Stop the "Start and Park" racers in NASCAR

I have been a fan of racing all my life.  In fact my entire family, besides my wife, are racing fanatics.  My father drove street stock Wissota cars until an accident in Miller, SD caused him to spend 6 months in the hospital.  Later he owned teams and hired drivers for tracks in Huron and Aberdeen, SD.  I remember going to the local dirt track and my mom and I screaming for our favorite drivers.  (Dave Marlowe need not apply).  We all have our favorite drivers and teams.  We even rib each other about how our drivers do during the season.  However, there is one thing that we all hate and want abolished from the land of NASCAR.  That is the ability of teams to start and park.

We had another instance of that in the Nationwide series at Bristol.  The thing here is that the driver didn't want to follow that order.  Jennifer Jo Cobb wanted to race.  She was expecting to try and finish the best that she could in the event.  10 minutes before the start of the race, her owner told her to drive and then come in and park the car.  She disagreed and then her owner said that he would have NASCAR Black flag her because she wasn't following his orders.  So she took her own pit crew, since he didn't bring the team's pit crew and she took the tires that she bought to run this race and left.  He was able to get another driver.  Of course the car made it's first lap at Lap 141 of the race.  Chris Lawson, the relief driver, made a whopping 4 laps in the car.  I applaud Jennifer Jo Cobb for her stance that she was there to race and will race to the best of her ability to win the race.  And it's going to be a black mark on her record because she had enough balls to tell a stupid owner that doesn't have the finances to compete in the Nationwide series that she was there to try and win the race. 

This is stupid.  NASCAR needs to haul this asshole owner into their trailer and have a nice discussion with him and the rest of the start and park owners out there, yes even Joe Nemechek.  They should set the firm rule that if you have 3 start and park races in a season, then you are automatically done racing in that series for the rest of the season, both owner and driver.  If you don't have the financial backing to race an entire race, don't show up.  I am tired of having race teams that know they won't be finishing the race.  They run 20 laps, take the car to the hauler, pack it away and wait until the race is over and get out of the track immediately.  There are other levels for these owners to have cars and actually race for the victory.  Look at the Late Model, ARCA, or Featherlite Series.  The Top 3 divisions of NASCAR look amateurish when these things happen on a weekly basis.  And I'm tired of caring about things that look like an amateur circus, even though I have 30 years of fandom to look back upon.

A New, Disturbing Trend In Sports Blogging

Forgive me for venting but I’m seeing a disturbing trend in sports blogging.

Earlier this week the Washington Redskins, with nothing better to do than sue reporters that dare tell the truth about owner Daniel Snyder, made The Washington Post remove the name Redskins from their “Redskins Insider” blog that follows the team. The blog is now called “Football Insider”. The Montreal Canadiens, who are equal with the Redskins when it comes to churlish behavior, made The Montreal Gazette change the name of its “Habs Inside/Out” blog to “Hockey Inside/Out” on Friday.

Are you kidding me?

It’s too bad I don’t write for either of those newspapers or else I’d change the name of the Football Insider blog to something like Snyder’s Next Tantrum, or better yet Racial Slurs Insider so anyone reading it would know which team they were following.

For the Habs, it could be much worse. How about blog names like A Pain in Pacioretty’s Neck? Or because of the shape of the Habs logo, Who Left The Toilet Seat Up?

Heaven forbid the Boston Red Sox ever demand the owner of this blog to change the name due to copyright infringement. First, I’m sure the owner of this blog would do it to comply with their wishes if it ever happened but unlike newspaper-run blogs I won’t stop at calling the blog “Baseball Tavern” to appease them.

I’d likely suggest a catchy blog name like Up Robbie Fowler’s Nose to take a jab at Liverpool.

Or better yet, if the Red Sox stumble out of the gate and the San Diego Padres pick up where they left off last season I’ll make jokes about the Red Sox unofficial AAA team outplaying them.

Hopefully it will never come to that.

Saturday Morning Bracketology

This morning I woke up to a near busted bracket in the Southwest. Thanks to some upsets by Richmond, Morehead State, Florida State and Virginia Commonwealth the only teams I have still playing are Kansas (my Final Four pick), Illinois, Purdue and Notre Dame.

And how did the high and mighty Big East do? Louisville and Georgetown, whom the experts said would be safe to advance to the Third Round and beyond, both lost.

