Cleaning the 'in' box

Got a handful of emails flaming me on why I didn’t give kudos to the ‘top ten finish’ the 19 car had at ‘Dorothy land’ this past weekend. The answer is pretty simple. I didn’t catch the first 80% of the race on TeVee and was forced to listen to the ‘beating’ of MRN while driving back from another commitment.

I did get to watch the final segment and yes, the 19 car was fighting to maintain that top ten, and frankly it was fun to watch. Was it smoke and mirrors because much of the field was off pit sequence and stuck deep in the field? Maybe, but that is something that the ‘Southern Gentleman’ cannot control. What he could control (or seemed to) was a very hard challenge by the 8 car, and proceeded to dispose of the ‘lame duck’ driver. I am sure it was just as refreshing for the 19 team as it was for me to see the 19 car actually pass cars on the track and not in the pits by taking two tires. Maybe this finish is the spark to re-ignite this race team.


Speaking of MRN:
I read and hear all the time, Nascar fans complaining about TeVee race coverage and how ‘great’ MRN does with their radio broadcast. I guess these fans did not listen to the Kansas MRN broadcast. Missed restarts, yellows during commercial breaks and bias coverage to a handful of drivers were the theme of the day. But I guess it is only fair since I defend the TeVee broadcast much of the time, that MRN is simply doing the same thing and cannot ‘predict’ the future. TeVee has the ‘over talker’ with Rusty Wallace, and MRN has the grating voice of Steve Post. I’ll call it a draw.


Play-off baseball on TBS????
I have seen a few complaints that the race coverage after the 2nd red flag was not on Network TeVee because the race was going well over the allotted time. I understand that not everyone race fan has access to ESPN2 but what is ABC going to do? On the flip side, we see Major League Baseball have a ‘play-in’ play-off game and none of the play-off networks would pick up the game and people were forced to watch the game on TBS, and not even in HD.


Off to the Jungle:
Leaving this week for the annual trek to the fall Dega race. This is probably one of my favorite race/sporting weekends as there is nothing better than the Rving at Dega, deep in the heart of SEC country. Added bonuses this year is the debut of the C.O.T. at a plate track, and that the Red River Shootout will be broadcast on local TeVee so I should not miss a down as long as the batteries hold up on the hand held TeVee, while sitting in the Allison Grandstands on the backstretch. (Maybe the best value of a race ticket in Nascar) It is all well worth the 11 plus hour 'beating' of pulling the RV from Dallas to Dega, then back again.

Who saw that coming?

an OU/CU Game Review

Sometimes a team has a game where nothing goes right. Then there are those games that take it to the next level and everything completely goes wrong. OU’s game against CU was just such a game. The Sooners were obviously flat, especially on offense, from the outset.

I thought the playcalling on offense was suspect and a little in a rut, if you will. There was too much running on first and second down then throw on third and long. The run off tackle was decent, but not between the tackles. So it looks to me like you don’t keep calling that inside run. Perhaps more rollout passes and some misdirection or reverse. I’m not sure why we got conservative all of a sudden.

Bradford didn’t do all that bad, though he didn’t have a great game. He had trouble seeing that blitz the Buffs kept using and getting checked to the right play. It’s asking a lot of a freshman QB to make those very consistently. He never threw to Kelly and nobody seems to know why. In his defense, he had some passes right on target that were dropped. Sam played well enough for OU to win.

Patrick had some really nice runs. None of the other guys shook things up that much. Kudos to Pleasant, I think it was, who caught the FB pass and absolutely fought for a first down. Would that the entire offense had fought that hard in the game.

TE’s and WR’s had dropsies pretty bad. The TE passing game was there at times, but the guys didn’t consistently catch. It was really weird how low-energy their performance was.

The defense didn’t play that badly till they got wore out. Part of that is on the offense, but with our rotation, legs should have been more fresh. Perhaps they had an issue going on between the ears like the offense, whatever that issue was.

We got good pressure on blitzes and the front four gave chase pretty good. There was really good tackling, lots of gang tackling. The guys kept stripping the ball more than usual, even early in the game.

CU’s misdirection runs are what killed us. We did not have backside containment on that at all. It was over pursuit that reminded me of 2005.

The DL got good pressure in the passing game and played pretty well against the run till later in the game. Davis got heavy action in relief of Williams. He seemed to have a good game, coming back to tackle on short passes, shedding a block to tip a key pass. I’m not sure if he was the culprit that was out of position on those misdirection plays. Some of that is on the DE, but I never could figure out it was on any one player consistently.

