Drive for five complete

Jimmie Johnson finished second at Homestead to win his fifth consecutive Cup Series title.

Time To Reconnect - A Blog's Return

First off I need to make the following statement:

As it has been said by one of the great wordsmiths of our generation " Don’t call it a comeback I been here for years, Rockin’ my peers, Puttin’ suckers in fear, Makin’ the tears rain down like a monsoon - Listen to the bass go boom" - LL Cool J

The last month or so has been rough and I have just not had the energy to be creative as it relates to this Blog and for that I apologies. To those loyal readers I am sorry for the lack of content and updates and I will try my best to supply you with more sports news and opinions and maybe if all goes well some laughs too going forward. Time got away from me but I am back on the horse and It is time for some brief updates just to ease back into the game as it were.

My boy Jimmie Johnson is only a few points behind leader Denny Hamlin in the NASCAR Sprint Cup going into the last race of the season at Homestead Miami Speedway. This is the closest that the series’ Championship race has been since they changed to the "Chase" format. Also in contention is Kevin Harvick who, despite being more of a dark horse is still in a very good position to sneak up and take the lead an win his first Cup Championship. Jimmie Johnson is going for an unprecedented 5th straight championship and if he was able to pull of that minor miracle he would have to be in the discussion as the greatest driver ever. Sure he is probably one of the tops of all time but to string together a run for "Cinco" would be epic. I love the dynasty and seeing historic moments so I am rooting for that story line to play out but as a realist I think that unfortunately it may now be time for Denny Hamlin’s time to shine.

The World Series was taken again by the team with the best pitching and a surprising timely offence. This time it was the San Francisco Giants. What is the worst most sad aspect of this is that my Braves were 3 Brooks Conrad errors away from ousting the Giants in the Wild Card Round. Who knows what might have happened had they managed that final victory in Bobby Cox’s final playoff appearance...oh what could have been. But it what the "Mitch Kramer" look alike Tim Lincecum that led the team to the victory.

The Lakers are who we thought they were so if you want to crown them, then crown their asses. Kobe is still the man and lets just hope they have enough talent to take the title again. In that same line of thought lets hope the Heat don’t even get a sniff at the finals so we don’t have to deal with LeBron, Dwayne, and their tag along little brother like forward Chris Bosh. They could have saved them self a lot of trouble by just keeping Michael Beasley whom they gave away for nothing and is virtually the same player as Bosh. Granted the Raptors should have got Beasley in the sign and trade but that is just another bad personnel move by people at MLSE.

As for the Ottawa Senators they are in the middle of the pack, right where I figured they'd be. At the beginning of the season I was worried where the offence was going to come from and thus far I still have the same concern. They have a lot of depth on the team but without a true trigger man or two it is hard to get consistent scoring, even from the top players. It has been better of late but there is plenty of room for an upgrade on the first two lines. Only problem with that is that it is so hard to make deals. Getting what they need is far easier said then done. The defence is starting to help out offensively so that is good but you can't presume that that kind of help is going to consistently be there. We are near game 20, a traditional measuring point for a teams success going forward and it is what it is. Guess we will see where the team is at in another 15-20 and re-assess.

AP Athlete Of The Year

It is nice to know that the The Associated Press has the pulse on the sports world when they named Jimmie Johnson as Male Athlete of the Year. They are at least better then the people at SI. SI named Derek Jeter as Sportsman of the year, I guess that is slightly different then Athlete of the Year but not relay that much. After not just winning the NASCAR title not Once, Twice or even Thrice but nailed down an unprecedented quad title to his resume. Finally that was enough to be recognized for what he managed to accomplish. Johnson received 42 votes from editors at U.S. newspapers which are members of the AP. Tennis star Roger Federer (30 votes) and Olympic sprinter Usain Bolt (29) were the only other athletes with totals in the double- digits.

It was too bad that SI couldn't get their lips off the "Ace" of the New York Yankees long enough to appreciate exactly how special Jimmie Johnson has been to not just his team but to the sport as a whole. This is probably even more impressive then winning all 4 Grand Slams in either golf or tennis in one year but for whatever reason does not get the same love in the media. Jimmie had the hurdle of proving that it wasn't just a car winning the award but that he was a worth candidate.

After NASCAR made up so much of the gap between itself and the rest of the main stream sports over the years you would think that it would be above being treated as a second class citizen. In the US it raised itself into the top 4 in the major Pro Sports landscape both in terms of fans but also main stream media and sponsors. I is also nice that New York City mayor’s office designated a "Jimmie Johnson Day" earlier this month, the champion suggested "everyone should have the day off and go have margaritas."

In any event I am glad that Jimmie is finally getting some good pub outside of just his sport and is being rewarded for just how special the run that he is on truly is. Congrats to Johnson and the entire Lowes 48 Team...with a special nod to Crew Chief Chad Knaus who is the architect of this dynasty. Perhaps Chad is overlooked in this whole thing but he is the driving force and the relationship between himself the owner the team and the driver.

2009 Sportsman Of The Year

Derek Jeter has just been named as the SI 2009 Sportsman of the Year. I will submit that he is a worth candidate and is the captain of the team that won the World Series, he is the ultimate team player, his numbers are either holding steady or are better now at an advanced age then when he was in his prime which is remarkable PLUS he is a very likeable figure. All that said I do not think that he should have been given this award. Perhaps it is more of a "lifetime achievement award" but even still I think there were some more deserving people.

Tim Tebow is one that comes to mind. He has the Heisman, he has the National Championships he has the looks the leadership and that is just what he does on the football field. When you add onto all that with his humanitarian work and everything he does and has done off the field it is hard to saw that he is not deserving of the award. The fact that there are questions about how he will be as a pro should have been a factor as well. This may be the only time where he will be in a position to win the award and that is now gone.

