Phoenix quick hits

You just knew it was going to be a strange night when the FOX hierarchy decided to forgo the pre-race ceremony broadcast, in favor of a Major TeVee Market Area rained delayed Baseball broadcast. Actually, I understand their logic, I don't have to like it, but I understand it. But there were a few 'Heidi' jokes in the 'race chat' that I frequent during races.

Listening to the 19 team's scanner chat was pretty interesting. Elliott Sadler once again didn't like his car, but he also seemed to have a sense of focus and priority about his communication for the changes he wanted. That can only be viewed as a good sign. I understand that only a little more than halfway of the race was complete when the 19 had the terminal mechanical problems, but it would have been very interesting to see how the cooler track temps would have effected Sadler in the long run.

After the 19 went out of the race, I switch to listening to the 48 team (my ole standby back in the days of only having a dozen or so cars on TrackPass) The calmness and drive this team seems to have when going through adversity in a nut shell, is breath taking. Even near the end of the race when fuel windows were in question there was no panic over the scanner. I guess that why there are a couple of Sprint Cups in the 48's trophy case these days.

Over all, it was another entertaining race. I just wish the 19 can get rid of those inner demons when they have what seems to be a competitive car. Maybe in two weeks at Dega!.

"M&Ms", the wrong stuff

The first 'M'

It is the 'Masters' weekend and probably one of the only weekends (other than the U.S. Open) that I will follow a PGA tournament very closely. Here are a few observations:
If Nascar ran a race like the Masters run their tournament, we might see some interesting things, some good, some bad.

1) There would be no female race officials, team members or even wifes/girlfriends/pit lizards being allowed in some areas of the garage.
2) Who ever broadcast the race would only be allowed to broadcast under the condition of 'limited commercial breaks'. Less than 1/3 of the 'normal' commercial break time allotted.
3) Past race winners would get an automatic qualifying exemption and would be allowed to participate come race day.
4) Concession vendors would be required to sell their goods at a 'reasonable' prices dictated by the race venue. ($1.25 sandwiches, and $.75 soft drinks for example)
5) If a race team dominated a venue too much, the venue would drastically change the race conditions to 'Tigerize' the venue.
6) No cameras would be allowed into a race venue after qualifying.
7) Because of sponsorship conflicts, never would you see a high angle camera shot or a camera shot from outside the track, for fear of a competing sponsor's sign or T-Shirt being seen.

the second 'M'

Major League Baseball is now in the middle of a quandary with a possible 'cheating' scandal. Angels pitcher Francisco Rodriquez is under investigation for possibly doctoring the baseball in just the first three games of this baseball season. Now this really isn't a huge deal over-all, but MLB could be held to a bit of scrutiny and penalty consistency.

Lets take a look at what we know as if right now:

1) 4-2-2007, against the Texas Rangers, Rodriquez put something on the ball repeatedly during the 9th inning, and wasn’t even subtle about it. In every instance the type of pitch thrown after 'going to the brim of the cap', was a breaking ball. Never once did Rodriquez make this action prior to throwing a fastball.
2) 4-3-07 game, there isn’t the kind of totally blatant grab-the-brim-then-rub-thumb repeatedly, but it’s even more clear that there’s something on his hat brim and he’s putting his thumb right on it.

So how does this relate to Nascar? Other than the fact that this is cheating, the real relativity might come from just how MLB chooses to punish the offender (if they do anything at all). Then let the conspiracy theories fly, just as they do in Nascar for the 'certain drivers can get away with doing the same thing, that other drivers are penalized for'.

But in order to fully understand this, flashback to the 2006 MLB post season and Detroit Tiger pitcher Kenny Rogers. On more than one occasion Rogers was seen with a 'substance' on his pitching hand. An obvious rules violation.
This isn't the first time cameras have caught Kenny Rogers with a foreign substance on his pitching hand. Rogers clearly had a similar substance beneath his thumb during Game 3 of the ALCS on Oct. 13. and on July 20 start against the White Sox, there appears to be a trace of something in the same place.

Just what are the odds of having 'dirt/mud' three different times on the same place on a pitching hand?
The moral of the story is that Rogers was not punished at all, other than told by the umpires to 'wash his hands' before returning to the mound in game 3 of the World Series.

The Dreaded "C" Word

Hearing the excuses from the Evernham fans the past few weeks opens up room for much discussion. Excuses like; (a) "How can Nascar penalize the 10 and 19 teams when the teams used the same fasteners the previous year?" (b) "If it is okay last year then it should be okay this year." or (c) "Its Nascar's fault for not catching them last year, but decides to catch them this year". But this blog really isn't about the Evernham cheating with the 10 and 19 cars specifically, but it is more about the premise of when and how a participant gets caught cheating, and how many other times that participant got away with it.

A Recent Sports Illustrated report makes the claim that Los Angeles Angels outfielder Gary Matthews has been directly linked to receiving Human Growth Hormone (HGH) in 2004. Using the excuses sited above, should Matthews have the Scarlet Letter "C" branded on him as a 'cheater'?

A few facts about HGH, Major League Baseball since 2004.
1) Taking HGH in 2004 wasn't technically against Major League Baseball rules, since that substance wasn't added to the banned list until 2005
2) There is no direct evidence that Matthews in 2005 or even 2006 took HGH after the substance was banned by Major League Baseball.
3) To date: Major League Baseball still does not have a proven screening for HGH.

Lets just make a couple of assumptions that Matthews in '04 and as recently as last year did indeed take HGH in order to better his on field performances and apply the same excuses/questions that some a the Evernham fans are using.

1) How can Major League Baseball (and the public in general) penalize Matthews for receiving a substance that was not even illegal under the rules in 2004?

2) If it was okay to use in previous years, shouldn't it be okay to use this year?

3) Its Major League Baseball's fault for not coming up with a test but deciding to make a substance illegal. After all they didn't catch Matthews in '04, '05, or even last year. Why is this year any different?

Now don't get me wrong, I am not defending Matthews in any way, but I am pointing out the bias of the excuses given when it comes to recent Nascar penalties.