It's like soccer for Brazil

I was invited to a cookout -- well this is not so bad -- I rather enjoy cookouts -- my mistake came in that it rained and much of the gathering was done inside.
The fellow who was having the gathering is the brother of this couple I know -- well the long and the short of it all is that he is a sports nut.
I mean a sports junkie -- there is very little in his home that isn't sports related and the entertainment center has 3 TV's and not small ones either 30 inches or bigger.
The TV's are all turned to various sports programing. All the guys are glued to the TV's and the women are other places talking.
So I have to decide
do I watch sports with the guys
or
do I talk with the women.
I hate it when this happens because I usually get the thing wrong.
Well I decided to watch sports with the guys -- mind you I like sports but it is not the beat all end all of life -- I like teams and can even name players and talk significant events -- but to know the life time batting average of a baseball player is not high on my list of things to know.
So we're watching horse racing (??), auto racing (indy cart or car -- there is a difference but I don't know it), and Baseball (O's and the Twins).
So I drain two Guinness to put myself in the right frame of mind to start discussing --
how astro-turf has ruined baseball or
how cool Cal Ripken is, or
the average speed of this or
tire inflation and gas milage and drafting and
well the list goes on and on.
Well I start to take out a smoke --
Oh you can't do that inside.
OH yes there is a GOD! I grab another Guinness and head outside to smoke.
Well now I'm much happier and the conversation is more varied than commenting on what's on the TV.
Well after a while and a few more Guinness I wander back into the TV area
aka guyland and plop down on the sofa with my BBQ and "fixin's"
(fixin's = anything else that is served at a BBQ this happened to be vinegar Coleslaw, macaroni salad, Broc. Salad, beans, and a garden salad.) I had the garden salad, vinegar coleslaw, and Broc. salad.
Anyway this is where the big mistake comes in
NASCAR is on now and the race is delayed -- now they don't just show something else -- they show it raining on the track and the pit crew and this shot of a car or that shot of a car. Now don't forget this is NASCAR and no event now will ever be complete without some reference to the late Dale E.
Well this is my time to chime in and make some comment -- now this is the tactical error --
Well let me temper it first
First Im in the south and NASCAR is a .....well its a.... Its like soccer for Brazil
Second Being of Irish and German background my tongue tends not to stay leased when it should. So I often will stay things that I wish I hadn't said.
So the TV guy says something about some driver involved in a wreck and how he may have bumped the other car and then mentions Dale E. -- not to speak ill of the dead but, I say
You know its kinda funny how this guy is all of a sudden treated like a God now that he's dead, but he bumped the other drivers and caused as many wreaks as the next guy.
Well you would think I was William T. Sherman heading to the sea with torch in hand.
Well I went back outside after that one and spent the rest of the evening talking to the women and the one other guy who had about enough of the triple cast sports fiesta too.
I was able to save face later by making the comment about the one true piece of art the guy had that wasn't sports related --it ended up that he had taken the picture himself -- so I got big points there.
Well, I think I'm ok with that because one of the couples there had a really big fight --which I had no part of thank you very much -- so my little NASCAR comment will most likely be forgotten.
All in all it was a good weekend and I slept in on Sunday © 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007