| Cleaning Up the World, One Blog at a Time | | Date Created: Oct 24, 2007, 12:23 PM |
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Junior meets "FRED CLAUS" and a series of random notes from the "I'll use that on the blog someday" file...
"Are you Jade Gurss?," the first of two buzz-cut, tall and muscled gentleman asked as I sat back after a fine Mexican dinner at one of Ft. Worth's finest eateries. (Thanks to Lisa at Ben E. Keith - our fine Bud folks in that area... more on her later.)
"Yes."
"We're with the Secret Service," he said calmly as he showed his badge and ID. (Little did I know at the time, Darth Vader Dick Cheney was appearing in Dallas the following day) "Can you come with us and answer a few questions?"
I suspected a joke of some sort - so I laughingly said "sure" and stood up to walk with the two so-called "agents."
"We just have a few questions for you. You did fly into Dallas-Ft. Worth this afternoon on USAirways?"
"Uh.. heh heh heh... yeah..."
"Flight 1196?"
"Yes..." I stammered, still convinced it's a joke but wondering how in the hell these two guys knew my flight number.
"Mr. Gurss, how many bags did you check today?"
"One."
"A red bag with black trim?"
"Yes."
"Are you SURE that was the only thing you checked?" asked the second one as they both joined in the act.
I was still skeptical, but starting to think "wow - these guys know too damn many real details!" It began to creep into my subconscious that my less-than-supportive blogs of the incompetent Dubya administration had perhaps come back to bite me in these days of secret surveillance and illegal wire-tapping. I was, after all, in Texas.
"Mr. Gurss, we've been following you for several hours, and we need to know where your luggage is located right now."
"At my hotel!"
"Well, you'll need to come with us. We need to check that bag..."
It was then they led me around the corner to a table of diners howling with laughter. I had been punked - big time - by fellow publicist, Jessica Rohlik, the big-eyed media rep for Ricky Rudd and the Snickers bunch. Seems she had been dining with her buddies - real Secret Service agents - when I haplessly and unknowingly walked past to my table. Jessica had been on my flight, and thus provided all of the key details to her weight-liftin' buddies. Phew. hahahahaha Nice one at my expense, damn it.
I saw Jessica on pit lane Friday and gave her a faux stink-eye look. She didn't see me at first and Mr. Rudd seemed to think I was giving him a dirty look for no apparent reason, until she turned around and pointed at me - "THAT'S the guy we got!" and she and Ricky laughed loudly as they continued walking to the 88 car...
Then, as I wandered aimlessly to check-in for Monday's flight home to Charlotte, who should be waiting at my gate in their suits? Yup... same guys... but this time no questions - only a lot of laughs ad hand shakes all around.
Jessica, a polite warning: still two races to go. Just when you least expect it. Somehow... someway... hah hah hah hah |
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| Is everything bigger in Texas?: Perhaps, but the only thing wrong with that claim is they will remind you of it every 15-freakin'-minutes! But Lisa Ferrand (aforementoned and pictured above) insisted that no other race market was going to out-do her in the "Dale Jr. farewell" category. So, instead of adding just one football helmet to his new collection, she added NINE, including every Texas Div. 1 school, plus some Texas Tech basketball gear signed by an obscure coach named Bobby Knight. SUPERB job Lisa, but which Big 12 school is undefeated and ranked in the top-five in both football AND basketball?! Oh yes... KANSAS. Rock Chalk Jayhwak. |
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| Wacky Fans: The half Elvis/half Dale Jr./ ALL "E" guy was 'entertaining' the crowd (well, mainly entertaining himself) before the race behind the Bud pit area. We joke the fans will take anything that's not nailed or bolted down - or at least mark it up with a Sharpie by leaving their phone number for Dale Jr. But, at the recent Talladega race, it reached a new level of bizarre when the spare Budweiser Car of Tomorrow nose - which is in place in case of a crash or damage to the car during the race - was vandalized immediately before the race as fans grabbed all of the hood pins and even un-screwed several of the braces that connect the bumper to the lower plate of the nose. So, scratch off "anything that's bolted down" on the list of things they'll take. |
If you're looking for an underdog to cheer for in this weekend's Busch Series event at Phoenix, I'll recommend Jennifer Jo Cobb.
The final 10 laps of the Texas race were some of the most exciting of the past few years. It shows how much of an unreal talent both Kenseth and Johnson possess, and I'd have to admit I would have paid real money to watch that from the stands. Absolutely brilliant to watch those guys sideways and side-by-side like that. Sometimes it's hard to tell how hard they are wheeling it on the bigger tracks, but that was one helluva show Sunday night.
And finally, have some cake... |
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