Weekend Notes
The first weekend of summer has passed. Based on the forecast for the next week or so, it looks like Monday Mother Nature finally decided to get her act together and push the cool, rainy weather away. I swam my first laps of the year Monday and we sat outside much of the day, enjoying the sun. L might have enjoyed it a little too much. It’s a good thing summer basketball does not start for a week as she’s sporting a sunburn that would not feel got to set screens with.
A bonus of the good weather is that we might finally get some contractors we’ve been waiting on for weeks to show up and do their work. Our landscapers are supposed to be here later today to begin the annual spring cleanup/mulching service, only two weeks late because of rain. We are also weeks late getting some gutters replaced. If the weather holds that work should be done Friday. We were supposed to get our pool liner replaced a month ago, but that project requires very specific weather conditions over 48 consecutive hours, which we did not get at any point over that span. We had the crew go ahead and open the pool last Monday so it would be usable over the holiday weekend. With the other contractors here this week, now the pool guys get pushed to at least next week. Of course this week looks PERFECT for pool work. Hopefully next week will be as perfect and we can the liner swapped out.
This year we had our family Memorial Day weekend gathering on Sunday, coinciding with the Indy 500. Thanks to the early sell out, we were able to watch it live for the third-straight year.[1] It was a small group for us, only 16 people. While it was not bright and sunny, it was still warm enough for the three nephews to swim most of the day. I grilled, the rest of the family provided the rest of the meal. We sat and ate and visited and watched the race. Not a bad afternoon.
The weather held off just long enough for the kids to wear themselves out and the race to finish. About 15 minutes after the checkered flag dropped in Speedway, decent showers moved into our part of town. No thunder or lightning, but a good soaking that lasted an hour or so.
Indy 500
Good grief what a great race! Or at least the last ten laps. Two cautions, a red flag, and two super tense restarts resulted in the closest finish in 110 Indy 500s. Those of us gathered around our TV were all screaming and yelling involuntarily as Felix Rosenqvist shot past David Malukas at the last possible moment to win by 0.02 seconds. Truly an amazing finish. Malukas’ lengthy, emotional reaction to coming up literally inches short was uncomfortable to watch. It is cruel that three hours of work can be judged by that small of a margin.
I’ve written many times over the years about the quirky Indianapolis tradition for folks who don’t go to the race and (normally) can’t watch it on live TV: listening to it on the radio. If you drive around neighborhoods or go to a local pool or lake, you will hear the broadcast coming from all directions as people turn the volume up to listen while doing yard work, floating in the water, etc.
Below is the final lap as called on radio. You get a feel for what makes this broadcast so entertaining, as the announcers stationed around the track pass the call seamlessly to each other as the cars make their way around the oval.
It is a production marvel that is always much better than the TV broadcast. Which is wild because most of the radio guys are locals who do one race a year while the TV crews, regardless of network, cover races all year.
Earlier last week I caught a replay of last year’s race while working out. Watching that reminded me of how many ways Fox messed up taking over the race last year. I was not as closely tuned in this year since we had guests. I remain annoyed a Brit is the main announcer. C even asked me “Why is he doing this race?” I was extra annoyed because on top of his accent, I just do not like his announcing style. I was most annoyed because he calls the people who live in the great state of Indiana “Hoo-zee-ers.”
What in the actual fuck, dude?
When I expressed disgust both C and L reminded me that I am not a Hoosier. Which, I replied, “Thank God for that.” I was still super annoyed on their behalves.
I’m sure Fox really Foxed up the rest of the race but that was the only thing that really jumped out at me. At least they showed the winning car crossing the finish line, unlike last year.
NBA Playoffs
What a contrast the conference finals have been. The Knicks completed their sweep of the completely overmatched Cavaliers last night. The Cavs did not belong on the same court as the Knicks, and everyone on that bench should be embarrassed by their performance over the past week.
The Knicks are a problem? They’ve lost two games, by one point each, in the playoffs. Both of those in their opening series with Atlanta and under semi-flukey circumstances. They could easily be 12–0. Even with the Eastern Conference falling apart for them, this was unexpected. If I knew any Knicks fans I would remind them the only reason they are in the Finals is because the Pacers weren’t around to beat them again this year.
In contrast, the Western Conference finals produced one of the best games I’ve ever seen, game one’s double overtime masterpiece, then wild swings in the next three games. Oklahoma City and San Antonio are two heavyweights taking turns throwing body blows at each other. This series is on a whole other level from the Eastern Conference finals. Even in Saturday’s easy Spurs win, you couldn’t stop watching because they were playing at such a high level and you also kept expecting OKC to make a big run and get back into the game. Wemby, Stephon Castle, and Dylan Harper are the best young trio of players since the 2010s Thunder?
The downside is the series is taking a tremendous toll on the players. Both teams are dealing with significant injuries to at least two players. It is a nightly drama whether De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, Jalen Williams, and Ajay Mitchell will play, and if they do, how effective they will be.
The Knicks will get a full week off and then face a depleted foe in the Finals. We don’t need the Knicks winning a title. Part of their charm is that they are the franchise in the biggest city in the league and have been finding ways to piss away all their advantages for over half a century. The Knicks stumbling gives the rest of the league hope. If they are suddenly competent and good, that could upset the balance of the entire league.
And, to be honest, over the past year I’ve built up some solid hate for OKC. If it ends up being them against the Knicks, I may just take the Finals off as I’m not sure I can bring myself to root for either team.
Royals
I received an unexpected and delightful text from old friend of the blog Newman a few weeks back. He was in the state for his oldest’s graduation from IU and checked in. This was right when the Royals were on a bit of a hot streak and we celebrated their seeming turn-of-the-corner in our thread.
Obviously we jinxed them: since then they are 3–11.
Just reinforcing my decision not to pony up for the MLB TV package and give Crooked Rob Manfred and the owners more money.
World Traveller Update
M’s first week in France went well. She got an A in her first class of the session. She and her roommates are getting along and having a great time. There’s another big group of UC students joining them this week.
It was also a three-day weekend in France,[2] so she and her roommates hopped a flight to Barcelona and spent the weekend there. She FaceTimed us from the beach twice Sunday so she could catch us all. They were having a fantastic weekend.
She arrived back in Nantes safely Monday night and is ready for week two, which includes a social marketing class and a weekend trip to Paris. Not a bad way to spend a summer.