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Get well A J Foyt
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Boy, they don't make cars or drivers like they used to. If you are young and don't remember him in his heyday, I'm sorry. I don't think there will ever be another like him. He may be the last real he-man, red blooded hero of my youth that's still alive. There was no need to market his image as a driver. He forged it. I hope that if A.J. can survive a swarm of Killer Bees at 72, this proves to be just a walk in the park for him (He's already used up 9-lives, dont miss the list at the bottom of this press release):
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I have always been a huge A.J. fan.
I grew up right accross the street from Ascot raceway since 1970. I went to multiple races every week. I remember a big sprint car race that happened every year, I don't remember what the name was, but it was an unwinged USAC race, possibly Silver Crown car. A.J. showed up for this race one year and I was so excited to get to watch him dirt track race. This was at the height of his Indy racing career in the mid 70's. He was a HUGE, larger than life kind of guy. It was a big deal that he showed up for this event. They did an inverted start and he ended up starting in the back. I have never seen anyone pass people like he did. He just railed around the outside and seemed like he NEVER lifted for laps at a time. Then he would dart down and pass a bunch on the inside. My dad and I were just talking about that night 2 weeks ago and reminnising about watching A.J. do lap after lap without ever touching his left front wheel on the ground, not even on the back straight. He got a few laps of clear track and was doing an outside in and back out line and making the track, a full 1/2 mile oval, into a big circle without ever lifting. He caught the leader, don't remember who it was, and finished second wheel to wheel with the winner after a 50 lap feature. He passed everyone on the track, many twice.
I hope he gets well soon and it sounds like he will.
There used to be a few guys like him that would race whatever someone would hand him the keys to. {figurative keys of course} There was Parnelli Jones, A.J. Foyt, Mario Andretti, Dan Gurney and a few others that would race every weekend, sometimes 2 or times a week and in all different kinds of vehicles. Indy, F1, Stock Car, Baja, Dirt Track, Road Race Prototypes, Can Am...you name it they would race it. There are still a few guys who compete in alot of different race disciplines, but very few with the success of these guys and especially A.J. Foyt. Some guys these days may have success in 2 different series and try in others but with little success. Tony Stewart has won in dirt track, Indy cars, Nascar, so he is close but still not an A.J. Foyt. Jimmie Johnson races 24 at Daytona and has won that and alot of Nascar championships and some Baja stuff, so again close but not quite. Kenny Schraeder was in that type of guy, but with less success. Robbie Gordon races Baja, Nascar, Dakar, and I believe Indy cars at one point, but none with the success of an A.J. or Parnelli.
I have been very blessed to get to watch many of these old time big name racers running sprints and dirt stocks over the years at Ascot. Been some great memories.
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Still on the topic, but on A.J.'s malady, rather than the man himself:
Does anyone know why infections are so common with knee replacements? It seems almost epidemic, it is so bad. And they are often major, sometimes fatal.
'Returned for my 40th Anniversary High School Class Reunion in Paris IL in 2004....happily accommpanied by my wonderful wife, lest anyone take the following the wrong way:
Conversation with mutual friends got around to the list of deceased members in the In Memoriam section of the Class of '64 booklet that had been handed out. One was a girl on which I had an enormous crush in the 4th-5th-6th grade in Paris. She was among those deceased because she had contracted a fatal infection during routine knee replacement a couple years previously...probably around age 55!
This seems so common.
Any medical people here know why knee replacement surgery seems so prone to infection, as has apparently been experienced by A. J. Foyt? BP
P.S: Best wishes for A.J.s' full recovery, too. A true icon at The Indianapolis Motor Speedway.We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.
G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.
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Bob
I can't give you chapter and verse about infections, but my wife, a RN for almost 40 years, and a long-time OR nurse always says..."Don't have an operation unless it's vital".
There is too great a chance for infection in any hospital setting.63 Avanti R1 2788
1914 Stutz Bearcat
(George Barris replica)
Washington State
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My wife is a post surgical RN nurse on a Med-Surg wing of our local hospital. She says it it almost always MRSA and even a simple Staff infection. We all have staff growing on our skin and in our noses but when the open us up that is where the problem starts. The infection can set in to deep bone type surguries like knees and hips very easily and if MRSA sets in it can easily be fatal.
