Monday, August 24, 2015

Bad Timing with the Worst Consequence

I skipped a couple of weeks.  I'm still announcing for Elkhart Christian Academy Athletics, looking for officiating assignments and waiting for the IndyCar race yesterday at Pocono.  Little did I know it would happen again.

The race was fantastic.  Plenty of side by side racing, and passing at all parts of the track.  Pocono is famous for good races, competetive driving, and hard collisions.  Two mile tracks can build the speed for violent confrontations with SAFER barriers.  It was going to happen again.

Pocono is a tricky triangle, the nickname the track has had for decades.  Three corners, three different angles providing a nightmare for race engineers to set up.  A good car works in two corners, the third is still a struggle.  Adjust to get the third and you probably lose one of the other two, maybe both.  It's just life at Pocono.

Drivers driving at the limit leads to collisions.  Only Formula One is closer to the razor's edge of technology than IndyCar.  Those cars never attain the 200+ mph speeds they reach in IndyCar.  The crashes appear more spectacular because parts are flying.  The design of the cars lend to the appearance.  A car breaking apart dissipates energy, protecting the driver inside.  Parts go everywhere.

One part, part of the nose cone of Sage Karam's Honda, tumbled elastically across the track, when it made contact with another car.  A foot closer to the rear and no one would notice.  A car moving full race speed would have passed under it.  Slowing to avoid debris put the nose piece in contact with Justin Wilson's helmet, the car still travelling around 180 mph.  No wonder the piece of debris shot into the air like it did.  That's a lot of momentum.

I suspect the injury was catastrophic and immediate.  The path Justin Wilson's car took after contact was indicative.  I hope he felt nothing.  He passed away today, but he was not conscious or reponsive from the moment contact was made.  No malice, no racing for position, just a bad bit of timing with the worst consequence.

Not the first time it has happened.  In 2009, at Brands Hatch England, Formula 2 driver Henry Surtees was killed when a loose tire bounded across the track and contacted his helmet.  A bad bit of timing with the worst consequence.

In 1977, Formula One drive Tom Pryce had a similar injury in a bizarre circumstance.  In the South African Grand Prix at Kyanalami, Pryce's teammate, Renzo Zorzi, pulled to the side of the track, and had a difficult time exiting his car.  A quick fire, probably an oil fire from engine failure, flared under the rear of the car.  Zorzi struggled free, but the fire got the attention of two track marshals, one of which was Frederik VanVuuren.  They ran across the track, VanVuuren carrying a fire extinguisher in his left hand.  Pryce, closing in on Hans Stuck, crested the hill.  Stuck swerved to miss VanVuuren by inches, Pryce striking the marsahl while traveling over 170 mph.  VanVuuren disappeared into a snowstorm of pieces, killed instantly.  Pryce, struck in the head by the fire extinguisher, didn't crash until the bottom of the hill, probably already gone.  Ironically, it was the same track American and 1974 Indy 500 champion Mark Donohue suffered a fatal head injury, Pryce becoming his replacement.  A bad bit of timing with the worst consequence.

I have heard people question the ethics of dangerous pursuits like auto racing.  I wrote a research paper on it during my time at Purdue University, pointing to the safety improvements of the mid 80's, which have been far surpassed now.  It comes down to a choice.  Choose to race and it is possible.  It can also happen driving to the track.  It can happen crossing a street.  A bad bit of timing with the worst consequence.

In Ron Howard's well crafted movie Rush, James Hunt was quoted as saying women are attracted to race car drivers not because of what they do, which is ultimately pathetic.  It's because they are truly alive because they know it can all end in a moment.  It's not just for racing drivers.  We should all be aware of a bad bit of timing with the worst consequence and live accordingly.

Justin Wilson was 37 years of age, winding down his career.  Still competetive, second just three weeks ago at Mid-Ohio.  More importantly, he was described as a devoted husband and father to wife Julia, and daughters Jane, 7 and Jessica, 5.  He was well loved and respected by his peers as one of the good guys around the garage.  His loss now is truly bad timing with the worst consequecne.

Rest well.  Your bretheren will do what you love to do, regardless.  We will be in awe of the skill, celebrate the accomplishment, and revel in a moment where we feel fully alive, even if we work at a desk for a living.  Thanks for sharing the feeling with us.

Sunday, August 9, 2015

Official For Hire

Well, it finally happened.  I passed the test.  I guess I am ready for it.

I passed the test to become a licensed IHSAA volleyball official.

