The Boys of Summer – Road Trip – Part 2 – Game 1
Posted by 'lottasports in Baseball on July 1, 2022
And then began saga number two! It was 15 mins after the gates had opened. One of the workers stopped me – “You can’t take that purse in; it’s oversized.” I had already checked their site for purse requirements, BUT they had changed the size that morning!!! “You can’t come in with the purse. You need to take it to your car.” “We walked here! Are you saying I have to walk back to the hotel?!?!?!?” “Yes. The purse is too big.” (It was 4″x6″ and was previously allowed!) Only a small clutch 3″ x 5″ – basically a wallet or clear bag now allowed! I could only think of all my years as a flight attendant and in management accommodating customers under extenuating circumstances – like allowing a small window for a major change until word got out. Times have changed. I started a quick walk passing Amy enroute quickly telling her what was happening. Rick and I weaved through fans coming to the game for the half mile walk back to the hotel. Rick sat on a bench a block from the hotel while I hiked up a small hill and around the corner. It was one of those crazy elevators where you had to swipe with your room key to go to your floor. Third time was a charm. I crammed my phone, room key, map of city, paper ticket sheet (in case I couldn’t retrieve the tickets off phone the way my luck was running), tiny hand sanitizer bottle, Kleenex in pockets (Thank God I had four pockets! Obviously, the person who made the rule was male and didn’t know the majority of ladies pants come with one pocket if one is lucky!) and stuck my credit card/ID in a tiny holder on a Mudcats lanyard I wear at work and had thankfully thrown in the suitcase! There was no room left for the Canon SureShot camera which jams half the time anyway. As I was leaving the hotel, the valet guy who knew we had gone to ballpark asked why I was back. I quickly told him about the bag deal and suggested that he alert others going. He said, “WOW! That’s ridiculous! What’s a girl supposed to do with a tampon!?” I started laughing and said — “Have no clue! It’s been 22 years!!” And off I went!
Rick and I got back to ballpark with 9 mins to spare. They were still turning away women!! Several had Uber’d and they were very unhappy!! It was a beautiful summer evening for a ballgame. Our $11 seats were behind the dugout so I could yell at the players in the on-deck circle. Modeled after Fenway Park, a 30-foot replica of the “”Green Monster” (pronouced “Monstah” by diehards) was past leftfield along with a hand-operated scoreboard. Sweet Caroline was sung by the fans in the middle of the 8th inning. It was just as if we were at Fenway Park in Boston. Alex smacked a double to the base of the “Green Monster.” That was the biggest action of the game and sadly the team only had two hits losing 4 – 0 to Bowling Green. We met up with Alex after the game and Amy took my picture with him. He grinned and said, “I like your shirt.” I was wearing my Boston Red Sox Ortiz shirt.
The Boys of Summer – Road Trip – Part 1 – The Journey Begins
Posted by 'lottasports in Baseball on July 1, 2022
With the Carolina Mudcats team away two weeks straight, where else would someone like me go for a mini-vacation but a ballpark! Greenville South Carolina had been on my radar as it was home to the Boston Red Sox High-A team The Drive and it was less than a five-hour car trip – all interstate. According to Brian Hopkins, a scout for the Cardinals, tree-lined city streets, Reedy River Falls and Fluor Field, home to the team, were must-sees and all within walking distance of the downtown hotels. Icing on the cake was one of our former Mudcats had been traded to Boston in the offseason and was playing for The Drive – Alex Binelas.
Of course, downtown hotels don’t come cheap, but after reflecting on our limitations going anywhere during COVID, it was an easy sell. I was able to get a lower rate thanks to being a Hilton member, a “senior” and agreeing to a non-refundable status for cancellation less than a week out. The location of the Hampton Inn River Place was perfect – steps away from the falls, restaurants, historic district and a half a mile from the ballpark. I made the reservation while praying for good weather and Alex not being promoted.
