Repairing NASCAR?

November 6th, 2008

I get a surprising amount of emails from the contact us link on the site. Most of it is either SPAM or a request to get a copy of a high school football game that their grandkid played in. I got an interesting note this week about NASCAR though that I thought was good enough to post. The new blog plan? Outsourcing!

You want to know how to put the excitement back into NASCAR? No you don’t. Not really. I watched NASCAR for years, starting with Fireball Roberts and ending with Bill Elliot in ’87. I watched 5 minutes of the first restrictor plate race and was so disgusted I never went back.

NASCAR has degenerated into a modeling agency where 19 year old kids are recruited, not for their driving skills, but for how much they can appeal to teeny-boppers, for the sole purpose of selling merchandise. These kids don’t hold a candle to the worst of the old bunch and calling them race car drivers is an insult to everyone who ever drove NASCAR prior to ’87.

You want to fix it? Okay, how’s this for starters? Get rid of the stupid car of the future and get back to real cars. Put 426 and 427 factory crate motors in them and turn the tuners loose again. Put air dams and wings on them for down force, put real suspensions under them, real tires on them and let them race. The modeling agency sissies will be weeded out real fast and a crop of real race car drivers will be developed. And best of all, you will regain your fan base. Those of us who enjoy real racing and absolutely detest what NASCAR has become. If it stays like it is, NASCAR needs to change its name to Naive Adolescents Slowly Crawling Around a Racetrack.

Montoya and the F1 drives should be winning every race. For guys of that caliber to get beat by the babies driving NASCAR is an insult, not only to them, but to all the fans of real racing.

Just call me Mark Tres Cero

November 4th, 2008

What? Really? It’s been two months since I’ve talked to you, sports fans? Totally unacceptable.

Since I’m super blogglenecked, here’s a quick recap in no particular order to clear out the tubes. Cause it’s not a dump truck.

  • Turned 30 last month. Kinda crazy. Went to Vegas. Got kinda crazy.
  • I’m hoping AI to the Pistons will be as awesome as Shaq to the Suns was supposed to be.
  • I fired myself last month because it seems that it’s what startups are supposed to do.
  • I rehired myself the next day after a massive pay cut.
  • I got laid off (for real) from my awesome job as the “Geek In Residence” at an ad agency. Found another great job to keep the lights on, but man am I gonna miss that title.
  • Nike’s “Fate” commerical with LT and Polamalu is the best 60-second spot I’ve seen in a really long time.
  • RUWT? Sports has a fan page on Facebook. For some reason, so do I.
  • Remember that Blackberry sports scores app that was supposed to come out? Never made it out of alpha. But it’ll still be released eventually. Promise.
  • Tech beating the Longhorns with 0:01 on the clock was devastating.
  • Yes, the economy sucks but RUWT? isn’t going anywhere.

RUWT? Sports Scores on Twitter

August 26th, 2008

There’s a lot of functionality that lives outside of the RUWT? website, so I’m going to try and do a better job of profiling some of the ways you can interact with RUWT? when you’re not at the .com.

If you’re a Twitter fan, be sure to check out all of the different accounts that you can follow to get exactly the news you want. Questions? Drop me a line.

Sports: Auto Racing, College Basketball, College Football, Golf, MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL, Soccer

Points Levels: Elevated, High, Severe

RUWTbot Rationales: Close Finish, Overtime, Upset, Ranked Teams, Extra Innings, No-hitter, Perfect Game, Extra Time, Penalty Kicks

RUWT? Blackberry Sports Scores, Anyone?

August 22nd, 2008

The hits keep on coming.

Launching officially in early September, the final touches are going on RUWTberry, the official RUWT? Blackberry sports scores app. If you’re interested in beta testing before the official launch, email me at mark@areyouwatchingthis.com.

BetUS.com Might Be The Best Site in Existence

August 20th, 2008

Hm, well maybe not in existence, but they’re RUWT?‘s first official sponsor so that makes them pretty darn pimp!

They’re the world’s leading online sportsbook, and will be the official NFL sponsor for the 2008-2009 season. They’ve decided to support us, so support them when it’s time to lay down a $20 on Sunday’s game!

Click Here

Are you looking to reach the most passionate sports fans out there? Start advertising on RUWT? Sports today!

You Can’t Publicize Your Plans for World Domination

August 19th, 2008

It’s a lot easier when folks don’t see us coming. I like to think RUWT? Sports is the best-kept secret out there for sports fans, and it’ll be that way until we reach the Holy Grail.

But that doesn’t mean RUWTbot doesn’t like to do interviews. Check out his first ever official interview on Nerds on Sports.

Do you ever get bored watching all these sports? … I mean you do watch NASCAR.
No, I do not get bored but I do like NASCAR. The cars go around in an oval and periodically go down pit road which is a straight line. It reminds me of my two favorite numbers: 0 and 1. (more)

Wait, what day is it in Beijing?

August 8th, 2008

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about the Olympics this year. It’s always hard figuring out exactly what you can watch, but with RUWT?’s Program Labels, you can see exactly what is on and when.

Here’s the full televised schedule for everything Olympics for the next few weeks.

Not into the Olympics? There are listings for everything from Archery to Yacht Racing. Feel like combining a few labels? How about French professional wrestlers on ice skates?

Punishing the Early Adopters

August 6th, 2008

Really? Two Steve Jobs references in a row?

Looks like I fatfingered the certificate for the desktop widget.

What does that mean? It means there’s a new version of the desktop widget (bleacher alerts!), but those of you who jumped on it early won’t be able to update automagically. Just this time only, you’ll have to uninstall it and then reinstall the new version.

Haven’t installed it yet? Well, you get a $200 discount. Grab the new sports widget hawtness now.


Revenge of the Desktop Sports Widget

August 1st, 2008

Manny traded for Favre, straight up!

Is anyone else’s head still spinning? Manny, Pudge, and Junior were the big names, but it seemed like every team was up to something at some point this week.

To help you keep track of all the chatter in the Bleachers, I’m happy to announce the relaunch of the RUWT? Sports Desktop Widget. Launched over a year ago (wow!), it got as much love from me as the AppleTV gets from Jobs. (zing!)

To make up for that, I scrapped everything and rewrote it from scratch with a new game plan. For the first time with any RUWT? widget you can root and shout from your desktop without even opening your browser.

I’m really psyched about this “new” app and you should expect a lot of new features rolled out over the next few weeks. Gimme a shout if you have any requests. Get it!


We couldn’t find any games that match all of the options you selected

July 16th, 2008

Wow. What a year it has been for sports.

The Super Bowl, March Madness, Tiger and Rocco in the U.S. Open, Nadal and Federer at Wimbledon, heck, even Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest went into overtime. A dog-off, if you will.

This week though, is quite special a special one. With the MLB on the All-Star Break, we have two of the slower days in the entire sports year. Unless you’re into the WNBA, a lot of you that use the RUWT? Sports Toolbar are staring at “We couldn’t find any games that match all of the options you selected.” No, it’s not a bug, it’s just that there were a whopping three games on Tuesday. One WNBA game, and two minor league Arena Football games. Today? Not much better.

But all is not lost, kids. First, we had Josh Hamilton completely own Yankee Stadium (and the fans), relegating Morneau to completely forgettable, anticlimactic winner status, and a marathon of an All-Star Game last night. And the best part? It’s only gonna get better from here.

College Football starts in a short six weeks, and I’m already starting to see television ads for Fantasy Football leagues. Things always get slow in the summer (even I’ve been slacking on my blogging duties), but there are a bunch of great games and great RUWT? developments on tap for the Fall, just around the corner.