(its not this bad. we can still do this. photo: me, on the russ memorial bench in milwaukee).
I was going to use "Burn One Down" by Ben Harper as today's Words of Comfort ... but this series isn't over. There's only one way to inspire Buck Nation this morning. With the best the great city of Milwaukee has to offer ...
"One, two, three, four.
Five, six, seven, eight.
Sclemeel, schlemezel,
Hassenfeffer Incorporated!
We're gonna do it!
Give us any chance, we'll take it!
Give us any rule, we'll break it!
We're gonna make our dreams come true!
Doin' it our way!
Nothin's gonna turn us back now,
Straight ahead and on the track now,
We're gonna make our dreams come true!
Doin' it our way!
There is nothing we won't try!
Never heard the word impossible!
This time, there's no stopping us!
Doin' it our way!
On the mark, get set, and go now!
Got a dream and we just know now,
We're gonna make our dreams come true!
And we'll do it our way!
Yes our way!
Make all our dreams come true!
And we'll do it our way!
Yes our way!
Make all our dreams ... come true ...
For me and you!"
-- arguably the greatest TV theme song ever.
Yeah, that was bad.
But -- but! -- the series isn't over. This fight isn't over.
Game 7 Sunday. Noon. ABC.
Rather than dwell on the negative, let's move forward. To other happy thoughts for the weekend to come. And since its a race weekend, some racing thoughts:
* I was wide awake at 5:54am, so I guess I am geeked up for this thing.
* Ryan Briscoe on the pole. A solid 9, 10 guys (and gal) that can win this thing. I just hope the weather holds. It looks cloudy to the west, not a good sign.
* I'll be there both days. I'm going with my good buddy Dusty today, and my brother tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
* Speaking of Indy ... I'm on the fence for the 500. I'm up for it, but depends on who all wants to go. That, and I can probably afford to do one, either Indy or the Brickyard, and that's always a tough call. So I figured I'd break the debate between the two down Nick Bakay / Dr. Jack Ramsey style.
Best Night-Before Atmosphere. Depends on what you prefer. Saturday night before the 500 is nuts. Saturday night before the Brickyard is insane. Five years ago, I'd have said "Brickyard". Its a day frat at night. College kids acting like college kids. The 500 night before, its more "responsible" adults pacing themselves. I like the pacing as I age. Plus, you're done by 2, 2:30am the night before the 500. Its grizzled veterans of the partying process at the 500. The Brickyard, you go til you pass out. Can't do that as much as I used to.
Advantage: 500.
Best Race: Without question, the 500. The Speedway wasn't built for stock cars, and it shows. I've been to one Brickyard I'd count as "memorable". I've been to multiple 500's I'd rank as "memorable".
Advantage: 500.
Best Pre-Race: Man, the Brickyard is getting beaten like a red-headed stepchild at this point. What do you pick as the best part of the 500 prerace? Is it Jim Nabors welcoming us "Back Home Again in Indiana"? Is it the balloon launch as he "dreams about the moonlight on the Wabash"? Is it Florence Henderson singing "God Bless America"? Is it 416 year old Mari Hulman George struggling to say "Ladies and Gentlemen, start ... your ... EEEEEEEEEEENGINES!"
Is it the cannon going off at 6am that scares the shit out of you as it jolts you awake? The 7am walk through the C Lot to the vendor at 21st and Georgetown to spend $1 to get the Indy Star commemorative lineup page? The ridiculous parade of "celebrities" around the track? The ridiculousness that is Rupert from "Survivor"?
I say no. Its none of those things, although I love all of them. Hands down, its the most solemn moment of them all.
"Taps".
Anytime you bring 300,000 plus to absolute silence, its something amazing.
Huge Advantage: 500.
Weather: another rout. Its always 90 plus and sunny for the Brickyard, feels about 110 in the Southeast Vista once you get to where I usually sit. The 500 is a complete crapshoot. Some years its hot as hell (woo!). Some years you wait until Wednesday to run the race (boo!).