Lofton and Reynolds were all over the place and hitting like a truck. They are excellent tacklers and great in the open field. Lofton dropped a potential INT and CU scored on the next play. There were a lot of little things like that, but they become huge when you look at the final score.

The DB’s were playing okay early, especially Wolfe. Kudos to him for 2 INT’s and great return skills. But as the game wore on we had some real coverage issues. It looked like Walker got burned on a late CU TD. However, as I often say, the coverage schemes are complicated enough that I’m not sure who was struggling. I will say I’ve never been completely sold on Coach BJW as a DB coach. I’m not seeing much to change my mind. Some fans are displeased with Venables as a DC. I think the D has gotten better and plays well for Brent. However, BJW seems to be a better DE coach than DB coach.

The DB’s do tackle really well and are great in run support. Lendy also dropped a potential INT, but is a solid tackler. You gotta give the guy credit there. Harris made a diving play to bat down a pass that was *this close* to being an INT. That’s the story of the game; a bunch of really close stuff that never seemed to click.

Punt/Kick coverage was a little rough, though the CU Kick return guy is a stud. I thought CU was getting by with a little blocking in the back on some of that, but nothing major.

Smith had a little more success returning punts until he had the late muffed punt. That killed us; that’s when I felt certain we’d lose. Iglesias had a bad idea on the one kick return that wound up being a touchback. When in doubt just take a knee. He did have a nice return later for about 25 or 30.

I’m not sure what conclusive evidence the replay refs saw to reverse JI’s late catch, but they put the ball on a plane, flew it to the west coast and gave it to Oregon. You could debate the thing, but not conclusively enough to overturn the call on the field. That was a backbreaker, but the Sooners should not have put themselves in that position to begin with.

Look back at it you people and you will see a lot of nearly and almost. You’ll also see a lot of sloppy and stuff so out of character that it’s creepy. The second half especially was so strange. We’re up 24-7 and everything keeps happening almost like we were destined to lose.

Whatever voodoo was in the air can certainly be shaken off. If this team takes the lessons to heart and pulls back together we’ve got a chance to win the conference. We still control our own destiny. Win out and you’re in the CCG. With a little help, we could even be in the title hunt, though that’s a stretch. The Horns lost too so next week should be interesting. Here’s to hoping we return to early season form. Boomer Sooner!
----------------------------------------------------

I have always said that the polls should not come out till at least week five of the season. Most teams have now played five games so here is my top 25:

1. LSU
2. USC
3. California
4. Ohio State
5. Wisconsin
6. South Florida
7. Boston College
8. Kentucky
9. S. Carolina
10. Florida (tie)
10. Oklahoma (tie)
12. Georgia
13. Oregon
14 West Virginia
15. Virginia Tech
16. Texas
17. Missouri
18. Arizona State
19. Hawaii
20. Cincinnati
21. Rutgers
22. Clemson
23. Purdue
24. Kansas State
25. Nebraska

But its just a boring 4-0

Call me crazy, but I thought the Tulsa game was exciting. Not just in the "I want to win every game by at least 50 points" sort of way either. I'll admit it. I love Tulsa and their brand of ball. Any Tulsa fans who happen upon this meaningless blurb can re-read that if you need, but I mean it.

Don't get me wrong. I'd rather OU have the offense we have, but for where Tulsa's at, their scheme works well for them. And there will probably be aspects of that scheme that find their way into gameplans at bigger schools. It also needs to be said, that crazy stuff is good for the sport. It's refreshing to see excessive creativity and "out of the box" thinking. It's hard to know what's coming next and it's fun to watch.

The Sooner offense cranked out the production we expected, lots of yards and lots of points. There seemed to be a little more emphasis on basic plays than in the first three games. I'm fine with that. Opponents have seen a variety of things for which to prepare. Some fundamentals in base run plays needed to be polished. An opportunity to wear down Tulsa's front seven needed to be seized.

OU QB Sam Bradford continues to impress, though he had an errant throw picked. I'm sort of glad he had a chance to experience that for the first time now instead of later. The RB's continue to impress and Patrick showed he's got his stride back. We're STILL throwing to the TE [YES!] and JI showed defenses why they'd better think twice before they key completely on Kelly.

I can't shake the feeling we're going to see much more from this o-line that's already quite good. I'm talking about some key game down the line where these guys just take the thing over and drive somebody off the ball when we need it the most.

I guess we could sit here and gripe that the defense gave up over 350 yards in the air and 21 points. Maybe there's some room for that, but I suspect Tulsa's offense is harder to stop than we might think. It's like every play is a trick play or something you really don't expect. In spite of giving up a lot of yards, much of those yards were between the 20's. Think back to some Tech games and you'll remember the defense gave up some yards, but held down the points. In fact, think of some Switzer defenses against early spread offenses in the days of yore. Similar story Saturday.

