Posts
197
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Pensacola, FL, USA
Edited Date/Time
1/23/2012 4:16am
ok, guys, im no yzthumpa, but here goes ....
left the house about noon and made it from florida to the dome in 3 hours in solid rain.
been about 6 months since i been to NO. they have really made a lot of progress in getting back to life, i was impressed.
i use to always go get my tickets then head over to the food court across the plaza for a light meal. that whole mall was shut down. i love aligator saugsages and other unique foods that the dome has to offer, i just dont care to pay 7 bucks for them.
the dome had a smoking area for us nicotine addicted. God bless them.
NO has always had a reputation for friendly folks. the dome staff were wonderful, helpful and friendly. God bless 'em after all they been through.
i been going to the big races since 1978 and always have a good time. the opening ceremonies were enjoyable and fun, very entertaining. i do miss art eckman's intro voice. they did a cute skit with chad reed going into a voo doo shop down in the quarter to muster up some extra mojo. got a real kick out of that. i dont know anything about tarot cards but it was funny.
ive known chad ward since he use to come to our track and raced quite a bit. i was rooting for the boy, and he was riding well, just had a bad night.
ive never seen the talent pool this deep since the early 80's. yes, stewart and reed seem to have the field covered, but its a big deal to make the main now. there are no fillers out there, everyone is riding there ass off .... both classes. let me repeat ... its a big deal to make the main now, both classes.
izzi is fast, fast, fast. he did a last ditch effort in the last turn of the lcq to make the main. watch for it on the broadcast. what a wonderful display of heart.
wharton # 61 really looked good. i am impressed. solid ride for 3rd .... solid.
i dont care for the monster energy top 5 tower sign. they need to change that and show all the positions. if that monstocity is going to be in the way and block everyones view, show all the riders. im sure there is some digital technology around to do that.
it was good to see nate dog back, he rode well, he is fast. retirement is a state of mind. i always liked him ..... "yeah, im nathan ramsey" ... chuckle.
lot of flack on here about reed fading and crap like that. reed didnt fade. he rode hard and was right there at the finish. he and stewart are so advanced, thats its really a matter of millimeters and milliseconds. insert al pacino quote "this is a game of inches"
hepler ... wow ... a solid ride. good for him.
had to keep an eye on alessi for bobby m. bobby, alessi rode well and looked comfortable. just wondering if he went with reed to the voo doo shop to get some mojo for himself. he ran into trouble but looked good. i think he's getting the hang of the supercross deal.
windham rode well. he had about 2 spots where he could guarentee a pass. one of them was the 2nd turn. he would just pass at will. if he would only had a better start.
i looked for jlaw all night, didnt know he had an injury. the announcers never said anything about him.
i finally spotted erin bates during the lcq's. she was doing the beads thing and smiled all night long. (sigh .....)
the crowd looked pretty good. i didnt hear the numbers but the 1st and 2nd levels were full. since it would be a good hour and a half to get out of the parking, i took the wife down to the pits. she never met any of the pros before.
i was a bit disappointed. never saw any of the riders after the race except for stewart. in my day, it was pretty standard that the riders signed autographs and met the fans till the fans went home.
im not complaining, mind you, but there were some hard core fans standing in the rain to see their favorates who only come to our area rarely.
we got into the main pits no problem. when we tried to get into the secondary pits, the guard wanted to see our credentials. i asked him "they wont let us in to visit and get autographs and photos?" he said no, but he was nice about it. new orleans folks are nice people.
stewart passed out a ton of items to the fans. he and his crew are good to the kiddies. they gave my wife some kind of sock cover or calf cover deal. wife got his autograph and it was the highlight of her night.
ran into Jbo on the street. good buddy of mine. glad he is doing well. he has always been a good photographer so look for his pics when he posts them.