My vote would have gone to Jimmie Johnson. He has done what no one has ever done in the history of NASCAR winning 4 consecutive Championships. He is doing something that in any other sport would be deemed as super-human and the coverage is weak and the fact that he was overlooked as SI’s Sportsman of the Year is just another bit of proof that there is a double standard. Maybe it is because he is only part of the equation and technology is a big part of it. I find that a weak explanation or excuse, it is a team sport where he uses what he is given, the car is only a small part of what makes him so great. I am guessing that the voters have held his sport against him. When you are at the top of the mountain and not getting the respect that should come with it must be at least a little frustrating. Guess the millions of dollars and the trophies and the super attractive wife make up for that.

Other people that were in consideration were Manny Pacquiao, Kobe Bryant, Usain Bolt and Roger Federer. All these guys deserve to be in the conversation but just didn’t have enough to take the title.

With all that Tiger Woods did over this past year he very well could have been in this list. Imagine if he had won and was going to be honored at the awards night and on the cover after what has gone down regarding himself his wife and his very secretive car accident. That could have made for a very awkward situation for all involved.

4th Championship In A Row - The Best Ever?

So in breaking with tradition and I suppose superstition I bit the bullet and decided to watch the NASCAR race from Homestead Miami Speedway yesterday. Ordinarily when there is as much at stake and I was as emotionally invested as I was in something happening that I would tend not to watch. Sometimes it comes down to a case of what I don’t know won’t hurt me, especially in an event where something so small as a loose wire could de-rail a performance of historic proportions. I was rewarded with my decision when Jimmie Johnson made his successful run for a unprecedented and record 4th consecutive NASCAR CUP Championship. Other drivers may have more (Earnhardt and Petty with 7), but one has to argue that the quality of the fields are not comparable. The drivers that have come before and paved the pay are legends but even at his young age Jimmie has to be put into the same level as those other drivers if not even above.

Jimmie Johnson made history on Sunday with a 5th place finish at Miami which clinched the title and solidified him and his team as one of the best ever. No one in the sport has won 4 in a row, only 1 other had won 3 and a half dozen at best has ever won back to back. Even with that Jimmie’s should be viewed even more impressive as he is doing it in a time where the quality of the other drivers week in and week out are far better and much more even. In addition to that, the equipment that is being used is all so regulated by NASCAR to be similar and universal to ensure parody in the sport. That is what separates the 48 Lowes Impala SS from others over the course of history. There is such little wiggle room to make adjustments under the rules that gaining any advantage is more difficult then any other time in the sport. Granted the 48 team in the past has been known to bend the rules a bit or toe the line as close as possible but that is what any championship team has to do...sprint to the wall but manage to stop right before you crash into it.

What made this last win even better is that he WON this championship, he didn’t just coast and play it conservative and raced the race not raced to protect a lead in a prevent defence (Similar to how Matt Kenseth did the year he won the championship). With 3 races left in the season an early crash saw him land a mid 30th place finish, cutting greatly into his lead. After that terrible run he managed to re-focus and come back in the last 2 races and win one and got a top 5 in the next. There was no let up just business as usual...get in the car and race to win, just like a true champion. Not only was it the 4th for Johnson but Hendrick Motorsports went 1-2-3 atop of the Cup standings (Johnson - Mark Martin- Jeff Gordon...the first time that has ever happened).

This victory is one of the greatest feats in sports in some time and sadly is not getting the recognition that it deserves. For how monumental a 4-peat is the appreciation in the media just doesn’t seem to be what it should be. This is as great or greater then winning all 4 Golf or Tennis Majors in one year yet the hype just isn’t there. It is too bad that If it was Tiger or Federer that did the equivalent in their respective sports it would be everywhere on TV, in the papers, on the Internet, Twitter’d, Facebooked the whole 9 yards. On TSN.ca it was 3rd behind 2 featured results from the CFL..that is just mind boggling and on Sportsnet it wasn’t even a foot note. Foxsports, ESPN mentioned it and SI at least had it one of the leads. The only redeeming factor is that there is the likelihood that SI will name him Sportsman of the Year. They almost have no choice, If Favre could take it last year there is little or no excuse not to have Jimmie take it this year. That is the one problem with the way NASCAR does it and there is really no way to avoid it. You can’t have a big must see one day production like a Super Bowl or a best of 7 Playoff Series when points are the measuring stick (Denny Hamlin actually won the race yesterday but that is overshadowed by the coronation of a champion...the Must See TV Pizzazz just can’t be done with this format).

Regardless of any of the outside factors Jimmie has done something that has not and may not ever be done again and it was and is a pleasure to be witnessing it while it is going on.
Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson, Chad Knaus and the entire Hendrick 48 Lowes Team

Just Another Classic

Football and Hockey and NASCAR, Oh My!

This weekend marked a great weekend in sports. There was a good lineup on Saturday with a good spread out schedule of hockey beginning with the Sens game at 2pm and ending with the Canucks game at 10pm with the meat in that sandwich being a Calgary victory over the Leafs. Throw into the mix some very good NCAA college football games where USC was made to look like UC Chattanooga versus Stanford where Stanford was accused of running up the score...since when does USC not do the same thing in that situation??? There was alos a Florida game versus The South Carolina Game Cocks where the Chosen One Tim Tebow was playing.

