Time to have a little fun. Everybody here loves sports. Sports movies, maybe not so much. Lets face it most of them aren't that great. A lot of them are down right ofensive to the fans of the sport in the movie. Still, upon research, there are more good ones than I remembered. So I've made my list of sports movies, broken down into each sport. I will select my favorites, and if you disagree, or if I've ommitted something, please bring it on.

Baseball, football,  and basketball will each get their own posts later, as there are so many movies on each one of them. Right now we're going with a couple of sports with not a lot of movies repping them.

BOXING

Boxing had the only two sports movies to win an Ocar for best picture, 'Rocky', and 'Million Dollar Baby'. Here's my list.....

1.T.....'Raging Bull'

1.T.....'Rocky'

3.........'Cinderella Man'

4.........'Ali'

5.........'Diggstown'

Raging Bull should have won best picture in 1980. I guess the Academy didn't want to give it to another boxing movie so soon after Rocky won the award. Cinderella Man was beautiful, way underrated. Paul Giammatti was brilliant. Russell Crowe was pretty good too. Ali was just all right. Will Smith mugging is not entertaining for me after about ten minutes. I've seen it enough on 'The Fresh Prince'. Diggstown is a guilty pleasure to watch. James Woods is a piece of work. Honorable mention...The Hurricane. Worst boxing movie ever...Million Dollar Baby.

AUTO RACING

There were not many good auto racing movies to choose from. Here's my list.....

1.......'Last American Hero'

2.......'Stroker Ace'

3........'Le Mans'

4........'Speedway'

5.........'Greased Lightning''

Not one great auto racing movie. Sad. Last American Hero is a very good movie about the life of Jr. Johnson. Great racing scenes from the early 1970s between Richard Petty and Bobby Allison. I went with Stroker Ace at my number two because it's fun to watch, has some old NASCAR scenes from the 1980's, and a great Charlie Daniels song as the title track. Le Mans was the first state of the art, in car camera, racing movie. That state of the art was in 1971 though. Elvis in Speedway. Another guilty pleasure. Watch it for some old drivers and race scenes from the 1960s. Richard Pryor portrayed NASCAR's first black driver, Wendell Scott, in Greased Lightning. Honorable mention...Heart like a Wheel, Talladega Nights, Days of Thunder, and Six Pack. Worst auto racing movies ever....The Petty Story and Driven.

Last week I said it would be tough for Kyle Busch to improve on his three finishes from Daytona. Damn if Rowdy didn't go out and do it. He had a first, a second, and a fourth at Cali. Slim is en fuego.

Told you last week to add Matt Kenseth to your fantasy team for the Cup race. He had a solid top five at California. For Vegas I'll advise you to add Jeff Burton,  any Roush driver not named McMurray or Ragan, Kasey Kahne should be good for a top ten, and stick with Kyle while he's hot. Did I mention he's en fuego?

Tony Stewart broke his pelvis in an IRL crash at Vegas in 1996, and he has never won a Cup race in Vegas.

Have you heard the latest about the track at Fontana? Last Friday, while drying the track, the jet blowers used too much heat. This supposedly burnt the polymer sealant off the track. They are saying this is what caused the weepers. Excuse me while I call bullsh!t.

Just about everyone has already heard that RCR is trying to sign Bobby Labonte for next year. Labonte would bring the much coveted past champion's provisional. Also hearing that long time Petty sponsor, General Mills, would go with Labonte to RCR.

Robby Gordon's appeal will be heard on March 5th, in Daytona. Yee Mum, and I have already beat this dead horse to a second death.

Kertus Davis will have the first female crew chief in NASCAR history in this week's Nationwide race. Cindy Woosley will lead the #01, Lori Morgan Chevy in Vegas.

 With female crew chiefs now, can hot drivers be far behind?