The front seven continue to play well. The DE's are solid and we're seeing good push from the DT's. Our LB's are amazing compared to what I was hoping for at the beginning of the season.

Some folks are disappointed at the DB's, but I'm not sure they performed that badly. Some schemes will yield an open receiver frequently if the play has just a moment to develop. And I'm a little slow to blame a specific DB because it's hard for fans to have a handle on exactly which coverage busted. Whatever questions we may have about coverage, it needs to be said the tackling is good.

Special teams still show flashes of greatness and flashes of question marks. Did we have one missed FG and one missed PAT? I think that's right. That really needs to tighten up. But we also need to remember our guy can kick the long FG, consistently buries the KO, and coverage is good.

OU is not playing the tough games some teams are playing, but different aspects of the team are being tested each week. I hear from friends, fans of other schools, that this team looks more like the real deal all the time. That gets easier to believe with each passing week and I like me some of that! On to boulder, Boomer Sooner!

Spotterman speaks his mind

Spotterman makes another appearance on SFC and add his two cents about last week’s Dover race, the COT and college football. What is interesting about his opinions is that he falls for one of the most common ironies of Nascar fans. That is the double standard of ‘criticism’. This double standard is lumping a lot of independent issues and blaming some broad entity, in this case Nascar (usually spelled NA$CAR) Its a lot like blaming ‘big oil’ for every cent price increase of a gallon of gas. Then conversely walking on eggshells with his criticism of his beloved South Carolina Gamecocks football team. But I am getting ahead of myself.

Here is a portion of Spotterman’s opinion of the Dover race and the COT in a thread he titled ‘BORING Race’:

“Obviously the last 50 laps or so were interesting due to all of the wrecks but how did you all feel about the first 350? I have never been so bored on the roof in my life! These guys aren't able to race hard in these cars. Give them some downforce, some softer tires and let's go racing. This is like watching a John Deere race.”

While there is little doubt that this past Dover race was a snoozer, laying blame on the COT and Goodyear might be a little bit misleading, especially considering the history of this track.

1) Dover’s first Cup race was in 1969 and was only 300 laps (300 miles). This race also must have been ‘boring’ with only 4 cautions and only ONE car finishing on the lead lap. (The 2nd place car finished 6 laps down)
2) Two years later in 1971 the race went from 300 laps (300 miles) to 500 laps (500 miles) and went caution free. Once again, only one car finishing on the lead lap.
3) Dover changed the racing surface from Asphalt to Concrete in 1995 from 1969 to 1994 the average number of cars finishing on the lead lap was less the 3 cars per race.
4) From 1995 to present with the Concrete surface the average number of cars finishing on the lead lap is just a little over 9 cars per race.
5) In all of the Dover races, the average cars finishing on the lead lap are just over 5 cars per race.

So maybe, just maybe the problem is not the COT or Goodyear, but the nature of the track itself. Would a softer tire make for a more ‘racier’ car? Probably, but are you willing to trade that for more tire failures? One has to just flashback a few years ago when Goodyear under Nascar’s blessing went to softer tires, and the teams whined after each failure. Then this issue is compounded by the fact that Dover races have a history of long green flag runs, thus making tire wear an even more of a priority.


Later in the thread however, Spotterman shifts gears and give an opinion on South Carolina Football. He expresses his displeasure over the loss to LSU (maybe the best team in the country right now though) with this comment:

“I can honestly say we were out-coached, in my opinion. Turnovers by the players definitely hurt us but that has to be the worst game Spurrier has ever coached since he came to South Carolina. He pulled the starting QB, didn't play the back that was so dominant on the first scoring drive and was asleep on the FG attempt, which with the fake led to a touchdown.”

Every one of these statements/opinions are fair and even justified. But then ironically Spotterman feels some need to quantify his statement with this:

“I am not bashing a team or coach I support just stating my displeasures on that particular game. There's always next week and in the end... Who am I to be a Monday morning quarterback? I'm no one which is why I'll remain a fan and let the folks that know how to make NCAA football exciting do their jobs. We could all rant and rave when our teams don't do well but if you haven't walked in their shoes you need to lace your shoes up and zip it. I'm lacing and zipping as I type... You either support a team or you don't.”

The irony is that for some reason his opinion about the COT and Goodyear is justified and ‘okay’, yet on the other hand his displeasures of the Gamecock effort need some back peddling as in is own words, he is ‘just a fan’ and that he should ‘and let the folks that know how to make NCAA football exciting do their jobs’. For some reason, this doesn’t apply to Nascar, and thus the irony. You either support Nascar or you don’t…right?

