One Fun Thing: Monster Jam

(JVL note:  Josh-vs-Lymphoma has been relatively light on pictures lately.  Well, this post should more than make up for that.  In fact, it has entirely too many pictures.  I couldn't stop, though.  All pics are small here, but upon clicking, should open up bigger.  So, enjoy.)


I've never really been a big car guy.  Possibly because I am a big guy.  I've liked trucks and jeeps and semis and heavy duty equipment since I was a kid.  I'd be much less interested in a Shelby Mustang (maybe even the 1960s models) than I would a Ford F650.  Despite this, I've never had a chance to see the monster truck show.  Today was "One Fun Thing" that I've been looking forward to for weeks.   Sarah and I got MonsterJam tickets a few weeks back, and we got free "Party in the Pit" passes from a local Ford dealer as well.


Sarah got two pictures of me in front of a pair of trucks, the first being Bounty Hunter, the next being Grave Digger.  

I am 6'5" or so, and I think these pictures give a decent approximation of how big the trucks and their tires are.  Prior to going to the show, my dad and I had talked about how big the equipment was in terms of running gear.   The next two pictures are the rear end of Bounty Hunter and the front end of Monster Mutt.

These axles put my own to absolute shame, and I drive a one ton diesel truck.  This close of up Grave Digger also helps approximate size and gives a decent shot at suspension parts.

Here's another shot of Bounty Hunter.

This is a "from above" shot of the "Party in the Pits."  

By this point, the "party" had cleared out tremendously.  We should have stayed towards the end, when the shot was taken.  All in all though, for the grand price of free, the "pit passes" were worth the trip to the Ford dealer.  

MonsterJam started off with a "Sky Wheelie" contest.  I already mentioned three trucks.  The first was Monster Mutt.  It was followed by "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."  I did not really care for TMNJ.

Scarlet Bandit was the only female driver of the six trucks.  The driver of Scarlet Bandit is married to the driver of the Bounty Hunter.  (You may have noticed they appear to be basically identical trucks other than color.  They are both Ford Expeditions.  Sort of.)  She put on a good show.

Here is Bounty Hunter doing a "sky wheelie."

The last of the six trucks there was El Toro Loco.  I'd say El Toro Loco put on the best show overall.  Plus, I like pickup truck based Monster Trucks.  El Toro Loco was the only thing close to that today.

The fan favorite, however, was Grave Digger.  No surprise, Grave Digger has been around forever.  Monster Jam definitely treated Grave Digger as the favorite as well, this truck got top billing and special music, etc.

After the wheelies, it was time for racing.  Being completely objective, the race is sort of a joke.  Winner has to cross the white line at the end of the crushed cars first.  Doesn't matter if you are in the air or what, just cross the line first.  Since this was a basketball/hockey arena, they ran "short track."  Just a drag race, basically.  In bigger venues they may have a few laps as space allows.  I know this because I've woken up early on Saturday morning and caught this on TV while still tired.  As it turns out, the finals for this race were the husband and wife team of Bounty Hunter and Scarlet Bandit.  Scarlet Bandit won, but it was close.  As it turns out, you have to win a certain number of races to go to the big championship event in Las Vegas.  Bounty Hunter was already qualified for Vegas, so I expected a Scarlet Bandit win, although I did not expect it to be as close as it was.  Here is a shot of that finish, and of Scarlet Bandit after winning.

After the racing, they had "Freestyle Motocross."  I'm not into motorcycles, but these guys are pretty good.  Not as interesting as the trucks, but you cannot help but watch in anticipation of major disaster, which never did strike.

Interesting (to me) feature:  Grave Digger actually has working doors!  In the pre-show highlights they showed on the jumbotron, Grave Digger is a truck that is clearly not averse to ripping its "skin" off during events.  Wouldn't have expected an actual working door.

OK, once the racing and motocycles and ATV races were over, it was time for "Freestyle."  Admittedly, the monster truck show is about as mindless entertainment as it gets.  Still, this is where you can finally appreciate them for the engineering marvels that they are.  While I did have a moment realizing just how much this reminded me of "Monday Night Rehabilitation" from the movie, Idiocracy, I honestly didn't care.  The fact is, watching these things jump is extremely satisfying.  El Toro Loco almost rolled a few times, too.   The landing is unbelievably soft, although I suspect it doesn't feel quite as soft in the cab.

As you can clearly see, they get a decent amount of air under their tires.  El Toro Loco and Bounty Hunter more than the rest.

In conclusion, MonsterJam is definitely "One Fun Thing."  I just did not get tired of watching these things.  Honestly, I would probably go again.  Would have been neat to see a rollover, though.

So, tomorrow is chemo, but today was a fun day.