*I'm not interested in dissuading people from visiting www.dailyfreeman.com early and often throughout the day, but it is interesting to track viewer patterns. Like many media Websites, ours seems to be most frequented during business hours - in other words, likely by people who are tapping in on their computers at work. Same goes with the timing of comments to our stories. Typically there is a flurry of responses early in the morning or early in the evening. Mostly, the back and forth goes on roughly between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Heaviest daily traffic generally is Monday through Friday. There's less activity on the weekends. If my theory is correct, I wonder if employers know about the at-work browsing?

*The most important race on NASCAR's schedule is the Daytona 500. It's become auto racing's Super Bowl, World Series and Kentucky Derby. So how is it that NASCAR officials can excuse a nearly three-hour delay during the race Sunday for pothole repairs on the Daytona oval? And how come the Daytona track reportedly hasn't been repaved since 1978? NASCAR ought to be ashamed.

*Sen. Evan Bayh of Indiana, whose seat apparently wasn't in danger, won't run for re-election. He cites the polarization of a Congress which is more interested in taking political sides than making policy. Bayh is the latest in a growing list to bemoan the dysfunctional condition of the federal government. (New Yorkers can nod knowingly, given the years of dysfunction in their state government.)

*Spring training baseball camps are opening this week. Normally, that's a reason to cheer, as the light at the end of winter's tunnel appears on the horizon. But last year's World Series went deep into November before the Yankees conquered the Phillies. For me, it seems like only yesterday. Put another way, it sure has been a short off-season.