I had a Great Sporting day on Saturday (6/23/07)!
It started with the AMA Superbike & Supermoto races and ended with the Real Salt Lake vs. DC United soccer game.
The AMA races were at the Miller Motorsports Park near Tooele, UT, west of Salt Lake City. This was a couple of firsts for me: my first visit to Miller Motorsports Park (MMP) and my first Motorcycle race, ever. I work with several motorcycle enthusiasts and now they may have converted me. I admit it, it made me want a motorcycle. (Last year, a then non-motorcycle owning co-worker went to the same races, and now owns and follows the motorcycle racing circuit).
It is amazing at what speeds these guys fly around a track, and without seatbelts! We watched most of the Superbike races at the end of the first straight-away near the first turn. These guys would barely slow down to dip into the corner. You could tell the better drivers, since they go into the turns without slowing down as much. Spies and Mladin (teammates) controlled the race from start to finish and you could see how they approached the corners much more aggressively. (You can see bikes in the first corner above my right arm, below.)
The Supermoto (half road, half dirt) was also very entertaining. The local racer, Cassidy Anderson was able to show his knowledge of the track and won easily in the early afternoon qualifying races. (He didn't fair so well in the finale, which I did not see, since it was at night, during the Real soccer game.)
Along with the main events I was able to see some aerial motocross stunts and a road bike stunt team, which made me wish I had brought my boys with me. I think next time I go out to MMP, it will include the family.
I left the MMP at 5:30pm to get home, get the family, have dinner and make it to the Real game by 7:30pm. It didn't happen like clockwork, so we accomplished one of my pet-peeves: Being late to a sporting event. (This just barely edges out another peeve of mine: Leaving early from a sporting event). Actually we busted our butts and walked into the stadium 9 minutes into the game.
You may or may not be aware of the tough times Real Salt Lake has been having this year (0-5-6, before Sat.), but they needed to win a game. They made a trade this week and it quickly paid off, BIG TIME. The new-comer Robbie Findley scored both goals for Real's win. Even with his incredible play, I think our player of the game was goalie Nick Rimado. He had 3-4 significant tough saves and the only goal allowed could be blamed on bad timing and luck (interpret as "a defensive back") not on Nick.
Although it was a very hot and long day, it was still a Great Sporting day. Real's win just topped it off right!
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