercedes are a bit whiny too — they also protested that Max’s nose went ahead of Lewis’ briefly during the safety car.

I liked the ruling because it allowed them to race the final race of a deciding championship without lapped cars in the way.

Anyway, yes thank you Netflix!

Aaron Lloyd Barr

____________________________________

You’re right. WTF is with that Race Director Masi? A race is 2 hrs long. There’s strategy, driver’s skill and discipline, pit stops, mechanical breakdowns, all kinds of things that determine who wins. And Masi turns this race into a one lap sprint after Mercedes and Hamilton drove 56 laps to build up a lead. He turned it into a crapshoot.

If they don’t get rid of Masi, F1 isn’t legitimate anymore.

Besides, Verstappen got away with numerous violations throughout the season. Team Head Horner and Team Owner Marko are sore losers and enablers.

Cyrus Won

____________________________________

Well, there was that incident on the first lap where Verstappen was passing Hamilton and Lewis cut the track to retain the lead.   Did Verstappen force him out?   Whose corner was it?

The thing that did Lewis in was his team not pitting during the previous yellow when he already had 23 laps on his tires with 20 laps still remaining.   That was ridiculous strategy.

Jordan Berliant

____________________________________

My husband made a comment when the crash happened, “Red Bull just called Williams and told them they would pay them 2 million to crash their car.” And after that, the craziness happened. What an ending. We are still baffled.

Heidi Jones

New York

____________________________________

Fantastic race. F1 hasn’t been this compelling since Ayrton Senna died.

As far as IndyCar racing in circles, they are down to 6 ovals out of 19 meets. The preponderance of races is on road and street courses.

IndyCar is no longer a joke –  in fact, while NASCAR and professional drag racing are heading in the wrong direction, IndyCar is trending upwards both in attendance and eyeballs. Its storylines are as good as F1’s — the series just lacks the unlimited marketing horsepower Liberty Media brings to its F1 property.

All motorsport disciplines have their challenges, but IndyCar is more physically demanding to drive than F1 — the lack of power steering requires the IndyCar drivers to muscle these mean machines in pretty brutal conditions. Ask Romain Grosjean, who has driven both.

Cole Coonce

____________________________________

MARTIN SAMUEL: Verstappen’s triumph in Abu Dhabi was a STOLEN title

https://mol.im/a/10302393

NICK HANSON

____________________________________

I’m a huge f1 fan so not a typical American. We do not need more whiny fucking entitled hammy’s. We need more parity in this sport and I’m glad the self appointed king is dead. I can’t stand max but I’ll take him over a whiny self entitled shit like hammy.

Ding dong the hammy reign is thankfully over,

Phil Bergman

____________________________________

I watched the race and was on pins and needles the entire time, and then the shit hit the fan. Unbelievable, but not surprising. I don’t like Christian’s antics, but I think his constant bitching about how unfairly Red Bull has treated all year finally got in Mike Massey’s head. Christian as much said it with ten laps left when he said they’re going to need a miracle from the racing gods to win that race. I’m not a conspiracy nut, but that was a cowardly call from Massey. Sure let them race, but don’t allow Max to essentially line up right next to Lewis with one lap left in the last race of the year that decides the Championship when Lewis was ahead of him the entire race and was over 11 seconds ahead until that call was made. History may show Max won that race on paper, but Lewis is the real Champion.

Tom Rein

____________________________________

Sir Frank Williams, the founder of the Williams Formula One, who just
passed away last month, said:

Victory is 1/4 the tires, 1/4 the driver, 1/4 the engineering, and
1/4 the strategy.

Today, Lewis Hamilton lost because Mercedes strategy was flawed. Max
Verstappen won because Red Bull’s strategy was much better.

As for the yellow flags, the slow downs and not passing. This rule
was introduced by Formula One in the 1980s at the request and the
lobbying of Nikki Lauda (3 times world champion). Until then, every
year, a couple of F1 drivers would die in the racing season!

Once introduced, with some safer circuit design changes, it took 10
years until the next F1 driver (Roland Ratzenberger) died while
racing.

syv

____________________________________

As someone who has been watching motorsports for 35 years, allow me to give a perspective on the 2021 World Drivers’ Championship:

 

Among race fans, it’s accepted that the driver in the best car doesn’t always win.  It’s just part of the sport.  In the case of today’s Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton had to make a strategy call – switch to newer tires, but lose his track position?  Or maintain his lead on older tires and hope that the yellow flag doesn’t come out?  There’s really no right or wrong answer; sometimes the strategy plays out and sometimes it doesn’t.  In this case, Max Verstappen’s strategy was the right one.  Every great driver from Mario Andretti to Jeff Gordon and Lewis Hamilton has won and lost races this way, and that’s just racing.  Which is why, as someone who likes Hamilton very much as a driver, I just can’t get too mad about this.

 

So I tip my hat to both Lewis and Max for such a great season.

 

Wes R. Benash

____________________________________

MASI IN THE MIDDLE OF MAYHEM

Of course I am shattered. I too wanted Lewis to win. But that’s okay, a few days later and I will be over it. Let’s face it, there was always a 50% chance you were going to celebrate or commiserate the race result. Hamilton will go on to win other championships. Probably. Maybe.

What is not okay is how Masi made a royal mess of it. That highly dubious decision with the safety car, let the guy on fresh tyres make a dash for it against the guy who had been leading for 57 laps with worn-out tyres. Is that fair? Of course not. The rules don’t even support it. Masi (another Aussie* like me) will be remembered for a long time for his mismanagement of the race. An unmitigated disaster. Mercedes has the option to take it to the appeals court. Maybe they should. Otherwise what are the rules for?

Apart from Masi’s orchestrations to give it a ‘Netflix like finish’ (a director in the making?). 2021 was an incredible year. Just a pity about the terrible finish.

A great summary, Bob, by the way.

*Feel good we are not bashing an American in the hot seat this time 😉

Pete Meehan

____________________________________

That is a perfect encapsulation of F1 and the crapshow at the end of today’s race.

Mike masi, the race director could have/should have ‘red flagged’ the race with the 5 laps to go.

Under the rules, Hamilton could have put on a fresh set and we would have been treated to two of best drivers to ever turn a wheel going at it hammer and tongs for five laps.

Oh well…

Jeff Davies

____________________________________

I’m heartbroken, shattered and not a happy camper.  Very upset!

