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Saturday, September 10, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
Plaxico Burress vents on Eli Manning, Tom Coughlin and you
By MJD
Men's Journal, America's foremost publication on NFL players who want to say ridiculous things, has struck gold again, this time with Plaxico Burress(notes). The recently incarcerated Burress opened up about the sting of Eli Manning not visiting him in prison, how he felt like Tom Coughlin treated him like a child, and about how you, the fan, are just angry about your life while Plax is busy enjoying his.
We'll go in order of most understandable to most regrettable. First, here's Plaxico on former teammate Eli Manning(notes).
"I was always his biggest supporter, even days he wasn't on, 'cause I could sense he didn't have thick skin," Burress said. "Then I went away, and I thought he would come see me, but nothing, not a letter, in two years. I don't want to say it was a slap in the face, but I thought our relationship was better than that."
Obviously, I don't know the details of the personal relationship between Eli Manning and Plaxico Burress, but most people can relate to the feeling of being snubbed by someone you thought was a friend. That hurts.
Just for the record, here's what Eli had to say about not visiting Plaxico.
"I thought about it a few times," Manning said. "It just never worked out. Just one of those deals. As soon as he got out, called him a few weeks after and just talked to him for a little bit. It sounded like he learned a lot and it changed his life."
"It just never worked out" is a lame excuse, but that last part, about Plax learning a lot and changing his life? Well, we'll come back to that.
Here's Plax on Tom Coughlin:
"After my situation happened, I turned on the TV, and the first words out his mouth was 'sad and disappointing.' I'm like, forget support — how about some concern? I did just have a bullet in my leg. And then I sat in his office, and he pushed back his chair and goes, 'I'm glad you didn't kill anybody!' Man, we're paid too much to be treated like kids. He doesn't realize that we're grown men and actually have kids of our own."
All right, fine. You did have a bullet in your leg. Your health should be the first concern. But you did walk yourself into the man's office. It's not like he visited you in the ICU. No one was re-enacting "Brian's Song" here.
And I'll grant that you do make too much money to be treated like a child, if you'll grant that you make too much money to act like a child. Come on, Plax -- you have to admit that you did something dumb here, right? You want some concern to be showed, I get it. Some concern should have been showed.
But I also don't feel like "I'm glad you didn't kill anyone" was inappropriate, either. You did just carry a loaded gun, safety off, secured only by the elastic of sweatpants, into a crowded nightclub. You did that.
And finally, Plaxico shared this thought on fans out there who were glad to see him go away.
"What are you doing now?" Burress said. "You still mad at your job? You still angry about your life? 'Cause I'm back living my life and enjoying my family while you're still doing the same thing."
That's tremendous. He gets out of prison, and his reaction is basically, "I'M OUT NOW, U MAD BRO?" Obviously, he's been humbled. I say this as someone who was on his side before he went away. Fully acknowledging, of course, that he did something dumb and dangerous, but I felt like the punishment was too much for the crime.
At the moment, the full article isn't available on the Men's Journal site, so maybe there are some things in there that paint Plax in more of a redeeming light. We'll see. Right now, though, he seems like a guy who still isn't taking much responsibility for what he did.
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Mazda Demio 70 MPG
By: Chuck Squatriglia
For all the attention being lavished on hybrids and electric vehicles, the tried and true internal combustion engine isn’t going anywhere. They’ll be around for years to come, growing ever more efficient. Mazda’s new “Skyactiv-G 1.3″ engine is a case in point.
The Japanese automaker says a Demio subcompact (shown) with the new 1.3-liter direct injection mill, a continuously variable transmission and stop-start tech delivers 30 kilometers per liter under Japan’s 10-15 mode test cycle. That’s roughly equivalent to 70 mpg.
To achieve such efficiency, Mazda raised the compression ratio to 14:1, then installed revised pistons and other mods to prevent knocking. Multi-hole fuel injectors deliver fuel more precisely, further improving combustion.
The engine pumps out 83 horsepower at 5,400 RPM and 82 pound-feet of torque at 4,000 RPM. That isn’t a lot, but then the engine will power the equally small Demio, a subcompact known elsewhere as the Mazda 2.
Skyactiv is Mazda’s name for its next generation of gasoline and diesel engines. We won’t see the Sykactiv 1.3 here in North America, but a 2.0-liter version reportedly good for 150 ponies and 40 mpg is slated for the CX-5 next year.
Photos: Mazda
Porsche 918 Hybrid
By: Tony Borroz
We, like just about everyone else in the automotive world, were blown away when Porsche took the wraps off the 918 Spyder hybrid supercar. The wizards in Stuttgart built the plug-in hybrid on the QT and kept it super-secret until rolling it out in Geneva, where it almost literally stopped the show.
Now it seems Porsche is actually going to build it.
According to England’s Autocar magazine, the Porsche are intent on building a production version of the 918 Spyder, and offering it for sale to anyone with deep enough pockets. The way Porsche sees it, going green(er) doesn’t have to mean sacrificing performance, which is why it stuffed the sexy all-wheel-drive roadster with a 500-horsepower V8 and two electric motors putting down a combined 281 horsepower.
“The 918 Spyder provides the answer to whether there can be high-performance cars in the future. Many have said they are finished. This car shows they are not,” Porsche boss Michael Macht told Autocar. “There is no one inside Porsche who doesn’t want to build the 918. The response has been marvelous; we will ask buyers to sign letters of intent.”
So you could say step right up and get in line now. If you think Porsche really will build the 918. We’re not suggesting it shouldn’t; we most definitely think it should and we’d be first in line for test drives (Feel free to call us, Mr. Macht). But we’ve been led down this path before. Every gearhead has. How often has an automaker dazzled us with a wonderful show car we’ve fallen madly in love with only to have our hopes dashed. The Lamborghini Estoque hybrid comes to mind.
Yet there’s the big man at Porsche himself saying the 918 will come to pass. So why are we reluctant to jump up and down in glee? Because of this quote from Autocar:
Insiders say the production 918 is likely to go on sale within five years. However, like all Porsches, it will need to make money, despite its ‘halo’ status within the firm’s range.
“It will need to make money.” That is the greatest get-out-of-jail-free card in the auto biz. Of course the 918 “will need to make money.” Have you seen Porsche’s books lately? Germany’s government has, and let’s just say that Porsche doesn’t have bushels of Euros to throw around at the moment.
Porsche is going to build the 918? We hope it’s true, but we’ll believe it when we see one in a dealership.
Image: Porsche. More after the jump. Try not to drool.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
WSHH Candy - Tae
Twitter: @DazzlingTae
Music by: J. Cole Feat. Trey Songz - Can't Get Enough
Shot by ReeMixBaby