Sports in My Life

Back in 2018, I created a post about how baseball has played an important role in my life, both as a player and a fan. I mentioned that I had attended 274 games in which I still had the ticket stubs, and most of those were MLB Spring Training games (251). The total number of games I have seen probably is closer to 500 games if I were to include Little League, Babe Ruth, Legion, College, High School and the Stan Musial league.

I followed that post with one on Football in December 2021, Basketball in March 2022, and Golf in July 2022. Those four sports would include about 614 events, most of those with the US National anthem played. I can admit that I have spent almost two years worth of days listening while standing, with my hand over my heart or my camera lens catching the moment. 

Now I want to finish the story of my lifetime with sports with other sports I have followed.

Car Racing

There was a period of my life where I enjoyed going to NASCAR races, all in Daytona, just 90 miles from where I live. Many times it was a family affair, with some heavy tailgating (aka drinking) with siblings, cousins, parents, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, and of course co-workers. The previous photo you can find me in the middle next to brother Tom with the Earnhardt hat, and yes that is my Aunt Ellie and Mom Stella on the right. Below is a photo of the year Tom, Brandon and I got to visit the pits and infield racecar inspections.

For a few years, my nephew Jared and his wife Sarah came down for race week. Jared is a big Richard Petty fan and I took this photo of him.

I went to twelve straight years of Twin 125 Qualifiers. That was 125 miles of racing in two races over one afternoon, just to set the starting position for the Daytona 500. In 2005, the race was lengthened to 150 miles. Here are the winners I saw in that period.

Winners of the Twin 125 Qualifiers I attended

02/16/95  Race 1 - Sterling Martin / Race 2 - Dale Earnhardt

02/15/96  Race 1 - Dale Earnhardt / Race 2 - Ernie Irvan      

02/13/97  Race 1 - Dale Jarrett / Race 2 - Dale Earnhardt

02/12/98  Race 1 - Sterling Martin / Race 2 - Dale Earnhardt

02/11/99  Race 1 - Bobby Labonte / Race 2 - Dale Earnhardt

02/17/00  Race 1 - Bill Elliot / Race 2 - Ricky Rudd

02/15/01  Race 1 - Sterling Martin / Race 2 - Mike Skinner

02/14/02  Race 1 - Jeff Gordon / Race 2 - Michael Waltrip

02/13/03  Race 1 - Robby Gordon / Race 2 - Dale Earnhardt Jr.

02/12/04  Race 1 - Dale Earnhardt Jr. / Race 2 - Elliot Sadler

02/17/05  Race 1 - Michael Waltrip / Race 2 - Tony Stewart

02/16/06  Race 1 - Elliot Sadler / Race 2 - Jeff Gordon

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Approaching the finish line

Old photo I took back in 80s of Richard Petty winning with only three good tires...

I should mention there were some races I went to where I did not keep the ticket stub. Back in the early 80s we could drive to Daytona for the Twins and buy the tickets at the booth. It was General admission back then. My parents and I went more than once.

Winners of the Daytona 500s I attended

02/14/93 Dale Jarrett

02/20/94 Sterling Martin

02/19/95 Sterling Martin

02/18/96 Dale Jarrett

02/15/98 Dale Earnhardt

02/18/01 Michael Waltrip

02/17/02 Ward Burton

02/16/03 Michael Waltrip

I should mention I was there when Dale Earnhardt crashed and was killed in 2001. We did not know he had died at the time, but heard it on the radio on the drive back to Melbourne.

Other Daytona stock car races I attended

Busch 250       07/11/05 Martin Truex Jr.

GNC 300         02/16/02 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Koolerz 300    02/15/03 Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Daytona Truck race I attended

Chevy Silverado 250 02/15/08 Todd Bodine wins

Ice Hockey

I am not sure how many Middlebury College Hockey games I attended but as a kid I went to a bunch. Never missed a home game and even drove around to away games. I remember one year going to Quebec to watch Middlebury play CMR, the Royal Military College, like our West Point.

I have never been to a NHL game although we have two teams in Florida. I did go to a couple Orlando Solar Bear games back in the 1990s.

Soccer

I have been to a lot of Middlebury College Soccer games. Even when I have gone back to visit my hometown, I would go to games. The next photo was the NESCAC playoffs that Middlebury was hosting. They beat Amherst that day. Cloudy day but lots of people I knew were there.

In 1994, the US hosted the Men's World Cup in Football (Soccer). Orlando hosted a few of the games at the Citrus Bowl and I was lucky enough to see the Netherlands beat Morocco 2-1. Talk about excitement!

Okay, more excitement, in 1996 Atlanta hosted the Summer Olympics, and again the Citrus Bowl in Orlando hosted games. I went to a Men's game where Nigeria beat Hungary 1-0. Then I saw a Women's game where the USA beat Denmark 3-1. Both of these games were played on the same day. It was the first time that the Olympics had Women Soccer.

A great fact is that both the Nigeria Men's team and the US Women's team went on to win the Gold medals.

I have been to two Orlando City Lions soccer games, they play in the MSL. Thanks to my cousin Jim and his wife Janis, who became season ticket holders for a while and took me along. The first game I saw was in 2015 at the Citrus Bowl where the Lions tied the New England Revolution 2-2.

In 2017, the Lions moved to their new stadium on Church Street, very near the Amway Center where the Magic play. Jim's son Jason is proud to wear the colors before the game.

Making the free kick is Orlando City player Kaka (from Brazil)...no shit!! The Lions won this game 2-0 over the Colorado Rapids.

Skiing

I have always wanted to see a World Cup race, or the Olympics, but never had. Tom, Brandon and I went to see a Downhill race at Sugarbush in Vermont but fog set in and made the course dangerous. The only excitement was when Brandon blew out his ski boot.

I did go with brother Tom to Lake Placid to watch the US National Championships in Ski Jumping. We also visited the bobsled run and saw some practice runs of both bobsled and luge. It was the US team getting ready for the 1982 World Championships.

Rowing

I have followed the rowing teams at Florida Tech for many years, and started volunteering for some live races. As a money maker, they started holding the Southern Sprints, an indoor rowing competition. My job as a volunteer turned into handing out the medals. The first picture is my "Medals" area and the next picture are some of the medals: Gold, Silver and Bronze..

Recently, I had gone down to see the Women's crew team from FIT compete on Canal 54 in Fellsmere. Here is a picture of the "eight" as they head out for their race.

Other sports

As a fan, I have seen a lot of sports. My co-worker and friend Tom Buist was on the Red Eye Rugby team. I went to take some pictures against a team from Miami and ended up taking the team photos.

I have been multiple times to the boat racing they hold off the beaches at Cocoa Beach. 

Here is a link: https://www.thunderoncocoabeach.com/

They usually race from the Cocoa Beach Pier down to a park and back. Each race contains multiple circuits of the track. They are fast!

If you live in Florida, you have to go to a surfing contest. When I was younger I would go to the Easter weekend competition at Cocoa Beach Pier. I saw a local kid named Kelly Slater surf, he has done pretty well for himself. An interesting competition they have is the tandem surfing. Here is a shot I took a few years back

Although the Olympics were held in Atlanta in 1996, the torch did come through the local area before the games. It happened to pass by on July 6, so I took mom out on her birthday to see the torch. If you squint, you can see the lady in white tee-shirt and shorts, she has the flaming Olympic torch.

I guess I like watching sports...