Hey there and good morning. Welcome Gabbers and others to my NASCAR updates and other fast stuff. The weather is finally heating up here on the East Coast. My issues is going from the 50's to the 90's over night. I don't tolerate extremes any way but this was REALLY extreme. My garden is late getting in as a result of this strange weather. Hopefully I can get it in on Monday.

TNT COVERAGE STARTS JUNE 9TH

​Oh goody. My favorite. Not. TNT control room hasn't got a clue. They don't show the race off pit road when they all pit under caution or post the out come and excessive commercials make my head spin among other complaints I have. These guys are responsible for me getting into Twitter while I watch the race. The on track journalists keep us informed. I've really come to enjoy that feed. 

They're rolling out a few new things. They'll be interviewing Dale Jr at his Whisky River property complete with a wild west town and you'll get to see his car grave yard. He takes junk race cars and puts them in his woods along the 4 wheeling trails for something interesting to see while 4 wheeling. Montoya's car that took out the jet dryer at Daytona last year is there.

Another roll out will be 6 drivers and their crew at 6 different tracks will host a fan who will be given an all access pass. Denny Hamlin starts off the festivities at Pocono.  Keselowski @ Michigan, Montoya @ Sonoma and Kurt B @ Kentucky are some of the drivers to expect. Good luck to the fan that gets chosen for each race.

All I know is that I need to make sure the laptop is in good working order or the TNT broadcast will drive me insane. 

CONTRACT EXTENSION

Paul Menard of the #27 Menard Chevy will be staying at Richard Childress racing for 3 more years. He signed his contract this week and is good to go. Guess it pays to have a daddy that loves you enough to be your sponsor. I guess it beats stocking shelves at daddy's store. He's come a long way in driving ability and I expect to see more improvements. How's 8th in the points standings right now for you? Good luck Paul.

SMITHFIELD SALE TO SHANGUI INTERNATIONAL HOLDINGS LTD PENDING

That would be Smithfield hams being sold to a very large Chinese company who is the majority share holder in China's largest meat processing enterprise. Smithfield owns Armour, Farmland and their namesake. 

Under the agreement there will be no closures and all management teams will stay in tact. No word on how this will effect Aric Almirola's #43 team with Richard Petty Motorsports. 

I know that ham hasn't been on my list of meats to eat for some 25 years now but I am making sure it gets erased from my memory now. Just the phrase, "Chinese meat processing enterprise" gives me the chills. 

Johnsons Dover ride. Cute Monsters on the car. I want to see the movie....With my grandson of course.....

CHARLOTTE MOTOR SPEEDWAY RECAP

Last weeks race was interesting. I thought Montoya's D 500 jet dryer extravaganza last year was bizarre. Things just keep happening. It would seem that the ropes that pull the camera down the front stretch broke. They're rated for 9000 lbs but broke. The Austrian company has come in to investigate. No word yet on why.

It sure did create havoc on the track. Fans were trying to get officials attention but couldn't so they started throwing drinks onto the track. Some even tried to pull the ropes over the fence and off the track. There was just too much of it. The first car to hit the rope was Kyle Busch. Yeah buddy. I picked him in my Yahoo and boy was I pissed. As the pack rolled through several more cars came in contact with the rope. Mark Martin, Marcos Ambrose, Denny Hamlin and Tony Stewart were a few.

NASCAR red flagged the race and made all cars stop on pit road. At first it was going to be a clean up and restart. Kyle got out of his car and went to his pits for his camera. Came back and took pictures. No work can be done during a red flag but a visual is allowed. After what seemed to be forever NASCAR made the announcement the there would be a 15 minute time limit for all repairs related to the caution incident. Johnson who was having voltage issues was told the team couldn't fix that because it wasn't part of the camera incident.

Kyle's car had the worst with the right front fender tore up and front splitter cracked. Ambrose had the rope wrapped around the back axle and it tore up his brakes. Believe it or not Kyle's team got his car repaired in time and every one was given their position at the time of the incident back. So Kyle retained the lead and Ambrose got his 15th back. Kudos to NASCAR.

