Tuesday, July 13, 2021

Midsummer Sports Report 2021 Part 5

Part 4

7-4-21


For Sunday, I woke up an hour late and found myself hustling to get ready.  There was an IRL race at Mid-Ohio that I got to watch the beginning of.  It started off with a pair of crashes before I switched over to watch The Jetsons.  Oh, it was a classic episode where Jane enters the Miss Solar System contest in disguise, while George is the judge in disguise.  Of course, he chooses her.  It was great.

 

Ron and I had planned on going back over to his dad’s house to watch today’s NASCAR Cup race.  Perhaps we should have cleared that with his brother, Wendell, who lives there and was planning a lunch time barbeque.  We weren’t allowed to use the house and weren’t invited to the barbeque either.  So, I invited Ron over to my apartment.  We watched Josef Newgarden get an unexpectedly close win before going out for lunch.

 

I picked Arby’s.  It was the closest fast food place with the least greasy food.  I was still not quite over last night’s meal.  We also got root floats with them.  I thought the ice cream might also help with digestion.  We got back for the start of the Cup race at Road America. 

 

Once again, there was a lot of action.  You couldn’t determine the finish from the start.  AJ Allmendinger started on the second row as one of the favorites.  Two of the others, Kyle Busch and, my favorite, Chase Elliot, were way in the back.  They managed to pass about half the field during Stage 1.  William Byron won the stage.           

 

The commercials that were on infinite repeat yesterday were still on today.  Does Sonic really need six different commercials?  (Maybe they should spend more money on the quality of their food than their marketing.  Okay, their drinks and desserts are pretty good.  I give them that.)  I started flipping over to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid on a Western station during commercials.  Ron and I were both enjoying it and wanted to see the whole film sometime, but the live event took precedence. 

 

In Stage 2, a late caution shook things up and Kyle got up front.  However, Tyler Reddick won the stage.  During the Anthem (performed wonderfully by a little girl), NBC had shown Bubba “Noose” Wallace.  Dr. Pepper was his sponsor which really irritated me, because I like Dr. Pepper.  (I’d probably want a die cast of the car, except I saw it.  It’s got his face on it.  Forget it.)  I’d assumed I was going to see more of Noose all through the race, but never did.  I don’t know what to make of this.  What better time than the Fourth to call Americans racists?  Maybe Dr. Pepper didn’t buy any ad time, so they weren’t going to show him. 

 

Yesterday, a friend of Ron’s family came by and saw us watching NASCAR.  He said, him and his friends used to be huge fans.  Last year, when Noose called for the Confederate flag ban and it happened, they all quit.  You never know what’s going to set someone off when you make a snap politically motivated decision, especially when you’re trying to please weirdoes on Twitter.  Judging by the large crowds at Lake Elkhart, I’d say most fans were just happy to be out at a race (or even just watching on TV).  I wouldn’t take them or me for granted though if I were NASCAR.          

 

Kyle and Chase started up front for Stage 3.  AJ had faded to the rear.  Inside the top ten, Alex Bowman accidentally nearly took out his teammate, Kyle Larson.  The damage from that contact caused a tire rub that was threatening to cause a blowout and a caution.  Alex’s other teammate, Chase, had gotten out front and built up a six second lead.  The tire rub seemed to be okay after a lap, but Alex was told to come in.  A caution would have cost Chase his lead.  Dale Jr. on the commentary, didn’t agree with the call and didn’t like what amounted to team orders.  When the tire was examined after the pit stop, the reporter said it probably wouldn’t have lasted another four laps to finish the race.  This was the closest thing to a controversy today.  Alex already has three wins this season; he’s probably good. 



Chase did win.  He blew past the assigned interview area and to go around the entire four-mile circuit to salute the fans.  He did a burnout at the start/finish line before finally going to the interview.  Chase was very gracious and grateful for the fans.  The crowd there started chanting for another burnout.  Chase obliged and blew out both of his back tires and had to be pushed to Victory Lane.  The People’s Champion, indeed.  This is exactly what NASCAR needs to stay in the fan’s good graces.

 

Ron had to leave in a rush.  While today’s meal hadn’t caused any bellyache, I went hard dairy for dinner: cereal, yogurt, and ice cream.  The only sports left today was a Chihuahuas game from Albuquerque against the Isotopes.  I got the scoop on yesterday’s game.  The pups won 16-0 in a five inning rainout.  What would the score have been if they’d gone nine? 

 

The Thursday and Friday games there had had fairly low attendance, but last night’s game unfortunately had a full house.  The fans came back tonight for record attendance, even though the ongoing weather reports during the game seemed ominous.  (13k was a record for Isotopes Park and for Minor League baseball this season.)  The Chihuahuas led off with a homer, but lost 12-7.  It wouldn’t have been that close, but for a late game comeback.  Something else that was announced earlier in the series, Chihuahuas big bat, Patrick Kievelhan, was selected for the US Olympic Baseball team.  Hate to lose him for an extended period, but what an honor. 



Okay, I’m watching the Godzilla Kaiju Cookout Marathon on Comet for the rest of the evening. 


Part 6  

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