HOK Sport becomes Populous

Populous, the 'break-away' nucleus of people formerly known as HOK Sport, have officially rebranded and launched. My initial reaction is that this is a great thing-- sometimes ventures become so successful and popular that they interfere with the mission of the parent company (not sure thats the right word to use, but so be it). Basically, there comes a time when the kids have to leave the house and go it alone, so good luck to them. We'll be watching.

F1 starts down under

The talk all week has been the speed of the newly named Brawn GP Racing (formerly Honda). Watching qualifying this morning, however, I was struck more by the lap times, which are stunningly fast considering the FIA has been trying to get the overall speeds down. So much for making the cars more generic by truncating development, eh? Soon the 'Schumacher-esque' speeds will become the norm it seems.

But for now it will be all about Brawn and Williams, at least until the FIA have their say about the 'diffuser row' in Paris in a few weeks. Here's a good bit on Ross Brawn, someone I've always admired.

Miami Marine Stadium

I get wrapped up in the 'new' and the 'future', but it's always good to stop and remember what came before. Flipping through Dwell magazine I came across a stunning little bit of design still standing, at least for now: Commodore Munroe Stadium in Miami, more commonly known as Miami Marine Stadium. Used primarily for boat races and the like, it eventually felt the punch of Hurricane Andrew.

The Friends of MMS can use your help, so I encourage you to take a few minutes on their site.

MLS pushes forward

18 teams. That's how many MLS franchises will be in place by 2011. Be careful guys, the air is thin up there and we wish you well.

Portland was awarded the last 'available' franchise this week, and work will begin on renovating PGE Park, presumably sooner than later. They will have their work cut out for them, as PGE currently doesn't have much expansion room and it seems inconceivable that the facility would continue to house both a soccer team and a baseball team. Add the inevitable drama that surrounds a stadium involving public financing and its going to be a tight timeline for them. (See the March 1st post for more of that).

Truth in 24

Just one last Audi mention on the weekend- I had the chance to see Truth In 24, the documentary on the Audi R10 this week and it is fascinating from start to finish, both for technical and 'project management' standpoints. OH yes... a bit of facing goes on as well. Catch it on ESPN Friday March 20, or look for it to appear at a special event near you. Great stuff. Intersport and NFL Films did a very nice job visually on the film as well, this was no small production.

Mcnish to Appear on Wind Tunnel

Wow, where did the week go?! Like an R10 TDI, it left us in the dust. Which leads us to... the LeMans series. Again. Americans can catch Allan McNish on the fantastic Wind Tunnel, hosted by Dave Despain, this Sunday evening. I'll be interested to hear McNish's thoughts on the new R15 TDI.

The ALS series kicks off at Sebring next weekend. Sebring is fun precisely because you get to see some new things unveiled. To that point, look for the new Acura proto-types slated to appear.

Update: Some great information and a picture of the new R15 can be found on the Formula1Blog here.

'Green Racing'

Yep, it's gaining credibility. Audi ran a car in the American LeMans series last year that ran on biodiesel...KERS, not exactly green but still a step in the right direction, is now embedding itself in Formula One. And the U.S. EPA is apparently paying attention and giving a tip of the cap to the American LeMans Series.

The Friday Numbers

As its Friday March 6th, we thought we'd have a little fun with Six Nations Rugby. Apologies for the lack of posts this week... reality crashed our party and this weekend it's a trek to Lincoln Nebraska (Husker baseball on the agenda). Regular posting should resume then.

Getting on with it already:

- The Six Nations Championship was known before 2000 as the Five Nations Championship. (Italy was added in 2000.) For those unaware, Six Nations is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The winner is considered ‘the rugby champion of Europe’ despite the lack of the official title.

- Despite the second-most wins (34) since the start of Six Nations, Ireland has not won the trophy in 23 years, the longest current drought.

- In 2007 Ireland was dealt a cruel blow. For the second time on the final day of the Six Nations rugby union tournament, a game was decided by a video replay. This time it decided the champion, as France beat Scotland on the replay decision, consequently giving them the tournament win over Ireland.

- The Championship trophy has 15 side panels, representing the 15 members of the team. There are three handles to represent the three referees.

- Each team plays the other teams in the pool one time. In 1972, all five teams finished in a tie, the only time it has happened since the inception of the tournament in 1883.

The coming decade: Design meets economic reality

The last 20 years in the U.S. have been some of the most prolific in terms of innovation and build-out in stadium design. Those days are gone for now. But what happens to those projects that are underway, when the budget money has been spent, the public is over-taxed and frustrated...and community icons are still at risk of fleeing? Ask Minnesota. The citizens of greater Minneapolis have no less than three facilities underway or or in discussion* and the state flagship Vikings will probably have to rent from the local University while permanent digs get hammered out under the Metrodome Next initiative.

*Target Ballpark
*TCF Bank Stadium
*Minnesota Vikings Stadium, TBD.

Public stadium financing is a nasty issue, with valid and invalid points on all sides, and not the point of this blog per se. (See other resourceful blogs and books for that.) But we're wondering aloud this morning whether a prolonged economic downturn might see the return of the days of the dreaded "multi-use facility" or just the end of new facility construction period. The latter portends bad things, and when the order of the day is to spend our way out of this mess with public works it becomes a high-stakes gamble. The former produced some of the most hideous and controversial stadium design in our lifetimes. (Ex: Riverfront Stadium, Cincinnati, below). Sidenote- love the good people of Cincinnati, and I know you have fond memories of Riverfront, but...eeek.








Perhaps, in this age of streaming, updates, and video on demand, we'll find that smaller, more fiscally responsible settings will be the order of the day. More people will follow their teams from a venue other than the old ballpark, especially if the corporate sugar-daddies aren't there to foot the bill. I'll be sure to think about it when I'm eating my $10 hot dog at the New Yankee Stadium later this year.

Photo credits:
HHH Metrodome by Tim Wilson
Riverfront Stadium by Brent