As with almost everything I do, there is usually some type of saga to make things interesting. This mini-vacation was no exception. We got the car loaded up with the luggage, cooler with lunch, two-rev’ed up Boxers and their stuff for boarding. I was making one last check of lights and locks and I hear expletives coming from the garage. It must be Jake misbehaving I told myself as I had visions of the quilt stuffing, he tried to eat on the way to Santa a few years ago. Not that lucky. My battery was dead! We unloaded the dogs and then debated if it was faster to take Rick’s gas-guzzler or try to jump the car and then get the battery replaced at the auto parts place. Rick opted to change clothes, remove the old battery, drive to Auto Zone for a new battery, drive home, install the new battery, change clothes again and get all loaded up again. Amazingly, we were under way only an hour and a half later. I mumbled something about why a car with so many bells and whistles doesn’t have an indicator to let one know the battery is low. “It does. The car will start and then die a few times,” Rick tells me. “Oh.” I almost didn’t dare tell him that it did exactly that the day before. I should have been allowed to take Auto Mechanics in High School instead of stupid Home Economics learning (not) cooking and sewing!
When we arrived in Greenville, downtown was exactly as Brian described, except he left off the part about one-way streets and streets with multiple names! Between the car GPS and my Smartphone, we did finally find the hotel despite each offering a different way. We had an hour to kill before heading out to early dinner. Rick looked for restaurant listings while I watched General Hospital. Between the hotel and ballpark were several restaurants but most didn’t open until 5. In the Places to Go booklet, Rick found a recommended BBQ called Mac’s Speed Shop a block from the ballpark. We could eat and go straight to the game.
Getting there was easy. The hotel was a block off and a half off Main St. We passed through the historic district and saw several restaurants all closed until 5PM. Once at Mac’s, we were seated across from the bar at a high table with high seats. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Rick exclaimed. I looked at him and asked what was wrong. On our tabletop was a large QR square to scan for the menu. I was saving my battery for game pictures and videos; Rick – well, he still insists on having his flip phone. Two minutes later we were perusing a real menu as were most patrons seated after us. When will restaurants understand that they will sell a lot more food and drinks if people didn’t have to squint at their phones while scrolling up and down?
As we were waiting on our food, I spotted a guy at the bar wearing an Alex Binelas Louisville jersey. I texted Alex’s mom Amy and said, “There’s a guy at the restaurant we’re at. He’s wearing an Alex Binelas jersey.” (Last August Louisville sensation Binelas who had been drafted the month before, was promoted from the rookie league to the Mudcats. Rick and I had met Amy when she, husband Pete and daughter Athena came from Wisconsin to see Alex play in his first minor league games. Getting to know the families of the players is one of my favorite parts of my job in Guest Relations.) Amy answered my text – “That’s Bobby! Alex’s best friend!” It turned out that Bobby was there with them eating out on the patio. We visited briefly before Rick and I headed across to the street to the ballpark.
To be continued
Lotta Sports – Boys of Summer – Whatever It Takes
Posted by 'lottasports in Baseball, College Baseball on July 29, 2021
Funny how life throws curve balls and it was only discovered thanks to a rain postponement of our Carolina Mudcats game. Instead of working, I was home watching the sports and heard that in a couple of days, the Division II College Playoffs and Championship would be played in Cary NC, only twenty-five minutes from my home. As I googled the teams playing, I was pleasantly surprised to find that Southern New Hampshire was the number seven seed. I had interviewed their ace Alex Gomes two years ago when he played summer ball in the New England Collegiate Baseball League for the North Adams Steeplecats.
It turned into a long day between my job for the minor league team (only when you have something going on later, do they go on long inning sprees and a delay for bench clearing!) and going to Southern New Hampshire’s game. I battled two heavy rain showers between the two ballparks. When I got to Cary, the weather was gorgeous, but the first game with Angelo State and Wingate was running late due a weather delay. The game ended at 6:45PM (forty-five mins after the scheduled start of Southern New Hampshire and second-seeded Seton Hill game). They rescheduled the second game to an 8PM start. The teams were already there resting on a grassy hill so I’m not sure why the much later start.
