(Hello everyone! Gene here. It is my duty, priviledge, and honor to be a guest-blogger all this week on The Fourth Corner. Rob and his lovely wife are enjoying some R&R down in Puerto Vallarta, so you're stuck with the drivel that I write for the next few days. )
I know it's cliche to compare America and Great Britain, but this busy Memorial Day weekend begs for yet another competition between the two world superpowers of the 19th and 20th centuries. For racing fans, you probably already know what I'm talking about. This weekend saw both the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500 as well as the two-hundred-and-some-th running of the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling.
For those unaware, the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling is a race in which people chase a rolling wheel of cheese 200 yards down a hill in Gloucestershire, England.
Let's do the numbers:
Average top speed of Indy 500 cars: 220mph
Average top speed of cheese wheel: 70mph
Point: America
Navigational skills required in Indy 500: left turns (easy)
Navigational skills required in Cheese Rolling: steep, muddy, uneven hillside (difficult)
Point: Great Britain
Spectators at Indy 500: 400,000
Spectators at Cheese Rolling: "thousands" according to official website
Point: America
Injured competitors at this year's Indy 500: 1
Injured competitors at this year's Cheese Rolling: "dozens"
Point: Great Britain
YouTube videos of 2009 Indy 500: 564
YouTube videos of 2009 Cheese Rolling: 126
Point: America
Prize for winning Indy 500: $3,048,005
Prize for winning Cheese Rolling: 7lb wheel of Double Gloucester
Point: America
Entry fee for Indy 500: $10,000 per car
Entry fee for Cheese Rolling: Free, but $5 for parking
Point: Great Britain
I'll let you judge for yourself who wins in this competition. But regardless of what you decide, don't wait to book that trip to either Indianapolis or Gloucestershire for Memorial Day weekend, 2010!
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