Comments on: Drink The Milk!

By: marty

marty — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 19:25:56 +0000

A day that will live in infamy!!! I still loathe Emmo!

By: John McLallen

John McLallen — Fri, 22 May 2009 02:04:56 +0000

George you have written another great article and it has given me pause to drink,..er, think about the history of the Indianapolis 500. Bill Vukovich, it seems, was the last man since 1947 to not have a bottle of cold milk offered to him. Maybe its because since 1947 the winner of the Indianapolis 500 was offered a fabulous drink of water from a silver cup with the words “Water from Wilbur” engraved upon it. Wilbur, of course, was three time 500 winner Wilbur Shaw who was the president of the Indianapolis 500. The next winter, Mr. Shaw died in a plane crash and the silver cup was retired to the IMS Museum. I think that the milk is probably one of the best tasting of all drinks to the winner, but the cup of water offered by Wilbur Shaw was a mighty fine drink as well. Vuky enjoyed it and delighted in the fact that it was Wilbur Shaw who gave it to him.

By: Racemind

Racemind — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:42:35 +0000

Hornish and Dixon I believe saw the milk as a Speedway-blessed miracle, and thus flinging it around was a way to share the glory with their team. Fittipaldi’s milk snub, however, was abhorrent. I’ve read that he regrets the moment, but I wonder just how much it haunts him?

By: TJ

TJ — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:56:28 +0000

Oh, the “Curse of the Milk”. Here is an interesting view point to take, though this year it could be disputed. When Emo snubbed the milk, the curse of the milk began. In 94′ Emo crashes with a handful of laps left. 95′ He misses the show, in 96′ Emo has a career ending crash at Michigan. In 97 he crashes his plane flying over his beloved orange groves.

This brings me to Danica Patrick in 2005. For some unknown reason, besides her PR people telling her to do it, she pours the Milk on the ground during the pre race hype video. I have been told that other drivers refused to do the scene. Well Danica got suckered into it and has since had bad luck at the brickyard. In 2005 she stalls while leading, then later spins into the field on a restart, in 2006 she had a mid pack car all day and could do nothing. The same thing happend in 2007, in 2008 she was involved in a pit lane incident while having a race winning car. All of the while having bad luck scraps at other events.

As for the pouring of the milk on the heads, I believe Helio is the only driver so far that has been able to do it twice.

We will see if the “Curse of the Milk” continues.

By: The Speedgeek

The Speedgeek — Thu, 21 May 2009 19:22:24 +0000

Come on, Hobbson. If milk’s good enough for Ron Burgundy, it ought to be good enough for you.

Great post, George, as most all of your posts have been. Keep up the fantastic work.

By: Deb Osza

Deb Osza — Thu, 21 May 2009 18:24:59 +0000

I will never forget the first day back at the dairy association office after the race and the ‘oj incident.’ My boss and I fielded phone calls (literally non-stop from 8a-5p) from disgruntled race fans and others who needed to vent their deep disappointment, hurt and often anger that Emmo chose not to drink the milk to celebrate his Indianapolis 500 victory. (He did drink the milk but only after he drank the oj.) Many media folks were also calling that day to learn about the genesis of the drink of milk tradition. I had calls from as far away as London, England, Seattle, Miami, and New York.

Now emerging research supports that drinking milk can be an effective way to help the body refuel and recover after exercise. Milk provides calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D, vitamin A, riboflavin, vitamin B12, niacin and potassium — it’s also 90% water, which helps replace fluids and rehydrate the body.

I heard the genesis story from Louis Meyer himself shortly before his death. He told us that his mother made the best buttermilk and that’s what he craved after the race. Mom was right—drink your milk—it’s good for you.

By: Roy Hobbson

Roy Hobbson — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:33:21 +0000

I can’t say I’d drink the milk either. Because really — after 4 hours of intense heat & physical exertion — milk sounds about as appealing as a bucket of wet cement mix.

*ignores chorus of boo’s*

I stand by it.

By: Tom

Tom — Thu, 21 May 2009 15:19:58 +0000

George,

Another awesome post. Congrats on getting the P-dog press. Get ready for a flood of new traffic. Now I can brag to everyone, yeah, I was reading Oilpressure back in the day when he only had 2 comments per post!

Best Regards,
Turbine68

By: jimK

jimK — Thu, 21 May 2009 12:30:12 +0000

Damm straight! Drink the milk!

By: pressdog

pressdog — Thu, 21 May 2009 11:11:46 +0000

I completely recall the Fittipaldi OJ thing. I was a big fan of his and glad he won that race, but then he did that. Although I didn’t hate him after that, I was never as big of a fan of his and that’s the only thing I remember about his win.