What do you get when you take all the octogenarians in Bellevue, put them behind the wheel of a Buick, and make them drive through tight spaces? The Overlake Hospital parking garage! I got passed by a squirrel on crutches while I was inching my way to a parking spot this morning.
Thanks for all the continued concern about this surgery recovery. It's taking a lot longer than I had originally hoped. I've been meeting with the doctor every week or two and today I finally got good news (for the first time since the surgery.) Everything is finally starting to heal, and though it still requires a few extra steps in my daily routine, he thinks it's actually going to heal without more surgery. I head back in a month when he hopes to pronounce me healed( or close to it.)
So this means I'm sentenced to another 4-6 weeks of "old man activities." It's really tough sitting inside on these sunny days when my motorcycle is begging for a ride, but I'm just happy that there is finally some progress. Your continued prayers are appreciated.
ESPN really stepped up their game this year with respect to NASCAR. They broadcast every Busch series race on ESPN2 in HD, and they have a daily half hour show called NASCAR Now. That show is intended to follow in the footsteps of similar daily shows for the MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL.
It doesn't work. One of the things I really love about racing in general is that everyone in the league competes in the same event. You can spend 4 hours a week watching a single race and know everything that happened in the league that week. Try doing that with baseball. There just isn't enough news to fill 30 minutes a day every day of the week. The show has to be annoying for drivers who are forced into 5 minute interviews with stupid questions like "Why aren't you doing better this year?"
The ESPN NASCAR crew is stretched thin in the talent department too. One of the reasons that SpeedTV, FOX, and TNT have such fantastic coverage is because they hire people from the sport. Darryl Waltrip, Kenny Wallace, Jeff Hammond, and the rest of them all know what NASCAR is really about and what it takes to win.
Who does ESPN have? Umm... Brad Daugherty. A basketball player. The funny thing is, he's one of the best analysts they have. Why isn't Rusty Wallace front and center in all of your coverage? You paid the big bucks to hire him but you never put him in front of the camera. Tim Brewer, Dave Burns, and Andy Petree know their stuff but again, they're never on the shows.
The entire ESPN crew needs to go through some training so they can at least pronounce the names of the drivers correctly. They need a "stat boy" at the end of the show to correct all their incorrect statements. And can we please never allow Kenny Mayne to recap any races? I didn't tune in to listen to someone mock the sport. If I wanted that, I'd call Jay.