Where Do We Go From Here?

In all truth, I still haven't seen the IndyCar finale.  (Yes, I know, it's my "job" to watch these things.)  I'll be listening to Mike King and the IMS Radio Broadcast later on from the office - I figure Mike can make just about anything exciting, not that the finale wasn't exciting, if you like the equivalent of a pitcher's dual or a 74-73 basketball game.

Look, Saturday I was in Crown Point, Ind., for a wedding.  The ceremony got out at 2:30, and I was in a bar by 2:45 CT - in theory 15 minutes from being able to watch the entire finale.  One problem - no Versus at the bar.  So there went that.

The rest of the night is a hazy blur involving dancing, Miller Lite (the official beer of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway) and late-night pizza.  Somewhere in the wee hours of the morning, I saw that Dario Franchitti had won, in a caution-less race.  Awesome, I said to myself.

You know, because I picked Dario to win on this very blog.  And I probably won't let anyone forget that.

Sunday was spent driving back from Merrillville, putting far too much dairy in my stomach at Fair Oaks Farm (seriously, next time you kids are driving up I-65 to Chicago, stop there.  The grilled cheese is phenomenal.)  I should have watched the race when I got home, but the NFL and some Tiger Woods Golf for the Wii took over the TV.  That's my bad.

So I sit here now, having not seen the finale I've wanted to see, relying on Mike King, Davey Hamilton and Kevin Lee to bring it to life.  My reactions to the race will matter very little in the blogosphere world, since Indycar's preeminent bloggers have already weighed in (here, here and here).

That said, I will still watch the race and listen to it, because I'm an IndyCar fan.

Regardless of the racing, be it a 200-lap snoozer at Richmond or the Indianapolis 500, I will watch the race, because that's my obligation as an IndyCar fan.  It's not to attend every single race, it's not to buy every sponsor product on the market (though I'm trying), it's to watch the racing.  TV ratings will drive the sport forward, and it's the least I can do to sit down for 2-3 hours on a Saturday or Sunday to watch the event.

Sure, in some cases, I'll be at the race itself, or I'll pick up Venom Energy drink or an Indianapolis Motor Speedway license plate.  But the cheapest thing I can do is to watch the damn race.

So, without racing available to watch anymore, I'm left with writing a blog for 5 months.  Who knows what we'll cover (actually, I can guarantee that some form of driver/team grades will come out), but it should be interesting - I hope.