June 20, 2005

Way to go TSN

Yesterday's U.S. Grand Prix was not broadcast live in Canada except for those whose cable packages include Speed. Mine does not.

To add insult to injury, coverage of the USGP, already limited to a half hour of highlights, was pre-empted by the NBA playoffs and then joined "already in progress" when there were only 5 minutes left.

Not that I was missing anything, of course. Citing safety concerns, every F1 team on Michelin tires boycotted the race and pulled their cars out after the parade lap - including Jarno Trulli, the polesitter - and in the end only six cars ran the race: Ferrari's, BAR's, and Jordan's, all of which use Bridgestone tires. In the end, Michael Schumacher won, not that he had any competition worth noting.

Fundamentally, the major culprit in this flap is FIA itself, with this year's stupid rule limiting drivers to a single set of tires for the entire race weekend. If worn tires could be replaced, safety at turn 13 wouldn't have even been an issue. What drunkard thought forcing drivers to drive carefully and conserve their tires would make a more exciting race?

Still, I wouldn't have minded seeing something. I haven't watched a USGP before and I was interested in seeing the F1 cars race on the Brickyard.

Oh well. To FIA and TSN: A pox on both your houses. At least I've got the Champ Car Grand Prix of Portland to watch yet.

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