Formula for fun in the mountains
Formula One driver Michael Schumacher, a huge international racing star, was on our side of the world recently for circuit races in Montreal and Indianapolis for the U.S. Grand Prix (which turned out to be a disaster – a bunch of drivers sat out the race because they said tires were too dangerous for the speed of the course at Indy Motor Speedway).
Anyway, the champ spent some time riding on of his Harleys through the mountains.
“You have great spots country-wise,” Schumacher said Thursday in a news conference at Indy. “We just came from a tour with the bikes from Asheville up to Indianapolis, and we stayed in this Blue Ridge Parkway area. We spent about one and half days there. …You have so many beautiful places to experience, and having the chance to come here to race, I obviously want to take the opportunity and see the country.”
Gore scores new shorts
You didn’t really hear much about this story locally, but it’s been all over the Web and a hot story in golf circles:
Jason Gore was a no-name golfer who had a couple of great days at the start of the U.S. Open in Pinehurst last weekend. Turns out that on his way to the tourney, he stopped in Ashvegas, where his car was broken into and somebody stole his underwear. Luckily, they didn’t get his golf clubs or shoes.
Jim Litke wrote a column about it, and everyone ran the column. Gore’s stock shot up like you wouldn’t believe.
Here’s an excerpt from a U.S. Open Website interview I found:
Q. When you were coming in this week, what was your mindset? Was it to win the tournament, was it to build some momentum so when you got back out on the Nationwide Tour you would have more confidence; what was your thought process coming in?
JASON GORE: It was actually when I was going to get a new stereo for my car and how I was going to keep my wife in clothes. Our car got broken into Sunday night and had everything ransacked. It was in Asheville, North Carolina. We were driving from Knoxville. So, yeah, that was our first day here at the U.S. Open was trying to find my wife something to wear.
Q. Why were you driving from Knoxville?
JASON GORE: Well, I had second stage U.S. Open qualifying in Atlanta. And my friend, James wasn’t in Chicago, which last week was the Nationwide event. So he took my car from Atlanta to Knoxville, where this week’s event was. So we flew back into Knoxville, and was going to drive over here, and we stopped in Asheville because it was about 1:30 in the morning and my wife went to go get her clothes and there was none.
Q. Took everything?
JASON GORE: Took my stereo, took my computer
Q. Clubs?
JASON GORE: My clubs were actually in my caddie’s car, because we were traveling with our eight month old son, and everybody who has children knows how much crap they take. He took them because he was driving from Chicago here. So luckily we had golf shoes and golf clubs, and I had some clothes. But they took all my underwear, those poor guys (laughter.)
Q. So the joke’s on them?
JASON GORE: Yeah, he who laughs last, right?
And there was this column from the Contra-Costa Times:
… this is what Gore said when someone asked about his “thought process” before stepping onto the biggest stage of his 6-year pro career:
“Actually,” he replied, “it was, ‘When am I going to get a new stereo for my car and how am I going to keep my wife in clothes?'”
The story there is that thieves broke into his car last Sunday night when the Gores stopped in Asheville en route to Pinehurst. They got everything but his clubs and golf shoes, and missed those only because Pullen volunteered to drive them down from their last stop on the Nationwide Tour in suburban Chicago. Rather than embittered, Gore was amused.
“They took all my underwear,” he chuckled, “those poor guys.”
It’s a good thing the 31-year-old former wunderkind from Southern California likes to laugh. Rarely has America’s national championship yielded so few red numbers and so many humorless expressions.