Iona S. Elliott

P..S. Lewis Hamilton, is in a class by himself. Always the gentlemen and sportsman, He’s too good for this sport. End of story.

____________________________________

I share your disappointment in the way today’s race was decided. However, based on my viewing of this season and the prior three via Drive to Survive, I disagree with your characterization of Christian Horner as a whiner and a prick, and Toto as the “good guy.”

I, for one, appreciate Christian talking to the broadcast team during the race. And while I have no problem with Toto, he rarely, if ever does. And when you saw Riccardo in Season One of DTS, he was a Red Bull driver. Mercedes came late to that game.

And I’m not holding his Spice Girl against Horner.  Maybe I’ve missed some of what you may be picking up somewhere, but I have not seen his interactions with race officials on behalf of his drivers and team as being  qualitatively different than Wolff’s.

And even having seen most of this season’s races, I am very much looking forward to DTS Season 4.

David Ortez

____________________________________

Thank you so much for this piece!

Not only is it breath-taking to follow your description of the race but also you deliver all the spice, the background, and the analysis of a season – and even the whole story. Very time-efficient for someone who was once hooked but decided to take this type of educated entertainment off his schedule.

You brought all the magic back and addressed all the questions.

Kudos!

Yours in music,

Tom Bush

____________________________________

YES!!!!

and thanks for turning me onto the Netflix show.  I’ve been officially addicted and watch the races in real time. And yes we wuz robbed!!!

Peter Roaman

____________________________________

Your dead on. I hate Mercedes Benz and all that their cars stand for on the road and track, however I love Lewis. He is everything you want in a driver and human being polite, kind, righteous and an absolute killer.  Today’s race was the grossest display of blatant racism and nonsense I have ever seen in professional sports in my lifetime.  It’s wasn’t a race till the Stewards had a chance to ruin the season.

The only thing that could have made me happy today is if Lewis was making a move to Ferrari next season and kissed Benz goodbye. A man of his stature deserves to drive a red car, but then again don’t we all want to ultimately want to drive a Ferrari? I know I do.

Team LH for now and forever!

Best,

Jason Weinstock

____________________________________

100% agree. Heartbroken for Lewis and everything he represents in the plight of good and just— in addition to wholeheartedly deserving it because of his enormous skill.

My wife and I refer to Christian as “Naked Christian”. Have you seen the picture? Yuck. Talk about arrogance and self-absorbed. Disgusting.  To us the picture represents the sleazy unsportsmanlike conduct and rhetoric coming from him and Max.  Got the picture off of twitter from one of the lively community members which was using the image several weeks back to illustrate the same point (sleazy).

Did you notice Max didn’t smile after winning (except the private moment caught on camera in the garage with his daddy). GRRRR…. This one has frosted our ass something bad.

Chris Clapp

P.S. Oh…. And forgot to mention Mr 2021 world champion stormed off the podium stage last week during the course of the ceremony. Loser.

____________________________________

Max is 24.

Lewis is 36.

I don’t know about you, but I gained a lot of maturity in those 12 years.

Lewis has had a team of 20 publicists and strategists carefully scripting his brand to perfection for years now. Max is just a young cowboy trying to get taken seriously in a world that’s only talked about one guy for 7 years now. He’s the indie artist, Lewis is the major label with all the corporate backing. Surprised you don’t salute his rebel spirit a bit more, ha ha. But give him a little time, and let’s see what Max can do with his legacy over the next 12 years.

– Mark Radcliffe

____________________________________

Bob, you’re right Christian Horner is a 100% classless reprobate and Toto DOSES Rule. Hamilton’s the best by miles and the Dutchman (I refuse to utter his name), drives like a bull in a China shop and winning the final race and Championship was an unsettling crime orchestrated by F1’s steward Masi they should fire his ass BIGTIME and he should be banned.

Best,
Olie

btw: It was one of OUR fellow Canadian F1 drivers who hit the wall and started this mess…Blame our embarrassing Prime Minister…. Justine Trudeau…he’s responsible for all of Canada’s FuckUps…

The BBC app is an great source for F1 check out the link below and you’ll find other goodies there as well.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/59631665

Olie Kornelsen

____________________________________

Love your stories about music & entertainment but this piece is BS.

 

Max is not a world champion because “rules fell his way”. A F1 world championship is based on all races combined as you might have understood so if you want to start to talk “robbing”… Take in account Silverstone (with the “murder” attack of Lulu on Max in the fastest corner of the season), and Hungary (with Lewis’s team mate Bottas kicked several drivers off). Max also lost a sure win in Hungary due to a bad tire exploding.

 

Stay in for a few more years and maybe you understand. Mercedes simply had the best car for many (8) years and now lost it, to the better driver. Shit happens. Toto is a sore loser and I will bet you Mercedes dealers around the globe don’t like how he “represented” the brand yesterday and many teams during the season. Talking about whining…

 

I hope you stick with you great stories about music.

 

Best regards,

 

Wim Reijnen

____________________________________

Oh boy, if the dutch found out about this article, I bet you will a flood of mails over you.
All the newspapers has Max on the cover, the morning shows are all about Max. All the commercials are focus on Max.

But I think you are right. Except one thing: Max really made a great move on the last round

– Kris Keijser

____________________________________

Pfff It’s a race!! Mercedes should have let him swap tires multiple times, that’s on them. Also, why does the color of his skin have anything to do with it? So ridiculous Bob.

Denny White

____________________________________

Now you write about car racing? You think you are an authority on everything? How arrogant.

Lou Judson

____________________________________

Look at the year statistics Bob

It shows that Max had a better season overall

And Yes, Lewis had a much faster car

But Max is a better driver.

I agree that Lewis is a great sportsman and personality. Max is still very young, but a fighter.

Maybe you can live with this.

If not, you’re just a bad loser just as Toto Wolff.

Best,

Rogier J. van Twuijver

____________________________________

Millions gave up on nascar

We remembered the racing of the 60’s into 70’s where there were understandable differences between Ford, GM and Chrysler
Differences in motor, power, gearing shapes- winners may be laps ahead

Then it all became about the same, nobody can tell the diff between cars

and nascar started to shape the race

400 laps don’t really matter, it was a given that the race would be slowed or stopped and bunched up for a few lap race to the end

officials and nascar shaped who was competitive

nascar has other problems now

F1 follows a similar script and shape the races

What happens on the track matters less to the race than decisions from officials, decisions made in the suites

Is it now like wrestling ?

