Echevarria & Earnhardt Jr. Go Dry

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

What do Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Gladys Echevarria have in common?

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 will be remembered as one that will be known where the "Gas Gauge" caused them to fall short of their Final Destinations.

As I was watching the 100th Indianapolis 500, I got a very interesting call from My Partner In Crime that she ran out of gas in our Jeep Liberty just as she entered the gate of her sisters condominium complex. She quickly called me and another friend, who had a gas can and we put $5 in to get them back home. Thankfully, I got back in time to watch the thrilling end to the Indianapolis 500.

But I warned her prior to going out that we needed gas, but that comment went in one ear and out the other. Then again, that always seems to happen with us and we're still crazily together driving each other nuts!! This time aside from listening me, her excuse was she simply was having a great time with her sister Aida Porter and niece Kathy Echevarria, but weren't laughing at the end. They were lucky that her niece's infant son was sleeping through all of this insanity.

When I told Gladys that I bought a gas can and the proper place for it is in the car and not the garage, again, she countered that there was no place for it in the Jeep, thus the next time she runs out of gas and I'm not readily available, good luck getting AAA, unless we become members in the near future.

What will stink more, a drop of gas in the can in the back of the Jeep or being stuck?

It's for Gladys to find out and me to laugh.

The one thing I do know about this woman is that every time that I confront her with a situation, she has a quick answer. I've told her this many times and I'll reveal this to my readers. When My father and brother once owned a large window company back in Michigan, Gladys would have easily have been one of the top five sales people. She overcomes objections brilliantly and would have made my dad and brother millions of dollars.

But on this Memorial Day Weekend, she Pitched and Missed when it came to giving me a good explanation that she wasn't warned about getting gas before she was stuck. In the end, the ladies did an outstanding job with the meal, and that was the most enjoyable $5 I've ever spent watching the Puerto Rican Pistol eat Humble Pie!!!

As for Earnhardt Jr., his story is far more depressing. He was out in front for the first time in 105 races, and the only thing standing in the way was the gas, or lack of it, in his tank.

He ran out of gas on the back stretch at the Charlotte Motor Speedway and as he tried to coast the rest of the way, Kevin Harvick blazed past him to steal the Coca-Cola 600, the longest and most demanding race of the NASCAR Season.

Earnhardt's blunder cost him points in the race for the NASCAR Playoffs, lots of money and he wound up finishing in seventh place. Earnhardt's last win was at Michigan in 2008.

But for the two E's, Echevarria and Earnhardt's in my eyes they will be connected on May 29 by the two G's, "Gas Gauge."

But life goes on for these individuals who know that they did entertain the people they came in contact with.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at http://www.scottsports33.com/

The Great American Disgrace

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

As I walked to the Media Shuttle after the Pro Bowl Game on February 1, 2010, I asked NFL Senior Vice President of Public Relations Greg Aiello why a sport would hold its Super Bowl at the beginning of the season as NASCAR does.

Aiello couldn't give me an answer but his facial expressions and body language indicated that he's pleased with the fact that his sport doesn't have to deal with that question.

There are two major things in the Sports World that boggle my mind.

First, unless Congress backs the NCAA into a corner, I doubt we'll ever see a legitimate playoff system in NCAA Division I College Football where the underdog has a chance to win the championship on the field as we do with March Madness.

Second, I don't have a problem with NASCAR holding an opening race at it's headquarters in Daytona Beach, FL, but not it's premier event. The opening race should be the Pepsi 400.

There are many reasons why I feel this way.

In February, the Sports Fan is hungover from football season with the climactic conclusion of the Super Bowl.

There are plenty of College Basketball games to choose from leading to March Madness. For Hockey fans, there is the NHL Game of the Week and around this time they have their All-Star Game with the exception of Olympic years. This year a crowd that exceeded 108,000 watched the NBA All-Star Game at Dallas Cowboys Stadium, the same day as this year's Daytona 500.

Football fans still have the NFL Scouting Combine leading up to the NFL Draft. Furthermore, while the transition from the Super Bowl to March Madness takes place, Spring Training is right around the corner.

No matter how many Auto Racing fans there are, it's hard to compete for viewership with everything that's going on.

The Indy Car Open Wheel Circuit doesn't do much right, but I do give them credit for showcasing their big race over Memorial Day Weekend.

If NASCAR was smart, the Daytona 500 "The Great American Race" should be held on July 4. What better way to celebrate our country's birthday than this way.