I was initially told at the field that SNH would be on visitors’ side and their dugout would be on 3rd base side. It was a perfect location as I had a seat right over the dugout and adjacent to the bullpen so I knew I would be able to yell to Alex. They ended up on the 1st base side so I moved over. Unfortunately, on that side, the bleachers above the dugout were roped off except to coaches for the other teams who were there scouting and inactive players. I was able to get word to him through the first base coach so he did wave my direction from the dugout.
The game itself was a nail biter with the SNH Penmen scoring first, but the number two seed came back with vengeance and were leading by the fourth inning. SNH would not be denied and thanks to a hit-by-pitch, steal and a wild pitch, they tied the game with two outs in the sixth. An error by the Penmen in the eighth with two outs assured Seton Hill of a 4 – 3 win.
Two days later was Southern New Hampshire facing sixth seed Wingate. Like the Penmen, the Bulldogs had already lost their first game to Angelo State. The winner of this game would move on in the tournament and the season would end for the loser. Wingate had a fan base which had driven the two and half hours from the Charlotte area and appeared to engulf the ballpark. A pretty good contingent of SNH fans, who we cheered with during game one, scattered near the third base area where the Penmen’s dugout was.
A familiar face began pre-game stretches in the outfield. I guess you could call it a two-days early birthday present. Gomes was the starting pitcher for Southern New Hampshire. He came into the tournament with six wins and zero losses. Alex still had the brunette curly hair and the boyish grin I witnessed two years ago. When he took to the mound, his six-foot three-inch frame commanded respect. As he threw, his right leg was extended and nearly parallel to the playing field. Imagine Dragons’ “Whatever It Takes” blared over the PA system. His determined demeanor was like a racehorse as referenced in the lyrics.
The game stayed knotted at zero until the fifth inning when the “can’t get the third out” reared its ugly head again as Wingate scored two runs on Alex and the defense. Apparently, Coach Loiseau hadn’t given up on his starting pitcher as Gomes returned in the sixth inning and shut the Bulldogs down. Despite the blemish of the two runs, Alex’s start was very good. In his six innings, he gave up seven hits, seventy-one of his hundred and five pitches were strikes and he had eight strikeouts, one walk and a wild pitch. Once out of the game, Alex donned a blue towel on his head and cheered his team on each inning. It was not until the bottom of the ninth that there was any offense by the Penmen. Wingate prevailed 3 – 2 and went on to win the championship a few days later.
After the game, Gomes walked alone to the outfield and stood out there for a few minutes, then returned to the dugout. His catcher, Marcus Chavez, tried to take his arm. Alex shrugged him off and continued walking. Unlike the previous summers, he has not shown as playing collegiate baseball. Perhaps it was the end of the road for the right-hander. I hope not.
Lotta Sports – The Bucket List Strikes Again!
Posted by 'lottasports in Baseball on April 7, 2021
It was Summer of 2019. Having survived the major move in the spring, it was time to venture out and see what North Carolina had to offer. My new friend Sandy knew my love of sports, especially baseball. She had read all my blog posts starting with the baseball ones. Her husband had played minor league ball. “Carlotta, have you been to a Mudcats game?” I explained to Sandy that we had been to some Durham Bulls games when the Paw Sox were in town. However, the drive to the ball park was during afternoon work traffic leaving Raleigh and my nerves were shot by the time we got there. Parking was also challenging. After talking to Sandy, I pulled up the Mudcats schedule. As luck would have it, the Red Sox’s Advanced-A league would be playing the Mudcats in August!
It was a nice country drive over to Zebulon with the worst of the traffic leaving our town. Suddenly I spotted a huge baseball tower on the horizon. The parking attendant acknowledged Rick’s handicapped placard and directed us to parking closer to the stadium. Families were milling near the gate; kids with their gloves hoping to take home a souvenir fly ball. Our tickets were affordable and our seats were fantastic – front row next to the visiting dugout at the end where the players came out of the dugout to the on-deck circle. We could see the players waiting and lineup swings as the pitcher threw to the player batting. I smiled at the bat boy intent on his important job and wondered if years from now he would instead be in the on deck circle.