got to visit with Roger D for a bit. class guy, wonderful ambassador for our sport. since the crowd in the pits was small, i got to tell him my favorite roger d story. you see, roger was my dad's favorite. in may of 1981, my dad was bed ridden with mesothelemia. i was a mechanic for a buddy at the '81 road atlanta national. i got roger's autograph on the ama rules update sheet at the race on a sunday. monday morning, i gave it to my dad as he lay in bed and chatted a bit. he was coherent and we were able talk. i said good bye to him and headed off for my morning college classes. it was the last time i spoke to my dad. he passed away tuesday morning, may 13, 1981. sometimes, legends like roger d have no idea what a positive impact they have on our lives. funny thing, my wife heard that story for the first time. she see's the autograph in the computer room and never knew the story behind it.
i would have like to met yzthumpa, but i had no idea what he looked like. probably walked right past him.
i wanted to say hello to guyb, but didnt see him. probably walked right past him.
i had 2 highlights of the evening. ran into jim holley at the stewart rig. class act, as we all know. he stood with me without a hat, in the rain for about 30 mins bench racing the old days and talking about everything. he was a minicycle legend and a factory rider back in my day so i have always looked up to him. i was glad that i was able to thank him for the many years of internet broadcast excellence. got my pic with him too.... cool.
sometimes, you can believe what you read on the internet. erin bates is more attractive in person than on tv .... if that is possible. got my pic taken with her. i will post it as soon as the wife wakes up and retreive the pic from the cell phone. what a wonderful lady.
had a blast for the evening, looking forward to speed broadcast. i hope they do it again next year ... im in!
left the house about noon and made it from florida to the dome in 3 hours in solid rain.
been about 6 months since i been to NO. they have really made a lot of progress in getting back to life, i was impressed.
i use to always go get my tickets then head over to the food court across the plaza for a light meal. that whole mall was shut down. i love aligator saugsages and other unique foods that the dome has to offer, i just dont care to pay 7 bucks for them.
the dome had a smoking area for us nicotine addicted. God bless them.
NO has always had a reputation for friendly folks. the dome staff were wonderful, helpful and friendly. God bless 'em after all they been through.
i been going to the big races since 1978 and always have a good time. the opening ceremonies were enjoyable and fun, very entertaining. i do miss art eckman's intro voice. they did a cute skit with chad reed going into a voo doo shop down in the quarter to muster up some extra mojo. got a real kick out of that. i dont know anything about tarot cards but it was funny.
ive known chad ward since he use to come to our track and raced quite a bit. i was rooting for the boy, and he was riding well, just had a bad night.
ive never seen the talent pool this deep since the early 80's. yes, stewart and reed seem to have the field covered, but its a big deal to make the main now. there are no fillers out there, everyone is riding there ass off .... both classes. let me repeat ... its a big deal to make the main now, both classes.
izzi is fast, fast, fast. he did a last ditch effort in the last turn of the lcq to make the main. watch for it on the broadcast. what a wonderful display of heart.
wharton # 61 really looked good. i am impressed. solid ride for 3rd .... solid.
i dont care for the monster energy top 5 tower sign. they need to change that and show all the positions. if that monstocity is going to be in the way and block everyones view, show all the riders. im sure there is some digital technology around to do that.
it was good to see nate dog back, he rode well, he is fast. retirement is a state of mind. i always liked him ..... "yeah, im nathan ramsey" ... chuckle.
lot of flack on here about reed fading and crap like that. reed didnt fade. he rode hard and was right there at the finish. he and stewart are so advanced, thats its really a matter of millimeters and milliseconds. insert al pacino quote "this is a game of inches"
hepler ... wow ... a solid ride. good for him.
had to keep an eye on alessi for bobby m. bobby, alessi rode well and looked comfortable. just wondering if he went with reed to the voo doo shop to get some mojo for himself. he ran into trouble but looked good. i think he's getting the hang of the supercross deal.
windham rode well. he had about 2 spots where he could guarentee a pass. one of them was the 2nd turn. he would just pass at will. if he would only had a better start.
