04/19/24
September 16, 2011
SportsFilter: The Friday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Manager Jim Leyland did not change his underwear during the Detroit Tigers' 12-game winning stink, er, streak.
posted by rcade at 02:08 PM on September 16, 2011
Charger fans are honest people.
posted by grum@work at 02:31 PM on September 16, 2011
rcade, I think streak is probably just as likely as stink.
posted by apoch at 04:00 PM on September 16, 2011
what might have been in 1958 on the West coast
It'd be a Dodgers fan in a coma?
posted by yerfatma at 04:43 PM on September 16, 2011
Horrible event this afternoon at the National Championship Air Races in Reno. Damn.
posted by tahoemoj at 09:07 PM on September 16, 2011
Horrible event this afternoon at the National Championship Air Races in Reno. Damn.
I've spent most of my working life in, on, around, under, and close to aircraft. I get a sick feeling whenever I hear of something like this, and when it is coupled with loss of life, it makes me even more sick. This one adds another element to the horror, that of people on the ground being involved. There are so many things that can go wrong, the cause may never be determined. Let's hope that the loss of life is minimal, and that the injured recover.
posted by Howard_T at 10:03 PM on September 16, 2011
I have a slight family connection to someone who flies a P-51B -- and was racing in Reno in the same class, though I don't know whether he was in the air for that particular race. (I do know that he's unharmed.)
Those planes are so powerful for their age -- race-tuned RR Merlin engines putting out 3000hp with a top speed of 500mph. But they're still old planes, and though the pilots are skilled and experienced -- they're generally wealthy, older enthusiasts -- a mechanical failure at race speed can have devastating effects.
posted by etagloh at 11:08 PM on September 16, 2011
Unbelievable picture of the accident. So sad, shocking.
posted by rumple at 01:44 AM on September 17, 2011
Here's another. I love the air races, and try to go a couple times a year. The old warbirds are beautiful, especially the P-51s. My family and I were going to be sitting in box seats today (Sat.). Over the years, I've seen a few accidents that took the lives of pilots, but obviously nothing like this. The race planes hug the pylons pretty tightly, and don't really fly over spectators. People who were there yesterday say that they knew something was wrong when the Ghost flew wide around the last turn, I guess he tried to pull up and call a mayday, and completely lost control. The pilot Jimmy Leeward had been flying P-51's for decades, and trained many of the other pilots flying at the air races.
posted by tahoemoj at 11:36 AM on September 17, 2011
A couple of days ago Flip Flop Fly Ballin' got to thinkin' about what might have been in 1958 on the West coast.
Los Angeles Giants and the San Fransisco Dodgers (plus reaction from the peanut gallery)