Mk Bitterman

____________________________________

What a one-sided Horner and Verstappen bashing Bob…

Horner knew and admitted they needed a miracle to have a chance of victory in this last race.

But let’s get the facts straight as far as better driver over the whole 2021 season goes:

Verstappen ended the season with 10 wins to Hamilton‘s 8, having also led more laps and taken more pole positions and podiums.

Mark Unterberger
(Austria)

____________________________________

great you like the sport and Lewis Hamilton, as do I. He is a great sportsman and a true role model – we need more of them.

However I would not be so biased towards Christian Horner, Red Bull and Max. You are getting the information via Netflix, the WaPo or other media, you never experienced them first hand. Maybe there are things about Toto Wolf you do not know and would dislike…?  I’ve worked with Jos Verstappen and Red Bull in the past and they are true professionals, also looking for the truth and holding fairness high.

In F1 everyone strives for the title and tries to interpret the rules for his own benefit but that’s why they have them and a system of regulations you can use in case you disagree. All team principals are protecting and supporting their drivers, so don’t blame Christian Horner for it and praise Toto Wolf for doing just the same.

Despite my great respect for Lewis Hamilton I was happy for Max and his team to win. In the end it was Mercedes’ decision not to change tires as they assumed the safety car period would last until the end of the race – and Red Bull took all eventualities into account to have a slight chance.

Never mind, keep up the good word Bob

Thanks, Christoph

____________________________________

Biggest difference in the kind of COMPETITION involved in sports and music is that in sports wins aren’t orchestrated in the boardroom.  And that is a fantastic thing as no one I know who has ever competed in any athletic endeavor at any level would want to see a race end under a penalty car- or caution flag for NASCAR fans.

That the race manager did not follow the letter of the law and used his own sense of Fair Play – something he did had the authority to do- prevented one of the single most disappointing outcomes in the history of modern sport of ANY kind-bad news for the brand big time. The championship was decided by the competitors- on the field of play-not the suits in the suites- or paddocs. And that is absolutely the way it should be.

The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame has elected bands  less deserving than others because “The Hall” can sell them more $10,000 per ticket seats for the ceremony.  The Grammy’s decided to award Jethro Tull best Metal Album over Metallica to make up for past oversights in ignoring the bands deserving work . And this year they expanded the categories  to a mind boggling 10 nominees each to ” be more inclusive” when the entire purpose of competitions is to exclude not include. Thank God- and the racing Gods- that F1 doesn’t work that way

For real fans of the sport this was the most exciting way to finish any season…. mano y mano with one lap to go.  Your guy started that lap with the lead and ended up losing. Why? Toto Wolff screwed up and did not have him pit to get new tires when Vestappen did.  Racing is as much about strategy as speed and your team choked. So now you kinda sound like one of those vapid Lakers fans who always scream conspiracy when the team loses. WHAAAAAA- the refs cheated!!!!!

For the race to have ended any other way would have been cheating the sports BILLION PLUS fans- not to mention the spirit of fairplay- and that Hamilton did not win the title is a bigger story and better for the sport than if he had won his 8th in the last 9 years.

Enjoy the drama behind the scenes in the Netflix series but please don’t get all dramatic after having watched- as Christian Hoerner put it- ” the racing Gods getting involved” in the most exciting finish of any sport season in recent memory.

Also- F1 racing is the third biggest sport in the world. You forgot about Cricket.

Chris Long

Los Angeles

____________________________________

I admire your enthusiasm, and your emotion for the sport now….i’ve been obsessed since the mid 90’s, and was aware before then because Gilles Villeneuve is from my home province.

What makes Max’s victory amazing, is precisely because Lewis and Mercedes are so formidable. Last time Lewis lost the championship, it was against his teammate Nico Rosberg in 2016. Look it up and Hamilton’s behaviour in the last race. When his own team told him to let Nico go by because he was faster, Lewis told them to let them race.

On the whole of the season, Max deserved this championship, and luck happened to chose him today with the late accident and safety car. Mercedes played not to lose, and Red Bull played to win….cause they had nothing to lose. So Red Bull have the driver’s championship and Mercedes has the constructors. You’d think if Hamilton was so much about others, he would have acknowledged this victory. Instead, he didn’t even show at the after race press conference.

Look at Max’s story, and his dad’s tenure in F1 (never won anything and a spectacular fire ball incident when they were still refueling cars during pit stops – look it up)…. So Jos Verstapen took his kid all over the place karting and fixing up his car….they paid their dues.  So did Lewis of course, but we know that, he has 7 world championships. Today would have been 8, and the absolute record over Michael Schumacher. He may have even retired afterwards who knows! Instead….he felt the same heartbreak he imposed upon Felipe Massa in Brazil years ago (look that one up too!).

I admire and respect Lewis, he is a legend and a great champion. But today, he appears to be a sore looser.

I’m happy for Max……and I love F1….

Glenn Moran

____________________________________

1

You are correct, Lewis is the better driver and he was robbed. Max is like a republican, in that he bullies his way around the track and acts like the rules don’t apply to him.

2

You are not correct about Liberty. F1 has been the #2 most popular sport (Behind football/soccer) for decades. Whether you like Bernie or not, he was a ruthless dictator and is largely responsible for bringing F1 into the modern era, and passing along an already very successful product to Liberty.

 

3

I’ve been racing motorcycles for more than 40 years, (I’m racing in the 60+ class these days) and so have been following most all forms of motorsport since i was a kid. Again you are right about Indycar, and also Nascar, who are like the Democrats, trying their best to fuck up a perfectly good product.

Anyway, check out MotoGP, the motorcycle version of F1. They’ve tweaked the rules so the racing is much closer and of course it’s full of interesting personalities. and coming soon:

: https://www.superbikeplanet.com/new-amazon-motogp-series-will-bring-motogp-drama-racing-to-the-masses/

It’s great how quickly your writing on F1 has gotten so good (like much of the rest of your writing). You’re one of us now!

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

All the best,

jay maher

____________________________________

I find myself rooting for any driver but Lewis.  I would have been just as rabid about this past season if it had been Ricciardo or Charles Leclerc chasing the championship against Lewis.  Don’t get me wrong, I like Max.  And I do recognize that Lewis is great.  But, Formula 1 needed this.

