An Evening at Vado Speedway Park 6-17-23

 

It was a happy confluence of events that led to this trip.  Dad had recently befriended a new neighbor, Gerald, who’d asked if there was a local racetrack.  Indeed there was: the Vado Speedway Park, which is located just outside of Las Cruces on the way to El Paso on I-10.  You can’t miss it.  Dad asked me about going to the track sometime with Gerald.

 

I could do him one better.  They’re a customer of my business and we co-own a suite at the track.  Periodically, management would offer tickets to the suite to employees.  Since I arrive at work late in the afternoon, I asked a co-worker, Toni, who’d raved about going to track, to put in for three tickets for me the next time they came up.  That happened before the end of the week.  I called dad.  He was taken off guard by how quickly I’d gotten tickets, but he became enthusiastic soon enough.

 

Saturday night, we were off.  It only took about 15 minutes to get there.  There was an exit off the highway next to the track.  We got there about an hour before tonight’s event, which made it easy to park.  (A lot of people came in after us.  The parking lot was filled up when we left.)  70’s and 80’s metal rock greeted us over the PA.           

 

We went straight to the suite first.  The staff we encountered on the way and while we there were uniformly friendly and helpful.  The facility is clean and new-looking and well laid out.  I was really impressed.  There’s a pair of large bathroom facilities, a large concession area, and a trailer selling t-shirts and other track racing goods. 

This is actually a picture of the suite next door.  There’s a TV inside, which picks up the race video and several sports channels.  I was impressed with the sound system inside.  You could clearly hear the PA announcing on the track.  He was very professional and friendly-sounding.  There was also a bathroom and a fridge with drinks.  The water was free.  The sodas were also free for us, since the business was paying for it, otherwise they were $3.  A waitress would come around selling drinks and would deliver concessions, as well.  Dad got a beer, which was a bit surprising, since he hardly drinks.  After half a can and just watching a couple of heats, he put his arm around me with a big smile.  He thanked me and said he wanted to come back. 

 

A new co-worker was there with her family.  I chatted with them for a bit.  Another person came in that I didn’t recognize.  Maybe he was new or worked for the other business that shared the suite.  He brought a couple of other people, including his beautiful blonde girlfriend.  She had a Southern accent and was very chatty.  In fact, dad chatted her up a bit out on the balcony.   

There was a small balcony outside.  The inside of the suite is actually fairly well sound-proofed from the track noise, but you want to be outside, because the sound is half the show.    

There is also a deck on top and there are even chairs inside the suite that you can take up there.  If it’s nice out, as it was tonight, this would also be a good viewing option.  This picture was well before the races started.  There was a great crowd at the race.    

 

We went back to the Concessions for food, which is sort of pictured here.  Dad got a hot dog and fries.  Gerald got wings.  I got a chili dog with waffle fries.  It was $27 altogether.  Later, I went back for dessert.  I thought I should get some ice cream for the chili.  (It wasn’t hot or spicy, but seemed appropriate.)  Instead, I took Toni’s advice and got a funnel cake. 

 

Okay, here’s where I stop being complimentary.  The chili dog was okay.  (I don’t like beans in my chili, but it didn’t ruin it for me.)  The fries were cold.  I’m assuming dad’s were cold, too.  Gerald liked his wings.  I’d never had funnel cake before and discovered I didn’t like it.  I’m also thinking this wasn’t an optimal presentation, since it was cold and crunchy, perhaps stale.  The powdered sugar on top made me instantly jittery.  I had a Dr. Pepper with the hot dog and washed down the funnel cake with a Minute Maid lemonade in a bottle, which I had a bad reaction to. 

 

Later at night, I had a bad case of heartburn, which I mostly never get.  I almost threw up at 3:00am, but instead got up a few hours later and it came out the other end for about 15 minutes.  I went back to bed exhausted.  I didn’t eat again until 6:00pm on Sunday.  It might have been the lemonade, which I sometimes have problems with.  It might have been a combination with the chili and the funnel cake.  It wasn’t food poisoning; it just wasn’t good and then I had a personal problem with it.  I’m sure there’s something else I can try on the menu there that’ll turn out better. 

 

Okay, let’s talk about the racing.  I’m not familiar with the racers or the categories, but guys and girls were out on track driving fast and hard and that’s what fans want.  The Winged Sprints were out on the track first.  They weren’t racing, but were kind of parading at reduced speed before the racing started.  That’s where I took this picture.  The picture at the top, I took during a race.  It came out about as I expected, a bunch of blurs, so that’s all I took during the races.  A talented young woman sang the Anthem before the races. 

 

The first on track were the Pure Stocks.  These cars looked like they were from the 80’s and were about in that good of shape.  The first heat had a #43 car in Petty Blue.  The leaders took each other out on the first lap.  One car was pulled off by a wrecker, while the driver shook his fist out of the window at his nemesis.

