Missy Franklin...Good as Gold!!!

Greetings from the Hoodwood where most of the locals have Olympic fever, except for me. I think its allergies.

The Lady Bandit was big on watching the Opening Cermonies of the Olympic games. I wasn’t that interested. Though, I did catch the part with Daniel Craig as James Bond escorting the Queen (and that was really Queen Elizabeth II) to the games.

I thought it amusing and cool that the Queen was a good sport and took an active part in welcoming the games to her city. I guess I just haven’t been really big on the Olympic games other than watching both the Mens and Womens US basketball teams take apart hapless opponents. The media seems to want to see the US mens team take a pratfall though for some reason. Their opening game against France supposedly being a “true test”, the Americans passed this one taking a quarter to warm up then proceeding to house the French to the tune of 98-71. That game could have been hella worse but you can be sure Tunisia and Nigeria are not liking the fact that they are next on the USA beating docket. I’ll be more interested when US plays Lithuania and Argentina.

NFL:  Coming soon on ESPN, its Jets watch! All Tebow…umm Jets all the time.

You wonder why there are so many people that despise Tim Tebow? How about the constant overexposure that the so called Worldwide leader in Sports is giving a second string QB and a team that didn’t even make the playoffs last year. I can understand the media scrutiny of the Broncos since they have gotten one of the best quarterbacks of my generation as a free agent. I don’t understand the fascination with Tebow. I feel the most bad for poor Mark Sanchez, the erstwhile starter who is now looking over his shoulder at the media monster that is Tebow. Its gotta so bad that this happened.

I will give Sanchez mad dap and credit he is handling what is a rightlfully awkward situation with grace diplomacy and aplomb but you know that he is under the gun. Let him have a bad opening series against the Bills in week 1 and you will hear the chants for Tebow right away and don’t think that the newly svelte but still grinning and jeering Rex Ryan wont have rabbit ears. The bookies at the Hoodwood Lounge have the over/under for  Tebow to get the  starting nod at 6 weeks. Im taking the under.

NCAA Football: Getting out of Happy Valley

Many of the Penn State players are putting on the brave face and swearing their loyalty to their school and that is to be admired. There are also some prep players who have reaffirmed their commitment to Penn State which also is to be praised. I also feel for the players that feel that transferring out is their best way to keep their pro dreams alive. Contrary to popular thinking though, star running back Silas Redd is not the first player to beat a path out of State College, PA. That honor goes to former walk backup safety Tim Buckley who is transferring to NC State. Buckley,  who took advantage of the fact of the free transfer ability afforded Penn State players and the fact that he was redshirted in 2011 to be able to have all four years of eligibility. The thinking is not if Silas Redd will be heading west, into the waiting arms of Lane Kiffin and Southern Cal but when. Redd has said that the Freeh report had nothing to do with his considering transferring. I doubt that seriously, but the sanctions are likely going to push him out the door. I do think it insulting to the football fans intelligence that Bret Bielema of Wisconsin and Urban Meyer of Ohio State have more or less stated that they were not interested in raiding the Penn State roster for players.  Illinois however has made it very clear that they will not turn down interested Penn State transfers. Will this make for extra hard feelings between Penn State and it s Big Ten brethren…stay tuned. But I will not be surprised to see more players follow Redd out the door as the cloud of probation settles over Happy Valley like a thick fog.

Olympics: Solo shooting off her mouth

Ive chronicled Womens soccer here in Hoodwood before and can appreciate their game. But I just don’t get Hope Solo the acerbic goalkeeper for the American team. She took soccer commentator, legend and former teammate Brandi Chastain to task for what she thought were overly critical comment made about Solo’s current  teammate Rachel Buehler.  Chastain pointed out that in her commentary that the players  had to  "Defend. Win the ball. And then keep possession. And that's something that Rachel Buehler actually needs to, I think, improve on in this tournament." Nothing outlandish here, but Solo took to Twitter and bashed Chastain for her comments saying "Its 2 bad we cant have commentators who better represents the team&knows more about the game." Huh? Im sorry but I think that Chastain has just a bit of credibility here and her comments were neither incorrect nor inflammatory. Solo is well known for her ability to throw others under the bus, she was highly critical of then US Coach Greg Ryan for benching her in favor of Brianna Scurry in the 2007 Womens World Cup. She not only criticized Ryan but Scurry’s play, a move that got her kicked off the squad. She returned to good graces for the 2008 Olympics and was stellar in her play in last years Women’s World Cup play. But she really needs to focus more on her play than having rabbit ears about commentary. I understand that she was sticking up for a teammate that she felt was unfairly criticized but the way it was done was just all wrong.