I’m the e-commerce director for a company that has the exclusive wholesale/distribution/retail rights for F1 apparel and accessories in North America and most of South America.  We’ve been in business since 2016…about 2-3 years before Drive to Survive.  And, let me tell you….we thought our business had been taken to another level last year after Drive to Survive really took hold during the pandemic lockdowns.  But after this historic Formula 1 season?!  The only way I can describe our growth is: “Holy Shit!”  Formula 1 has exploded in the US in a BIG way.  The drivers felt it in Austin this year.  Their days of anonymity are over.   And we have the upcoming Drive to Survive season in a couple months!  Can you imagine what has been going on behind the scenes these past weeks in the Red Bull and Mercedes pits?

Anyway, Max winning is good for the sport.  I do wish Max had…won better….but I’m happy nevertheless. It’s also good for business.  Red Bull Racing merchandise has been outselling Mercedes-AMG Petronas 3 to 1.   And, it’s not just Max merchandise selling.  Sergio Perez is a rock star to the Mexican fans.  At times, his merchandise has outsold Max merch, especially in the weeks leading up to Austin and Mexico City.

Formula 1 needed a change.  Lewis needed a challenge.  He will fight harder next year.  And Max will be out to prove he’s not a one hit wonder.  I hope the FIA lets them race it out.

Rudy Falco

Asbury Park, NJ

____________________________________

I’ve been an F1 fan since the late 80’s.

Been going to Montreal since 95 (and the epic 1st win by Jean Alesi)

My son was born the afternoon Lewis won his first ever Grand Prix (Canadian GP no less).

But I have no idea how I feel about this season.

At least not at this moment.

Sure it has been an epic battle with some fantastic moments, but the appearance of inconsistency from the FIA and race stewards has really made it a hard season to square.

What a lot of people who are new to the sport don’t know…and inexplicably Netflix did not cover it…is that the long time FIA Race Director Charlie Whiting passed away on the eve of the 2019 season opening Australian Grand Prix.

He was extremely well respected by all teams and drivers, and had been part of the F1 community for decades.

This left a massive void as to how in-race incidents are handled. His understudy, and replacement, Michael Masi is taking a lot of stick from the decisions made this year.

Belgium was a disaster, and today was just bewildering.

And those are just two examples…there are more from this season.

Formula 1 needs a very consistent hand at the wheel during the race.

The teams are constantly letting their views known to the Race Director, and I don’t think Charlie would be having the issues that exist today.

I’m not sure Masi has the same respect from the teams…but this is armchair quarterbacking from my side.

I want to continue being a fan of the sport….but this season has really been trying my patience.

2022 needs clarity.

Rob Johnston

____________________________________

Bob: The F-cking Magic hand of the FIA came down from the sky and waved over this final race to ordain the win and championship to Max and Red Bull.

It was Deus/FIA ex machina — god out of the machine — a plot device to solve the unsolvable with an implausible action or event. We got a Grade A example of it

today.

To recount, the Williams car crashes at lap 53 and out comes the safety car with five laps to go. Max immediately pits for fresh tires. Hamilton stays out to keep the lead, but on worn tires.

Lapped cars are then ordered to maintain their track position places by the FIA after the Williams crash, and that freezes the field. Five cars are now between Lewis and Max due to this directive.

Lewis is a master on worn tires, and has five lapped cars between him and Max on the coming restart. Eight record-setting F1 championship here I come. What could go wrong?

Plenty. Crybaby Horner contacts FIA Race Director Michael Masi and whines why are those five lapped cars still between race leader Lewis and Max in second? What?! Because of the FIA’s directive you meddler.

Lewis’s racecraft managing worn tires, and Mercedes strategy managing their stops, have put them in a lock for the win — one would think.

You thunk wrong. The FIA, with a brutally cloddish decision, reverses itself and now allows the five cars to unlap themselves, but no other cars in the field are allowed to do so. This race is getting curiouser and curiouser — with apologies to Lewis Carroll.

Of course this allows Max to drive up to an unearned second position for the restart, with his fresh tires right behind Lewis on worn ones. I nearly pulled an Elvis and shot out the TV!

Now, all this intervention will make for great TV. A wet dream battle between the top two racers and teams of the season will rivet eyeballs to the screen.

The FIA knows Lewis almost cruising to his 8th championship, with five cars between him and Max, makes for lousy TV.

Evaporates: Tension! Conflict! Anticipation for next season! Allows time enough for all those eyeballs to go take a piss — they know the ending. It’s the worst case scenario for ending the season for the FIA. With one lap to go Lewis now has no fair chance to hold off Max for the win. Mission accomplished. Great TV.

Bob, ever hear the phrase “designated spinner” for the driver who crashes or spins to hit the wall near the race end? To cause a yellow flag and bunch up the field.

How about “Jacque Debris,” racist pejorative lingo to identify debris on track invisible to the naked eye. Except by the race control or stewards — which throw a yellow and bunch up the field?

There is a reason racers in various series call qualifying for a race “making the show.” Because when massive TV money is so crucial the guiding principle is: entertainment first, racing second. Mercedes and Hamilton would be the F1 champions if that order were reversed. But it won’t be. Too much TV money at stake.

Be safe and healthy,

Glen Grissom

____________________________________

Lewis Hamilton is my champion!

Merck Mercuriadis

Spoiler alert: If you haven’t watched the race yet, don’t read this.

I’m so disappointed I could cry.

I’m nearly speechless. And it’ll be impossible to explain to those who don’t follow Formula 1, but I now do, and it’s all because of Netflix.

Credit Liberty, which purchased F1 from Bernie Ecclestone and brought the sport into the modern marketing era. Ecclestone was running on fumes. He was the progenitor, he put it all together, but he was resting on his laurels, ready to be superseded, just like all the companies that have been disrupted in the last twenty five years. Yes, the internet has delivered opportunities. And those who take advantage of them win.

So what you’ve got is an idiotic sport on its way to extinction. They don’t race horse and buggies anymore, then again we’ve still got the Kentucky Derby, but the truth is it won’t be long before none of us drive a car. Personally, I can’t wait. Because of all the wankers on the highway, who are on their phones, who don’t know how to drive in the first place. Yes, Tesla is pushing the envelope of self-driving using cameras only, whereas its competitors are employing radar or even lidar, like in the latest iPhones, because what about fog? Obstructions? But the destination is in sight.

