Memorial Day Weekend 2024 Part 2

Part 1

Sunday

I started watching a Blondie marathon Saturday night.  The Catchy Comedy network was showing the old movies and they are funny stuff.  They did a bunch of these in the 40’s.  There were running gags going through them, like Dagwood running over the mailman.  It was like a sitcom series, but for the movies.  Penny Singleton is extremely charismatic as the titular character (and also the voice of Jane Jetson).  Watching the kid actors grow up over the series was a trip.  I’d forgotten that there was also a string very classy hotties guest-starring in these movies as well.

 

I’m only mentioning this because there was a four-hour rain delay before the Indy 500 started.  I had plenty of time to watch Blondie.  This year, this would also be my only Memorial Day race.  Monaco’s F1 race was moved to ESPN, while ABC instead showed the NHL playoffs.  (The NY Rangers beat the Florida Panthers in OT.  They’re still early in the Western Conference final.) 

 

Also, dad was sick, so I was watching at home.  He said he didn’t need anything other than rest, so I just called a couple of times to check in on him.  He sounded better in the evening and did get up to watch the end of the race.  This left me in some suspense, as I wasn’t sure about dad or the race, so I just sat around waiting.  I wanted to rest my sore back, anyway. 

 

The Rangers were playing the Twins at noon on the radio to keep me company.  Corey Seager hit a couple of home runs in the game to help give the Rangers a 6-2 win and break their losing streak.  After Seager’s second homer in the fifth, the Indy coverage said they were an hour away from starting the race and dad said he was going to keep sleeping. 

 

I hadn’t eaten yet, so I took off next door to 5 Guys.  They’d sort of fallen out of favor with me.  (Legend Burger in the mall is better for the same inflated price.)  I got my usual plain hot dog and they gave me a bunch of fries.  It was really good.  The last two dogs I’d had there had had stale buns, but this one was fresh and perfect.  Still, dad had mentioned getting pizza today on Friday.  This was a bit of a comedown.    

 

I was a little shocked by the sunny skies over Indy when the race started.  It was overcast and raining hard earlier.  The Thunderbirds themselves were there for the Anthem flyover.  They made a surprise return for Back Home in Indiana and finished with a crowd-pleasing bomb burst over the track.  (Wait.  Not actually bombing the track.  They were flying in formation and then flew apart at the same time.)

 

The main storyline going into the race was NASCAR driver, Kyle Larson, was planning on doing the “Double” today.  The rain was messing up his tight schedule, but I was shocked he said, “Indy is the priority today.”  He would stick it out, as long as there was a chance of running the race today.  Jimmie Johnson was there doing some pre-race commentary with Danica Patrick.  He did bump out before the start of the race to go race in Charlotte today.

 

The first wreck happened even before the first lap finished.  Four cars were out almost immediately in the race for different reasons.  Katherine Legge’s engine blew up 23 laps in.  They were still running her sponsor commercial after she was out.  There was another blow up and a couple more solo crashes before we got inside 50 to go.  Larson did lead late, but that was due to a pit stop error earlier and he ended up on a different strategy. 

 

Josef Newgarden and Alexander Rossi started trading the lead as the laps wound down.   Pato O’Ward forced his way into second and passed for the lead with five to go to the cheers of the crowd.  (He’s got a lot of fans.)  Newgarden retook the lead with four to go, but Pato was in front to start the final lap.  Newgarden made the final pass for the lead coming out of the backstretch and took the checkers. 

 

Josef had won last year and had memorably rushed into the crowd at the finish line.  (Wait.  He got out of his car first and then went into the crowd.)  He did so again this time and went around further.  Josef had to sit down for a minute before his interview.  The exercise had winded him.  He and his crew had been penalized after the first race of the season and stripped of the win.  With much of his regular crew still suspended, this win was some vindication.           

 

I’d mentioned Newgarden to a co-worker on Friday and said he had “matinee idol” looks.  She looked at some of his pictures online and didn’t think he was that handsome.  Good grief, this guy makes my heart flutter a little.  She either has impossibly high standards or a really specific taste in men.