But Spotterman is not alone as this is very common among Nascar fans. (Myself included) While I don’t agree with his opinion of ‘fixing’ the COT, his opinion is noted. And he is probably dead on about the Gamecocks and their head coach, as in the coming games and years as they will experience much success.

CoockaDooodleDoooo!!!!

and oh yea….BOOMER SOONER!!!!!

The Best 17th Place Finish is Nascar History?

You hear the cliche all the time in other stick and ball sports where someone says, "you wont see that on the stat page tomorrow morning" and nothing could apply more to the 19's team effort from Dover.

I don't think there was one instance where the 19 car actually improved his position 'on the track', but did manage to salvage a nice finish through good pits stops, a spotter who has cat like reflexes guiding his driver through wrecks, and a driver who listens to that almost 'psychic like' spotter.

Starting 12th, the 19car almost immediately began sporting the now patented 'falling back through the field' with an ill handing car to the high 30s in the field. It's like a broken record hearing 'loose on entry, tight in the middle, loose off', repeat as needed.

But sometimes it is not how fast the car is (even one that really was only a tenth or so 'off') but how the whole team reacts. The crescendo came with just a handful of laps left in the race when the 'big one' happened just in front of the 19car, and the plethora of 'back it down, back it down, wave em off' by spotterman and the presence of mind of the driver to slow his car without flat spotting the tires. That exchange won't go in any record books, but probably was the difference from finishing 17th compared to the possible 34th. So the next time we hear about how 'bad luck' played into a finish, the opposite is true for this week's Dover finish.

And lastly:

I thought upstart Denny Hamlin showed much maturity and restraint with ole guard driver Kyle Petty. While on the track Hamlin may have made a bonehead move, off the track he remained calm and simply watched Petty make himself look foolish.

Score one for a 'young gun'.

LEAVE ELLIOTT ALONE!!!!!

LEAVE ELLIOTT ALONE!!!!

A tearful Britney Spears fan named Chris Crocker posted a passionate video called "Leave Britney Alone"! [video below] on YouTube after the pop star’s disastrous MTV Awards performance. Crocker’s video has become an instant YouTube hit and has gotten about 4 million views.

If Chris Croker was a Nascar fan, I’m thinking his next YouTube video might look something like this!

"How friggin dare anyone out there make fun of Elliott Sadler after all he has been through. He lost all his eye candy, he went through a nasty break-up. He has 80 gazzillion friggin dogs. His sweety turned out to have a mind of her own, and now he going through a custody battle over those dogs!

All you people care about is…........ readers and making money off of him.

HE’S A HUMAN!

What you don’t realize is that the ‘Southern Gentleman' is making you all this money and all you do is write a bunch of crap about him. He hasn’t performed on the track in years. His latest Track Side Live bit is called “worst car ever” for a reason because all you people want is MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE.

LEAVE HIM ALONE!

You are lucky he even raced for you BASTARDS!

LEEEAVE ELLIOTT ALLLLLONE!…...........Please.

Mike Helton talked about professionalism and said if Elliott was a professional he would’ve pulled it off no matter what. Speaking of professionalism, when is it professional to publicly bash someone who is going through a hard time. Leave Elliott Alone Please….

Leave Elliott Sadler alone…right now…......

I MEAN IT!!!!

Anyone that has a problem with him you deal with the Tartan, because he is not well right now. leave him alone!!!!!"


This could almost double as 'hate' email I receive especially with the justifications and excuses given. But they are good for a giggle now and then.


And just in case you have been living under a rock the past couple of weeks, here is the original clip.
'Leave Britney Alone"

Say it ain't so, Roger

So NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell slams the hammer down on the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick. The sanctions and penalties levied were fining the head coach $500,000, the Patriot organization $250,000 and have to forfeit either a 1st round pick or a 2nd and 3rd round pick next year. But what did they really do?

The Patriots were guilty of breaking a very vague rule of 'recording (or stealing) defensive signals', which in Nascar terms is about the same as proving the intent of having a car fail post race inspection for having the left front fender measuring 'too low'. But here is the catch, the NFL before the season started specifically warned the Patriots to not do this very thing. Does this sound a bit familiar with the Nascar warning to teams before Speed Weeks this past February?

But the real problem here is the inconsistency of NFL Commissioner Roger Goddell's sanctions this year. He suspends former Bears quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson five-games and $100,000 fine for purchasing over the internet HGH (Human Growth Hormone) for his personal use to counter diabetes by normalizing sugar metabolism gradually. There has not been any proof provided to the NFL that any HGH was funneled to players or that it ever left Wilson's home.