Game 1 los Pescados de Carolina (Carolina Mudcats) (it was Hispanic theme night) rallied to defeat the Salem Red Sox 6-4. The Salem Manager and a pitcher were ejected after the pitcher hit a Mudcats player. Game 2 ‘s pre-game, I had noticed fans gathered at the right field corner gate greeting players coming from the clubhouse into right field for warmups. I joined them and spotted one of the players I had talked to Game 1. I yelled to him that I had called his 7th inning home-run the night before. “Really? Why didn’t you do it sooner?” We both laughed.
Our tickets were behind home plate. Lots of action with a Mudcats player getting drilled again by a wild pitch — the game stopped while he was tended to. Then while going after a foul ball, the Sox catcher was down a few minutes after his shin guards jammed into the wall right in front of us! It was great seeing the pitches coming in and hearing the home plate umpire call balls and strikes, but I missed the seats by the dugout. Salem shut out the Mudcats 3 -0 putting series even at 1 each.
Game 3 was an afternoon game and when I first got the tickets, I got second level seats. When I realized our seats would be in the direct sun, I ventured back to the main level. It was still a few minutes before game time and I saw lines at the ticket booth outside. One of the workers must have spotted my dejected look. “May I help you?” When I explained how I wanted to upgrade the tickets, he told me that I didn’t need to go back outside and directed me to an area behind home plate. The exchange was quickly accomplished and we were in our seats before the first pitch. We were next to the dugout like the first night and even stayed in the shade until the 9th inning. There was excitement in the 7th when the manager and catcher for the Mudcats were thrown out of the game! The Salem Red Sox won 4 – 1.
It was a fun three days. On the way home, I made a mental note for my bucket list — already a washtub as Rick claims– to check into working there the following year – 2020. Well, as we know, that didn’t happen. With the COVID shutdown, the Minor Leagues were put on hiatus while the Majors played a limited season with only a taxi squad close to the team’s city so players could get there quickly and safely if they needed to replace players.
Thankfully, things are getting back to almost normal — the minor leagues are back and I did not forget my bucket list entry. When I was contacted about an interview, there was momentary panic as I remembered the jeans, T-shirts and athletic shoes filling my closet. I settled on flowered Capri pants, short-sleeved black top with lightweight cardigan and yellow-gold flats. All went very well and it looks like I’ll be one part of the Mudcats organization! Most of all, I am looking forward to a fun summer helping fans feel part of the experience and of course, checking off that bucket list item!
Lotta Sports from the Women’s POV – College Bowl Memories
Posted by 'lottasports in College Football, Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country on December 29, 2020
This column runs in the Winter 2020/2021 issue of Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country
As I write this column, the first week of the College Football Playoff rankings are on TV. The committee convenes weekly through mid-December in Grapevine, Texas to chose the top 25 football teams and also assign those teams to the major bowl events including four teams who duke it out for the National Championship in January. I smiled as I thought about the bowl games I have attended.
It was New Year’s Eve Day in 1969. I was a sophomore at the University of Houston. I worked part-time as a desk clerk and switchboard operator at the Holiday Inn on the Gulf Freeway at Wayside Drive. The hotel was booked full of Auburn fans as well as their cheerleaders who were in town to attend the Bluebonnet Bowl at the Astrodome. Now this wasn’t just any bowl game; it was my #17 Houston Cougars playing #12 Auburn.
While checking in one group, one guy inquired, “Do you allow pets?” I assumed he meant a dog so I replied, “As long as we know they are in there and as long as you clean up after your pet.” While I retrieved a dog marker for the room card, another guy said, “Thanks for letting us have War Eagle in the room. Would you like a free ticket to the game?” It turned out that I had just checked in the Auburn mascot! Yes, I had just checked in an eagle – a real, live eagle!! And, more importantly, I was getting to go to the Bluebonnet Bowl – free!
