"The Closer," G. W. Bailey, Dave Robicheaux, Boris Said and NASCAR, and some random thoughts

"The Closer" update: Doggone it! I can't tell you anything 'cause I don't wanna give it away in case you decide to watch it. Oh, I will tell you that Barry Corbin is playing Brenda Leigh's daddy Clay! And the wonderful Frances Sternhagen plays her mama, Willie Ray. (Try saying Willie Ray real fast, over and over. Give me a report on what happens, please, and then I'll tell you what happened to me.) About tonight's episode, suffice it to say that Mama and I spent every minute with our faces pointed straight at the TV, our ears tuned to every word. At one point, I excitedly asked Mama, "What wuz tha-yet?" She turned toward me and calmly said, "A lotta shootin'." She sounded just like Lt. Provenza, for some reason, which got me to laughing throughout the entire commercial break.

Any of y'all remember G. W. Bailey from "St. Elsewhere"? Was he a psychiatrist on the hospital staff? He played Capt. Harris in those Police Academy movies. Now he's Lt. Provenza on my favorite TV show. I found out on the Internet that Bailey's originally from Port Arthur, Texas. And get this, he grew up with Janis Joplin! Port Arthur is one of the dozens of towns we lived in in Texas, back when Daddy had that job working on cooling towers when I was little. Mama says Port Arthur is where my hair lost its natural curl; she blames it on the salty wind that blew in from the Ship Channel. I can testify that the curls never returned unless aided by chemicals and a beautician!
Here's some photos I found at Google images:

Bailey's on the back row, with the glasses and the camel-colored vest. Oh, how I loved "St. Elsewhere." Remember it and "Hill St. Blues"? Ground-breaking series that sucked me, I'm glad to say.


My goodness, I had no idea that Lt. Provenza would clean up this good!

If you're wanting a book to read, let me recommend James Lee Burke's "Pegasus Descending," one of his Dave Robicheaux series. Whew. It's heavy, wonderfully so. It's a hundred percent Louisiana bad and Louisiana good. Vivid, tortured, honorable.

Boris Said update, from NASCAR dot com: Kudos to Bill Elliott for volunteering to give up his Wood Brothers ride in Sunday's Cup race to Boris Said, who was extremely frustrated and disappointed when he couldn't attempt to make the race on his own because qualifying Friday was rained out and the starting grid was set according to owner points (watch video). Said was forced to start 39th because of the driver change, but finished 14th. That was good enough to lock the Wood Brothers' No. 21 Ford into the top 35 in car owner points, guaranteeing it a spot in this weekend's race at Michigan.

Now for the random thoughts. Be grateful for your beliefs, for what's available to you. Partake of life. Branch out. Don't get in a rut. Exercise your mind, your heart and your body. And tell your loved ones how much they mean to you each and every day. I'm talking to myself, too.

Boris Said to drive the No. 21 Little Debbie car Sunday!

I'm watching NASCAR Live! on Speed, dozing because I woke up at ever-lovin' 5 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep! I just saw Bob Dilner interviewing Bill Elliott, resplendent in his Georgia twang, and heard him say that Boris was going to drive the car tomorrow in the NASCAR Nextel race at Watkins Glen.

Elliott said something like, "I'm not in the points. The car's in the points." Then he said that's why Boris is going in the Wood Brothers' car, because Boris' road-racing skills are based in road racing. Then he said, "I like Boris." My word. Bill Elliott--a class act from way back. And evidently the two guys are similar sized, so not too much will have to done to the car/seat, according to the Little Debbie crew chief Fatback McSwain.

Excited, wanting to read any reports already online, I Googled "Boris Said" and found a 35-minute old report from Scene Daily dot com. Here's the link in case you want to read it: http://www.scenedaily.com/stories/2007/08/06/scene_daily271.html.

In a little while, Said will qualify for today's NASCAR Busch race, but he did get in some practice in the No. 21.

I guess I'm turning into a bit of a Said Head. For those of you who can't fathom that last comment, that great head of curly hair has prompted his fans to show up at races wearing curly wigs and to be known as Said Heads.


Boris Said, photo from The Garage Blog dot com

Here's a link to cartoon that puts it all in perspective--http://www.borissaid.net/06%20cartoon.jpg.

Time has passed and Busch qualifying is now running on ESPN2. Bye for now.

UPDATE No. 1 Boris qualified 9th for the Busch race. In front of him are several full-time NASCAR Nextel drivers, which is another bone I'd like to pick with NASCAR, letting the big dogs run in races that I feel ought to be for the up-and-coming drivers.

UPDATE No. 2 Boris finished 9th overall, gaining 11 spots in the Busch standings.

NASCAR Qualifying Rained Out in Watkins Glen ... drat!

Naturally, the weather's gonna be the weather. Anyone's who's lived like I I have as an adult in Mississippi, Kansas, Texas and Oregon understands that. Plus as a kid, over a period of seven and a half years, my daddy's work took us to right at half the United States. The longest we lived anywhere was three months, the shortest was one night. I know one must put up with the weather and what it causes.

But.

As a life-long racing fan, rain frustrates me. I cannot even imagine how these teams who keep getting their dreams dashed feel in the pits of their stomachs. Drivers like Boris Said . Here's what I found about Said in an article at USAToday dot com:

"But another road-course ace won't be racing. Boris Said, who placed third at the Glen in 2005, will miss a Cup race because of weather for the second time this season. His Ford was on the pole last month at Daytona International Speedway before a thunderstorm washed out qualifying.

Said believes NASCAR should have postponed qualifying until Saturday morning both times.

"All the weather tomorrow is sunshine, sunshine, sunshine," he said. "NASCAR should roll with the punches and make a change. They've done it in the past."

The rainout "puts our team out of business," he said. Said is running a part-time schedule of road courses and restrictor-plate tracks. He said the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway likely will be the last for the No. 60 Ford.

"I guess they care about the top 35 teams," Said said. "The small guys, we're trying to make it, but it's twice as hard. We're probably pretty much done now. It's a bitter pill to swallow."

Elliott Sadler, a guy who wasn't civil at all to my friend Kay when we were in the Talladega garage in April, 2006, said on "Trackside" on Speed today that NASCAR ought to at least let the teams out of the top 35 have a chance to run against each other on Saturday, for the final eight starting spots. That sounds fair, doesn't it? Instead, NASCAR went with the 43 teams with the most owner points. Six drivers were eliminated because they have fewer qualifying attempts and/or lower standing in owner points than those who made the race.

Come on, NASCAR. Get real. You began as America's sport, the everyman of competition. Take the time and be responsible. Work this out so that something no one can control won't shaft the same teams again and again. Three times this season. Three out of the last four years at Watkins Glen.

I don't like this one bit. Do you?