Huge Advantage: Brickyard.
Post-Race Party: Uuh, there is no post-race party after the Brickyard. Everyone's trying to get home for work the next day. The 500, on the other hand, the party's just getting started, because you've got a blessed holiday the next day to drive home.
Advantage: 500.
Best Race Witnessed (according to me): for the Brickyard, that would be 2005, when Kasey Kahne and Tony Stewart dueled all day for the win, and Tony finally won at his home track. Great fun. For the 500, without question, its 2006. The last five laps that day were arguably the greatest five laps I've ever seen in person. Just click and enjoy. I just wish you could hear the crowd, the clip doesn't do it justice. NOBODY was sitting these last five laps. Just standing and screaming. Michael! Holy crap, Andretti is finally gonna win this thing! No, wait, Marco! Wow, son wins it on first try, while dad goes 0-20! No, wait, Sammy?!?! What?!?! Sammy?!?! Sammy!!!
Hu-yuge advantage: 500.
Best Part of the Drive Up: easy. The gigantic, enormous, "holy cow that's huge" cross in Effingham, Illinois. Its un-missable.
Advantage: Push.
Best Old School Ad / Cardboard Cut-out: sorry, Brickyard, you're losing another one. Its either the "Sleep Cheap" mobile Bobby Rahal won in 1986 in ... or the race in (I forget which year) 1990 or 1991, when Rahal got bumped and missed the race, and fans had a cardboard cutout of poor Bobby with the caption "will race for food". That one never fails to slay me. All the Brickyard can offer is the Tony Stewart cutout hung in effagy on Auburn in 2006, where people "took their best shot" at Tony. I've whizzed in public a time or fifty in my day ... but not even I will whiz on a cardboard cutout. (Unless its john elway, then all bets are off ...)
Advantage: 500.
Most Ridiculous Moment, Good or Bad: Both occurred in 2006. For the Brickyard, its the two chicks throwing down after the 2006 Brickyard. For the 500 ... won't reveal it for fear of criminal prosecution. But I'll just say, if you can enjoy an illegal herbal substance as multiple cops walk by you, and they don't do a damned thing about it ...
Advantage: 500.
Final Count: the 500 in a landslide. Yes, its that much fun. Where else can you see college kids literally wheeling in dollies loaded with cases of beer to enjoy in the infield? (Pretty much anything of a non-glass-bottle nature is allowed in at Indy). Where else can you stand at the corner of the street (16th and Georgetown), look down the street ... and not see the end of the Speedway? (It ends at 30th). Where else can you get 350,000 plus people into the joint ... and not once feel crowded, crammed, and/or smushed?
Both races rule. But the 500 is better. By quite a bit.
* OK, I guess some basketball, but no Bucks. I refuse to remember last night. Epic tip-in by Gasol to finish off the Durants last night. And congrats to the Jazz for finishing off Denver. The NBA has to be thrilled. Utah / Lakers has seven games written all over it. Spurs / Suns is a huge rivalry series. Cavs / Celtics is either LBJ's breakthrough, or the upset of the postseason. And Orlando faces off against ... TBD.
Yeah, the only series that went seven in round one, was the one NOBODY would have picked to go seven.
So I guess I will spend a moment on last night. Sure, it sucked. The game itself was beyond awful.
But we're still alive. There's still one game left to be played.
Game Seven.
Win, or Go Home.
Its the greatest moment in sports, Game Seven. There is no tomorrow. In baseball, that means every pitcher is available. (Remember the 2001 Diamondbacks, Johnson pitching on zero days rest in the ninth). In basketball, it means anything can happen.
The best game seven I remember from this decade was Lakers / Kings in 2002. 48 minutes wasn't enough to decide it. Here's to believing Mike Bibby will suffer the same fate in 2010 that he did in 2002 ...
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