Ford's 2015 Mustang: Why Fans Will Hate It

By Daniel Miller | More Articles   September 28, 2013 | Comments (61)

Artist Rendering of the 2015 Mustang. Photo credit: Autoguide.com, Read more here.

Bold, powerful, iconic. Those are three perfect words to describe the history of Ford's (NYSE:F  ) Mustang. From the old movie duels with the Camaro to the race track and car shows, the Mustang has captured fans across America for decades. Unfortunately, like everything else, the Mustang will need to evolve to survive. That's about to take place next year, when Ford unveils its 2015 Mustang, and it will surely ruffle the feathers of longtime fans. The preceding photo is a rendering, and Ford has kept its new-look Mustang under tight lock and key. One thing is for sure: It will be drastically different.

Will its evolution be the key to turning its sales decline around? Or will it be the cause of its ultimate demise?

Sales crash
Vehicle sales crashed to the floor during the Great Recession but have since rebounded. Unfortunately, some vehicles were left behind in the recent rebound, the Mustang included.

Graph by author. Information credit: Automotive News DataCenter. 2013. *Projected from sales through August.

The Great Recession sealed the coffin on the Mustang as we know it. Consumer preferences switched to vehicles like Ford's new Fusion, which offered much better fuel economy and unique style in a typically bland mid-size segment. After the recession, many people suddenly tossed aside larger gas-guzzling vehicles for smaller, fuel-efficient rides. If the Mustang doesn't adapt to this change, it risks fading away into obsolescence.

Graph by author. Information credit: Consumer Reports.

Evolution
Ford has two key things in mind when it comes to the all-new 2015 Mustang, and loyal fans might not like the end result. First, it has to appease the changing consumer attitude in the U.S., which means it will be receiving different engine options to improve fuel efficiency.Rumors are spreading that it could include three options: a 2.5-liter four-cylinder EcoBoost engine that puts out 300 horsepower, a 3.7-liter six-cylinder that would put out 305hp but supposedly could be upped to nearly 400, and the classic 5.0-liter eight-cylinder engine that puts out 475hp-plus.

Though these are rumors, they make perfect sense to me. Also, for the first time, an EcoBoost turbocharged engine will be a prime option -- especially overseas. That sound you just heard was loyal fans pounding their keyboards at the thought of an EcoBoost Mustang.

One of the most important things to consider is that Ford is becoming much more efficient and profitable as a company, thanks in part to Alan Mulally's "One Ford" vision. Consider that 85% of vehicle sales will be from nine platforms by the end of this year. That means the new-look Mustang will need to be smaller and more globally oriented -- definitely not the pure American Mustang of old. According to Edmunds, Ford is working to remove about 400 pounds from the current model that weighs in at roughly 3,500 pounds. It's also believed the Mustang will check in about 15 inches shorter and 6 inches narrower.

The author's ride. Yeah, he put that in there.

TakeawayLike it or not, for the Mustang to rebound and live on, it must evolve. It can't stay in its retro form forever, although I rather enjoy the look. Right now, Ford as a company is almost entirely dependent on North America for its profits. That has to change, and Ford wants its iconic Pony car to gallop on the global stage, helping the folks at the Blue Oval complete one of the greatest business turnarounds in history.

Consider that the Mustang evolution could help Ford conquer two continents. Right now, even amid a European market still in decline, Ford has managed to increase its wholesale volume, market share, revenues, pre-tax profits, and operating margins -- a huge win. That charge has been led by Ford's Fiesta and Focus models, and the Mustang could take the baton and continue the charge as Europe rebounds.

Ford's Asia-Pacific-Africa region, which is mainly China, equates to about 8% of overall revenue. Ford expects that figure to increase to 40% by 2020, a large and quick jump. If the company can make the Mustang as popular overseas as it was here, while not alienating the U.S. fan, it could mean huge things for company market share and profits.

Yes, loyal Mustang fans may hate the all-new design that will be unveiled next year, but it certainly isn't going to die off. I believe the evolution of the Mustang is about to bring its best generation yet, and it could quickly change from an American icon to a global icon. How can you hate that?

With Simple Protest, Players Join Push for N.C.A.A. Reform

By GREG BISHOP    Published: September 24, 2013 

The protest took the form of three words, or three letters, scribbled onto equipment tape or actual equipment last Saturday during college football games. All Players United, or A.P.U., it read.

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Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press

Northwestern quarterback Kain Colter was one of the players who participated in a protest Saturday.