 

The second heat had a #95 Lightning McQueen-inspired car, but colored in blue, not red.  Another car was flying an American Flag out the back with a Minnie Mouse doll tacked to the side.  Another had a P-40 fighter paint scheme.  These cars were not too loud.  I didn’t even have my earplugs in. 

 

Next category were the Racing Trucks.  These were much better-looking vehicles.  The pretty blonde turned into a one-woman cheering section, so maybe she knew one of the drivers.  In heat #2, the winning truck led wire-to-wire, while smoking out the rear for the entire race.

 

I left to get dessert and missed the Winged Sprints.  What a mistake on my part.  They are definitely the loudest and probably the fastest.  (You will want earplugs for these cars.)  I would have stayed, if I’d realized they were up next.  The Legends category then came up.  They’re an odd look on track, like a bunch of old-timey vehicles.  They came droning by like a swarm of angry hornets.  An awesome pink and purple sunset came over the track as the Modified’s came out.  This was the largest category, which held four heat races.            

 

After the heat races, there was an intermission, where I should have gone to the Concessions, though I’m sure that’s when everyone else did.  The Pure Stocks came out first for their final.  I think there were 15 cars out on track.  Here you really get the full effect.  As the cars came around to take the green, you got the thunder.  Even without the sound, you could feel the field roaring by.    

 

This is where you also got the wrecks.  Lightning McQueen was leading, but hit the last place car and spun out.  The next set of leaders took each other out with one car going into the wall.  One car brought out the caution by going up in smoke.  A final wreck ended the race sort of anti-climactically.  The winner was announced, rather than crossing the finish line. 

 

The Modified’s had two finals.  I’m not sure if there was going to be another definitive final later.  The Trucks then had their finale.  This group sounded the most like NASCAR, though on a smaller scale.  (And now I realize what a thrill those races must be to attend.)  With 9 laps left, a truck blew up.  On the last lap, the leader was passed.  He then blew his engine and the truck caught on fire briefly.  The driver was okay, though.  After he got out, he tossed his hood off the truck. 

 

Unfortunately, this is where my commentary ends.  It was passed my dad and probably Gerald’s bedtime at 10:00pm.  I was told the races usually last until 11:00.  I really wanted to see the Winged Sprints race.  Too bad.  Another co-worker and her family were now in the suite.  I’d been out on the balcony for most of the time.  We left out of the full parking lot.  Leaving with everyone else out one exit is likely a mess.  

 

Overall, regular ticket prices are around $15 with deals for kids and seniors/military/students.  The facility and people working there are excellent.  The racing action is fun to watch and even just experience.  Dad was elated and Gerald enjoyed it a lot.  I don’t think either are big race fans.  The Concessions were questionable.  Maybe I caught them at a bad time and they’re usually better.  The hot dog was definitely a step up from a stale Aggie hot dog, but well below Chihuahuas’ concessions.

 

Dad announced wanting to go back while he was at the race, so we’ll probably be back sometime.  I’d definitely recommend this venue to anybody.         

Memorial Day-Vacation Sports Journal 2014 Part 4

Sunday Continued

Off-Road Truck Race

Strangely, there was still racing to be watched, namely a CORR night race.  Why was this scheduled opposite the Indy 500?  I can’t even imagine the thinking or lack thereof.  Good for me though. 

Race one featured a massive crash and flip before even the first turn.  The driver had to be helped out and taken away by ambulance.  There were plenty of other hard crashes too.  Since it was at night, there were some great shots of the glowing underside of the trucks while they were jumping.

In the second race, a truck hit a dirt mound by the side of the track, barrel-rolled across the track, and had a cabin fire.  Thankfully, it was mostly confined to the passenger side and the driver was taken out and the ambulance had to make another trip.  I don’t know if the nighttime conditions were causing more wrecks, but somebody might want to look into it.  Pretty exciting races anyway.

What may have excited most viewers more was a commercial during the broadcast for CBS Thursday Night Football.  They called it a partnership with the NFL Network.  I’d call it more of a white flag of surrender.  The NFL Network was never a good idea begin with. 

Baseball

The Texas Rangers played another matinee against the Detroit Tigers, this time with Justin Verlander on the mound.  Eric Nadel was cryptically out today for personal reasons.  As much as I love Matt Hicks (and he had some great play calls on Saturday), we all become nervous when the Voice of the Rangers is absent.  It wasn’t Verlander’s day as he gave up 9 runs by the 6^th inning before he was removed.  The final score was 12-4 Rangers.  Take your time getting back, Prince.  During the game, it was reported that Josh Beckett of the Dodgers pitched a no-hitter against the Phillies.  In spite of my current Dodger hatred, I was impressed.

