NASCAR fans show “class” during past two races

When the books are closed on Jeff Gordon’s career, he will go down as one of the top five greatest drivers in the sports history. He will also go down as one of the more controversial.

That has nothing to do with how he raced, or how he has handled himself off the track, but primarily the love, hate relationship the fans have with Gordon. Fans (myself included) love to boo him at tracks. It’s part of the atmosphere of the sport.

However, some fans seem to take that booing to a new level, as has been the case throughout most of Gordon’s career. Following his win last week at Phoenix, coupled with this week’s victory at Talladega, Gordon moved past the late Dale Earnhardt on the career wins list with 77.

That didn’t sit well with what I’d like to call the “intoxicated fan.” Fans at Phoenix complained when Gordon showed respect for the sport and dignity by bringing out a Dale Earnhardt flag during his post-race celebration. I guess they can look past other drivers who have done similar acts in the past five years.

Then, yesterday, they throw their garbage onto the track when Gordon won under caution.

And then NASCAR fans complain when they don’t get any respect from the national media.

Gordon, whether you love him or hate him, is one of the best drivers in the business and is part of the reason for the growth in the sport. He took what drivers like Earnhardt and Richard Petty created and took it to a new level. Even Earnhardt saw his talent and helped him in his early career development.

But the fans - many of whom started drinking three weeks before the race - forget that and feel that it is their right to throw their trash where they please, especially when it includes Gordon. They have become an embarrassment to the sport, especially at Talladega where this has happened on numerous occasions.

It reminds me of professional wrestling fans, who started to throw trash into the ring during the height of World Championship Wrestling’s popularity when the new World order and Hulk Hogan made their way to the ring. It should come as now shock to anyone that NASCAR shares a similar fan base from professional wrestling.

NASCAR should take a harder stance on incidents like this. Until it does, perhaps Tony Stewart should make more NASCAR is like pro wrestling comments to the media. He’s more right every day, especially after trash like this.

Busy Monday News Day

After a long and restful weekend, I need to clear my mind out to take care of some things that I’ve been thinking about both in the sports and news world.

The Oakland Raiders were smart to draft JaMarcus Russell with the overall No. 1 pick. Afterwards, it was a comedy of errors for the team from Oakland, or is it Los Angeles, at least that is where the NFL’s Gene Washington believes Al Davis’ squad still plays.

Russell is a talented quarterback who gives the Raiders the deep ball threat. So you would think having a quality wide receiver in Randy Moss would be a good aspect. Obviously not as the Raiders parted ways with the former Marshall University standout and sent him off to New England, all but insuring the Patriots a berth in the AFC title game, if not the Super Bowl. Only Miami had a worse draft. Even though I predicted Ted Ginn to go high, the Dolphins missed on taking Brady Quinn, who would have given the team stability at quarterback.

The teams that made the biggest splash on this draft weekend - Cleveland, New England, and the San Fransisco 49ers, who picked up Darrell Jackson from the Seahawks for practically nothing.

The Washington Media is a buzz today with the “D.C. Maddam” story. The story involves Deborah Jean Palfrey and her little black book of clients, which allegedly includes top Bush Administration officials, and a conservative think tank leader. It’s all part of the government’s case against Palfrey for running what they believe is a prostitution ring. Palfrey claims her business was “legit” and that others, her customers, should be charged as well.

This case will catch the media’s fancy for awhile because it deals with government leaders and sex. It’s a money-making combination, just ask President Clinton.

And finally, the St. Louis Cardinals are dealing with the death of a pitcher once again with the tragic death Sunday morning of Josh Hancock. The reliever was killed in an automobile accident in St. Louis.

This is the second time in five years the Cardinals have dealt with death as a team. Darryl Kile died in 2002 in a Chicago hotel room.

Is Having a Christian Speak at School a First Amendment Violation?

A story in the Raleigh, N.C., News and Observer today discusses how parents in Chatham County are upset at school and county officials. The reason for their ire is a school assembly sponsored by a Christian organization speaking about abortion, saying no to drugs, and abstinence.

