With all the talk about the possiblity of the first Triple Crown in 30 years by Big Brown if he wins this Saturday's Belmont Stakes race, it seems a lot of the other horses have been left out of the spotlight. Lets take a lil looksey at a few of them and see why.
First We have Rocket McZee starting in the #2 post. This Horse is sponsored by Stankees Porta-Lounge, a small personal relief company in the New Dork area. He comes in at 7-2 odds. He would likely be the favorite over Big Brown if not for his owner Hank Stinkbreaker's questional training techiques and the competition committee's concerns over performance enhancers. McZee almost didn't make it to the Belmont after a roadside bomber in Bostone tried to take out his trailer.
His scheduled jockey is Douglas J. Needles from the Back To The Future Trilogy. Needles and McZee have been together their entire careers.
Next, starting from psot 3 is Burro Cinco. This fiery horse is sponsored by Big Mouth Bubble Gum and is currently seeking a new stable to reside in. He is not happy with the hay and oats supply his current owner provides.
Rumour has it that Burro Cinco's new jockey, Gary "Pimp Daddy" Coleman is interested in buying this horse and using it for his security detail job at Cincinatti Correctional Facilty, but nothing has been confirmed yet..
Starting from the #4 post we have Terell Oatsins.He will sport the 81 and be sponsored by Romobaucher Extra Butter Popcorn. His trainer says he prefers to be called Oatsey, because of his similarities to last year's Derby winner Rundy Grass.
Jockeying Oatsey will be Quack-man Bones. Bones was previously abolished from all Horse Racing activities after an incedent with another trainer at the 2006 Hentucky Derby. The identity of this man was not realeased but we have an exclusive photo proving it was ex Superjockey Barles Chalkley.
Originally from the #5 post, we had a surprising new horse named Wyle-D-Squish sheduled to make his first Belmont start.
However, during training earlier this week the Squish got upset for some strange reason after dominating all other horses in practices and had an accident with another SuperHorse's transportation. It still isn't known who was at fault for the accident, but Squish will not recover in time for this year's Belmont.
Replacing Wyle-D-Squish in the 5 post will be a horse making his first major staks race. Rambo Splice. This horse is relativley unknown. He was voted in by thousands of horse racing fans from YouBube, which decided to become his sponsor after all the attention this upstart horse brought the popular website.
His jockey in the Belmont will be Hay Bakin. Bakin was also an unknown before he got his chance with the Simon Cowell Equestrian Center. Many believe this horse and rider combo will be one and done in this sport.
Earlier today, the popular Foxblog and NASCAR racing team from GGW was spotted attempting to get to the track to set up their Gorillas Gone Wild vendor tent. The Superstar race team seems to show up at all major sporting events since GGW co-founder Photogr earned the democratic nomination for the presidential race over his heavily favored opponent Billary Squinton. Also tagging along with the entourage was famous NASCAR driver Tony Screwert of Baby Bibbs Racing, rumoured to be a transgendered racer in disguise with GGW under the alias name of Frank. Trust me , i know this rumor is not true. I cant get Tony to where heels for anything.
However,the two Clydesdales, Shasqueel the Hill and Cloneby Giant, were not able to pull together on the same wagon and the GGW team was stranded without a horse to pull them to a horse race. Go figure!
After an inside look at the rest of the field for what looks to be a very exciting Belmont Stakes, i'm certain there are plenty of horses or horse's A-s-s-es that have a strong chance to win the Belmont this weekend besides the Media doll Big Brown. With this field of violent horse power, it could be one of the best high-stakes horse races ever run. If anything, the post race race interviews should be well worth the wait.
I just wanted to let everyone know it's good to be back. I was away from Foxblog for a month plus a few to help a friend out. I've noticed some new bloggers generating some attention. Thats always good to see. I also noticed BOTD and some other things are missing. I won't even ask why. I've been told i didn't miss too much due to a "Whoops" issue that had everything around here in a state of chaos for a while. Again, I won't even ask what that was all about.
I'm sad to say my first day back to the site, i received news we lost our wonderful, sweet friend, Southern Cindi. God bless to all those who helped her in her struggles. I know she had a lot of friends on this site and she was one of those people that we all strive to be like. She will be sorely missed and can never be replaced with all that she gave to the Foxblog community and the frienships she made here. My heart goes out to all those that posted wonderful tributes to her memory and to anyone who was blessed to know her.