Where things got the most interesting was that Sunday schedule. Granted the quality is going to ramped up when you have the NFL involved but there were some very compelling storylines throughout the day. There were a lot of games that must be classified as surprises. Either teams that should have won but didn’t, teams that had no right being in the game but making things very interesting and a ton of injuries to some very big name key players. Dallas should not have played so poor versus Green Bay, New Orleans should not have had the difficulty with St.Louis.

The two best events of the weekend without a doubt were of the Championship level. If we can get this much excitement come Super Bowl time we as sports fans will be laughing. Jimmie Johnson took his Lowes 48 Chevy Impala to Phoenix International Raceway and took the race, led the most laps and got max points to extend his lead in the race for the Sprint Cup and his 4th Consecutive Championship. With the win Johnson added to his lead over teammate Mark Martin and the 5 Car. What Johnson needs to do now is finish the race in one piece in 25 place or better at Homestead Miami Speedway in the last race of the season. If he is able to do this he will have to be considered one of the greatest of all time.

Now onto the NFL Game of the year. Not since the Patriots were on their run to go undefeated has there been so much hype for any regular season game. Even the Brett Favre-Green Bay game and storyline wasn’t at this level. This was one of the better games you are going to see, either regular or post season. The game from start to finish was entertaining but it had one of the wildest finishes you are going to see.

The Patriots, who were up 6 in the 4th late in the game when Bill Belichick made the decision to go for a 4th and 2 on the thier own 28 or whatever...deep in thier own end anyway. Instead of punting and putting the Colts probably back on thier on 40 yard line or so, they decided to go for it and came up a few inched short when Kevin Faulk bobbled the ball and was knocked back. The Pats have been slammed since then for that decision. "How can you give the ball to Peyton Manning on the 30 and expect to win?? I have to say I can’t say it was the worst thin in the world. If you actually look at the situation it isn’t as bad a call as it would appear at first glance. The Colts were basicly unstoppable in the 4th quarter, the Patriots defence (who played well all game up to that point) were gassed with hands on thier hips and knees and showing signs of being worn out. The Colts had just scored in under a minute and a half and were rolling. Manning was in a rhythem and carving up a tired defence. Many commentators are saying that Belichick’ showed no confidence in his defence and that would be a bad thing in the lockeroom going forward. I don’t see it like that. I think that he showed the ultimate vote of confidence in his franchise and one day Hall of Fame quarterback (with Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Kevin Faulk) to pick up 2 yards. What I saw was if you give the NFL MVP the ball anywhere on the field you are going to lose. Like Herm Edwards said " YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME!" Tom Brady’s arm gives you the best chance to do that, couple that with a tired defence...why not? Maybe they were saying If we can’t get 2 yards then maybe they don’t deserve to win. They can aford the loss in that divison so the risk reward made it woth it.

It is just like in racing do you race for points and go concervative or do you roll the dice and try to win, even if you run the risk of running out of gas on the back stretch. Sometimes you just have to go for the win.

Best And Worst

Best: Mark Martin caught a lucky break when on lap 3 a "less experienced, non cup contender lost control of his car and caused front runner Jimmie Johnson to crash out and wind up well over 100 laps back in 38th place. Johnson was in the garage as his car was pretty much rebuilt over the course of 1 hour plus. Watching the pre race interview with martin it looked like he wasn’t too worried about being as far back as he was. Kinda makes it look a little suspect. I am sure that it was in fact an accident but for Johnson to go down lap 3 and Martin to snag a solid finish and close the gap to well under 100 points. I am sure there are going to be some conspiracy theorist out there, I just hope that everything is on the up and up.

Worst: Cam Ward of the Carolina Hurricanes. He was helped off the ice and sent to hospital where he stayed for observation. Ward was accidentally cut in the leg by Rick Nash’s skate. As he left the ice he left a nice clear trail of blood that was so visible that Hansel and Greddle could have followed it. Ward will be out for several weeks at lest forcing the Canes to sign Many Legacy. Any outside hope that he may have had for a shot at the Olympics is now gone.

Best: The Tampa Bay Bucks shocked the Green Bay Packers an managed the first and probably only win of the year. No worries about matching last years 0-16 season posted by the Detroit Lions. After the high and then eventual low of the loss to Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings it looked like all the wind was out of their sails. It was probably more the lack of good play by the Packers then plays made by the Bucks.

Worst: This worst may actually be best. Woman’s soccer is possibly one of the furthest thing to legit sports and just because it is soccer - let me be very clear on that, not because it is woman, because it is soccer. After the recent video that has made its way around between BYU and New Mexico where Elizabeth Lambert, recently suspended, after grabbing a BYU player’s ponytail and slamming her to the ground. On the heals of that there is another story about 2 girls in a high school game in Rhode Island getting into a post game brawl who threw punches, pulled hair and sparked a brawl in the bleachers. The fact that these girls got up and are actually hitting each other is commendable. Usually in soccer they flop around without ever being hit and cry foul for no reason or because they didn’t get their half time oranges.

Best: Peyton Manning - nothing else, he’s Peyton Manning how is that not a best

Worst: Jaroslav Halak’s agent Allan Walsh. Walsh Twittered "Interesting stat of the night....Price is 10W, 32L in last 42 starts. Hmm.". This is why I find Twitter so stupid. It is one thing to say some funny comments but what the real purpose of it is I just don’t know. The fact that these people still don’t realize that what they put up may actually be read by the public is mind blowing. You have to figure that people are going to have a issue with an agent slamming a clients teammate is not good and neither is using gay or racist slurs. It is funny that the celebrities and sports people who hate all the extra attention and photographers will Twitter and tell all about what is going on...crazyness.