One parent said, “The biggest issue to me is what are [school officials] thinking, bringing in any group grounded in religion.” The article also quotes Duke University Professor Erwin Chemerinsky who said that it was a violation of the First Amendment because students were required to attend. If the News and Observer had talked to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, I’m sure they would have received a different argument.

The program was sponsored by Teen Challenge, a national faith-based group  that focuses on teen drug and alcohol use. Area churches picked up the tab.

Before I really get into this some more, let me take you back to my high school and junior high days. I can remember several events and school assemblies that focused on people who made the wrong choices in their lives. They never really talked about their faith openly, but you knew something bigger than themselves (God) had brought them to recovery. I remember the military coming to do drill performances. I can remember signing no alcohol promises and I think there was an abstinence pledge, but I can’t fully remember.

Minus the drill performances, these were stories we needed to hear as young kids.

Now back to present time and Chatham County. Was this a violation of the First Amendment?  I don’t think so.

School officials said there were no mention of religion in the presentation, but even if the speakers had quoted a verse it wouldn’t have led to a violation of the First Amendment. The event was not paid with school resources. It was paid for by local churches.

The First Amendment simply says “freedom of religion.” Separation of Church and state, that phrase, never appears in the Constitution. What the clause means is that the government, when you look at writings of the framers of freedom of religion such as Thomas Jefferson, is that government cannot establish one religion over another. I don’t see that being violated in Chatham County.

The Church has a place in our schools. Groups like Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Young Life do a tremendous job in reaching out to students and helping them through the difficult periods of being teenagers in today’s society.

I don’t think this was so much a religious message that students heard, but a message on how to live better lives as humans.

If that is a message our parents are concerned about their children hearing, then we have more problems, as a society, than figuring out the proper role of churches and schools.

My Own Mock Draft

Since we’ve already discussed how we are going to change the NFL Draft for the better, we might as well discuss whom we think will be picked and win.

I don’t get paid professional to make guesses on the wind. This is my gift, to you the reader and should be taken as they are - guesses, hunches if you will. I’ve taken my guesses after reading other mock drafts (it’s not cheating, just observing) and comparing their views with those that I have of my own and go from there. We’ll see tomorrow how many I have correct, I’m guessing my over-under is four.

So here are my picks. I’ll make no commentary, because I don’t pretend to play an analyst on TV. Someone call Mel Kiper, Jr., and see if he wants to take a view.

Oakland - JaMarcus Russell, LSU

Detroit - Joe Thomas, Wisconsin

Cleveland - Adrian Peterson, Oklahoma

Tampa - Calvin Johnson,  Georgia Tech

Arizona - Jamaal Anderson, Arkansas

Washington - Gaines Adams, Clemson

Minnesota - Brady Quinn, Notre Dame

Atlanta - LaRon Landry, LSU

Miami - Levi Brown, Penn State

Houston - Patrick Willis, Mississippi

San Fransisco -  Ted Ginn, Jr., Ohio State

Buffalo - Leon Hall, Michigan

St. Louis - Robert Meachem, Tennessee

Carolina - Reggie Nelson, Florida

Pittsburgh - Darelle Revis, Pittsburgh

Green Bay - Greg Olsen, Miami

Jacksonville - Brandon Meriweather, Miami

Cincinnati - Paul Poslunsky, Penn State

Tennessee - Dwayne Jarrett, USC

Denver - Alan Branch, Michigan

Dallas -  Aaron Ross, Texas

New England - Joe Staley, Central Michigan

Jets - Eric Wright, UNLV

Philadelphia -  Marshawn Lynch, California

New Orleans - Lawrence Thomas, Florida State

New England -  David Harris, Michigan

Baltimore - Justin Blalock, Texas

San Diego - Dwayne Brown, LSU

Chicago - Adam Carricker, Nebraska

Indianapolis - Justin Harrell, Tennessee

Weird dreams, Weird morning, Just Weird

So, this has been one of the mornings that I felt like I needed to share, only because I like to be like an open book. Perhaps more like a Dr. Seus book than say War and Peace, but an open book all the same.