My seat was on the 50-yard line on the mezzanine level. There I was, decked out in my scarlet red and white, amidst a sea of orange and blue clothed fans screaming their battle cry, “War Eagle!!” Houston, which was an Independent, was considered very much the underdog to the SEC opponent. Because my dorm was across the street from Baldwin House which housed the athletes and through classes, I had friends on the team – Gary Mullins, Robert Newhouse, Elmo Wright, Earl Thomas, Riley Odoms, Leroy Fisher and Butch Brezina. That night, the Houston Cougars shocked the nay-sayers and upset the Auburn Tigers 36 – 7! It was thrilling to see Coach Bill Yeoman carried off the field by Butch and Ken Bailey as Cougar faithful sang the fight song!
Ten years later, a friend who taught ROTC at the University of Houston gave me his tickets to the Cotton Bowl where the #9 Cougars, that season’s Southwest Conference Champions, were playing #10 Notre Dame. At the time, I was still on reserve as a flight attendant for Delta and after finding it impossible to get New Year’s Day off, I gave the tickets to my brother. I was called by IAH operations for a 1:40 AM sign-in New Year’s morning. It was a turnaround to Atlanta and back. I was elated! I would be back in time to at least watch the game. It turned out to be a blessing that I didn’t get to go. Dallas had an ice storm on December 31st and my brother ended up watching the game from his hotel room. At the game, temperatures were in the mid-twenties! Notre Dame quarterback Joe Montana was sick with the flu. Despite this, he rallied Notre Dame in the final minutes and they beat Houston 35 – 34.
There would be two other bowl games for me. In 2012, we drove to Dallas to watch the Cougars face Penn State in the Ticket City Bowl. That day was cold and saw me adding my long underwear after we parked the car. We saw Case Keenam explode with 532 passing yards and lead Houston to a 30 – 14 win.
The other game was sheer torture to be at and it wasn’t because of weather. In 2018, Army routed the Cougars 70 – 14 at the Armed Forces Bowl in Ft. Worth. Each time Army scored; the cadets would do pushups in the end zone near us. Needless to say, we saw a lot of calisthenics!
Lotta Sports from the Women’s POV – Recovering Sports in a COVID World
Posted by 'lottasports in Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Life during Covid-19 on October 9, 2020
This column runs in the Fall 2020 issue of Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country
Summer 2020 continued to be a crazy period for sports while each entity tried to put together safe plans to resume play despite outbreaks in COVID-19. Gone were the TV reruns of every Super Bowl, World Series, NBA Championship and College Championship. Even the most avid fan was tired of the same endings, but willing to watch anything for the fix.
NBA Basketball proved to be the most creative and successful as twenty-two teams were invited to the “Bubble” – a closed to the public, hotel complex in Orlando where each team was sequestered at a hotel and only allowed to go back and forth to the arena to play. Families of the players were not allowed from Mid-July until the end of August during the second round of the playoffs.
Professional Hockey followed a bubble concept also except they had two bubbles, both in Canada. Twenty-four teams, the best twelve out of each conference, reported to Edmonton or Toronto for a one-week quarantine before resuming play August 1st.
Major League Baseball plotted a 60-day regular season beginning July 23rd. Instead of the bubble concept, they tried playing by geographical regions so travel would be limited. This idea forced teams into an interleague schedule with the leagues playing each other on a regular basis. The designated hitter, which for years was rejected by the National League Teams unless in interleague play at an American League stadium, became a mainstay. Arguments with umpires were accomplished with proper social distancing, masked and no spitting. No worries, the guys still got the bench clearing brawls in at least once a week! Some teams at the beginning struggled with players who tested positive for COVID and series would be postponed or re-matched with open teams. There were lots of doubleheaders at a reduced seven innings each to keep everyone on schedule for a planned regulation season ending September 27th. No one was complaining – America’s past time was back!