Basically, with this post i just wanted to say It's nice to be back, and I look forward to catching up on some of the great work people contribute to this site. It's been a while since i've posted but hopefully i'll have a few things up for my NFL and NASCAR friends fairly soon.
I'm working on a sequel to the STAT WARS NFL piece i did in November that everyone enjoyed. Hopefully i won't embarress myself and it will be even better than the first one.
I'm also working on some new posts for NASCAR. One gearing up for the Daytona 500 and the start of the '08 season and another just for my friends at GGW racing. Yeah those crazy folks in the Gor*rilla suits. Their kindness and creativity is unmatched by very few.
Anways, just wanted to let everyone know i'm back and I appreciate the emails and Welcome Back's that i recieved from some of the great people here.
Leave a comment, a cold beer, or some hate mail. Whatever floats your boat. It's all good.
Thanks for stopping by.
NFL Cartoon courtesy of Dan Gibson and Mike Smith. Dan Gibson is a freelance cartoonist most noted for his work at DAILYCARTOONS.COM.More of his work can be seen at http://www.gibbleguts.com/
NASCAR Cartoon Courtesy of Mike Smith, award-winning editorial cartoonist featured daily in the Las Vegas Sun, L.A. Times, N.Y. Times, USA Today, and many others. more of his work can be seen at http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/opinion/smiths-wo rld/
Hey Folks. As some of you know, our fellow blogger and friend klvalus was selected to do a series of articles in NASCAR for Fox after the great job she did winning the Miller Lite Sportswriter Challenge here recently. She has been gracious enough to keep us up to date on her exeperience through a Journal on her blog, and Fox has finally posted her first of several featured articles. Congrats again to Kristen, and the hard work she put into the contest, and the well deserved rewards she is recieving.
Kristen and her Dale Jr. Bears
Her first article is about the NASCAR experience behind the scenes from a fan perspective.
Please stop by the above link and give Kristen a read and some props for a job well done. She's too bashful to post a link here on the blogs, so i thought i would just do it for her(please don't run me over witha Bud #8 Chevy Kristen) She deserves every bit of it. Awesome job on the article and we are proud of you.
A Short Time From now ..... In a galaxy very close ........ to Indianapolis,
a relentless army of Brady Clones will arrive by way of the Patriot Death Star for an epic battle of the two greatest forces the Gridiron Galaxy has ever seen.
The Dark Force is strong with their leader Darth Belichick, and his young apprentice, Sith Brady.
Darth Belichick is known throughout the galaxy as a evil emperour out to destroy the universe, and has extensive knowledge in the ways of the dark side . His evolution to leader of the Galactic Empire is well documented by intergalactic Senator Princess Lea Mangini of the New Yorkion Region. Together with his protege, Sith Brady, they have pillaged the galaxy devouring everything in their path. They employ renegades and rogue warriors wherever they can find them, most notedly the fearless Oaklandonian Dessert Raider, Sidius Moss.
The Evil Empire seeks domination of all in their path, and have not taken any prisoners in their journey to this point. They have spared no life, not even the all-knowing droid known as the "Original c3p-81" nor his trusty companion R-2-Romo.
They have spilled the blood of 8 worlds and left not a single enemy alive, and until now no one has been able to stop them.
The One true hope for the survival of the Gridiron Galaxy is a Jedi Fighter named Peyton Wan-Kenobi.
He will not be alone in his quest to save the NFL Republic. Jedi Master Tony Windu has great knowledge of the Force and and is an expert in Jedi Mind tricks.
Fierce warrior, Joseph Yodai, is a master of the pigskin saber and the talented Hans Harrison precisely pilots the fighterships better than anyone in the Republic after learning the ways of the Jedi from the great Jerry Ricewalker.
Together with Peyton Wan-Kenobi, They are preparing for a battle to the death with the Dark Lord and his Brady droids. Anyone left alive if the Dark Side is victorious will be fed to the slug-like alien gangster John Madd-a-Hutt.
It is crucial to the survival of the NFL Republic and Gridiron Galaxy that the Jedis are victorious in this epic battle of Good vs. Evil. They are the last hope for good to prevail, and the republic of the NFL is counting on them.
In the words of the late C3P-81, "Getcha Popcorn Ready!"