So were off again on lap 131 with Kyle in the lead and the repairs were good enough to keep him there until green flag pit stops are over on lap 180. Kenseth takes the lead with Kyle 2nd. He drops back to 3rd and on lap 257 his motor goes poof. On lap 258 Dale Jr's motor goes poof. So that's 2 motors in 2 laps.

Caution #6 for debris in turn 1. Johnson changes battery (remember voltage issue?) as well as tires and fuels up. Oopsy. Pass thru penalty for forgetting a lugnut. Guess the new crew didn't perform as well as expected.

Gordon and Keselowski were on pit road when the caution came out. They only got 2 tires and tried to beat the pace car. They didn't but came back in for the other 2 tires. Both are minus 1 lap on restart. 

Caution #8 sees The Danica and Keselowski go spinning. Both are done for the night. Stenhouse (Danica's BF) was making it 3 wide and he bumped Danica who bumped up into Keselowski. I'm sure there was some silence between them over the morning paper & coffee this week....

Caution #9 is a red flag affair. Not as fancy as the rope caution but it did involve Mark Martin, Jeff Gordon and Aric Almirola in a 3 wide situation that went wrong. Kurt Busch who is in the lead says his car is dead and he'll need a tow truck to push start him. 

Red flag lifted and Kurt goes for a battery change. He's 22nd  and Truex is afraid to restart behind Kahne. He doesn't always get a good restart and usually spins the tires.

But off we go till Caution #10 where we see Montoya run into Johnson's bumper. Around he goes. Kenseth gets damage. So does Menard.Stewart skates through with a slight bumper peeling.

Harvick takes the lead with Kahne in hot pursuit but no cookie for Kahne. 

Top 15 finishers - Harvick - Kahne - Kurt B - Hamlin - Logano - Newman - Stewart - Bowyer - Truex - Ambrose - Edwards - Burton - Menard - Minus 1 lap Stenhouse - Kenseth

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DOVER FED EX 400 PREVIEW

Denny Hamlin is on point for the 2nd week in a row. Says he has to be aggressive if he wants to be in the Chase. Making the top 20 isn't enough. He needs W's. Multiple W's to be exact. He's right. He's now in 24th in the points up 3 from last week. A top 20 is doable but the wins will be tough. 

Fun facts for Dover : Mark Martin leads all active drivers with the most starts at Dover - 53, the most 2nd places w/8, the most poles w/5 and the most top 10's w/24.

Johnson has 7 W's. Gordon has 4 W's.

Edwards has an average finish of 8.294.....Johnson has a 8.636. These 2 are the only drivers with an average top 10 finish this low.

Johnson has led the most laps with 2318.

Janet Guthrie and The Danica are the only 2 females to race at Dover.

LAST YEARS TOP 10 FINISHERS - Johnson - Harvick - Kenseth - Dale Jr - Bowyer - Almirola - Truex - Logano - Kahne - Ambrose

FANTASY HELP - Johnson of course has the most laps led and an average finish of 8 point something. Pick him with confidence.

Edwards has an average of 8 point something. He's finished in the top 10 in his last 5 races. Momentum is a good thing.

Kahne is still a squirrel in my book. I can't believe he got the restart award last week for as much as he spun the tires. He gets a top 10.

Dale Jr should be back on his Steady Eddie track this week. Top 10.

Harvick is coming to life. Top 10. Team mate Menard too.

MWR cars Bowyer and Truex are good here. Top 5's.

Kenseth the stealth bomber is on a tear. W? Very possible.

Almirola is from an under dog team and he's got something for this track. I'm betting on a top 10.

Keselowski needs to awaken from his funk. His crew chief is back from suspension this week. I'm sure his team mate Logano will be in the top 10. He won the Nationwide race here last year.

Kyle won the truck race on Friday. Don't know about the Nationwide Saturday night but it's time for a KB win in the Cup Series. Lost an engine last week and last year at this event. Don't know about Mr M&M.

McMurray has been sneaking up on the front. Glimpses of a break out & brighter future on the horizon.

C listers to watch for. Bobby Labonte, David Ragan, Casey Mears, Ricky Stenhouse and The Danica.

Richard Childress grandson Austin Dillon will be in the #51 for Phoenix racing this week if you want to try him. He does well in the Nationwide Series but that doesn't always translate to Cup. 