By setting up a scenario where you have the "Super Bowl of Stock Car Racing" at the beginning of the month, and the Brickyard 400 in Indianapolis at the end of July, that's a great bookend of "Pressure Packed Racing."

How neat would it be for a driver to win the Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 within four weeks? There have been 16 Brickyard 400's and the winner of this race has won the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship eight times.

If the 51-year old Daytona 500 were held during the summer, it would allow families to take their youngsters on a trip to see the "Great American Race" and even slip in a trip to nearby Walt Disney World in Orlando. I'm sure the folks at Disney would be thrilled that with Daytona International Speedway's 167,785 capacity, and Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, etc. would love to show their hospitality.

More importantly, a summer Daytona 500 would have the Television Stage all to itself with less competition. While the Daytona 500 is always exciting, by mid-summer, we'll know which drivers are going to be in contention in the championship chase.

Even though what I'm saying here will never happen, I still believe it's worth mentioning.

But as I think about things, I've been told to never say never.

So I'll say that I never thought I'd see the day when Major League Baseball would ever have inter-league play when it began in 1997. But in an effort to renew the public's interest in MLB following the 1994 player's strike, Commissioner Bud Selig had to do something to increase attendance and raise television ratings thus this was the obvious thing to do.

Baseball didn't want to mess with tradition and take away from the significance of the World Series. But MLB was smart enough that during its long season that by using the third week in May and all of June, this would keep fans attention by creating inter-city/regional rivalries, past World Series match-ups and getting a preview of what fans could see the following October.

Normally, I do watch the Daytona 500 but this year, I had no desire to watch two Super Bowls, albeit in two different sports, in back-to-back weeks.

I have a feeling that I'm not the only person that feels this way. I may have missed a race that featured a pot hole on the track that lasted over six hours and resulted in 1:44 in delays, but I do feel that the NASCAR's opening week's Super Bowl system is a pot-hole in itself. Like the track, the system needs to be repaved.

I know that NASCAR's ratings are down, so the sport should follow the lead of MLB and shake things up! I hope I've made my case now I welcome any debate from all of you readers.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com and his blog can be seen at www.scottsports33.com.

No Place Like The Brickyard

BY SCOTT MORGANROTH

When my good friend Dan Parsont came by to visit me Sunday, this native New Yorker knew that he would get an earful of stories from me because of the tremendous amount of memories that I've had attending three races, several practices and qualifying runs at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).

Even though New York City doesn't have a race, the Big Apple is host to the annual awards banquet.

I told Parsont that I've attended two Indy 500's and one Brickyard 400. I'll never forget the first time I went to the track in 1994. I maximized that experience as I drove six hours each way from Detroit to Indianapolis and spent an entire day walking the track and watching practice in preparation for the 75th running of the race.

The following two weeks, I went down for qualifying as Al Unser Jr. took the poll and on race weekend, my best friend George Eichorn and I saw Unser finish what he started by winning the race. Eichorn and I stayed about an hour away from the track because hotels were booked for the race. We had a chance to spend time downtown and watched the parade and saw an Indiana Pacers basketball game both on that Saturday.

Aside from Unser's success at Indy, I came away impressed with a Canadian rookie driver named Jacques Villeneuve, who finished second. The Brickyard is usually tough on young drivers but not this one.

In 1995, I spent four more weekends at Indy and on race weekend, my college buddy Stuart Bloom drove down from Minnesota for the race. We did find a place to stay near the race track and had a blast. In all my years of watching motor sports, I've never seen a driver have two years like Villeneuve. How do you top a second place finish the year before? You win the race and that's what he did.

My final race at Indy was when my ex-wife Susan and I went to see the Brickyard 400 in 1996. This was the third running of the event. Dale Jarrett won the race but the moment I remember the most was when Kyle Petty crashed into turn four, the ambulance attendants tripped on his pony tail and dropped him then had to put him back on the stretcher into the vehicle.

There will never be a shortage of stories at IMS. Then again, when a track has been open for 100 years, would there be?

I don't care what NASCAR fans will say about the tradition of racing in Daytona Beach.

There have been seven champions crowned after they won the Brickyard 400.

I've always found it interesting when Tony Stewart, John Andretti and Robby Gordon have made attempts to run the Indy 500 and the Coca Cola 600 in Charlotte on the same day.

This years Brickyard 400 saw plenty of former Indy 500 participants.

