Wednesday, March 15, 2017

Wednesday Notebook: March 15, 2017

Excited to go and watch the Hawkeyes tonight as they open the NIT against South Dakota. No, they did not make the big dance, but I sure do enjoy watching the youngsters and I hope that we get to see Peter Jok play five more games in the black and gold.

At 9:42 a.m. today I officially thawed out from my trip to Beatrice. Of course it didn't help that we have had near record low temperatures here the past couple of days. Now I am ready to set my sights on a night at the Scotland County Speedway this weekend where it should be a just a bit warmer and keep in mind that the start time for Saturday's show has been moved up one hour to 6 p.m.

Regulars on the Back Stretch know that I usually have a notes section when I cover an event like Beatrice that would include some interesting tidbits from what happened during the qualifying races, who's attendance might have surprised me, who spun who, etc. Obviously there was no notes section in my story though for two reasons. One, it was too cold to take my gloves off so that I could write something down in my notebook and, two, when I did try I found that it was too cold for my pen to work. That's right, I had to blow whatever hot breath that I could muster on it in order to get the ink to flow from my pen onto the paper just to jot down the finishes and fortunately they had the lineups posted below the grandstand where I was able to warm up the pen enough to write them all down at once. I tried four different pens during the night so either it was the coldest night of racing that I have been to in memory or they just don't make pens like they used to.

This is meant as a general observation and not just a dig from last Friday, but I am not a fan of when the announcer for the pay-per-view internet broadcast is also the voice that is being projected out to the ticket buying fans in the stands. There is a difference in how one would announce when doing the P.A. system only and the best example that I can give goes back to the Gateway Dirt Nationals qualifying night when I could not once hear a single qualifying time. Why? Because the announcer was doing the internet broadcast so he didn't have to find that precious two or three seconds where the noise faded after each group so that the people in the stands could hear their times. Also, call me a grumpy old man, but I could really care less about who is Tweeting in to say that they are watching at home in the warmth and comfort of their easy chair, especially when those of us who did buy tickets are freezing appendages off because we love the sport and want to enjoy it as a spectator. Ben Shelton and Chet Christner do a spectacular job on the internet broadcasts, they are two of the best! But promoters, let them do their thing and give the fans a P.A. announcer who will take care of the people in the stands, inform them, entertain them and make them feel appreciated for actually being there.

So one thing that I did learn from the announcers last Friday night is that Beatrice, Nebraska, will be a prime viewing site for the total eclipse of the sun on August 21st of this year. If you would like to "Come Get Mooned In Beatrice" check out this website.

I have joked around in the past that we are seeing race schedules for some tracks and series come out earlier and earlier each year with October of the year before now being common. We have a new leader in the clubhouse though and it just adds to the bizarre situation that is taking place up in Brandon, South Dakota. Badlands Motor Speedway has released its 2018 schedule, two months before the first race of their abbreviated 2017 schedule begins, and of course this is all pending a potential sale of the track to anyone who has $9 million in cash handy or would like to finance it for $12 million. So here is the 2017 Specials schedule as it stands now on Positively Racing, but I guess that I now have to start working on 2018. Geesh!

I turned on the television Sunday and it just happened to be on Fox with six laps remaining in Vegas so I watched in interest the wild finish that saw Brad Keselowski fade, Martin Truex win and Kyle Busch's run in with Joey Logano, or more accurately Logano's crew. Kyle marching off with blood on his forehead was classic and, I hate to say it, but could be exactly what NASCAR needs in order to get their viewership back up both at home and in the stands. I know that I will have my DVR set for this weekend. There is no way that I can watch Phoenix live, I have a life to live, and besides the NCAA tournament will be on.

Cold weather has already claimed the MARS East event on Friday and the Lucas Oil Dirt Late Model Series event this Saturday at the Brownstown Speedway in Indiana. The warm up is supposed to work in from west to east so here is hoping that the rest of the shows this weekend can go on as scheduled. And that it is warm enough for my pen!

See you on the Back Stretch.





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