April is here and one of the normally surest signs of spring, the arrival of baseball season in the good old USA, will not be occurring, at least in 2020. Wrigley, Victory Field, and even the city park diamonds and sand lots across the country will be devoid of players and spectators. For the Nicewanger family and many others in Indy, attending an Indians game at the Vic has become a treasured family tradition. For me, watching the Tribe home boys while munching a monster dog and being with the Boss while she crunched some popcorn and sips a cold brew meant the official start of spring for me. With my daughter, son, son-in-law, and of course my grandkids along, it was the best of times. My granddaughter really got in to watching the game and took it hard if the Tribe lost. For the rest of us it was just being there and enjoying each others company that made the moment. Hopefully this is just a one time glitch and things will be back to normal in 2021.
The 500 in August?
As many of you may have heard the 104th running of the Indianapolis 500 mile Race will occur on August 23rd this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. This is not without precedent. During the war years 1918 and 1942 through 1945 the event was canceled altogether.
The GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis will be held on July 4th. The economy of Indianapolis, particularly the downtown travel and entertainment businesses, will take a heavy hit this year because of the postponement.
Many of the smaller racing teams are being hard hit financially by the season postponement and the cancelation of some of the earlier races. Now their continued existence is in doubt. Roger Penske has announced that as president and CEO of IMS and the IndyCar series he will not take a salary this year.
Again we all hope that this is just a one time glitch and that things will return to normal next year. The IndyCar series attempted to broadcast a virtual reality simulation of the opening race at St. Petersburg which wound up having Sage Kareem winning the computer generated event. Sorry, that just doesn’t do it for me.
Right now there is not much good news in the world of sports. Probably the biggest, most unbelievable news the Summer Olympic Games will be postponed until 2021. It just seems to underscore the surreal times we all seem to be living at this moment in history. Stay safe, stay healthy.
snicewanger@gmail.com