So, you’ve got twenty people driving, not in a circle like in IndyCar or Nascar, but on twisty, turny courses that are not even flat, they go up and down.

Not interesting to me. I’m aware. I know about the victories of Mario Andretti and Jacques Villeneuve, I was always flummoxed by George Harrison’s interest in the sport, aren’t sports the antithesis of artistry? But now I’m hooked too. Because of the personalities, because of the dominance of Lewis Hamilton.

Oh, that’s one thing you’ve got to know, of the ten teams, six or seven have no chance of winning the championship, NONE! Not only because of the expertise, but because of the money. So the best drivers end up with the best teams and you watch them slug it out. As for the danger, it’s much safer now, but without the halo Lewis Hamilton would be dead now, it kept Max Verstappen’s car from killing him when Max drove right over his head.

So, Red Bull. I’ve got no problem with Red Bull, I’ve got a problem with the head of its Formula 1 team, Christian Horner, married to Ginger Spice, he’s an unsportsmanlike whiner. I was wondering if I was the only one who felt this way but then the “Washington Post” did an article on F1 and one of the commenters said:

Well, it turns out the WaPo deleted the comments. But the bottom line is this guy felt the same way about Christian Horner I do. Speaking to not only lovability, but credibility. Christian always takes his driver’s side. He’s always complaining to the officials. He doesn’t accept any decision that goes against him, he’s a biased conniver all of the time. As opposed to…

Toto Wolff, head of Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton’s team.

At first Wolff turns you off, with that German accent. But then, as you continue to watch, you realize he’s got a sense of humor and a sense of fairness. I want to hear everything he has to say.

As for the drivers…

Lewis Hamilton is British and Black. And very soft spoken. He never raises his voice. Rarely says anything negative. And stands up for truth, justice, and the concept of letting the best driver win.

As for Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, he’s Dutch, and today he didn’t even take a knee during F1’s all for one moment before the race. You see Max is only for himself, Hamilton is for everybody.

And for the first half of the season, Red Bull had the better car. And Max is a great driver, so he was ahead. But then…Mercedes caught up.

The rules are arcane. Both for construction and racing. On one hand you want everybody to race in the same car, but the truth is the richer teams do better, even though this year they capped spending. But Hamilton and the Mercedes team tweaked their car and suddenly it was faster. And Max didn’t like that. And started employing what Hamilton labeled “crazy” driving. As a matter of fact, last week in Saudi Arabia, Verstappen ended up with two penalties, one of five seconds, one of ten seconds, as a result thereof.

So this week…

Verstappen started at the front of the grid, but Hamilton took the lead on the first turn and it stayed that way.

But here’s where the games begin.

There are rules. And judgments. And they can affect the results. As well as yellow caution flags. And I won’t bore you with all the details, but the bottom line is Verstappen stopped and changed his tires multiple times, losing very little time because of the yellow caution slowdowns, and Hamilton stayed out, on aging tires.

And then, just before the end, there was a crash, and the yellow flag returned and the rules guys, the arbiters, said there would be no passing in the pack, and at the last moment, changed their mind, with only one lap to go, and then Verstappen, on his new tires, got ahead of Hamilton and won the race and the season championship. It’d be like giving the presidency to Trump because the Supreme Court said he could find the votes in Georgia. Well, not quite as bad. And if you believe Trump won you shouldn’t even be reading this, because you don’t believe in facts.

So now it’s over. Hamilton was leading until the last lap, at one point by almost twenty seconds. He had the faster car, he’s the better driver. He was ahead by eleven seconds before the final caution flag, with only a handful of laps to go. But with Verstappen’s new tires, and the rules, he lost.

Now what?

Not a whole hell of a lot, but the good guys did not win. And we hate it when the bad guys win. We want it to be fair and square, and on one hand this was, but on the other rules decisions were made and…

I won’t bother going any deeper. I’ll just say in only three years, Liberty has made Formula 1 racing the number two sport in the world, after football/soccer (well, maybe basketball too). And it’s all via marketing. And focusing on celebrities. And it’s enhanced by the web, with a deep news website and an app and… Forget fantasy football, in F1 you can hear the drivers talk DURING the race. Coaches too. You’re on the track, albeit not at risk.

And they travel around the globe. And everybody involved wears a mask, because F1 has to set a good example, as well as being able to maintain competition, as it was one driver couldn’t start today because of a positive Covid test. And Hamilton has been complaining about fatigue from long Covid all season.

But it all comes down to Netflix.

The first season Mercedes said no. As a result, all the attention and fame went to Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo and the Haas team, because they agreed to participate, and were honest. That’s what we’re looking for, honest participation.

Now the arts are not truly competitive. The business has charts and other metrics to create a ladder, but in reality there are few criteria that apply across all artists and their productions. But, in music and film, we don’t have an overriding body which makes the trains run on time, which keeps everybody in order. And I’m not sure I want one, but it would help with the image and impact of today’s artistic endeavors.

Forget the Grammys and the Oscars, they’re like Bernie Ecclestone, trying to hold on to the past, afraid of losing what they might have. No, today you’ve got to go forward, do your best to get ahead of the public, and have people play into your hand. That was the genius of Spotify, it was ahead of the desires of the public, which ended up loving it. As for the complaining artists, they’re stuck in the past. In F1 if you’re a lousy driver, and the truth is all of them are great, so we’re talking relatively speaking, you get a worse car and worse opportunities. You have to prove yourself and based on your accomplishments the spoils are distributed accordingly. But in music, the unknowns, the wannabes, the has-beens, believe they’re entitled to a huge piece of the pie, whereas when you get older in F1 and end up on a worse team and are no longer competitive, you see the writing on the wall and retire.

And the truth is you shouldn’t listen to the complainers, there’s no upside, they want to tilt the tables in an inequitable way and ultimately everybody suffers, as the wankers continue to complain, never satisfied.

So IndyCar is a joke. They split into two rival circuits and never recovered. Nascar got stuck in the nineties and its footprint keeps shrinking. Because it wants no change.