Many hospitals are starting a pre-surgical wash for days on end before any scheduled surgery. This is supposed to temporarily kill these viruses. The problem is bigger than any one of us want to consider. I am not saying not to get a needed surgery, I have recently had a cervical neck fusion myself, but it is definately a risk vs. reward issue that should seriously be considered.
My dad had both of his knees replaced in the last 3 years and the first one went great. He was up and walking that day and had a spring in his step like I had not seen in years. He was very excited about getting #2 done....that one went not as well. He immediately knew something was not right. He got worse and worse over the next year until he looked yellow and was sick as a dog. He ended up in the hospital for a week, and they had to remove the knee and infill it with a plug spacer that also leached antibiotics. He was on a pic line, a special I.V. directly into his chest, that was to deliver a 4 times a day bag of I.V. antibiotics for 2 or 3 weeks just to fix the infection.
He has since been cleared of infection and the replaced that knee with a 3rd one. That one has also not taken and is progressively feeling more and more like the 2nd one that was bad. We fear the infection weakened the bones and so the new knee coming loose from the tibia and wiggling internally causing great pain. They wont do a 4th knee {3rd on one side} now because they fear it is too many and there is a bad risk. Knees are a serious thing. So are hips.
Infections can cause death easily. We almost lost a good friend a few years ago from a small infection in a tooth that he did not take care of and it went into his heart and he almost died at 49 years old.
I am not a fan of antibiotics, but you have to treat an infection some how.
I think mankind has done this to themselves to some extent. I think we try so hard not to get a flu or a common cold that we use all kinds of hand sanitizers and anti-bacterial soaps, we take antibiotics for things that are not even bacterial, like a cold which is viral, "just in case" and I think we are creating resitant strains of these bacterias and viruses. We are not protecting ourselves, I think we are insulating ourselves, but when a bug penetrates that insulation barrier.....it can be very bad.
Be careful folks, genuinely weigh the costs of ALL surgeries, calculate the risks vs. the reward.
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Last edited by jnormanh; 01-31-2012, 05:29 PM.
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Another AJ story -
I don't have a link, and don't remember the exact year, but I do remember what happened:
It was the Sebring 12 hour race. Bob Akin (a talented amateur with lots of money) had entered a Porsche 962 to be driven by him and a fine distance driver named Bob Wollek.
Wollek started the car in a pouring rainstorm, and took the early lead. Akin wisely decided he wasn't up to running that fast in the rain, so he telephoned AJ at his motel, asking whether AJ would drive in his place. Foyt said okay, although he had never been in the car.
About two or three hours in, Wollek stopped for fuel and driver change.
When he got out of the car, he did a double-take at seeing AJ standing there, ready to take over.
"Hey, Bob, how many gears does this thing have, four or five?"
Wollek could only sputter.
"Aw, Hell, I'll find out myself", said AJ, climbed in and took off.
The interviewer, I think it was Chris Ekonomacki, started his interview with Wollek.
By then Wollek had regained his voice, and he was livid:
"What the Hell is Akin thinking....that old fart....never been in the car....ruin our chances....too slow...probably wreck it...ought to be in a nursing home....blah....blah..."
Ekonomacki tapped him on the shoulder. "Uh, Bob, Aj just set fastest lap"
Wollek kept right on "damned old fool....ought to retire....in over his head....gonna' wreck my car..."
Ekonomacki tapped his shoulder again. "Uh, Bob, AJ just set fastest lap again."
Wollek finally walked away in disgust.
They won the race by four laps in spite of the fact that a wheel fell off while Foyt was leading.
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AJ Foyt if my history is correct might be the only man in the same year to win the Indy 500 and the 24 hour race of Lemons in France. This feat was done in 1967 he won the 24 hours of Lemons race co-driving with Dan Gurney. To me AJ is the greatest driver there ever has been in this modern era.
John S.Last edited by Packard53; 01-31-2012, 07:39 PM.
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Originally posted by comatus View PostI'm having a bad day, guys. Humor me here.
"Staph."
"In Memoriam."
"LeMans."
Thank you.
We've got to quit saying, "How stupid can you be?" Too many people are taking it as a challenge.
G. K. Chesterton: This triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.
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