Now that the laughter has subsided, I guess the time I spent umpiring this spring and summer got the better of me.  I believe I can do this and do it well enough to have a little fun, give kids the chance to play with a decent official, and maybe even get paid for doing the work.  It could be a win all the way around.

I understand that not everyone is going to like what I call.  Somewhere along the line, I will be called names that can't be printed in a newspaper.  Work around an emergency room long enough and it will happen to you.  Heck, it happened to me this week at work from a patient, and I wasn't even in the emergency area.  All I am going to do the best I can, show a little hustle, and keep the proper perspective, and it should all work out.

I don't think I'm ready for High School volleyball.  The last time I was officiating volleyball was during the first Bush Administration.  I can handle elementary and middle school volleyball.  I would love to have some games to get back into practice.  Would love to even do some intrasquad scrimmages to get the feel again.

The plan is to get lienses for basketball, baseball, and softball.  I look forward to the challenge and hope I'm good enough to do this for a while.  Since coaching is behind me, it is an opportunity to be involved, positively affect kids, and make a little money, too.

I can see recently graduated high school and college athletes using this as a way to stay in the game, get a little exercise and stay connected.  It can be a good part time job, but get ready to pay your dues.  I know I will.  It isn't easy, but anything worthwhile is going to be hard.  The hard makes it great.

Well, pass the word.  I look forward to working and learning.  Might even write about it.

If I'm off base, it's still my call.  I called it like I saw it.

Sunday, August 2, 2015

Baseball, Training Camp and Mid-Ohio

It's a great week when the baseball trade deadline coincides with the start of NFL training camp.  IndyCar put the exclamation point on a good week.

The trade deadline for Major League Baseball, and a flurry of deals puncutated the week.  Always happens around the deadline, but this year, there were a couple of differences.  First, the Reds and the Tigers were big sellers, the former losing the best half of their rotation by moving Johnny Cueto and Mike Leake, while the latter dropped David Price and Yeonis Cespedes.  Those deals moved a boatloat of salary, the true bottom line in today's Major Leagues.  I was surprised to see the Padres  and the Indians were not selling. Some talent with salary could have helped another team win and score some prospects to help rebuild.

Second, Small Revenue teams were the big buyers.  The Toronto Blue Jays made added Price and Troy Tulowitzki which could shorten the gap between them and at least a Wild Card.  Cueto moved to the Royals, something that might have just made them the prohibitive favorites for the American League Pennant.   The Pirates, while they were mostly second line players, did pretty well.  Unusual to see the lack of a big move from the Big Revenue Clubs: The Angels, Dodgers, Yankees, Mets, White Sox and Cubs made, at most, role player moves.  The Cubs standing pat surprised me.  They could have used Cole Hamels or David Price (Cueto would be off their list because the Reds probably wouldn't deal within the division.)   Dan Haren is a good starter, but they needed a little more quality to strengthen their move for a Wild Card.

Third, the sheer volume of deals was based around the almight dollar.  Losing teams move salary that they can't sign again, and winning teams should have the revenue to make a winning move on the field.  I might have expected teams like the Diamondbacks or Indians to be a little louder, but they were pretty quiet.

We'll see how this plays out over the next two months.

-NFL Training Camp opened.  How is this any different from Mini Camp, Team Camp, Veteran Camp and Rookie Camp?  Only that there is a season attached to this one.  Expect a flurry of cuts and pick ups.  Note to the Seahawks: Get Kam Chancellor in camp.  Richard Sherman needs the running mate.

The NFL is pretty clinical anyway.  Ever watched a family doctor at work?  It's boring.

-IndyCar continues to produce the goods with the Honda Indy 200 today at Mid-Ohio.  Lots of close racing, exciting passing, and strategy galore resulted in a win for Graham Rahal.  The season championship is less than ten points between Juan Pablo Montoya and Rahal.

Opposed to NASCAR's yawn fest at Indianapolis last week, IndyCar has real tight racing, which the in car cameras capture in vivid detail.  Americans are starting to come to the fore in IndyCar, too.  Ryan Hunter-Reay has won the Indy 500, Rahal in the top five in points and won twice, Joszef Newgarden has won twice, Marco Andretti has the big name and everyone hates Sage Karam, which means he is young and talented.  Look for some American dominance, maybe in the final two races.

Unfortunately, Pocono is three weeks away and the season finale at Sonoma is the week after that.  John Oreovicz has the best job in the world!

So...am I off base?
 

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