Danica Patrick's narrow window of opportunity to win a race has now been painted shut. With the IRL---CHAMP merger she has next to no chance of winning a race. She didn't come close to getting it done while driving for the IRL's best team, and racing against only sixteen other cars. She will be walking up a sand dune in ski boots now. Going against full fields of cars, and even more of the best road racers from CHAMP.

The few road courses on IRL's schedule were her best hope for a win. With the merger, there will be more road courses, but a lot more road race aces. This should insure that Patrick still won't get it done against the men. Not that her being a female has anything to do with it. Her talent just isn't at the same level as her car and team deserve. She must realize this, as she is keeping her other options open by posing in the S.I. swimsuit issue and shilling for Go Daddy.com. Good idea Danica, get it while you can. No matter how good you look, if you don't win even that gimmick gets old.

She races in the IRL for the top team, Andretti-Green, and still hasn't finished higher than 7th in the points standings. That was last year racing against maybe 13 other full time drivers. In 2007 she racked up four top fives and eleven top tens. Keep in mind that most races there were only sixteen other cars starting. A top ten out of seventeen cars is not that great. In '06 she was 9th in points, and 12th in 2005. She has done less in the last three years than Dale Earnhardt Jr., while getting his level of press in the IRL.

Of course the new management at IRL---CHAMP might decide it's good for TV ratings to have a woman winning races. That could really separate them from NASCAR.  Of course I would never suggest that a major racing organization could help certain drivers and/or cars win races. No, I would never suggest that.

I never thought I would be the one defending NASCAR. Other than a few good memories, what have they ever done for me? Well, there are the countless Sunday afternoon naps on the couch that the cookie cutter tracks induced. And, more than a few drunken arguments about which driver was better. Maybe a few more exotic nightclubs discovered in  far flung locales such as Bristol, Charlotte, and Florence SC. But, really, I could probably live without NASCAR. Yet, here I am, the lone voice of reason, having to defend the billion dollar industry.

I wasn't on this site during NASCAR season last year. So perhaps I wasn't prepared for the onslaught of indignation over the percieved screw ups by NASCAR concerning Robby Gordon and qualifying being rained out. Wow! I can't wait for an actual miscarriage of justice by NASCAR. My computer will probaly blow up from all the blogs hitting the screen.

First, Robby Gordon. Robby Freaking Gordon? I have never once saw a fan at any track wearing any RG gear. Where did all these 'poor Robby' bloggers come from? NASCAR set a ZERO tollerance policy regarding cheating with the COT. He rolled up to a NASCAR inspection with unapproved parts. Whether he knew, or not NASCAR considers it cheating under the ZERO tollerance policy. In this day and age we Americans love to play the blame game. Everyone's a victim. Mama Hillary will take care of me. Here's some free advice for Robby....NUT UP, AND SHUT UP.

Rained out qualifying. Every team knows NASCAR's policy on this, and yet they continue to show up whether they're in the top 35 or not. Some of you bleeding hearts feel this is an unfair system. That it's not fair to the little guy. Welcome to America. Only the strong survive, unless Hillary or Obama get elected. Then you can change that to...only the strong pay taxes. Some of you propose a lottery type system for rained out qualifying. because it will level the playing field. You think a local based start up team with $100,000 invested in the team should have the same opportunity as an established team, not in the top 35, with millions invested? 

NASCAR is a business. They are in business to make money.  They will take care of the sponsors before the fans, because without the sponsors dollars there would be no NASCAR. The fans can talk of boycotts, but  NASCAR won't listen to anthing except corporate dollars.

Jack Roush has done it again. Jayski.com is reporting that Roush-Fenway announced today that Joey Clanton has been released as the driver of the 09 Zaxby's F-150 after one race. As usual Jack the Ripper intends to keep the sponsor, Zaxby's Restaurants. Clanton is to be replaced for this Friday's race at California Speedway by Travis Kvapil. Kvapil is a former truck series champion, and drives a Yates Ford in the Sprint Cup series. Hiring a wide eyed kid, and then stealing his sponsor is nothing new for the #### in the Hat. Among others, he has done this same shameful act to Stanton Barrett and Kevin Lepage.

