24 Heurs du Twitter (Mans)

Now that the "drama" from earlier today is a thing of the past, it's time to get ready for the biggest sporting event in my household -- the 24 Hours of Le Mans. For me, this is my Super Bowl. Ever since I saw the movie "Le Mans" with Steve McQueen as a kid, I've always been fascinated with sports car racing. Over the years, we didn't have anything in the way of television coverage here in the States, but once the former Speed channel broadcasted over half of the race live several years ago I was hooked.

Do I have any strange rituals for the race? My participation in it as a fan has always been, "I'll stay up as long as Corvette Racing has a chance to win." In most cases, that meant waking up just before 6am on Saturday morning to catch the start of the race and then doing whatever it took to stay awake the full twenty-four hours! On some occasions, I've been rewarded with the sight of the men dressed in yellow and black celebrating on the top spot on the podium on Sunday morning. Lately, this also includes Dempsey Racing since "McDreamy" now participates in the event.

One of my habits during the race is to be active on Twitter. I not only follow the Corvette Racing account and several of the drivers, but it's the best place to get information during the race before it appears on the newswires. In some cases, it's great when you want confirmation of driver changes or what's happening to cars on the track. On the flip side, I also found out through social media and French translation when Allan Simonsen passed away well before they announced it on television. Regardless of what happens, this means my Android devices pictured above will all take turns "live tweeting" my thoughts on the race just like the drivers.

A common misconception is that I'll be glued to the television for the full twenty-four hours. I learned after the first time I did it that, it takes me a few days afterward to recover. I'll likely take a nap in the early afternoon hours so it will be easier for me to stay awake well into the next morning. The middle part of the race is also a great time for me to catch up on reading. While the PC is streaming the race, I'll likely be on one of my Kindle tablets reading a magazine or comic book.

I always have a "sin" meal during the race, and it's almost certain I'll pick up a large order of carne asada nachos from a nearby Mexican restaurant this weekend. Those are heavenly, and perfect for this event. I'll also need to keep plenty of coffee on hand, or perhaps pick up a bottle of Mountain Dew if I want to save a few bucks.

Finally, this also means I'll need to dust off my DVD copy of "Le Mans" and watch it tomorrow or Friday night to remember the good old days of sports car racing.