the race is over

i've been a racing fan of some sort for as long as i remember. i recall when i was real young dad had some friend that owned and/or raced a jalopy, and we would go to the race track at 11 mile corner, the pinal county fairgrounds, and watch him race. for those of you younger than me, a jalopy was what ultimately evolved into a modified. back then, however, roll cages, fire suits, and most other times of safety equipment were optional. made racing pretty interesting.

i remember very fondly looking forward to memorial day, cause dad would sit and listen to the radio broadcast of the indianapolis 500 all day. i liked that. back before tv recognized that people would watch a sporting event that long after all.

i paid little attention to nascar during my early years. oh, i knew who richard petty was. and cale yarborough. but i wasn't a nascar fan. the only racing i really knew was the indianapolis 500. plus what little racing we happened to see at a local track.

but i became an avid fan shortly after i moved to yuma. circa 1980, or so. my friend buford owned a used car lot, and his mechanic raced at the dirt track just across the river in bard, california. i started going to watch the shows with buford, and soon became a big fan. every race night buford and i would pack a cooler with beer and head out to the races. great fun.

1985 changed it all. the local track, struggling, and trying to attract more racers, which would also attract more fans, created what they called their "bomber" division. take any old street car, remove all glass and flammable materials, weld in a roll cage of some sort, strap on a helmet, paint a number on it, and go racing.

the concept intrigued me. and my buddy spot had bought an old pontiac that he had tried to enter in a demolition derby. as luck would have it, the car wouldn't start at derby time so he had the car sitting idle. i read about the new racing division and offered spot sponsorship from our company if he'd race it. and he did.

he rolled the car in the first race, blew it up in the second. but both of us were hooked. we bought another car and kept racing. after half dozen races of so spot actually got pretty competitive. and as the car owner, i was pretty proud. i sat in the stands drinking my bud light and feeling pretty much like rick hendrick probably feels now. successful race car owner.

we drank just enough beer at the races to impair our judgement just slightly. and one night at the end of the race show, when, as always, we went down into the pits to help load car and tools, spot had just been told that they had scheduled a special race for the following weekend. memorial day weekend. when we normally didn't have a race scheduled. thing was that the touring sprint cars were racing, and the track insurance company now required that at least one local division race when they were promoting special events. ok, that's fine. but spot had family plans out of town that weekend, so wouldn't be available to race. and he suggested that i drive his car for that one race.

we drank just enough beer at the races to impair judgement just slightly. and i'm the first to admit that, on that particular night, my judgement was impaired, for i agreed that, yes, i should race his car the following weekend. successful car owner about to become successful race car driver.

and when i awoke sunday morning and remembered what i had agreed to, i had to make a rush trip to the bathroom. holy crap! i agreed to drive a race car? on a race track? with other cars racing too? must have had impaired judgement.

i spent most of the following week trying to figure out how to get out of driving that stupid race car in that stupid race. while i wouldn't have admitted it to anyone then, i was scared. really scared. but i couldn't find a way to graciously bow out. i was stuck. and i was being really encouraged by a couple of my other friends that were involved in racing.

ok, race day comes, i'm gonna do it. we haul the car to the track. phyl and casshole as my pit crew, me as a driver. perfect recipe for success. and we lined the car up for the first race. and at the end of the pace lap, with me poised comfortably in the back of the field (that was the norm for a beginner back then. if you hadn't raced before, start in the back so you don't screw up and cause trouble for everyone else.) the green flag waved.

i raced a couple of laps just the way my mentor, phyl, had advised me. "just follow the car in front of you til you figure out he's going too slow, then pass him." well, before i could pass the car in front of me, and i was actually thinking i was ready to, the race leader came up behind me. and then moved beside me. that's when i noticed him. and in passing me, he actually smacked the side of my car. and that made me mad. it was not necessary at all.

road rage is a wondrous thing. i was so mad at that guy for smacking me as he passed that i decided i'd catch up with him and smack him back. so i followed him. stayed right on his bumper. for several laps. and we were both passing cars. staying right together. and then it occurred to me that i was racing just as fast as the best driver on the track. and about the same time i remembered that i was scared. so i backed off a bit, never did catch him so i could smack him, but somehow finished that heat race in fourth position.

