Monday was like a Sunday here at The Ponderosa. You see, two of the three motor sports events on my calendar were rained out on Sunday. The only one not rained out, yet affected by rain, was the Formula 1 race in Melbourne, Australia. The Australian Grand Prix was everything the Grand Prix in Bahrain was not. It was exciting. By F-1 standards anyway, but from top to bottom a real good race won by reining F-1 World Champion Jenson Button of McLaren Mercedes. Rounding out the podium, Robert Kubica of Renault and Felipe Massa of Ferrari. Last weeks winner, Fernando Alonso of Ferrari finished fourth. This race was run at 2AM eastern time. I was not up but did record it to watch in the morning over coffee, eggs and bacon. At 1PM Eastern the NASCAR Sprint Cup race was scheduled to start from Martinsville, VA and at 3:30PM the Izod Indy Car Series race from St. Petersburg, FL was to take the green flag. So I had a triple header day of motor sports in front of me and nothing was going to stand in my way!
Except for Mother Nature. Martinsville turned into a half mile bathtub and St. Petersburg got a deluge of rain, rarely seen outside of Hurricane Season.
But Monday came and the bird's were singing, the sun was out and the two premier motor sport sanctions in this country were ready to go. The one good thing about this round of unemployment, is moments like this. At 10:30 AM Eastern, the Indy Cars took off and just after noon, the green flag flew in Martinsville. So I watched as much of the Indy Car race as I could but on this Monday, I had plans with a buddy. And those plans meant more than watching these two races on this Monday. So through not so modern technology, I programmed two of my VCR's, threw in a cassette tape to record each race and off to Bass Pro Shops/Outdoor World I went!
Now many who know me might be surprised that I wasn't camped in front of the TV on Monday for both an Indy Car race and a NASCAR race. But I had made plans last week to go to Outdoor World for a day with a buddy of mine who has had it pretty tough for the last nine months. Worse than just my being laid off over the same period. But things have dramatically improved and we've been talking about doing some good, old fashioned sporting clay shooting at a local county park. They have a world class skeet, trap and sporting clay course. But I needed to stock up on some essentials, like ammo. So I had suggested a boys day out trip to the Outdoor World for a little "shopping" and lunch.
Boys out shopping is nothing like girls out shopping. We know what we want and sometimes make a list. We go into the store, get what's on the list and check out. We may stop to inspect some things on the way to the next item on the list but for the most part, there isn't a lot of farting around. So to speak. My buddy, we'll call him Bob-because that's his name, looked at some hand guns and knives. I scoped out some shot guns and some gun cases. But I stuck to my list, stayed with in budget and we checked out. Now the Bass Pro Shops/Outdoor World local to us has an incredible restaurant, The Islamorada Fish Company. So we went back into the store, after stowing away our newly purchased treasures and in to the restaurant. Others I noticed, came into the restaurant with their shopping bags stuffed to the rim like Santa Claus. They were men but their women were with them. Obviously taking the bags to the car and then having lunch was out of the question.
Now those who know me well are probably still wondering, "Bucky!? You never do anything when there is a race on". That is true. People, including my mother, know don't call me during the race. I won't answer the phone. Don't ask me to do anything and don't invite me anywhere when there is a race on. They know not to take it personally. I won't attend or do anything when there is a race on. Some understand, some still don't, that motor sports is a big part of my life. I have been a motor sports fan, gear head, car buff-whatever, since I was a child. My love of the automobile and all things automotive were instilled into me by my dad. My mother was also in the car business and has a love of the automobile. But it was dad who took me to the stock races in West Palm Beach as a kid and to my first Daytona 500 at the age of ten. We would watch races on TV together every weekend. I miss those weekends.
But this was different. Today, I had the ability to still watch the races and go out for the day. You see, being unemployed for nine months you even get used to the cabin fever. But you do like to get the hell out of the house! And I could get out of the house, re-connect with a part of my life that has been lost and spend some time with a friend I'm lucky to have around.
You see Bob was diagnosed last summer, in June, with Leukemia. To make a long, six month story short. He was in big trouble. He was in a coma for weeks. He was bleeding internally like a stuck pig. Because of the bleeding, his cancer treatments had to be delayed. But because of his immune system being weak from cancer, his internal bleeding was taking it's toll and on and on it went. Every day would bring bad news, not so good news, better news and back to bad. Bob was a mess and he damn near died.