F1 doesn’t tell its athletes they can’t take a knee. They embrace change. It’s a worldwide organization. It’s looking forward, as opposed to back. As for the personalities, they’re consistently brighter and more articulate and with more personality than the Americans playing their lesser sports. In America it’s all rah-rah all the time, you can’t break ranks with the team, you can never be wrong, like Christian Horner, whereas in truth everybody wants Toto Wolff, a guy who can laugh at himself, who wants to win on the track.

Like that old Leonard Cohen song, everybody knows Christian Horner is a smiling prick. And everybody knows Lewis Hamilton got robbed today. Because the charts, the statistics, don’t always tell you the truth.

So what we have here is a huge victory for Liberty and Formula 1, my phone pings with people who I didn’t even know liked to drive, and who don’t watch any other sports, and it all comes down to the Netflix show, everybody’s hooked, and you will be too. As for sponsorship, it’s baked in. But it’s clear that they’re glomming on to the enterprise, fueling it, but in the back seat…and in F1 cars there is no back seat.

They’re changing the rules again next year. Theoretically making the teams more competitive. We’ll find out. And the truth is once you dig deep, when teams are hunting for speed, it’s like a space shuttle excursion, it’s that deep and technical and slight in the overall picture but critical in the results.

So Max can say he won.

But my champion is still Lewis Hamilton. Because he was mellow, he wasn’t self-centered, he was aware of the world and he’s the best driver. We love someone who sits atop the pack based on their skill as opposed to manipulation, that’s the essence of the Beatles. We marveled then and we marvel now. How could they never put out a stinker? And watching “Get Back” you realize it’s not black magic, there are no tricks, it’s just a a handful of people coming together to deliver the ultimate.

Lewis needs the Mercedes team. But unlike most of the drivers, he’s heavily involved in the creation and tweaking of the car. And he’s BLACK! He may be rich, but that does not mean he experiences no racism. Imagine if the best ski racer in the world was Black, or the best horse jumper, or a competitor in one of the other rich white man sports. It’d be confounding, the racists wouldn’t like it, but they’d have to accept it.

We need more Lewis Hamiltons.

Because he’s a star, he’s a winner. You don’t need bombast to succeed, you only need results.

I admit Max Verstappen is champion, but that does not mean I have to accept it. The rules fell his way. But there was no doubt on the track today that Lewis Hamilton was the better driver with the better car and deserved to win. But deserving doesn’t always deliver victory. Remember that.

“In Response to Texas abortion ban, Newsom calls for similar restrictions on assault weapons”: https://lat.ms/3yiFIaF

This is how you run for President.

Two can play this game. For decades the Republicans have been defining the game, with the Democrats too afraid to take action, for fear of alienating some centrist defector who is never coming back to the party anyway. Biden wanted kumbaya with the opposing party and all he ended up with was wasted time and anemic poll numbers. Because it’s no longer business as usual in the U.S. anymore, it’s WAR!

So the Republicans have been playing the long game for decades. Most notably with the Federalist Society. Control the legal system and you control the country. So when a Democrat is in power, few federal judges get cleared. And when Republicans are in power, they jam through a flotilla of right wingers willing to uphold the inanities of the right wing that most of the country is not for. Yes, abortion, guns, health care, the results are in, and the people want abortion and health care, but not guns.

But the people have no power. And the Republicans are doing their best to institutionalize this. No longer will we have majority rule. As a matter of fact, we haven’t had majority rule from day one, since less populated states like North Dakota get as many senators as California.

As for California…

For years, and especially since the arrival of Covid, the right has made California its punching bag. You’d think everybody in California is homeless, or worried to leave the house for fear of violence. The statistics say otherwise. As a matter of fact, only 8.4% of the American public moved last year, primarily because THEY CAN’T AFFORD TO!

But just like the right controls the narrative in D.C., it controls the narrative on California, to the point that nincompoop Farhad Manjoo wrote an article in the “New York Times” about moving to Texas when the fact is almost no one is, and there’s a plethora of stories of those who did moving back!

Yes, the left has taken the bait. As a matter of fact, Biden is doing quite well. As for leaving Afghanistan, turns out that the Taliban had been infiltrating the government for years, which is why the propped-up army didn’t fight back.

Never mind the other laws Biden has actually gotten through, the actions he’s taken. It’s all right wing b.s. all the time.

But the truth is California is the opposite of Texas, it’s completely blue, and unlike in the Lone Star State, the Democrats’ power is not challenged. Yes, Texas is gonna go blue, it’s just a matter of when, it’s those pesky immigrants who are gonna flip the switch, the minorities, and about the only tool the Republicans have in defense of their majority is rigging elections, via gerrymandering and so much more.

But in glorious California…

The truth is most people haven’t been anywhere. Back in the sixties you hitchhiked across the country, you wanted to see what Paul Simon was singing about in that classic song. But ever since Reagan movement has been de minimis, because as the rich have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer, and they can’t afford to take a trip or move. Which is why our low paying jobs have to be filled by immigrants. Used to be Americans were ski bums, now it’s Australians and South Americans on school vacation, because if you’ve graduated from college you must immediately get on the career train, because otherwise you’ll be permanently left behind.

Or, you could try and make it in sports or entertainment, which is akin to playing the lottery, there are a zillion entrants, but almost no winners. But you can dream can’t you? Not really anymore.

So, the right keeps making fun of California, holding up Texas and Florida as paragons of healthy life. The rulers of those states ensure that there’s no Covid lockdown, no masks, and the people die. As for Florida’s low numbers right now, that’s because everybody’s outside, and in the north they’re inside, and it’s more complicated than that but it’s worthless trying to convince those inured to the bogus information they see on social media.

So all we hear from the Democrats in D.C. is their hands are tied. They’re beholden to Manchin and Sinema. As for the exalted Obama… He wanted Merrick Garland to be a Supreme Court justice? The guy is almost worthless to the left, he’s essentially a Republican. The left tries to compromise and still loses, whereas the right installs indoctrinated nitwits like Amy Coney Barrett, who says we don’t need abortion, the pregnant should just give up their babies for adoption! Meanwhile, the right continues to fight for less of a social safety net, hell, in some southern states the gauntlet you have to run for unemployment is so dizzying that you end up with no money.

And the right thinks it’s winning, but today the true blowback began.