Sports had one thing in common — no fans in attendance. Players quickly learned the heart and soul of the game were the fans and the cheering or jeering. The sounds were solved with last year’s game noises piped in. Within a few weeks, sound engineers had it down to a science with the pop of the bat, groan of a misplayed ball and of course, the roar of a crowd when a homerun was launched. As for fans, support staff and the bullpen pitchers, all socially distanced and masked, were scattered throughout the lower deck. It still wasn’t the same and the TV audience yearned for more. Enter cardboard cutouts! Teams got fans involved offering their picture on the cutout for a donation to the team’s local charity. And, it didn’t stop with the fan. Bark in the Park had been a mainstay since launching several years ago. Well, canine cutouts had it even better! Instead of the normal outfield seats of previous years, the dog cutouts had seats behind the dugout and even Home Plate!
As I write this, some college football teams and the NFL have started with a few states allowing fans in the stands at twenty-five percent capacity. It’s baby steps, but maybe, just maybe, sports will be back to normal soon.
Lotta Sports from the Women’s POV – When Sports Froze In Time
Posted by 'lottasports in Baseball, Basketball, Golf, Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country, Hockey, NASCAR, Olympics on June 21, 2020
This column runs in the Summer 2020 issue of Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country
No one saw it coming. Wednesday, March 11th, 2020. Fans at Chesapeake Arena were excitedly waiting for their Oklahoma City Thunder to tipoff against the Utah Jazz. It was an important game with playoffs just weeks away; especially for the Thunder who were on a three-game winning streak, nipping at the heels of fourth place Utah. Twenty-thousand fans in the stands watched the warmups, then the gathering of the head coaches with the referees as the pump-the-team-up music blared throughout the arena. Thunder fans had a reason to be excited. The Jazz’s weapon, center Rudy Gobert was not in the line-up due to illness. Suddenly it became evident that the nationally televised matchup was on delay. Coaches were still conferring with the referees while the players shrugged at each other and TV broadcasters tried figure out what the holdup was. Finally, the head coaches returned to their benches and herded the players off the court and back to the locker room. Fans started to boo as the head referee donned headphones at the scoring table. The announcer leaned over the microphone. “Due to unforeseen circumstances, the game tonight has been postponed” followed by “You are all safe” twice.
Within minutes, breaking news came over TVs across the nation – Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert had tested positive for COVID-19!! The NBA had already decided to start games minus fans the following night because of this strange virus which had recently surfaced in Washington state in a nursing home and was showing up in other states. But now an NBA player had tested positive and it just happened to be Gobert who just two days before had joked around with reporters touching every microphone and recorder in sight! By the end of the next day, every sport began shutting down!
Major League Baseball advised players to leave spring training facilities and return to their homes. The National Hockey League “paused” their season which was just a few weeks from the playoffs. Major League Soccer and the World Cup qualifying cancelled. The Players Championship golf tournament in Florida was stopped at the end of the first round. While college basketball’s “March Madness” was days away from their conference tournaments to be followed by the selection process, some conferences considered playing to an empty house; others cancelled theirs. The conference tourneys and selection process never happened. The Summer Olympics was postponed until 2021. Even NASCAR shut down when it was evident that support teams would be too close to each other while servicing the cars. Sports went on hiatus for sixty-six days!! Never had sports experienced such a disruption since World War II.
On Sunday May 17th, NASCAR paved the way for other sports to resume. They ran nine races in sixteen days at just two tracks in two states. Masked support crew numbers were cut in half, drivers wore masks when not in their cars, practices cancelled and the stands were empty of fans. Other sports began processing plans acceptable to states and health experts while fans crossed fingers and toes that all sports would be back soon!
Life During COVID-19 – The Case of the Mysterious Walkers
Posted by 'lottasports in Life during Covid-19 on May 6, 2020
We have been trying to take some road trips just for a change of scenery from “Stay At Home” guidelines. Last week turned into a challenge when we took both pups with us and tried a five hour day. (We had forgotten when we did the cross-country drive on our move last year that Jake was tranquilized for the three days in the car.) Jake, our Boxer who turns three next month, is still finishing up his puppy stage and so hyper. Once he discovered it wasn’t a drive to the vet, he calmed down while our three and a half old Boxer Katie got a concerned look on her face. I’m sure she was thinking, “Last time we took this long a ride, we didn’t come back home!”
