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Race Summary
It was a crazy race at Martinsville, filled with wrecks, crashes, and spinouts. Stewart and Irvin managed to crash into each other three times, and Tony went on to get in another wreck just for good measure. Should there be a limit to the number of wrecks you can cause in one race? And how did Geoffrey Bodine get to third place? He usually loses a couple wheels somewhere in the last fifty laps.
The main problem was the frequency of the cautions. Lots of good drivers got caught pitting under green, only to have the caution come out a couple laps later. But don't forget about the wrecks. Stewart's last wreck took out the driver who looked to be a good shot to win it: John Andretti. John was dialed in and ready to go for the win. He won here in the spring, so he knows how to race Martinsville. But it wasn't too be, as Stewart tried to perform open-radiator surgery on Andretti's car. The operation was unsuccessful.
The only good thing about the whole event is that I told you it would happen. I didn't know there would be so many wrecks, but I told you to watch out for some uncommon names to get in the top five. Rusty's been mediocre, his brother even worse, and Bodine? I can't get over it. Not a one of the top five finishers are in the top five of the points. What a race.
America's team had a hard task: defeat the team that shamed them in last year's wildcard playoff game. Although Dallas swept the NFC East last year, no one thought they were all that good of a team. Being beaten by the Cards was just more evidence of that fact. As this year started, everyone was looking for Dallas to fade while Washington and the Cards took center stage.
But that hasn't happened. Dallas shamed DC in the first game of the year, and they did it to the Cardinals last Sunday. Aikman threw two touchdowns, Smith ran one in, and George Ellis recovered a fumble on the Dallas 2-yard-line and ran it all the way back for a touchdown (you think Nemechek swerves, you should see Ellis try to run 98 consecutive yards). The Dallas defense took five interceptions from Jake Plummer, and Jake didn't throw a single time to the side of the field where Prime Time Neion Deion Sanders was playing. Dallas is back, folks, and this time it's personal.
I asked y'all what sport you'd want to own a team in. The comments, like our picks, where low scoring, but there were a couple of highlights. Old Kevin came through with another good answer:
But if you mean "have" in an own/play sense of the word, you know my answer's got to be the NFL. (Heck, I spend enough time reading up on pro football that I might as well make it a full-time job.) Hockey involves too much travel to Saskatchewan, baseball can be too mind-numbingly boring, and with basketball you have to spend most of your time bailing your genetic freak stars out of prison and/or the new Shaq movie/album/CD-Rom. But football still has the goods. And, plus, I'd be able to have the NFL Films announcer do my eulogy when I die.
Man, he ought to be writing for Gore. Will had something to add as well:
I'm going with RollerDerby. The people are dumb and toothless and don't ask for too much money because they know they can't get it.
Hey, wait, are you talking about Roller Derby players or us? My brother had this discursive answer:
NFL. Pro football is morally superior to college and high school football. Basketball is not a sport: it's just a bunch of skinny tall guys running up and down, running and gunning. Teamwork and careful strategy are nonexistant.Golf is only a shade more active than watching reruns of the Mork and Mindy show. Baseball is the opposite of basketball - there is absolutely no motion anywhere. It is mind-numbing. Pro Wrestling demonstrates the similarity between the US and the Roman empire - just think gladiators in the arena.
These aren't the droids you're looking for...
Move along...
Mork, gladiators, Star Wars, it's a tour de force. Tim had something to say. In fact, he had a lot to say:
I'll go one step further and name the dominant team I'd like to own -- the 1985 Chicago Bears. They were arguably the best football team of all time. To this day, that Chicago D, utilizing the 46 Defense (named after former Bear great Doug Plank) is still the best ever. Including the postseason, the Bears won more games (18) than any team, ever. Speaking of the postseason, the Bears gave up a total of 10 points (shutouts against the Giants and Rams, 10 pts to thePats in the Super Bowl). Along with their talent, they had characters. First and foremost was the greatest quarterback, college and/or pro, of all time, Jim McMahon. They had the best all-around running back of all time, Walter Payton. On the other side of the ball, they had 2 time Defensive Player of the year Mike Singletary. Finally, check out all the great guys who made up the Chicago Bears Shufflin' Crew: Sweetness, Speedy Willie, Samuri Mike, the Punky QB, Mama's Boy Otis, no-nickname Steve Fuller, Mr. !Clean Gary Fencik, L.A Mike, the Sackman, and the Fridge. What a team!
On an unrelated note, Sean, I can't go into specifics about the sudden departure of Haslam, Nathan, and Kevin at Jimmy's bachelor party on the NASDRO page. This page is controversial enough as it is.
Controversy. That's what it's all about. I'm afraid Duncan has become a tool of the WNBA marketing empire:
WNBA. Simply because, they got game!
And finally, a sad "Touch By an Angel"-esque answer from my dad, who appears to be losing touch with reality:
Comments: Mom couldn't remember what we're supposed to be commenting on,so I'll just remind you that Oct 4 is the feast day of Francis ofAssisi. And on Oct 6....
They're just taking it one day at a time back home. Don't forget to check out the comments page.
Terrible, terrible, terrible. No one got more than 30 points. Nathan got his first DNF of the year, but with us scoring so low, looks like he'll take minimal damage.
This week's points
|
Name |
Points |
|
1. Neil |
30 |
|
1. Kevin |
30 |
|
1. Chris |
30 |
|
4. Sandro |
25 |
|
5. Tim |
20 |
|
5. Duncan |
20 |
|
5. Sharon |
20 |
|
5. Sean |
20 |
|
5. Mom |
20 |
|
5. Dad |
20 |
|
11. Will |
10 |
|
12. Guy |
10 |
The cumulative points
Looks like we're in for a shoot-out the rest of the way. Kevin pulled away from Tim and Sean to take sole possession of second place, and he's only 20 points behind our leader, thanks to Nathan's DNF. Otherwise there weren't any position changes, and we're running out of races, folks!
|
Name & Pos. |
Total Points |
Position Last Week |
Number of Starts |
|
|
1. Nathan |
1160 |
1 |
27 |
|
|
2. Kevin K. |
1140 |
2 |
27 |
|
|
3. Sean |
1120 |
3 |
28 |
|
|
3. Tim |
1120 |
3 |
27 |
|
|
5. Sharon |
1015 |
5 |
28 |
|
|
6. Sandro |
1005 |
6 |
28 |
|
|
7. Duncan |
985 |
8 |
23 |
|
|
8. Dad |
980 |
7 |
28 |
|
|
9. Chris |
830 |
9 |
25 |
|
|
10. Will |
805 |
10 |
19 |
|
|
11. Neil |
720 |
11 |
21 |
|
|
12. Mom |
610 |
12 |
12 |
|
|
13. Guy |
580 |
13 |
17 |
|