 

Poor Pato.  He sat in his car with his head down after the race.  To know how much this race means to the drivers, just look the reaction of the winner and the guy who came in second.  Kyle Larson took off in a helicopter after the race to catch a private jet.  He finished 18-th.  That’s pretty awesome for a rookie.  He was on his way to the NASCAR race, though it had probably been going on for two hours.  (And he didn’t to race.  It was rained out halfway through.) 

 

The Chihuahuas started their game with the Rivercats right after the race ended.  Sacramento went up 3-0 early.  It also got chippie.  After the third hit batter (hit in the back), the benches cleared (no fighting), and both teams were warned.

 

In the bottom of the fourth, a Rivercat player going after a flyball, hit the wall hard enough to open the gate.  He lost his hat and mitt, but still managed to throw the ball back in and hold the batter to a triple, instead of an inside-the-park home run.  The fielder had to come out after the play.  The pups get two runs in the inning to make it, 3-2.    

 

In the sixth, the Rivercats exploded for six runs to make it, 9-2.  Broadcaster Tim Haggerty started focusing on doing out-of-town scores after that.  In the eighth, Mason McCoy stole home on a loose ball at the plate.  The crowd loved it.  The Chihuahuas scored a couple more, but left the bases loaded.  McCoy also made a great diving play in the ninth, but pups didn’t have another rally in them and lost, 9-4.

 

Monday

Well, this recap is going to be quick and anticlimactic.  The Chihuahuas and Rangers had the day off and the Rockies were playing a day game I couldn’t get on the radio.  I was lucky that on Friday, KROD announced that they’d be carrying the Dodgers and the Mets in the afternoon, so wouldn’t be shutout.  

 

Unless there was a rain out.  I was lucky I tuned in on time and got the message.  I did try to watch tennis, after going out to get a slice of somewhat questionable pizza at the mall.  I lasted my usual 30 seconds.  Even watching my hero, Novak Djokovic, I couldn’t put up with the grunting.  I ended up watching some old sitcoms, reading a Conan trade paperback (which I’ll be reviewing in the near future), and taking an impromptu nap.  Well, not the worst way to spend the day off.   

Memorial Day Weekend 2023 Part 2

This is normally my big sports viewing day of the year.  The Indy 500 is usually the highlight, though there have been a few years that I haven’t been able to watch.  Those have been some upsetting Memorial Days.  This time there was no problem watching.  I did get up late, which messed up my schedule a bit.  I was set to watch the race with dad.  He seemed completely ambivalent about it.  He also said he didn’t want to eat out today.  Fine.  I brought my own hot dog for lunch.  I was planning on eating on eating a hot dog at some point this weekend anyway.

 

I was making a sacrifice.  There were three ball games on at the same time as the race.  If I’d stayed at home, I would have listened to the Rangers on the radio, had the Tigers game on the computer, and watched Indy on TV, occasionally flipping over to the Minor League game that was on.  I would have also gone out to get something to eat afterward, obviously exhausted from over stimulation.

 

Just to get it out of the way, the Rangers lost to the Orioles in a tight 3-2 game.  I like both teams, so I’m conflicted.  The Tigers beat the White Sox, 6-5, with a walk off in the tenth.  So, I was missing out.  Elsewhere of note, my Aunt Judy texted dad during the race.  She was excited about a Cardinal home run, but they lost 4-3 to Cleveland.  I’m sorry I wasn’t able to watch the Rays beat the Dodgers, 11-10.  That must have been a heck of a game.  Likewise, the Rockies beat the Mets by the same score. 

I did get to peek in on the Minor League showcase game on Stadium between the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders and the Worcester Red Sox (the Woo Sox).  I have to admit I was super impressed with the Railriders’ stadium, PNC Field.  It’s set against a forested, rocky Pennsylvania hill in a picturesque fashion.  I hate to give more love to a Yankees’ affiliate, but I liked their announcers, too.  The guy had a great voice and worked well with the woman he was paired with.  He sounded professional, but conversational in tone.  The team had Josh Donaldson and Oswald Peraza with them on rehab and won 11-4.  The fans there also got to see a nearby air show going on with the Blue Angels.       