Forget the bloviators on TV, they’ve got no power, whether it be Tucker Carlson or Rachel Maddow. It’s kinda like deleting your Facebook or Amazon account, the companies don’t care, the joke is on you, now you can’t play or buy with everybody else. Protests are a joke.

But the law…

It’s California that cracked down on the working conditions in Amazon warehouses. Everybody else bitches about it, but California does something. As it did with internet privacy. As for all the regulations the red states castigate, a building collapsed in Italy just before I started writing this. You want those codes, you want the government to enforce them. The contractors who built that building in Florida cut corners and there wasn’t enough supervision to catch it. As for Boeing… The government let the company do its own oversight, and as a result two planes crashed! To make more money Boeing said no new training was needed to fly a 737 Max. That was a joke, now you do. And the Dreamliner is sidelined because of the ineptitude of the company, but now the government is on the case. But if you died in the crash, of either the building or the airplane, you’re SOL. Kinda like that William Hartmann in Michigan, who wouldn’t certify the election for Biden. Have you heard? He drank the metaphorical kool-aid, which means he’s a right wing nutjob through and through, so he didn’t get the jab and you know what just happened? HE DIED!

That’s right, the Republicans are all rhetoric and no compassion. They don’t care if you die in a back alley abortion, or because you’re unvaxxed, you’re expendable. Everybody at Fox News has been vaxxed, THE COMPANY REQUIRES IT! Yes, Laura and Tucker and the rest of the blowhards are telling you not to give up your rights, that it’s all about freedom, but they sacrificed theirs right away, BECAUSE THEY WANT TO LIVE!

So, this is what Roberts was afraid of. The left twisting the theory the Supreme Court used to let the Texas abortion law stand in unintended ways. Yes, you want to take away the right to an abortion, WE’RE GONNA TAKE AWAY THE RIGHT TO MANUFACTURE GUNS!

It’s utterly hysterical. The right has been winning for so long that they’re oblivious. And like I said, the Democrats in D.C. keep telling us their hands are tied, and if you want change, like Bernie or AOC, you’re asking for too much. The people want better pay, they want unions, they want higher taxes on the rich. But in the U.S. money talks and the poor die because they can’t afford health care. That’s right, the rich live longer because they can afford to see a doctor!

So now individual citizens in California will be able to sue gun manufacturers. Do you think they’ll be making any guns in California anymore? OF COURSE NOT!

And this is just the beginning, politics goes forward, not back. One state steps forward and then the rest do. What was unfathomable in the past becomes de rigueur in the future, like gay marriage and legal marijuana. Believe me, they’re not getting rid of gay marriage, and where there’s legal cannabis they’re not doing a 180, no way.

So the right wing idiots in California called an expensive recall election. End result? Newsom won with more of the vote than he did the first time! They emboldened him. And having broken his own Covid rules he’s now on guard, he’s a straight arrow. And he’s young and handsome.

And I’m not saying he’s the greatest, but at least the left now has someone to believe in, who can take action, who is on the right side of things. And we haven’t had that for a very long time.

So the left may not pack the Supreme Court, but that does not mean the Republicans are gonna get away with the shenanigans they employed to make it right wing, not representing the majority.

Sotomayor had the wisdom here. Keep coming up with these inane rulings, ignore stare decisis and the court is gonna lose credibility. It already has with me. Hell I could do a better job than these bozos, twisting case law to come to political decisions that are anti-woman, anti-health, anti-PEOPLE!

And since we live in the internet era, by time you read this EVERYBODY is gonna know about Newsom’s action. And it doesn’t matter what anybody in the right wing media says, they’ve got no power.

Finally someone fights back.

That’s what we’ve been looking for, someone with a backbone, someone we can believe in.

As they say in sports…NOW WE’VE GOT A GAME!

There was an obituary for Don Zimmermann in the “Los Angeles Times” today. Actually, it was a remembrance, as Don died a year ago, at 85. I started doing the math, how old was he when I worked at Sanctuary, when I went to his house in La Cañada for that party, with Ed Bicknell and so many more… 49. Not too old for a record company president, he made it. But no one who wasn’t there remembers Don Zimmermann today.

Nor do they remember Bhaskar Menon, the last big cheese at Capitol//EMI, who made “Dark Side of the Moon” a hit. Menon died earlier this year. There were eventually obituaries, but in most cases not instantaneously, he wasn’t a big enough presence, not in 2021.

Who is the president of Capitol Records today?

Actually, I know that. But try naming the rest of the execs and you’re gonna have quite a problem, because being a record company executive is not the exalted position it once was. We all know Ted Sarandos and Reed Hastings, but most people have no idea who is running the movie studios, whereas in the seventies in Los Angeles they were gods. And Michael Ovitz was ascending, now he’s barely a footnote.

Is it just age or has something else changed?

Well, we all know who Jack Dorsey is. He just ankled Twitter. We can talk about financial pressure, but the truth is it just wasn’t fun anymore. He was managing the service, the innovation was in the rearview mirror. All that was left was the privacy issues. So he moved full time to his other gig, Square, now Block, where there’s still runway, the blockchain is still on the horizon, ready to be colonized and utilized by those with foresight and sharp elbows.

Then there’s the strange case of Doug Morris. The most powerful man in the record business for decades, no one even mentions his name anymore. Maybe he’s ill, I have no idea, but the truth is he’s forgotten. As for his legacy, the building of Universal Music, all the attention goes to Lucian Grainge these days, who’s getting a huge payday, but who is not as powerful as Michael Rapino, even though the media thinks recordings are more sexy than live performance.

Clive Davis? He’s hanging on at 89. He keeps trying to burnish his image, with books and film and his Grammy party. But when was the last time anybody listened to Ace of Base? And Milli Vanilli is talked about, but as a joke. When Clive passes away the somnambulant media, beholden to the past, will make a big deal about it, but the truth is no one will care, and the legacy will be invisible.

And then there are the Monkees. They say BTS is big, but they’re nowhere near as big as the Monkees were and continue to be.

Let me see, the big issue in their heyday was they didn’t play their own instruments, it was a knock on their credibility. Now almost no one plays an instrument period. Dancing seems to be more important. As for credibility…if you’ve got a check, they’ll take it.

The Monkees were on network television for only two years. But that was when there were only three networks, no cable, no streaming, no internet. There was not a boomer alive who didn’t know them and their songs, NOT ONE! And unlike the boy bands that followed them, they cut memorable material, that sustains to this day. Then again, their songs were written by such notables as Neil Diamond, Goffin and King, David Gates, Boyce and Hart, who all ended up having significant hits under their own names.

