No, I am not announcing the end of Disaffected Musings. The computer football league I have been playing–and to which I referred here–is near its end. Of the 216 regular season games scheduled, 208 have been played. Only one of the remaining eight games has any impact on the playoff picture. (The Texas-Phoenix game I wrote about in the linked post will have no meaning, after all, as Texas has clinched the #1 seed in its conference.)
I have been reluctant to finish the season and start the playoffs. It has been more than five months since I acquired the latest version of the game and almost five since the season started. This game has given me something to do regularly that I have enjoyed. I am fairly certain that is the reason why I have not been eager to finish.
In the grand scheme of things, my computer football league means nothing, EXCEPT it has meaning to me. I am not living anyone else’s life, nor can I do so. Not that anyone cares but me, but below are the current standings. The conference standings (Conf) are incorrect for many teams; don’t ask me why.
If a real-life division existed like the NFC West in this league, it would be the football story of the decade. The teams are a collective 38-7 against teams outside their division.
Anyway, this is my blog, after all, and this league occupies a significant place in my life, at least for now. I doubt I will think about it much even just a week after its conclusion, but I am trying to live more in the moment. You know what John Maynard Keynes said about the long-run.
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Thanks to Eileen and others who expressed concern about my Throat Fire. I slept very well last night, which is no surprise given the turmoil of the previous night. From the time I went to sleep until I had to wake up to go to the bathroom was eight hours, which is unheard of for me. Hey, I am a man in his 60s with a problematic prostate. Almost without exception, that interval is no longer than four hours.
I heard from TI, my brilliant high school classmate. He also suffers from reflux and offered some advice, which was most appreciated. I thought 20mg of Omeprazole (the generic name for Prilosec) twice a day was a large dose; TI takes even more.
I can remember having heartburn in kindergarten. Obviously, I was born with faulty construction. The “recommended” surgery is not without risks of its own, risks with a probability that is unacceptable to me. I do not have Barrett’s Esophagus, thankfully, so I will just continue with the status quo, but remember that I am going to have an occasional bad night.
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This recent article from Hemmings was about the RM Sotheby’s auction in Hershey, Pennsylvania. In case you don’t know, or even if you do, Chocolate Town and the surrounding area have become a mecca for large automobile events. My wonderful wife and I attended Corvettes at Carlisle (Pennsylvania) a few years ago.
The title of the Hemmings piece was about the Buick GNX that hammered at $210,000, which is $231,000 all in. The pre-sale estimate was $130,000-$160,000. The article didn’t mention this, but the displacement of the turbocharged, intercooled V6 was 231 cubic inches; that symmetry appeals to my OCD/math-addled brain. I hope I can display the picture of the GNX shown in the piece.
I have always been a fan of the Grand National, but do not expect ever to be in a position to buy a GNX without a lot of pain. Only 547 of them were made in what was the last model year (1987) for the rear-wheel drive, G-body cars from General Motors. The last Grand National ever made sold at the Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale in January of this year for $550,000. How much would that have been if the car had been a GNX?
I would like to hear opinions about the Grand National and GNX from my readers who are hard-core car enthusiasts. Many thanks.
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Disaffected Musings 
A friend I have known for over 30 years has an 86 Grand National he bought new, rarely driven, garage kept. Sometime about 20 years ago he was intrigued by a 1974 Challenger I had built in Pro Touring style and wanted to take it for a ride. I told him I would like to drive his GN in trade. At first you would have thought I asked to sleep with his wife. We finally agreed on a couple of things, no burn outs, etc, and traded for a couple hours. His was bone stock with about 12K miles IIRC.
At lower rpm it felt like grandma’s Buick. Once it got up around 2500 rpm, good things started to happen. Quickly. From 2500 to 5000 was where that engine was in its element. I enjoyed driving it once I found where the engine liked to “live”. I’m glad I had the chance to drive one, but I won’t buy one, barring a Powerball win.
I have been up against some on the drag strip, highly modified in most cases. Some to the point where that’s the only place they can be driven, some pushing around 900 hp. The biggest draw back they have in that setting is a well known chassis issue known as the “G body shuffle”. The chassis is not designed for that much power, and requires a lot of work to keep them going straight on the drag strip.
Just my $.02
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Thanks for sharing, DDM. No surprise that you have an interesting story about a Grand National.
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I’m a fan of the GM G-bodies. Never had one but had some exposure to them
My cousin (the one with the 72 Charger) then had a 1980 Cutlass Supreme coupe. And in 1985, my mother actually seriously considered both a new Monte Carlo SS and a Buick Regal Limited (ultimately they bought a new FWD Buick Park Avenue).
To my mind, these are kind of the ‘last classic’ GMs save maybe the big Fleetwood. Rear drive, available v8, classic divisional styling cues. And the ‘hot’ versions even retained ‘division correct’ engines (mostly): Monte Carlo SS had the Chev small block-derived corporate 305; Cutlass 442 had the Olds 307; Buick used its turbo 3.8L V6 in the GN/GNX. The exception was oddly enough Pontiac, the performance division, which lost its Pontiac V8 early on and used the corporate 305.
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Good to “hear” from you, Mark. Your observation about the G-bodies being the last classic GM cars is very interesting and spot-on, IMO. The badge engineering that started way back around 1960 and culminated years later in lawsuits over Oldsmobile engines being sold in Chevrolets was a mistake from which GM has never really recovered.
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