WOO HOO!!! HEY HEY!!! It's Sunday and welcome Gabbers and others to my NASCAR updates and other fast stuff. Saturday night was the All Star race which I haven't watched. Just didn't feel like trotting over to mom & dads to watch it. Really am irked at the fact that I can't watch the race on my computer like I used to before they started booted you off Justin.TV. Grrrrrrrrrr. Wondering if FOX will make good on their promise of watching online. Guess we'll have to wait till August when FOXSports1 debuts to the web-o-sphere. 

PASSING OF A LEGEND

The picture above is of a short track legend. The winningest short track racer in history. Richard Leroy Trickle or as most know him as Dick Trickle passed away of a self inflicted shot gun blast on Thursday May 16th. He was 71 and had been suffering from unexplained chest pains for quite some time. He made a call to 911 explaining where he was and that there would be a suicide. They found his body next to his '93 pickup truck.

Dick was from Wisconsin Rapids in Wisconsin. He traveled the midwest racing the dirt tracks and small speedways. He amassed over 1000 wins.

Career high lights--->In 1989 he became the oldest rookie in NASCAR at the age of 48. He also won rookie of the year. 

----> Won 7 ARTGO championships between 1979 to 1987

----> 1984 & 1985 he won ASA championships

----> 67 wins in 1972

----> NASCAR Cup career stats---303 races---15 top 5's---36 top 10's and a pole @ Dover

----> NASCAR Busch Series (now Nationwide) 158 races---24 top 5's---42 top 10's---2 W's

Dick was a smoker and NASCAR allowed him to smoke in the car during caution laps. He had cigarette lighters installed in his race cars. He could always be seen with a cup of coffee and his cigarettes around the track.

Back in the 90's ESPN personalities Dan Patrick and Keith Olbermann would give their NASCAR update on Sports Center and always end it with where Dick finished the race. It was sort of a running gag which Dick enjoyed. He wasn't as good in NASCAR due to not having a power house ride. As I recall the guys in the broadcast booth would be mentioning Dick during the race too. They never missed an opportunity. He had a fun name to pronounce.

Matt Kenseth a fellow Wisconsin native said the last time he spoke to Dick was right after he had announced his switch to JGR. Matt said Dick poked his head in the trailer and asked for a beer. They talked for over an hour with Dick telling Matt what a great opportunity moving to JGR would be for him. 

Mark Martin was heart broken and said that he, Alan Kulwicki and Rusty Wallace would not be the racers that they became without Dicks influence. He was very giving. He shared his race setups and driving wisdom. It was Dick who told an 18 year old Mark Martin---"In order to finish first, first you must finish."

I saw Dick at Watkins Glen one very hot humid summer. It was Mark Martin's 3rd win in a row at Watkins Glen that day. At the race start all the cars rolled by. As it progressed you'd hear the pack roll by and then a solo rumble a couple seconds later. It was Dick. About lap 10 the crowd would roar when he buzzed by after the pack. This went on for about 30 laps till the pack caught up with him. He even waved to us in the grass where I was standing and he had a cigarette lit too. Don't know where he finished but my man Mark got the W. 

R.I.P. Richard Leroy Trickle. 

Carl Edwards will have Dick Trickle above his door instead of his own name to honor his passing at the All Star race. He also has the pole too.

MAKE-A-WISH MOMENT

Last weekend on Mothers Day the truckers convoy carrying Make-A-Wish kids rolled up Rt 222 and collected money for the kids. This week a 16 year old young man named Jacob Entrekin who suffers from muscular dystrophy got a wish granted from those donations. He was taken to the All Star race as a guest of Richard Petty Motorsports. He got to meet Richard Petty and Marcos Ambrose. All made possible from the donations to Make-A-Wish. Hope it was a good one.

WIN A PAIR OF SHOES

If you go to Dalejrfootwear.com you can enter for a chance to win a pair of Dale Jr shoes. Amazing. He has his own potato chips and now shoes. Is there no end to this guys entrepreneurialship? I entered to win a pair and got a 20% coupon for shoes.  Didn't check out the merchandise yet but I might later.