MLB: The best team you likely have heard little about…

If I told you that there was a team that lost one of its biggest name players and still had the best record in baseball you be cursing the Yankees under your breath right or marveling about the Washington Nationals right? You would be wrong. The team Im referring to are the Cincinnati Reds. The Reds lost superstar slugger Joey Votto for 3-4 weeks after knee surgery and have been battling the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates for control of the NL Central. But undaunted by the loss, the Reds have ripped off a ten game win streak and have managed to keep the strong Buccos at bay. This is a team that suddenly has a deep pitching staff and a frightening hammer coming out of the pen in Aroldis Chapman who hits triple digits with the frequency of Princess Katie hitting the wings on the dinner buffet, which is to say often. Look for a superstar? Brandon Phillips was an overlooked All-Star and gold glover and Jay Bruce is a solid bat but  by and large this team is an unremarkable cast of grinders who seem to find a new hero every day. The ten game win streak has also cost their legendary broadcaster Marty Brennaman his hair as he has to shave his head to honor a bet if the Reds won ten. The Reds are looking better than the surprise 2010 squad that rolled to a division crown but were quickly ushered out by the Phillies in the NLDS. This is a team that could make noise in October and no one is paying attention.

PHAT DAP/HEAD SLAP

Phat Dap

To American swimmers Missy Franklin and Matt Grevers who dominated the 100m backstroke in the womens and mens events respectively. Franklin is all of 17, do you think that she will have something show off going back for her senior year in high school? Gravers for his part only set an Olympic record with a stunning rally on the back end of the race and gave the US its fifth straight medal in this race. That’s bringing the gold home in style.

Head Slap

To the Spainish Mens Soccer team, supposedly so dominant and the odds on favorite to win the Olympic Gold Medal, was eliminated from medal contention after losing a pair of 1-0 matches to Japan and Honduras. The Spainards were planning on adding a gold medal to their impressive run of titles over the last few years and fell flat on their faces.

I know I keep promising pics on the mancave but its coming along slower than expected. More details to follow.

Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!

Another Monday is here which means it's time for some more thoughts from the couch.

The Olympics are underway, and if you're anything like me you were left with a huge "What the Hell" look on your face after the opening ceremony finally ended after about 18 hours of odd crap that somehow tied into the Olympics. I'm still trying to figure out how James Bond jumping out of a plane with the Queen, Mary Poppins, and Voldemort have anything to do with the Olympics; but hey - more power to England for confusing the rest of the world.

I will give them credit for one thing though - the torch lighting was pretty cool. And, at least they didn't screw up like Vancouver did in the 2010 Winter Olympics and leave part of the torch unlit, so I give them credit for that.

As far as I'm concerned, the Olympics are over. I just don't get into the summer games like I do the winter ones, and I don't watch them just because they're the Olympics. To me the only sport that I really like to watch is basketball, and it's really not worth watching because there are only about three teams that are any good, and it's not worth taking time out of my life to watch the US beat someone by 50+ points. So, I'll just wait two more years until the Winter Olympics are back on so I can watch what I consider the more interesting sports.

Oh wait, I just remembered that Curling is now an Olympic sport. I'll probably check that out because it is interesting to watch. And I'll probably watch some of the women's events - especially the ones where they wear skimpy clothing, for obvious reasons. But other than that, I'm gonna skip the games.

Something I am looking forward to is the start of football season. Training camps have already opened up, and the Hall of Fame Game is this coming Sunday at 8:00 PM. The Cardinals will square off against the Saints in this year's installment of the game. The NFL will also induct the Hall of Fame Class of 2012 on Saturday night, and NFL Network will provide coverage for the event. This year's class includes: Jack Butler, Dermontti Dawson, Chris Doleman, Cortez Kennedy, Curtis Martin, and Willie Roaf.

