Dropping eggs

WHEN Lyle Lovett went to Trinity Lutheran Church in Klein last Sunday -- it's the church his family has attended forever -- several members congratulated him on headlining the upcoming RodeoHouston. "I could tell from the greetings that, finally, because I'm playing the rodeo, I'm doing OK. This (music career) might work out," he says with a grin. The 43-year-old singer-songwriter, who has won several Grammy Awards and acted in movies (he's a favorite of director Robert Altman 's), is thrilled about performing at the rodeo for the first time, on Feb. 19. But if music is Lovett's passion, motorcycles rank a close second. When Lovett was 7, his family vacationed in Galveston. His father rented a small Honda sport bike, and they took a ride on the beach. "It was exhilarating. I had never felt anything like it," he recalls. "And I felt comfortable and safe, because I had my arms around my dad." Ever since that day on the beach, Lovett has held intense feelings about … [Read more...] about Lyle Lovett found peace on the seat of a Harley

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton said that Formula 1 can be like the NFL with the amount of people who are changing teams. As all 10 teams go to battle on the track, there is an army of personnel at each team making that possible, and these days, the people have an even more important role to play. With a budget cap now active in Formula 1, it means that the talent level within the team’s personnel, rather than the size of their budget, is key. It is no surprise then that the teams are constantly battling to bring the best people onboard, and Hamilton says this leads to changing faces on a regular basis. Recently Red Bull brought in a chunk of staff from Mercedes for Red Bull Powertrains, while Aston Martin’s recruitment drive has seen them snatch several people from Red Bull, including their former head of aero Dan Fallows, who is now Aston Martin technical director. “In my team there are 2000 people,” Hamilton said in a UBS/Mercedes interview. “It is actually over 2000 … [Read more...] about Lewis Hamilton likens in-team ‘silly season’ to NFL player trading

The Dallas Mavericks are going all in as they pursue an NBA championship, adding a top-tier talent to play in the backcourt alongside transcendent guard Luka Doncic . According to multiple reports, the Mavericks acquired eight-time All-Star Kyrie Irving in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday afternoon. Dallas is sending Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and "a package of draft picks" to the Nets in the deal, per the Associated Press . The news of Irving's trade comes just two days after reports surfaced that he had requested to be dealt from Brooklyn amid unsuccessful contract extension talks. Irving—who won an NBA title with the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside LeBron James in 2016, before stints with the Boston Celtics and Nets—is set to become a free agent this summer. While the Houston Rockets were not directly impacted by Sunday's trade, they potentially stand to benefit from the fallout. As a result of the James Harden trade two years ago, the … [Read more...] about Kyrie Irving reportedly traded to Dallas Mavericks

The first dry qualifying session of 2014 saw Mercedes continue their monopoly on pole position this year – though this time it was Nico Rosberg , not Lewis Hamilton, on the top spot. But while a Mercedes front-row lockout was predicted by most, there were some interesting upsets and incidents throughout the rest of the field that could also be heard playing out over team radio. Romain Grosjean has often sounded unhappy on the team radio this year but for once his frustration wasn’t directed at his uncompetitive Lotus. Grosjean fumed at Adrian Sutil who got in his way during Q1, for which the stewards later penalised the Sauber driver . An unusual message from Valtteri Bottas pointed to a new kind of problem for drivers to cope with. It appears he was directed onto the weigh bridge between sessions and when a marshal turned his steering wheel to manoeuvre his car they accidentally changed some of his settings . Sebastian Vettel complained of gear change problems … [Read more...] about 2014 Bahrain GP qualifying team radio transcript · RaceFans

On Saturday, days after an ice storm swept across the state and left thousands without power, Gov. Greg Abbott issued a disaster declaration in seven Texas counties that were heavily impacted by the severe weather. "Through this disaster declaration, we will be able to provide additional assistance to Texans and communities who have experienced property damage and localized power outages from this ice storm," Abbott said in a news release . The declaration specifically addresses the damage and harsh conditions seen in Denton, Hays, Henderson, Milam, Smith, Travis, and Williamson counties, but Abbott said in his released statement that more areas may be added as officials complete their assessments. Below-freezing temperatures and icy road conditions hit North and Central Texas especially hard . More than 400,000 Texans were without power by Wednesday, and Austin Energy, the capital's utility provider, accounted for more than 153,000 of those outages. Ice, debris, and … [Read more...] about Gov. Greg Abbott issues disaster declaration after last week’s ice storm