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Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images

Georgia Tech’s Vad Lee wore a message on his left wrist.

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The wording was simple, the message symbolic, and yet the protest added another voice to the growing chorus for N.C.A.A. reform. The latest outcry came not from administrators, coaches, former players or advocates. It came from current players.

The National College Players Association, the group that organized the protest, said 28 players from Northwestern, Georgia and Georgia Tech participated.

“I’ve been involved in this thing for a long time, and what I witnessed Saturday is something I never thought I’d witness,” said Sonny Vaccaro, a former sneaker marketing executive and a longtime N.C.A.A. antagonist. “The players actually feel they have a certain degree of rights, and they’re not afraid to voice them. Even though that’s coming out in drips, it’s coming out.”

The next step centers on momentum, on whether more players at more universities join the protest and if the N.C.P.A. and other organizations with similar aims can turn three words into a catalyst for reform.

Ramogi Huma said he believed they could. A former football player at U.C.L.A., Huma is the president of the N.C.P.A., and he had so many interviews this week he lost count. Even his neighbor, a former college baseball player, asked him if he had any wrist tape to mark.

Huma is blunt on the subject of a boycott, an extreme extension of Saturday’s protest. That is not what his organization has advocated, not something, he said, that has been discussed. But it is a possibility that cannot be dismissed in the current climate.

Last week, Houston Texans running back Arian Foster admitted in a coming documentary — “Schooled: The Price of College Sports” — that he accepted money while at Tennessee. Then Floyd Mayweather Jr. posted a photograph of a betting slip on his Twitter account, which showed he won $200,000 on Texas A&M. It was accompanied by a note to Johnny Manziel. “Congratulations @JManziel2 for putting on a fantastic show,” it read. “He may not be able to make money off himself but I can.”

Then Mark Emmert, the N.C.A.A. president, told more than 100 faculty representatives from Division I universities this week that “the board anticipates a lot of change” in the next six to eight months. Then the N.C.A.A. announced Tuesday it had restored some scholarships Penn State lost in penalties levied in the wake of the university’s sexual abuse scandal, penalties that were widely considered excessive. Critics took that as another sign of Emmert in retreat.

“The N.C.A.A. is under fire,” Huma said. “America as a whole believes that reform is necessary. College sports is at a tipping point. And what you saw Saturday, is players weighing in on that in a very real way.”

The protest resulted from a series of conference calls held by N.C.P.A. player councils over the past few months. They had witnessed the backlash from when current players joined the Ed O’Bannon lawsuit against the N.C.A.A., and wanted to show support. Someone threw out an idea. Huma liked it. The question was whether players would participate.

Word, he said, spread throughout locker rooms Saturday, and the 28 players who participated were more than expected. That group included Vad Lee, the quarterback at Georgia Tech, and Kain Colter, the quarterback at Northwestern, and members of Georgia’s offensive line. All declined interviews this week.

In a release on its Web site, the N.C.P.A. listed several goals for its A.P.U. campaign: to show support for players who joined the O’Bannon lawsuit and support for players who joined concussion suits against the N.C.A.A.; to stand by players “harmed by N.C.A.A. rules”; to demonstrate unity among those seeking reform; and to direct a portion of $1 billion in new television revenue to guarantee what it called “basic protections,” like “guaranteed scholarship renewals for permanently injured players.”

The N.C.A.A. released a statement that said it supported open and civil debate.

The debate includes current players who expressed their support in public, something Ed Cunningham, a former player who became an analyst and documentarian, said he would have participated in while in college at Washington. College football was not big business then, in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“The players’ statement last weekend drew me in,” Cunningham said. “Now we can see players engaged in a debate that, frankly, it’s about time we’re having. The time has come to address this economic model in college sports, especially in major college football.”

Not everyone felt that way. The sportscaster Dan Dakich posted on his Twitter account that “it would be great” if the scholarships of the involved players were pulled. Paul Johnson, the coach at Georgia Tech, said in a news conference that “six guys” did not represent his team, that they should have told him beforehand. He said he asked one player what he hoped to accomplish, and the player offered only a vague answer in response.

“A lot of that’s being blown way out of proportion,” Johnson said.

Not to those engaged in N.C.A.A. reform. That the N.C.A.A. itself responded to the protest marked progress for Huma.

“It lends credibility to the idea that reform is inevitable and players will be empowered,” he said. “They will have a say. Look for more A.P.U. this weekend and in the weeks to come.”