NO NEW RULES THIS WEEK

Well yeah, there was. In the past a car had to be on the lead lap at the end of the qualifying event for the All Star race to be eligible for the fan vote. This year they only need to be running and in race shape to be eligible. Guess who this will benefit the most? That's right folks. It's Danica. She seems to keep her cars in semi good shape in the back so it's conceivable that the fans will vote her into the main event and her car will be in running race condition. I can't say for sure about what happened because I'm writing as they're racing. That is if it's not rain delayed right now.

Last week at Darlington there were suspended crew chiefs for the #22. #2 and #20 cars. When a crew member is suspended from a race this means no radio chatter and they must be off the track. This didn't deter the teams effected. They used Face Time and texting while the team members were at the team shop. NASCAR says they don't plan to change any rules to deter that in the future. My question is, how could they? Ain't technology grand?

DARLINGTON RECAP

Hey there's Kasey Kahne again. No he didn't win but he should've. He got into it with this guy. Kyle Busch.

With 35 to go on a restart Kahne and Kyle are out front. They do some fancy cross over moves on each other as well as the side by side stuff and then Kyle goes down on the apron which he had been making it work all race long till this one time. Up he came and seemingly missed Kahne. You couldn't fit a piece of paper between them. Kahne got squirrelly and off he goes for a spin. His radio chatter had lots of French in it. He didn't crunch any fenders but needed tires. Kahne ended his night in 17th. He of course expected a phone call and apology. Supposedly they talked. Kyle says he didn't mean it and expected his car to stick which it didn't. He doesn't see Kahne exacting revenge but understands if it does happen. 

Other happenings in the race were that there were a lot of green flag laps. In fact the first caution didn't come out till lap 124. Darlington is not a nice track. She gives out stripes to unaware drivers left sides. This track was built when cars raced at 70 mph. Now they go around 170 mph at this track and the only way to do it is at the top of the track up close to the wall. Concentration is a must. 

This was Denny Hamlin's first race back full time. He looked spent at the end of the race but he pulled a 2nd place out of his helmet. 

Gordon did his usual whining through the race. With 35 to go and in 5th place he was still whining. I'm so sorry for his CC Alan on top of the box.

Kyle dominated this race but came up short. No win. The cautions at the end of the race put 17 cars on the lead lap. At one point only 9 cars were on the lead lap.

Top 15 finishers - Kenseth - Hamlin - Gordon - Johnson - Harvick - Kyle B - Edwards - Montoya - Dale Jr - Newman - Bowyer - Truex - Biffle - Smith - Stewart

FIRST SEGMENT REPORT CARD

So we've ended the first 11 races. For those of you in my fantasy league, you will have to pick new drivers by next Sunday. Johnson has been the smoothest or most consistent with only 3 races outside the top 10. That's why he's first in the points. Edwards, Kenseth, Keselowski & Dale Jr had 4 races outside the top 10. Kyle, Bowyer & Kahne have 5 races outside the top 10. This is why these 8 drivers are your top 8 at this time. The Chase Champ will most likely be one of these guys.

Almirola, Harvick, Menard, Gordon, Biffle, Truex and McMurray are the 9th thru 15th drivers. Almirola only has 3 races where he was worse than Gordon. Wrap your head around that one. Gordon needs to Step it up. He's had 4 REALLY bad race finishes. If he keeps it up he'll be fighting over a wild card spot again. Harvick is starting to come to life. I expect him to be at least in the 10th spot come Richmond. Biffle started strong and has dropped off. I think he'll be in the top 10. Truex lost his consistency of last year. No top 10 for him in my opinion. McMurray won't make the Chase but it's nice to see him and Montoya finishing better in their new HMS rides.

Hamlin is back but unless he wins a few races and gets into the top 20 we won't see him in the Chase. There is a chance. He sits 27th and 61 points out of 20th. He's got 15 races to do it in.

