The Toughest Day Ever in Redskin Nation

Most of the time, this blog is all NASCAR. But as a long time, passionate fan of the Washington Redskins, today is different. Today is bigger than NASCAR, bigger than the NFL and bigger than sports.

A man many thought of as invincible was shown to be a mere mortal.

He is a freak of nature -- carrying a size with speed rarely if ever seen.

He is one of the most fearsome players to ever don a uniform.

He is larger than life in so many ways.

The idea that 24 year old Redskins Safety Sean Taylor is now "clinging to life" after being shot in an apparent home invasion is nothing short of unbelievable.

You can read the full post at Epic Carnival.

UPDATE:  The Washington Post is reporting that Taylor has opened his eyes and is responding to doctors requests.  This is the first positive news on Taylor so far. 

Mad Props and much love to the Post's Jason La Canfora for the outstanding job he has done using his blog to keep this story updated.

Coach Marty's Daily Game Balls Slay BOTD/MIB

The BOTD/MIB fiasco, along with the structure and navigation of the FoxSports.com blog directory has created a system of balkanizing and hiding great blogs, promoting Fox writers and helping the rich get richer.

FoxSports claims of fairness in the system and assertions that it is all due to "an outside contractor" are about as believable as Senator Larry Craig's statements the last couple of days.

By the way, how do upstanding Idaho parents talk to their children about their Senator sucking ####?

Speaking of balls, fear no more. Coach Marty has introduced the Daily Game Balls at his blog where he is giving recognition to a diverse group of six quality blogs every day.

Coach Marty's DGB is your chance to stick it to the Stalinist regime running the FoxSports.com blogosphere.

Check it out. Favorite Marty. Comment on his DGB posts and do the same on those posts being given DGB.

Coach Marty is giving a window to some great blogs here that FoxSports.com simply hasn't.

Ryan Newman Says Dog Fighting Supporters are Dumb.

Over at the AOL Fanhouse, TGOM writes that NASCAR driver Ryan Newman has joined Greg Biffle in weighing in with some strong words on the dog fighting affair.

While nearly every other professional athlete has kept quiet on the dog fighting, you now have two NASCAR drivers who have publicly weighed in.

Not wanting to be left out, McGruff the Crime Dog is going after Vick as well in the following video.

McGruff The Crime Dog Attacks Michael Vick

The Savannah Morning News quotes Newman saying, "Everybody is innocent until proven guilty. But his little group has made it clear they fight dogs. People who defend that are slugs. This separates the smart people from the dumb."

Separates the smart people from the dumb. That's tough. But it is honest.

As it turns out, the arguments coming from the dog fighting supporters do raise serious questions about their intelligence.

They like to take a page from the Clinton-Lewinsky defensive play book by modifying, "It's no big deal, it's only a #### -- there are wars and murders and rapes" to "It's no big a deal, it's only dog fighting -- there are wars and murders and rapes."

There are many problems with this line of reasoning. For starters, no man with one functioning brain cell should ever utter the words, "It's no big deal, it's only a ####." Okay?

But more on point here, that worse crimes are committed doesn't make lesser ones insignificant. That kind of broken logic leads people to say stupid stuff like a #### is no big deal. The case at hand doesn't involve any charges for war crimes, murder or rape.

Biffle goes after the insignificance arguement pretty directly, "I have read the indictment. I got so mad when I read it. This will be a high-profile case. If it was anyone else, it wouldn't be a national story. If it's true, it's galling. If it's true, he's great athlete who made some very poor decisions. If he did it, he has to pay for it."

It's interesting to note, both Newman and Biffle emphasized that Vick is innocent until proven guilty.

Another really ignorant approach by the dog fighting supporters has been to attack those opposed to dog fighting with one word: PETA.

What the dog fighting supporters don't realize is that less than a fraction of 1% of those outraged at the dog fighting support or are members of the quasi-terrorist organization People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).

They also don't realize the relationship between the Humane Society and PETA is pretty close to the kind of relationship the FBI has with the Crips. We are talking mortal enemies here.

Like Greg Biffle who runs the Greg Biffle Foundation for Animals, Ryan Newman is a major supporter of the Humane Society through his foundation. Newman and his wife Krissie have been specifically involved as board members of The Humane Society of Catawba County.

Raising questions about the room temperature IQ of dog fighting supporters wasn't enough for Newman.

As is typical for the driver of the #12, he went just a bit further. Between now and the end of the Vick trial, he'll be wearing a T-Shirt (that thing has got to be just a bit ripe after four hours on Newman in a fire suit and a 135 degree race car).

The back of the shirt reads "7 to Life". The front says, "Neuter Vick".

Do Changes and Leadership Problems in the Family Business Signal a Change in 2008?

This is an issue alluded to earlier this week in my piece on the pending marriage between Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch.

J.D. Gibbs, the president of Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), has had his hands full this season.

From the outside looking in, Joe Gibbs Racing has appeared to suffer from a significant lack of leadership.

