Not surprisingly, especially with Pastor
Maldonado having taken his preferred seat for 2014, Nico Hulkenberg has
re-signed with Force India and now awaits the confirmation of his teammate,
which likely should see the services of 'Checka, nee Sergio Perez being inked
to drive alongside the impressive German...
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Race Of Champions Cancelled
Read about this late Monday in The Guardian
which noted that this year's Race Of Champions (ROC) in Bangkok was cancelled
due to the current political unrest in the city, of which at least four people
have been killed to date...
The Tomaso Files: Colts Pigskin game Overshadows IndyCar racing in City of Speed...
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Lucas
Oil Stadium - site of the mighty Seattle Seahawks lone loss this season vs. the
Indianapolis Colts. View of the north side of the stadium where the giant
window under the Lucas Oil sign opens up so you can see a great view of
Downtown Indianapolis. (DOB)
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By now, if Y'all have been readin' along?
Then you're well aware of the fact that your humble No Fenders scribe recently
jetted off to the City 'O Speed to celebrate his "Born-on Date," not
to be 'Cornfuzed with my hometown known formerly as thee Jet City... As that's
the best I can come up with for Indianapolis which after all is the home of
Mother Speedway...
Thus after this weekend's gorging of some 'lil
Pigskin games, I thought it high time to roll out this vintage Tomaso Files
story fermentin' in the vats of oak barrels at Tomaso Manor... Not even having
dipped into the proverbial Eggnog, yet; Hya!
As I also found it funny that perhaps our
paths crossed virtually somewheres above 36,000-feet? As I was flying east, as
it turned out WAY east of Indianapolis, having my connecting flight in Newark,
New Jersey's Liberty Airport where
ironically my second jet, an Embrarer 170 was arriving from Austin, Texas...
Where I'd be flying next; meanwhile thee
OLDEST IndyCar Blogger Geo. Phillips was winging his way towards Fontana from
Nashville...
And as 'Ol Kurty Cavin said on Trackside back
then; EVERYBODY KNEW ABOUT THE GAME! As I still find it hilarious that I'd magically
managed to book my Holiday for the same weekend that Indy's revered son
"Pay-ton" (Manning) was making his first return in an opposing team's
football jersey during America's Night 'O Football; SPEW!
As I'd hoped to go 'N watch that Oh So
Riveting IndyCar season finale from Fontana at McGilvery's but instead settled
for the quiet tranquility of Carpets Manor, which was far less crowded, had way
shorter bathroom lines and the air was far fresher than the smoke laden
McGilvery's, as Psst Indiana, wake up an PASS the NO Smoking in Bars law already! I mean
CRAP! If Ireland can go smokeless than certainly you can too, right?
As I'd also failed to take in the
significance of being on east coast time which Carpets, or is it Car Parts as
Don Kay so cleverly interjected? Likes to constantly remind me about and hence
the IndyCar race didn't Flippin' start until nearly 9PM due to the setting
sun's inconvenience; WTF?
And we didn't stagger off to bed 'til 12
FREAKIN' 40AM! As really IndyCar? Y'all expect the "Casual Fan" to
stay up past midnight to watch a motor race; Uhm? did somebody say TV Ratings?
Oh Never Mind! as I'll save my angst towards IndyCar and more specifically Mark
"I've Got A Plan" Miles for a future post, but suffice it to say, I'm
NOT impressed one iota with the new schedule and the direction of IndyCar per
sei...
Yet then again, Sunday night's Game of A-L-L
Games didn't exactly end early either, yet I'm guessing the majority of Indiana
was glued to their 'Telie's, right? As I'd even broken out my one lone blue
T-Shirt for said occasion, as Carpets took us to the local Oliver winery in Bloomington for a nice Sunday
afternoon outing, as the sun was out and the temperatures pleasant as we
moseyed up to the tasting table.
As I always have a chuckle to myself whenever
partaking in any wine tasting outings ever since my first 'Juan in 'Der Fatherland
where I was invited to a Wine Probe; Ja Volt! As I find this vernacular overly
funny and akin to having been asked "Gas, No Gas?" In Italy... As in
fizzy water or plain, comprende?
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PLong ago postcard from Indianapolis Motor Speedway extolling
the virtues of the Brickyard 400 by proclaiming: Here come 43 of the Fastest
Stockcars on the Planet; Hya! (The Tomaso Collection)
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Then for entertainment Monday, whilst
awaiting thee B-I-G NIGT, aka Donald Kay's 'lil Radio Show at McGilveries, Dave
mentioned he'd been hankerin' to play the Roulette wheel at his local casino -
so off we went, where my overly keen 'Strats-uh-gee saw me go down in flames;
El Pronto! As Dave's Roulette wheel, which I've never played in my life had a
minimum bet of $5.00, hence I picked the
following numbers: 2, 9, 18, 20 and 27, which I'll let Y'all digest a
moment and see if Yuhs can figure out my logic & where the numbers came
from?
Yep, that's right, they're ALL IndyCar car
numbers, having picked A.J. Allmendinger, Scott Dixon, Justin 'B-I-G UNIT
Wilson, "FAST EDDIE" (Ed Carpenter) and thee Mayor 'O Hinchtown, aka
James Hinchcliffe.
