It is Wednesday and I am still bored from the Talladega race Sunday afternoon. What an embarrassment for NASCAR. Many of NASCAR's critics already knock the "left turn only circuit" for being akin to watching the dryers at the laundramat.

After NASCAR dropped the "no bump drafting in the turns" bomb at last weekend, it seems the drivers collectively decided to make the race as boring as possible by falling in line quickly and just riding out the 500 miles "at 50% throttle," according to Jimmy Johnson during the race. It was boring. No exciting position battles, and very few 2, 3 or even 4 wide battles.

The draw to restrictor plate races like, Talladega and Daytona, is the mass of machinery racing by at nearly 200 mph. If the fans get nervous watching cars race 6 inches from each other, 3 wide, 10 rows deep going into the corners at 180 mph, then they can only imagine what the drivers must be going through. That's fun. That's what racing is all about. I can put a grandma in a stock car, tell her to put her foot to the floor, get in line, and just follow the car in front of you. Where's the fun in that?

Of course fans like to see wrecks. That is just like fans wanting to see a fight at a hockey game. It's exciting. It's fun. NO ONE should ever WANT to see Ryan Newman get cut out of his car. But fans like to see a little more action than Max Papis spinning out alone in turn 3 because his team isn't good enough to give him a competitive car and he is overdriving it at every turn.

The bump drafting in the corners is obviously a safety issue, but I think the drivers made their point and the fans echoed that point Sunday, that the drivers are smart enough and responsible enough to take care of business among themselves and keep it "in house" and not have Big Daddy NASCAR threaten to penalize someone for RACING hard in the corners.

I think NASCAR made one rule modification too many this weekend and we all suffered for it.

MR Pressbox

For the first time in history, the Iowa Hawkeyes are 9-0 (which is obvious to those of you who are reading this) and the National Title is something Iowa fans have been able to discuss for the first time since 1985. Unfortunately this year - despite its magical feel and potential undfeated record - the title game will elude Iowa again.

The formula for success is something even the Univ of Iowa medical research staff will struggle with. First, if Iowa finishes undefeated, and Texas remains undfeated, and either Florida or Alabama finish undefeated (since only one can finish undfeated in the SEC), Iowa will be the odd man out watching Texas play Florida/Alabama for the National Title.

For Iowa to play in Pasadena on Jan 7 (for the BCS Championship) instead of Jan 1 (for the Rose Bowl), some combination of Texas, Flordia and/or Alabama losing must take place. It is highly unlikely at this point that any of them will lose until Florida and Alabama play for the SEC title. Texas faces no real challenge, even for the Big 12 title game, and control their destiny. Of course any one of the teams, or all three can potentially lose if they do not play the "A" games, but again the chances are slim.

And all of that is moot if Iowa does not finish the season strong with victories against a tough Northwestern, at Ohio State, and against rival Minnesota. Assuming Iowa finishes undefeated, they will have beat both preseason Big 10 powers Penn State and Ohio State. And will be the first Big 10 team to beat Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Ohio State on the road since George Washington had real teeth.

While the odds stack highly against Iowa this year, they have earned the right to be considered for the BCS Championship. They have one of the toughest defenses in all of college football and one of the most clutch quarterbacks in the game right now. Despite their early stumbles, they always hold strong and bounce back in the second half. They have earned their 9-0 start and deserve Top 5 BCS credibility.

Chew on these numbers for a minute (and ask yourself, "Where is Texas, Florida or Alabama?":

Number of opponents defeated that currently have winning records:

 

 

1. Iowa	6
2. Cincinnati	4
Texas Christian	4
4. Oregon	3
5. Boise State	2

Total won-lost records (and winning percentage) of defeated opponents:

1. Iowa	44-31	.586
2. Oregon	29-28	.508
3. Texas Christian	34-33	.507
4. Cincinnati	30-36	.454
5. Boise State	27-37	.421

Total won-lost records of opponents defeated in their home stadiums (i.e. road wins)

 

 

 

 

1. Iowa	23-12	.657
2. Texas Christian	19-14	.575
3. Cincinnati	21-20	.512
4. Boise State	14-18	.437
5. Oregon	6-10	.375

Number of defeated opponents ranked in current BCS top 25:

 

1. Iowa	3 (Penn State, Arizona, Wisconsin)
Oregon	3 (USC, Utah, California)
3. Boise State	1 (Oregon)
4. Cincinnati	1 (South Florida)
5. Texas Christian	0

Won-lost records of remaining teams left on schedule:

1. Iowa	17-10	.629
2. Oregon	19-12	.612
3. Cincinnati	19-13	.593
4. Boise State	20-22	.476
5. Texas Christian	15-17	.468

(stats courtesy HawkeyeFootball.com)

Mr Pressbox
"Where the view is great and the food is catered."

The National Football League Draft, April 26-27, was difficult enough to watch without the added political, heart-tugging efforts by ESPN and NFL Network.

 

I can only take so much of Mel Kiper Jr., the long drawn out moments in between draft picks that the so-called experts feel they need fill with their prognostications, and the formulaic interviews with the draftees.

 

"You were just drafted in the first round by the worst team in the league, how do you feel?"

 

"I feel great. It is a dream come true."

 

"Did you have any idea you were going to be drafted before they called your name?"

 

"I had conversations with lots of teams, but had no idea they would take me when they did." This is code for; "We had a deal worked out a few days ago; we just kept it quiet until the draft."

 

"How do you think you will fit in with your new team?"

 

"I am going to work hard, learn the system and hope to make an impact and do good things."

 

This nauseating, predictable banter demoted the draft to commercial-filler during the NASCAR race at Talladega Sunday.

