2012 USGP

[cosworth151]

Stupid. Place. For. A. Grand. Prix.

End of story.

where?Indy or Austin

Austin. Indy was the best place for a GP that I've ever been to. Even better than The Glen in the 70's.


Something else to think about with the move to fall. If there's a Texas Longhorns home football game that week-end, there will no hotel rooms within driving distance. Traffic will be at an absolute standstill. The race will be lucky to get a one line listing on the last page of the sports section anytime during football season in Texas.

[Jericoke]

Stupid. Place. For. A. Grand. Prix.

End of story.

where?Indy or Austin

Austin. Indy was the best place for a GP that I've ever been to. Even better than The Glen in the 70's.


Something else to think about with the move to fall. If there's a Texas Longhorns home football game that week-end, there will no hotel rooms within driving distance. Traffic will be at an absolute standstill. The race will be lucky to get a one line listing on the last page of the sports section anytime during football season in Texas.

It is fascinating how Bernie and the FIA continue to completely misunderstand American sports fans.

The British GP is run the same weekend as Wimbelton, and that doesn't cause them a problem there, so why should a bunch of school kids interfere with an F1 race?

Are school athletics big in Britain?  I know they're not so big in Canada, but in the USA college football and basketball are almost as popular as their professional counterparts (and locally can be be much bigger.  The largest stadiums in the USA are not for professional sports, but for college sports.)

Even high school football can dominate local sports headlines, especially in Texas.

[John S]

In Britain Jeri you are lucky if enough parents and friends turn up to make a complete ring of people round the touchline for most college or Uni matches. There is no real leagues for student sports over here, nearly all the sports here have leagues consisting of town, city or even village clubs that run independantly of the education sector.
It's always been a source of wonderment to most of us Brits that you can get a scholarship to a college simply because of your sporting prowess, can't imagine Cambridge, Oxford or any other uni rushing to emulate the US colleges anytime soon. 

[cosworth151]

High school & college football is huge in Texas. This is the new $60 million, 18,000 seat stadium being built for Allen High School in Texas.

That's right, this is for 15 to 18 year olds to play in.   

[markfarrell9572]

Austin.  But then I guess no more stupid than Phoenix or Dallas, or a car park in Las Vegas

[Scott]

Only a small percentage of those chosen for sports scholarships make a career in sport, while a large percentage of them graduate with various degrees that they never would have had the opportunity to get if it wasn't for those sports scholarships.  

University is heavily subsidized in the UK (as it is in Canada and as a matter of fact Switzerland, where there is no tuition of any kind (unless you are a foreign student).  It is not that way in the US.  Tuition at American universities puts higher education far out of reach for those not lucky enough to get a scholarship of some sort.

$60m stadium for a high school?  I just had a peek - turns out that high school (only three grades) has an enrollment of over 5000 students.  Not your every day high school.  Boy, they do make them big in Texas...  

[Ian]

Heavily subsidised in the UK Scott ? I think not my friend, I don't call £9000 heavily subsidised.

[Dare]

In the USA the Little League World Series for the 11 and 12
year old baseball is huge.It's covered by ESPN from the regionals
to the finals.

You want to see people enjoying a sport for a sport
just watch this.

[Scott]

Heavily subsidised in the UK Scott ? I think not my friend, I don't call £9000 heavily subsidised.

That's a quite recent development (starts in 2012), and to be fair, it might be a key election platform which could again reduce it.  £9000 is also a maximum, while in the US I don't think it's even close to the average tuition.  Medical school can cost many times that.

But my point was only to try to explain why sports scholarships exist, and the benefits.

[John S]

Heavily subsidised in the UK Scott ? I think not my friend, I don't call £9000 heavily subsidised.

That's a quite recent development (starts in 2012), and to be fair, it might be a key election platform which could again reduce it.  £9000 is also a maximum, while in the US I don't think it's even close to the average tuition.  Medical school can cost many times that.

But my point was only to try to explain why sports scholarships exist, and the benefits.

There have been tuition fees, albeit at a lower cost, for many years in the UK. When my youngest twins both went to uni the same year in 02 there was a tuition fee of about £1100 for each per year. The maximum student loan available was about £3000 for each son which was designed to just cover accomodation and basic living costs. The paperwork sent to parents made clear that we were expected to pay the the tuition fees, legally they couldn't make us but how could the kids pay out of the loan when accomodation fees alone were over 2/3rds of the loan.
 
The new increased tuition fees might seem excessive now but they can all be put on the student loan book and very many will never really repay the money, but that timebomb is a whole other subject altogether.

[Jericoke]

Heavily subsidised in the UK Scott ? I think not my friend, I don't call £9000 heavily subsidised.

That's a quite recent development (starts in 2012), and to be fair, it might be a key election platform which could again reduce it.  £9000 is also a maximum, while in the US I don't think it's even close to the average tuition.  Medical school can cost many times that.

But my point was only to try to explain why sports scholarships exist, and the benefits.

There have been tuition fees, albeit at a lower cost, for many years in the UK. When my youngest twins both went to uni the same year in 02 there was a tuition fee of about £1100 for each per year. The maximum student loan available was about £3000 for each son which was designed to just cover accomodation and basic living costs. The paperwork sent to parents made clear that we were expected to pay the the tuition fees, legally they couldn't make us but how could the kids pay out of the loan when accomodation fees alone were over 2/3rds of the loan.
 
The new increased tuition fees might seem excessive now but they can all be put on the student loan book and very many will never really repay the money, but that timebomb is a whole other subject altogether.

I know we're getting far afield here... but higher education has become such a scam that I can't help but wonder when Bernie will get involved.

So many people go to university who don't belong there, and it drives up the cost for the people who do.

I didn't go to University or College (there is a clear distinction in Canada  Universities grant degrees, Colleges grant certificates), and I know that has caused me problems.  People look for that piece of paper (or parchment or sheepskin), and the schools know that piece of paper can be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars over a life time.

[Ian]

Even a degree is no guarantee now over here Jeri, a guy up the pub's daughter has a degree from uni, she's now working in Argos.

[Jericoke]

Even a degree is no guarantee now over here Jeri, a guy up the pub's daughter has a degree from uni, she's now working in Argos.

It's crazy, isn't it?  Without the paper you don't get a second look.

And yet, Bill Gates, very famously has no degree.

Bernie quit school when he was 16, and he seems to be doing ok.

In fact, I think Newey might be one of the few 'big names' in F1 who does have a degree!

[John S]

Even a degree is no guarantee now over here Jeri, a guy up the pub's daughter has a degree from uni, she's now working in Argos.

Same for my two Ian, one works in the local Tesco. The other is on temporary contract work, opening and assessing returned postal franking machines, for near the minimum wage, he comes home with his clothes spotted with red dye everyday. At least the one at Tesco gets provided with uniforms.

They can't have paid back more than £50 between them on the Student loans they have had for 5 years now.