Between the NASCAR pre-race and an emergency trip to Sears to help my dad buy a new microwave (trust me, I was not in a fit mood to go out in public today), I missed about half of the El Paso Chihuahua’s game, but apparently not the interesting half.  There was no score through four, but from there, the lead changed hands several times. 

The dogs came back from losing the lead to a grand slam and another time after the Rainiers batted around.  Finally in the 9^th, down a run and down to their last out, they’d drive in three runs and take the lead for good.  Final 14-12 Dogs.  I can’t help but think that the double-header yesterday somehow depleted both teams, if not in pitching, then in fatigue.

I feel bad for the Tacoma fans.  It was a four hour game in an off and on light rain.  The players were playing in the mud, which probably thrilled the grounds crew.  The PA there kept playing the Imperial March, but I couldn’t quite figure out why.  I head WGN playing it when the Yankees were in town playing the Cubs; I get that.  More important than this win, I think Tim mentioned that the Chihuahua’s hat won the minor league hat competition.  A triumph of marketing over any common sense. 

NASCAR

It’s the Coca-Cola 600, where Foxsports attempts to jam 600 commercials into a six-hour broadcast.  (I shouldn’t joke.  That’s almost happened.)  At least the broadcast started well with a display by the Marine Silent Drill Platoon, those guys who flip rifles at each other.  Very impressive. 

The end of the Indy 500 was apparently pretty exciting, which makes me feel wonderful.  American Ryan Hunter-Reay won, fine young man.  Kurt Busch arrived at Charlotte Motor Speedway via helicopter, fresh off his sixth place finish in Indy.  That’s pretty awesome for a guy who’d never raced a lap of competition in Indycar.  I’m waiting for someone to do “The Triple,” and add in Monaco.  It’ll never happen, if for no other reason than you’d need the Concord back in service and a direct flight from Monaco to Indianapolis.  Juan Pablo Montoya has driven and won in all three types of cars, though.  Just speculating.    

Kurt Busch would come up a couple hundred miles short as his engine blew about ¾ of the way through the race.  He was still pretty upbeat afterward.  Danica ran up front early, went down two laps, got dinged in a wreck, then blew up.  I know, who cares?  Junior had a cool Superman image on the hood, but problems underneath the hood took him out of the running for the win, but was still running at the end.  Jeff Gordon guts out a bad back to finish 7^th.

My favorite paint scheme was Logano’s Pennzoil car in an eye-catching green, yellow, and grey.  More than half the field was not on the lead lap by halfway.  13 cars were on the lead lap at the end.  Jimmie Johnson, class of the field from the beginning, closed it out for his first win of the year, punching his ticket to the Chase.  But the most important question is: Who was that hot Sprint Cup girl in Victory Lane?

Hello, Juliana White!

In spite of some great sports entertainment today, I still feel terribly cheated.  I wonder if I’m going to get ABC back for viewing.  The black screen wasn’t the IRL’s fault, but I can’t watch any of their races for the rest of the year, even if the station comes back.  Between not getting any sleep the night before, waking up super early, constantly doing and watching stuff, I swear that Sunday never showed up.  It was all one contiguous 48-hour Saturday.

Memorial Day-Vacation Sports Journal 2014 Part 2

Saturday

Today’s meal: A Digiorno rising crust pepperoni pizza from my oven.  Honestly, it probably beats pizzas from most pizza shops.  Recommended.

Gobal Rallycross

“Who?” you’re asking.  I think saw one of their races once before, perhaps last year, or maybe it was a different rally series.  It was on a different network.  Whatever.  It’s on.  This is the weekend for motorsports.

The series consists of little, up-armored compact cars racing around an asphalt and dirt track in heat races.  They use standing starts, which the cars didn’t have any trouble with.  (Ahem, Indycar.  Consider taking some notes.)  The track they were at was in Barbados and featured one jump.  The rules allow the cars to a take a “Joker” lap, which lets them to bypass the jump once during the race. 

How was the action?  Pretty darn good.  One of the heats featured a car flying too far on the jump that caused his passenger side door to fly off.  The main event started with one car sent flying into another car after hitting a high curb.  The car rolled and flipped on its back, spurting oil like a geyser.  For the rest of the race, you had cars going sideways and then some around the corners as they banged off one another.  The crowd there went nuts watching.   

Scott Speed, yes that F1/NASCAR washout, won the event easily, with what the commentators were saying was a possibly broken car.  I recognized a couple other names in field.  Speed was racing for an Andretti team, so it has some participation by a well-known organization.  F1 driver, Lewis Hamilton and his F1 car, were there for a short exhibition race with one of the rally cars.  I’m not sure when this event actually took place, but I’d think Lewis would have some business in Monaco to attend to this weekend.  The expense of sending him and that car over must have been enormous for a publicity stunt.  Red Bull may be putting up some big money for this series.