Coming This Sunday to a theater near Indy.
Note: Epsisode II "Stat Wars- Revenge Of The Skins"
is available pre-release by special request through VBchickRedskinsfan only on BlueRay Disc.
If you watched the Broncos/Raiders game during week 2 of this season, the Raiders/Browns game the following week, or Monday Night's Cowboys/Bills game, then you saw a team kick a late field goal to supposedly win the game. The kick went through the uprights and fans cheered or booed as their team won or lost.
After experiencing all the emotion of the team pulling out the victory, or the agony of the loss, you realize they have to kick it all over again, because the opposing coach called a timeout just before the potential game winning feild goal kick occured. In the Cowboys/Bills game, the kicker was able to make the kick again and this tactic failed, but both previous times the team's kicker missed the second kick, and the team lost the game.
"Icing" the kicker by calling a timeout just before the kick attempt is something that has been done for decades, and teams today expect the opposition to call a timeout if they have any remaining in that situation. There is nothing wrong with that at all. It's just considered part of the game.
But, There is a big difference between calling a timeout a couple seconds before a feild goal attempt in order to "Ice" the kicker, and the tactic Shanahan, Kiffin, and now #### Jauron have used.
The issue is not the act of using the "Icing" tactic, its about WHEN they are doing it . The method they are using is to call the timeout just as the deep snapper raises his head a split second before releasing the ball for the attempt. The play is theoretically already in motion , but if the ball hasn't been snapped yet, the timeout is allowed and the play has to be tried over again. For now, they say its perfectly legal, although nobody from the NFL has clarified why it is allowed and isn't considered an unsportmanlike attempt to gain advantage over another team.
Should it be legal?
The NFL rulebook has examples of similar plays where an unsportmanlike play is not allowed and the action results in a penalty.
First is the rule that states a defensive player can not induce an offensive player to false start by flinching, jumping back and forth into the neutral zone, or simulating the snap count with grunts,chants, etc.. in an attempt to get the offensive player to move before the snap. This "neutral zone infraction" results in a 5 yard penalty to the defensive team.
"Delay of game" is another example. If a play ends,the whistle blows, and the opposing team does something such as spiking the ball or laying on the offensive player so he can't make a reasonable effort to get in place for the next play, the defense is given a delay of game and 5 yard penalty.
Even excessive crowd noise by the defensive team, although very rarely enforced, is a 5 yard penalty and considered one of those "unsportmanlike" plays by NFL rules.
"Unsportsmanlike" plays such as these that are deemed an un-fair advantage to the defense, are considered penalties and illegal in football. I don't see how calling a timeout just as the snapper lifts his head to snap the ball to the holder should be considered fair, or good sportsmanship relating to the nature of the game.
Sure it's legal for now , but it's nothing more than a ticky-tac attempt to gain an unfair advantage, just as the neutral zone infraction and delay of game are, yet neither of those are allowed.
We will probably see this several more times this year now that every coach in the league watched the Monday night game . Hopefully, the Superbowl doesn't come down to a field goal attempt, or the whole world will have to go through the emotional roller coaster twice, as fans of the Broncos,Raiders,Browns,Bills, and Cowboys already have.
Personally I think its a cheap tactic, and the way Shanahan and others have used it this year takes away from the efforts and fair play that other coaches/teams preach as part of building a respectable team.
Watching qualifying today for this weekend's UAW Ford500 at Talladega, the one thing that stuck out to me was all the Toyotas at the top of the qualifying board.
7 of the top 10 starting positions will be Toyotas, with one Ford, one Chevy, and one Dodge mixed in.
I would imagine a lot of chase drivers taking a conservative approach in qualifying to have a better race setup has a lot to do with it, but 13 of the top 15 drivers are go-or-go-homers this week, and no Toyota will be starting in worse than 9th. Michael Waltrip getting only his 4th career Pole in 686 races is evidence that most of the "Big Boys" are sandbagging, but C'mon, this was ridiculous.
Is Toyota putting all their eggs in one basket and suddenly trying to focus only on restrictor plate races? I doubt it!
Or was this week's qualifying efforts a perfect example of chase drivers and top 35 points drivers just going through the motions and focusing on preparing the car to run better for the long haul. Likely!