On Saturday, Max Papis failed to qualify for the race. But on Sunday, Tony Stewart finished third and has won this race twice. Juan Pablo Montoya led 116 laps but due to a speeding violation on pit road ended up losing the race to three time winner Jimmy Johnson. Robby Gordon finished 28th, John Andretti 32nd, and Sam Hornish Jr. finished 37th.

When Montoya was knocked out of contention to win this race and finished 11th, 19 year-old rookie Joey Logano, who replaced Stewart in the No. 20 car for Joe Gibbs finished 12th. I thought for sure Logano was going to get humbled by this 2.5 mile monster but he impressed me and proved me wrong.

As I watched this race, I was hoping that Jeff Gordon would win his fifth Brickyard 400 and if he didn't triumph that his teammate Mark Martin, who became the oldest pole winner for the event at 50, would prevail. Instead, he finished second.

But as I sat next to Parsont and asked him how many race tracks would be part of a golf course and have a couple holes, he just nodded his head and he seemed amazed at the venue.

Yet, Parsont and I talked about what event would be better to attend, an Indy 500 or a Kentucky Derby? We both agreed the Indy 500 because who would want to attend an event that lasts two minutes? I do hope that I can still see a Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs because it's still a great tradition but I'll always be partial towards the venue located at the corner of 16th and Georgetown.

While we'll never know whether the Indy Racing League will ever race at Daytona, I am confident that one day Danica Patrick will get her shot at the Brickyard 400. I've always admired Patrick's competitive spirit and she has engaged in a few shoving matches in her IRL career. But I do know one thing, Danica won't be shoving any of the NASCAR guys around and she does know that she'll be facing the best competition she's ever faced having to control a much heavier vehicle that she's not accustomed to handling.

No matter what event you attend at IMS which includes Formula One, anytime I see an overhead view of the facility, I do get chills down my spine and on this day, Parsont found that out. This is a spine that faced major back surgery on June 24th and figures to take as long as a year to fully heal.

Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com

May Is Ladies Month

     By Scott Morganroth

     This year's Preakness Stakes on May 16 showed me how little I know about Horse Racing. 

     I've always assumed that the winning  jockey of the Kentucky Derby would automatically race in the Preakness Stakes and go after the Triple Crown at the Belmont Stakes.

     Boy, was I wrong!

     Instead of riding Kentucky Derby Winner Mine That Bird, Jockey Calvin Borel chose to saddle up 1,095 pound filly Rachel Alexandra in the 134th Preakness Stakes, and for the 11th time in Horse Racing History, a filly won a Triple Crown race.

     Rachel Alexandra became the first filly to win the Preakness Stakes since 1924 and the first to win from the 13th position. For a days work, she earned a first prize payday of $660,000 from a gross purse of $1.1 Million.

     But for Horse Racing fans, the Triple Crown drought continues at 31 years. Affirmed was the last horse to win the Triple Crown in 1978. The only Triple Crown left is for Borel, who has not decided what horse he'll ride, on June 6 at the 1.5 mile Belmont Stakes.

     Mine That Bird is still an option for Borel but the Owners remain non committal about Rachel Alexandra's participation.

     On May 2, in the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, and Preakness, Mine That Bird started back in the pack and finished strong. Had the Preakness Stakes been a little longer, we could be looking at a Triple Crown accomplishment since Mine That Bird was a close second losing by a length in Baltimore.

     I believe that if Borel rides Mine That Bird at the Belmont Stakes, in Elmont, NY, then a genius cap would be the next attire for him to wear if he pulls off this unique Triple Crown.

     On Sunday May 24th, another female named Danica Patrick, who weighs 1/10 of Rachel Alexandra, was my sentimental favorite to win the 93rd Indianapolis 500.

     Patrick put on an outstanding performance by finishing third which was the best finish ever for a female driver at the Indy 500, in front of 250,000 fans in Indiana. As a rookie in 2005, Patrick finished the Indy 500 in fourth place.

     Even though Patrick didn't get to drink the milk in the winners circle, this young lady, who has led laps at the Indy 500 in the past, has turned out to be a great inspiration for her gender competing at the highest level in one of the most dangerous sports. 

     Last season, Patrick did win a race in Japan topping the guys but her performances at the historic Brickyard are something she can feel proud of and a building block for her career.

     So May Is Ladies Month and the theme is speed with gallant finishes along with dramatic & historical story lines.

     Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com 

     

Memorial Days Sports TV Viewer's Dream

     BY SCOTT MORGANROTH
     There are certain times of the year that are more exciting in sports than others.
During the holidays, there is the bowl season, NFL playoff races along with college basketball, the NHL and NBA.
     Who can forget the September pennant races leading to the World Series in October? I enjoy this time of the year because Major League Baseball jams its post-season into 30 days, therefore it gets everybody fired up about the World Series.
     March Madness drives this country into hysteria because a lot of people participate in office pools and have a favorite university to follow as we anticipate upsets from the underdogs defeating the bigger schools in the 65-team NCAA Tournament.
     But the time of the year which is the most exciting is Memorial Day Weekend. I have been fortunate enough to have attended two Indianapolis 500s back in 1994 and 1995.
     My Detroit Monitor colleague George Eichorn and I went to our first in 1994. We went to the parade downtown and it just so happened that the Indiana Pacers were in the Eastern Conference Finals facing the NY Knicks. We walked over to Market Square Arena and we managed to get into the game by purchasing two stadium passes from an outside worker enabling us to watch the second half of an 88-68 Pacers victory.
     Indy 500 Day was a long one. We drove to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from our hotel at 5:00 a.m. It took 50 minutes to arrive. Watching Jim Nabors sing “Back Home in Indiana” and Florence Henderson (Carol, the mother on the Brady Bunch) be part of the weekend festivities, waving to the crowd at the parade was a sight worth watching. But until you've watched and listened to the late Mary Holman say “Gentleman Start Your Engines” you know that you're at one of the biggest spectacles in sports.
     When we departed back to Detroit on Memorial Day, we knew that the basketball/racing weekend was a blast and Indianapolis, Indiana., was the sports capital of the world.
     The Indy 500 experience was so fun that, I met my college buddy Stuart Bloom the following year in 1995. Bloom drove down from Minnesota and we did have a hotel 10 minutes from the track. We just went to nightclubs and interacted with die hard racing fans.
     This turned out to be a good move because in 1996, the open-wheel series split as CART and the Indy Racing League went their own ways. Eichorn and I covered the Inaugural US 500 at the Michigan International Speedway in the beautiful Irish Hills of Brooklyn, MI.
     Last year, the open-wheel series did merge and the top competitors are back in the same 33-car field. It would be monumental if Danica Patrick, who has led the Indy 500 in past races, does win the biggest race on the planet. It would be a marketing bonanza for the Indy Racing League.
     In the late 1980s, the Detroit Pistons played on Memorial Day Weekends. In 1989-90, I bought a ticket outside Chicago Stadium and watched Detroit lose 99-97 to Michael Jordan's Bulls. The energy and electricity at the cozy Chicago Stadium brought chills down my spine.
The following day I covered a Chicago Cubs game at Wrigley Field where I wrote a story on the late Harry Carey.
     The Detroit Red Wings lead the Chicago Blackhawks 2-1 in the Western Conference Finals. If NBC gets it's wish, this years finals could be a dandy because it will have an "Original Six" team in Detroit that has won 11 Stanley Cups, facing Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Sidney Crosby in a rematch of last years finals. This would be the first time since the early 1970's that the NHL Finals had a rematch dating back to when the Boston Bruins faced the Montreal Canadiens.
     The Red Wings Penguins rematch could be an entertaining series to watch over Memorial Day Weekend because current Red Wings Marian Hossa and back-up goalie Ty Conklin played with Pittsburgh last year and left for Detroit because they felt they had a better chance to win a championship in Motown.
     Finally, who could forget the Coca Cola 600 from Charlotte, NC? The longest race of the schedule starts late afternoon and ends under the lights.
     I've enjoyed watching on TV Tony Stewart, John Andretti and Robby Gordon drive in this race and the Indy 500. It would be unbelievable to see one of these guys or anyone else wins both races.
     What makes Memorial Day weekend fun is even if you watch a lot of sports on Saturday and Sunday, there is still Monday to spend time with family, friends and to barbecue plus watch an NBA game. Nowadays, with Tivos and DVR's, no sports fan will miss anything including the MLB Game of the Week's on FOX and ESPN.
     I challenge any fan out here to tell me there is a more action packed Weekend in Sports than this one. The only one that comes close to matching it is Thanksgiving with the three NFL games featuring the Detroit Lions, Dallas Cowboys and the late contest, plus major college football match-ups, in addition to NBA and NHL action. But none of these games have championship implications.
     Scott Morganroth can be reached at Scottsports33@aol.com