2009 Phantom Banquet

July 1st, 2010

The Forgotten Banquet of 2009

I am still very much angry. I do not think I can ever flush this anger welling up inside of me concerning the 2009 awards banquet for our racers at Atoka Raceway Park. Ever since I been working at Atoka, except for the 2000 season, we had celebrated the champions with awards, good food, and extreme times of pride and honor towards those who had stood out as our top class racers, teams, and families. Except one, I had spent countless hours gathering up statistics, and producing the show that was one of my high points of each racing season. I was so proud of those who deserved to be honored. It was so important to me. It was a big part of my life, you could say.

All through the 2000′s, it was added pride by Jason receiving so many championships and awards. It made the night go better to be able to do a little bragging on his efforts. And in the late 2000′s it was his kids that were starting to shine and produce their own goals of possible award winners. And in 2009, Kelsey not only won the championship in the Purple Sportsman Champ class, but obtained the most points of anyone, thus making her the 2009 Atoka Track Champion. She had been the first female Track Champion, and the first girl to win a championship in a Champ Class. Tanner finished second in his first year of points racing and to see them both on stage together; it was to be an awesome night for sure. Both of them had witnessed their dad receive many awards during their first years of life, and now it was their turns.

They had put in their time ya know?…in fact Tanner was born during a week we had to prepare the track back in 2001. Kelsey rode the tractor many nights while still in diapers. They grew up out there watching every aspect of preparing the track for the next race, getting dirty, getting wet, and making the track a very raceable facility. They both started racing in the mid to late 2000′s, and finally here it was to be their time to get honored for the time spent, hours upon hours of soaking it all in, falling in love with just being at the track, and wondering when it was going to be their turn.

And now it was the end of 2009, Kelsey had cinched the championship, Tanner had a solid hold on second place, and the end of the season was fast approaching and all of a sudden the rumors started….there was no money for the banquet, as ownership was very upset at the current management and……… I had heard all this back in 2000, no God no, this cant be happening again…

The sickening feeling began. It was back in the 2000 season that a different management group had leased the track for that year. Kart count was OK, but the lease payments had not been on time, or complete; and then at the end of the year, there was a deafening silence… it was to be the only year we would not hold a banquet, until 2009′s time for their banquet…..

It hurt bad. I still take it very personal; though I am not mad at any one person, it became personal because it was to be “my” grand-kids that were to get crapped on. It would have been less painful had they not sat through every banquet in the mid 2000′s, watching their dad get his awards, so they knew how special this was to be for them. So it hurt big time for them to be shunned away like that.

Life goes on. I wonder what those, this season, will think if they get the door slammed in their face on the way to the banquet, they way the 2009 racers did. The young are very resilient. They get over things a lot easier than we older people do. I will not let this go, I don’t want it to go away for me. I want to feel the hurt and the anger because I don’t want to stoop myself to the lower level of any management, of telling them, too bad kiddos..your season didn’t mean anything..too bad. I will take this anger to my grave, and relish in the fact that no banquet will ever be justified in my eyes ever again…

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Thoughts On A Cold Day.

December 28th, 2009

It is 23 outside and its cold for sure. Christmas is over and in many ways I am glad, but I will miss the excitement you see in the kids eyes awaiting Santa.

NO I an NOT sitting outside in this cold smoking a cigar, but I would love to be doing just that. The image here is from last week and I’ll chat about that below in a bit.

About me, I am struggling right now a little more than usual for different reasons. The off season of racing has really took its toll on me this year. The disastrous 09 season will never be forgotten as one of the worst we ever had at ARP. New management this season; we shall see. I know they are really fired up for change, but I “have seen that before”, and the fired up feeling is quickly  shot away by those who you will least expect to do so. Ownership has really done a 360 degree turn around on certain procedures on directions the track will take this coming season. As far as me working there this year, I am really struggling with that decision. In retrospect, I really think 11 years is enough and I should step down and let new blood take over completely. I still have a lot of investments out there and I really do not know how to handle those items if I step down; guess time will tell.

I found a really good cigar link I been visiting lately, Cigar Obsession. The site is an informational blog by Bryan Glynn of Holiday Florida; of course he has to be located in WARM Florida. I really wish I could just bust up roots and move to the coast where it is warm and I can smoke my cigars year round in comfort. Anyways it is a very respectable site with a very personal non forceful approach to the enjoyment of cigars.

Did I mention it is cold? I sat out side a while last week on the only day it was warm enough for me to grab a smoke.  No sun and and temp was in the upper 40′s I suspect.  It was a very enjoyable hour spent enjoying a Perdomo 10th Anniversary Reserve Series Toro, and chilling out the rush of the holiday season and the approaching ’10 season at the track.

I had my smokin’ buddy with me, Max, the rescue dog Jay and his family gave home to. Max is my buddy. He loves to sit out and get his nose wet from the cool air and he loves just being outside even if he chooses to sleep his precious moments away its really cool that he likes being around me.