The 15th thru 21st positions are Stenhouse, Newman, Kurt B, Logano, Burton & Stewart. Stenhouse would be a great filler after you pick 3 top drivers. Don't know what happened at SHR that Newman & Stewart can't figure the new cars out but a 19th average won't cut it. Logano has dropped off. Not sure why. Kurt just expects way too much from his equipment and over drives it. He wants a win so bad he can taste it. All these drivers are worth a pick on your team.

So when you pick 3 top drivers & a mid tier driver, you'll need a C lister or lower equipment challenged driver if you want to be politically correct. Casey Mears, David Ragan, THE DANICA, Bobby Labonte, Dave Blaney, David Gilliland, David Reutimann and Landon Cassill always get in. Mears 25th and Ragan 26th have the better records. Cassill is in the #33 fielded by Richard Childress. He's young and it's my guess he's the one in the experimental set ups. The Danica has SHR equipment and at least tries to finish the race. Very important for points. Bobby is right there with her. He's a veteran. Don't expect more than a 20th to 30th place finish from these drivers. They can surprise you like Ragan and Gilliland did with the 1-2 finish at Dega some times or Danica's 8th at Daytona.

Mark Martin, Ragan Smith and AJ Allmendinger are good choices but they only run limited schedules so you'd have to keep an eye out for the days off to make a switch. 

So good luck in your picks. I hope this helps and if you have questions there's a box some where below to write your query. As always, it's Sunday and hopefully the sun is shining where you are and the weather is warming up for grilling. Take care, hug you pets, honey, kids, teddy bear or your beer. And....

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

Sticking with the theme from the last question...Feel free to go back and put in your two cents on that one as well...

Who do you think was the greatest MLB pitcher?

and why?

  Hello ladies and gents, and welcome to this week's Sexy Action Sports Saturday with your old pal, IHM.

  This week's big story that will somehow continue to keep the Lakers and Kobe Bryant in the spotlight even though neither has been relevant in over a month; how about Phil Jackson's new book? In the book, he makes a comparison between Kobe and Michael Jordan, and in making the comparison basically says that he'd take Jordan over Kobe (who the fuck wouldn't?) and that Jordan was a better leader. That is the short version of it. Really, he didn't say anything that hasn't already been said a million times when people actually do compare Jordan and Bryant. Honestly, I don't think it's even a close call... Jordan was a leader on all 6 championship teams he played for... Kobe... not so much. Kobe was Scottie Pippen for the first few he won with Shaq at his side, until later on in his career when he won one on his own (without Shaq anyhow). While Kobe was a major factor in winning those championships, Jordan was the man on every title team he played for.

  Jackson also said that Jordan was a better, more focused defender than Bryant was. Again, just speaking the truth. Jordan would shut the guy across from him down, and back before the league was as watered down as it is today. Not something you can exactly blame on Kobe, but it's just the facts... Jordan has always been a better defensive player than Kobe Bryant, and every bit as good of an offensive player as well.

  So, to recap, Jordan was the superior defender, leader, and at the very least just as good on the offensive end of the floor. Now, what the hell were we arguing about again?

  The real question becomes this: how do we not look at Phil Jackson and name him as the most overrated coach in the history of sports? Yes, he won 11 championships as a head coach in the NBA. 6 with the Bulls, 5 with the Lakers. 6 of them came with Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player in NBA history, on his team. In an 8-year span, the only time Jackson did not win a championship were the two years MJ was failing to hit the curve ball in Birmingham, Alabama. So MJ moves on after the second three-peat, and Phil moves on as well. Next stop, LA. Shaquille O'Neal is the best big man in the game, Kobe Bryant gives him a damn good wing player to compliment Shaq. Once again, two great basketball players, leads to four more championship rings to Phil. A few years later, Kobe runs Shaq out of town after they lose the NBA Finals to the Pistons in '04. Phil gets a big man to pair with Kobe (Gasol), the Lakers pick up one more ring.