    

Was just basically watching the race worth missing the games?  Read on. 

 

Like I said, I woke up a bit late.  I did turn on the TV and watched some of the prerace before going over to dad’s.  I caught an interview with Tony Kanaan.  This was going to be his last Indy.  About his race strategy, he said, “I’ve got nothing to lose.  What are they going to do?  Fire me?”

 

As always, the spectacle of the pageantry and the crowd was awesome.  Over 300,000 were present and were especially giddy, as reported by all the drivers and others there.  The drivers fed off that and seemed jazzed, too.  The flyover for the Anthem and Back Home in Indiana was a New Mexico fighter unit pleasing myself and dad.

 

Graham Rahal was nearly the race’s first casualty.  His car wouldn’t start.  Eventually, he made it out on track, but two laps down.  Scott Dixon made an early pit with a tire vibration.  The in-car camera view was hellish.  There were a couple more early pits with the same problem. 

 

NBC was mostly running side-by-side commercials, which I appreciated.  The commercials were mostly classy, which I appreciated even more.  My favorite was definitely the one for Perdue University featuring the band playing at the race.  Kyle Larson was there in the pits.  He’s planning on doing the “Double” next year.  I doubt he was worried about getting back to Charlotte for his race.  (More on that later.) 

 

On-track action for most of the early race was Rinus Veekay and Alex Palou trading the lead to save fuel.  Katherine Legge slid leaving her pit stall and nearly had an accident.  She had to return to the pits and ended up being the race’s first retirement.  After another mechanical retirement, the first on track accident was Sting Ray Robb hitting the wall.  (I don’t make up names.)  During the mass pit stop afterward, Veekay and Palou hit each other coming out.  That pretty much took them out of the running for the victory.

 

The race restarted on Lap 101.  The “gentlemanly” racing from the first half of the race was over, as cars started going three and four-wide jockeying for position.  TK got one more career Indy highlight.  He made a pass through the grass for position.  The race pace slowed by 20mph as the teams tried to save fuel. 

 

Another pit lane incident.  Teammates Colton Herta and Romain Grosjean collided.  Grosjean and his groomer pride DHL car later crashed out on Lap 151.  Lap 160, the iconic-looking Santino Ferrucci took the lead in the Red, White, and Blue AJ Foyt car.  The rear of the field was involved in a continuous dogfight.  With 31 to go, there was a near disaster for Ferrucci as a tire got loose during a pit stop.  He didn’t have to make a penalty drive through, but lost the lead anyway.

 

What happened next was a phone call that my dad insisted on taking from the state of New Mexico Health department polling him about drug abuse in the Land of Enchantment.  They’d called him yesterday and he’d told them to call back the next day.  It was a loud call that went on for over 10 minutes.  There were no questions about the drugs coming over the open border with illegals or about the numerous legal weed dispensaries in the state.  (I think there are six in my reasonably nice neighborhood.) 

 

This of course happened during the most interesting 10 minutes of the race, when I’d turned down the sound.  With 18 to go, Pato O’Ward also touched grass on a pass on Felix Rosenqvist.  Pato was pretty likeable guy in the prerace.  Two laps later was The Big One.  Rosenqvist hit the wall a couple of times before spinning in the middle of the track.  Kyle Kirkwood’s left rear tire was clipped going by.  The tire flew off.  The tether must have been cut.  It just missed going into the stands and went into the parking lot.  Kirkwood went airborne, hit the wall, got flipped over, and skidded down the track in a shower of sparks.   

Kirkwood was okay.  When he was interviewed coming out of the care center, his hair wasn’t even messed up.  There was a car hit in the parking lot by the tire.  It belonged to Robin Matthews, pictured here in the center.  Her car had to be towed off.  IMS officials gave her a ride in the pace car after the race and let her kiss the bricks.  They also gave her a ride home.

 

The race was red flagged.  The fans in the massive stands did the Wave.  The F1 race replay from Monaco was starting on ABC around this time.  Gone are the days when I was going to wake up before the sunrise to watch this race anyway.  I missed the start, which is always functionally the entire race.  Max Verstappen started on the pole and won.  It did rain later in the race.  Usually that makes F1 races more interesting, but not here.  Even the nominally histrionic Sky News race announcers were obviously bored.