So there you have it. Hope everyone's Memorial Day weekend was safe and filled with grilling, trips to the hardware store to hang out in the man heaven aisle checking out the tools, friends & family and sports. It's what we do here at the Gab. Take care folks and....

I'm outta here.......

Say it ain't so, Tim!

Reports are that the NFL career of Tim Tebow may be at an end. He has certainly reaped the benefits of being a New York Jet, but there seems to be more to it all. The reasons for his demise, taken categorically, don't seem to explain why a record-setting high school passer from a state with semipro-level HS football, then undisputed leader of one national and two SEC champions, and finally a miracle worker for burned-out Denver, has become not just anathema but accepted as such in the public consciousness.

That he would lose his job to a suddenly available Peyton Manning is understandable. The rest is a bit cloudy.

But ask anybody. You'll hear all the reasons why nobody wants him.

1. He doesn't practice well. That's interesting. I wonder how many great NFL players have come and gone who fit that category? It may not go over in Bill Belichick's camp, but there are plenty of others. Has the league become that much a clone of New England?

2. He's a kinesthetic learner. That's a mouthful of psychobabble designed to throw a monkey wrench into any sane argument about a football player.

3. He's a polarizing figure. For being an Evangelical Christian? In a league full of 
Southern Baptists and parochial-school Catholics? Where teams huddle in prayer groups on-field at the drop of a hat?

4. His mechanics are unorthodox. So now everybody has to look like Tom Brady? Does anybody actually believe that the myriad oddball greats of yesteryear (even of recent yesteryear) never would make it in the new, eugenically superior NFL? Ever see Frank Ryan throw sidearm? Funny, even all the current guys are recognizable by their oddities, even if it's Brady being recognizable for having none.

5. He's not an accurate passer. Gee, wasn't that Andrew Luck who just threw for 54% and a 76 passer rating? I haven't heard anything about him being inadequate, for the simple reason that he's not.

There are plenty of variations and combinations of reasons given, but the above form the basis of most. Note that "he's primarily a scrambler" is never mentioned, what with the great rush to embrace 'athletic' quarterbacks currently in vogue. In this case, a quality supposedly at a premium isn't enough. Why? Um... because he's just that bad, I guess. Proven winning isn't tested at the combine.

For those who recall the abortive NFL career of Doug Flutie, the parallels are hard to ignore. Flutie was a polarizing NFL figure, not because he went to Catholic school but because he scabbed during the NFL strike. Similar excuses permeated the media. He's too small. He's too unorthodox. Yadda yadda. The truth was that the NFLPA wanted him out, and the media did their part for their friends. So what did he do after being run out of Chicago and New England? Oh, just go to Canada and win three Grey Cups, three Cup MVPs, and six MOPs. Oops... then he came back to the NFL and nearly led a decaying Buffalo squad to the promised land before being benched by Wade Phillips and sent off to San Diego. Wade's still looking for the football exorcist.

It's doubtful the NFLPA has a stance on Tebow. They'd be crazy to. He fills seats. He wins games. He's athletic. He throws TV ratings through the roof. So why is everybody down on him?

A couple of reasons come to mind. Rex Ryan for one. The feisty Jet coach has, in his brief career as head man, proven himself a bonafide quarterback killer. Sanchez and Tebow are his biggest conquests to date, but surely more will follow. The mass media for another. Self-assured wunderkind creators and character assassins who abort careers of the damned as quickly as they deliver the anointed, they have turned the excuses into a ritual cant. If Tebow is controversial, it's because the mass media made him so while shamelessly milking his whole riches-to-rags story dry.

But mostly it's a mystery. Perhaps the avalanche of young quarterbacks that struck the NFL over a two-year period snowed Tebow under. He's not the only one. Maybe he really wasn't good enough and his past glory makes him stand out as a failure.

Funny though, the last time he got a chance he beat Ben Roethlisberger in a playoff game. That he then got run over by Tom Brady is hardly reason to close the book. Is Matt Schaub's book closed? No, but the scribes took Tebow's defeat as proof of the perfect pocket passer's dominance over the scrambler, even as they extolled Cam Newton and prepared to jump on the RG3 bandwagon. The I-told-you-sos echoed off the Himalayas (though not, interestingly, off the Rockies).