Best And Worst

Best: Jimmie Johnson finished 6th extending his lead in the NASSCAR Chase. He was in 30th position with as little as 15 laps remaining at Talladega when all it took was Ryan Newman to flip his car repeatedly and have it come to rest on its roof requiring them to flip the car over and cut the top off to get Newman out. another crash that he narrowly avoided that saw Mark Martin end up on his roof for a moment and then car after car run out of gas. not too bad to be able to get out of that place in one piece and have your two closest rivals have trouble on the last few laps.


Worst: Ryan Newman...His car flipped repeatedly and he had to be cut out of it. People are always praising NASCAR for how safe the cars are that someone can actually survive a crash like that and actually walk away. Maybe the focus should not be so much that the car can withstand that impact and be more on avoid having these cars put in a situation where it is not only possibility of happening but almost guaranteed. Restrictor plates merely restrict the drivers to drive safely and prevent passing making for un-exciting racing. Lets be clear, flipping cars and crashes are not racing that is a demolition derby...2 very different sports.

Best: Brett Favre went back to Green Bay, he played the Packers, he beat the Packers. he was boo’d by Packers fans. There it’s done, please let it be done. The story has run its course, the intrigue is no longer there if it was ever there to begin with. The fans got their say so now it is up to the media to JUST LET IT GO, let the Vikings become a regular football team and let Favre become just another 1 of 30 starting QB’s in the NFL.

Worst: The fact that the Lions couldn't beat the Rams, the Titans won a game with Vince Young at QB, and JaMarcus Russell makes soooo much money in Oakland and is basically useless. There is nothing worse then watching an overpaid under-achieving un-motivated player. Why is it that the most undeserving people always seem to fall ass backward into good situations or get all the benefits??

Best: The bankruptcy judge has approved the Phoenix Coyotes’ sale to NHL. That is one major hurdle towards getting this team out of the news for all the wrong reasons and perhaps some acknowledgement to the fact that they are actually playing half decent on the ice.

Worst: The NHLPA for, well I don’t know. Not being able to keep its own house in order I Suppose. Yet another high ranking employee has either resigned and/or been dismissed and it is once again a rudderless ship. As annoying as it is to hear about it is just as bad for the NHL and any potential talks in the future regarding the next CBA. the sooner this gets fixed and out of the public the better. Fans are tired of it, I am sure the players and the NHL are tired of it and it had better not be a reason that there is another work stoppage. The sport probably isn’t strong enough to bounce back from another potential PR nightmare.

Best: Cliff Lee pitches tonight in the World Series. Hopefully sending the series back to New York for a game 6. If he pitches like he did in game 1 it will be things that World Series lore is built on. His last time out he looked like a throwback to the way a pitcher looked in the 1960’s. If he loses then the title will go to the Yankees, which is not good and the baseball season is done for another year, also not good.

\Worst: David Beckham will return to Milan on loan from Galaxy...how can you be on loan to another team? This is yet another reason why soccer sucks. You don’t see Derek Jeter loaned to the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters (This is actually a real team, they are associated with the Arizona Diamondbacks...awesome) of the Japan Baseball League.

Around The Horn

~ Sad news from the tennis world. One of my favorite players when I was younger was the Swiss Miss, Former No. 1 Martina Hingis won’t be making a comeback to competitive tennis. Hingis, Now 29 who retired 2 years ago after a small run in with a positive cocaine test (which she denied direct use, for whatever that is worth). Hingis said: "I’ve got a nice house, my four horses. ... On the tour, I had no life." She will be fondly remembered on the court and maybe she will get a change of heart, but at age 29 that is close to the end for a woman tennis player.

~Hendrick Motorsports must feel pretty good right now. They have the first 3 spots in the NASCAR Chase for the Championship. Jimmie Johnson currently leads 2nd place belongs to Mark Martin and 3rd goes to Jeff Gordon. Now I will be the first to say don’t count any eggs before they hatch. There are a lot of races and time left for things to happen but at present time it must be nice. As for the 4th driver on that team, the once thought of decent driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. wallows in 22nd place. It is like he is one of those holdings that you expect to lose money on so you don’t have to pay as much tax. His name seems to be a blessing and a curse, he is famous and rich just for his name but had little or no chance to live up to daddy’s legacy and may not be as good a driver as people think he is or thought he could be.

~ Chase Utley has made two costly throwing errors, and bounced a ball to first from 2nd base and his name is now being mentioned with Steve Sax and Chuck Knoblauch. Even Rick Ankiel and Todd Hundley feel bad for this guys arm. He is lucky that right now his team is good enough to insulate his mistakes. I hope for his sake that it doesn’t continue to the World Series when they get there.

~ The Phillies mounted quite the comeback in the ninth inning of Game 4. Those who stayed to watched were rewarded in getting the chance to see it live. Many Ramirez was not one of these people. Taken out for defensive purposes he was back in the clubhouse taking a shower. Sure he could have stayed in the dugout with his team and been cheering for them but instead he chose that he needed a shower right away. Manager Joe Torre didn't seem too concerned saying:
"Manny has so much confidence," Torre said. "When we get a lead late in the game, and I've taken him out, whether it be for defense or we have a big lead, when we go up to shake hands after the game, he's in his street clothes. "So, it's really nothing different than he's done before. I don't think it's disrespect or anything. He wasn't going anywhere until the game was over, and we can't put him back in the game."
That may be true but the is something to be said about sticking with your team...Just Manny being Manny I guess.