 

Indy restarted with 8 to go.  Pato was leading briefly, but crashed out as Josef Newgarden took the lead.  Another damaged car ran into Pato after he’d stopped.  Agustin Canapino’s steering was gone and he couldn’t help it.  This brought out another red flag.

 

The restart happened with 4 to go.  The resulting wreck happened in the rear of the field before the cars had even crossed the line.  Last years’ winner, Marcus Ericsson had taken the lead on the restart.  His newlywed wife was crying at the prospect of him winning.  At this point, Race Control had about a half lap to decide whether the race would finish under caution.

 

While the crowd had already gotten a great race, it just didn’t seem right to end it under yellow.  The fans there deserved a green flag winner.  The race was red flagged for a third time with 2 laps left.  This left an unprecedented 1 lap shootout.  The cars left pit lane, drove around to the line, and took green and white flags from the stand.

 

What happened next was what everyone wanted for the end: clean, hard racing.  Newgarden made a great pass for the lead and successfully defended it coming to the checkered flag for the win.  Josef became an instant hero, as he then got out of his car, went under the fence, and waded into the crowd.  In the interview afterward, yes, he’d always meant to do that if he won. 

 

That was worth waiting for.  This was also Penske’s first win since buying the track.  There he was on the pagoda jumping up and down as his car won.  Ericsson was bitter afterward in an interview about the decision to red flag the race.  He’s not wrong.  Danica Patrick in the closing commentary was also against it.  Dale Earnhardt Jr. said he was for it and was glad for the great finish, but felt lucky that nothing bad had happened.  I’m sure Race Control felt the same way.

 

Forget anything topping this race today.  I went back home and indifferently watched the rest of the F1 race.  The Coca-Cola 600 coverage started with images of rain coming down.  So much for that.  They’ll try it again tomorrow.  I didn’t bother watching the rain delay theater.  It was raining bad enough that they didn’t even try to fake the viewers out.   

 

There were two more ball games left for me tonight.  The Braves and Phillies started first on ESPN Radio.  The Braves scored 5 runs in the first and did not look back.  I switched to the Chihuahuas game when it came on.  They had a live band there for the Anthem.  They didn’t say who they were though.  The Reno Aces also scored 5 runs on the pups in the first. 

 

The game had 7 straight half-innings of scoring, but Chihuahuas gave out first.  As the Braves won their game, 11-4, the Aces won in El Paso, 15-6.  The crowd was still loud and cheering in the bottom of the ninth.  They also wanted their postgame fireworks.

 

Lastly, on TV I was flipping around and ran into a Mexican League soccer championship game.  This usually comes up around this date.  I decided to watch the Chivas versus the Tigres for all of the enchiladas.  About the first 5 minutes in, the Goats had already scored twice.  Well, this one is over, I thought and flipped channels.  Over two hours later, I was flipping back around and they were still playing!  And the Tigers were up 3-2 in extra time!  Holy cow!  Did I miss one!  While the victorious players were humping each other on the ground, their trophy was being engraved on the field.  (Certainly, I was getting uncomfortable watching these guys.) 

 

On to Monday.

Memorial Day Weekend 2022 Part 3

Part 2

 5-29-22 Race Day

I look forward to this day all year, though there have been horrible disappointments (a couple of times I missed Indy because of broadcasting issues).  However, I felt really busy all day.  I made little to no effort at recapping anything.  (I barely watched some of the races.)  I feel like I’m gradually phasing out the blogging compared to my more maniacal blogging of all sporting events I was watching in previous years.    

 

Indy 500

It was such a relief tuning into this years’ Indy 500 and seeing blue skies.  Weather can definitely ruin your racing.  There was an enormous crowd having a good time at IMS, which was great to see.  I was over at dad’s apartment to watch.  I saw the opening ceremonies at my apartment and the first lap before going to see him.  I noticed Steve Aoki briefly doing the music while the drivers were introduced.  I think he was also doing a show at the Snake Pit on the infield during the race.

