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

Harrell Is A Man On A Mission

By Scott Morganroth

Prior to the NFL Draft, ESPN's Mel Kiper said some of his top busts of All-Time were: 1) Tony Mandarich, 2) Ryan Leaf, 3) Art Schlichter, 4) Akili Smith, 5) Ki-Jana Carter and 6) Lawrence Phillips.
If I wanted to research more and name many others, this list could lead to my own version of a Hall of Shame and this museum would be located in Iraq.
But there is one player who won't be included in such a discussion.
Why former Texas Tech quarterback Graham Harrell wasn't drafted this year baffles me. He did get a free agent workout by the Cleveland Browns but wasn't offered a contract. The perception is he didn't have the arm strength to succeed in the NFL.
Harrell is the NCAA Division I career leader in touchdown passes with 134. He passed for 15,793 yards. The 6-3, 205 pound native of Ennis, Texas., had to fight the perception that his numbers were the product of Texas Tech's offensive system. Even if that is partly accurate, it didn't stop the San Francisco 49'ers from selecting his favorite wide receiver Michael Crabtree as the 10th pick overall in the first round.
Despite lobbying from his Texas Tech Coach Mike Leach to get more tryouts, now Harrell is on a mission to put himself in a group which includes former NFL quarterbacks Warren Moon and Doug Flutie. It's the "I'll Prove The Critics Wrong" group.
Harrell will begin his pro career the same way Moon and Flutie did in the CFL. Moon and Flutie are legends playing in a league which has a 55-yard line and longer end zones.
Harrell signed with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and will have all the time he needs to develop.
Even though the Grey Cup isn't as prestigious as the Vince Lombardi Trophy, if he's fortunate enough to lead his team to a championship as Moon and Flutie did, there will be a payday down the road in the NFL.
One thing is for certain, he won't ever have to be viewed as one of the biggest busts in the NFL. For the time being, in addition to working towards a championship, a great CFL career could lead towards gaining a bust in the CFL Hall of Fame.
If Harrell can duplicate or come close to last season's numbers when he went 442-626 for 5,111 yards, amassing 45 touchdowns and just nine interceptions, the CFL fans will be thrilled. In Texas Tech's 39-33 victory over the Texas Longhorns on November 1, Harrell threw for 474 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
He played in the tough Big 12 Conference against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Kansas, Nebraska so nobody can say he didn't face quality competition. I'll be monitoring how the 49'ers fare this season, and in this crazy world of ironies, who knows, maybe if San Francisco Coach Mike Singletary isn't happy with his signal callers, it would be neat to see Harrell reunited with Crabtree.
Should Harrell get to the NFL, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that scouts are human and they do make mistakes which when judging amateur talent. There is major margin of error and these busts/mistakes do cost teams millions of dollars and championships.
There is no exact science to finding talent but at least with the CFL and now the UFL, there are other leagues to give guys an opportunity to develop their skills. We should also remember that Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner led the Iowa Barnstormers to a pair of Arena Football League title games.
We all know that one major injury can destroy a team's dreams to win a title although the St. Louis Rams were lucky when Warner replaced Trent Green and led them to their lone Super Bowl title in 1999 and he was the NFL MVP.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