Adam "Pacman" Jones was also suspended for whole season for off-field incidents with the law along with Chris Henry who was suspended for 8 games.

But the message the NFL is sending is clear, have illegal substances, even as a coach, continue to get arrested and plan on getting suspended. get caught CHEATING on some vague rule and get a slap on the wrist with some monetary fine, and no suspensions. Some might say that losing a 1st round draft pick is hash, but what they are forgetting as that the Patriots will have another 1st round draft pick as well.

We ask Nascar to publish their rulebook and have specific penalties for violations, but somehow the NFL 'gets away' with the same thing by allowing the Commissioner to subjectively access penalties as he sees fit.

Sounds alot like the NCAA, the NBA, MLB and the list goes on and on, it is not just Nascar.

A Train Wreck Right Before Our Eyes, Elliott Sadler style

While watching College football most of Saturday and Saturday evening, I still had the presence of mind to use the greatness of the Internet and Trackpass to help me keep up with the Nascar race.

It was just a little bit after the cross flags when the scanner chat of the 19 radio came to a crescendo. But what many may not realize, this is not anything we have not heard over the scanners before from the “Southern Gentleman” and if he holds true to form, the over/under of how long it will take for him to have a complete meltdown on his Crew Chief is about 3 races.

I wish I had a dollar for each time Sadler makes the comment that “this is by far the worst race-car I have ever driven”. This has become as much as a weekly comment as his second favorite, “I think I have a tire going down”, only to hear the Crew Chief after an unscheduled pit stop comment that ‘all the tire pressures were up’. But it is a sad day when they owner has to come on the radio and attempt to keep the driver clear and focused because of the driver’s comments which once again indicates that he has ‘given up’ for the night. The “Southern Gentleman” sounded more like he was in kindergarten and had to miss recess because he was in trouble. It was borderline ‘pouting’.

The last time the ‘Southern Gentleman’ had a meltdown like this, he was dropping F-Bombs on the scanner towards his Crew Chief and Crew claiming that ‘Since you guys are not F-ing doing anything, why don’t you ask…….. What I did wrong?’ (After Nascar re-aligned some of the field under a caution) This was in his final season with RYR.

Then there was the conversation that began with ‘Brett, what position am I running in’? Being human, it seems that Spotterman could not give his usual immediate answer as he was ‘taking a break’. I guess red flags are good for something! But soon the conversation shifted and what could have been a simply ‘honest’ comment by the Spotterman, or it my have been a brilliant move to turn a “pouting child’s” attitude around. Spotterman made the comment that ‘everyone up here (the spotterstand) are checking their Blackberries for College Football scores.” Sadler responded with ‘How did the Tarheels do?” Brett responded with “Tarheels got beat by 3, E”. Sadler then asked how Brett’s South Carolina team did, and with a chuckle the response was "Cockadoodle doo baby!"

So much for the ‘Hokie Club’ membership and allegiance the “Southern Gentleman” was claiming earlier in the season! But it was a classic move by Spotterman to deflect some of the negative attitude that was spilling out of the 19 car.

And lastly from off the track, a couple of weeks ago the “Southern Gentleman” denied having ANY contact with former sponsor M&M/Mars.

"I haven't talked to them…….I don't see it happening to be honest with you. I haven't really talked to the guys.”

This statement reeks with semantics, especially coming from someone who just a little over a year ago for months denied ‘talking to EMS’ and owner Ray Evernham, only to be named the driver of the 19. That spin has been well documented before.

This statement takes another twist when you see Spotterman on SFC, countering articles claiming that M&Ms/Mars have a clause with RYR, that they cannot sponsor a Sadler driven car until after the ’08 season.

While M&Ms/Mars has not made their ’08 plans public knowledge, they have privately and internally made a decision on which direction they will be going next year. Is it with the ‘Southern Gentleman’? Maybe, maybe not. Has the ‘Southern Gentleman’ personally spoke to M&Ms/Mars? Probably not, but I would bet the farm that his representatives have and know exactly where M&Ms/Mars will be next season.

This spins better than the 19car after a few ‘chassis changes’!

This is a must read

I couldn't have said it any better and this blog echoes what I have been saying for a couple years now. Of course it is no fun watching the 19 literal go backwards on the track each week, but it is even worse when one is only considered a 'fan' by how much they 'pay'.

Short Cut

Lost in the Chase

With all the talk of what the 8 car has to do in order to make the chase, one item seems to be overlooked. That 100 points docked for using illegal wing brackets during pre-race inspection at Darlington. I can almost hear the 'what ifs' from the Junior Nation if the 8 car does finish within 100 points of the 29.