then came the main event. and i'm starting in the third row. i should let them move me to the back. but i'm having fun now so i want to be right there in the mix. and the green flag flies. and the race is on. we run a few laps and then this fool tries to pass me outside going into turn one. and he gets slideways and turns right in front of me. and i smacked him. t-boned him, in fact. hard. and he rolled over. landed upside down with the front of my car on top of his car. and i'm scared all over again. my heart's racing much faster than i ever was. and i'm sitting in my race car, perched at a rather strange angle, and someone is hollering at me. finally i realize he's yelling "kill your engine!" guess i still had my foot on the accelerator, engine racing. i may have been in some sort of shock.

well, turns out the other guy was just fine. i was really afraid i'd killed someone. there were roll bar pieces and car parts all over the track. when i finally gathered my wits enough to climb out of my car i could see all that. and i could see the other guy had gotten out much quicker than i had. guess i would too, if i were upside down and had gas dripping all around me. i looked at my car and heaved a big sigh of relief knowing that my racing was over. the car was wrecked.

but phyl and casshole had other ideas. they had the car towed into the pits, changed a tire, pulled the plastic fan shroud away from the fan, had me try starting the car, and it did start. and they wanted me to race again. in fact, the race was about ready to restart. i could re-join the race without even losing a lap. but i was scared. i didn't want to. but they insisted. and i couldn't come up with a real excuse not to. so, there i went. and as the pack took the green flag once again, and i pulled onto the track right behind them as they roared into turn one, i actually heard the crowd cheer. and i felt pleased. and i raced again. and i had fun. and i was hooked.

i finished third in that race. but the following weekend i had to give the keys back to spot. but i was so taken by racing that i built my own car. and i raced a lot. with some degree of success. even captured the "rookie of the year" trophy. hey now, i'm an all-star.

and along about that time i also began to watch nascar races on tv. and felt a kinship to the drivers. and i became a nascar fan. an avid nascar fan.

for 20 plus years i've rarely missed a cup race. winston cup, nextel cup, sprint cup. whatever. but lately i find that i'm losing interest. nascar has, in my opinion, made too many bad changes. the cars are far from being "stock" cars. they hardly resemble anything you'll see in a dealership showroom. and the sport is all about money. gone are the days when a fella can race competitively on a shoestring budget. it's big business. and i'm losing interest.

ten years ago i started a nascar fantasy league. just a few of us at first. family members. but interest grew. friends joined in. friends became nascar fans because they joined in. i kept stats religiously. i've always been somewhat of a stat freak, and this project was tailor-made for that. and ten different seasons i tracked fantasy points throughout the cup season. but today that all ended.

my new laptop has a new version of excel. and my excel spreadsheet, the one i use for compiling racing points, stats, whatever, just doesn't like to work with this new version of excel. i've fought it. i've cussed it. and it just doesn't want to work. and it frustrated me. and the racing seems to have grown boring. and that frustrated me. and today i passed the torch. i resigned my role as commissioner of the nix family racing league on to my son, my assistant commissioner, scooter. and the race has come to an end.

the end of what should have been

i attended my first lumberjack football game when i was 11. my sister was in her freshman year at nau, well, back then it was asc, arizona state college. she had been a majorette in high school, even drum majorette her senior year, and was now a majorette with the lumberjack marching band. and we made the journey from casa grande to flagstaff for mom and dad's day weekend and took in the game largely to see her perform. but also to watch the football game.

lumberjack stadium was amazing. on our side the stands were covered. i'd never been in a covered stadium before. even the asu stadium wasn't covered. this was really cool.
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i don't really remember much about that game. i'm guessing we left after half-time because it was pretty darned cold. but i was there long enough that i was in awe of college football, particularly our team. they sold these small cowbells, and everyone would ring them when our lumberjacks did something good. and after each score this team of bearded lumberjacks would tow the logging wheels from one end of the field to the other. this was great entertainment.