In addition to commercials for the F1 race tomorrow, NBC was also advertising for a special on Kurt Busch as he attempts “The Double.”  There was also an ad for NASCAR on NBC, coming summer 2015.  I think they’re excited to have them coming back.

NASCAR

I didn’t bother reiterating by ban on watching Nationwide races as I sat down for the race.  How to describe what happened next?  I was receiving clear audio over the air for the local EL Paso ABC affiliate KVIA, but no video.  The other three digital stations that come in on Channel 7 were fine.  It was working fine earlier this week.  Unlike most of my problems, this one did not seem like a personal one, but rather one with the station.  Needless to say, I didn’t “watch” the race (or bother listening, I’m not that desperate for racing action).  I have some grim foreboding about tomorrow’s Indy 500.

Baseball

The Tigers played the Rangers Saturday afternoon wearing throwback Negro League Jerseys.  Likely this choice was made when they thought this would be a nationally broadcast game on Fox, which it wasn’t.  There wasn’t a lot of suspense in this game as the Rangers won 12-2.  I still haven’t heard the result of Prince Fielder’s injury, whether he’ll be out for the season or not.  They didn’t miss him today.  Of note, I think the Rangers had three triples in the game.  There were three challenges, all successful, two for the Tigers, one for the Rangers.  I’m forced to admit that all three were rather quickly done.

Fox finally decided to broadcast a national game Saturday night.  When I saw the lineup, I said, “Oh God, no!”  To have to wait two months into the season to finally get to watch an entire ball game on TV and then be subjected to an Angel’s game, was too cruel.  Somewhere, the Baseball Gods took pity, or weren’t paying attention.  We got the Cardinals vs. the Reds.  Whew!

Fox seems to have ended their association with the MLB Network.  The pre-game was in the Fox studios and all of the announcers were Fox.  This may be because the networks are now broadcasting national games against one another.  Veteran play-by-play and Reds’ announcer Thom Brennaman was joined by the rookie color debut of Gabe Kapler.  There was a highly unwarranted complimentary career reel for Kapler, who in my mind was one of the most over-hyped, underperforming ballplayers of his era.  In front of the microphone, I thought he was pretty good, though he was talking way too fast.  Keep the enthusiasm, but slow down the delivery.  Cardinals 6-3 with some 9^th inning drama. 

The El Paso Chihuahuas had a double-header versus Rainiers in Tacoma.  Though both games were seven innings, they started too late for me to even hear the results of one of them.  I was pleased to finally have confirmation of Rule 4.10 (a), which allows for seven inning games for double-headers.

Sports Journal 2-3-14

The Broncos lost because they were wearing their old orange tops.  The franchise lost four Superbowls in those colors and didn’t win until they changed them, as part of their threat to leave Denver if the city didn’t build them a new stadium.  I don’t have any more detailed analysis than that, I wasn’t really watching.  (Translation: I didn’t have any money on it.)  Of course, even Seahawk fans weren’t watching by the end.  They were out scoring more pot for their victory celebration.  Broncos fans were doing the same, but to console themselves.  The rest of the country just had to settle for getting drunk. 

The NFL and various media outlets have been congratulating themselves on putting on a great “event,” much like how Mother Nature congratulates herself after a hurricane and other such disasters.  Now, now, the NFL can’t engineer a great game (wink, wink) or pre-determine an outcome (rolls eyes), they can only set the stage. . . so that a 9-11 Truther could crash it during the MVP presentation.  I’m sure that wasn’t planned.  (You can either read sarcasm or criticism into that statement.)  Speaking of Mother Nature, I would have watched the Frostbite Bowl if that had happened.  Much like the Broncos however, she didn’t show up either. 

I’d like to issue special congratulations to Seattle coach, Pete Carroll.  This man lead USC to a National Championship.  Then when allegations of NCAA rules infractions came up, he bolted to the NFL.  USC got hit with sanctions and was stripped of their title.  Pete then goes on to lead the Seahawks to a Superbowl.  It’s like a fairy tale.

Fox clearly made a mistake in assuming the game would carry the night for them.  Usually networks put on a special episode or heavily promote the premier of a new show immediately following afterward, just to keep the audience around in case the game sucked.  I was pleased that things finished up before Dowton Abbey came on.  Thank goodness the hockey game was good that morning, so at least I got to see some athletic competition.        

In other sports news this weekend, I wasn’t sure what to expect from the “Red Bull Frozen Rush” race.  Red Bull used to produce an energy drink.  Now, I think they just sponsor extreme sports and stunts.  Someday we can look forward to the Red Bull Extreme Olympics where every event will have high speed and sub-orbital drops added to them.  (I’m not sure if I’m being sarcastic or not.  I loathe the Olympics.  Anything might improve them as far as I’m concerned.) 