So today we decided to start with a mini-trip with just Jake through the neighborhood. He actually was doing pretty good. He abandoned window-cleaning after one firm, “Leave it.” Then there was a someone walking their dog. “No bark!” quietened warm-up yaps — that is until the dog decided to go potty! Then both Jake and my husband chimed in their irritation since they were both sure the dog didn’t live at that yard. A “That’s enough!” by me quieted both. “Since Jake is doing so good, let’s go to the front of the subdivision, “I suggested. And that is where it all began!
As we made the turn to the densely wooded area near the front, there was a car parked off to the side with two teenagers unloading a stroller. We drove to the top of the hill where the entrance is and turned around. As we passed the car, Jake’s cowlick bristled which is an indication he is uncomfortable with something. The car was still sitting there with a woman inside as well as a child looking as hyper as Jake. This is where my Nancy Drew intuition kicked in — after all, I read every book starting with The Secret of the Old Clock to The Clue in the Old Stagecoach. She was my heroine — an amateur sleuth who always put her skills into use when something appeared amiss. Or maybe it was my one year as Neighborhood Watch Captain or the experience at our last subdivision where a group would let their kids out at the front of the complex to case homes. Jake was bristling and I needed answers!
When we got home, I got the keys to my car. “Where are you going?” Rick asked. “I’ll be right back. I’m not leaving the subdivision. If I’m not home in an hour, come look for my body!” Rick’s mouth was agape as I took off in my blue roadster …. um…. gold sedan. I passed the two teens enroute. We exchanged stares as I passed. Further down the road, the car was still there and with another car behind her! It was a red convertible with a man and a little boy. I went to the top of the hill again and turned around. This time I snapped a shot of both cars. May as well have something on my phone records when they investigate my disappearance. It would been at that point the back ground music on my soaps would have done “da da!” On the way back to my house, I got ready to pass the girls who were still proceeding down the road pushing the stroller. I stopped and put down the window. “Hi! Are you new to the neighborhood?” They looked at each other. “What street do you live on?” “We live down the road.” I must have given them the eyebrow my mom used to give me. “Regulator,” one finally offered after they shared uncomfortable glances. Suddenly I realized maybe they were just being safe and trying not to talk to strangers. “Well, it’s nice to meet you. It’s a nice day for a walk.”
Rick was relieved to see me back at the house. I told him what transpired. “I think I’ll swing down to Regulator,” he offered. He must have read the Hardy Boys. His findings? The girls went into a house. A little later I headed out for my daily two mile walk. With all the things in bloom, I found my self stopping and admiring the properties making mental notes for Rick’s “Honey Want List.” Suddenly I heard a, “Hi! Are you new to the neighborhood?” I laughed to myself. Another Nancy Drew.
Life During COVID-19 – The Bangs
Posted by 'lottasports in Life during Covid-19 on April 4, 2020
Who would have ever guessed four months ago what 2020 would bring — a whole new way of existing in life.
Life without a hairdresser — It starts with my bangs. How spoiled I’ve gotten depending on my hairdresser for those trims once a month! Well, it wasn’t by choice — I did attempt a couple of bang trims back in the 80s — my hairdresser at the time issuing me an order – “NEVER try this again!” OK. She had her reasons.
My first attempt was a tad on the short end. In my defense, maybe I was going for that Mamie Eisenhower look! OK. I wasn’t, but if I had been, my mother would have given me an A-. Mom used to love my bangs short and I didn’t have a whole lot of control over what she did with them! There were the years they were short and then those years she permed them! What was she thinking?
The second attempt wasn’t my fault. My hairdresser Luis, who I had found at Memorial City mall, was discovered by someone in California. Last I heard he was getting top dollar doing celebrities. So in the interim while trying to find Luis’s replacement, I attempted to try another bang trim.