 

For lunch, I talked to some guy in India to order a Papa John’s pizza.  I thought I heard him say $17 for a large pepperoni, but thankfully it was only $10 at the shop.  Regardless, it was really good. 

 

I’ll just cut to the chase in describing the race.  Scott Dixon was leading late and looked like the driver to beat, but got caught for speeding on final pit stop.  (I thought they had pit lane limiters on Indy cars so you couldn’t speed.)  Jimmie Johnson, an Indy 500 rookie, led a lap with his fuel strategy.  Unfortunately, he crashed a few laps later with six to go.  This messed up his teammate, Marcus Ericsson, who was cruising to the win.  The race was red flagged.  The crowd approved of the decision.

 

The restart began with two laps left.  The announcers were the most excited they had been for the entire race.  The crowd roared as Mexican, Pato O’Ward, made a serious challenge on the final lap.  Ericsson weaved all over the width of the track to break up the draft behind him.  A crash late behind them froze the field and Ericsson held on for the win.  Ericsson’s extremely hot girlfriend got look on as one of the Indy princesses impulsively planted a giant lipstick mark on his cheek as he drank the milk. 

 

F1 Monaco

Gone are the days of me waking up at 6:30am to watch this live.  This race started just before Indy finished.  (The red flag caused Indy to run late.)  Since this race was on delay, they cut right to the race without a prerace.  (Thanks to the NBC Indy people for not spoiling the results.)  However, it was raining in Monaco.  At other F1 tracks, these conditions can lead to a great race.  At Monaco, it’s still a slot car track.  The cars had on their grooved rain tires, err . . . I mean, tyres.  They did a rolling start under caution to begin the race.

 

I went ahead and went home.  Dad could probably take a nap without the F1 race on (though he might get to sleep faster).  After I got home and put the leftover pizza in the fridge, I went to Paleta Bar next door for a delayed dessert.  I hadn’t been there in a while, because it’s expensive and has upset my stomach the last few times.  (Also, a weed shop opened next door.  The addicts are lined up outside all of the time.) 

 

I picked the “New Mexico United” ice cream bar (named after Albuquerque’s soccer team).  It was flavored with cookies and cream with bananas, then dipped in chocolate and covered in almonds.  It was delicious, but afterward, I was full for the rest of the day (with a slight bellyache).    

 

I called my friend, Ron, to see how he was doing with his cold.  We ended up on the phone most of the afternoon.  The MLB.TV free game was the Padres and the Pirates.  The video wasn’t blocked, so we were able to watch, which we appreciated.   MacKenzie Gore pitched seven scoreless innings for the Padres, but bullpen coughed up the lead.  Trent Grisham won it in the tenth, 4-2, with a two-run homer after two bunt attempts.  

 

I missed the homer.  My computer and the TV where I had the F1 race on aren’t in the same room.  I kept shuttling back-and-forth, while chatting with Ron on the phone.  (Not to mention, I had a couple of Twitch streams up with girls, ahem.)  I did see the end of the race.  The track had dried and the top four cars on each other’s bumpers.  Since it was F1 at Monaco, nobody could pass.  Sergio “Checo” Perez won.  No doubt Mexico was happy.  They came close to also taking Indy on the same day. 

 

From seeing the start, I knew the two Ferraris were in front of Checo, but didn’t see how he’d gotten in front (since I was getting ice cream and watching baseball).  From reading up later, Ferrari had messed up their pitstops and called both cars in at the same time to change to slick tires, err . . . tyres.  The race was going to run long because of the rain, but instead, they switched to making it a timed race.  I have seen timed car races before, and ones that even changed from laps to timed during the race.  But, I’ve never seen F1 do that.  One of the best races I ever saw was Jenson Button winning the 2011 Canadian GP in the rain, a race that went way over time.

Coca-Cola 600

The early end to F1 allowed everyone to see the start of NASCAR’s Charlotte race.  (Nice coordination between the three networks today.)  This event was the usual cluster-f it is every year.  I told Ron the best betting on this race is over/under 10 cars on the lead lap by the end. 

