My Corner of the World

Monday, February 20, 2006

Memphis Tigers fans wait in eager anticipation this morning to see if the team drops in this week's top 25 polls. No, Memphis didn't lose a game last week or even play a close contest that would put their credibility in jeopardy. No. 4 Villanova's upset a week ago against no. 1 UConn has most of us wondering what happens. Duke will likely move atop both polls, followed by Villanova, UConn & Memphis. No. 4 in the country still ain't bad & all Memphis has to do is win out to get a no. 1 seed for the NCAA tournament.

As a aside note, I will be hosting the Coach John Calipari Show tonight at 6 p.m. from the Variety Club on WMC-790. C'mon by & celebrate Tiger basketball with us.

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What's the bigger story from yesterday's Daytona 500: a cheating team wins the race or Tony Stewart decided not to follow his own advice?

Jimmie Johnson won the race while his pit crew chief Chad Knaus was sitting at home for cheating. Oh, it was his seventh time to get caught cheating. I had a hard time admiring the effort put forth by his team yesterday because I honestly felt he shouldn't have been in the race. It's time for NASCAR to get serious about repeat offenders & Knaus fits the bill. They will only put an end to it when they start sitting drivers down instead of socking a crew chief for a few thousand bucks & sending him home.

But back to my point... Jimmie & the no. 48 Lowes team are celebrating & dedicating the race to their cheating crew chief. I know that Knaus isn't the only example out there of someone constantly bending the rules, but if NASCAR is serious about controlling their sport, then they need to make a bigger statement next time.

As for Stewart, let me say I am a fan. I believe Stewart to be the racer that takes the role of the late Dale Earnhardt. Now five years after his death, both fans & media have romantic memories of The Intimidator & we can all recite a story about how he won a race in dramatic fashion. We tend to forget how hated Earnhardt was in his prime. Sure, he was a great ambassador for the sport, but Dale Sr. would put his own mother into the wall if it meant grabbing a checkered flag.

The interesting part of Tony's story from last week was how vocal he was over bump drafting & driver safety at Daytona. "We're going to have another five-year tribute five years from now because we're going to kill somebody," he said. "It could be me, it could be Dale Jr., it could be anybody."

But there was Tony yesterday in an on-track squabble with Matt Kenseth which Stewart claims was started 20 laps in by Kenseth. Stewart had the quote of the night when he told NBC, "He started the whole thing and I finished it."

For most fans there was no middle ground when it came to Dale Earnhardt. You loved him or you hated him, all while respecting him & what he meant to racing. Even his worst enemies hated to see what happened to him at Daytona in 2001.

He speaks his mind, has two Cup championships & doesn't mind doing whatever it takes to win... sounds like Tony is ready to be The Intimidator II.

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Today's Miami Herald reports Dolphins running back Ricky Williams has violated the NFL's substance abuse policy... again. It seems the story started when a Denver TV station reported Williams had violated the policy, meaning he either failed the drug test or refused it.

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Is Barry Bonds calling it quits after 2006? He told USA Today he'll hang it up at the end of the season, regardless of where he stands in breaking Hank Aaron's all-time homerun record.

Meanwhile, an AP story is circulating today stating Bonds will play in 2007 if his surgically repaired knee is ok.

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Music quote of the day:

"When love comes to town
I want to jump that train
When love comes to town
I want to catch that flame
Maybe I was wrong to ever let you down
But I did what I did before love came to town"

U2 w/ B.B. King - "When Love Comes To Town"

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