i looked for jlaw all night, didnt know he had an injury. the announcers never said anything about him.
i finally spotted erin bates during the lcq's. she was doing the beads thing and smiled all night long. (sigh .....)
the crowd looked pretty good. i didnt hear the numbers but the 1st and 2nd levels were full. since it would be a good hour and a half to get out of the parking, i took the wife down to the pits. she never met any of the pros before.
i was a bit disappointed. never saw any of the riders after the race except for stewart. in my day, it was pretty standard that the riders signed autographs and met the fans till the fans went home.
im not complaining, mind you, but there were some hard core fans standing in the rain to see their favorates who only come to our area rarely.
we got into the main pits no problem. when we tried to get into the secondary pits, the guard wanted to see our credentials. i asked him "they wont let us in to visit and get autographs and photos?" he said no, but he was nice about it. new orleans folks are nice people.
stewart passed out a ton of items to the fans. he and his crew are good to the kiddies. they gave my wife some kind of sock cover or calf cover deal. wife got his autograph and it was the highlight of her night.
ran into Jbo on the street. good buddy of mine. glad he is doing well. he has always been a good photographer so look for his pics when he posts them.
got to visit with Roger D for a bit. class guy, wonderful ambassador for our sport. since the crowd in the pits was small, i got to tell him my favorite roger d story. you see, roger was my dad's favorite. in may of 1981, my dad was bed ridden with mesothelemia. i was a mechanic for a buddy at the '81 road atlanta national. i got roger's autograph on the ama rules update sheet at the race on a sunday. monday morning, i gave it to my dad as he lay in bed and chatted a bit. he was coherent and we were able talk. i said good bye to him and headed off for my morning college classes. it was the last time i spoke to my dad. he passed away tuesday morning, may 13, 1981. sometimes, legends like roger d have no idea what a positive impact they have on our lives. funny thing, my wife heard that story for the first time. she see's the autograph in the computer room and never knew the story behind it.
i would have like to met yzthumpa, but i had no idea what he looked like. probably walked right past him.
i wanted to say hello to guyb, but didnt see him. probably walked right past him.
i had 2 highlights of the evening. ran into jim holley at the stewart rig. class act, as we all know. he stood with me without a hat, in the rain for about 30 mins bench racing the old days and talking about everything. he was a minicycle legend and a factory rider back in my day so i have always looked up to him. i was glad that i was able to thank him for the many years of internet broadcast excellence. got my pic with him too.... cool.
sometimes, you can believe what you read on the internet. erin bates is more attractive in person than on tv .... if that is possible. got my pic taken with her. i will post it as soon as the wife wakes up and retreive the pic from the cell phone. what a wonderful lady.
had a blast for the evening, looking forward to speed broadcast. i hope they do it again next year ... im in!
i saw jimmy button in the pits. he looked good and seemed to be in good spirits. we chatted a bit, i like the guy, always have.
at the 2001 NO SX, i was able to get pit passes (thanks to EI Dave) and went to new orleans to try and get that privateer housing deal off the ground. one of my assignments was to approach the MRO chaplain for some assistance on this deal.
before I could get to him, jimmy button appoached him and they had a long heart to heart. i stood back and observed. I hope that it was one of those moments that it seemed to be and that jimmy was coming to terms with things with the guidance of the chaplain.
i have become more active with my local church, and i think about that moment often.
sat next to some fine folks from houston. the dad does these awesome custom wood plaques for the riders. he had a photo album and let me see it. he had made one for chad reed and was going to try to present it last night. i forgot to catch his name or get a card as they left before 450 main was over. you meet some great folks at supercrosses.
while i was getting my pic taken with erin, ralph shaheen and jeff emig was there. i mistakenly called ralph jason weigandt, but it was an honest mistake (erin had her arm around me) and i apologize to both of them. i told erin, you would think i know better since i watch ralph every week. i had a good excuse, erin had her arm around me.