First, a precursor to the story. I battle bouts of anxiety, primarily because I’m a little hard on myself. O.K. Maybe not a little. I’m really hard on myself. I expect to be judged more than others. I expect others to look down on me for the smallest thing, so it creates an anxiety within me that leads to intrusive thoughts, primarily around my faith (because as someone told me, the thoughts will grab hold to whatever will get my attention and negative thoughts that I don’t believe about my faith certainly will). I’ve been doing a lot better, but it is a struggle none the same that I seek help and prayers with. The thoughts, by the way, occur when I’m alone, stressed, or even when praying.

So onto the day that has been, and yes I realize that it is only 9 a.m.

I woke up last night really early, bad dream, couldn’t sleep. You wouldn’t either with the dream I had. Not to get into the whole thing, but let’s say it involved a church, a fight where I wasn’t involved, but standing in the background doing nothing about it while someone else did.

Well, I began to try to figure out what the dream meant, half awake and barely thinking, which created some anxiety and bad thoughts. I tried reading some things to “reassure” me, but it only made the thoughts worse, not better. Some of the thoughts were the from the absurd to the near damning and when the thoughts happen - even though I can’t control them - I get frightened, scared, and ultimately hard on myself.

I know I’ve not committed any sin. These thoughts are just words, not feelings, emotions or anything with any truth behind them. Yet, they scare me, as they would anyone.

What’s funny is that through this, God reminded me how much He loves me.  A friend of mine sent me a note saying how much I meant to her over the past four years. She’s getting ready to graduate from UNC-Chapel Hill. It was there that I was reminded of something I talked about Sunday with the youth that even in our darkest moments God can do some amazing things of healing and transformation, if we let Him.

I think I need to live into that some more.

Steel Cage Match: NASCAR vs. Tony Stewart

Tony Stewart is not happy and he’s letting people know about it lately. The person, or should we say organization, at the top of his list of things upsetting him is NASCAR.

During Stewart’s satellite radio show recently, the two-time NASCAR champion criticized officiating in the sport and likened it to professional wrestling. He said NASCAR officials call for ‘debris” cautions, especially late in a race to get a better finish or the result they would prefer.

The Associated Press quoted Stewart as saying, “I guess NASCAR thinks, ‘Hey, wrestling worked, and it was for the most part staged, so I guess it’s going to work in racing, too.’ I can’t understand how long the fans are going to let NASCAR treat them like they’re stupid before the fans finally turn on NASCAR.”

Stewart is essentially playing the role of Stone Cold Steve Austin, coming to the ring and calling out the management, which makes Mike Helton, NASCAR’s president, the equivalent of Vince McMahon in this argument. No steel chairs will be needed, but perhaps we can get a pay-per-view match at Backlash this weekend. The match could be televised from the infield of Talladega, home to the biggest party in NASCAR. The fans could get involved throwing beer cans instead of on the track, but at Helton or Stewart.

But, in all seriousness does Stewart have a point? Yes.

It’s at NASCAR’s advantage to have races that come down to the final 10 or 15 laps. First off, the fans in attendance remain in the seats instead of looking for the gates, because, let’s face it, leaving a NASCAR race can be a race in of itself. Also, a closer finish insures better media coverage and higher ratings for future events. Remember, it wasn’t that long ago that NASCAR was being criticized for boring races and boring finishes.

NASCAR could easily throw a caution from the tower and claim debris on the track for something as little as a hot dog paper flying in from the grandstands. The argument, which is accurate, is that the paper can get stuck on the grill and affect air flow into the engines, causing a potential overheating situation. But should ever small debris on the track cause a caution flag? Probably not. NASCAR didn’t have much comment in dismissing Stewart’s claims only to say, “There are thousands of talented race drivers out there who would consider it an honor to compete in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series.”

Well, even the best independent circuit wrestler considers it an honor to perform for World Wrestling Entertainment or NWA-TNA, the top two promotions today. It’s a non point, as is saying NASCAR has qualified officials who are concerned about safety and put that first in making caution calls. You can easily throw a flag in football for holding and bring back a long touchdown run that could change the outcome of the game. That’s what Stewart is getting at, ultimately - are these caution flags determining, rightly or wrongly, the outcome of events, giving NASCAR the finish and winner they desire.