For the second week in a row Kyle Bush will compete in all three NASCAR series at California.It will be hard to improve on last week's two 2nd places, and a 4th place. He is currently in the top five in all three of NASCAR'S major series. The only other driver to be in the top ten in all three at the same time was Mike Wallace back in '03.

Mike Skinner will attempt to qualify the BDR #27 Bad Boy Mowers Toyota for the Cup race. One of the most fitting sponsors ever.

Mark Martin will make his 700th Cup start this weekend in Cali. Congrats.

Better add Matt Kenseth to your fantasy group this week. He's won the last two Auto Club 500's at Cali. He has two other Cup wins, and two Nationwide wins at the track.

Carl Edwards carried his 2007 BuschChampionship trophy to the Missouri Capitol this week to recieve a resolution from the backslappers. No word on whether or not he broke out the back flip.

Joey Logano is scheduled to make his first Nationwide start on May 31 for  JGR at Dover. He turns 18 on May 24. He's doing some Cup testing for Gibbs to gain some seat time.

 Finally, is there any track more boring than Cali?

Ahh, Daytona Beach. The suds, the strippers, the scent of coconut oil, the scenery in bikiniri. What's not to like? Glad you asked. I, Countryjag the pessimist for the restofus, is here to let you know what's not to like.

Fox TV......I'll give them credit for trying something new------gopher cam----but every time it looked just the same. No action, just cars going by. Hell, it wasn't even a new idea. We've seen it before at Iowa Speedway for one. Rusty's claiming that idea. I have to admit DW was almost tolerable for a change. Of course me giving up my New Year's Resolution on race day may have helped. A lot of people were complaing about too many commercials. I can remember when the races weren't live on TV. Radio only. So I can't #### about advertising.

Pre-race show......Will NASCAR ever learn? Chubby Freakin' Checker? NASCAR do not even have a live music show if you have to go that cheap. How much did Chubby set you back? $2,500, and two rooms at a Red Roof Inn?

NASCAR's yellow line rule........The  only time Jr's ever been penalized for it was on the final restart, and he didn't do it (this time). When you get blocked below the yellow line, as #18 clearly was, you shouldn't be penalized. Montoya showed what to do when someone tries to block you below the line. All drivers should start running into the #### of the blocker until NASCAR takes action. All drivers should also be forced to watch the last lap of the '79 Daytona 500, over and over, to see how Cale and Donnie took care of blocking and passing under the line.

After race blogs......Did every driver's fan club president post yet? Good. I was waiting for all the drive bys to finish ranting. We get it people, your driver got screwed by....(a) his own teammate, (b) NASCAR, (c) some no driving foreign SOB, (d) all of the above. In the future, to save our lips from moving so much, just pick a letter.

Seriously, it was a pretty good race. Beat the hell out of watching the NBA All-Star game I'll bet.

Ahh, Daytona. The sun,the surf, the sand, the sound of restricted engines bumblebeeing down the backstretch. What's not to like? Glad you asked. Here are some of my dislikes from the duels, twins, or whatever the sponsor is paying to have them called this year.

---Blown, blistered tires. Goodyear had to soften up the rubber compound just to help make the COT almost driveable at Daytona. Imagine how bad these cars would handle if the compound was hard enough to hold up.

---The new sta-dri powder---WTF was this stuff? It looked like the white chalk they use to line a football field with. That zamboni they had putting it down looked like a steam locomotive on pit road. Let's red flag the race twice for blown engines because of this ####. You could actually see the white dust settling on the cars as they were parked on the track. Hey NASCAR, you might want to do some on track tests with this baby powder before you go on live TV.

---Darrell Waltrip. This guy is NOT funny. He is an embarassment. FOX/Speed TV should be embarassed to put him on TV. I'm embarassed to be a NASCAR fan when my non-NASCAR friends hear him on my TV. How many times did Mike Joy have to correct or cover for DW during the broadcast? Ten? Twenty?

