This will be a pretty short blog, since I'm on vacation, but I'm always being told my blogs are too long anyways, so maybe this will please a bunch of people.

I just want to talk about Memorial day weekend in the world of sports.   Or maybe you could say I want to talk about how there really is nothing to talk about when it comes to sports on Memorial day weekend.

This weekend used to be one of the best sports weekends of the year.  I know I talk about when I was a kid a lot on these blogs, but here I go again.  Also, since it is my birthday in a little over two days from this writing, "when I was a kid" seems to be getting further and further away.

When I was a kid, the Indianapolis 500 USED TO be quite an event.  It was such a big event, the network (ABC if I remember correctly) used to put the race on in prime time for a number of years, EVEN THOUGH THE RACE TOOK PLACE AT LIKE, NOON!

Yeah, you would pretty much already know who won the race, but you would still watch it at night on ABC.  Some times I would try to intentionally avoid all news and sports reports all day, so that I would not know who won the race, and it would be more fun to watch. 

That would usually not work though, and I actually found it was just as fun to know what happened because then you could know in advance when the awesome crashes would take place.  You'd find out that Johnny Rutherford was involved in a horrible crash on lap 58, and so you would watch the tape delayed race and the announcer would say, "so here it is, lap 57, and AJ Foyt in the lead..." and I would be on the edge of my seat, just waiting for the imminent carnage.

The other great thing about the Indy 500 back then was that there were a number of great drivers who were capable of winning the race as opposed to now.  AJ Foyt won a bunch.  Johnny Rutherford too.  You had the Unser brothers, Al and Bobby, who won a number of them.  Rick Mears, Gordon Johncock and Mario Andretti, then his son Michael all got to victory lane a bunch of times.  Janet Guthrie was Danica Patrick long before Danica, although Janet looked more like a factory worker instead of a model.

Things changed at the ol' brickyard in the 90's when CART split from Indy car, taking many of the best drivers with it.  I don't think the grand old race has ever recovered.

I admit I didn't even know the Indy 500 took place today.  As I said, I am on vacation, so my wife and I slept in late, got up and walked the dogs.  Then we mowed the lawn and bagged all the clippings.  I hop in the shower and hear on my radio that Dario Franchitti won the Indy 500 today, his third win.  I thought to myself, "Hmph, that was today huh?" 

I'll also admit that my second thought was, "I think Franchitti is Mr Ashley Judd".  I also admit I just had to check with google to make sure I was right.  I find it kind of sad that Dario Franchitti won the race for the third time and the only thing I know about him is he is married to a beautiful american actress.

It just seems that nowadays, there is no one who captures anyone's fancy in the Indy 500.  Not like there used to be.  Franchitti, Helio Castroneves, and Scott Dixon seem like the only drivers who win it anymore, along with the late Dan Wheldon--and you know he ain't winning any more. 

Since 2001, only three drivers other than the ones I mentioned above have won the race:  Sam Hornish Jr in 2006, Buddy Rice in 2004 and Gil deFerran in '03.  The race just cries out for a little parity nowadays.  That's all I'm saying.

Plus, the safety measures have gotten better, and there are fewer crashes today than there used to be.  Don't get me wrong--I don't want to see drivers dying or anything, but at those speeds, it is always fun to see some of the major crashes in the race.  Admit it you red blooded americans--you know what I'm talking about.  Everyone loves crashes!

At least we have the Spurs and Thunder battling it out, in what promises to be a real fun series in the NBA conference finals,  right now to wake me from my sports slumber. 

Perhaps instead of complaining about the lousy sports offerings this weekend, I should focus on the REAL reason for this weekend.  Here's a special shout out to all the soldiers, veterans and active duty military who make this weekend a holiday, and those who gave their lives serving in the military for this wonderful country that we currently live in.  May God bless you all!