It just strikes me as odd that Toyota has such a different apporach than the rest of the manufacturers for this race, and that the other "All-American Racetrack" this side of Daytona will very few American cars in the top 5 rows when the green flag waves.
You be the judge. Your thought and opinions on the race are appreciated.
Cartoon Courtesy of Mike Smith, award-winning editorial cartoonist featured daily in the Las Vegas Sun, L.A. Times, N.Y. Times, USA Today, and many others.
Great Read if you get the time. It made me think of Sports fans and how easily they jump ship when their team goes into a funk, but more importnatly it reminded me of why i love sports.
A true diehard sports fan sticks with their team through good years and bad years, troubles and triumphs. Some are born into sports families . Others are gifted athletes that almost made it to the big leagues and continue to follow their favorite sport. Some are just along for the comradery and fun.
Sports fans come in all shapes and sizes, all ages, and all ethnicities. Its one of the few things about American culture that we all have something in common. The love of the game.
I'm a diehard Dallas Cowboys fan of about 20 years, Notre Dame fan, and Dale Earnhardt Jr. Fan. (yeah I know, strange combination.)
My first encounter i remember in the sports world that really stuck with me was when i met Bobby Allison and Richard Petty as little boy. Both were some of the kindest, most generous people I've ever met and I was hooked on NASCAR since that day.
The men of my family were always " Good Ole Boys" and i see a lot of that in Dale Jr. Maybe thats the connection,along with being about the same age but can't say for sure on that one.
The man that made me care about football was a guy named Joseph Clifford Montana, Jr. who played QB for Notre Dame, and later when on to become arguably the greatest QB professional football has ever seen.
When i was old enough to know enough about football to understand it, I idolized "Joe Cool" and have followed Notre Dame ever since, even through the many dark recent years. LOL (although as a Cowboys Fan, I'm not allowed to say anything good about the 49ers. We sign a contract.)
I played football through high school although we never had a great team, but my coach is still someone i look up to 20 years later and taught me a lot growing from a boy to a man. Most young men learn almost as much from their coaches during adolesecense as they do from their fathers. At least it seems that way in the small towns on the plains of Texas. Football is a passion and a part of every town here.
As for the Cowboys, My family, all being from Texas used to have a big tradition of Watching the Cowboys/Oilers Thanksgiving games. Later when i moved Dallas and began working at a Country Club and serving a man named Pat Sumerall and his pal Troy Aikman every Friday night in our restaurant, i became a part of the Cowboys family. I was priviledged to meet many great Cowboys players form the 90's Superbowl teams, along with past greats, and almost all the 70s Steelers players during a few banquets we held for them. NFL was part of my life and It always will be.
Whats your story?
How did you become a fan of your favorite team? Were you born into a sport family. Parents that had you dressed like it was Halloween on gameday? Family tradition?
Maybe its the Lights and the Sounds at the Ballpark that you enjoy or the smell or burning rubber at the track and the roar of the engines. The swoosh as the ball goes through the net?
Maybe you met someone that inspired your sports passion.
Was it the team colors or the personality of the players that drew you in?
Or do u just enjoy the team concept and friendships that you've gained through the years through sports in highschool, college, or beyond?
Are you an extreme fan?
Do you have all the gear, the posters, the face paint? Is your car an advertisement for your sports passion?
Do you obsess about your team to the point it controls your life or dress your own kids or pets to match your favorite team?
The term "fan" is short for "Fanatic" and some people obviously take sports more serious and incorporate it into their lives more than others. But Hey, It's all good. As long as you stick around for the long haul.
Why do YOU love your team and how far do you go to express it?
Please feel free to share your story or explain how you became a fan. Even Hockey fans are allowed, if they could read of course.
Just an average sports fan. Enjoy in order of favorites: NFL, NASCAR, College Football, MLB, College Basketball.
NBA, and NHL are currently on my "Overrated, Overpaid, and Overhyped" list.
Classic Car enthusiast
Blog topics --
Big fan of humour, but will occasionally chime in on serious subjects as well.
Appreciate quality writing and grammar, and commend it, but will not hold it against those who don't excel in those areas.(I'm definitely nowhere close to perfect either.)
Please stop by anytime if the subject intrigues you. Your opinion is always appreciated.
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Kristen and her Dale Jr. Bears
It's titled "NASCAR garage through a fan's eyes."
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