In this case, the sport/stunt featured off-road racing trucks running a downhill ski slope in the snow.  There was a jump, hard, sliding turns, and even a slalom through a set of gates.  Novel.  Certainly the event gained instant credibility with me by inviting a bunch of good drivers from the CORR series. 

The race format had more in common with rally racing than a typical short course off-road race.  One car was released, then another several seconds later.  The best time moves on to the next round.  It’s unfortunate that the trucks couldn’t race against each other directly.  The large rooster tails of snow made things a little too extreme for that apparently.  It seemed unnecessary distraction for the audience to have two trucks on track at the same time on a split screen, like they thought it wasn’t interesting enough with just one truck. 

Given that only one of the drivers had any experience racing in the snow, they did a pretty good job.  Some of them seemed a little cold, but they were all having a good time.  A couple of them made sure to thank the fans there for standing out in the cold to watch them.  The spiked tires held the trucks to the course, even at high speed, though they did unexpectedly shred the fenders after jumps.

NBC Sports didn’t seem to have much confidence in this first time event.  One, it was on during the Superbowl pre-game.  Granted it’s a horrible, unbearably long show that can be safely ignored (especially after two weeks of hype), but presumably it dominates the ratings anyway.  Two, the amount of padding between heat races was as extreme as the racing.  Then the commercial breaks became almost NASCAR-ish in constant irritation. 

A very British and out-of-place sounding Leigh Diffey worked the race call with a more familiar to truck racing, Cameron Steele.  The lack of F1 cars did not seem to faze Diffey at all though.  Of course the highlight of the race for me was (wait for it), yes, lots of Kelli Stavast talking to the heat winners.  She looked so cute bundled up and was clearly having a good time too. 

Overall, the format needs some twerking.  No, not twerking, tweaking!  What was I thinking there?  The winner was decided on a penalty, rather than just racing.  (Though so was the last CORR championship race.)  However, it was pretty good.  Let’s do it again sometime.  

Sports Journal 9-28-13

I promised myself I wouldn’t cry.  Not so much from events on the field, or the end of the baseball regular season (and thus my regular viewing), but because there’s so much to write about.

Well, even though they’ve been eliminated from the post-season, the Yankees still manage to grab the headlines.  I’ll admit that even I was moved by Rivera’s tears when he was removed from his last game in Yankee Stadium by Pettitte and Jeter.  I thought last week was his final appearance there.  This goodbye has gone on long enough.  Hopefully Mariano can fulfill his dream against the Astros and Girardi will let him play Centerfield.  Nice going MLB, pitting the Yankees against the Astros in their final series of the year.  Trying to help them out a little?  Too bad these cupcake games won’t matter this year.

Todd Helton had a nice exit from the Rockies at their final home game this week.  He got a home run, a double, and a horse as a retirement present.  Even some of the Red Sox, their opponents that night, came over and congratulated him after the game.  Classy. 

From that, we segue to the Dodgers for a startling contrast.  Their questionable pool party last week in Phoenix at Chase Field was made beyond doubt in bad taste as it was revealed that several players had relieved themselves in it.  I thought they brought in Michael Young, participant at the party, to add some character to the team, but instead he’s been corrupted by them.  It’s all going to end in tears for the Dodgers, mostly management and their wasted money.  Meanwhile, there was yet another incident of fan violence brought on by the Dodger-Giant rivalry, this time in San Francisco.  Maybe these guys should be playing at a neutral site.

In further poor sporting news, the Braves got into a plunking contest with the Brewers.  This isn’t the first one the Braves have gotten into this season.  The more thin skinned the Braves get about being shown up after a homer, the more teams are going to do it to them to get under said thin skin.  This is all happening because Chipper isn’t there.

Back to the Astros, they made the Drudge Report this week for earning a 0.0 TV rating for a game.  Earlier this month, I read that Astros were number one in one good category, moneymaking.  They are the most profitable team in the MLB thanks to their low payroll and, ironically, their TV deal. 

I heard one pitch of the Ranger-Angel game Thursday night.  I flipped on the radio as soon as I got home, since I’d noticed that the game was in the 8^th when I’d left work.  Eric Nadel was resetting the tie-game situation with Jurickson Profar at the plate, and the pitch, and it was over on a walk-off home run.  Timing is everything. 

Today’s game was moved into the morning by the threat of impending weather.   My local radio affiliate didn’t get the memo and didn’t bother broadcasting it.  I was anxiously keeping up with score during Fox’s TV broadcast of the Pirates-Reds game.  There in the 9^th, in a pouring rain, Nathan closed out the victory.  Very dramatic-looking.  However, both teams were wearing essentially the same uniform, the same shade of red tops and hats.  I have to blame the Rangers for this sports fashion faux pas.  They’ve got a white top and a blue top, after all.

