Tuesday, Aug. 01, 2006

Some classes get elevator, some get shaft

By Jody Moore, Hydro.commentator

Probably the biggest frustration I had over this weekend was the administration of the Lighter than Lights and G classes. The Water Follies seems to treat the ULHRA pretty well, but for this weekend's event, the LtL and G boats really seemed to be treated like second-class citizens.

I don't know if it was the Water Follies or the ULHRA, or just my skewed sense of how things should go, but compared to the the unlimiteds and even the lights, keeping track of what was being done with the other three classes racing this weekend was a futile challenge.

For consideration, I offer these entries from the official schedule for Saturday:

1 to 1:20, Unlimited Lights Heat #1A

2:20 to 2:40, Unlimited Heat #1A

And so on and so forth. Seems pretty straightforward, right? Now consider this entry:

1:20 to 1:40, Lighter than Lights Demo

Every single entry for the LtL in the schedule says the same thing. Demo? What the crap is that? Not to be confused with the entries for the CH 47 Helicopter Demo. According to the ULHRA site, these guys were racing for points. Was the helicopter? And nowhere – and I do mean nowhere – on the official schedule did I find the phrases American Challenge Cup Series, ACCS, G class or G boat.

Now let me get this one straight. I foam at the mouth for three days a year. I came to cover some boat racing, and by golly I was bent on doing it. The Water Follies was kind enough to grace me with five classes of boats racing this weekend. I was bound and determined to give each and every one of them some coverage.

I did manage it, despite someone's attempts to thwart me. But I do feel that those three classes didn't get a fair shake, and for that, I am sorry. But as I have explained here, it wasn't entirely my fault. I had no idea that the LtL and ACCS action Friday would include heat racing. It wasn't anywhere in the schedule, so I didn't find out until it was too late.

I did try to raise John Lynch on the phone Saturday but couldn't. He was busy with the radio and the PA announcers and everyone else and their dogs. (Seriously, the dude was everywhere.) So I can certainly understand his predicament. Shame on me also for presuming that somebody would be letting me know what was happening when, and that I might be able to look at a schedule and see LtL 8 Cylinder Heat 1, etc. I have truly been spoiled by what they give us for the "more important" classes.

I had to jump to a few conclusions, which I alluded to in several of my articles. If it was going to be the final appearance of the weekend for the class, I typically called it the final, or the final appearance, or what was apparently the final, or something. Honestly, a lot of the time, I didn't know. All I did know was that "Demo" wasn't appropriate or correct.

One article for the LtL 8 cylinder boats, two each for the LtL 4 cylinder boats and the ACCS. I had hoped to give a little better lip service than that. If you came to the race in any of these three classes, I strongly encourage you to get with your reps and make sure that you are given the opportunity to get equal coverage in the future. I did what I could with the time that I had. But don't think for a moment that I didn't have the interest. I for one am glad you came.

I'm still confused about the ACCS this weekend. All points seemed to indicate the Thunder Cup was to be the points debut for the class, but I can't find anything official about the weekend on the ULHRA site, nor was anything provided to us on site. No heat results, no final points standings, nothing. Zippo. Except an official press release acknowledging Dustin Echols flipped the G-17 on Saturday. I've come to expect more from the ULHRA, so the omission is a surprising one.

How much boat racing is too much? I think this weekend I have found my limit. I've felt like I was in motion for the entire weekend. And for the first time in a long time, I finished the weekend ready for it all to be over with. Kind of. Be careful what you wish for would be the lesson there. I miss my boat racing already.

It would have been a whole lot easier if I had blown off the Lighter than Lights, and/or the ACCS or even the Unlimited Lights and just concentrated on the big boys. But Jody the Race Fan couldn't bring himself to do that. Like I said a few paragraphs ago, I don't think I gave the LtLs and ACCS what they deserved. But I still think it was above average – as was the Herald's excellent print coverage – and I figure less than ideal is still better than none at all.

But it's going to take two of me (or the energy of John Lynch) to pull off the kind of coverage that the different classes deserve. And when the stuff needs to be written, it's only me. So I did what I could.

One thing I typically do after the weekend is over is go through and re-read a good portion of the copy I have generated and see how many times I screwed up over the course of the weekend. I'm at a definite disadvantage when it comes to race weekend.

On one hand, I am one writer working at a frantic pace to keep on top of the information as it happens. I made a commitment a few years back to try to let as little time go by as possible before getting things written and handed over to be posted (no, I don't do my own Web work.) Excuses, excuses.

This year especially brought the frantic struggle to get things posted into sharp relief. I am pleased I was able to get something posted for each and every heat of racing I covered (LtL and ACCS stuff I missed Friday notwithstanding) but I know a few errors crept in along the way.

Couple that with the fact that the staff I work with presumes I know what I am talking about and doesn't typically second-guess me, and you've got an unchecked recipe for disaster. I think I did pretty well without a leash on, but I have found a few items so far that are deserving of a mea culpa. So here we go.