If it's all true about his demise, then count this writer as one who sees another confluence of vague rationales forming a tidal wave and sweeping Tebow out to sea, much as was done with Flutie decades ago. Too bad. Leadership doesn't grow on trees and this guy (like Flutie) had it in spades.

A hale and hearty hello to everyone here at YGS!

For those who may remember me from The Sporting News blogs, did ya miss me?

Or for those who know me from The Sports Blog Nation, how's it hangin'?

And for those who haven't the first bloody clue as to who I am, well...okay I've got nothing.

But let's hope I'm able to change that as I start a journey here on YGS. I plan to maintain my presence on The Sports Blog Nation, but I'm adding this site to my daily wanderings around the Net and I may just be taking TheBEEZER up on an offer he made me that got me here in the first place.

So who am I? Well, I'm a 40-ish sports fan. I love basketball (men, women, college, high school), football (pro and college), baseball (MLB) the most, but I like most sports at least a little. Okay, not soccer unless Brandi Chastain is flashing her sports bra.

I'm more of a viewer of sports than an attendee. It's dang expensive these days to go to a sporting event! But I do go to a lot of high school area games and I usually check out some of the summer college baseball in the Cape Cod Baseball League.

I spent 25 years as a youth basketball coach and a lot of the games I attend these days are because I'm there to support my former players. If you'll allow me a moment to brag, during my now in the past coaching days I was part of 16 championship game appearances and we won 11 of them.

I've been writing online for a number of years but not just about sports. I wrote for two now defunct websites where I wrote about TV, movies and music for one and did music CD and DVD reviews for the other. I'm also back writing about TV and music for a new website which I'll pimp out appropriately another time. I'm also a big reader (books, magazines, newspapers, comics).

As you might imagine, since I write about it, I am a big TV/movies/music fan. I'm a TV Junkie where I keep a running draft list of all the shows I'm planning on watching from year to year.

Most of the time I find myself rooting for the laundry rather than a specific person inside of the uniform but there are a trio of pro athletes that I've been following for years. Living here in Massachusetts, it should come as no surprise that two of them are Tom Brady and David Ortiz. The other pro athlete is Katie Smith (currently playing with the WNBA's New York Liberty).

There is another athlete that I'm a huge fan of and it isn't a pro athlete or even a college athlete. But that's another post for another time.

I hope to do some decent work here on YGS, though I'm not quite sure yet what I want to write about. Obviously there has to be some difference between my posts here and on TSBN. I'm not one for statistics heavy analytical posts, so if you are going to expect that from me, you'll be sorely disappointed. But whatever I do end up deciding on writing, I hope that you'll enjoy what I have to say whether it praises or declaims. Or even if it simply a venting of righteous anger.

Thanks to TheBEEZER for inviting me and I hope that I can bring something worthwhile to the community.

  Well folks, it's Saturday once again, and we know what that means. Another weekly visit from your old pal IHM. This week, I honestly don't have much of anything sports wise. Don't give a damn about hockey... definitely not about the NBA... and baseball has hit a bit of a lull lately getting close to mid-season, and football is still nearly 100 days away. So, this week, I'm going to a cheap trick that a local radio station uses to fill air space... I'm going to present to you my Mt. Rushmore for each of Detroit's four sports teams over the next couple of weeks. Let me know what you think, and if you want, give me your Mt. Rushmore for your favorite baseball team. So, without further adieu, here is the Mt. Rushmore for the Detroit Tigers to kick off this series...

Giant head #1.... Ty Cobb.

   Ty Cobb is one of only a handful of Tigers players to spend over twenty years with the franchise. He is also widely considered the greatest pure hitter in the history of baseball. .369 career batting average, 3,902 hits, 1,805 RBI, 2,087 runs scored, 865 steals, and even for you new-school stat lovers, a .951 career OPS. He may not have been the greatest of guys off the field, but on the field... well, he wasn't the greatest of guys on the field, either... just look at the picture. Hell, the guy was known to sharpen his spikes before games to intimidate and maybe even skewer a third baseman as he slid in.