The one person missing from that list of players to be enshrined in Canton is one of the biggest oversights in football history - or as our old friend 3rdstone (RIP) would call it: a Crazy Canton Cut - is WR Cris Carter. I still can't believe he's not in the Hall of Fame. It's an absolute joke that the HOF committee keeps giving him the shaft, especially when they've let lesser deserving guys get in before him (here's looking at you Michael Irvin).

What more does Carter have to do to get in the hall? I mean, he's only 4th all time in receptions and receiving TD's, and 8th all time in receiving yards. What more does he have to do? Is it because he never won a Super Bowl? Dan Marino didn't either. Is it because he was a douchebag to the media? Are you telling me that no other Hall of Famer was a douchebag to the media? Something's wrong with the selection process, and it's a shame that players of Carter's caliber have to suffer the consequences of a shit-up process that favors certain players over others.

But we all know the NFL HOF Committee will never change. They'll just keep doing the same things over and over again and keep screwing over the same guys over and over again. Hopefully Cris Carter will get into the hall before he's dead, otherwise I'll have to keep typing this rant every year - and I don't want to do that.

Well, that's all I've got this week. If you have anything you'd like to add, feel free to add it in the comments.

Until next Monday...

Howdy and good morning Gabbers, gawkers and others. Welcome to your NASCAR update and other fast stuff.

CHRISSY WALLACE

This girl comes from a racing family . Uncle Rusty Wallace drove the Blue Deuce. He was the 1989 NASCAR Winston Cup Champion. Mike Wallace is her dad and Kenny Wallace is also an Uncle. Mike and Kenny still race when they can get sponsor money and Rusty now works for ESPN behind the desk for the pre race show. So Chrissy has much to live up to.

Born May 15, 1988 in St Louis, MO but now resides in Concord, NC. 

-Raced in Bandelero's, Legends, Thunder Roadsters, go-karts, Arena Cars, Late Models

-Won the 2005 Winter Heat Championship in Thunder Roadsters.

-Over 50 feature wins in Legend Cars.

-In 2011 won the ASA Super Late Model Class track title at l - 44 Speedway in Lebanon, Missouri becoming the first female to clinch an ASA Championship.

- Drove in 7 Truck Series events between '08 and '09. Drove 2 Nationwide events in 2010.

- April 24, 2010 she raced at Taladega Nationwide race with her dad Mike. This was the first father-daughter duo to race in NASCAR.

Chrissy has hit a snag in her career. Sponsorship is just not there. This seems to be a recurring theme in racing these days. She hasn't given up yet. She's another of those chicks that could give Danica a run for her money if she only had a good ride.

MELANIE TROXEL

Born August 31, 1972 in Littleton, Colorado. Daughter of Mike Troxel a veteran dragster and 1988 Top Alcohol World Champion. Mom was an air plane mechanic. So mom and dad put the racing bug in their daughter.

At 16 years old Melanie raced in a car with a motor she built in a school project.

Attended Frank Hawley's Drag Racing School in Florida. In 1997 she had both her Funny Car and Dragster licenses becoming the first female to get both.

Competed in Federal Mogal Dragsters for a few years before switching to Top Fual to race for Don Shumacher in 2000. Lack of sponsorship forced her out of competition in 2003 and 2004. In 2005 she drove some. In 2006 and 2007 she won 2 events each.

In 2008 she joined R2B2 Racing team to drive a Funny Car. May of 2008 at the O'Reilly NHRA Thunder Nationals in Bristol, Tennessee she earned her first win in Funny Car just 2 months after Ashley Force became the first female to do it. 

In 2009 she drove Pro Modifieds for Roger Burgess.

2011 was her last season in racing driving the In-N-Out Burger Funny Car for R2B2 Racing Team. Due to sponsorship woes the Funny Car team was folded. To this date she doesn't have a ride for anything in 2012. Too bad for this fan favorite.

MORE BABIES

Right after the New Hampshire race Ryan Newman's wife, Krissie had their second little girl on July 16th @ 12:20 pm. Her name is Ashlyn Olivia. Big sister Brooklyn could not be reached for comment.

COURTNEY FORCE

John's baby girl almost had herself a big win on July 22nd in Denver at the Mile High NHRA Nationals. The final heat of the day was between Courtney and Jack Beckman. Courtney lost by 9 thousandths of a second but moved up to 6th in the points. YEAH!!! You go girl.