And SHAZAMM! BOOM! BIFF! The number was 14;
CRAP! As I went again with the same results, witnessing ten 'Smackeroos ($10)
go POOF! In about two minutes, which is way too rich for my blood; as I'd
rather throw ten dollars away upon a movie, etc and hence, I just sat 'N
watched CARPETS do his majik and work his way up to $99; ironically a very
famous CART number, i.e.; the late, great Greg Moore's... Before cashing out at
Sammy "I CAN'T DRIVE 55!" Hagar's favourite number, walking away from
the table with "Double Nickels" ($55) in his pocket!
Then it was time to go to the Autosport Radio
Show, which I think I haven't been to a live airing of in some two-plus years
now? As it was an Ok show with two guests, as ironically I'd searched 'N
searched for my No. 67 Kyle O'Gara T-Shirt before leaving, but couldn't find
I-T; Oh 'Whale, eh?
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| North side of Lucas Oil Stadium. Picture of #98 All Pro Robert Mathis who relentlessly harassed Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson during the Hawks loss to the Colts. (DOB) |
As the first guest was a relative unknown to Mwah, after all being
an Out-of-Towner, I'd never heard of Greg Rakestraw's name or him on
Indianapolis's local radio airwaves, as naturally he had to talk about the
Colts... YUK! I thought this was supposed to be a Motorsports Show? Which I
suppose is kinda like Y'all asking isn't this supposed to be a racing blog, eh?
Next up was Kyle O'Gara, fresh off his second
ever Indy Lights outing, this time having actually completed the race, as he
confirmed what I'd surmised previously. That he'd gone for a conservative
set-up in order to actually finish the race and get some racing miles
underneath his belt after his early exit us at this year's Freedom 100. Y'all
can listen to the show by clicking Here.
And as I've also previously scribbled, I was
totally unawares that I should have been toasting tony Renna with the first of
my Adult Beverages that night in;
And although I swore I'd NEVER transit thru
Chicago's O'Hare airport after United Airlines FUCKED ME OVER! Stranding me
there for a RIDICULOUS 7HRS; SHEISA! When they escorted me to the WRONG gate in
the WRONG terminal on my way home from this year's Indy 500... Nevertheless,
guess where I was going?
And I've only ever experienced an aborted
takeoff once before, when our fully laden 757 decided to do so at SeaTac Airport
one evening many years ago. As I DON'T claim to be a Soothsayer of Aeroplane
takeoffs, but before we aborted - to which our pilot claimed they'd seem some
furry 'lil *squirrel) critters on the runway... I told myself we weren't going FAST enough!
thus, as my 'lil (American Eagle) Embrare 140
"Puddle Jumper" taxied out of Indianapolis and we prepared for
takeoff, the same feeling of "lack of speed" came across Mwah as we
aborted takeoff with the pilot saying they'd just had a minor alarm go off,
were recycling it and we'll go again. But NO dice, as we aborted our second
takeoff in-a-row, which I've never experienced before... With the pilot now
saying we'd need to go back to the gate and await maintenance as the passengers
behind me groaned about missing their connections.
And I found it funny for A-L-L of the
security we're forced to endure these Dazes that the pilots promptly popped the
flight deck door open and I could hear the pilot talking to the tower, maintenance,
bellyaching about missing his connection to Jamaica-Man, asking the Stewardess;
Err Flight Attendant to get him a diet RC, etc. As I swear I heard him say they
were only getting 64% thrust and that maintenance was gonna simply disable the
offending sensor instead of fixing I-T! To which the people behind me said that
doesn't sound good; CRIKEYS!
Yet for
Mwah, this unintended delay was great news since I originally had a
three hour layover in Chicago, and with our 90-minute delay, having to wait
upon airport assistance which was overly SLOW; BINGO! After my restroom stop I
only had a miniscule 25/30-minute wait 'til boarding my next flight home...
With my only complaint about this flight was that although my ticket said Food
for Sale, there WASN'T ANY food for
purchase available upon this 4hr-plus flight; GROAN!
But Phoenicia, my airport assistant at O'Hare
was extremely friendly, first taking me by the hand before loosely buckling me
into the wheelchair. Later on sez' tell her about parties in Seattle next time
I'm in airport... Sez O-L-D Folks talk your ears off nonstop... As I'm always
amazed how many people I rely upon to go from "Door-2-Door," aka
Check-in, $ecurity, Transfers, Baggage Claim, etc. As I loosely counted twelve
persons assisting me on the way home. (Excluding Shuttle Express reservations
agent & driver) As this time was funny since it was the first time ever
that the T$A worker at the metal detector refused to assist me thru I-T! As I
stuck my hand out as typical for him to guide me thru, but he wouldn't take my
hand...
And this concludes this ramble about the Joys 'O
Aeroplane traveling, which Y'all are probably either just returning from or
getting ready to do for Christmas, eh? So enjoy!
(DOB: Photos Courtesy
of No Fenders ‘Offical Photographer ‘CARPETS)
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