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January 10, 2006
Monster Jam, Again
This past Saturday Samson and I went to Monster Jam at Nationwide Arena. 
I'm certain you're familiar with Monster Jam or some other event featuring Monster Trucks. You must've seen a commercial for an event something like this at some point in your life. The commercials always show huge trucks roaring around in a gigantic outdoor arena -- throwing sod, crushing cars and racing each other. Which is exactly what we got at Nationwide Arena -- except on a much smaller scale.
Nationwide Arena is where the Columbus Blue Jackets play hockey and the arena area is just a little bigger than what you would need to play hockey in. So, it's about the size of the room you are currently in. Well, the room you are currently in is certainly closer to the size of Nationwide Arena than Nationwide Arena is to, say, a football stadium. 
That is, it's sort of small for Monster Trucks.
Unless, of course, that's all you've ever seen. Or you are seven.
Monster Trucks in a small arena is all Samson has ever seen -- and he's seven. So the event was good all the way around for him (and me, too).
When I saw the commercial for Monster Jam I knew we'd be going. After all, Samson, the Monster Truck, was going to be racing, and Samson, the child, really really really wanted to see him. Which is understandable -- if there was a Monster Truck named Delmer I'd want to see it and I'd buy shirts and other trinkets with Delmer the Monster Truck on it. I'd drink the same beer the driver drank. Unless it was Hamms.
The trucks at Monster Jam included: Safe Auto, Rap Attack, Full Boar, Samson and Grave Digger. There was another truck, but I can't recall the name. I'm pretty sure is wasn't Delmer the Monster Truck.
The event started off with some drag racing. Two trucks would line up, floor it, roll over some cars, and get on the brakes hard.
There was also mini-quad racing.
And some dirt bike trick guys. The dirt bike event may have been as much fun for Sam as anything else, and Nationwide is a good size for dirt bike jumping and trick doing. 
There some more drag racing. Some RC car racing. Some more mini-quads. And then Monster Truck Freestyle.
The first three trucks in Freestyle were Rap Attack, Full Boar, and what, for all I know, may have been Delmer the Monster Truck (that is, it's the truck I've blocked from my memory). All three trucks had to be towed from the arena with a big tractor. I don't know what happened to the first guy -- it looked like he was hung up on the cars he'd crushed -- but the second two trucks broke whatever it is that keeps the back tires angled the same way at the same time. When the second truck in the lineup jumped over the cars you could see the passenger-side rear tire sort of flopping around independent of any sort of control -- sort of a freestyle freestyle flopping; I don't think it was a planned part of the show.
Samson was the first truck to make it through Freestyle unbroken. 
Grave Digger won freestyle.
I don't know what kind of freestyle scoring criteria were used. Nationwide is so small there isn't any room for wild spins or anything, so everybody would jump the cars ... turn around ... jump the cars ... turn around ... jump the cars ... maybe break ... turn around ... jump the cars. You know the trucks are capable of so much more.
It was still a lot of fun.
When we left Samson, the child, wanted to stop and look at the booths to see what was being sold. We looked for about five or six minutes and then he announced that we could leave. On the way home I thanked him for not making me buy him a shirt.
He looked over at me and, very sincerely, said, "You're welcome."
Posted by delmer at January 10, 2006 4:52 PM
Comments
Delmer The Monster Truck just doesn't sound as intimidating as Samson The Monster Truck.
Posted by: The Phoenix at January 10, 2006 9:36 PM