 

Play-by-play on a race this long is problematical.  I’ll just hit a few highlights.  Chase Elliot was doing well and won Stage 1.  Late in Stage 2, he spun through the infield.  It was too early for a victory celebration, Chase.  This accident happened in side-by-side commercial.  This happened at least four or five times today between this race and Indy.  They never broke from commercial, though.  The Big One happened right after.  Ryan Blaney spun in front of the field and took out 12 cars.  By halfway, 10 cars were out (including three of my favorites, Chase, Ryan, and William Byron), but only one car off the lead lap.

 

Meanwhile, the Chihuahuas were playing the Space Cowboys on the radio.  (I can’t believe I just wrote that sentence.)  The pups were down by 10 in the sixth, but had a 6-run inning later to make a game of it.  They got within 2 runs late, but finally fell 17-14. 

 

Late in the race, Chris Buescher had a rolling crash through the infield and ended up on his lid.  He met the same fate of nearly every front runner or challenger for the lead in this race—a crash.  By the end, there were 17 cars left on the lead lap.  (I should have taken the over.) 

 

Kyle Larson, who seemed poised for the win, though he’d had a race full of setbacks, got taken out with other frontrunner, Ross Chastain, after Austin Dillon spun, when the leaders all tried going four-wide.  In the second Overtime, Denny Hamlin won it.  Hours ago, he’d actually been the pole-sitter and hadn’t been anywhere near the front since.  I think everyone, especially the drivers, were good and tired of this race by the time it was over. 

Part 4

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  

Memorial Day Weekend and Spring Sports Recap 2021 Part 3

Part 2

Sunday 5-30-21

I got up a bit early to exercise and shower.  I turned on the Indy 500 prerace, but was only watching it on-and-off.  Danica Patrick and Jimmie Johnson were part of the two hosting crews.  (That’s in addition to the actual crew calling the race.)  Jimmie was sitting this race out.  I’m not sure why, but he did say he was uncomfortable with the thought of driving into Turn 1 to start the race in an Indy car. 

 

I did see the tribute to Dan Wheldon.  It’s been 10 years since he died on track.  I saw that race at my parent’s apartment that day.  His two boys are now racing themselves with their mom managing them.  (And the Mrs. is looking hotter than when Dan married her.  Now I feel even worse for him being gone.)  Race team owner, David Letterman, was almost unrecognizable in his big white beard.  He was very lively and enthusiastic about the race.  He won last year with Takuma Sato as his driver.  Letterman thought winning in front of an empty stadium was like having a birthday party with no one invited.

 

No problem this year.  There were 135,000 in attendance.  That’s 40%, but it looked full there.  So 135,000 unmasked people in the stands were watching Back Home in Indiana performed by a band with trumpet players wearing masks.  It’s all been theater, folks.  (That song was always mom’s favorite part.)  The American flag was at half-mast in the background for some reason.  (Don’t bother telling me.  I don’t care.)  That’s its usual position whenever a democrat is in the White House.         

 

I’d expected to go to dad’s apartment to see the race, but he called and said that he couldn’t get the station to come in.  His friend, Joe, was supposed to be joining us for lunch.  We changed plans to have them come over to my apartment.  I’m not really set up to entertain guests.  I hustled to get things ready.  Dad brought over Dominos for lunch.  Frankly, they’re not my favorite pizza place, but it was okay.

   

It was a cool 63-degrees and fair weather in Indianapolis for the race.  (I’m missing The Jetsons for this.  It’s an Astro episode.  This had better be good.)  Scott Dixon started on the pole, but Colton Herta led Lap 1 to the approval of the crowd.  There was an accident on pit lane during the first stop.  This had the effect of Dixon running out of fuel and having trouble re-firing his car.  This took him and Alexander Rossi, with a similar problem, out of contention for the win.

 

Hometown boy, Connor Daly, took the lead after the restart and heard it from the crowd.  Dad mentioned something about an all-female pit crew and they showed them at work.  There was a female driver in the field.  I’m not sure if that was her crew.  She wasn’t in contention.  Our only wreck of the race came about halfway through, when Graham Rahal lost a wheel coming off pit lane.  The loose tire also damaged Daly’s car.

