Seems Spin Control Isn't Only for Losers

Seems Spin Control Isn’t Only for Losers

By Larry Stewart

May 30, 2005 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Dan Wheldon smoked his tires and put his car in a spin to celebrate winning the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday.

Jaime Camara did the same thing after winning an Infiniti Pro Series race Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

But Camara inadvertently hit the inside wall. And he was on camera.

“I’ve always heard about ‘the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat,’ ” he said. “If the TV people ever do anything with ‘the agony of victory,’ then I guess I have the footage for them.”

Trivia time: Four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears is from what California city?

Name game: Danica Patrick is no relation to ESPN’s Dan Patrick. His real name is Daniel Patrick Pugh.

He decided to go with Dan Patrick at the suggestion of his bosses when he worked at CNN.

Just as well. He avoided catcalls of “Pugh, you stink.”

Phonetically speaking: Olympic Auditorium wrestling timekeeper Jack Smith used to call in results to local newspapers, and he wasn’t too good with pronunciations.

There was a wrestler named Cowboy Hughes whom Smith insisted on calling Cowboy “Hug-us.”

Numbers count: When the German soccer team Hannover 96 held Hertha Berlin to a 0-0 draw last week, it allowed Werder Bremen to clinch a spot in the qualifying rounds of next season’s Champions League.

As a way of saying thanks, Werder Bremen sent 96 bottles of champagne to Hannover 96.

At that rate, Hannover 96 might consider changing its name to Hannover 960.

Get out of here: Reader Joe Kevany says that at the recent Angel-Dodger series at Dodger Stadium, the Angels were not well-received.

He says he heard fans yelling, “Go back to L.A.”

A cyber-addict nerve: Greg Cote of the Miami Herald, on Chicago Cub pitcher Carlos Zambrano, who was told to reduce computer time because of elbow problems: “He leads the National League in spam.”

And from Randy Hill of Foxsports.com: “If he’s unable to cut back on his computer habit, Zambrano will be a candidate to reach the DL from the DSL.”

Heady stuff: George Brett, a guest on “Best Damn Sports Show Period,” on the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez seeing a therapist:

“I never saw a therapist. ... But if I was making $25 million in New York, I’d probably need one too.”

Looking back: On this day in 1955, Bill Vukovich Sr., who grew up on a farm outside Fresno, was killed in a four-car crash during the Indianapolis 500.

Bob Sweikert, an Indianapolis native, won the race. The headline in the Indianapolis Star the next day read: “Sweikert Wins; Vuky Killed.”

Trivia answer: Bakersfield.

And finally: According to the website dumblaws.com, in the city of Burlingame, Calif., it is illegal to spit, except on a baseball diamond.

Larry Stewart can be reached at [email protected].