Memo to DW: We know the sun shines in the driver's eyes. Rusty told us ten times per race last year.

Memo 2.0 to DW: When your brother screws up--- such as when Mikey made his own teammate jump start him---don't be afraid to admit it. Or, when your brother is blocking everything but the fire exit, it's not cute.

---Personal favorites not making the 500. It sucked that Ken Schrader, Sterling Marlin, Boris Said, A.J. Allmindinger, Wood Brothers, and others didn't make it this year.

Why doesn't NASCAR get itself together in the States before it tries to become a worldwide brand?  Of course the answer is always money. NASCAR's TV ratings have been down for the last couple of years. Tracks aren't selling all their tickets like they were a few short years ago. So, instead of trying to correct these trends, NASCAR says screw the U.S. let's go to Canada,  Mexico, and soon to Europe. It reminds one of a traveling carnival that moves on once it has bled all the marks, suckers, and fanboys.

NASCAR has tried this global thing before. They went to Japan in the 90s, and though not officialy sanctioned, some teams went to Australia a few times back in late 70s or early 80s. Never mind that NFL Europa just folded, NASCAR thinks it can succeed where a stronger sports brand has failed.  NASCAR, the rest of the world thinks that running around kicking a soccer ball back and forth for ninety minutes is entertaining. They might come see the first race or two out of curiosity, but eventually it will tank.

NASCAR has long taken it's core fans for granted. With the economy the way it is, these fans are going to want as much #### as they can get for their disposal income. It will be interesting to see if NASCAR makes an effort to get the U.S. fan back when attendence drops, or if Brian France keeps strangling the goose that laid the golden egg.

Of course there is one thing that can cure NASCAR's TV ratings and lagging attendence. That would be Dale Earnhardt Jr. doing something he hasn't done in a year and a half, winning a Cup race. The old NASCAR would make sure that Jr. ran up front and won some races. After all, what could be better for ratings than your most popular driver actually winning. It will be interesting to see which direction NASCAR takes.

Why do we do it? I've done it, and looking back, it's nothing to be proud of. Maybe you've done it yourself.  I'm wondering why we boo certain drivers when we're at a NASCAR race track. We don't know the driver as a person, but yet there we are booing and calling him everything except a human being.

I guess there have always been those drivers who rubbed some fans the wrong way with their personality, and for some reason it has always been acceptable to boo away at the track. Being able to carry in your own beer probably helps fuel the boo birds also.

As a kid, the first driver I remember getting booed---I'm guilty here too---was Darrell Waltrip. He was brash and mouthy, and worst of all, he could back it up. He came in and shook things up, and some fans did not like it at all. In the thirty some years since then several other drivers have been booed unmercifully. Among them are the Bodines, Ernie Irvan, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, the Busches. Hell, I was at Bristol when big E wrecked Terry Labonte, and even NASCAR's greatest driver got booed out of the place.

What I'm really wondering is how and why you decide which driver to boo. When I was a kid every driver got some cheers during driver intros---until DW came along---and it seems like it gets worse every year.

So let's hear it fans who do you hate on and why?

DISCLAIMER----THIS IS AN ENTRY IN LORI'S COMPETITION. IF YOU THINK IT'S SERIOUS, PLEASE SEEK MEDICAL HELP.

The following events take place between 7:00pm Feb 16 and 7:00pm Feb 17.

7:00pm Feb 16.......Buffy Waltrip calls Paul Andrews, her husband's crew chief, looking for Mike. Paul hasn't seen him in over an hour. He reassures Buffy that Mikey should get back to the condo soon.

1:15am Feb 17.....Countryjag last seen entering Lollipops Exotic Show Bar.

8:00am..........Andrews can't find Mikey anywhere.

8:50am.......Jag sits, cussing at a drive thru window for fifteen minutes before he remembers that Chick-fil-ay isn't open on Sunday.