CREW CHIEF SWAPS

Regan Smith who drives the #78 Hendrick powered Chevy for Furniture Row is getting a new crew chief. Todd Berrier is coming on board. He's experienced and I expect he'll help get Regan back on track.

David Hyder will be coming on board to crew chief for Bobby Labonte. Don't know who he is but we'll see if he can make a difference for Bobby.

ESPN BACK

Now it's ESPN's turn to broadcast the races. They've got a new camera to use. The Ultra Slo-Mo RF handheld camera. It shoots 1000 frames per second compared to a regular camera's 60 frames per second. It will be used primarily as a pit road camera. Since analysts like to talk about races being won or lost on pit road they can now pick apart a pit stop and show you where a crew did good or bad during their stop.

There will be 74 other HD cameras in use. This includes the return of the Bat camera which runs on a cable over pit road and running along the front stretch.It can move at more than 80 mph.

ESPN also promises split screen non stop coverage for the 10 Chase races. 

I hope this means they'll be better than TNT was.

INDY GRAND AM ROAD RACE

Juan Montoya and Jamie McMurray are scheduled to run the Grand AM road race at Indianapolis Speedway this weekend. These guys drive for Chip Gnassi. It's a road course so it won't help for the Brickyard 400 on Sunday but it will help for practice for the Watkins Glen road course coming up in August.

POSSIBLE QUALIFYING CHANGE FOR 2013

NASCAR VP of competition announced that he was talking to race teams to see how they feel about changing qualifying for next year.They want to eliminate the top 35 rule where the top 35 are guaranteed a spot every race. They want to qualify the top 38 drivers on time and then have 4 provisionals and 1 past champions provisional. He sights that the fans want to see qualifying go back to speed getting you in the event.

Hell yeah. I've been bitching about this for years. Only I was just asking for a top 25 rule but this would be better. The sponsors might not like this because their car might not be in the show.

BRICKYARD 400

So it's the Brickyard 400 today. It's a 2.5 mile square oval with a very abrasive diamond ground surface meant to keep the lighter Indy cars on the track. In 2008 Goodyear didn't bring the right tire to the track and mandatory pit stops every ten laps made for a very boring race. Jimmie Johnson won that year. Last year was a long green runs and fuel mileage affair. I see no difference this year. There are 7 races to the Chase and the drivers will be cautious.

My Yahoo picks are Gordon, Kahne, Martin and Hornish. My NASCAR Streak pick is Kahne. I'm still #1 in Yahoo. 

JUST MIND BLOWING

Blanket on : too hot. Blanket off : too cold. 1 leg out : perfect until the demon from Paranormal Activity grabs it & drags you down the hall.

OK. That concludes my writing. I've got a nasty head ache and need a shower, tylenol and my bed. So thanks for stopping by and enjoy......

I watched the Opening Ceremonies of the London Olympics last evening, as always the best part is when the individual countries march into the stadium.  For those of you who decided not to watch the festivities, here is a brief synopsis.  It is the British Isles (England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) Olympics, England led the Industrial Revolution, the British love their Socialized Medicine,  Rowland Atkinson (Mr. Bean) plays the piano (at least he plays one note on the piano), John Entwhistle of Tubular Bells fame is still alive, Queen Elizabeth parachuted into the stadium with James Bond, and there are British Hip Hop Artists. That’s about it except for Sir Paul McCartney who still has not performed as I type this post.  Perhaps Sir Paul will liven up the proceedings.

I must be turning into a super senior citizen; I have been watching these Summer Olympics since the 1960 games in Rome, and I have to admit that I have loved watching all of them.  The 1972 Munich games were tragic, a real life agony and ecstasy.  As I look over the whole of the games that I have seen Olga Korbut was a delight to watch, she of the first Olympic perfect 10.  Ironically Olga now lives here in Scottsdale, Arizona where I live, her Russian citizenship renounced long ago.  With the dominance of men in sports over women, I have to admit that gymnastics is the one sport where the women truly do excel.  The grace of the female body seems to best the brute strength of the male gymnast.

To me the track and field events are the star of the show in the Summer Olympics.  The 1968 Olympics in Mexico City were made special by the 29ft 2in long jump by Bob Beamon, a record by 22 inches over the previous world record.  That jump remained a milestone for a full 23 years before it was topped.  One cannot overlook the incredible 9 Gold Medals performance by Michael Phelps in the 2008 Bejing Olympics, which bested the previous record of 7 Gold Medals won by Mark Spitz in the 1972 Olympics.