 

And during one of those breaks, I caught a teaser from ESPN talking about the "life or death" circumstances surrounding one prospect, as a young man in the uniform of the United State Military Academy at West Point stood in front of the camera. Curious, I stayed tuned.

 

What followed was both embarrassing and confusing.

 

ESPN host Trey Wingo interviewed Army football player Caleb Campbell about the prospect of being drafted by an NFL team and the ramifications involved.

 

Simply, if Campbell is drafted by an NFL team, he is reassigned to recruiting duty for up to two years with the future option to buy out the remainder of his contract. If he is not drafted or immediately signed to a free agent contract, then he will be sent off into the regular Army where he could possibly be deployed to Iraq.

 

It was embarrassing to watch a major media outlet like ESPN solicit for this young man, labeling it a "life or death" situation; putting pressure on NFL teams to draft the young man in order to save his life.

 

First, he voluntarily joined the Army during a time of war. He knew what he was getting into. Second, this program was not instituted until 2005 - after the start of Campbell's sophomore season - so he did not join under the auspices of this program. Lastly, going to Iraq is not an absolute, and even less is the chance of him being killed in Iraq if he was sent. It was hardly a "life or death" situation. One option was definitely easier and more desirable than the other, but not quite that dramatic.

 

This led to the confusing aspect of the story. According to Campbell, he wanted to attend West Point to become an officer and leader of soldiers. He volunteered for this at a time when the Army and Marine Corps are waist-deep in operations in the fight against terrorism. But during the interview he definitely seemed anxious about the issue, pushing the possibility of being a voice for the Army and a good public relations story for any NFL team that drafted him.

 

I guess it was confusing because, after spending so much time around Marines, it seemed strange that an officer (or soon to be officer) in the United States Armed Forces would actively campaign to avoid combat duty.

 

Lieutenant Dan Taylor would be disappointed.

 

But my personal opinion on the matter was tempered after remembering the time I spent with Billy Mills, a former Marine who is the only American to win the 10,000-meter race in the 1964 Olympics.

 

Mills spent much of his time as an officer in the Marine Corps traveling the country as part of military promotional tours similar to the bond drive tour the "heroes of Iwo Jima" took part in during World War II. These tours were common during times of war taking "celebrity service members" around the country to promote the military's efforts.

 

If the Army can parlay Campbell's career into increased recruiting efforts, may the force be with them. But I can not see how much impact an average collegiate safety, who was drafted in the 7th round (pick 218 out of 252) by the Detroit Lions and is only 18 months removed from surgery to repair a torn ACL,  can make on Army recruiting when he will have a hard enough time even making the 53-man roster.

 

 

 

And the catch to the Army deal is that if he is not on an active NFL roster for the next two years, he will have to go back into the fold with the active Army.

 

 Hopefully he can take full advantage of this opportunity the Army has granted him, because the Air Force and Naval academies require a two-year commitment before being released to the play in the NFL or NBA (just ask David Robinson and the San Antonio Spurs); but if he doesn't make it in the NFL, I'm confident West Point has set him up for success as an Army officer.

Is there any good reason why the commissioners of the BCS conferences shot down the propsal to transform the BCS into a 4-team playoff?

It is what (most of) the fans want and have been begging for for years.

Apparently, only the ACC and SEC wanted to consider the playoff system further. IF the SEC (with BCS contenders LSU, Georgia, Florida, and even Arkansas and Alabama) and ACC (Miami and FSU) are willing to consider a playoff system, why can't the others?

The SEC is the consensus top Conference in college football and they are willing to put their seedings on the line to consider a playoff system but the other conferences back away?

This just proves that the SEC is the top conference and they know it. They are willing to put their title hopes on the line against TWO opponents while the PAC 10, Big 10(11) and Big 12 are content to take their chances on the seeding process.

How weak.

This is not that drastic of a proposal. You can take two of the BCS games and turn them into the Semi-Finals games, and leave the Championship game set where it is. It would require adding one additional Bowl into the BCS system and would require the Championship teams to play one extra game. This means more money for the Bowl game that gets adopted into the BCS format and more money for the two teams that make it to the championship game.

Oh no. We're asking kids; who have had a month off, who want to play 16 to 19 games per year in the NFL, and have dreams of playing for the National Championship, to play one extra game.

It is not like they proposed revamping the entire bowl system to make it a playoff like the basketball tournament.

I guess if your team or conference isn't willing to put their guys on the line for one extra game to prove they deserve the championship, then they don't deserve to be there. Plus, this gives teams and conferences (and their fans) an excuse to blame the BCS through 2014. Every year there always seems to be at least one team left out in the cold when the final rankings are made for the BCS championship.

Sports is all about "put up or shut up". I guess after this latest vote, conferences like the Pac 10, Big 10(11) and Big 12 proved they just need to shut up when it comes to the "unfairness" of the BCS format. And remember, I'm a Big 10(11) guy.

- Mr Pressbox

Randy Moss, one of the NFLs top talents and controversial personalities, has said he plans to throw his helmet into the mix by starting up a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series team for the 2009 season.

Moss Motorsports is in the preliminary stages of making his team a reality, but the ripples will soon be felt all over NASCAR. Just as Chrissy Wallace's CTS venture has sparked a lot of debate over women racing in NASCAR, Moss' involvement very well may kick the door wide open for minorities in the sport of racing.

Moss is active in local dirt track racing in his home state of West Virginia and with the Urban Youth Racing School in Philadelphia - an organization aimed at giving minority youths an opportunity to break into racing (a sport few inner city kids have access to).

Putting a name like Moss' on a racing team, and most likely a minority driver in the seat, will open the flood gates for a whole new fan and marketing base.

- Mr Pressbox

[ I will avoid the easy jokes and comments about Moss creating a racing team at this point. I'll leave that to the professionals, like theSportsComedian]