The cigar doesnt bother him and I do not place him down wind ever. If he sneezes I know the wind played tricks on us both and I quickly adjust his positioning.  I do know one thing,  Max has played a huge role in my being able to get off the meds as I did back in the summer.  The little dog probably saved my butt numerous times when bleak was the high point of the day for me. Thanks Max for being there when you didn’t have to for sure.

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Farewell Jacko

June 26th, 2009

My insomnia is striking again. Almost midnight on the day we lost a true personality, Michael Jackson. Dead at 50.

When I first heard about his death a few hours following the release of the news, my first thoughts were, so what? He created the hand he was dealt with. His strangeness and all that came with that placed him in a constant state of critical being. From the way he treated his body, a body he really never liked, always seeking a perfection he once had and for some reason was too blind to see it for what it really was, to the numerous trials he was put to, he never realized the dream he must have been looking for. And that makes his death more than sad. For he was, at one time, Read the rest of this entry »

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Cigar Review:: Oliva Special G Maduro

June 9th, 2009

I fired up a quickie the other day, I truly found one of the most enjoyable smokes since i have started smoking early last year.

Being a rookie at this I have approached it to try different brands and do as much experimenting as I can with my little or no knowledge of what I am doing.

It was a little giant of a smoke, the Oliva Series “G” Maduro. Read the rest of this entry »

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Review::: CAO GOLD Maduro Robusto

June 9th, 2009

CAO GOLD Maduro Robusto
I may have needed to let this smoke age a little first but after only a week in the humidor I wanted to try it out so here goes: Read the rest of this entry »

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The Revolving Door Never Stops

June 9th, 2009

I started to post the following on our tracks boards yesterday. I was still not over being really upset how things went the other night at the track. I decided against it mainly because I have other plans for those who are so directed to scream at me the next time……. oh well its probably best I didnt post it, huh???

I am proposing a new rule to Roger concerning those team members who make the comment “I — WE ARE NEVER COMING BACK!!!” to ANY staff member!!!!

…… Starting immediately if you are so inclined to yell at us that statement, upon your possible return to our facility, you will be required to place a radio on your self, carry a yellow flag, and score/judge/moderate one class feature race, of our choice, or you will lose all accumulated points thus far in the season. And if you exit under those circumstances, and after a three race grace period you haven’t returned, it will be our decision to have a staff meeting and vote/decide/or/not to drop all accumulated points for your team for the season to date. I am proposing not to award anyone at a banquet for that kind of behavior and resultant actions toward our staff.

In the last two weeks I am aware of two instances that errors may have been made on the staff’s part. One was during a judgment call and the other was during a time of complete mass hysteria during a lighting problem we were dealing with this past race and we started a race with an incorrect race line up.. We may indeed have made those mis-calls…. It happens, infrequently, but it happens and after a review of all data, if it does show we did make an error, we will be the first to say we made a mistake…… and to anyone who cant accept that………..GET OVER IT!!! But just because we are track officials does not preclude that we are not capable of making a miscall. It happens and we try extremely hard for it to not happen.

This past week we had to score and judge, 1,641 race condition individually scored laps.  The next time you’re in a fit of insane rage screaming “I AM NEVER COMING BACK”…add up in your head how many scored passing’s you have officiated on that race day for youre individual team member!!

In the last 15 years doing this, I have been called every name in the book and my family has been ridiculed and unfairly judged because of what I do as a staff member of this track. So I am use to it, but NONE of our staff deserve to be talked to and treated the way they were spoken to the other night by some race team members. All it does is fuel an already out of control fire and after a while no one is understanding who or what started it all or why. And later on when you still haven’t calmed down you’ll have convinced yourself that yes in fact this facility had you on its hit list and bashed you so much you had no choice but to never come back.whine

So if you don’t want to come back, don’t, it is as simple as that. But in actuality it is not that simple, because what you are looking for doesn’t exists; a racing facility  where a marginal call will never be made on your driver or team. It is contact racing, not a popularity contest and not some form of putt putt recreational go-karting.

Put up with the heat or get out of the kitchen and let in those who want to be here to race and be competitive.!!!!!!!!!!
:shock:

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Peace!

June 5th, 2009

cav11I am not sure why I am even writing this. Maybe it’s the insomnia thing, maybe its a feeling of guilt, or maybe I just need to write more than I need to sit and think of why I shouldn’t be writing. The subject is what point in your life do you feel like its time to say screw it and I may not want to be so politically correct. Walking the fine line between good and not so good is sometimes not as easy as it may seem. Case in point, smoking a fine cigar.

In my gut I know it may be grandee offensive to many if not all of the people I interact with on any given day. I am quite aware of the medical opinion of its harmful effects on the human body and the offensive to others around me. I am very careful at choosing the time and place for this enjoyment I have picked up in just the last couple of years and mainly the last year. Read the rest of this entry »

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I am not an animal! I am a human being!