Fallen Vietnam airmen finally laid to rest

By Melinda Henneberger, Published: September 23 E-mail the writer

More than 44 years after their A-26 was shot down over Laos, Air Force Maj. James E. Sizemore and Maj. Howard V. Andre were buried side by side on Monday.

The interment ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery, complete with twin caskets and colors teams, an escort and a firing party, formally ended the decades that the officers’ families had spent in limbo, awaiting the return of remains from a country where the United States never officially fought, from a mission that never officially occurred. Sizemore and Andre were on “a night armed reconnaissance mission,” as the Pentagon described it in a release last week announcing that the airmen had been identified.

Vietnam veterans who made it back alive were more often blamed than thanked. The families of the missing in action bore an additional burden and counted heavily on one another, mourning but never fully moving on. 

The Sizemores and Andres lived with a particular emptiness: Their men gave their lives in a secret war, without any official acknowledgment. Military and CIA operations to cut off North Vietnamese supply routes and rescue pilots who were shot down were covert in Laos, a neutral country enmeshed in its own civil war.

A-26 wreckage first was spotted in 1993, and the families waited an additional 17 years for the site to be excavated. Just five months ago, the remains were identified. Even that news was not what you’d call unalloyed, of course. And as the families planned Monday’s send-off, the Air Force informed them that budget cuts caused by the sequester had left it too cash-strapped to provide the traditional fly-over with its “missing man” aerial salute at their joint grave site.

Eight volunteer airmen in borrowed planes filled in — one in an A-26 just like the attack bomber Sizemore and his navigator, Andre, flew.

At the Arlington funeral home where survivors gathered Sunday night, James Sizemore’s daughter, Rebecca Sizemore, remembered seeing her father for the last time the week before she turned 13. Later that year, on July 8, 1969, he and Andre crashed after taking hostile fire.

“My memory is stuck in that time,” she said, “and I still ask myself today would he be proud of me. It’s weird to be this age and all your memories [of your father] are of childhood.”

Her father did have a chance to show her his alma mater, Georgia Tech, where he first met Andre, his co-pilot during night missions dropping bombs on truck convoys on the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Georgia Tech “was the only place I applied” to college, she said. Like her father, she studied engineering. She wonders now what her late mother must have thought of the teenager who comforted herself by wearing her father’s khaki pants and plaid shirt. Her brother, James Jeff Sizemore, used to go by his middle name but prefers James now, in tribute.

For them, the conflict of a lifetime ago isn’t over, even now: “Our hopes have been answered,” in the form of Sizemore’s DNA found at a crash site 12 miles south of Ban Na Mai in Xiangkhoang province, Rebecca Sizemore said. “But I’ll never have closure on losing my father.

Those who came to pay their respects at the service Monday included a man who had joined the squadron soon after the two were killed and the childhood friend of the Sizemores, who sang “Because” at their wedding. The recent widow of another member of the 609th Special Operations Squadron, who had packed up the fallen men’s belongings after they died, was there, too, wearing a hydraulic connector from an A-26 on a chain around her neck.

James Elmo Sizemore grew up in Lawrenceville, Ill., where his parents ran a small grocery store, and he joined the Air Force in 1950. He served in Korea, lived in Germany with his family for several years, and was due to come home in two weeks when he volunteered for his final mission on the trail. He was 38.

Memphis-born Howard Andre, who was 34, was quieter than his fun-loving friend Jim, said Andre’s widow, Judith Herron, of Bend, Ore. “But when he had something to say, it was worth listening to, and I liked that very much about him,” from the time she first met him in a Methodist church in 1959. He was supposed to be on his way home from war soon, too. “We were preparing to meet in Hawaii when I got the knock on the door.”

The Andres also had two children, Nancy and Brad, who describes losing his dad at the age of 9 as “never getting to wake up from a bad dream.”

There have been compensations, like the deep connection between the two grieving families. And the knowledge that “he loved his profession,” said Herron, smiling and crying at the same time, “so I know he died doing what he wanted to do, which is a comfort to me.”

And the long-awaited service? “It’s opening a window that had been closed for a long, long time,” she said, “but my son is so much like his dad, I think of Howard every day.” Like the children, she thinks there’s no such thing as closure.

The two men’s caskets were opened for visitation at the funeral home. Inside were their dress uniforms and medals, along with Andre’s ID bracelets and a photo of Sizemore’s wife, Becky, in a one-piece, 1950s-style bathing suit.