Battle Of The Blades

I blame The San Diego Chargers for coming out of the blocks way too slow and not being able to make the Sunday night NFL game interesting until late in the 4th quarter when they started to blaze down the field and started putting up points and made the Steelers sweat a bit. It is because of that that I began to roam around the stations just for a look see. It was the last regular day for baseball so ESPN did not have an 8pm baseball game. All 15 NHL teams played Saturday so it was a rare night, especially early in the season that the lights were off in the league and there wasn’t 1 game on the schedule. NASCAR had wrapped up with Jimmie coming in 9th due to a small mistake by Chad Knaus to take on 4 tires instead of just 2 and losing valuable track position.

At that point I stumbled upon Battle of the Blades on CBC. This is a Canadian version of Dancing with the Stars...on Ice. They match up former NHL players with well known Canadian female skaters. The lineup includes: Claude Lemieux and Shae-Lynn Bourne, Jamie Sale and Craig Simpson, Ken Daneyko and Jodeyne Higgins, Stephane Richer and Marie-France Dubreuil, Bob Probert and Kristina Lenko, Glenn Anderson and Isabelle Brasseur. Ron Duguay and Barbara Underhill and finally Tie Domi and Christine Hough-Sweeney (her husband is former NHL player and current Asst. GM for the Bruins Don Sweeney).

I feel like there was a level of entrapment on the part of the producers. I was tricked into watching with Ron McLean hosting and Kelly Hrudey as one of the judges. I am a fan of both these guys on Hockey Night In Canada and find that Kelly Hrudey has become a great analyst and is a pretty funny guy...so I watched. It felt wrong but it was compelling. What was an even dirtier move was the fact that they put up Shae-Lynn Bourne and Jamie Sale up first, back to back...how can you not watch these two stunning ladies??

Hrudey was MR. Complement and was in charge of complementing the ladies on how well they skated and how great they looked..and even extended a few interesting remarks to some of the guys...Ravishing should not be a unisex word by the way Kelly.

Overall it actually was a lot more watchable then I thought it would be and the hockey players for the most part actually handled themselves pretty well. I do have a fear that these guys will try to do to much or make a mistake and hurt on of the ladies. Marie-France Dubreuil was already knocked out earlier in the week after hitting the ice. Who I do feel a little bad for is Kristina Lenko, she looks like a sweet girl but I think Probert may be the first to be on the way out. The other one I feel bad for is Christine Hough-Sweeney, having to skate with Tie Domi.

I may be forced to keep watching for a little while...but it still feels wrong.

Around The Horn

GOLF - If there is anything that is more confusing then the Fed Ex Cup in golf I would be afraid to see it. The announcers and hi light people keep talking about it but to actually find out the standings is not easy. If this is your "Playoff" would you not want to put it out in the public eye a little more. I guess that if you have a scoring system that is near impossible to understand then I guess I would hide it too. The whole playoff thing is so trumped up to try and make tournaments seem more relevant and try and add some better ratings and to force more players to actually play in these tournaments. If not for the money Tiger would have shut it down for the season 3 weeks ago otherwise.. The NASCAR style playoff system just doesn’t work in golf...heck it barely works in NASCAR. It is so bad that Tiger Woods won the thing and was in the final pairing on a Sunday and was surpassed by Phil Mickleson who won the tournament and still it couldn’t draw people in. Mickleson won the tournament, Tiger hung on to win the overall championship and took home the $10M winnings. Mickleson at least had a good line saying, tongue in cheek - I win the tournament and Tiger is the one going home with $10 Million? -

NASCAR- Jimmie Johnson ran his typical Dover race and led the most laps in taking the checkered flag. The win now puts him into second place in the Sprint Cup Standings. Johnson is looking to go for a record 4th straight Cup Championship. As of right now he is in a great position going forward as he is a mere 10 points back. The only trouble with the win is that the driver that has won in Dover has never won the Championship, so he has that working against him. There is also the solid performances from Juan Pablo Montoya and veteran Mark Martin amongst others that are looking to de-throne the reigning Champion.


NFL- The worst possible thing happened in the Vikings game yesterday. Brett Favre threw a last second "gun-slinger" type ball that was grabbed in the end zone for a phenomenal catch by receiver Greg Lewis. After the game Favre said he didn’t even know who caught ball nor did he even know that the guy was even in the huddle but he knew it was a great catch. If people keep encouraging him and giving him praise he will never leave. What is even worse is that the Vikings will be playing the Packers this coming week and this is going to do nothing but bring more attention to Favre and that will just be an ordeal.

There were some just terrible throwback uniforms in play this weekend. Sure it is nice to honour anniversaries with these alternate jerseys but just because you call something vintage doesn’t make them nice or even appealing. The Seattle bright lime green jerseys looked like they were vests from a laser tag game that was just hit and the Houston Texans red "Onesie" was just awful. If you bring these alternate jerseys every week, at what point does it just become a regular uniform?

NCAA- Tim Tebow was sacked in the Florida game and his head violently hit the ground. He was taken to the hospital with a concussion. It is believed that the medical personnel for the Gators were by his side before he even hit the ground. When the chosen one goes down everyone goes triple speed.

Michigan is now 4-0! Trust me I am shocked but know that this is more of a fluke then the turning around of a bad team. Any win is a good win but I am not going to go crazy and overvalue the early record.

#6 California got blown out of the water by the un-ranked Oregon Ducks 42-3. How this happens is beyond me. What makes this loss even worse is that it was one of my "sure thing" Proline picks, you know the game you just throw in so you don’t have to worry about it...so yeah.... between that and Chelsea from some soccer league had a rough couple of tickets on Saturday.

