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June 16, 2004
It Was the Grandest Prix
Posted by Nick
I just spent a long weekend up in Montreal at the Grand Prix du Canada -- I speak some French so let me tell you, that means "Canadian Grand Prix."
As an aside, let me say that Montreal is a terrific town. They need to tear down all the crappy late 60s early 70s office towers that block Old Montreal's terrific architecture. But if you're into Jewish steakhouses, interpretive dance and flower shows, Montreal is the town for you. The whole weekend was quite the spectacle. One of my buddies, Lou, said his favorite band The Merkins was playing while we were up there but we didn't get to see them. He was bummed out, but we had fun nonetheless. We did not, thankfully, have so good a time that anyone ended up in The People's Court. All that said, if Ree-chard (you know who you are) knows where my buddy Rob's cell phone is, please send me an email.
Anyway, we did get to see a ton of amazing racing, including a spectacular run by, who else, Michael Schumacher. I'll be writing more on this later, but Schumacher dusted his brother Ralf in spectacular fashion to take the checkered flag.
F1 is easily the loudest sporting event in Christendom. It's also easily the highest tech. But F1 could do a few things to make the fan experience more hi-tech. I'll have thoughts on this later, too.
Comments (7)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Auto Racing
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Nick Schulz is the Editor of Tech Central Station and has worked in media circles and the ideas industry as a writer, editor, television producer and policy analyst. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Slate, The National Post of Canada, The Baltimore Sun, Investor's Business Daily, The Washington Times, National Review, Reason, Policy Review, and several other publications. He is also, it should be said, a rabid sports fan whose fandom is inversely proportional to his overall athletic ability.
1. Mark on June 16, 2004 04:28 PM writes...
I went with Nick on this trip. He is right, F1 is a very loud event and I'm not talking about the race only. The weekend of the CGP is Montreal's biggest celebration time. They hold a jazz fest, close off streets and have parties with bands all over the place. Oh yeah, there is the race too. I am not surprised that Nick found F1 to be a real entertaining event, it is more than a sport, it is a technology war.
Permalink to Comment2. MIchael J. Totten on June 17, 2004 04:13 AM writes...
I completely agree about Montreal. It's a wonderful city with some lame downtown towers that need to go.
Quebec City is even better. Take the train. When you step out of the station you'll swear you're on the other side of the ocean.
Permalink to Comment3. Mark on June 17, 2004 02:50 PM writes...
I'm not trying to start a flamewar on Nick's blog but I REALLY like the modern towers downtown. I think that they are very cool kind of 1970s stuff that makes me feel like I'm in some kind of retro-futuristic city. Seriously. This year they let us in this courtyard area where we could have beers amidst everything. You can look up and see the towers. One logo was visible from there which was a 'nautilus' looking graphic on a building which was for the Quebec Lotto. Pragmatic greatness.
Permalink to Comment4. kareem on June 18, 2004 10:52 AM writes...
Montreal is an absolutely fantastic town. The summer festivals (F1, Comedy fest, jazzfest) are spectacular as the influx of visitors help Montrealers celebrate their 3.5 months of patio weather.
Went to McGill University there, and the city was a hidden gem for college students--great nightlife, lots of interesting cultural events, beautiful people, and inexpensive as hell. I shared a two floor, three bedroom place that had 12 foot ceilings, exposed brick, and hardwood floors, and was a 30 second walk from St. Laurent and Sherbrooke, and we each paid $270--Canadian. Love it. The only problem with the town was a lack of industry (especially IT), but I hear things are changing... as industry moves into the city, rents are going up.
Permalink to Comment5. Rob on June 24, 2004 08:20 AM writes...
I just read Nick's Schumacher column on Slate, and have one question (actually the article raises lots of questions for any serious F1 fan, but): which drivers, exactly, think Giancarlo Fisichella is a better driver than Schumacher?
Permalink to Comment6. Yogi Berra on June 25, 2004 04:49 AM writes...
If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up somewhere else.
Permalink to Comment7. Tylenol on September 24, 2004 01:48 PM writes...
sounds absolutely fine to me. Some of the greatest morphine pop performances are a little bit out of tune
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