NASCAR Sunday

As I mentioned in the previous post, last Saturday I went to the second to last Major League Baseball regular season game.  As a sports fan, I've been to many sporting events including NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL, PGA Tour, MLS, NCAA sports, international soccer, and international basketball.

The two professional sports that I had not seen in person were NASCAR and tennis.  That list got halved after last Sunday.  My coworker had some extra, decently priced, NASCAR tickets for the race at the Dover International Speedway.

I don't follow auto racing regularly but I do watch it from time to time on TV.  I did manage to get two friends to tag along for the two hour car ride and check out the race.

First thing we noticed when the race started was the noise.  It is very loud!  We expected this and brought earplugs.  Many of the fans there were wearing noise-reducing race scanner headphones that allow them to listen to the communication on the track between drivers and their teams.

As my friend pointed out, "It's the loudest sport with the quietest fans."  The cars make a lot of noise but the fans sit silently watching the action and listening to their headphones unless something interesting happens.

All the drivers were men except the #10 car that was driven by Danica Patrick. One of the interesting events happened when Jamie McMurry's car blew an engine.  Watching the pit stops and restarts was fun.   Overall, it was a fun experience but I don't think I'll be going to another race anytime soon.

I leave you with few photos from NASCAR Sunday.

Let's Go Racing Boys (and Danica)!

#1 Blows an Engine

Pit Stop

Heading Home Across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge

October Baseball

The title of this post might be a little bit misleading.  When you hear the words October baseball, you probably think of playoff baseball.  But since the MLB playoffs haven't started, I think the title is appropriate.

Late last week, I got on the computer and out of curiosity pulled up the Washington Nationals regular season schedule.  They had one weekend series left at home and it was against the Miami Marlins.  We couldn't make it to the Friday game.  I was attending another sporting event on Sunday.  Saturday, October 1 at 4 PM, would be our only chance.

I found cheap tickets ($17 each) online with good seats but was wondering why were they so cheap.  A little bit of research revealed that rain was a likely possibility during the game.  I was a little bit more optimistic when I read that the chance of rain by 4 PM was only 50%.  Being a poker player, I made the hero call and hoped the weatherman was bluffing.

Worst case scenario: If it was raining 30 minutes before the game, we wouldn't go and take a loss on the tickets.

Best case scenario: The rain would stop by 2 PM.  The rest of the day would be overcast but with no rain.  And the Nats would win while hitting a home run or two.

Lucky for us, the best case scenario happened!  Nats won 2-1 and Trea Turner hit a home run in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Our seats were in section 101 right above the Marlins bullpen. 

Here are some photos from the game.  One is a screenshot from an MLB.com video of the home run.

Overcast but Pleasant

Home Run Nats!

Great Spot to Watch Relief Pitchers Warm-Up