Labor Day Laziness

Well, since I better get this first blog post out of the way, allow Myself to introduce... Myself.

I'm Tony Solorzano, Sports Editor for the Cal State LA University Times and its new online portal, Cool State LA.com, coming soon to an internets near you. This blog is going to be a little bit snarky, a little informative and if I play it just right, the gateway to bigger and better things, like a hard card (more on that later.) For now, I'm wrapped up in work on the next issue of the paper, but this is going to be an interesting weekend for me not because of what it is, but because of where I won't be.

For the last six years I've been covering an assortment of motorsports events at California Speedway, from NASCAR to the AMA Superbikes and almost every type of motor sport you can imagine. However, this year, because of the sheer number of requests for media access to this weekend's NASCAR race, there was no room to accomodate me there. It happens, I'm not upset, and I had a very nice conversation with my good friend who handles the track credentials, who explained to me that they had to turn down a number of regulars in order to accomodate the press corps following the series this year.

(A little bit of My photography work at the Speedway last year, Kyle Busch's Pit sign)

Of course, to hear my colleague Jeff Gluck of NASCAR Scene magazine tell it, he'd be surprised if anyone from the Local TV outlets here shows up. As part of NASCAR's weekly podcasts, Jeff was the subject of their "Media Profile" series that runs on the podcast. During his conversation, Jeff pointed out that in Southern California, the racing media is made up of a small number of regular writers, myself included, although he forgot to mention me, of coruse, which means when I see him in February, I get to tease him about crossing the track when it's hot, which is also explained on the podcast.

The point is, I'm part of a very select group of individuals who routinely covers motor sports in the area. I am proud to be a part of that group and I thank Jeff for pointing it out. So, this weekend. while Jeff and the rest of the NASCAR Media are sweltering under the triple-digit temperatures at the track, I'll be poolside with my family, celebrating my birthday a couple of days early.

That is of course, once I'm done with the Cross-country race on Saturday morning in Brea and the soccer matches in Riverside in the afternoon... Oh Frack! It's gonna be hot out there...