The Return Of A Champion

Not sure how many people saw the crash last week involving Felipe Massa, the F1 driver for Ferrari but it was not pretty. A piece of debris hit him in the head while driving on the track. Thankfully there have been great strides made to safety involving the cars and innovations in regards to the helmets. After being hit he lost control and the car ran into a tire barrier that was 5 or 6 tires deep, crumpling the car. It appears that Massa will be ok but does have an eye injury that may prevent him from driving again.

In the short term it looks like former world champion and Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher will temporarily end his retirement and fill in in that seat.
"The Formula One chapter has been completely closed for me for a long time," Schumacher said in a statement Wednesday. "But for reasons of loyalty to the team, I cannot ignore this unfortunate situation. As the competitor, I am very much looking forward to facing this."
The only reason that I ever watched F1 was to see Schumacher dominate the F1 ranks and cruise to championships (Schumacher is a seven-time F1 champion, winning five consecutive titles for Ferrari from 2000 through 2004 - 91 victories and 154 podium finishes) . As I have mentioned before I admire greatness in sports and when someone is that good and that dominant it is great to see. A lot of people don’t like that and would prefer parody but I choose greatness over mediocrity. Now I will be the first to admit that maybe the reported $80 million a year in the last five seasons at Ferrari was pretty excessive and made him probably the highest paid athlete in the world but no one can argue with results. There is a lot of money in F1 and I suppose by comparison his salary makes some sense. Sure there are people out there that say that it is more the car then Shumi but they have not dominated the sport since he gave up his seat. Just like Jimmie Johnson, people say that it is the car that is the athlete not the driver, in some cases that may be true but putting Casey Mears into the 48 Lowes probably doesn’t win 3 consecutive Championships.
It will be interesting to see how Schumacher responds after such a long layoff. Is this going to be like Michael Jordan coming back to the Bulls the first time to still be the greatest or will he be Michael Jordan coming back as a Washington Bullet errr, Wizard. We will see during a Grand Prix coming to a major European City near you.

Superman Does It Again

Superman? that may still be debatable but they may be in the same class. Mark Martin seems to think so. Martin’s Hendrick Racing teammate, Jimmie Johnson, once again proved why he is the 3 time defending NASCAR Sprint/Nextel/Winston Cup Series (or whatever the official sponsor is right now) Champion. At the storied Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis it was a familiar name at the end of the day atop of the leader board. Jimmie became the first driver to go back to back at the Brickyard 400. Yet another chapter in the novel that Johnson is writing on the track in attempt to become one of the best of all time - The Legacy and the Legend.


Johnson, even without the beard that he has been sporting for the better part of the year, grabbed an improbable victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when a speeding penalty to Juan Pablo Montoya ruined the day for the most dominant car in the field. Juan Pablo was so upset during the next caution that he told his crew chief...and anyone else who was monitoring his radio "I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding!" he shouted over his radio. "There is no way! Thank you NASCAR for screwing my day." Sounds to me like someone who was pretty sure that he thought he was in the right but I guess he misread his tachometer . Not only did that miscue cost him near certain victory but it also dinged him in the pocket book which probably hurts nearly as much. At $223,953. It was the most expensive speeding ticket in NASCAR history: Jimmie earned $448,001 for the victory, while Montoya, who fell to 11th-place had to settle for a mere $224,048. Yeah I know it is all relative, 200k is nothing to shake a stick, but even in NASCAR world that is still a big loss.

You almost get the sense that Jimmie won’t get the true recognition that he deserves until after he is done driving. It seems like he doesn’t get the respect that he deserves as a driver nor does Chad Knaus get as his crew chief. With the records and resume that both these guys are putting together you would think that they would get more national publicity. Maybe it is because it is a NASCAR thing. Tennis has Federer, Golf has Tiger still just isn’t the same recognition for Jimmie.

Drugs In NASCAR - A Dangerous Situation

NASCAR has been put into an interesting position in regards to the Jeremy Mayfield suspension. Mayfield failed a drug test and tested positive for methamphetamine. A judge recently retracted his suspension and open the door for him to race and enter a car into NASCAR sanctioned races. The sport is dangerous enough going 200mph with 43 other drivers and not having to worry about the guy 3 inches from your bumper being impaired in any way.

Two team owners won’t put Jeremy Mayfield in their cars this weekend at Daytona International Speedway, one because of sponsor concerns and the other because Mayfield is "marked" following his legal battle with NASCAR.

By many accounts Mayfield isn’t the most liked guy in the garage and also has a rep for being a little bit of a party guy. That alone is not a bad thing but having a few drinks and getting drunk is a far cry from doing Meth.

Big name drives such as Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson have filed affidavit expressing their feelings about having their lives endangered by having someone racing on a track agents them who may be driving at a less then sober state. He will be tested as soon as he shows up at the next race whether he drives or enters a car. The problem is it takes close to 4 days to properly run A and B samples to avoid any false results. A test on Saturday doesn’t get results until Wednesday and that doesn’t do any good.

What is even more important is what this means in terms of other sports. The Federal Judge basically is allowing an athlete to test positive for drugs and be allowed back onto the field because he needs to be able to make a living. If this was Many Ramirez does the same rule apply? Manny's 50 game suspension cost him some $7 million is wadges does that mean that he should be able to play to make a living? The potential for this grey area could be a potential issue.

Even though the sport has alcohol companies sponsoring cars like Bud, Coors and Miller. They are more socially responsible and accepted. You do not nor do you want cars sponsored by Ricky’s Meth Lab Owners and Dealers, although the colour scheme on them would probably be cool and make for a nice die cast.

Best And Worst Of The Weekend

Best
Marc-André Fleury save at the end of Game 7 diving in front of the puck shot from Nick Lidstrom like he was a Secret Service agent protecting Obama. Then that being followed by his interview with Scott Oake when asked what he was thinking in the dying seconds of the game with the Red Wings applying pressure and Fleury responded ‘Oh Shit’ and the 7 second delay was not in effect. Then Oake’s response was basically ‘fair enough’.