The issues came crashing into the headlines in July when Tony Stewart wrecked team mate and then race leader Denny Hamlin from behind in the Pepsi 400 then promptly started trashing Hamlin from his car radio.

As soon as he pulled into the garage, he proceeded to rip Hamlin and blame the wreck on him.

Drama ensued. J.D. Gibbs wasn't able to get the problem resolved in house. He had to pull in one of the greatest team builders in history to fix it. Washington Redskins Coach Joe Gibbs.

Gibbs took a detour from his pre-training camp vacation to straighten up the mess J.D. Gibbs couldn't (not an insignificant sacrifice).

Hamlin later said he'd never seen the Coach that angry. You have to wonder, angry at who? Stewart? Hamlin? Both? Or was he really just upset that the guy he left in charge couldn't get the job done?

Even with Gibbs intervention in Chicago, you have to wonder based on a column Hamlin wrote this week if Hamlin is really over it.

Now, JGR is adding Kyle Busch to the team for 2008.

If you thought you had drama with Stewart and Hamlin (someone who had never publicly said anything short of glowing about Stewart prior to the Pepsi 400), what do you think is going to happen when you pair Stewart with someone he has been feuding with since he came into NEXTEL Cup racing?

What are they thinking at JGR? Look, Busch couldn't play nice with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. Stewart couldn't play nice with Hamlin. Do the math. JGR has smart people on board. You know somebody over there knows what is coming.

Do they really think they have what they need to handle team chemistry in place under those circumstances?

There is only one way they do. If they don't, the Gibbs family business is about to experience some serious upheaval in 2008.

Joe Gibbs has to retire from the Redskins at the end of this season and return to NASCAR.

If Gibbs leaving the Skins wasn't in the plans already, it is hard to see how JGR makes the effort to sign Busch.

JGR is also in transition in other areas as well. There are reports the team is leaving Chevy for Toyota. The team also needs to grow from three cars to four in order to stay competitive.

From the perspective of the Redskins, they are already stocked internally with prospective new head coaches. It isn't a devastating loss to Washington from a football perspective.

When Gibbs came back to the NFL, it was with a five year contract. This season will put him just one year short of that.

If the Redskins miss the playoffs this year, change may be coming regardless at the "suggestion" of team owner Daniel Snyder. If they do make the playoffs, it might be Gibbs opportunity to go out on a high note.

Either way, Joe Gibbs does have a family business to think about.

Is a Day Trip to Massachusetts in the Future for NASCAR's Two Baddest Bad Boys?

Dave Moody at Motorsports Soapbox reports that Kyle Busch will be moving to JGR in 2008 putting Busch under the same roof as Tony Stewart.

At this point, this report is merely a blog report without any sources quoted for attribution.

Although there is no confirmation as of this writing, there is no marriage I have hoped to see more than this one.

If it happens, I will be crashing the wedding and shamelessly shedding tears of joy.

Juan Pablo Montoya (although he has been behaving himself lately), Tony Stewart and the Busch Brothers comprise The Holy Trinity for any good NASCAR blogger.

If one of them isn't making news, it's usually because two of the others are.

Having Tony Stewart and Kyle Busch in such close proximity of would be my wildest dream coming true.

It isn't like they have gotten along that well publicly till now either. There have been plenty of signs that they needed to get a room and just get it over with.

Short of Jimmy Spencer leaving SPEED to sit on top of Stewart's pit box, there is nothing I can imagine that would be a more explosive mixture of dangerous chemicals.

Unless of course it was Jimmy Spencer becoming Kyle Busch's crew chief at JGR. It'll never happen, but I didn't think this one would either.

It's a real interesting choice at an organization founded by one of the greatest team builders in history.

J.D. Gibbs had to call his Daddy to bail him out just to prevent a homicide between Stewart and (by all accounts a relatively easy to get along with) Denny Hamlin.

If he couldn't make the chemistry work between Stewart and Hamlin, how is Gibbs the younger going to handle Stewart and Busch?

I'M JUST HOPING HE DOESN'T.

The image that keeps popping into my mind is the video from the 1960 Daytona 500 where they started 68 cars and took out 37 in one wreck.

That's what I'm counting on here.

Then again, maybe what J.D. Gibbs is counting on is the current head coach of the Redskins retiring at the end of the coming NFL season and being available in time for Daytona.

Just for the record, I'm not saying anything about Stewart or Busch like what Junior fans like to say about Jeff Gordon.

Not that there is anything wrong with that.

I've Painted Myself Into a Corner. I Need to Find a Loophole or Renegotiate.

Seven years ago, before I married the hottest member of NASCAR MILF Nation, we verbally entered into a pre-nuptial agreement.

It addressed one single, but very important issue in having a happy marriage. It is an issue that is a source of conflict between tens of millions of couples: sports.

The idea was that she wouldn't become a sports widow and I wouldn't have to become a complete-chick-flick-watching-loser-gelding (like the execs over at Anheuser-Busch).