Also during the game, the Rays lost again to the Blue Jays.  I saw a little of last night’s loss, including that groundball error that went to the Centerfield fence, but the batter got thrown out at home trying for an inside the park home run.  If only the Rays could play the Yankees more for a few more easy victories.  They’re the only team I’ve ever seen, totally unintimidated by Yankee stadium.  I think the Rays are used to not having any home games against the Yankees, as Yankee fans populate their own stadium in their match ups.  (At least fans of the opposing team in the area go to their games.) 

The National League playoffs were set finally by the Pirates winning in Cincinnati, all but playing home run derby against them.  Given that the Reds haven’t won a single playoff game in their new stadium in several opportunities, they may look forward to playing in Pittsburgh.  Good to see former Yankees, AJ Burnett and Russell Martin, being integral to the team.  Remember the good old days when it was the Yankees who used loser teams to develop their future great players? 

Contract talk came up during the coverage.  Hunter Pence is apparently getting a new $90 million one from the Giants.  Unless he’s got some new motivational speech material that will guarantee the team another World Series, I think this was a bad deal.  It’s one thing that the Giants didn’t make any moves last off season, but paying a premium for the same players that came in last place this year is a horrible strategy.  With these kind of contracts for questionable talent, I have to wonder if even the Yankees, Red Sox, and Dodgers will be able to afford to try to buy championships in the future.

Former Giant, Brian Wilson, seems to be quickly burning through all of his fan goodwill and therefore fits right in with the rest of the Dodgers.  He caused an on-field scene in San Francisco, coming over and yelling at the Giants’ owner in his box.  Wilson wants his 2012 championship ring.  The team claims they’ve been trying to give it to him all year, but he’s refused it.  Apparently he wanted a little ceremony on the field with it.  Brian, given your contribution to the 2012 team, you’re lucky they’re not presenting you with a bill for that nice seat in the dugout you occupied all year.

Switching gears, err, sports, I caught a very cool Off-Road truck race during the baseball game.  (Yes, I flip around.)  I don’t think I’d seen this track before in Reno.  It was set up like a roller coaster with dramatic elevation changes, along with the usual jumps and sharp turns.  I wonder if Laguna Seca’s Corkscrew turn was an inspiration to the track builders.  The action on-track was fast and furious, as the coverage couldn’t hardly keep with the hard racing, crashes, flips, and barrel rolls. 

Between this and that Rallycross race last week, I’m concerned about the long-term future of NASCAR.  Not that either of these off-road series are any threat in their current form, but certainly the format is.  The racing is more exciting, the tracks are unique, I recognize their drivers, and, most importantly, they only break for commercial during cautions and between heats.  There’s no reason the viewer at home should be penalized and not be able to see all of the on-track action at a race.

Sports Journal 9-22-13

You know, this long baseball season is a grind on bloggers too.  I am worn out with this.  I wasn’t even going to write anything this week, but darned if a few interesting things didn’t happen while I was watching.  I’m not sure how much of the playoffs I’ll be watching.  My usual World Series vacation has been preempted this year, so I’ll have to catches glimpses of it at work.  In other words, my sports blogging is probably winding down for the year.  (You don’t want me doing football coverage.  Really you don’t.) 

Saturday started with the at least novel matchup of the Yankees and Giants.  The game had some slim playoff interest for the Yankees, who won it 6-0.  The Giants, well, they were in attendance.  The crowd was fairly listless, along with the broadcast coverage from Matt Vasgersian and Tim McCarver.  I’m really hoping Tim takes Joe Buck into baseball coverage retirement with him.  During the coverage, this was the first time I’ve heard the Giant’s terrible season blamed on the World Baseball Classic, which many of their players participated in.  I don’t know enough to comment.  I’m just completely shell-shocked at this point by their performance.    

The Cubs 3-1 win over the Braves was a nice close game, but the coverage actually made it a good watch.  Len and JD had a couple of good guests and kept things moving well, even if there wasn’t a lot of action on the field.  Actor, David Cross, performed a Hall of Shame caliber rendition of Take Me Out to the Ballgame, actually apologizing to the crowd afterward.  The crowd did get to sing the victory song after the game.  My favorite moment was a singing Cubs fan holding his hand over the mouth of a dejected Braves fan.   

In the Sunday rubber game rematch, the Braves would win 5-2.  During the game, the Marlins beat the Nationals, thereby clinching the division for the Braves.  The many Braves fans in attendance started doing a low-key Tomahawk chop, while the team had a round of congratulations in the dugout.  After winning, they spilled out on the field in a more exuberant celebration. 