 

Helio Castroneves took the lead on the restart and the crowd loved it.  What I’m loving is that NBC is only going full screen on commercials during cautions.  I’m pretty sure that will go away when they take over NASCAR coverage.  Jimmie Johnson had a different commercial on every break for his sponsor.  That’s a lot of coverage for a guy not in the race. 

 

Helio and Alex Palou started swapping the lead as cars on an alternate fueling strategy finally peeled off.  Dad said, “This is about the time in a NASCAR race when there’s a caution.”  He was right in general, but not about this race.  Helio took the white flag going into a crowd of lapped cars, but he worked around them.  He’d win and become the fourth four-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.  The crowd went nuts.  I’m sure he heard them in his car. 

 

Spider-man took to the fence to salute the fans.  He cried on his team owner when he came down.  I think a hundred people congratulated him on track as Helio ran along the wall.  Mario Andretti kissed him on the top of his head and blessed him.  As the commentator said, “It was the fastest Indy 500 ever and the longest on-track celebration.”  It was very hard to not feel happy for him. 

 

Helio thanked the fans especially in Victory Circle.  As Helio is 46 and just beat a 24-year old, he repeated a comparison he’d just heard about himself and Tom Brady and  Phil Mickelson (who won the US Open golf tournament last weekend).  The old guys are taking over.  He also took a shot at Paul Tracy, who probably didn’t appreciate it.  Helio chugged the milk.  He handed it to a crew member, who took a swig himself, as two masked pageant girls kissed Helio on his cheeks.  It’s all theater. 

 

Dad and Joe enjoyed the race, even lacking some drama this year.  I was glad to see Helio win too.  After they left, I skipped around the dial and got some bonus coverage of an MLB game on a Mexican station.  It was the Tigers versus the Yankees in the ninth inning.  Surprisingly, the Tigers were up 6-2.  They almost lost it with the bases loaded and two outs.  Aaron Judge struck out looking on a slider up in the zone in the middle of the plate.        

 

I hadn’t had dessert, so I took a quick trip over to the Paleta Bar for a frozen ice cream bar.  This one was vanilla with embedded peanut butter cups covered in milk chocolate.  The last two times I’d gone there, I got a bellyache, but I attributed it to the big meal I’d had beforehand.  This time I’m attributing it to the bar itself.  Though the service was very friendly and fast, the product is expensive and might disagree with me.  I’m going to have to ban them.  Once again looking back, I went to Orange Leaf for Froyo in 2019 over MDW.  I do nothing original. 

 

I still had time before the NASCAR race started.  I scanned around again and found another Mexican League Baseball game.  This time I identified the teams: the Oaxaca Warriors and the Puebla Parrots (?).  The Parrots were wearing the A’s colors and had a player with a Polish name.  I couldn’t quite figure out what the Warriors mascot was supposed to be. 

 

Like other Mexican League games I’ve seen, the PA only stops the music when the pitcher goes into his motion.  I saw one batter hit a home run to center, which was pretty impressive given how far back the walls are.  Mostly, this was just something to watch during NASCAR commercial breaks, so I got to see quite a bit.  The Parrots came back from 3 down to tie it.  An ill-timed PSA break caused everyone to miss their go-ahead run in top of the ninth for a 4-3 win. 

 

Ah, the *oca-*ola 600 at Charlotte.  I’m not promoting the sponsoring company.  They’re a bunch of *ssholes.  (Granted, I will still drink their soda when offered.)  This race is a lot like my ice cream indigestion; too much of what I like, especially after just having watched another race, and F1’s Monaco most years.  They ran their race last weekend.  The pole sitter’s car was damaged and couldn’t start the race.  The car in second damaged a tire on a pit stop.  That was functionally everything interesting in the whole race. 

 

The over/under you should be betting for this race is 9 cars finishing on the lead lap.  Less than 15 minutes into this race, drivers were already getting lapped.  After the longest green flag start to a 600, half the field was down a lap.  Pole-sitter Kyle Larson took an eventless Stage 1.