i had two older sisters who attended nau. when lynda graduated, jo enrolled. and i enrolled while jo was still there. and i so fondly remember my first game at lumberjack stadium as a college man. we dressed to go the game. sports coat, tie. and if we could find someone old enough to buy it, we'd hide a half-pint in our inside coat pocket. we weren't yet sophisicated enough to have a flask. but the bottle worked just fine. we'd hit the concession stand for a coke, sneak in a capful of two of popov vodka or ten high, add more later, and have a groovy time watching the game, ringing our cowbells and cheering on our rugged football players.

the student side bleachers were not covered. and that was a good thing. the games were almost always during the day - except for special occasion games, and while the temperatures in flagstaff dipped pretty low at times, for the most part we had the sunshine in our faces, and a few thousand tightly packed in warm bodies to keep us comfortable. a perfect setting for college football.

why then did they ruin it. in 1979 they opened the skydome. an interesting architectural structure that was the first of its kind for such a small school. heck, for that matter, i don't think any of the major colleges have indoor football even now. and in my opinion, the skydome ruined football at my favorite university.

back in the outdoor stadium days the players were tough, and the fans were too. football, you see, was meant to be played outdoors. in good and bad weather. the thing that seperates football from other sports is that it can be played in horrid weather conditions. and i played a bit of football in high school, and to me the games that were the most fun were played in the rain. slipping, sliding, getting muddy. all added to the fun.

and to me it seemed the community turned out in force to lumberjack stadium. we made lots of noise, cowbells and air horns and just fan cheering. the stands were always full. we truly had the home field advantage. now, in the dome, the cowbells and airhorns are gone. probably forbidden. and the turn out is pathetic. the student side isn't near a crowded as the old stadium would get. and even the "adult" side is very sparsely settled in. and you'd think crowd noise would be nearly intolerable at an indoor venue. but it's nothing like it was in the old days.

and now i read the article i've pasted below. i'd always hoped that someday nau would see the light and at least return football to the great outdoors for day time games. not to be. they're demolishing lumberjack stadium. and with it, in my opinion, the great tradition of college football in flagstaff. some things should never change.

















Lumberjack Stadium being razed: By JOE FERGUSONSun Staff Reporter Wednesday, October 14, 2009







Crews began tearing down Lumberjack Stadium this week to make room for the new Health and Learning Center.The $106 million project will replace the 40-year-old Fronske Health Center, renovate and expand the 20-year-old Recreation Center and replace the 49-year-old stadium when completed in the fall of 2011. One of the first construction subcontracts issued by the Phoenix-based general contractor, Mortenson Construction, went to Dickens Quality Demolition, also of Phoenix.The contract, estimated to be worth under $1 million, will employ 23 people for roughly the next two months.Jane Kuhn, an associate vice president, said NAU encourages the selection of local contractors whenever possible.As for the demolition contact, Kuhn said she did not know if there were any local demolition companies. But Todd Sleeper, the owner of Flagstaff-based Eagle Mountain Construction, said his company could have done the work.He said he discussed the demolition contract with Mortenson Construction, but ultimately decided against submitting a formal bid.The strict requirements to meet the green building codes for the Health and Learning Center, he said, made it difficult for him to place a competitive bid. One stipulation, Sleeper said, would have required his crews to separate out the steel from the rubble of the former stadium.Ron Wilson with Mortenson Construction said his company has already given several contracts to local firms, naming Flagstaff- based Ignace Brothers Drywall as one example.Wilson added he has received 43 bids from local subcontractors but has not yet completed its hiring process.He said the next phase will be to pour the concrete foundation and erect the steel frame for the new facility this December.The construction has already closed off a large parking lot next to Lumberjack Stadium, reducing the number of parking spaces on campus by 230, said Kuhn.Nearby streets won't be immediately affected, said Kuhn, but a different project in several weeks will close off the north end of San Francisco Street on campus.The construction bond will be paid back primarily through students fees. Students are currently paying $290 a year, but the fee will increase to $500 a year by the fall of 2011.The new Health and Learning Center is expected to be open in the fall of 2011.Joe