That is the point NASCAR has to answer and has not done so, yet.

One thing, though to keep in mind, is that Stewart’s anger stems mostly from his dissatisfaction with his performance this season. He has led the most laps, been in position to win a couple of races, and has nothing to show for it thus far into the season. That would get to even the best driver, and Stewart is clearly the best driver on the circuit.

Beilein wins W.Va. sportswriters award

Weeks after John Beilein bolted from West Virginia University to take over at the University of Michigan, Beilein will be honored by the state’s sportswriters.

Beilein will be honored at the Victory Awards Dinner with the Mickey Furfari Award as the state’s top college coach. He defeated WVU head football coach Rich Rodriguez for the honor.

The Victory Awards Dinner is sponsored by the West Virginia Sportswriters Association and is the oldest sports banquet in the nation where the state’s top high school and college athletes are honored.

It’s not much of a surprise that Beilein won the award, because of what WVU accomplished winning the NIT with a team that lost four of five players from a year ago. The vote typically takes place around the end of march, early April, and many ballots would have been cast prior to Beilein leaving for Ann Arbor.

Beilein is not expected to attend the dinner.

Should Dale Jr. have ownership of DEI?

Most of the debate in NASCAR this season has been centered around four general themes - can Toyota catch up to Chevy, Ford and Dodge and perform consistently this year, will Michael Waltrip make another race this season, how will the Car of Tomorrow perform in race conditions, and where will Dale Earnhardt, Jr., race in 2008.

It’s the contract negotiations that I’ll focus today and thus bore one of my more loyal readers. Rumors have begun to circulate in the past few weeks that a deal between Earnhardt Jr., and Dale Earnhardt Inc., will be made soon. Earnhardt Jr., arguably one of the most recognizable names in stock car racing, is in the final year of his contract with DEI and is looking for a new deal, plus ownership of DEI. ESPN has been reporting that 51 percent of DEI has been offered to Earnhardt Jr., for purchase. To put the cost in perspective, as The Associated Press’ Jenna Fryer has reported, the Boston Red Sox’s John Henry paid $60 million for a minority stake in Rousch Racing.

Earnhardt Jr., would have to come up with most likely that much to take over 51 percent of DEI. Ownership is not going to be transfered without some kind of cash transaction between Earnhardt Jr., to DEI, though Earnhardt Jr., and Kelly Earnhardt Elledge, Junior’s sister and business manager, contend that the business was to be left to Dale Earnhardt’s children.

Regardless of the ownership battle, the question that remains for consideration should be is ownership something Earnhardt Jr., really needs at this point in his career? Let’s focus on the history of the sport and not the emotional side of having Earnhardt Jr., taking control of his dad’s operation. Owner-drivers have historically had a more difficult time contending for championships, in the past 30 years, than their counterparts that only have to deal with racing. The late Alan Kulwicki is the last owner-driver to win the NASCAR championship, doing so in 1992. Ricky Rudd, Geoff Bodine and, currently, Michael Waltrip and Kyle Petty, have done the owner-drive routine to mixed results. Rudd was competitive and contended for championships, but could never get over the hump to win the title.

What would owning DEI do to Earnhardt Jr.’s career, who has not seriously contended for the cup title in two years and best finish in the points is third. What would the demands of day-to-day operations do to Earnhardt Jr.’s performance on the race track? If the season ended today, Earnhardt would be on the outside looking in to the NASCAR postseason as he sits 15th. The top 12 are invited to the postseason.

There is no question that Earnhardt Jr., should have some ownership of DEI, but is now the time? I think it’s questionable. As Humpy Wheeler said during a promotional event for next month’s all-star race, it’s ultimately all about where Earnhardt Jr., believes he can win and secure a championship.

Could that be at DEI? Possibly. Could that be at Richard Childress Racing, which would likely be the destination of choice for Earnhardt Jr., if contract negotiations stall with DEI? Possibly.

