A firey 54th 500

What follows is an excellent recap of this year's Daytona 500 by this blog's most loyal reader, Jake DaSnake.  As you'll be able to tell from this guest blog, it was a very exciting race, even if many people, including yours truly, were unable to see the ending live:

The 54th running of the Daytona 500 was rained out for the first time ever. The race was then moved from twelve o'clock on Monday to seven o'clock, when the race did start with Carl Edwards and Greg Biffle in the front row.  I don't think anyone expected what came next.
Going into the second lap Elliot Sadler tapped Jimmy Johnson, sending him into the wall, in the crash Danica Patrick was wrecked making this  her third  crash of this weekend at Daytona. David Ragan, Trevor Bayne and Kurt Busch  also were involved, only Ragan and Johnson were forced out for good.
The next incident happened on the 13th lap when Ryan Newman lost a tire and spun and then was rear ended in the pits by A.J. Allmendinger. Jeff Gordon blew up his engine on lap 81, and then the race for the halftime money of $200,000 was being held with Martin Truex Jr. getting the push for the halfway money.
The incident on lap 160 involving Juan Pablo Montoya trying to catch up to the pack on a yellow caution was probably one of the most spectacular and the most odd that I have ever seen. Montoya is driving near the bottom apron going into turn three, when he suddenly lurches straight into a jet drier truck being driven close to the outside wall, the ensuing crash causes an instantaneous explosion and fireball. The #42 careens off to the center field and Montoya climbs out of his car, the drier driver is also pulled out and helped to safety.
With all the fire and dripping jet fuel the race is red flagged for more than two hours, during this time track officials douse the fire and then remove the burned out truck.  They then have the task of checking the track surface for any fire damage and making certain the fuel spill is cleaned up.  The fire damage is patched over, and the track is ready for the final forty laps.
While this is going on the drivers are meeting on the track...I would imagine comparing race info, except for Brad Keslowski who is tweeting to his followers.  He increased his following by 55,000 people in the time the red flag was up.  (Where had he kept this phone?)
The highlight of this was Dave Blaney, a 75-1 underdog having the lead due to a later than most pit stop.  I think one thing he was hoping for was a rainfall or a called race for a damaged track, but that was not to be. With another spinout taking Tony Stewart out with a few laps remaining and some pounding by Denny Hamlin the final laps were good for Matt Kenseth who was having a great run with his teammate Greg Biffle running second and Dale Earnhart Jr. running third.  Biff helped Matt from a late charging Jr. but could not help himself as Jr. pulled alongside him and slingshot himself to second place.

All in all the race was entertaining and had the usual pack race big crashes that have been missing the last two years because of the two-car draft.  The fans spoke and NASCAR listened, giving us a good race for the start of another great season. If  the rest of the season is as entertaining as this (minus the fire), I think the rule changes pertaining to the two car draft are well worth it.

 Jake would love to hear your comments about the race.

Patriots/Ravens

In response to my sharing a link on Facebook regarding tom-brady-bill-belichick-survive-stupidest-decision-of-all-time-and-other-leftover-patriots-thoughts and sharing this comment ("There are a lot of good insights here regarding the game, though this one is the most "shocking" to me: The rushing touchdown was also just the third postseason rushing touchdown of Brady's career, and his first since the '04 playoffs. Impossibly, those three rushing touchdowns rank third in Patriots history, behind only Curtis Martin (5) and Corey Dillon (4).") one of our authors, who has yet to make a post of her own on this blog, left an excellent comment that I tried to encourage her to use as the basis for a blog post, to no avail.  She's shy and needs some encouragement, even though I've told her she has excellent insights.


So I'm doing the next best thing by taking her comment and pasting it in as a guest blog by ocbananagirl:

I really like this article, or I really like this article after the initial criticism about the pass and the call to pass at that moment of time in the game. I just want to concentrate on all the good and I am not going to worry about that erroneous decision. Honestly I am surprised that the Pats are in the Super Bowl. I mean let's be honest, did we really think this could happen this year? I thought that this year was going to be a rebuilding year. I did not think the defense could do it looking back on this whole season. The defense though was the shining star in this last game, and even though Flacco had the Game of his life (believe me it was the game of his life, he was my fantasy QB for 2 years) the defense was able to contain Ray Rice, who for most of this season was unstoppable. That in itself was unbelievable and I didn't realize that they had it in them, or really I thought they were working up to this level but I didn't think we would see it this season, I shouldn't have had any doubt though with Mr Hoodie crafting this up like some wizard putting together potions.. Yeah, Yeah I know Brady looked bad but not as bad as the last game with the Jets last year, and then we found out that he was injured and I have a feeling that this may also come to be also. Now Brady has two weeks rest and two weeks to think about the Giants, and luckily for Patriots Nation we have never ever seen him have two bad games in a row. So I am feeling more confident with the next game than the game before, although I really don't want to think about it - something along the lines of " better to have gone to the Super Bowl and lost than to have never gone to the Super Bowl." For me it's not the Super Bowl; it is putting big blew blue in their place, I want a smack down! So Bill, please leave your pensive thoughts alone, I need you to get your hoodie on and do your wizardry for one more game and please, please be that jerk who smacks down the Giants, do it for Patriots Nation!

 Rereading this makes me think we need to encourage her to write a weekly fantasy blog next season.  Wouldn't you agree?  She's also an excellent cook/chef who owns a seasonal cafe on the Jersey coast, and I've tried to encourage her to post a pub food recipe for us.  So let's give her the encouragement she deserves.  This place could use a woman's perspective.

2011 Grey Cup

Travis Lulay

The following is a guest blog by DaSnake, who's been kind enough to let us in on what's going on north of the border.  Hopefully you will appreciate this guest blog on a topic that we wouldn't be talking about but are certainly interested in.  Thanks DaSnake.

The B.C. Lions won the 99th Grey Cup yesterday, 34-23, over Winnipeg. The last times they won the cup was 1994 against the Baltimore Stallions.  (also 2000 and 2006)  How did a U.S. team play in a Canadian final?  Well the CFL was hurting for money in the early 90's and allowed some American teams to play in the Canadian league.

The Lions QB Travis Lulay won the Canadian Most Valuable Player and tonight won the Grey Cup MVP. The game started out good for the Lions but seemed to slow going into the second half.  Whether it was jitters or just a need of coaching to come into the locker room and give a talk to the team, it seemed to work because the Lions came into the second half and never looked back.

It again got interesting in the fourth quarter with a dropped interception and then a dropped pass that was reviewed by the zebras.  With the Bruce pass being viewed as a reception, the nails in the coffin seemed in place.

This was a great game.  The fervor was not over rode by the Occupy Vancouver baloney; and the half billion dollar stadium rebuild took a backseat to the main show, the game.  The only so-called sensation was the scuffle between former QB Joe Kapp and former defensive player Angelo Mosca.  I don't have to mention this because if you go to Youtube, you can see for yourself.  Good game, good people and a great final. Congrats Lions.