Saturday, July 07, 2007
Deja Vu all over again
Debris in the Ohio River ... hmmm ... reminds me of a Madison race in 1972 when a young man with two Gold Cups and two national championships under his belt before turning 30 years of age faced a decision. To drive a race on a river where he could see a refrigerator along with tree trunks floating, or take a stand and say, "My life's more important."
That young driver did the latter and soon found himself dismissed from his driving assignment, the U-25 PRIDE OF PAY'n PAK, for good. Billy Schumacher was replaced in Madison that day by Bill Sterett, Sr., who came out of retirement for this one race only. The remaining three races the PRIDE was driven by Billy Sterett. Many of us who watched the race that day were unsure as to the whats and whys going on with Billy and PAY'n PAK owner Dave Heerensperger, but the next time most of us saw him was 2 years later - again, in Madison - as the late season replacement driver for the U-74 VALU-MART.
Billy was always one of my all-time favorite drivers ... you looked at him, and he just personified the word "cool". That determined look on his face was even evident through his heat shield mask (see above photo). You knew he was all business - he had to have had an effect on the other drivers, and he wasn't up against any lightweights in his time either. He faced the likes of Dean Chenoweth, Bill Muncey, George Henley, Warner Gardner, Bill Sterett ... the list of greats that he drove against is endless.
Despite the fact that so many people are disappointed by no racing today, I'm glad that smarter heads are prevailing in this day and age. Nobody's proving anything by showing that they can steer around an obstacle course of a few floating air conditioners and exhaust pipes. Let the race committee work out the details of qualifying the last two boats in the morning, and trust the Corp. of Engineers to handle the debris upriver. After last week's aerial ballet, it would be nice to see our favorite sport go through a safe weekend with little attrition. The less carnage at Madison, the better shape the field will be in for the Gold Cup in Detroit.
Till tomorrow ...