One thing is for sure, winning and finding the best situation should be the top priority. Owning DEI should be a secondary concern at this point.

How you could improve the NFL Draft

The NFL Draft is this weekend, and I’m sorry but for me - even as big of a football fan as I am, it’s not must-see-TV. Of course, I’ll watch the first few picks, just because well it’s the NFL Draft. After that, I may catch a few picks only popping my head in and out to see how the San Fransisco 49ers are picking and if any talented West Virginia players are selected. On the WVU front, it looks as though All-American center Dan Mozes’ stock is falling.

Otherwise, the NFL Draft is a bunch of ESPN talking heads and too much time in between draft picks. In the first round, you get 15 minutes “on the clock” to make a selection. In the time it could take the Oakland Raiders to decide if they want JaMarcus Russell or trade down for Calvin Johnson you could easily pay your bills, order a pizza, go to the post office, and wash the car. In theory, it could be three hours before the 49ers pick at No. 11. I’m sorry, NFL, but I’ve got better things to do on a Saturday to sit around for three hours to watch who the Niners will select, hopefully a defensive player.

So here are my suggestions for improving the NFL Draft to make it more TV friendly. Some are serious. Some are just funny. Some would never fly past the No Fun League.

- Allow only 10 minutes for a selection. That would save 2 hours and 40 minutes, roughly, from the first round maximum. That still means the maximum the first round could go is five hours.

- Require the No. 1 team to make a selection or trade as soon as the draft opens. They would have five minutes from the start. Not fair, you say? They’ve had four months to decide what they were going to do with the No. 1 pick. The extra 15, 10, or even 5 minutes is not going to make that much difference.

- When a draft selection is made that involves one of the invited players, play some rock music. Let the players decide based on whatever fits their personality. Banned musicians would include the Backstreet Boys, Justin Timberlake, and anything involving Puff Daddy, P Diddy, or whatever he calls himself.

- Reduce the talking heads. You can only take so much Mel Kiper Jr., and Chris Berman before wanting to throw the TV off the balcony. Bring in more fans, players, and even local sports personalities (who are not necessarily already on contract with ESPN.)

- Speaking on ESPN’s coverage, steel cage grudge match between the ESPN crew and the NFL Network crew on whom gets sole possession of the Draft coverage rights.

And finally,

- Give a Jets fan a camera and a microphone. That should make for interesting television.

From a tired mind

This has been one of those weekends where there was a lot of running around and seemingly no breaks of rest and relaxation. It was a good weekend, though I could certainly take a day off tomorrow to recover from the weekend.

Maybe, that’s why Mark Chesnutt sang the song “It Sure is Monday.” Guaranteed, in the morning I’m going to be chugging down (in my case Diet Coke) when I should’ve been sleeping.

I’ve come to the realization lately that I’m an even bigger short-timer than what I really understood. Think about it. In four months, pretty much from today, I’ll be packed up and heading to the Land of No McDonald’s otherwise known as Wilmore, Ky., population 3. We’re not counting the college and the seminary in the town’s population.

That’s not a lot of time. In those four months, I have to find a job, find a place to live, find a church, register for classes, find some extra money, close out my job, buy a computer, figure out good excuses to not babysit my newly-born (as of Monday) cousin, and oh I don’t know clean my room here. That’s a lot for four months, while also wanting to remain in the life that I have now.

I think that’s the funny thing about transition. We’re living in two different worlds. On one side, we want to be preparing for the new challenges and journey that lies ahead. On the other, we want to hold tight to what we know, and where we are comfortable. We have our routine and we don’t want to break it apart.

Finding a delicate balance in dealing with this transition has been difficult. In some days, I’ve managed it as best as you can. In others, I’m overwhelmed by the tasks ahead.

Today, right now, I’m in between. In between land is a good place to be, I think. I’m managing, but I know the task is daunting.

Something tells me that is probably a good metaphor for my future journey in life. But, that’s another time for another blog. Regardless, I’m going to enjoy these final few months, here in this place that means so much to me. (That is a lesson I’ve needed to learn for about the last year.)