  The question is this; is Phil Jackson the greatest coach in NBA history... or is he simply the beneficiary of having coached three of the greatest players in modern NBA history in MJ, Kobe, and Shaq? If his "triangle offense" were so effective, where are all the copycats? We all know that the world of sports is filled with copycats... if something new starts to work, other teams will follow suit quickly. Just look at all the NFL teams getting out of the 3-4 now as quickly as they jumped into it. I haven't seen one example of teams trying to copy what Phil Jackson has done in his career... with the exception of the Miami Heat... who have copied one aspect of Phil Jackson's success story... collecting the most superstars allowed under the cap and trying to win it all that way.

  My answer is yes, Phil Jackson is an overrated, egotistical, bag of ass. With all the "zen master" horse shit and book deals since his career ended, it's no wonder the guy has an inflated ego. Especially since there hasn't been a single NBA offseason go by where the guy hasn't been contacted by somebody to either "consult" or just to come back to coach. Notice, though, the last two jobs this guy took, there were superstars in place already. So, if your team is talking about bringing in Phil Jackson this offseason, yet you have nothing to offer him in the way of being a championship-ready... just ignore the rumors. If the players aren't there, he won't be there, either. Now if the Heat were to call on the other hand... I'm sure he'd break a hip tripping over a yoga mat trying to answer that call!

  The next question I have this week is, what the hell is up with Justin Verlander? Over his last two starts, last Saturday against Cleveland and Thursday against Texas, he has not been himself. In both starts, he walked a run in with the bases loaded... he did it twice in the start Thursday night against Texas. Before these last two starts, he had an ERA of under 2. With these two starts added, he's now up over 3 for the year. The question is, is this just an aberration, or is this a sign that something is actually wrong with the Tigers' ace? Unfortunately, if you ask me, this is one of those wait and see type of issues. Based on his track record, Verlander has never spent any extended amount of time hurt... so if it is an injury it's just a matter of waiting it out. If this is something mechanical, the pitching coach should be fired immediately... and then drug outside somewhere and shot!

  My final question of the week... are you as tired as I am of seeing celebrities/athletes going to the prom with freaking high school kids? I mean look, it's cute when a kid has a disability and just wants to meet that person. But now you have perfectly fine, normal kids just trying to get on TV and asking famous people to the prom with them. Case in point, Dwayne Wade of the Heat just went to the prom with some 17-year old girl in Florida somewhere... nothing wrong with the girl... apparently she just wanted to get on TV. Earlier in the year, some nerdy fuck from NY somewhere asked Kate Upton to go to prom with him. I say these little pricks should be stuck getting a date to the prom the same way we all had to... go awkwardly up to some girl in your school and mumble the question, risking embarrassment and humiliation in front of all of your peers. If you aren't strong enough to pull that off, God help you when you little fucks get into the real world!

On this fine Saturday, it is time to take a quick look at who is playing great and who is playing like...well, poorly.  For those playing poorly, my man Clint is going to take you out.  Before we get to the current S-list players, let's look at the A-list, and I start by cross - referencing a post I put up on Tuesday on King Lundqvist in the NHL Section.

On Monday last week, the Rangers put the Capitals out of their usual April / May misery with a 5-0 blitz in Game 7.  There never would have been a Game 7 if Lundqvist did not carry the Rangers there with a brilliant shutout in Game 6.  His understated demeanor and his cool style on the ice perhaps is less flashy than some of the other great goalies that might come to mind, but Henrik is one of the best...ever, and definitely in with the Good!

As a brief side not, I went to see the new Star Trek movie today and found it thoroughly entertaining.  As one who enjoyed the original series and the Kirk-based movies (a little less for the modern cast), this re-launch of the movie series with young stars is very, very well done.  If you like Star Trek at all, and really even if you don't (Mrs. Tzu even liked it), I suggest taking it in.  Good!

Now on to my MLB Good,Bad & Ugly (GBU for short) analysis...

The Yankees & Red Sox are  1 - 2 in the AL East again.  I had prematurely encouraged Yankee haters to do a spring dance on an early Yankee grave, but to their credit they quickly righted the ship and are now 10 games over .500.  The Red Sox looked awful last year and it was possible cause for long term concern, yet here they sit, 1 game behind the Yankees at 25-17.  The real surprise, and one of my true candidates for really good is Buck Showalter, is the Orioles.  It would have been very easy to write off their season in 2012 as a fluke, but here they are just a couple of games back.  Hooray for the O's!  The Yankees, Red Sox & O's....Good!