It did feel right to lay the fighters to rest side by side, James Jeff Sizemore said, given that they’d already “been in the ground together for 44 years.”

“The only honor they could give them,” he said, was to allow them that. “You can’t keep the Andres away from the Sizemores.”

At the end of the burial service at Arlington, Air Force Brig. Gen. Brian Killough knelt before the two families to hand them the flags that had covered the caskets. Then the honor guard marched away in unison, and as the drumbeats from the band grew fainter, the two families were left alone to say goodbye
.

Week 5 Coaches Poll

USA Today Coaches Poll Top-25 Week 5

Rank	Team (First Place Votes)	Record	Points	BR Ranking
1	Alabama (59)	3-0	1547	1
2	Oregon (3)	3-0	1480	2
3	Ohio State	4-0	1399	3
4	Clemson	3-0	1332	5
5	Stanford	3-0	1312	4
6	LSU	4-0	1161	6
7	Louisville	4-0	1140	8
8	Florida State	3-0	1121	7
9	Texas A&M	3-1	1044	10
10	Georgia	2-1	1020	9
11	Oklahoma State	3-0	909	11
12	Oklahoma	3-0	863	15
13	South Carolina	2-1	825	12
14	UCLA	3-0	731	13
15	Miami (FL)	3-0	613	14
16	Northwestern	4-0	560	18
17	Michigan	4-0	534	19
18	Baylor	3-0	465	16
19	Florida	2-1	449	20
20	Washington	3-0	427	17
21	Mississippi	3-0	331	21
22	Notre Dame	3-1	317	22
23	Fresno State	3-0	156	25
24	Wisconsin	3-1	98	23
25	Texas Tech	4-0	92	24

Another Great Place to Visit In Nashville

http://www.nashville.gov/Parks-and-Recreation/Parthenon.aspx

The Parthenon stands proudly as the centerpiece of Centennial Park, Nashville's premier urban park. The re-creation of the 42-foot statue Athena is the focus of the Parthenon just as it was in ancient Greece. The building and the Athena statue are both full-scale replicas of the Athenian originals.

Originally built for Tennessee's 1897 Centennial Exposition, this replica of the original Parthenon in Athens serves as a monument to what is considered the pinnacle of classical architecture. The plaster replicas of the Parthenon Marbles found in the Naos are direct casts of the original sculptures which adorned the pediments of the Athenian Parthenon, dating back to 438 B.C. The originals of these powerful fragments are housed in the British Museum in London.

The Parthenon also serves as the city of Nashville's art museum. The focus of the Parthenon's permanent collection is a group of 63 paintings by 19th and 20th century American artists donated by James M. Cowan. Additional gallery spaces provide a venue for a variety of temporary shows and exhibits.

We hope you will read our detailed timeline of the history of the Nashville Parthenon

A Great Place To Visit When In Nashville

Antique Archaeology Nashville is Mike Wolfe's second location. Located just a few blocks away from downtown Nashville, you can find us in the old Marathon Automobile car factory dated from the early 1900s right along I-40.

Here we'll have your favorite Antique Archaeology gear, including our
latest Nashville-exclusive designs, plus new picks that you may have seen
on the show. And you never know who's gonna "pop" in.

Tune up your guitar and stay a while. Nashville's always been pickin'...

http://www.antiquearchaeology.com/antique_archaeology_nashville_tn.html

Breaking Bad Is Watching You

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/21/opinion/seymour-breaking-bad/index.html?eref=mrss_igoogle_cnn

The Ten Commandments For Today

 I.  There is but one God, you can call me anything you want, but I am it.

II. - Don't be a hypocrite, don't say you love Jesus and act like Satan.

III. - Don't fight anybody and use me as your excuse.

IV. - In the grand scheme of things you will not be on the Earth very long so I suggest you make the most out of it.

V. - Instead of coveting what your neighbor has, work harder than them and make them covet your stuff.

VI. - Leave your neighbors wife alone, you probably have enough problems with your own.

VII. - Don't thank me when you win a sporting event or blame me when things go bad. I am way to busy for you.

VIII. - Evolution Vs. The Bible, how do you know I didn't do both.

XI. - Don't say you don't believe in Capitol Punishment but abortion is ok, or the reverse, killing is still killing. Don't do it lightly because I will probably make you pay.