It is a very simple deal. Here it is:

The husband is entitled to one sport and one sport league of his choice. The wife will not interfere with the husband's fanatical following the selected sport. Efforts will be made by the wife to prevent any conflicts or interference of the husband watching said televised events of the selected sport. If practical, the husband's attendance at live events of the selected sport will be supported and facilitated by the wife. The husband has no right to watch or attend televised or live sporting events which are not part of the selected sport. Although such activities on an irregular basis are not prohibited, they shall happen at the discretion of the wife.

The pre-nup was working great and everyone was happy. It was a good deal for everyone Then something changed.

See, when we got married, my choice was the NFL.

That's what I stuck with. I didn't push it.

I'm a huge Redskins fan. The NFL TV schedule was factored into timing for family events. My wife was so supportive that she worked it out so my daughter was born during the Skins bye week that year (that is some amazing planning on her part) .

Then my son turned two.

Which is when he decided that NASCAR is the greatest thing ever. He still does.

Those bright colors on the cars, pre-race flyovers, loud engines, wild crashes. That stuff is like catnip to a little kid.

Being the good daddy I am, we started watching races together. It's a bonding thing.

For a four year old, the kid's NASCAR knowledge is absolutely amazing. He can tell you what every single flag means. His hero is Jeff Burton (he picked with no input from me when he was two). He can recognize Richard Petty and knows he is The King. He can look at most of the top 20 drivers or their cars and tell you who it is.

He'll even see a FedEx, duPont, Lowe's or Home Depot logo and say, "I just saw Denny Hamlin's (or whoever) logo". However, I can no longer take him to Home Depot without fear of getting my #### kicked because he will always pipe up at the top of his lungs, "There's the crybaby."

Then my wife started watching with us and became an enthusiastic fan. My daughter even decided to become a Junior fan (although having to answer questions about what happened to his daddy was a bit rough).

So race day became family fun and nobody said anything about this being an issue with the pre-nup for over two years.

Then something clicked, my wife called me out on the pre-nup and announced I've got to pick.

She even says something about it to a business associate of hers. A huge Dolphins fan, he tried to help me out with a loophole. This man is a great American who clearly understands Man Law.

He told her, "CCR isn't breaking your pre-nup. NASCAR isn't a sport."

Amazing. Such a heroic effort. But is there any way I can even think about using that one without having my fellow NASCAR fans run a Gitmo style Code Red on me?

Besides, I'm kind of way out there on a limb saying NASCAR is a sport. I'm not sure I can get away with even trying to sell that one to her.

Training camp has started for the NFL. I've got to figure something out and I've got to do it fast.

There has to be another loophole.

Of course, I do have one piece of leverage I can use. I can drop the big one. It's guaranteed to work -- it always does when she uses it.


I'll just start withholding sex.

What's the Real Agenda of Behind Support for Mike Vick and Justification of Dog Fighting?

I'm taking a short break from training for the NASCAR vs. IndyCar rumble with Dave in Indy and doing my first non-NASCAR specific post.

But first, I've got a question for my fellow NASCAR fans....

Imagine for a second that it was your favorite driver whose name was in the dog fighting indictment. Junior, Gordon, Stewart, Kahne, Montoya, Hamlin, Johnson, Burton or whoever. Would you be out there defending him and justifying or minimizing dog fighting?

Just curious.

In spite of the fact that Dave in Indy and I don't see eye to on a number of motorsports topics, we're in 100% in agreement that the entire idea of "innocent until proven guilty" has been trashed in this country and that only being indicted means you are still innocent.

Then the defenders of Vick are going much further than "let him have his day in court."

Sure, they start off with that. Then they start saying the case is weak and the evidence is just based on testimony by snitches who are criminals.

Well, the case against Tim Donaghy for fixing NBA points and spreads is almost certainly based on criminal snitch testimony. How come the same people defending Vick aren't fighting for Donaghy as well?

What the Vick defenders do next, after they attack the case for being weak is really stunning to me.

First, they completely ignore the gambling aspect of the case. Then many of the Vick defenders begin justifying and minimizing the dog fighting.

So I've got to ask the Vick defenders a question. What is your real agenda?

Obviously, you don't care that much when someone like Donaghy is treated like he is "guilty until proven innocent". If you did, you would be out in front fighting for him.

Are you that rabid a fan of the Falcons or Virginia Tech that this is a homer thing? Even an area code 757 thing?

Is this about race loyalty of some kind?

Do you actually participate in dog fighting yourself and just don't have the stones to say it?

At this point, Vick and Donaghy are both innocent. Everyone has been accused of something they didn't do before. Indicted doesn't mean they did it.

Hypothetically, let's say they both did do it (regardless of whether either is ever convicted of anything -- I'm talking about what really happened, not what the courts say). There have been people who have engaged in dog fighting and there have been point shaving scandals before.

In my mind, someone who gets off on dog fighting is a much worse human being than someone who gets caught up in a situation and engages in a crime about money and addiction.

That doesn't mean I'm defending or minimizing fixing games or being involved with organized crime. I'm saying the kind of sociopath who can get off on stealing, torturing and slaughtering house pets is much worse.