2muchcoffeeman
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Dammit.
RIP Robin Miller
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2muchcoffeeman
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This hits very, very hard. Robin was a tremendous friend and colleague during my years as a motorsports writer and PR hack. When I first started covering the Indy 500, my seat in the media center was right behind him -- and what an education that was. He was ornery, honest, funny and a motorsports encyclopedia.
During his decades on the beat, he pissed off everyone from AJ Foyt to Tony George (often), which at times didn't do him any favors professionally. He didn't care, and was always proven right when calling someone out. He just couldn't stand to see IndyCar diminished during "The Split," Nascar taking over with contrived racing and Indy 500 drivers putting their lives on the line for a pathetically low purse. To name just a few columns.
He was just about the last of his kind, having seen press boxes empty out all over. When reporters were let go and down on their luck, he'd send a box of Omaha Steaks or help in other ways that he'd never want anyone to know about.
Once Robin invited me to his weekly lunch with old, broken-down racer friends (literally, you don't survive the old eras of sprint/midgets and Indy without scars if not lost appendages). At a greasy spoon on the westside of Indy, they would trade laughs and insults and stories and it was so much fun -- and obvious how beloved he was to these guys.
Robin also covered the ABA-era Pacers and a lot of bad Colts teams, and was always in a high school gym on a Friday night as a fan. He loved sports and loved people and I'm going to miss the hell out of him.
During his decades on the beat, he pissed off everyone from AJ Foyt to Tony George (often), which at times didn't do him any favors professionally. He didn't care, and was always proven right when calling someone out. He just couldn't stand to see IndyCar diminished during "The Split," Nascar taking over with contrived racing and Indy 500 drivers putting their lives on the line for a pathetically low purse. To name just a few columns.
He was just about the last of his kind, having seen press boxes empty out all over. When reporters were let go and down on their luck, he'd send a box of Omaha Steaks or help in other ways that he'd never want anyone to know about.
Once Robin invited me to his weekly lunch with old, broken-down racer friends (literally, you don't survive the old eras of sprint/midgets and Indy without scars if not lost appendages). At a greasy spoon on the westside of Indy, they would trade laughs and insults and stories and it was so much fun -- and obvious how beloved he was to these guys.
Robin also covered the ABA-era Pacers and a lot of bad Colts teams, and was always in a high school gym on a Friday night as a fan. He loved sports and loved people and I'm going to miss the hell out of him.
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Splendid Splinter
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Rough month for IndyCar fans. RIP
2muchcoffeeman
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Racer Magazine put up a post in the overnight that Miller’s Mailbag would be going on hiatus. They appear to have taken it down. Here’s their obit.
Robin Miller 1949 – 2021
2muchcoffeeman
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maumann
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God, someone check on Donald Davidson tonight. Between Uncle Bobby, Bitchin' Bob and Robin, the American open-wheel world hasn't lost this much institutional knowledge since Economaki died. And Donald sounded very frail on this year's radio broadcast.
playthrough hit it perfectly. Robin, the kid who dropped out of Ball State, goofed around in the pits and somehow talked himself into creating a position as a racing writer because nobody actually thought people would read about it outside of the month of May, was the epitome of "must read" for serious open-wheel fans. He had the connections and even more amazing, was willing to push the "hot buttons" to get the inside scoop. And he never lacked an opinion, whether you agreed or not.
Surprisingly, I only crossed paths with him once or twice. He wasn't a taxicab guy, so I never was in Indianapolis at the same time. But I read the Star and IndyCar Magazine religiously.
RIP, Robin. You were unique.
playthrough hit it perfectly. Robin, the kid who dropped out of Ball State, goofed around in the pits and somehow talked himself into creating a position as a racing writer because nobody actually thought people would read about it outside of the month of May, was the epitome of "must read" for serious open-wheel fans. He had the connections and even more amazing, was willing to push the "hot buttons" to get the inside scoop. And he never lacked an opinion, whether you agreed or not.
Surprisingly, I only crossed paths with him once or twice. He wasn't a taxicab guy, so I never was in Indianapolis at the same time. But I read the Star and IndyCar Magazine religiously.
RIP, Robin. You were unique.
maumann
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Other than Donald Davidson and a handful of drivers -- A.J., Mario, Al, J.R. -- perhaps Mike Harris (the retired AP sportswriter one, not Moddy) and Paul Page are the only ones who witnessed the beginning of the winged era first-hand from above the track.
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What we've lost with Robin dying and Donald retiring is breathtaking. Take Robin's "Tough Guys" series on Racer.com and YouTube, where he'd spin yarns about Lloyd Ruby and so many other guys who weren't household names but gave open-wheel racing its character. I can't think of anyone else who will do those kinds of pieces on any significant platform. Drivers from the 1960s may as well be baseball players from the 1890s, when there's no one left to tell their stories.