9:45am.........CJ enters the massive infield, and notices something over his rental car's sun visor. It's a hot pit pass. Upon closer inspection it is signed love, Diamond. and has a phone number written on the back.

10:00am......Buffy is holding a press conference. She doesn't look happy. Mikey's out and Darrell is in for today's race.

11:15am......Jag chokes down his third beer, and notices Chris Meyer, Ned Jarrett, and some suit talking. CJ wanders into the conversation. Turns out the suit is a FOX producer, and he invites CJ to appear on the pre race show with a fan's point of view.

1:35pm.......A jack 'falls' on Jeff Hammond's head on the way to the Hollywood Hotel.

2:00pm.......Meyer intros the pre race show with Countryjag, and Ned taking the injured Hammond's spot.

2:45pm.......The Fox producers are so impressed by Ned's expertise and Jag's witty banter that they invite both of them to the broadcast booth to cover the race since DW's out.

3:30pm......CJ gets the 500 started with his catch phrase "Boola, Boola, Boola. Let's win one for the stripper!"

5:00pm......Lap 80. Jr. has led 40 laps so far.

5:20pm.....Montoya starts the big one. Countryjag gets bleeped for saying the S word, the B word, and the F word all in one sentence describing Montoya and his driving.

5:50pm.....Lap 140. Your top five are....Jr., Gordon, Kyle Busch, Dale Jarrett and old D Dub.

6:40pm.....One lap to go. Top three of DJ, Jr. and DW have broken away. We turn the stick over to Ned as they roar down the backstretch. "It's the Dale, Dale, and Darrell show! You know which one I'm pullin for. Into turn three, don't let him down there Dale. Stay low, and bring it home like I taught you!"

6:41pm.......Dale and  Dale are coming out of four sliding, slamming, bamming together! DW looks low, then swings to the outside. They're three wide in the trioval. All three are touching together as smoke pours out from between the fenders and tires. At the line it's...it's.....it's too close to call! CJ slurs out "Are you guys blind? DJ won by two feet."

6:42pm.......Mike Joy announces "We now have a replay from the finish line camera, and it looks like it is, it is Darrell Waltrip, Ol DW has done it again!"

6:50pm......There is a wild celebration going on in Victory Lane. DW is crying on cue for the cameras, when in the background there comes a solitary figure. It's Mike Waltrip. He's wearing a tee shirt, socks, and boxers only. Once again, Buffy doesn't look happy.

There has been a disturbing trend lately here in the hood. The influx of soccer---I won't call it football---blogs. There is a window on FOX blogs main page for soccer blogs. Why am I seeing so many soccer posts under the NFL category then? That category is for a real sport. Not something that fourth grade girls do during reccess. I remember back in the 70s when soccer was to be the next big thing. Yeah, so was the decimal system, and I've drank thousands of mililiters of beer waiting on both.

This past year David 'has been' Beckham was going to turn the U.S. on to soccer. Once again America sniffed and said "eh."  Is soccer even on a major, english speaking, cable TV channel? Poker, bull riding, bass fishing are all on multiple networks. I don't see any posts from these major sports clogging up the NFL category though. Just soccer.

Save your breath, don't tell me that it's the most popular sport in the world. BFD. You know why? Because it doesn't cost any money to play. Anyone from a deodorant intolerant Frenchman to a North Korean dictator can get up a soccer game. All they need is a realitively mine free patch of dirt, and a goat's head or a camel bladder for the ball. We citizens of the USA like scoring and being scored on. Any game that has a goalie ---you to hockey---doesn't have enough scoring to keep us entertained.  Unlike Akbar, Yin,  and Kunta we have other entertainment options.

I'm putting this in the NFL category so all you soccer posters will get the message

Hello sports fans and welcome to the Monday Mailbag where we try to answer the most pressing sports and entertainment questions from the interweb. Please feel free to ask anything yourself, either in the comments, or by email for a future Mailbag.