On the positive side, I correctly picked UNLV to lose. When the Runnin’ Rebels play at home they have a huge advantage, and when they hung tough against San Diego State during the Mountain West Conference tournament I didn’t give them proper credit because I knew once they were away from home they would be a different team. And they were. They got stomped 73-62 by Illinois and it wasn’t as close as the final score indicates.

***

My father and I had a discussion last night about SDSU and he’s afraid they may not do well against Temple later this evening. I’m here to tell you the Aztecs are for real. I checked out common opponents the Aztecs and Owls had during the regular season and both teams played on the road at California, aka Cal-Berkeley. Temple lost to the Golden Bears 57-50 on November 26th. San Diego State whooped California by twenty on December 8th.

The news on the Aztecs gets better. UConn had to rely on Kemba Walker’s second-half heroics to defeat Wichita State 83-79 in the first round of the Maui Invitational. SDSU ran past the Shockers 83-69 at home on December 5th in the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge after taking over the lead for good early in the second half.

If the Aztecs end up playing Cincinnati in the Sweet Sixteen, they also have a common opponent in Miami (Ohio). SDSU played them on the road and whooped them 77-56 in the CBE Classic on November 22nd. Cincinnati also defeated Miami (Ohio) on the road 64-48 on December 21st.

While Temple, UConn and Cincinnati are good teams, the Aztecs shouldn’t be worried. They can beat these guys if they get over their NCAA tournament jitters like they did against Northern Colorado.

What about Duke in the Elite Eight? They also stomped on Miami (Ohio) 79-45 early in the season but they also have blemishes on their schedule with losses against Florida State, St. John’s, Virginia Tech and North Carolina during the regular season. It would be an intriguing matchup, but it’s one that would open the country’s eyes and let them see San Diego State as at least an equal to the best teams in the East. And if Duke stumbles on its way to the Elite Eight, I like the Aztecs’ chances to advance to the Final Four even more. Arizona got Jimmered big time and Texas wasn’t the most consistent team against middle of the road competition down the stretch.

The East Coast Bias™ Busted My Bracket

It was the first day of the 2011 NCAA Basketball Tournament and one of my four brackets has already been busted. I was foolish enough to pick St. John’s to go to the Final Four. After all, St. John’s finished in third place in the much superior Big East Conference. They should be a safe pick to knock off Pittsburgh in the Elite Eight, right?

Wrong. Once again the East Coast Bias™ is just that, a bias not based on fact. St John’s lost by fifteen to Gonzaga, the same team that my alma mater San Diego State beat on their home court 79-76 back in November.

Pardon me for this outburst but the East Coast Bias™ can (censored). The Big East is so overrated as a national power. How can a team with eleven losses be the eighteenth ranked team in the nation? Can anyone out there justify this lofty ranking? How about Louisville? They got knocked off by 13th seed Morehead State.

As for San Diego State I can walk proud. My Aztecs took care of business against Northern Colorado, beating them 68-50. SDSU let Northern Colorado get within three points early in the second half before they beat them like a dirty rug, just like they beat up on Jimmer Fredette and BYU last weekend and just about every opponent they faced during the regular season.

The Aztecs take on Temple Saturday and if they win they’ll likely face Connecticut in the Sweet Sixteen.

As for the Big East, I expect more of those “great” teams to fall in the coming days.

Enslave Me, Please?

I’m trying not to laugh too hard over this but let’s get real. I am the polar opposite of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson when it comes to football talent, speed, strength and size. I’m also the polar opposite when it comes to how we related to regular folks.

These were Adrian’s words to Yahoo! Sports writer Doug Farrar just before the lockout.

"It's modern-day slavery, you know? People kind of laugh at that, but there are people working at regular jobs who get treated the same way, too. With all the money … the owners are trying to get a different percentage, and bring in more money. I understand that; these are business-minded people. Of course this is what they are going to want to do. I understand that; it's how they got to where they are now. But as players, we have to stand our ground and say, 'Hey — without us, there's no football.'

"There are so many different perspectives from different players, and obviously we're not all on the same page — I don't know. I don't really see this going to where we'll be without football for a long time; there's too much money lost for the owners. Eventually, I feel that we'll get something done."

There is absolutely nothing that could turn off Joe or Jane Six-Pack in this labor fight more than a professional athlete complaining about his working conditions when sports fans like me have to worry about our own job security every morning we roll out of the rack. Especially when the entry-level salary for an NFL player, and an undrafted one at that, is over $300,000.