The highlight of the game for me was a rules question involving interference during a steal attempt.  Len and the ump had it right, but JD went to the rulebook anyway to look it up.  After about five minutes, they found it and read it.  I was terribly grateful that I wouldn’t have to look it up myself first thing when I got home.  (Yes, I really do think about those things.)  Anthem singer, Wayne Messmer, performed the 7^th inning stretch.  Of course, he belted it out.  I think this scheduling was making up for Saturday’s performance (which they re-showed).  Late in this game was also the first appearance this season of Loud Drunken Heckler Next to a Field Mic.  I wonder where he’s been all year?

In other baseball news, dad told me that the new El Paso Triple A stadium was going another $10 million over budget.  I think I remember them announcing that they were $10 million over in the first week of construction.  This is an additional $10 million.  This is going to turn out well.  I can feel it. 

Ogando and Shields went seven scoreless innings in the Ranger-Royal game today.  The scoreless tie was broken in the 10^th by the Royals with grand slam home run.  I’d feel better about this if I really thought the Royals were going to get into the playoffs.  There was a delay for a bee swarm in Anaheim.  This was followed by a plague of locusts, a rain of frogs, and the smiting of the Angel players’ firstborn.

Mariano Rivera and Andy Pettitte made their final Yankee Stadium appearances in a 2-1 loss to the Giants, who couldn’t even lose correctly this year and give these guys a pleasant sendoff.  (Yes, I’m discounting the possibility of the Yankees going to the post-season.  They couldn’t even sweep the Giants.)  I’m not getting into the “Should Pettitte make it into the Hall of Fame” debate.  All I’ll say is, if there’s a question about somebody getting in, that’s your answer.  Rivera is a great pitcher and a great guy, and thank God this season-long tribute is going to finally coming to an end.   

I had my first experience with the Global Rallycross series on Sunday afternoon, during and after the Cubs game (yes, I saw the Cowboys win, yea team).  I’d never heard of this series before.  Essentially it was World Rally type cars running a race like an off-road truck series.  Races were run in a series of short heats.  I like this format in that it keeps commercial breaks confined to times when they weren’t actually racing.  I kind of wish NASCAR would try this format in Nationwide and Cup, like they did at the truck race in Eldora. 

I recognized several drivers, including the winner Scott Speed, Travis Pastrana, and Brian Deegan (from the off-road truck series).  They didn’t seem to cover the cars well, but I saw a Fiesta, a Subaru, a Dart, an Escort (maybe, it was definitely a Ford), and even a Mini (an extended model). 

Even with the short races, it was an endurance contest.  The dirt and asphalt was chewing up and spitting out the cars.  The competitors themselves virtually finished off the field with close, hard racing.  The cars were four wheels, a roll cage, and a bunch of duct tape by the final race.  One guy was actually driving around on three wheels, holding on to fourth place in that race.  I’d like to see more of this, but without the distraction of watching a baseball game at the same time.  Definitely wouldn’t mind seeing more of the three cute girls who were working the coverage.  (No Kelli Stavast though.  Sigh.)   

Memorial Day Weekend Sports Journal Part 1

Saturday, 5-25-13

Welcome to Sports-a-poolza 2013. Here I will document my shameful lack of useful activity over this three-day weekend by doing nothing but watching baseball and racing. (I’ll only be watching the NBA if Lebron James’ mom holds me hostage and makes me.) Yes, I’ve got several more productive things I could be doing, like putting together this Oriental Setting I’ve been working on. I’m sure I’ll rue this colossal waste of time about three weeks from now, when I run out of prepared RPG game material. But for now, it’s all about sports indulgence.

We’re already off to a good start. After work Friday night, I saw a few glamorously claustrophobic minutes of the F1 practice in Monaco. Then listened to the Rangers easily best the Mariners, at least until the M’s made a game of it in the 9th and Nathan had to come in and save it. A win nonetheless.

First up this weekend is a round of the Lucas Oil Off Road Racing series. It features a bunch of trucks with really good shock absorbers racing around an over-sized dirt bike track. I don’t write about these guys, but pound for pound (or RPM for RPM) it’s probably the most entertaining racing out there. You’ve got trucks on a dirt track, racing close and hard, hitting each other, making big jumps, drifting through turns, and occasionally flipping and rolling. The racing is competitive and the drivers have strong personalities. The races are short and keep your interest and generally aren’t constantly interrupted by commercial breaks (unlike some other series).

They only seem to race once a month, so that’s likely why they fly under the radar. CBS seems committed to them (though on delay), so somebody other than me is watching. My main complaint about the coverage is the loss of Keli Snyder as a pit reporter. Just getting a couple of glimpses of her was worth turning in for. (Don’t tell Kelli Stavast about this.)

And as sure as I sit here praising off-road racing, the races today sucked. I’ll blame the Las Vegas track for this, though I’m hardly an authoritative expert. This was just a palette cleanser anyway.

