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“Chris Economaki still rolls old school!”
(The famous Royal typewriter firmly affixed in its place of honour at IMS’s media centre. Source: meeshbeer.wordpress.com)
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Its funny the torrent ‘O emotions I faced upon being delivered to my stinky ‘lil abode in the nether-regions of north Seattle Clyde asked me; are you gonna do any blogging today? Nah, I’ll probably look at Zed INternetz, but NO scribblin’ todaze for Mwah. But alas, I haveda say it was another typical Friday, when ALL HELL breaks loose!
It started off with a somewhat cryptic voicemail from ‘CARPETS, thee ‘Offical photographer for No Fenders... Wanting to know what in thee HELL was going on over fans swarming the pitch in recognition of victory over some Division I team; Huh? I have ZERO idea what you’re talking ‘bout man... Having been off listening to ‘Juan ‘O the most influential and amazing political Investigative Journalists on the planet named Greg Palast at Seattle’s Town Hall instead.
Although there was a deafening audible roar of frenetic fans as we drove south past ‘Der Clink (Century Link field) Thursday evening around 9:15PM - which I could only imagine was another 40,000+ crowd cheering on the Sounders FC Football club; Y’all know our other football team; Hya! As in the Seattle Sounders FC who are once again leading Major League Soccer in attendance with an average crowd of 43,000; CRIKEYS! And IndyCar still continues to shun the Pacific Northwest ; Oh Never Mind!
Yet, what I’d later discover upon snooping thru my fantastic telephone news, i.e.; NFB’s “Newsline for the Blind,” was that actually it had been the UW Huskies football team instead, as the ‘DAWGS pulled off a shocker by defeating the then No. 8 ranked Stanford Cardinals 17-13; with multitudes of the 58,000 strong crowd rushing the field apparently in delirium! As I do recall tear-gas being fired upon unruly fans at Husky Stadium upon tearing down the goalposts after defeating the WSU Cougars in an Apple cup game some years ago...
Thus I began my usual stroll thru my assorted Interwoodz haunts by discovering that that fine ‘Kuhnadiun lass ‘Meesh was back from her winter’s hibernation? Or perhaps she & her Acura got stuck in Toronto
As Meesh’s story was insightful as always, as I too have felt the shadow of those long arms of Chris Economaki cast upon motorsports, both in print & television, as I must confess I’ve never read a copy of National Speed Sport News, nor was I overly fond of Mr. Economaki, most likely due to his East Coast moxie, I suppose.
Yet, in 2009 when I was admitted entrance into the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Media Centre, as part of the first wave of bloggers allowed into this previous off limits area; I too was highly amused to see Chris’s Royal typewriter proudly denoting his seat at the front of the room. And later that weekend, during my debutant Indy 500, Messer Economaki’s grip was felt once again when an unknown journalist who’d apparently saw my white cane came up & approached me in the cafeteria, where Indiana Bureau Chief Daniel Baines Cooper enjoys those crème sodas so much...
As this stranger sez; No Fenders, huh? Looks like you’re a Formula 1 fan? I sure wish Chris Economaki was here, as he’d be able to tell us the name of that blind journalist he worked with way back when...
Next on my reading list was Oil Pressure’s; Our Life So Far, another typically brilliant piece written by Geo. Phillips vivacious bride Susan... Whose latest post revolved around the couple’s mergification and dealing with her mother who suffers from dementia; thus I found this story overly ironic, as the synchronicity of it all wasn’t lost upon Mwah, having just visited the famous ‘Auntie Harriet, who’d just celebrated her 93rd birthday recently... As she too suffers from dementia, which usually reverts to her asking me 47-times what type ‘O cars are those? Who’s that? Which is usually pretty entertaining - especially since I cannot typically see the television from her across-the-room vantage point...
As it was a somewhat strange visit, since I totally believe she didn’t actually recognize me this time and also for the first time ever, didn’t ask me once about when’s the next race on TV & have you been to any car races lately? As Harriet’s quit asking me if she’s acting GOOFY a long time ago; while I suppose dementia is a much larger issue then talked about, eh? As Harriet too, is fortunate enough to be living at home instead of some nursing home and will most likely die in the very same house she grew up in - which is a pretty rare feat these days!
And I cannot say I know anything ‘bout him, yet I found it overly symbiotic that Robert Newton, the founder of Hoosier tyres, who also died at the age of 85 ironically had his obituary published by the New York Times the very same day that Economaki’s name was making its obituary page...