- For all the times I stuck an extra E in J Michael Kelly's last name, I am sorry. I finally got JW Myers' name figured out, but I still can't tell the difference between Kelley and Kelly on the fly.

- It took me the better part of a day to realize that there was only one N in Conover, as in Conover Insurance, sponsor of the U-3 this weekend. I hope nobody goes to the wrong insurance office to show their appreciation in the coming days.

- I missed the announcement that Mike Allen was replacing Mike Weber in the U-5 during heat 3A. I did hear the PA announcers mention his name during the heat call but presumed it was confusion between the two boats. They never met on the race course during the Atomic Cup.

- Whoever was in the E-10 during the LtL final on Sunday, I did try to find out who the driver was but couldn't get ahold of anyone in the camp and couldn't find the elusive Mr. Lynch. I had exactly five minutes to write the blurb and went with what I had scribbled down in my notes. But somewhere in there I got both Bud and Gigi McKay written down. Knowing the rivalry this husband and wife team have going this year, I don't want to be the guy that short-changes either of them in print. But I fear I might have.

- In my final report on the ACCS, I gave the G-13 Tempo team an extra number. I don't know, guys. 14 sounds like a good number. Maybe you can change the number of your vintage boat, too, and rewrite history so I don't look like such a nitwit?

- Mark Evans' Flip and Win performance was in Seattle. I know, I was there. But in re-reading the quick blurb I threw up to make sure that the winner of our final was posted quickly, I sure made it sound like it was a Columbia Cup phenomenon. Poor choice of words.

- Looks like I let a Meyers slip past in that same article. Got it right three times in that one but missed one. Guess I don't have J Dub figured out after all.

- I blew it big time in heat 3B with our onboard cam. It rode along with the Oberto in heat 1B, but for some reason didn't want to turn on. I ran out of time to figure out the problem. So we made plans to try again Sunday. I ran down before heat 3A, but the team already had the straps on the U-6 to plop her in the water for 3B. I was busy, and I figured I didn't have time to mount the camera, so I asked to make sure we could get a window to get it in before the final. Turns out I probably did, and my indecision denied you folks some dramatic video of the close call with the U-13.

Speaking of the U-13, man I'm glad that turned out the way it did. A second or two either way and the results could have been a lot more tragic. To see both drivers walk away ready to race another day is by far the most important thing.

A few final things before I wrap up this epic production. First of all, congratulations to Greg Hopp for finally cornering that elusive Columbia River victory. It's been a long time coming for the team who seems to have won everything else there is to win.

Next of all, how freakin' cool was that onboard video stuff we shot? The shot of the U-5 airing out just before the first turn in the final was phenomenal. That whole thing was a lot of fun from start to finish. I wish we could have found time to do more.

Also, I hope my end-of-day analysis was informative and interesting. Everything we did on video was completely unscripted. I'm not a broadcast personality anyhow, hence the amateurish commentary. But we pushed the envelope again and came up with something that might have been interesting.

Speaking of that, did you see the big peacock plume sticking off the back of my head in the last day's segment? Somebody needed to say "hey fat boy, grab a hat" before we did it. Actually, I didn't even realize I didn't have one on until I watched the segment later.

The video commentary was something I was unprepared for. I think it went a whole lot better than listening to me narrate the final heat last year. It wasn't inside my comfort level, but it was fun stepping outside it for a minute. Thanks for sitting through it, those of you who did. I had at least a little bit of fun pretending I was a real journalist.

And finally, thanks to all of you who complimented me on my kilt or joined me in making good-natured fun of the whole thing. And if I embarrassed you when you asked me if I was wearing underwear underneath it, and I lifted it up to flash my swimming shorts after saying, "No", well, I'm kind of sorry. But you'll think twice before asking next time, won't you?

Covering the races in Tri-Cities every year means an awful lot to me. I am a social recluse for 362 days out of the year, reaching most of the world the same way you read my columns. But for three days each summer, I have a social life, and I savor it. Thanks to everyone who stopped by and said hello. I look forward to seeing you again next year.

The build-up to boat races was always the climb into summer. Afterward, it was always a let down. I'm like a junkie coming down off of his addiction when it comes to my races. And with the Atomic Cup behind me, summer is pretty much over. It might as well start snowing now and get it over with.

I'm going to go crawl back under my rock and hide for another 362 days and get ready for another go at it in 2007. But between now and then, keep an eye out for the guy in the black kilt. Especially if you're in Seattle this weekend. I doubt I'll be working, but I'll be there.

I haven't just gone to a boat race in a very long time. I don't have passes or commitments to write anything for anyone. I'm just looking forward to sitting on the shore and watching the show. And I'm already making plans to go to Evansville and Madison next year for the races there, whether I am covering them or not.

See you next year.

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