Worst
Jimmie Johnson leading the race in Michigan for 146 laps of the 200 lap race, leading at the end then with less then 2 laps left running out of gas and being forced to pit for gas after the race and cross the finish line on pit row. To his credit he did finish but to fall from 1st to 22nd is a tough pill to swallow when you clearly had the most dominant car on the track.

Best
Alex Rodriguez pops up to Louis Castillo of the Mets, a routine pop up to end the game.....then dropping it. To Mark Teixeira credit he actually ran the play out as was rewarded with a win. Then they actually interviewed A-Rod. What do you say? ‘I popped up, should have cost the team a win, but he dropped it and we won’.

Worst
Rumor has it that the Five-time Wing Bowl champion Bill "El Wingador" Simmons will take on Jose Canseco in a boxing match. Just when you think that Jose can’t fall any lower this come to light. Guess his knee has recovered from getting pummeled by that large Korean dude.

Best
Black Mamba Kobe Bryant and The Zen Master Phil Jackson along with the LA Lakers win the NBA Championship. Kobe gets #4 and first without Shaq, Phil gets his 10th and becomes the winningest coach in NBA history. ‘Zen-Sational’, ‘10-4 Ko-Jack’, ‘Shaq, tell me how my Brass Tastes’, ‘Kobe: I Did It My Way’, ‘4 for 24’ or maybe ‘Purple Reign’...and so on

Worst
It was reported that eight officers have suffered minor injuries during downtown disturbances that erupted amid street celebrations of the Lakers’ NBA championship victory over the Orlando Magic. Even if you lose there is not reason to act like a jackass. It makes less sense that if your team wins you hit the streets and instead of celebrating you decide to set fires, vandalize store fronts and throw rocks and bottles at police. Of the 18 people arrested 3 were juveniles.

Best
Milton Bradley Losing the ball in the sun and it dropping in for a hit, then even better he forgot any math that he learned and thought there was 3 outs when there was only 2 and runners on base who came in to score. It was almost shocking that he didn’t have a huge Bradley style melt down.

Best and Worst of the Weekend

Best
Roger Federer wins 14th Grand Slam and completes the career grand Slam.
Can retire the voodoo doll of Rafael Nadal he recently had made.

Worst
The performance that the Penguins showed in game 5 in Detroit.
After getting shellacked 5-0 and looking completely outmatched they will need to do what they did in games 3 & 4 at home or summer will be coming earlier then expected.

Best
Tiger Woods wins for the 4th time at Jack Nicklaus’s Memorial Tournament.
Not only did he come from well back but made yet another career shot in the process. The man must have ice water in his veins. Guess the cooling strip on those Gillette Fusion razor blades really are working for both him and Federer.

Worst
Bad luck on a yellow flag pit stop for Jimmie Johnson and a gamble on fuel by Tony Stewart shoved Jimmie to a 7th place finish at the 500 mile race at Pocono.
Jimmie had a dominant car and deserved the win. I would feel bad for him but I have seen the money he makes the 3 consecutive Cup Championships, being one of the best NASCAR drivers and of course I have seen his wife...now that I think of it, maybe I don’t like Jimmie anymore.

Best and Worst
Kobe and the Lakers defeated the Magic in Game 2 in overtime to take a 2-0 Lead in the series. Kobe is taking not only his leadership but also his play to another level. Not only is he a player he is a coach on the floor.
It was good to see a close fought basketball game but at times it was just dreadfully painful to watch how inept the teams were when shooting. Good defence is one thing but to not be able to hit open jump shots or layups as a professional basketball player should be more then a little embarrassing. Maybe it is just the culture where flash and street ball moves at the development level is more focused upon then fundamentals.

Worst
Brett Favre apparently has recently had arthroscopic surgery on his throwing shoulder, This could be a sign that the former Falcon, Packer and Jet is considering coming out of retirement.
Is this yet another case of Brett crying wolf? Usually it is a guys play at the end that tarnishes the legend or the legacy, not his soap opera style "will he or won’t he" saga that Brett seems to forever be in. I won’t be able to look at another pair of Wrangler Jeans the same again. At least when one of the top running backs left, Barry Sanders it was other people speculating that he would come back and not him but even that got old fast.

It's Go Time- Let the Games Begin!

It is finally starting to get to that time of year where everything is starting to amp up in the sports world again, and it couldn’t have happened soon enough. With cold weather and the sun and warmth apparently on vacation until April at least, staying inside and enjoying some quality televised events seems like a logical thing to do. Sure the NFL is done, both the Super Bowl and Pro Bowls are over but winter sports are in mid flight and just past the half way mark and the spring and summer sports are thinking about getting going.

The first sign that spring will soon be in the air - pitchers and catchers are to begin reporting to Spring Training today. Baseball will hope to put some of the off field issues to the back burner and we can start talking about player movement, off season signings and then eventually the games themselves. A welcome change from the annoying chatter that is steroids and investigations.

The Australian Open just concluded. With one of the greatest one-on-one rivalries of all time between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal the Men’s side looks to have an interesting year upcoming with the clay in Paris the next stop.

The PGA has started to get going and tournaments have began. You may have missed it with Tiger Woods still rehabbing his knee but soon he will be back and the world can begin to start spinning again.

