Part Twelve...
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SOMEWHERE IN OHIO—The sky was dumping rain, as it had for the past two weeks of my trip; the water building up on the interstate, the road was becoming increasingly slick. I was refreshed from my stop in South Bend, IN and well aware of the adverse road conditions in Ohio. I was taking a detour to New York City to see the US Open at Bethpage Black, a short ten hour drive from South Bend. While driving east of Sandusky, OH, home of Tommy Boy, I totaled my Lexus…
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A day earlier, I decided to spend the night in South Bend, which was peaceful but not without the usual problems I seem to encounter.
About fifteen miles west of the University of Notre Dame, I spotted Midwestern clouds stacking in the horizon, a sure sign an enormous tornado would soon demolish my hotel. My hotel, by the way, was becoming a game since the past three have been monumental dives. I never know what to expect…but if doesn’t have pimps, burned-out cars and hobos loitering around the perimeter, it’s a resort. At any rate, the clouds were stacking, lightening was visible and I was thoroughly convinced I would see my first ever twister.
I arrived at my hotel, a $39.98 bargain from hotels.com. There were no signs of hookers, madams, drug dealers or a crazy woman screaming at the top of her lungs in the dumpster. It was sprinkling as I darted from my car to the lobby, excited to speak with someone about my possible tornado discovery. I was winded as I opened the door and proudly proclaimed to have possibly spotted a tornado in the infancy stage, which didn’t go over well with the clerk and some guy in the lobby.
Clerk: “Good afternoon. Do you have a reservation, sir?”
Me: “Yes, um, hear anything about the possibility of tornado in this area?!”
Guy in Lobby: “What?! Are you serious?!”
Me: “Not sure!”
Clerk: “They issued a tornado warning for St. Joseph County awhile ago!”
Guy in Lobby: “DID YOU SEE ONE?!”
Me: “No, not exactly. Actually, I’ve never seen one in person but I know how they form. I’ve seen it on the Discovery Channel.”
Guy in Lobby: “(Expletive)”
Me: “Ditto”
Clerk: “Just because they issued a warning doesn’t mean there’s a tornado present. Did you see a funnel?!”
Me: “Nope, not even close…saw some clouds stacking, and amazing lightening strikes.”
Clerk: “That’s not a tornado!”
Guy in Lobby: “Thank God
Me: “Not yet, but that’s how they start.”
Clerk: “No it’s not.”
Me: “Yes it is.”
Clerk: “No it’s not.”
Me: “Yes it is…Listen, it’s like 75 degrees out, the sky is clear in the area where I saw stacks of black clouds and lightening. That’s how they start.”
Clerk: “That doesn’t mean it’s going to be a tornado!!!”
Me: “We’ll see.”
Guy in Lobby: “(Expletive)”
Me: “I agree”
Clerk: “Do you have a reservation?”
Me: “Yep…”
The clerk didn’t appreciate my concern for a potential disaster, and treated me with condescension. I understand tornados are common in the Midwest and cause millions of dollars of damage and, unfortunately, death. I wasn’t trivializing the devastation; I sincerely thought I spotted what eventually could become a full-blown twister.
Despite my good intentions, the clerk and I would not see eye-to-eye for the rest of my stay, but I’m used to that now. Later, I informed the clerk I had to see a ballgame at 7:00 p.m. and asked if we were still on Central Standard Time, as I was looking at my watch. His response: “You bet!”
With a few hours to spare before the Silver Hawks game, I decided to visit the College Football Hall of Fame. The Hall, established in 1951, is an impressive facility honoring the best of college football. It was late in the day so I only had time to search for former players and coaches from Arizona State University and the University of Michigan. Predictably, Michigan dominated ASU but the Sun Devils had a handful of player and moments enshrined at the Hall. For example, Pat Tillman, former Sun Devil standout and Army Ranger, was prominently honored. And there were photographs and a story about the 1996 19-0 shutout over #1 Nebraska in Tempe, which stopped the ‘Huskers 26 game win streak and helped prevent them from a third consecutive national championship.
I was actually looking forward to seeing the South Bend Silver Hawks, former team of CY Young winner Brandon Webb and Diamondbacks teammate Justin Upton. Minor league baseball is great, especially single-A and double-A. These are the only games you will ever attend where you can occasionally find 25 cent hot dog or 25 cent beer night. Not tonight, though. This night was Cow Bell Night, a promotion for the first 1,500 fans, and it was also Friday Fireworks. I’d rather scarf down four dogs for a buck but that was the day before, so a cow bell and explosives would have to do.
With my tremendous luck, the rain started to fall as I pulled into the parking lot at Coveleski Stadium, ten minutes prior to the first pitch. With camera in hand, I strolled up to the counter to purchase a $5.00 ticket but the lady said the gates were already open and I could go in. It didn’t occur to me what this meant until I walked in the park and realized the game started an hour earlier. South Bend is EST…not CST as the clerk suggested. It didn’t matter, though, because within less than one minute of being in the park, lightening appeared and the game was postponed. I didn’t stick around to wait the storm out, I had a ten hour drive the next day and I needed some rest.
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As I carefully navigated the I-80 in heavy rain, I asked myself why I was breaking the link in my trip for the US Open. The only answer I could conjure up was I clearly love golf that much…but all I really wanted to do was give Billy Mayfair, a local Phoenix boy, a “go Devils and go Papago!” shout out (future story).
My body and mind were well rested and I was giving the road my full concentration when I hit a puddle and lost traction for a second. Being the superior driver I am, I quickly recovered, smiled and complimented myself on great skills. Just then I lost traction again but was never able to recover. My car slid sideways, perpendicular to the road, for a few seconds, and then I turned another 90 degrees and was actually going backwards …at 60 mph. I recall saying, “This isn’t going to end well,” as the traffic behind me (now in front of me) kept pace. At this point, there really wasn’t much I could do. With no skid to turn into, and incapable of braking, I sat back and thought about the huge piece of pizza I had in Chicago a few days ago.
At 8:52 a.m., my car plowed head first into the concrete wall and bounced back in the left lane. A truck was fast approaching and I thought things were about to get ugly, but they didn’t. The semi, and all oncoming traffic, sped around me like they were on the Ozark Autobahn, and no one had the good nature to stop. Somehow my car restarted and I drove over my bumper and the other debris and back into the concrete wall. The car then died for good.
More amazing than not getting creamed by big rig or rolling in the five foot embankment on the right side of the interstate, I was in a rental car heading east for New York in less than two hours, 1:46 minutes to be exact. The State Trooper was there within one minute, the tow truck within three and now I have a functioning CD player.
NEXT STOP: US Open…and Billy Mayfair.
Links:
Photos: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=5926&id=1684643878&op=6
College Football Hall of Fame: http://www.collegefootball.org/
South Bend Silver Hawks: http://southbend.silverhawks.milb.com/index.jsp?sid=t550
Lexus: http://www.lexus.com/
University of Notre Dame: http://www.nd.edu/
University of Michigan: http://www.umich.edu/
Arizona State University: http://www.asu.edu/
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