June 1st, 2009

The line is from a movie that came out back in 1980 called The Elephant Man. It was a very powerful black and white movie that was filled with shocking moments and at times was so very sad to see how cruel mankind can be to another human being. In the film, actor John Hurt played a severely deformed man in 19th century London. One of his sufferings he went through was he had to keep his head propped up to sleep or the weight of his skull would shut off his windpipe and cause certain death. The final scene in the movie was one night imitating one of his sketches on the wall — a sleeping child — he finally lies down completely on his bed and dies, consoled by a vision of his mother; a very powerful moment to a very powerful movie.

I joke around a lot about a condition I deal with on a daily basis, sometimes referring it to the movie, something I do and probably should not do, but its a frustration condition I have and why not try to find some humor in it? I knwo those who witness me in certain conditions giggle about it all.

I have to sleep that way, head propped up, sometimes almost to a full sitting posture, as was the case last evening.  Some nights are better than others, and Read the rest of this entry »

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Send In The Marines!!!!

April 9th, 2009

From Fox News & Glenn Beck Today

Where were our Marines?

I don’t mean that in a literal sense; I know the Navy had a ship on the way to the area. I mean it in the sense that we’ve become so politically correct that no one would even dare think about sending Marines to fight pirates.

“Pirates? What? Don’t they just sing songs and put parrots on their shoulders?”

No.

In fact, a more accurate name for pirates is something you’re probably a little more familiar with: terrorists.

We also shouldn’t sugarcoat the fact that paying ransom to these pirates is not only negotiating with terrorists, but it’s also funding real, future attacks. And no, not the kind with long swords and short planks, the kind with AK-47s and RPGs.

For example, last year, pirates seized a Saudi supertanker loaded with a $100 million in crude oil. After being held for nearly two months, the Sirius Star and its 25 crew members were freed after $3 million in ransom magically parachuted onto the deck.

Turns out that people do negotiate with terrorists after all.

So what does ransom paid near Africa have to do with us? Easy, follow the money trail. Most terrorism experts agree that most terrorist attacks can’t succeeded without a source of funding-and that includes 9/11.

There have now been nearly 400 pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia since 2008. Almost 200 people have been killed in these attacks over the last decade, with another 200 missing, 600 injured and 3,000 taken hostage.

Which brings me to the United States Marines.

You may have heard the hymn: “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.” But you probably don’t know where it comes from. Tripoli — today’s Libya — is where the U.S. fought its first foreign war and where the U.S. Marines were baptized by fire.

It was late in the 18th century and as much as one out of every $5 in U.S. revenue was being paid out in ransom to Barbary raiders, who engaged in theft, extortion, hijacking and slavery.

In 1801, just days after his inauguration as the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson — who famously said “one war, such as that of our revolution, is enough for one life” — would not tolerate any more blackmail from the pirates. He tried to build an international coalition but, surprise, surprise, no one else was interested.

So Jefferson — realizing that America would never truly be free if it cowered to terrorists — dispatched the Marines.

Those Marines fought bravely against Islamic terrorists for 14 years far from home and as far as I know it was never described as a quagmire or a lost cause.

Their sacrifice was embodied in the Tripoli Monument, which was once in Washington, D.C., but is now — for all you conspiracy theorists in the audience — hidden in Annapolis.

There is no shame in admitting that our enemies today are much like our enemies back then: Barbaric Islamic terrorists who despise everything we stand for. But there is plenty of shame in skirting our responsibilities and backing down from the fight. That’s why it’s time these modern-day pirates meet the same people who ended the tyranny of their predecessors: the few, the proud, the United States Marines.

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A Few Thoughts On Coach Cal

March 31st, 2009

He has been here for nine years, and put his heart and soul into what he believes, and what he loves. Can he do more?, Of course, but does he have to and what about his soul?

Think about it, Kentucky is at the top of the mountain in NCAA basketball. The state breathes, eats and shits basketball. Coach Cal deserves to be listed along side of the best there ever was cause we all know he is one of the best there ever was on any court, coaching any team.

He is revered by other coaches and players around the country and they all know its only a matter of a short time until Kentucky takes the top prize and gives coach Cal what he wants and deserves, and what he almost got here in Memphis.

He would be foolish not to take the job. There should be no thinking at all about it. He deserves a move upward. Where is it written that a move upward must take those with you along for the ride? If you build it, they will come, and when you built it, you cant take it with you no matter where you go.

In a way I know his feelings. Putting all you have into a program to see it flourish and work its way out of the good times and bad times.  At some point in time though, maybe it as time to let it all go and groom itself in someone else’s hands, and may be see if all the blood sweat and tears you put into it helped it become something you can look back on and be proud of!!

God Speed Coach Cal!!! Youre an Awesome Coach, and Human Being!!

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