Q.    Now that my 'brother' is out of rehab can I please get my job back?................Michael

A.    We here at the four letter network wish you all the best, but you have been replaced by another semi-cool, junior pimp dressing, loud, ex wide receiver who laughs at his own material.

Q.    Since the TV writers are still on strike, I'm trying to recycle some old SNL bits by using new actors in the old skits. Any ideas?...............................Lorne M.

A.    A great bit from the 90s was about adult diapers. Al Davis would be perfect as the spokesman giving the catchphrase......'Whoops I Crapped my Pants...I'm wearing them....and I just did.' Might be too realistic to be funny.

Q,    Who's gonna win da Super Bowl. And Carm is looking for something new to put out at her Super Bowl party. How bout it?...............................Tony S.

A.    Gulp. I, I, I'm glad to see you're still alive, T. I can't give you the winner until later in the week. I don't want to end up like Big ####. No, not Paris Hilton. The guy used to be in your crew. Now sleeping with the fishes. Tell the wife to start with the best onion rings in Jersey. They're at................

Q.    Yo, me and my boys are going to Arizona this week. Any sights to see out there?.............Chowd

A.    Well there's always the Grand Canyon. No, once again not her.

Q.    What can I watch on Sunday nights now that Madden isn't putting me to sleep?...Al M.

A.    'The Wire' is very good. A little slow on plot resolution. I prefer 'The Shield' on Sunday nights. Sadly it won't start until this summer.   

Much has been said already comparing the 72 Dolphins to this year's Patriot team. Something to do with both of them going undefeated. Maybe you've heard about it. It was in all the papers.

Everyone pretty much agrees that the 72 Fins would have no chance against the 07 Pats. It's the Steve Austin theory...bigger, stronger, faster, etc. For that matter, most of the experts say that no team from the past could hang with today's Patriots. Except for the 85 Bears. There are a few football people who give the 85 Bears a good chance to win this fanasty game, or at least come close.

The 85 Bears came very close to running the table. They only lost one regular season game all year. On one magical Monday night in Miami they were denied the chance at perfection. Don Shula showed the other NFL coaches how to deal with that vaunted Bears defense, and outscore the Bears average offense. Of course the other NFL coaches did not have Dan Marino at their disposal. Marino's gunslinger persona, ultra confidence, and the quickest release ever known in the NFL carried the day against the unbeatable Bears. Remember that this was the 80s. The NFL's golden age of quarterbacks, and not one of those other great QBs had anything for the Bears.

Thus I advance to you that the only team with a puncher's chance to knock out the 07 Patriots would be the 85 Dolphins. The Pats defense would not contain Marino throwing to the Marks Brothers and Nat Moore. It would certainly be a shootout with Tom Brady going against Miami's Killer B Defense. This was the defense that coined the term 'bend but don't break.' Final score...Miami 48   New England 45.

USA Today is reporting that ESPN 2 will air a five part program focusing on Lil E's move to Hendrick. The title is 'Dale Jr.--Shifting Gears'. It will tell how Jr. decided to leave DEI and go to HMS.

The first episode will air on Feb. 8. The next two eps will air sometime prior to the Daytona 500. The last two eps will air the week of July 27. These final two eps will bring Jr's 2008 season at HMS up to date so far.

ESPN announced today that Dale Jarrett will replace Rusty Wallace on their race broadcast crew. DJ  joins his hometown boyhood  friends Andy Petree and Jerry Punch in the booth. Rusty moves on to pre-race anaylist. While the most underrated race announcer on TV, Alen Bestwick becomes pre-race host.

There is a lot of good news in this announcement. First, while not as good as his father Ned, DJ has to be a major improvement over Rusty. Hell, Alf on crack would be an improvement .  Next, Bestwick is way underappreciated at ESPN. All he does is tell you what's happening on the the track. And I've saved the best for last..........apparently this means Bill Webber is going back to doing infomercials, or wherever in the hell he came from.