MotoGP Indy

September 19, 2008





Moto GP Indy

Mike & Kevin

Having suffered through a glancing blow from Hurricane Ike in Key West last week, I wouldn’t have ever guessed that the storm would track me down again in Indiana. Sunday afternoon in Indianapolis, Ike hit with dramatic force, right in the middle of the MotoGP motorcycle race that I was attending at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Wind and rain that would have canceled about 90% of sporting events hampered the race, but the riders braved the elements in truly unbearable conditions until it simply got too bad to continue and the race was called with 8 laps remaining.

Start of 125CC race



The day didn’t start out as a weather disaster, in fact they were able to get the 125cc motorcycle support race and the warm-ups in with-out a problem, but heavy, heavy rain soon hit and the winds picked up to a steady 40 mph range with frequent gusts of over 70 mph. It was so bad that I had to leave my excellent uncovered seat, for the relative safety of the covered grand-stand along the main straight where I joined my friends Kevin Love & Mike Seltzer to take in the craziness.







The race was dominated at the start by Nicky Hayden who led early and seemed to pull away until five-time world champion Valentino Rossi worked his way up from forth to challenge for the lead. That the riders could remain upright, let alone pass under those conditions in miraculous, but Rossi charged into the lead and began to pull away when the race was called.



Rossi wins!

It was my first experience with motorcycle racing, and while it still falls far short of the excitement of an Indy 500, it was pretty exciting stuff. I especially enjoyed the knowledgeable, interesting mix of fans that the race brought to the speedway. The announced crowd was over 91,000, which is amazing considering the weather conditions. With many of the fans crowded along the mounds through the turns rather than in the traditional grand-stands, the place seemed rather empty and traffic was no issue at all either, perhaps because many of the fans arrived themselves on motorcycles.

Kevin & Michael



The weather was the story of the day though, as trees and limbs were down all over town, power outages and delayed flights the order of the day. I honestly cannot wait until hurricane season is over.

Wind rips away flags.

Purdue

September 16, 2008







Purdue



If Friday was all about reminiscing about my high school days, then Saturday switched to recalling my days as a Purdue Boilermaker as I drove the 60 miles from Indianapolis to West Lafayette to attend the big football match-up between Purdue and the 16th ranked Oregon Ducks. The game was not until late in the afternoon, which offered me plenty of time to roam the campus and partake in the myriad of pregame activities around the campus.

Oregon fans

Purdue Pete

If you have never attended a major college football game, there is nothing quite like it. Tailgating takes on a life of its own and the entire campus is alive with excitement. I began my day by hitting a few of the bars that I once frequented, my favorite, the famous Harry’s Chocolate Shop is virtually unchanged in the 20 plus years since I went to Purdue. One interesting new wrinkle is that it has become a tradition for students to dress up in costumes at the pre-game parties and there were thousands of dressed up students wondering through the bars.

Harry's Chocolate Shop



After a few drinks, I walked across campus, touring the union and seeing all the growth that has occurred in recent years. I headed over to pay a visit to my former fraternity, Sigma Nu where a pre-game bash was going strong. The house is a short walk from the stadium and after a few more drinks, I headed over in that direction, taking time to tour the renovated Mackey Arena and to watch the Purdue All American Marching Band perform their pre-game concert.



Mackey Arena

The game itself was amazing, though ultimately disappointing in that Purdue basically handed away a victory. Things started off well as Purdue jumped out to a quick 20-3 lead early in the second quarter due to a huge 80 yard TD run by Kory Sheets and a couple of great defensive take-aways, but then the Boilers managed to screw up their advantage.



Purdue Cheerleaders

Oregeon Cheerleaders

With questionable coaching decisions and terrible clock management, Purdue allowed Oregon to get back in the game and get momentum leading into halftime by wasting 3 possessions in the final 5 minutes of the half and throwing an ill timed interception that let Oregon get a field goal to end the half.



First Down



The second half saw more poor decision making as Oregon fought back to tie the game in regulation and Purdue missed a late field goal that might have won the game. The game ended up going two overtimes before LaGarrette Blount punched in a 3 yard touchdown to win the game for Oregon 32-26. Despite the loss, it was a great game and a ton of fun.

Winning Touchdown

Indiana

September 15, 2008

Moto GP Practice

Michael at Brugge

Indiana

Cathedral Irish Football

While Hurricane Ike was not able to stop my plans to travel up to Indianapolis for the weekend, it seems to have followed me there after a stop in Texas to wreck destruction on the Gulf Coast. The weather when I arrived in Indiana for a weekend of meeting with friends and watching a few sporting events was less than spectacular as a heavy rain was falling most of the day on Friday.




I had a few items on my agenda, among them visiting my alma mater, Cathedral High School, which was celebrating its 90th birthday. I was able to visit friends and former teachers and coaches, pick up a ticket for the big football game that night and see how much the place has grown since I attended back in the dark ages. Cathedral has been much in the national spotlight of late. One of the members of the US women’s gymnastics team that won the Silver medal at the Olympics, Samatha Peszek, attends CHS and the Irish football team had a recent game against Carmel broadcast nationally on ESPN. NBC is also doing a feature on the history of the football team that will run during their NFL coverage during the next two weekends.

Indianapolis Mayor (and CHS grad) Greg Ballard with Samantha Peszek.

Cathedral

Race fans at IMS

I also managed to sneak out to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for a couple of hours to watch practice for the big MotoGP motorcycle race being held at the track. The first motorcycle race since 1911 at IMS features the best riders and most important racing series in the world. It was amazing at the speed and skill the riders displayed, especially with a steady rain falling.

Ducati Parking at MotoGP




Of course one of the best reasons to visit Indianapolis is to sample the food and brew at Brugge Brasserie. Brugge is expanding into the upstairs of their building with a much larger space that will feature a much larger bar area and additional seating. Brugge Beer is also now available to take home from Indiana’s finest liquor stores in 750 ml bottles. I got a full update on the progress and a tour of the expansion which will be opening hopefully with-in a month. If you happen to be in Indianapolis- do yourself a favor and check out Brugge.

Brugge expansion

I was fortunate that my visit happened to coincide with the huge rivalry football game between Cathedral and Bishop Chatard. The game was also conveniently being played at Broad Ripple High School, an easy walk from Brugge, to accommodate the massive crowds that show up for this annual battle of Catholic school powers. I joined former basketball coach Tom O’Brien and my buddy Ken Barlow to watch the action.

Ken Barlow



The rain had stopped, but the field was a muddy mess making for a pretty exciting game. Cathedral managed to break an 8-8 tie with a touchdown with just over 5 minutes remaining. That left just enough time for Chatard to drive the length of the field and score a TD with just over a minute left. Chatard, to their credit, decided to go for the win with a 2 point conversion but their pass fell short leaving the Irish with a 15-14 victory.

Irish snare trophy

Irish students celebrate win.

Samantha Peszek Official Site

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