Numerical Voids At Comerica Park

By Scott Morganroth

As I watched the Detroit Tigers lose 2-1 to the New York Yankees Sunday on TBS and noticed the amount of retired numbers the Bronx Bombers had, it made me think that with the Tigers and Pistons, there is a huge void in these franchises traditions at Comerica Park and the Palace of Auburn Hills.
I don't know what the criteria is for the Tigers to have a number retired, but I'm disappointed that Alan Trammell's No. 3 and Lou Whitaker's No.1 are not with the rest of the great players that proudly wore the old English D. Even though Gary Sheffield asked Trammell if he would mind wearing the number and Alan politely had no problem with it, this should never have occurred.
Nowadays, how many players play their entire careers with one organization with free agency and major trades for contenders in the heat of a pennant race? How weird would it be if Al Kaline, Brooks Robinson, Cal Ripken Jr, Don Mattingly, Tony Gwynn, Derek Jeter along with many others ever played for teams than their original employers?
It's hard to fathom all of the talk surrounding Toronto Blue Jays Pitcher Roy Halladay playing South of the Border when he's been a mainstay in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Yet, the headlines are centered around the hurler's next destination and the impact that he could take his next team to a World Series Championship.
But back to the Tigers. If the criteria is to retire a number once the player is in the Hall of Fame, then Willie Horton's No. 23 shouldn't be on the wall. Today's Tigers fans will remember Kirk Gibson's 1984 World Series homer that led the Motor City Kitties to a championship against the San Diego Padres. By no means am I disrespecting Horton because he was a major contributor on the 1968 World Series team and is a Detroiter, though Gibson is also a local product.
Trammell and Whitaker were one of the best double play combinations in baseball history and today's fans should see that 81 times a year plus the postseason. What's the delay? Lets get these numbers with the rest of the Tigers legends!
I don't care about Trammell's record as a Tigers manager because he had lousy players.
Trammell is the modern day version of Rodney Dangerfield because he hasn't been given much respect in the eyes of the Hall of Fame voters.
Perhaps if there is one good thing about the steroid era is all of these guilty users will take longer to get inducted into the Hall of Fame and there will be room for Trammell in Cooperstown, NY. Even though the low-keyed Whitaker is a long shot to get to Cooperstown, he should get consideration.
Despite the recent shake-up of the Detroit Pistons, there is room in the rafters for a few retired numbers from the 2004 championship team.
I highly doubt that Ben Wallace's No. 3 will get retired because of his take the money and run approach to play for division rival the Chicago Bulls.
But Chauncey Billups No. 1, Richard Hamilton's No. 32 and Tayshaun Prince's No. 22 would be the right numbers to honor. After the disastrous Allen Iverson trade to Denver, Detroiters know that Billups was the glue that kept the Pistons together and led them to a championship, another finals appearance plus six conference finals.
Joe Dumars will probably never hear the end of this mistake but to Dumars credit, he signed Billups as a free agent when many other teams including the Nuggets gave up on him. Hamilton still has a chance to work with some of the Pistons newer free agents as the team retools.
Meanwhile, Prince, is still with the organization which drafted him and barring any trades could finish his career with one team. Prince's No. 22 was also worn by John Salley of the Bad Boys era so it would be fitting that this number is connected to all three of the teams championships.
My advice to the Tigers and Pistons front offices, lets set a few days aside in the future to honor players that have enhanced your team's traditions and give them the proper respect they rightfully deserve. It will also be another way to connect the past generations to the current and future generations.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