Over the last 2 weeks NASCAR has been in Speed Weeks in Daytona Florida. Last weekend they held the Bud Shootout and pole qualifying. Yesterday they ran the Dual’s at Daytona, the 2 race-in qualifying for the Grand Daddy of them all the Daytona 500 that is to be run this Sunday. But more importantly it marks my boy Jimmie Johnson going for an unheard of 4th consecutive Cup Championship. Even if I am perhaps a bit bias when it relates to the 48 Lowes Chevy Impala SS. I am not so blind to throw too many eggs into that basket as the competition is very tough and there are a number of great young drivers that are ready to break through and some veterans who want to re-invent themselves as potential contenders.

Then the further you go down the list one must start to begin to look at NCAA basketball. March Madness isn’t as far away as you may think. This is the top sports tournament around ( I feel that it can be called the top tournament even if some may think the World Cup of Soccer is, but it is disqualified from the running as it is not a real sport and it is clear that it is one thing to play but is virtually un-watchable). It is never too early to do some pre-scouting and thinking about getting that bracket ready!

Of course there are the staples of this time of year as well, the NHL and the NBA. The NBA All Star weekend begins today with all the events and "Hoop-La" that conclude with the game on Sunday. As for the NHL, they are in full force on the road towards the playoffs and possibly more importantly the trade deadline. That is really the only off ice business that is fun during the season.

This is a great time to be a fan...as long as we focus on the on field product and not all the other crap that we are bombarded with.

History matched and made, 3 TIME CHAMP!!

I hate that it has taken until now but I must take the time to touch on the historical events of the past weekend, and no it isn’t that of learning that there is in fact ties in the NFL (sorry Donovan but come on, you are an NFL QB how do you not know that, ever wonder why the Jets that you played in 2002 were like 8-2-1 or something like that, weren’t sure what the 1 was for??)
Of course I am speaking of NASCAR’s Jimmie Johnson and crew chief Chad Knaus in driving into the record books as only the second driver to ever win 3 Championships in a row and being the only crew chief to go for 3 in a row.

Now I am a huge Jimmie Johnson fan and have been from day 1. I do have some 48 Lowes swag, dicast and the like as well. From his rookie season on I have been with him and I am pretty proud of that, there was no wagon jumping, I hitched onto that star early, saw the superstar potential early in the game and have taken that ride. After being a brides maid for the first few years it was frustrating but I guess you have to loose before you can win. I have been lucky that 2 of my favorite teams have enjoyed a long run of success during my time as a fan and that makes for some good watching. Between Jimmie and the Atlanta Braves I have had Championships and playoff runs to enjoy. Too bad the Senators have missed that memo so far, maybe someday.

I have heard that there is some debate on his place in history but based on what he did before winning the championships and then now it is hard to ignore just how good he is and has been. He is like Tom Brady (has he done enough to be great yet? Is it partly his location? Is his significant other just hot or super hot ...great player or greatest player you be the judge).

Congratulation to Jimmie, Chad, the 48 Lowes Team and all the rest of the people associated at Hendrick Motorsports, even Jeff Gordon who may not have won a race this year but at least by being part owner of the 48 will get a piece of that pie.

History made in Montreal NASCAR Race

As I have written before I like when I get a chance to watch history being made, especially in the world of sports. That is why I root for Tiger and not try to tear him down, why i was even more proud to be a Braves fan during the time that they were on their 14 consecutive Division Title run, the back to back World Series wins by the Blue Jays, the modern day dynasty that is the Patriots, and watching the great years leading up to and including the championships by Jimmie Johnson. Now I have one more that can be added to the list with the Nationwide NASCAR race, the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal. This was the first time that a race has been run in the rain and with rain tires and wipers. Though it was shortened due to just too much precipitation and extremely low visibility it did reach the required length.

The race was won by Canadian Ron Fellows with Patrick Carpentier coming in second, thus adding to the storey with Canadians finishing 1-2 in the only Canadian race on the schedule. I was wanting to attend the race in person but it was probably more enjoyable to take it in on TV in HD, a little dryer and got to see more.The Monteral race for the record has only been run twice and both times have stood out for what it brought to the world of NASCAR. Last year was the first race in Canada and had a great controversial end and then this year with the rain, wipers and rain tires. In a side note Marcos Ambrose was once again snake bitten by circumstances after dominating the race. He was in line to win last year but was a victim of Robbie Gordon and this year took a very costly penalty after dominating the race and leading the most laps. All in all it was great to see history being made and a welcomed alternative to last weeks Sprint Cup Gong Show at Indy.

Brickyard Baby

Johnson wins “Tiring” Race at Indy

In a race that was marred by bad tires and tire ware that forced competition cautions. A race that was one of the worst races to watch even for the most die hard of fan. One that prevented pole sitter Jimmie Johnson from driving away from everyone, in the end justice prevailed.
Jimmie Johnson won the Allstate Brickyard 400 in the NASCAR series on Sunday. The 2 time defending NASCAR champion won his 2nd race at Indianapolis and looks for that to set him up, like it did in 2006 for the championship. Can he go for 3 in a row? The odds are stacked against him, especially the way Kyle Busch has run this year but this is a good start to get the second half on track.

As for the race itself it was difficult to watch on TV, from the pits and probably from behind the wheel. There will need to be a lot of changes to prevent tires from ruining another race at the most well known track in the USA. F1 had issues during the United States Grand Prix a few years back because of tires as well. 7 teams were forced to pull out and on 3 teams that were running Bridgestone tires started the race, making the event look like a farce.
How bad was it? Teams spent an estimated $34,000 on Goodyear rubber.
It is not good for the sport of racing nor for the allure of Indy and the legacy it carries. Hopefully Goodyear can get this righted and soon or they may loose their right to supply tires to the most popular North American series.