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Busch-Whacked Last week, both Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch made headlines in Daytona for an off-track incident. According to reports, Stewart punched Busch in a NASCAR hauler after the two drivers smashed into each other during a practice session. After watching the conclusion of the 50th edition of the Daytona 500, it looks like Kurt Busch got the last swat on Tony Stewart. Busch was able to bump-draft his teammate Ryan Newman to a victory, as he raced past Stewart on the final lap. Tony Stewart was "Busch-whacked", indeed. In the process, it allowed Roger Penske to win his first Daytona 500 as his guys finished 1-2 in the "Great American Race". It also allowed Ryan Newman to snap his 81-race winless streak. All the talk leading into the race surrounded Dale, Jr....what else is new with NASCAR? It should be pointed out that Junior was the only Hendrick driver to sniff the Top 10. Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon and Casey Mears had lousy days, as Penske replaced Hendrick as the top story. While Newman raced to the surprise win and found Victory Lane for the first time since 2005, Dale Jr. still hasn't found the winner's circle since May of 2006. I still expect him to snap the winless streak at some point in time during the year. It was a big day in Daytona, as the sport celebrated its golden anniversary. I couldn't help but laugh at the pre-race festivities. Nothing says "big-time event" like lip-sync performances from Chubby Checker, Michael McDonald and Kool and the Gang. They might be the only three acts that have longer losing streaks than Dale, Jr. NASCAR needs to ditch the half-assed Super Bowl hype, and keep concentrating on the sport. If I wanted to watch celebrities instead of the sport, I'd waste my time on the NBA All-Star game instead. All-in-all, it was an entertaining finish to NASCAR's season-opener. It's the start of a ridiculously long season on the racing circuit. It was also encouraging to see that the Car-of-Tomorrow allowed for some interesting passing and strategy down the stretch. The race also left me asking one question....how long will it be until Jimmie Johnson's crew chief, Chad Knaus, gets suspended for cheating? As I fumbled for the television remote, I finally found the NBA All-Star game on some cable channel. After two possessions, I just realized that I could score double digits in this game. It's completely unwatchable. Click. With his win in Los Angeles, Phil Mickelson won his 33rd career PGA Tour event. It's a good thing that Tiger Woods decided to take off another week before showing up again. I happened to catch Mickelson's final tap-in for the win...and right before the putt, some hack from the gallery yelled something to Lefty about winning in Augusta. I know Phil has two Masters titles (2004 and 2006...notice the trend?), but anybody who doesn't think the game's major championships run through Tiger is fooling themselves. It's one thing to stare down some guy by the name of Jeff Quinney...Tiger is a different story. Last week on Capitol Hill, I witnessed one of the most amazing collapses of all time. It involved one of the greatest clutch players in history....Roger Clemens. It was equally shocking to know that Clemens and his posse of attorneys called the meeting in D.C. after the release of the Mitchell Report back in mid-December. According to the Rocket and his henchmen, the Mitchell Report had it all wrong, when it listed Clemens 82 times in the report on steroids and HGH in baseball. It was mentioned that Clemens refused to talk to investigators during the initial report...now, I know why. Roger Clemens ruined his name and reputation with his pathetic performance last week. Will it prohibit him from reaching Cooperstown? Probably not. If Roger Clemens and Barry Bonds had retired after the 1998 season (i.e. prior to the "Steroid Era"), they would both be in Cooperstown right now. I still believe that they will enter the Hall of Fame in due time, but they both had lousy weeks when it comes to public perception and lying about the use of drugs. Clemens was so incompetent under oath that I was trying to figure out what his attorneys could be thinking during the entire process. While Rocket was being dissected on the "Hill", Barry Bonds was in the process of gaining some headline material, too. It was reported that Bonds failed a steroid test the year before breaking the single-season home run record. I had a feeling Bonds was enjoying being out of the limelight during the Clemens-fiasco....we almost forgot about him, while Roger was lying his ass off in front of Henry Waxman and company. Clemens wasn't the only guy under fire on Capitol Hill.....the NFL had some issues, too. Commissioner Roger Goodell met with Arlen Specter to discuss the infamous "Spygate" episode. After a two-hour meeting, it appears that Specter wasn't impressed. Of course, when you're representing the state of Pennsylvania, it looks like the Steelers ties run deep. Supposedly, Specter cited at least four witnesses that have evidence about some past Steelers-Patriots inconsistencies. Stay tuned. It looks like Congress is about to straighten out the ills of Major League Baseball and the National Football League. All this talk of the Iraq War, unemployment and immigration concerns will have to wait in Washington, D.C. Remember, it's all about priorities and taking responsibility. ...Right, Roger? |
Packman
on Sports Commentary
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