Giant head #2... Al Kaline

  The nickname "Mr. Tiger" says it all. Al Kaline spent over twenty years patrolling the OF in Detroit, making 18 all-star teams, hitting .297 with 399 HRs and 1,583 RBI over that period. Great outfielder as well with a cannon for an arm. Once played 242 consecutive games without an error. After his playing career, Kaline has remained involved with the Tigers organization, holding several positions including announcer.

  Giant Head #3.... Hank Greenberg

  "Hammerin' Hank" is my third choice here, one of the greatest first basemen in the history of the game who lost a couple of years to his enlistment in the army for World War 2 (1941-1945). In what essentially amounted to a ten full-season career, considering seasons that were cut short due to injury or military service, Greenberg hit .313 with 331 homers and 1,276 RBI with a career OPS of 1.017.

Giant Head #4... Charlie Gehringer

    Dubbed "The Mechanical Man" for his flawless mechanics in the field and at the plate, Gehringer spent parts of 18 seasons playing second base for the Detroit Tigers. He finished his career just 161 hits shy of 3,000, unfortunately for Charlie the DH didn't exist back in his day and he couldn't stick around for an extra year or two to reach the milestone. For his career, he hit .320 with 184 homers, 1,427 RBI and 1,775 runs scored. He helped the Tigers win a World Series in 1935 and was the AL MVP in 1937.

Let's start off this "mea culpa" issue with the most recent gaffee...throwing dirt on the Chicago Blackhawks grave when they were down 3 games to 1.  Showing the kind of heart that a Champion needs to win, they came all the way back to force a Game 7 against another established and playoff hardened team in the Red Wings.  Not only did they force game 7, get ahead, then score the apparent game winner only to have the Stripped Shirts take it way...they persevered into OT and got the Big Time Win.  So apologies to the 'Hawks for not sticking with them.

This one goes out to the Cubs, who I routinely mock as they continue to see Baseball Nirvana after so many years, no one counts anymore.  However, this year only Mother Nature could prevent the Cubbies from sweeping their cross-town rival White Sox.  As the Sox are my American League team and primary rooting interest in the 30 some years we did not have baseball here in D.C. (not even counting the years the Nats were rotten cheese bad), it was always with great joy when the second class Chicagoans put it to the North Side doormats.  I believe I safely put the Cubs at the bottom of the heap going into this season...well, they are not in last, nowhere near the worst (see Miami for that title) and the dominated the Sox.   They aren't going to win anything else this year, but winning the Crosstown Series is a start.  Go Cubs!

And then in the "Anti" Mea Culpa Section, we have....John Tortorella.

Tortorella, who can famously be quoted as, "It's easy to say, 'I'm Sorry."  I'm not sorry for most of the things I've said."   Well, I'm sorry we won't have you to give us legendary news conferences for entertainment any more.  I'm sorry we won't have your scowl to mock when the Rangers are getting beat up by inferior talent.  I'm really sorry that the Rangers will stop distributing talent to other teams in the NHL with players that Torts didn't like.  So we wave back to you and say "Adios, Muchacho!"

It’s easy to say, “I’m sorry.” I’m not sorry for most of the things I’ve said.

And in Other News of Note....

The NHL playoffs are down to the final four:  LA, Chicago, Pittsburgh and Boston.  I will be pulling for an Original 6 final in Boston / Chicago, but I am thinking the Penguins are going to hard to beat.  As Boston fans will find out, it is not enough to beat the talented Penguins, you have to beat the refs, too.  Good luck on that one...Boston fans are notorious for burning up the message boards after losses....they are going to be on fire.

Anyone who thinks the Pacers had a chance against Miami (yes, I know its not over yet) must be smokin' rope.  In today's NBA, only the stars survive.  It's WWE with a ball.

Injuries are killing my Fantasy Baseball Team...it really is a war of attrition not unlike what a GM must feel during a regular season.  You are left combing the dregs of the free agent list for any help you can find.  With Bryce Harper still down, it is killing both me and the Nationals.  Come Back, Bryce, Come Back!  

I was a little late getting this post up...my bad for that too. Have a great Saturday All!