Great Year For Pittsburgh Sports Fans

By Scott Morganroth
If you're a Detroit er, the weekend of June 12-14 was a tough one to digest against Pittsburgh sports teams.
It was difficult to see the Detroit Red Wings lose the Stanley Cup Finals to the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 as home ice advantage meant nothing.
But to see the Detroit Tigers lose a pair to the Pittsburgh Pirates was harder to deal with. It wouldn't have bothered me as much if the Tigers lost to a Pirates team which featured players like Bobby Bonilla & Mr. Steroids Barry Bonds.
Those Pirates, managed by current Tigers Manager Jim Leyland from 1990-1992, reeled off three straight division titles.
It wouldn't have bothered me if the Willie Stargell, Roberto Clemente and Dave Parker, etc... of the 1970's which won a pair of World Series titles, would have defeated the 2009 Tigers.
The Pirates are now an organization which has a new stadium but instead of putting people in it, they're now known for trading their quality players away with their annual fire sales.
Yet, we're midway through 2009 and Pittsburgh can still make a legitimate claim to being "The City of Champions."
The Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl on February 1st, while the Penguins won their third Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history on June 12Th.
Pittsburgh wouldn't have a chance to win an NBA title because they don't have a team.
The Pirates won't win this years World Series yet the franchise still has a proud history.
The University of Pittsburgh does have a fine football and basketball programs.
Does anybody remember that Tony Dorsett won a National Championship in 1976 for the University of Pittsburgh, and in 1977, won a Super Bowl in his rookie season with the Dallas Cowboys, thus becoming the first player to accomplish this feat?
The Panthers basketball program is an elite team in the Big East Conference and I wouldn't be surprised they'd defeat the Los Angeles Clippers.
If for some reason, the Los Angeles Dodgers do win the World Series this year, it would be ironic if all four major sports titles were won by two cities.
Even though the public may not know members of the 2009 Pirates, they're well aware of Penguins Owner/Hall of Fame Player Mario Lemieux, the Rooney Family, Terry Bradshaw, Franco Harris, Lynn Swann, Mean Joe Greene, Ben Roethlisberger and Sidney Crosby.
Your economy may be down but it sure seems like your sports teams are doing a nice job picking up the slack.
The best part is the Penguins will be playing in a long overdue arena in the future and we could be looking at a dynasty in the making. The Steelers are a model franchise run by the Rooney's and their last three coaches have all won Super Bowls speaking of Chuck Noll and Bill Cowher.
The three rivers are nice to watch and your sports ownership appears to be solid for the most part as well as the Pittsburgh Panthers success.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

NBA Post Finals Observations

By Scott Morganroth
Now that the Los Angeles Lakers/Orlando Magic mismatch is over, it's time to reflect on what would have been.
The ultimate choke artists are the Cleveland Cavaliers! This is a team which had a chance to put itself in the record books with the Boston Celtics if they had won its last home game with a 41-1 record but decided to rest its players and settled for 39-2 by losing to the Philadelphia 76'ers 111-110 on April 15TH.
I'll bet that 41-1 record would have been a nice consolation prize for not winning a championship or at least have the right to face Kobe Bryant and compete for one.
Before the final home game, Lebron James took the microphone and told the Cleveland fans that he was looking forward to snapping the city's half century championship drought.
The Cavaliers had a false sense of security just by thinking a 66-16 record could coast to the NBA Finals.
Sweeping the Detroit Pistons and Atlanta Hawks meant nothing when the Orlando Magic took advantage of their overconfidence. Undoubtedly, home court advantage throughout the playoffs meant nothing since they didn't make it all the way through to the finals.
When James decided not to show sportsmanship by not shaking the Magic's players hands after the series was over then refused to speak to the media, this was classless. I'm sure he's been criticized plenty but I hope he learns from his infamous hat trick of overconfidence, sportsmanship and bad public relations.
I do believe that Cavaliers Owner Dan Gilbert is the one person who could deliver Cleveland a title. But Gilbert, who is from Farmington Hills, MI and used to advertise with the Pistons and did watch the perfect business model by the late William Davidson, won't do it with Ben Wallace.
Wallace isn't the same player former Pistons TV Play-By-Play Announcer Fred McLeod used to broadcast on the 2004 championship team. Wallace's defensive abilities never took his next two stops the Chicago Bulls and Cavaliers to the promised land. He is on the downside of his career.
I'm sure Coach of the Year Mike Brown knows it. But if one Wallace doesn't work, Rasheed Wallace is an unrestricted free agent and might come at a reasonable price. Another chance to land a former Piston for Gilbert could be quite tempting. Desperation can do many things especially with a long championship drought.
I'll bet Brown will attempt to protect Wallace like former Pistons Coach Larry Brown did and channel that intensity. If Rasheed can play some defense and hit few timely three pointers, he might actually get Cleveland fans to like him since he's had unpleasant things to say about them in the past.
But I guess for the time being, the only way we'll see a Bryant versus James match up is on video games until we them play on the court next season. We'll have a year to see if this mega ratings match up ever materializes.
Perhaps then, I'll watch more than 15 minutes of a finals series. But I'm probably not alone and if James is smart, he'll take the microphone and speak to the Cleveland fans in June and not April learning from his overconfidence experience.
Scott Morganroth can be reached at scottsports33@aol.com