Nice report cool story on your pops and Roger D..Glad to hear Bubba was one of the few out there after the race good stuff.. And I agree Erin Bates is better looking in person tv does no justice.
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You're right about Chad not fading. He and Bubba were both on a different level from everyone else, and he wasn't coasting at any time. Both were on the gas but Chad just didn't have quite enough for Bubba. Two things I noticed: One was that Chad didn't quad the dragonback thing until the third lap while Bubba did it every lap from what I saw. That allowed Bubba to keep Chad right off his rear wheel from the start. The biggest factor appeared to be the sandy - very sandy - turn right before the whoops. Bubba was just whipping it around that turn then blitzing the whoops, whereas Chad seemed to get bogged down in the turn a bit and just couldn't get the drive through the whoops as a result. Aside from that he seemed a bit faster through most of the track for much of the race. That one turn seemed to kill him. We were on the other side of the dome and that big friggin' tower thing wiped out our view of the other side of the track, but from our view that appeared to be the only factor in the race. I was waiting for Bubba to ditch it in the sand, and I'm sure Chad was a bit cautious in it given his points lead.
Hepler was quite impressive. Kdub was pushing hard for the podium, and I kept telling my son, "Hepler just came back, he'll fade late and Kdub's gonna get him." Didn't happen by a long shot.
In the Lites, Stroupe was GONE.
you made some good points. i was over by the starting line and couldnt see the dragon back too well.
i thought the sandy turn was going to take more victems, but most handled it well. reed seemed intent on making a wide outside second line there in practice, probably one of his aces he was going to use later.
i can certainly understand if reed was riding with points lead in mind. i would do the same myself. he has a few championships under his belt, so he's doing what he needs to do.
one of the things about listening to the webcast and watching live wire, you miss the other details that you pointed out that one can only catch in person. sometimes, the laptimes dont tell the whole story.
stoupe topped the field in the lites, good ride for him. pourcel had to work his way through, he looked good doing it.
lemoine looked good all night, just had things go wrong in the main. one thing i remember about the lemoine family when they use to come to our track, they were some of the nicest people you would ever meet, so i just have to root for the guy. i use to work the sign up booth in the mornings and nice people signing up was a big deal for me. you can imagine with riders riding double classes, duplicate numbers, kids signing up without proper release, i have met all kinds. the lemoine's were absolutely wonderful all the time
i dont know if jbo mentioned it, i was the announcer for about 20 some odd years over at west fla mx park. i was the medium height guy in glasses, the tall guy that alternated with me was dave heine. he was a better announcer but couldnt always make it because of work. finally, in 2003, we changed places and i was the full time referee and main flagger and he did all the announcing. worked out better that way.
i cant remember if you mentioned that you had been there to milton before.
stewart and my wife
jim holly
me and jim holly
the lovely erin bates !
Update on David Bailey is that he is doing very well and working.
He worked with Rickey James to assist him in training for the Hawaii Ironman competition which if I am correct Rickey placed 2nd in this year. So David is again getting back into things and working hard.
I have noticed that most riders are now wearing the neck brace that David made a post from his bed to let the riders know this thing could help keep you from being where he is! Thanks to all of you for taking this and going with it.
I keep David in my prayers as he is one very angelic person and does so much for others and yet never asks for himself when he is in need.
I would also like to thank James Stuart for taking time after the race to have photos and autographs with folks who stood in the rain waiting for him. Thanks a million.
James is a good rider and a very nice person. He is the only one I was able to see after the race..
Thank you to Erin from speed for having your photo taken with my husband and yes that woman is way more beautiful in person. foo723 ran into many folks he has known for years and some new ones. New Orleans was definatly a blast even if it was wet and cool. Good luck to the riders in St Louis. Cant wait for next weeks run. I just wish I could be there.
Pit Row
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