Well, there's something to be said about the fact that Porsche has been THE benchmark to which automakers have set their sights for, what? Over thirty years now?
evo magazine is explicit in saying that the benchmark for the GT-R, during development, was the Porsche 911 Turbo. How often have I read "... their performance benchmark was the Porsche 9xx..."
I even have road tests from the 1980s: The performance benchmark for the Mitsubishi Starion, Mazda RX7, etc. was the Porsche 944. The performance benchmark for the Aston Martin V8 was the Porsche 928. The performance benchmark for the Dodge Stealth was the Porsche 911 Carrera. The beat goes on.
As far as baseball goes, I have come to believe that injuries have as much to do with single-season success as on-paper talent. In other words: too early to tell anything other than that the Baltimore Orioles suck.