 

Chase Elliot aggressively took the lead in Stage 2, but lost it during a green flag pit stop.  Meanwhile, hockey and local baseball started at the same time.  The Colorado Avalanche scored twice on the Vegas Golden Knights in the first period.  The big news at the baseball game was that Mackenzie Gore wouldn’t be starting because of a blister.  I think this probably hurt the Chihuahuas’ pitching today.  The OKC Dodgers homered twice in the first for a 4-0 lead, but the Chihuahuas punched back for 2 in the bottom.  They then proceeded to get buried third inning, 7-2.

 

There was a yellow flag back at the race.  I didn’t see what caused it.  That jumbled things up a bit after a pit stop.  Chase retook the lead, but Larson came back and won Stage 2.  The four Hendricks cars briefly filled the first four spots.  They finished that way in Dover a few weeks ago (I didn’t see it).  Great sponsored segment with Denny Hamlin.  He showed off his good-looking Meatball Sliders.  I want to have dinner at Denny’s.

 

In Denver, the Avalanche went up 3 early in the second, then 4-0, the 5-0.  In El Paso, OKC went up 10-3 in the fourth.  In Charlotte, Ryan Newman hit the wall late in the third stage.  Kyle won the stage under caution.  This is all turning into a massacre regardless of the venue.

 

Larson and Kyle Busch fought like heck at the Stage 4 start.  Larson prevailed and took his teammates with him to the front.  Elliot and William Byron fought over second.  Colorado took a 6-1 lead after two periods.  The crowd there loved it.  I think Vegas’ strategy of playing without a goalie is backfiring on them.  OKC hit a grand slam in the sixth inning for a 14-3 lead.  Worse for the fans, there’s no fireworks scheduled tonight.

 

A position player was pitching for pups in the seventh, Matt Batten.  He has a win.  Broadcaster Tim Haggerty was reminding everyone that he was the pitcher when the Chihuahuas had their biggest comeback ever.  Kyle Larson won the race.  He’d come in a frustrating second in three straight races before this.  Kyle Busch spoiled an all Hendricks top four.  Alex Bowman finished fifth anyway.  This win gave Rick Hendricks the NASCAR team wins record.  Perhaps a bigger win was that this event was at full capacity.  And you should have taken the over for cars finishing on the lead lap.     

 

Finally, there’s a fight in the third period of the hockey game, an ugly one.  I can’t believe it took this long.  Five players went to the penalty box with Vegas getting the worst of it.  Colorado got a 9-minute power play with 12 minutes left in the game.  They did win, surprise, 7-1. 

 

Back at the ballpark, Steven Sousa Jr. hit his third home run of the game for the Dodgers in the eighth off of Batten.  Batten returned the favor and singled in two runs in the bottom.  In the ninth, Luke Raley hits his third home run of the game for the Dodgers.  There’d be no four-homer night though, as Batten plunked Sousa, who came up next.  Patrick Kivelhan homered for the fourth straight game for the Chihuahuas in the ninth.  Tim was busy keeping track of all the players going for cycles and home run achievements.  20-9 OKC was the exhausting final in another three-and-a-half hour game.

 

Okay, I don’t know what to make of this.  I was flipping around channels and ran into a Mexican soccer game, Cruz Azul versus Santos for the championship.  It’s tied and in 5 minutes of extra time.  However, the clock had gone well past that as there were 20 guys on the field fighting.  I’ve not seen this in a soccer match ever.  It’s eventually broken up.  They replay the incident leading to the scrum.  It seemed like a pretty nominal trip and push.  There must have been something leading up to it.  The ref handed out two yellow cards.  Play resumed for 30 seconds.  The game finished tied.  Blue Cross wins the championship?  The blue shirted fans in the crowd went nuts.  A guy on the sidelines started engraving the trophy. 

 

After a tie? 

 

Even if this was explained to me, I doubt I would understand it.

    

Not going to lie, today has been a bit disappointing all the way around.  I was happy for Helio, but that wasn’t the greatest Indy.  I almost feel like I should have just watched that Mexican League baseball game.  Okay, I’m done for the day.  We’ll see what happens tomorrow. 

Part 4