Fallen Star
Posted May 23, 2010, 3:12 PM ET

The Hollywood Walk of Fame will never be the same.

When you think of all the great, classic stars of Tinseltown, please be sure to mention the newest addition.....ESPN's Chris Berman.

That's right, Chris Berman is now "back, back, back" on the sidewalk that highlights all the stars of the big screen and from television fame. I know what you're thinking....and you're right. What the hell is wrong with this world?

Leave it to the wackos in fantasy land to justify adding Berman along with fellow sidewalk inductees James Cameron, Russell Crowe and even Ringo Starr.

Somewhere there is a punchline....so I'll let you fill-in with your favorite line.

I had a number of phone calls and emails on my radio show stating that the fee to get your name highlighted on a Hollywood street is around 25K....all I can say is that somebody out West got ripped-off.

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It's time to go racing in Charlotte and Indianapolis.

As the big race weekend approaches, I couldn't help but notice some similarities between the two sports' biggest stars: Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt, Jr.

The numbers that you see below have not been created out of thin air....the numbers are legit and it is amazing how similar the two drivers are on and off the track.

	Danica (IRL)	Dale, Jr. (NASCAR)
Place in Point Standings	16th	16th
Merchandise Sales	1st	1st
Wins in 2010	0	0
Last Win	2008	2008
Wins in last 85 point races	1	1

Scary.

The biggest difference is probably the current state of the IRL and NASCAR fans. When Patrick qualified as the third fastest woman for this week's Indy 500, she lashed out at the performance and handling of the car. The fans in attendance proceeded to boo her for her remarks, as it appeared that she was throwing her team under the bus for providing her "lousy equipment".

That would never happen in NASCAR. Dale Jr. is untouchable, despite making similar claims to his equipment and staff while at DEI and Hendrick Motorsports. Junior will qualify on Thursday night for this weekend's 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway, and if the 88-car slips to 23rd to match Patrick's weak effort at Indy.....then you've got an erie set of circumstances.

But if I asked you to pick which driver will win next in their respective sport, who would you pick?

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Since there seems to be a running theme with this week's Ripe Gripe, how about if we continue with another fallen star....Floyd Landis of cycling fame.

The former Tour de France champ has been fighting with the press, the drug agents, and anybody else that was within earshot that he did not dope or cheat while claiming the title and stardom on the circuit.

This past week, he finally snapped and confessed that he indeed doped during the process.

It's one thing to admit guilt and "come clean" in the apologetic aftermath.....but Landis took it to a new extreme, when he also stated that he learned the ropes of cheating from the one and only Lance Armstrong.

What a classless move by Landis.

I have no idea if Armstrong cheated or not....but there's no question that he has been living under the watchful eye of every Parisian for over a decade, yet there is no evidence that he has tainted the sport or the rules.

However, that cannot be said for Landis, who finally admitted his guilt, but not without trying to drag Armstrong into the mess.

It was a pathetic and desperate display by Landis.

If there was tasing allowed in cycling, now would be the time to administer the voltage.

I always think of cycling like college recruiting....I figured everybody cheats to some degree. Sometimes you realize it, sometimes you don't.

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The biggest fallen star of the year (and maybe of the century) is golf's Tiger Woods.

It was reported late last week that Woods' current estranged wife, Elin Nordegren, has asked for a mere 750 million bucks, along with the custody of the couple's two children.

Ouch.....that's a lot of cash.....even for Tiger.

Golf is tough enough to begin with, much less without worrying about your finances, wife, girlfriends, skanks, swing coach, lost revenues from endorsements, or if the scars from the embedded nine iron have healed properly.

Tiger's return to the top of the golf world is going to be tougher than you think.

I'll say it again.....in my opinion, the best thing for Tiger is to take the rest of the year off and eliminate all the problems.....and that includes writing a big check to Elin, working on his game, and getting healthy physically and mentally.