The sound for the mass was less than perfect, like listening to a presentation in a gym, but the sound for the race was non-existent. It seems Dallas doesn't have a lot of Indy racing fans. With all of the screens available they only had two small screens at the far end showing the race, and it was on The Sports Channel, ESPN as well as ABC! We had to request they turn it on a screen near our table, then with 35 laps to go, they switched it to the Texas Rangers game!
We got it switched back so we could see the end of the race but it's hard to follow without sound. Sound is exactly where I started with Indy. I've followed this race every year since 1957, starting when it was only on radio (remember those days?), then when ABCs Wide World of Sports started carrying it on tape delayed TV the following day, on Armed Forces Radio when I was in the Navy, rented a TV when I was living in a tent camper in Boise before moving the family to Idaho in 1991, then live in '85 and '87 (remember Tim's sun poisoning - but he doesn't burn). 60 years of memories, the past many receiving a phone call from Jason minutes after the checkered flag to discuss the race. This one was with my daughter and son-in-law, another memory for the ages.
Tomorrow we go to check out the biggest history event in the life of most of us Baby Boomers. I'm in Dallas and could not miss standing on the grassy knoll and seeing the book depository (which is now a museum). I, along with the rest of the nation, was numbed by the senseless act that took place on November 22, 1963.
Film at eleven...
Almost sixty years, to your tradition of Indy watching/listening--I didn't realize. Hats off! Helmets off!
ReplyDeleteI remember a touching article in Life(?) magazine about Bill Vukovich's wife, hearing there had been a bad accident on the track, headed o the infield hospital, afraid it as her husband. When the ambulance unloaded the stretcher, the body had the sheet pulled up over the head but she saw her husbands "lucky black and white checkered socks" sticking out at the foot of the stretcher, she knew who it was
DeleteAs I told Dad on the phone, Ashley was starting to show some interest to the race too. She watched the first few minutes and asked all kinds of questions. I really piqued her racing interest when I told her that the winner of the race gets a FREE bottle of milk! If you don't win you have to pay for it yourself. It was probably too much to ask her to watch the full 2+ hours, but she did seem interested for a bit!
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