A Voice For The Fans ~ Catching Up 11/11/2014 |
I bid you welcome gentle readers, and a warm Georgia “Hey
y’all” to our assigned reader of all things NASCAR, wherever this lovely Sunday
morning might find you. It’s been a while since last we met on these pages. Mea
culpa for that dear readers, but my old computer has gone to that cyber space
graveyard where all old PCs go to die, or as Scottie would say, “Give it up
Jim. She’s dead!”
A lot of “stuff” has happened since I’ve been in lockdown
and rebuild mode. (Many thanks to my adopted son Darrell, for all his IT
expertise in retrieving all the documents and music that I’d managed to grab
and place on an external Hard Drive as old Bessie was breathing her last.
Let’s see… last week at Texas we saw a reenactment of
wherever the last post-race Donnybrook happened, and this one left black eyes
and cut lips. The boys are growing up… but for goodness sake, it does not take
some 42 folks to hold a fist fight. Crews, stand back and let the boys have at it.
They don’t need your help, or your interference. This scribe was happy to see
NASCAR place some of last week’s blame where it belongs… on those big boys that
see a chance to get in someone else’s fight and have themselves some fun.
Thanks to whomever it is in the sanctioning body that developed some insight
into what’s been happening there. The combatants are perfectly capable of
throwing a punch; they’re boys, after all.
If anyone was waiting for NASCAR to dock points with two
races to go in Brian’s Folly, I hope you weren’t holding your breath. Heaven
knows, it’s enough of a mess right now without the sanctioning body jumping in
to “influence the outcome of the season Championship.” By the time this sees
print, we’ll all know who among the great eight will NOT be this year’s
Champion. Then we’ll meet in Miami to decide which of the “Final Four” (Thank
you NCAA Basketball) will take home that shiny silver thing that looks less
like a cup than I do. One day, if you’re good, perhaps I’ll share with you what
it resembles to me, which you will see immediately and never forget.
The best part of the past week came on Saturday, when young
Chase Elliott clinched the Nationwide Championship a week before Homestead.
Anyone have a problem with that? Tell it to the Judge; I love it. In Chase, we
have not only the very talented son of a past NASCAR Champion, but the youngest
Champion ever crowned in NASCAR’s big three series… and he got it the old
fashioned way; he earned it! He ran all the races, and had the best record of
achievement over an entire season… not one single race at the end, after
winning the NASCAR lottery.
Congratulations Chase, on a great year! I look forward to
watching your stock rise over the years to come, just as I watched your Dad go
from a Georgia neighbor to a NASCAR Champion. He drove Engine, engine, number
9, for his Dad and for Harry Melling, all the way to the Cup Championship in
1988. This scribe predicts that you’ll do the same, but with Rick Hendrick from
2016 to who knows when or how many Championships. Good luck and may God keep
you safe on and off the track. Welcome aboard Champ!
And then we move from the sublime to something below the
ridiculous. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, word
comes from Dover (That race was run September 28) that charges of domestic
assault have been filed against Kurt Busch, driver of the #41 for Stewart-Haas
Racing. Those charges, at this time, remain allegations only, and from all I’ve
read from my brethren in the media, it’s definitely a “He said; she said”
situation, meaning someone isn’t telling the truth. I wasn’t there, and neither
were you, so together we wait to see what courts and possibly doctors as well,
decide.
Gentle readers, it’s not my job… or yours either… to assess
blame. If however, the charges are substantiated, and I have reason to believe
they well may be, you will hear your scribe react with a harshness you have not
seen here before. We’ve seen far too much of this stuff and nonsense going on
in our supposed role model, the NFL. This lady is of the firm and unwavering
position that men simply do not hit women. Period! Let’s face it; it’s not a
fair fight… ever. If anyone were to challenge that by laying a hand on my
person in anger, he would not see tomorrow, and that’s a fact Jack!
**Note to Brian France:
As this confusing season of your doing winds to a close,
please… PLEASE… take a sane and reasonable look at the difference between the
Nationwide Championship and the scrambled mess that is the Cup race for the
“Cup.” Chase Elliott will stand as Nationwide Champion in the record books for
all time. I suppose the same might be said for whoever survives the Battle of
Homestead among the anointed few left in the running, but all Cup Championships
from the past decade should start with as asterisk (*) denoting how it was won.
In actual points… points not affected by the Chase format… I think it is safe
now to say that Jeff Gordon would have won his 7th Championship this
year. To me, that is like being told that 2+2 now equals 5, because Brian says
so. I’m sorry Sir, but you saying so does not make it so. You are free to write
down any numbers you choose… it’s your circus, and you get to choose the
clowns… but we, the fans, know better.
Now it’s time for our Classic Country Closeout, and for
today I’ve chosen a few from the WWII era. These would be some of the ones a
very young PattyKay listened to on the big Zenith Trans-Oceanic radio in my
Aunt Isabelle’s room. First up, here’s one from Ernest Tubb
called “Missing in Action.” Please
enjoy…
Next, let’s listen to Hank Thompson as he offers up one of
his very first recordings, “Whoa Sailor.”
The video is of poor quality, but it’s the only live performance offered.
Finally, this is the song that I’ve always felt best
describes the swell of patriotism over America when WWII came to our shores.
Here is Red Foley with “Smoke on the
Water,”
Be well gentle readers, and remember to keep smiling. It
looks so good on you!
~ PattyKay