The mighty Cincinnati Reds begin the weekend in Philadelphia with day games on Saturday (4:05pm) and Sunday (1:35pm) before jetting across international boundaries to play in Toronto on Monday evening (7:07pm).
Turner Classic Movies broadcasts wall-to-wall war movies with an emphasis this Saturday on some of the lesser known Korean War films. I cannot claim to have seen many of these myself yet I have seen and can recommend Men in War (1957; Saturday at 2:30pm). Sunday and Monday features some of the better known WW2 films. Set your DVR for Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (1944; Sunday 1:45am) and pop the popcorn for Monday's broadcast of The Dirty Dozen (1967; 5:15pm), a classic that never gets old despite repeated viewings. Wrap up your holiday war movie binge-watching with two submarine-centric films; Cary Grant in Destination Tokyo (1943; 8:00pm) and John Wayne in Operation Pacific (1951; 10:30pm).
There are not any big horse races this weekend. Heads up; next Saturday, June 3, is the 238th running.... you read that correctly.... the two hundred thirty eighth running of the Epsom Derby. One week after that is the Belmont Stakes. Look for the third different horse to win one of the jewels of the 2017 Triple Crown.
Racing, however, is the subject matter which inspired this post.
Sunday's 101st Indianapolis 500 bills itself as "the greatest spectacle in racing." This is open to considerable debate even when setting aside, for today's discussion, The Sport of Kings.
It is beyond question that open-wheel racing is vastly superior to all other forms of automobile racing, both historically and today. That this fact is so universally understood, no further proffer of evidence is necessary. That I don't have time to make my case is closer to the truth. Remember, you didn't pay for this and you came here of your own volition.
Sunday morning's 4-wheel race day begins not in Indiana but rather on the scenic streets of Monaco when the Formula 1 series descends upon that Mediterranean principality.
F1 cars are the fastest road course racing cars in the known universe. The Monaco Grand Prix, first held in 1929, may not today offer the highest speeds on the Formula 1 circuit (it certainly does not) nor provide the attraction of frequent opportunities for drivers to execute thrilling passes yet the Monaco circuit - above all others - demands from drivers the highest degree of technical skill in order to master. This is what makes the race so thrilling.
Thrilling, but.... more.
Personally, I have always enjoyed most the perspective of F1 racing provided by the cars' onboard cameras. Charging around the Monaco circuit is thrilling and, watching from the comfort of my sofa, terrifying. For proof, watch, and then watch again, the video of Formula 1 legend Ayrton Senna blasting around the Monaco circuit from the 1990 Grand Prix. Observe on your repeated viewings the immediate proximity of buildings, barriers, guardrails along the narrow streets of Monaco. Become enthralled by the engine's screaming wail. Watch as Senna repeatedly removes his right hand from the steering wheel in order to shift gears while, sometimes, simultaneously negotiating curves and turns. These are some of the more evident forms of technical demands the Monaco circuit places upon drivers.
Due to advances in technology developed by Formula 1 cars, today's F1 drivers enjoy the luxury of keeping both hands on the wheel while shifting and activating a clutch pedal with the foot is a relic of the past. Ergo, the F1 drivers of yore were superior. Still, as is evidence by this video from last year's edition of the Monaco Grand Prix, the racing is just as thrilling and terrifying.
After growing up in the 1970s with the occasional F1 broadcast on ABC's Wide World of Sports, American sports broadcasting and journalism dropped the Formula 1 ball and by the 21st century my own interest in F1 subsided. I had my F1 brothers-in-arms Claudio and Kuertz to buoy my limited access with their crumbs of information and their sparks of interest. Then, while recuperating a few years ago from one misfortunate malady or another, I happened to catch on cable television a comprehensive F1 documentary titled, simply, 1. The documentary provides detailed information concerning the history of the sport, the drivers and the cars. The overriding theme of the documentary is on the myriad improvements in driver safety. It wasn't long after that I'd mentioned this to Kuertz when he recommended the Ayrton Senna documentary, Senna. I watched it shortly thereafter and found it gripping. And devastating. It's worth your time to watch.
Speaking yet still of Ayrton Senna, the 1992 edition of the Monaco Grand Prix - a race won by Senna - was voted the best-ever running of that race.
On a lighter note, in researching subjects to include in this post I found two old skool documentaries about the Monaco Grand Prix that will demand a greater commitment of your time. I find them to be gems of storytelling from bygone eras. The style and the sense of the films seem outmoded but sweet. One is from 1957, the other from 1969. Well, the doc from '57 is sweet. The '69 version has more of a Rat Pack swinging '60s flair.
As an aside, shouldn't all British F1 drivers sport mustaches?
In the event you delude yourself into thinking that you could operate one of these machines, observe.
You can catch the Monaco Grand Prix Sunday morning on the NBC mothership, beginning at 8am. Set your DVR if you plan on sleeping in on Sunday morning.
Roll the credits!