In case you’re keeping score at home Peterson is scheduled to make $10.72 million in 2011. Or to put it in terms easier to understand, Peterson makes in one rushing attempt what I and many of you out there make in a whole year.

I’d love to put on the pads and be a slave for that kind of jack.

The Playoff March: Game 69 Checkpoint

THE WEEK IN REVIEW: The Toronto Maple Leafs managed to earn three out of six points this past week but should have done more. They started the week with an overtime loss to the lowly New York Islanders at home, then lost to a reeling Philadelphia Flyers team. The Leafs salvaged a win at home against the Buffalo Sabres last night, but they had to come from behind in the third period to earn the two points.

THE PATH TO 88 POINTS: With 13 games left in the regular season, the Leafs need to earn 18 points. Time is running short for them to climb past the Atlanta Thrashers, Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres and the New York Rangers for the eight and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

The Leafs can get to 88 points if they go 9-4-0 or 8-3-2. Super rookie James Reimer is now the unquestioned number one goalie but he cannot play the rest of the string without a break. At some point, either Jean-Sebastien Giguere or Jonas Gustafsson will have to make a spot start to spell him so he doesn’t wear down in these final weeks.

THE COMING WEEK: The Leafs have four games on tap this week and they must get at least six point to realistically stay in the playoff race. Their week begins with a home game against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who are 1-4-2 this month. Wednesday ushers in back-to-back road games against the Carolina Hurricanes and then the Florida Panthers. The Leafs end the week with a home game against the Boston Bruins.

Realistically, the Lightning and the Hurricanes represent the Leafs’ best chance to pick up points. The Panthers have been playing well the past week and the Bruins can’t be expected to continue their current losing streak, which as of today stands at four games.

***

IN MEMORIAM: I’m saddened to hear of the loss of former Buffalo Sabres and Los Angeles Kings winger Rick Martin, who died of a heart attack today. Not only was he a seven-time All-Star for the Sabres, but through no fault of his own was a symbol of why the Kings were so bad during the 80’s until the arrival of Wayne Gretzky. Coming off what turned out to be a career-ending knee injury, Martin was traded late in the 1980-81 season to the Kings for a 1981 third round choice plus a 1983 first round choice.

Martin played four games for the Kings, one during the 1980-81 season and three more the following season before he was forced to retire in mid-December 1981. In those four games, Martin scored five points and would have been a welcome addition to the Kings had he been healthy.

As for that 1983 first round draft pick, the Sabres used it to select Tom Barrasso, who would have solved the Kings goaltending problems after Mario Lessard was forced to retire himself after suffering a knee injury.

I Blame The Players In The NFL Labor Dispute

I have had a mad-on about the NFL CBA meetings.  It has gone on for about a month now.  And I am surprised at myself.  I am not upset about the owners and the decisions that they have made.  I am plenty PO'ed at the NFLPA.  These people have decided that they are going to hold their employers over a barrel and not try to be true partners with the NFL, but they have decided to try and beat the owners and the League itself to enrich themselves.

The pie for revenues are estimated at $9.3 Billion this past year.  The owners took $1 Billion off the top for expenses.  So that leaves $8.3 Billion to be divided by the owners and the players.  And here is where the players are just being too greedy.  They get 59.6% of that $8.3 Billion.   That is over $4.9 Billion that is going to the NFLPA.  That leaves $3.4 Billion for the League and Teams.  So the players are actually taking in more revenue than the league and it's teams.  Holy crap.  A business that says that the only some of the employees get this percentage of revenue.  And they have no risk in the profitability of any team or the league.  Add all the other employees of the teams and the League and the revenue that the owners get would probably be down between 25-30%.  Now add all the expenses and other things that the teams and the league have to pay for.  And now tell me that the owners are making unreasonable demands.  They aren't and most everybody knows it.

And in looking at the League's proposal that they gave to the NFLPA, it is more than fair.  For the Salary Cap, the NFL went up to what the union wanted but only after 3 more years in increasing the Cap incrementally.  They worked on a Rookie compensation package that would keep the money down for Picks 1-16, but the rest of the players drafted wouldn't get any less and the money that would have been paid to untested rookies would go to veteran players and retired players.  Hmmm.  It seems to me that the NFLPA is supposed to be working for the players of today and the retired players.  That looks like a good proposal to that end.  The owners also agreed to pay up to $1 Million in salary for a player that was hurt a year ago and couldn't return because of the injury.  Damn.  Looks like the NFL is willing to help those that might have problems with injuries.

