Monday, July 12, 2021

Midsummer Sports Report 2021 Part 4


Part 3

7-3-21

I’d been grumbling for the last couple of weeks that we weren’t getting a day off for the Fourth of July at work.  On Thursday, I was walking someone out and noticed a sign on the door saying we’d be closed on Monday.  Rather than being happy, I was panicked since we have to have holidays set in advance on our computer system.  I immediately called my boss.  We’d had conversations earlier in the year about whether or not there was going to be a day off for this holiday.  Apparently, they’d decided last month that we were going to have Monday off, but nobody told me.  I would have felt dumb about this, but apparently I wasn’t the only person confused about this.  No official announcement was ever made. 

 

Okay, since there was no harm done at work and I didn’t show up on Monday with no else there, now we’re happy about getting a three-day weekend.  I had big plans for the time, which involved me watching TV and eating out.  I know.  I’m terribly ambitious and should moderate my activities.  On Saturday, my plans achieved fruition, though not quite the way I’d thought they would.



Dad’s TV is still not able to pick up NBC right now.  I’ve offered to buy him a new antenna, but he wasn’t interested.  Going over to his apartment to watch the two NASCAR races on NBC this weekend was my first choice.  Ron wanted to watch the races too and suggested going over to his father’s house.  That was good with me.  For lunch, we picked up a pizza . . . for $26!  It was 20” large New York style pizza with three toppings, but ouch!  It was good and the both of us were floored after only eating two slices apiece.  Keep in mind, the pieces were probably about the size of two normal large slices.  The thing was huge.

 

I’d love to give a detailed synopsis of the NASCAR Xfinity race at Road America.  While I did watch the race, there were three furry distractions in the house at the time.  The dogs were pretty rambunctious.  Moreover, there was an enormous amount of action on track that would make an easy summary impossible.  (Not to mention, it’s kind of weird taking notes on a race on TV in front of people.)  I was rooting for AJ Allmendinger.  He managed to go from last to first at later in the race, but couldn’t hold the lead on old tires. 

 

Kyle Busch passed AJ for the win.  Kyle had gone off track twice in the race earlier.  Actually, the only boring part of the race was when he’d taken the lead and dominated late in the race.  Kyle had said earlier in his career that he’d quit the series after 100 Xfinity wins.  He’s well past that now.  Nobody’s sure what he’s going to do after this season. 

 

Ron and I went out for ice cream at Caliches.  Unfortunately, about 50 other people had the same idea at the same time.  Even standing out in the heat for 15 minutes, I’d have to say it was worth it.  I had a blue raspberry Italian ice mixed with their frozen custard.  Back at the house, I made the bad mistake of having another piece of the pizza before eating the ice cream.  I had a bellyache for the rest of the night.  Ron also had one more piece, and his brother, who was also at the house, ate the last two.  (That was a couple of hours before he went out for dinner.  Wendell has a prodigious appetite.) 

 

Ron and I wanted some baseball.  He started watching Arizona playing the Giants, before realizing it was a replay of last night’s game.  We then found the Padres versus the Phillies.  It had been delayed a couple of hours for rain.  Philly Rhys Hoskins hit a home run, but missed first and had to run back for it.  The game was stopped again in the fourth by rain and something that looked like a funnel cloud overhead. 

 

The Dodgers/Nationals game came on at 5:00 on FOX.  I’d thought I’d be home by now and watching this game, or SRX Racing, and/or listening to tonight’s Chihuahuas game.  I called dad to let him know where I was and to let him know that the Nationals were on.  His best friend, Joe, is a fan of the team.  I told him that he should invite him over to watch.  This game then got stopped for rain shortly thereafter.

 

Now the D-Backs and Giants were playing live.  We tuned in just after a fan holding a baby and a cup of beer made a catch of a foul ball.  Bob Brenly summed it up best, “I was holding my breath that he was going to drop that beer.”  However, we flipped back over to the FOX, which was now covering the Red Sox and the A’s and we stuck with it, since it was just about over.

 

The A’s had tied it in the eighth and looked to win it in the ninth, but didn’t after a poorly executed bunt attempt.  The Red Sox also might have taken the lead in regulation, but for a poor steal attempt.  In the tenth, the Red Sox made another bad steal attempt to run themselves out of the inning.  The A’s were even worse.  They loaded the bases with no outs, but after a poorly conceived bunt attempt, they came away with no runs. 



By the twelfth, Ron and I were dying watching this exercise in futility.  The only thing keeping us going was the coverage becoming fascinated by the fan-made “Beer Snake” in the stands.  It was a bunch of empty cups being stuck together.  It might have been 10’ long in the ninth, but was getting bigger as it was being carried around, maybe about 30’ by the end.  Dad called.  He was still watching.  It was past his bedtime and the baseball had run over the news.  He’d had Joe with him for a while.  Joe was an even bigger fan of the A’s, so he was happy that they’d switched games, but couldn’t stay.  Dad was keeping him updated on the score.

 

Finally, the Red Sox broke through and scored two runs.  I don’t think we really cared who won, as long as somebody finally scored.  In bottom of the twelfth though, the A’s rallied and tied it.  We were momentarily terrified the game might go to another inning, but Tony Kemp, who’d made the bad bunt in the tenth, hit a sac fly to bring in the winning run.  7-6 A’s win.  I’d never cared so much about an A’s win before.  I’d never cared this much about the A’s period.  “Hey, let’s finish that D-Backs game.”   

 

Or not.  We called it a night.  (It was tempting.)  I got back home a bit before 10:00pm, about five hours later than I meant to.  I turned on the radio and got a little of a static-y postgame show for the Chihuahuas.  They’d won I think, but that was all I’d heard.  I got no signal for the ongoing Rockies game, but the Rangers/Mariners game was on and only a bit passed half done.  The Rangers were whooping the M’s and I’d missed most of the excitement, but it was good to hear Eric and Matt for a few innings. 

 

The last sports item of the night was an interview show I ran into that I’d never seen before.  Canelo was having a sit down.  If I’d caught this when it started, I would have tried calling my friend Mike to let his Canelo-loving girlfriend know about it.  As it was, I watched about half of it.  Canelo was talking about family members being held hostage and having to pay ransom for them.  Other times, family members are getting in trouble with the law and embarrassing him.  Then Canelo took the interviewer out to his ranch to ride horses and go off-roading.  The stunt driving served to scare the interviewer and worry Canelo’s fans that he was going to hurt himself.   

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