And the band were irreverent. That’s something that’s been excised from today’s society completely. Oh, there are jokesters, but many young music fans believe the presidency was stolen from Donald Trump and that Hillary was running a child sex ring out of a pizza parlor and that vaccinations will work against you as opposed to for you. They’re willing to die on these beliefs, not any record. A record is entertainment, not real life. The only people who take the artists seriously are nincompoops.

Not that the artists don’t think they’re bigwigs, deserving of attention. They’re competing with billionaires for money, and they’re never going to win that competition, whereas in the sixties, musicians were the billionaires!

So Micky Dolenz had been “Circus Boy,” and to this day he says he was just playing a role, that he was primarily an actor and then a director. He may feel that way, but that undercuts the fact that he had a mellifluous voice, when he “ahhhed” on “I’m a Believer”…I get chills writing about it now.

Davy Jones was the cute one. He sang some songs, even though Micky, on the drums, was truly the vocalist, kind of like Glenn Frey and Don Henley. (Ride with it please, Henley is a drummer with a unique, sandpapery voice, and it was always Frey’s band, but over time Henley outshined Frey.)

Peter Tork, the goofy one, was actually a musician. Would he have made it if he wasn’t in the Monkees? Highly doubtful. It’s Stephen Stills, who failed the audition, because of his teeth and more, who ended up being the superstar.

And that brings us down to Michael Nesmith. He was actually a musician. He wrote “Different Drum” for the Stone Poneys, a certified smash, a classic.

And he was the one with the wool hat. As identifiable as the others, if not even more so. And despite the hijinks, he was the voice of reason, the elder statesman on the show, he was the only one with gravitas, if we can say so. And when it was all over…he flew the coop (or the tree, maybe it should be).

So when it was over, Nesmith was the only one who had any traction as a musician. Dolenz stayed in TV, Jones went to legitimate theatre and Tork faded away, but Nesmith had the First National Band, and consensus was they were good, and credible, which was quite a leap if you consider his start in the public eye as a member of the Monkees.

And then Nesmith was on the bleeding edge of video, remember when his ” Rio” was a breakthrough, back when video was the cutting edge? I can still remember him flying in the sky in that clip, but today everybody has a quality video camera in their phone and is making their own clips and posting them online.

But Nesmith kept pushing the envelope, and you started to wonder as the years went by, how could he afford it?

His mother invented Liquid Paper. Just ask a kid what that is today. After you tell him that phones used to have dials, that people even used to talk on the phone. Forget offices, where it was a staple, if you went to college Liquid Paper was your friend, there was no spellcheck on a Smith-Corona typewriter.

Yes, Nesmith was rich, and therefore could follow his muse, and it took him a very long time to decide to become a Monkee once again.

The Monkees did not fade away. The deserving songs survived, but then there was the renaissance of the TV show thanks to MTV. And then, believe it or not, people started to agitate for the band to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I’ll tell you one thing, the Monkees had more hits, more memorable tracks, than many of the members of that august institution.

But they’ll only get in as oldsters, like Kraftwerk, if at all. Too much time has passed, the organization must stay relevant, it must induct young ‘uns.

So now Michael Nesmith is dead. 78 seems young these days. We expect you to live into your nineties, like Lina Wertmüller, who made Giancarlo Giannini famous in “Seven Beauties” and “Swept Away,” two utterly classic films from the art cinema era that no one even talks about anymore, but they were events, they impacted the culture. Wertmüller outlived her relevance, her legacy, she just died at 93, but the radio is still playing those Monkees songs. And we’re still listening to them.

“Here we come, walkin’ down the street”

And now they’re going, and in the case of three Monkees, gone. History. Kaput. Which means…we’re next.

Yes, the baby boomers are falling off the edge of the conveyor belt of life. You can try to resist, but it’s fruitless. Walt Disney has never been reanimated and despite his best efforts, Sumner Redstone died too. It’s inevitable.

But it’s even worse, so much of what you held near and dear is gone already. All those albums you bought in the sixties and seventies. You sold your vinyl years ago, when you grew up and had no room or when you were told CDs were perfect. However much you regret the loss, the truth is no one ever talks about them, no one laments the inability to hear them, and if you Google “Already Gone” you’ll get the Kelly Clarkson song, not the seventies classic sung by the aforementioned Glenn Frey.

But the Monkees remained and sustained. Funny how despite all the naysaying fifty plus years ago, they’re still part of America’s fabric. It’s the songs. Songs last. Assuming they have melody and all the rest of the building blocks the Brill Building was built upon.

So it’s very strange to be a baby boomer. You ruled for your entire life. You rolled right over Generation X, the Millennials were your kids so you influenced them, but Generation Z? There’s no direct connection, they don’t have the same history, they don’t care about their elders, they’re concerned with global warming and fairness in a way the boomers never were, it’s their world now, no matter how hard the boomers try to hang on and maintain control.

But we had a good run, a great one. The government worked. As did protest. We changed the world. And then the world changed us, we became greedy, everything was personal as opposed to group, screw society, what’s in it for me? Meanwhile, democracy started to fall apart while we were all focused on our lifestyles.

But once upon a time, we were believers. And in truth we believed in so much, but primarily music. And there were so many stars, that’s how big and powerful music was. And Michael Nesmith was one of them, he was in the galaxy, he never became a joke, always maintained his dignity and we still wanted to see him perform.

But now the Monkees are history. Micky Dolenz could still go on the road, but what’s the point, it’s too sad. Maybe as part of an oldies show, or Ringo’s All Starr Band, but as a solo act? Almost too creepy.

As for those still alive, some have lost their voices, you go to see them and wince, telling yourself you’ll never go again. Others are just too infirm to work anymore. And there are a whole slew of others who can’t go out because no promoter will pay for them, never mind fans ponying up to buy tickets.

Rock and roll was supposed to be forever, it was supposed to never die. And the funny thing is, despite its absence in the hit parade, it’s still the dominant sound today, on jukeboxes, live, it’s an underground consciousness.

Not that we truly wanted to die before we got old.

But now that we’re old we don’t want to die at all.

Like Michael Nesmith, gone…

BUT NOT FORGOTTEN!