Another thing that the owners cave on is the 18 game schedule.  They were willing to work with the union and see if they could negotiate about an 18 game schedule.  That was a non-starter for the NFLPA.  $82 Million from the owners going to retired players.  The opportunity for current players to stay in the medical plan for life.  Where else do you get that opportunity?  And more rules and implementation of safety standards and player health.  That should have satisfied cheapshot artists Hines Ward and Rodney Harrison.  And yet, that wasn't good enough.

Why wasn't it good enough?  Because the players got bad advice from DeMaurice Smith.  This wasn't about trying to find agreement to prevent problems, this is a bold money grab by the union.  No private corporation should have to open their financial statements to the employees.  Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Ben Leber and every other player only should have financial information to one team, and that is Green Bay since the team is publicly owned.  They are employees, not stockholders or partial owners, they are employees strictly.  And the players aren't thinking about this past season when there were more blackouts than there have been in the past 15 years.  Ticket prices are priced sky high and in case they haven't been out in the real world, there is a tough economy out there.  People are feeling the crunch, but yet the players listened to their union head and are trying to grab more and more money for themselves.  It isn't about the players before or after them.  This is about the current players wanting more money, pure and simple.

If you look at my fandom, I primarily root for my team, not individual players.  When Warren Sapp played for the Buccaneers, I rooted for him each and every week.  When he went to the Raiders, I wanted him to fail to prove that he wasn't that good.  The NFL is more about the true Superstars and the Teams rather than the players.  Tell me that Buffalo Bills fans are cheering Chad Greenway and the way he plays each and every week.  They aren't.  Why?  Because he doesn't play for their team.  The name on the front of the jersey means much more than the name on the back.  And I am tired of the names on the back of the jersey trying to make themselves more important than they are.  And until the players can figure that out, we are going to have bad blood between the owners and players when it comes to financial negotiations. 

It is the union's gambit that their favorite judge, Judge Doty, from Minnesota will find in their favor for almost every ruling.  And you will see after there is a new agreement, that the NFLPA will reconstitute with the same people on top showing the world that this decertification was not serious.  It is the ploy of the money hungry players to get their employers to pay them more than the employer wants.  And that is the bottom line for this problem.  And that means that the problems come from the players and the former NFLPA.

Could I Quit The NHL?

For the past week I’ve seriously thought about this idea. It’s not just the Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty that’s making me contemplate the idea of not watching the NHL. It’s the lack of respect today’s players have for each other.

During last night’s game between the Philadelphia Flyers and Toronto Maple Leafs, I witnessed two players avoid serious injury because of an opponent’s lack of playing skills. In the first instance, Flyers forward/super pest Daniel Carcillo beat Leafs defenseman/iceberg Mike Komisarek to the puck in one corner of the Leafs zone. With Carcillo’s numbers staring him in the face Komisarek cross-checked Carcillo in his lower back, causing him to hit the boards face-first without a chance to protect himself and his legs splayed at very awkward angles. It’s amazing that Carcillo was able to play later in the period.

The second incident also happened in the first period. As Leafs forward Colby Armstrong crossed the blue line and into the Flyers zone, he wound up to shoot the puck into the corner. About a half-second after Armstrong shot the puck, a Flyers forward gave Armstrong a healthy shove in his shoulder and the side of his head, sending the Leafs forward flying horizontally into the boards head-first. This time there was no penalty for interference or roughing, only Armstrong getting up and slowly skating to the bench with a suspected shoulder injury.

I love hard hits, but only when they’re clean. As the past two seasons have gone by, I’ve witnessed more reckless hits than I ever have at any other time in my life and it’s gotten to the point where I don’t enjoy watching the game as much as I did. When will the senseless headhunting stop? Do we need another Bill Masterton tragedy to remind us how dangerous hockey is without dirty play from the likes of Randy Jones, Matt Cooke and Alex Burrows?

I’ve walked away from a sport before. I’ve never really come back to baseball after they cancelled the World Series nearly two decades ago. I’ve been to one baseball game since then, and the only reason why I went is because my then-employer paid for the ticket. Could I do the same with the NHL? I’ve had it with how Commissioner Gary Bettman has mismanaged the league over the past decade and the way I’m looking at my situation my free agency period begins on July 1st.

The NHL has their work cut out for them if they want me to continue paying for the NHL Center Ice package. There are other things I can do with my time. The CFL is an entertaining football league. I could spend more time watching motor sports. College football and basketball are now very popular here in San Diego.