I leave with the hope that this years’ Olympics is terrorist free, that the United States wins the most medals, including the Men's and Women's Basketball Gold.  Of course I am a homer, but most importantly I hope that some underdogs and unknowns prevail and see their Olympic hopes and dreams turn to Gold.  That is the true spirit of the Olympic Games. 

When I become a fan of an athlete...

Or a sports figure...

It’s not easy to de-fan myself when they do something stupid...

I’ve invested my time...

My emotions...

And sometimes even investing my money in that person...

So what am I supposed to do when the athlete fails me?

When they become human...

And we see that ugly sinful nature...

For me...

It’s not just the performance on the field...

Off the field character is important, too...

I’ve learned over the years...

That some have character...

Others are characters...

John Wooden...

Character personified...

Dennis Rodman...

A real character...

One is my hero...

The other needs my prayers...

And over the years...

I’ve carefully selected those I’ve rooted for...

When we moved to the LA area in ‘65...

I was faced with a choice...

USC or UCLA...

Baby blue was my favorite color...

So the choice was easy...

A winning basketball team made it easier to root for...

And a coach with impeccable character became my hero...

John Wooden...

Probably my favorite sports figure of all time...

Through the years...

He remained in character...

I was so impressed...

I read his book...

They Call Me Coach...

And you can’t count on one hand the books I’ve read...

But then there’s the other side...

Rooting for someone who exemplifies sports...

Gives it their all on the field...

But then...

After a period of years...

Their sad humanity is revealed off the field...

Sometimes this person...

Will force you to root for a team...

That you’d never dream of rooting for...

Pete Rose was just that man...

He was baseball...

And played it the way it was designed to be played...

Charlie Hustle...

Probably the most captivating baseball player I’ve seen...

But unfortunately...

True to the last part of his nickname...

Mr. Hustle became Mr. Hustler...

His gambling demons got to him...

And they took him down...

Leaving this fan to shake his head...

I had invested so much in this guy and he gambled my affection away...

What do I do now???

The hate switch doesn’t turn on that easily...

Can’t make fun of him, can I???

No, not like the Terrell Owenses of the world...

Pete’s life was like this beautiful, white bed sheet...

With a huge stain in the middle...

The eyes are focused on the stain...

Even though the area of that stain...

Don’t even come close the area of the white surrounding the stain...

I found myself stepping back...

Praying and hoping he would find redemption...

I’m still waiting...

And then more recently...

Another guy...

Maybe the most dominant ever in his sport...

Takes a tumble...

As he was coming up the ranks, I was forced to root for him...

A fellow alumnus from Anaheim's Western High School...

The phenom...

The prodigy...

Tiger Woods...

My favorite golfer of all time...

Chasing immortality...

And eventually...

Chasing skirts...

“Down goes Tiger. Down goes Tiger...”

So what do I do now???

It’s hard to do a 180 and become a hater...

Same answer as with Rose...

Pray and hope he will find redemption...

Not on the course...

But in the course of his life...

It’s not easy...

Tiger doesn't need a bigger piece of the PGA pie...

But a peace that passes all understanding...

And sadly...

There's one more...

Maybe the most tragic of the three...

You see...

There is no reason...

On God’s green earth...

That I would ever root for Penn State...

Except for one man...

Joe Pa...

I loved the Plain Jane uniforms...

And that Italian-American coach seemed pretty cool, too...

Loved those glasses and that nose...

Could just visualize him...

Woofing down a plate of spaghetti...

Yeah, he should have retired a long time ago...

But he didn’t...

And then the unthinkable happened...

Yeah...

He should have retired a long time ago...

1998 to be exact...

But he didn’t...

Until 14 years later...

Leaving the program...

And life...

In disgrace...

Impossible to make amends now...

So here I am again...

As a fan...

Taking a step back...

Watching all of this happen...

The sanctions...

Reminding me of the movie...

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They???

I hang my head in sadness...

It didn’t have to end this way...

He wasn’t the perpetrator...

Just an enabler...

Which unfortunately...

Is sometimes worse...

dvt

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