X. - If you say I don't exist that is ok with me, if you say it on your deathbed I might take you seriously.

This weeks "Hot 100" from Billboard Magazine

http://www.billboard.com/charts/hot-100

Star Trek' Star George Takei Reveals Secrets of Social Media Success

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/video/star-trek-star-george-takei-reveals-secrets-social-20284989

Old School Rules at iHeartRadio Music Festival

LAS VEGAS September 21, 2013 (AP) By MESFIN FEKADU AP Music Writer

Elton John may not have a current hit on the radio, but he earned the most cheers at the iHeartRadio music festival.

John was one of top performers Friday night at the MGM Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Katy Perry, Chris Brown and Robin Thicke and others also hit the stage.

But John was the crowd's favorite — he earned a standing ovation after his third song.

Adam Lambert was equally as enduring when he performed with Queen. Pop-rock trio fun. also sang with iconic rock band.

Other performers during the five-hour concert included Keith Urban, Muse and J. Cole — acts who also impressed the crowd.

Justin Timberlake, Paul McCartney and Bruno Mars will close the 2-day iHeartRadio festival Saturday, but here's a breakdown of day one:

————

HE STOLE THE NIGHT

From the moment Elton John went from playing the piano while sitting to sitting on top of the piano to singing, he captured the entire audience at the MGM Garden Arena.

The 66-year-old was fiery on his red piano, belting tunes like "Tiny Dancer" and "Bennie and the Jets."

"Good evening, Vegas!" he yelled, sporting a dark glittery blazer.

John, who recently had surgery to remove his appendix, didn't show any signs of slowing down during his five-song set. He was vocally loud and clear, and he even made a new song, "Home Again," feel classic. (John will release a new album, "The Diving Board," on Tuesday).

Fittingly, the icon closed with "I'm Still Standing."

————

LAMBERT IS READY FOR THE THRONE

Adam Lambert is no Freddie Mercury, but he's a scary good stand-in.

The "American Idol" alum electrified the crowd with his perfect high notes on songs like "We Are the Champions" and "Who Wants to Live Forever." He had the right energy and sang a handful of songs with an ease that proved this is only the beginning for the 31-year-old.

Pop-rock trio fun. also sang with Queen, and lead singer Nate Ruess had hard shoes to fill following Lambert. But the singer held his own during "Somebody to Love."

"Thank you to Queen for making this dream come true," Ruess told the crowd.

Lambert came back onstage and the musicians closed the night with "We Are the Champions," as fun.'s Jack Antonoff playfully strung the guitar next to Brian May.

————

NOT SO PITCH PERFECT

While Katy Perry had shining moments during her eight-song set at the iHeartRadio festival, she had pitchy moments, too.

The pop singer wasn't in her best vocal form when singing "Wide Awake" and "California Gurls." Perry was backed with dancers and she did some choreography herself, but dancing isn't her strong suit.

The 28-year-old hit a better note with the crowd during "Teenage Dream," and she had her best performance when she closed with "Roar."

"Are you ready to roar?" she asked the crowd. "Me too."

Chris Brown was in similar shape to Perry: He wasn't vocally appealing — he relied heavily on autotune — and he didn't dance as strong as he's done in the past.

But like Perry, he closed the night the right way: Brown was full of Michael Jackson-esque moves during "Fine China."

————

INTRODUCING J. COLE

J. Cole knew the crowd at the MGM Grand Arena wasn't too familiar with him, but the rapper didn't let that stop him.

"Because I'm well aware," he said. "A lot of people in the building are like, 'Who the (expletive) is this?' and I'm cool with that."

The protege of Jay-Z, who was nominated for the best new artist Grammy last year, performed his well-known urban radio hits "Work Out" and "Can't Get Enough," where the rapper infused some of Jay-Z's "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)."

R&B singer Miguel joined J. Cole onstage for "Power Trip," but it was TLC's appearance on "Crooked Smile" that really ignited the audience.

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ONE OFFS

Robin Thicke, who has the year's longest running No. 1 song with "Blurred Lines," opened the iHeartRadio festival singing the song to various women in the crowd. He worked his way to the stage, saying after his performance: "There are a lot if beautiful women here."

Then he added: "You guys don't look bad either."

But Thicke wasn't the only act to perform one song and leave. Ylvis, the Norwegian duo who have a viral hit with the song "The Fox," also hit the stage Sunday. The brothers were in fox costumes, and while visually their performance felt like a gimmick, their voices were surprisingly appealing.

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Online:

http://festival.iheart.com/