I could also watch minor league hockey like I did in the mid-80s. Back then we called it the Los Angeles Kings.

They Said It

"Air Canada is a great brand, as is the National Hockey League. And if they decide they need to do other things with their sponsorship dollars, that's their prerogative, just like it's the prerogative of our clubs that fly on Air Canada to make other arrangements if they don't think Air Canada is giving them the appropriate level of service." – NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, March 10, 2011, in response to a threat by Air Canada to pull a multi-million dollar sponsorship.

I have a rule not to write a post about something that pisses me off for at least twenty-four hours. It’s now been over forty-eight hours and the anger I have over the Zdeno Chara hit on Max Pacioretty will not go away. In fact, my anger has risen to the level I have for people like Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and Chairman of the Board of National Organization For Marriage Maggie Gallagher.

There is only one way this anger will go away. NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has to go.

On Tuesday night, on the anniversary of Todd Bertuzzi’s assault on Steve Moore, I was horrified to learn that Pacioretty had suffered a broken neck and a severe concussion, eerily similar injuries that ended Moore’s career. Some people, such as NHL lackey Mike Murphy, believe the above photo is from “a hockey play” and that Chara is not a dirty player because he doesn’t have a record of disciplinary action.

I once knew a guy in high school who didn’t have a mean bone in his body. He was a wonderful guy to talk to whenever I ran into him at one of what seemed like a hundred weekend parties. After we graduated, we went our separate ways. I went to college and got my degree. The student I bumped into at parties? He murdered and is on death row awaiting his fate. To the best of my knowledge, he didn’t have a criminal record before he committed his crime.

Come to think of it, WWE wrestler Chris Benoit had a clean record before he and his family checked out too.

Now I’m not saying Chara is a killer, but to say he didn’t mean to hurt Pacioretty because he’s got a clean record is a load of what’s in the bottom of Chara’s shorts. I played hockey in a beer league in what wasn’t the safest of rinks. The boards had no give. The ice in the corner of the arena where the Zamboni was kept wasn’t level near the boards. There was Plexiglass on only part of the rink and the rest was covered in netting. There were divots in the ice from the figure skaters that used the rink during normal business hours. We only played a twenty-game season but by the fourth or fifth game every player could point out the dangerous places in the rink and changed their play accordingly to avoid serious injury.

As for Bettman, his public posturing to major sponsors and his handing of the sale of the Phoenix Coyotes proves he runs a garage league that quite frankly doesn’t deserve a national TV contract, let alone struggling franchises in the Sun Belt. Moving existing franchises to non-traditional markets was a mistake from the beginning and telling us that poor ownership is the problem doesn’t work. The Leafs have horrible owners and yet they still make money. The Pittsburgh Penguins were in and out of bankruptcy more times than Elizabeth Taylor has been married and yet they survived the darkness that was 70s and 80s.

It’s time to get rid of Bettman and find a real leader who can elevate the NHL so it’s at least on level ground with the NBA rather than re-runs of the PBA on ESPN Classic. I don’t buy Chara’s excuses, and I don’t care for the NHL’s disciplinarians that are ruining the game – and I’m sure the casual hockey fan shares my view.

Two games if you make misogynist comments about Elisha Cuthbert but none for a broken neck? Give me a break, but not in my fourth cervical vertebrae, okay?

I could care less

• about Tom Brady's hair or his lack of dancing skills
• whether Shaq could have saved the Notorious BIG
• that some Miami Heat players can cry
• at the risk of exile, I don't care a whole lot about preseason baseball, other than the fact that it means real baseball is nigh
• about the NFL labor negotiations because they're frankly not telling the media and thus us anything useful, and there's nothing we can do about it anyway
• and I certainly don't give a rat's ass about Charlie Sheen

The reason I don't care about these things is pretty straightforward...they're not worth caring about or spending any time thinking about.  The reason that I'm writing this post is because I seemingly can't get away from these topics, due in large part to the voracious appetite of sports fans, particularly here in New England, for apparently any tangential sports news, and also because we have two regional sports networks and all of the other local sports media trying to fill their air time and pages.  I admit I'm spoiled and appreciative of the fact that we care enough about our local teams and sports in general that we can support these networks but the negative side effect is that they often have to fill air time with non-stories...over and over and over again.

With the NHL and NBA regular seasons winding down and the NASCAR season just begun, say nothing about college hoops and hockey or the EPL, aren't there enough real sports stories out there to fill up air time?

What could you care less about?