Bang Trim #2 was before you could go to You Tube or DIY for guidance. I knew that my bangs had a slope up to the middle from both sides. So I started from the far right diagonaling towards the center. It looked great except my estimated center and what the final look showed, was way off! It was then I retired my scissors until last week!
I was finally to the point that my bangs were bothersome getting in my eyes. I’ve gained an appreciation for how a poor sheepdog sees! So with great care, working very slowly, I started the scissors cutting upwards following the existing edges barely snipping. It took me almost twenty minutes for what Rebecca normally does in two minutes. No worries Rebeeca — when things get back to normal, you will have your day job back!
Lotta Sports from the Women’s POV – Hanging Up His Helmet
Posted by 'lottasports in Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country, NASCAR on March 1, 2020
This column runs in the Spring 2020 issue of Heart Beat of the Texas Hill Country
As I am writing this column, qualifying for the pole at the Daytona 500 is being televised. So many changes this year; drivers switching teams, younger drivers coming in from other NASCAR tiers and legends racing for their final year. One of my favorites is hanging up his helmet – Brendan Gaughan.
I first “unofficially” met Brendan at a Texas Motor Speedway press conference back in Summer of 2013 when he was racing in the Camping World Truck Series. He was alongside fellow racer twenty-two-year-old Joey Coulter who was fifteen years younger so he kidded about himself being “old” in racing. I raised my hand. “What do you consider old?” I asked. Without skipping a beat, he responded, “Me!” I decided at that moment I had found the truck driver to root for!
Later that year NASCAR came back for the fall races. It was a sunny fall day when I hiked to the parking lot where the truck haulers were lined up providing an outside work area since the Cup and Nationwide cars had the two garages. There was the #62 South Point Hotel and Casino truck; over the driver’s door, the signature Brendan Gaughan. I craned my neck trying to see in the open hood without touching the truck. “Looking for anything in particular?” a familiar voice asked. I turned and it was Brendan. “uhhh… is this where the carburetor is?” I followed it with a laugh and explained that I knew nothing about what’s under a hood!
That night I got to hang at pit row thanks to my media pass. Brendan was doing last minute checks on his truck, then gave his wife Tatum a kiss and she headed to the pit stand pushing one of his sons in a stroller. He looked across and waved hi to me looking quite different in his racing uniform. “Good luck tonight!” I shouted. He finished 4th in the race.
The following spring, I contacted Brendan’s media person to request an interview with him. As a freelancer, I was appreciative of those who were willing to talk to me and there were many who would not grant one-on-one interviews. I explained to her the carburetor story. She said she would check with Brendan and get back to me. Several weeks later, I met Brendan at Fuzzy’s in the TMS Pit. He was now racing a car instead of a truck. I started off assuring him that I wouldn’t ask the typical girl question about how they used the bathroom while racing. Instead I pulled out my University of Houston “Phi Slama Jama” Tee-shirt. My Cougars had lost to the Georgetown Hoyas in the NCAA finals in 1984. Brendan played basketball for Georgetown in the 90s. Yes, I had done my homework. He burst out laughing. “Yes, we slama’d your jama!” he confirmed.
We talked about so many other things in addition his racing – his family, being a high school football All-American and a placekicker at Georgetown, scuba diving, skiing at his second home in Colorado, our common love of “The Doors” music and his future employment, helping run the family casino in Las Vegas. I asked Brendan what was on his bucket list. With a smile perfect for a toothpaste commercial, he responded, “Life is….”
Each season he raced at TMS, we’d exchange “high 5’s” or a hug. He went through many looks – mustache, beard and even a hint of sideburns like his early racing years. One time when Brendan was doing an appearance at the midway, a fan asked him if he participated in Fantasy Racing. Gaughan bragged about his fantasy team and how many fans were with him on Twitter getting advice each week. He pointed to me in the audience. “Just ask Carlotta! She’s on my team!” Yes! I not only had me a driver; he knew me by name!
'lotta sports 