Well, I’ve got a half-hour until the ballgame. Let’s watch that really important UEFA Champions League final match. Okay, what I’m seeing here is a bunch of guys jogging around a field kicking a ball. The crowd at Wembly Stadium is engaging in nonsensical cheering and incoherent chanting. It’s like a Nazi rally without the parade. I’ll say one nice thing about soccer, at least it’s commercial-free during the match, unlike some other sports.

And speaking of those other sports, I’m saved. There’s a NASCAR Nationwide race on. Wait, didn’t I swear that I was going to stop watching Nationwide racing? Well, this is an emergency. The cars are better looking than the Cup series anyway.

They’re in Charlotte, and there’s a bunch of Cup drivers in the field and . . . Yawn. Oops, nodded off. Oh, it’s lap 6. Commercial. Flip. Still nil-nil in the championship match. Flip. Still driving around in circles under green. Commercial. Flip. Still nil-nil. And I’m going mad. Oh thank God, time for baseball! (And never do that again.)

“The most important things in life are good friends and a good bullpen. Not necessarily in that order.” Good advice from Reds’ manager Dusty Baker. Welcome to Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati with the Cubs and the Reds getting ready to play.

Wait, I have to relate this story from the newspaper first. Marlins pitcher, Alex Sanabia didn’t know that spitballs were illegal in the game. Yeah, that’s right. You’ve got to use Vaseline like everybody else. Oh, Bayern Munich and Kyle Busch “won,” for whatever that’s worth. Whatever.

What did we learn during the Reds-Cubs game? The Reds were founding members of the National League in the 1870’s, but were kicked out for selling beer on Sundays in the 1880’s. They were later brought back in in the 1890’s however. It was that kind of game. Len and JD were having a good time calling the game, but the crowd was generally listless, perhaps owing to Reds pitcher Homer Bailey’s excruciatingly deliberate delivery.

We did have the amazing mystery of the foul ball man. A ball boy caught a foul grounder and flipped it to a fan standing nearby. The fan then took the ball and started walking up the grandstand steps. And kept walking. The camera continued to follow his progress as Bailey was in no hurry to continue the game between pitches. “Is he taking his ball and going home?” asked Len and JD. Finally at the top, near the concourse, he found his seat and gave the ball to probably his wife. The burning question is how long was he down there waiting? Or, was he just really fortunate?

Three and a half hours later, the Reds won 5-3. The crowd didn’t get into it until the 9th with two outs, after Aroldis Chapman threw a 100-mph pitch at Scott Hairston’s head. Hairston also had words with the ump, who called him out on a couple of questionable pitches. Who could blame the ump for wanting to finally end the game?

Noooo! The Fox regional game for me is the A’s vs. the Astros. Come on! I wanted to see that Dodger-Cardinal game, not this zero-interest match up. I’m very disappointed, and I’m sure I’m not the only one (my dad for example).

So here we are in Houston. Yeah, there’s that train on the outfield wall. Those short, pull-happy fair poles down the lines. That hill in the outfield, instead of a wall, with the flagpole in the field of play. And there are the Astros, wearing the worst shade of orange possible. For 40 minutes in the top of the 2nd, the A’s proceed to take batting practice. The pitching coach went out, and I can imagine how that went. “Now, now son. It’s a learning experience. You keep your composure out here and someday you’ll make it onto a Major League team.”

In more interesting baseball news, the Giants beat the Rockies on a Run-off inside-the-park home run in extra innings by Angel Pagan. Cool.

The crowd in Houston is actually more involved and vocal than the Cincy crowd. Yes, they’re rooting for the Astros, and the Cincinnati crowd was a full house. I like Bo Porter and Reid Ryan running the Astros. They gave good, upbeat interviews. Nice night for Matt Dominguez with three homers. Certainly I really liked that hot, busty blonde behind home plate. I think the Astros have some real positives to build on. For now though, they lost 11-5 in another three and half hour game. Props with Mitch Williams and Rich Waltz for doing their best calling a game with very little to work with.

I have immediately joined the Ranger-Mariner game on the radio, already in progress. Matt Hicks is relating an interesting tale about getting hit by foul balls while broadcasting. Once in the back of the head by a ricochet after ducking to avoid the ball, and another while in El Paso, getting hit inside the press box in the ribs. He went down the next day and got the ball signed by the player.

Felix Hernandez was strangely not the story tonight and got lifted half way through the game. The Rangers scored some runs and won 5-2. I hope that wasn’t too detailed for you. My reception for most of the game was actually pretty bad, thus limiting my comprehension of it. At least this game only went three hours and 15 minutes.

And so ends day one of my three-day weekend. I’m exhausted. Tomorrow’s sports schedule is actually busier. This may not have been a brilliant idea.

Continued.