But with the love of his fiancee and his family. His own will and determination, he persevered. The bleeding stopped. The cancer treatments took hold. He was home for the holidays and in January, his cancer was deemed to be in remission.
Bob and I worked together. We didn't make much money but we sure had a lot of fun. We are both kindred spirits in the "Vast Right-wing Conspiracy". We love baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and America. We believe in truth, justice and the American way. We have a strong love of our fighting men and women in the military. A love of things that go BOOM! Like pistols on a range and shotguns in the field. So to pass up a day, with a guy like this, at Outdoor World would've been a sin.
We had a ball! The weather was shitty. It was overcast and sporadic rain squalls. What St. Petersburg got on Sunday, we were getting. But the store was great. We talked about what had transpired over the past year with both of us. We talked about taking the time to re-connect with friends. And re-kindling a smoldering ember. That was a love of shooting and firearms. Bob had never shot sporting clays before but was willing to give a shot. Pun sort of intended. So we got what we needed and planned to hook up again for a shoot before I go to Atlanta for training. We may go out next week and shoot the shit before I go away. I'm hopeful. I'm almost like a kid at Christmas. I want the day to get here and I want to open my present.
We had a great lunch and we left the store. Bob went home and I opened my bags. I looked at the shirt I had bought and thought about how much it needed ironing. I slipped a recoil pad on the butt end of one of my shotguns. The other one didn't fit. Damn it! I put together my shooting bag for the range. Hearing protection, shells for the shotguns, shell bag to carry in the field, eye protection and various other essentials. I felt like I was heading out at sun up! I wish.
But I was also watching the Indy Car race that I had taped. My boy, Dario Franchitti, was strong at the start then spun his own ass out. Damn it! But the race was concluding and he was on a tear. He wasn't going to win but he had the fastest car at the end of the race. Finished 5th. Will Power (yes-that is his name), driver for Team Penske, won. Again. Two races for 2010 and two wins. This may be a long year.
I put my new gun cases away. Locked up the gun cabinet. Put my very ready shooting bag in the closet. Hung up my field jacket, that no longer fits because I'm a fat fuck and vowed to lose weight again.
Sat down for the Goody's 500 from Martinsville. It was over, technically. But I didn't know who won and was going to keep it that way. Until I finished watching the recorded race. Typical half mile, flat, oval track racing. Lots of beating and banging. But lots of good racing. Except for my boy's. Tony Stewart has handling problems since the green flag to the season fell. Today was no exception. He was second, behind apparent run away leader Kevin Harvick, at the beginning of the race. The caution flew, they all pitted and Tony's car went to shit. Tight, tight and getting tighter was the word of the day for "Smoke". A long day for The Office Depot crew. He finished 26th, two laps down.
My other boy, Juan Pablo Montoya was definitely the man and car to beat. He had the fastest car on the track. Then disaster struck! Blew a right front tire, drove straight into the wall. Day done! He did return to the track, many laps down and out of contention. He finished 36th.
The one saving grace was Jimmie Johnson did not win three in a row and his fourth of six races, thank God! Wasn't even a factor. So it made for an enjoyable broadcast. The race was won by Virginia native Denny Hamlin. He won in very dramatic fashion. If you did not see the last 15-20 laps of this race, you missed it all! Do yourself a favor and YouTube it. See if a buddy as it recorded. Whatever! A truly great sports moment not to be missed. Even if you are not a car racing fan.
So I thought about my day. My boys out on the track didn't have the best of days. But I did. I did something I rarely do. I taped a race or this case two and went out did something else. I had fun with a buddy, who I never had a lot of personal time with outside of the office. But that's about to change I see. I'm grateful to him for getting me out of the house and helping me reconnect with a part of my past that I've missed.
And I was still able to see the races. So I got the best of both worlds in one day. Those days are very rare and should be cherished.
To get to know more about Bob and his story, please check out this blog at http://www.bobyoungs.blogspot.com/. If you are of charity and cancer research is of a priority, please, this is a cause that's very worthy. Bob is a living testament to our advances in research in medicine and medical science. We can all disagree politically on how to pay for it. But this country absolutely has the best health care on the planet. If you don't believe me, I'll introduce you to the proof and let him tell you all about.
But we have to go shooting first.
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