Also Good in the American League...the INDIANS, yes the Cleveland Indians, are in first place in the AL Central.  With a renewed pitching staff that is coming together and solid team hitting, the Indians are finally showing the promise that fans have been expecting for the last couple of years as preseason trendy picks to surprise...well, surprise!   The Tigers are right there as expected as are the Texas Rangers.  The Rangers have already put 6.5 games between themselves and the A's...Good!

In the National League, the St Louis Cardinals are scary good.  They are playing .659 ball at 27-14, best in the Majors.  They have a +51 run differential 40 games into the season - yikes that is good.  Also Good in the National League we have the Braves, Reds, Giants, & Nationals along with a surprising Arizona team.  The NL is going to be fun to watch as the season unfolds.  Look for the Wild Card to go down to the wire.

On the player front, Miguel Cabrera has validated his Triple Crown effort with another run at the title.  He is already leading in batting average and RBI...can HR's be far behind?  How about Chris Davis for the O's?  Hitting .317 with 11 HR and 39 RBI.  In the Future is Now category, Bryce Harper has 11 HR to go with a .299 BA and a .617 SLG for an OPS of 1.011.  And who the hell is Paul Goldschmidt?!  Where did he come from?  (Note to Team Q - nice draft pick in Round 7)  If you don't know, take a look at the stats table - his OPS is 1.077 (12 HR, .338 AVG).

Yu Darvish & Jordan Zimmerman have 7 wins, Felix Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw and Shelby Miller have microscopic ERA and Mariano is back leading the AL in saves.  Good for Mariano, who seems like a really good guy to me, especially for a Yankee - and the dude can pitch.

For the Bad, we have a few good candidates...

Let's start with the LA Angels ("LA" is bad, Anaheim is good), This glamour team is 15-27 with pitching that has been sub-par and star hitting that has been well below expectations.  Albert Pujols...remember him?...hitting .242.  Josh Hamilton?  barely above the Mendoza line at .210.  Wunderkind Trout, the best of the group at .282 but still below expectations.  (As a side note, the ESPN fantasy geniuses still have Trout as a top 10 pick with the updated rankings.  This is why I generally don't worry too much about what they see when putting together a draft plan).  For the bucks invested, BAD.

The other LA team, the Dodgers, is slightly better off, but not much.  At least they have Adrian Gonzalez who is mashing at .338, but they are still in last place.  The only reason the Angels aren't in last is because of the Ugly Astros.   As for the Dodgers, it may be time to be blue.  A team ERA of 3.89 doesn't sound bad, but in the NL, that is 15th.  Only 21 quality starts out of 40 games and just allowing too many baserunners.  Considering the strength of their division, they are going to be looking up in the standings all year.

Also Bad, are the Mets...come 'on Give me a Break!  (channeling my Warner Wolfe)...in a city where they are beloved, here is ownership that has run a team into the ground.  They can't hit - a team batting average of .229!  A team ERA of 4.5 - if it wasn't for David Wright, who would you think is on this team?  Not just Bad, also SAD.

And then there is the Ugly....

The Astros need no introduction.  Who made the call to move to the American League West?  I hope that they got some decent comp, because it is going to be a long haul for Astros fans.  This team was in the World Series just 7 years ago.  Now they have 11 wins through 42 games.  No hitting, especiall no pitching (team ERA of 5.76!) and NO HOPE.  Things are definitely UGLY in Houston.

Also Ugly, but of a slightly different ilk is the Toronto Blue Jays....here's a team that everyone and their brother picked as the AL East Champs and there they sit at the bottom of the heap.  Dickey? Ugly.  Buehrle?  Ugly!  Dickey is their team leader in ERA with 4.83!  Buehrle - who I loved as a White Sox - has an ERA of 6.33.  Their closer, Casey Janssen is the only one getting it done.  For all the bucks and all the hype, definitely UGLY!!

And on that happy note, I think I will call it a night.  Have a great Saturday!