Remaining Tiger Stadium Demolition Insane

By Scott Morganroth

When my colleague George Eichorn sent me a photo that the remaining portion of Tiger Stadium was now being demolished, there were chills down my spine.
That's the last thing I need at the moment with back surgery scheduled for June 24Th and a hospital stay which figures to last as much as five days let alone a recovery process that could be up to 12 months.
On January 1st, I took a few pictures of the last part of Tiger Stadium. It was a snowy, cloudy day with the temperature around 10 degrees.
Three days prior, I had lunch with Ernie Harwell on my 46Th birthday and asked him what the odds were of saving Tiger Stadium? Like all of us, he was hoping it would get preserved but didn't appear optimistic.
Although I currently live in Florida, when I heard that Harwell wasn't getting enough cooperation & support from the city of Detroit and decided to no longer work on the committee to save the landmark, this was worse than the Lions 0-16 season.
Bad seasons get fixed and franchises get turned around. But when landmarks get demolished as Harwell's famous home run line, Tiger Stadium is "long gone."
This man was loved by Tigers fans for his memorable calls. But when the same people who listened to his broadcasts in the city disrespected him in his efforts to save Tiger Stadium despite the fact that he was willing to donate some memorabilia and use a "Field of Dreams" concept, this was hard to swallow.
The city's Economic Development Corp. board voted 7-1 to finish the demolition. The non-profit group was unable to come up with $33.4 million for the redevelopment project therefore the of Detroit is paying $400,000 to handle the project.
What bothers me about this is everybody is in a hurry to demolish the building but they have no plans what to do with the land for the economic development.
Now when Metro Detroiters drive on I-75 by Michigan & Trumbull, there will be memories on a vacant piece of property.
I have no problem tearing a building down as long as there is something that's going to be built on the land!
The remaining portion of Tiger Stadium could have been used for youth or Wayne State University baseball. The Tarters at Tiger Stadium would have a nice ring to it.
While I'm unaware of the maintenance costs to run the facility, if all parties could have cooperated & worked together, something could have been worked out. What was left of Tiger Stadium would have made an ideal minor league baseball venue.
When the city of Miami tore down the Orange Bowl which was the site of past Super Bowls, Orange Bowls, College Football National Championships, the Miami Hurricanes, Miami Dolphins, they're using this historic site to build the Florida Marlins a long overdue new ballpark.
If the Marlins keep former Tigers Andrew Miller and Cameron Maybin, this is where they'll have a chance to have productive careers.
Now the question remains, what will make the most sense for the Tiger Stadium site?
If new Mayor Dave Bing wants to score points with voters as he did with the Detroit Pistons, he'll address the Detroit Red Wings needs and build another Olympia Stadium.
Despite the Red Wings heartbreaking attempt at winning a fifth championship in 13-years to the Pittsburgh Penguins, as much as Joe Louis Arena is a decent facility, it's 30 years old and is one of the oldest stadiums in the NHL, thus it's become outdated. It needs more suites and first class press facilities.
We all know that accessibility will never be a problem at the Tiger Stadium site. The only way to increase economic development is by building newer restaurants, sports bars and memorabilia stores.
Detroit needs to get this decision right!
The national perception around the country is negative. With the auto industry in shambles, the casinos struggling due to lack of disposable income, the sports traditions keep the city in the news especially when the teams are winning. On Fathers Day, the Tigers drew over 40,000 at Comerica Park in their three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Here is some advice to you Bing. Follow the city of Miami's plan! It's a good one because the only way to connect the past, present and future generations is by preserving historic sites and creating new traditions.
It would be great to see the next Steve Yzerman playing at the Corner of Michigan & Trumbull.
Scott Morganroth can be contacted 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