Today, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, AL, the annual Iron Bowl will be played.  This year, though, it will have more significance than it usually does.  Alabama is looking to go 12-0 in the regular season and go into the showdown vs. Florida next week strong.  Their biggest challenge will be getting past Auburn with a victory.

Auburn has defeated Alabama the past six straight years and wants to make it seven this afternoon.  For Auburn, the game plan is simple: win or cry in the basement all through bowl season.  No win in Tuscaloosa = no bowl.  The Tigers have struggled all year with many heartbreaking losses including a last second one home at Jordan-Hare to LSU in the last seconds of the primetime game.  They even were leading Georgia last week but came up short in the end.  A win against the Tide would salvage the Tigers' season and would knock 'Bama from the number one spot.

For Alabama, think how devastating this loss would be to Nick Saban, John-Parker Wilson, and the whole team.  Think about how they would go into next weekend's huge game against Florida in the Georgia Dome.  Think how fired up Florida is going to be about their one chance to make their national championship bid.  I know 'Bama is wanting to look ahead to the SEC Championship, but they have one long showdown against their number one rival today.  This past off-week has given them sufficient time to prepare for this big game.  Auburn is going to run out of the tunnel all fired up and ready to play, and the Tide better be ready and rollin'.

My Prediction: Alabama over Auburn by a field goal

                                                           

Yesterday, the Atlanta Falcons made the move that propelled themselves into a spot to take over the NFC South lead.  They blasted the Panthers 45-28 in the Georgia Dome with a dominating performance.  In the first half, it was all Falcons, and they were destroying Carolina on total yards.  Each week, Matt Ryan is looking more and more like a veteran and less like a rookie.  He knows when to throw the ball away instead of risking an interception.  He can get huge first downs on third and long.  Sometimes, he can even pull of great QB sneaks.  The Falcons made a huge improvement to their organization by drafting him.  Ryan is such an up for this once struggling Falcons team.

Harry Douglas also had a great performance and made a late punt return for touchdown that shifted the momentum of the game.  By that time, the Panthers were making their miraculous comeback but got a slap in the face by the Atlanta rookie.  Douglas' quick cuts and dashes make him a wanted player in the NFL.  He did act like a total rookie though by pointing at and taunting the Carolina kicker as he was sprinting for the endzone.  The unsportsmanlike conduct penalty hopefully taught him a lesson not to risk those type of taunts in the future.

Michael Turner had another spectacular game as usual with his many rushing runs.  Toward the end of the game, he totally faked out the Panthers defense as he darted for the touchdown.  Turner even made FOX's FedEX Ground Performance of the Day.  He is another impact player on this young Atlanta team.

Hopefully, this biggest win of the year will give the Falcons the momentum to make the Playoffs for the first time since 2005, the first time since Jim Mora was the head coach.  Even if they cannot go all out and win the division, there are always two wildcard spots to hope for.  The Falcons are back, back in black, and back to win it all.

                                                         

First off, congrats to Jimmie Johnson.  Even though I rooted for Carl Edwards the whole time, Johnson raced like a true champion all throughout the playoffs.

One of many reasons I didn't want Jimmie to win a third straight Championship is because he would be compared to Cale Yarborough.  I really don't think J.J. deserves as much credit as the racer from four decades ago because of the way he earned his Titles.  Each year, Jimmie has done exactly the same thing: start off slow, win a couple of races, propel his way into the Chase, and dominate the last ten races.  Whereas, Cale didn't have that pretty alternative.  The eminent veteran had to race all out all year and didn't have too many mulligans.  The reason that racers like Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, Sr. weren't able to pull off the trifecta is because the Chase didn't exist back in those times.

The Chase has actually made it easier on the drivers instead of more challenging.  Johnson is the perfect example.  The old points format didn't allow for any late season peaking; if a racer got too far out ahead in points, the rest of the drivers were toast.  So what I am saying is that if it weren't for the Chase, Johnson might only have one Championship instead of three, and we wouldn't be having this discussion.  Jeff Gordon would have won the Cup last year, and Kyle Busch would have won it this year.  I like a variety of Champions instead of the same one over and over.  The Chase was designed intending to create more excitement in our sport.  Lately, in my opinion, it has had a reverse effect.

There has been much talk in the past couple of months on whether Jimmie Johnson has surpassed Jeff Gordon.  The record books sure say so, and it is easy to think so.  I used to think so, but after much thinking, my mind has arrived at the truth.  Jeff Gordon probably would have three consecutive Championships if the Chase existed back in the '90's.  He managed to get two in a row but couldn't pull off the third one because he didn't have the nice addition of the Chase.  Really, Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon should be ranked equally in the history of this sport.

After this occurence, I have decided that Chase champions shouldn't be compared with past champions before the Chase came into existence.  It just isn't fair to a guy like Cale.  I bet he is thinking the same thing I am and was rooting against Jimmie just as much as I was.  What drives me to extreme frustration is when I heard the number 48 crew talking about a fourth consecutive Championship.  That is about the only thing that could make me want to boycott NASCAR.  Johnson has made the seasons monotonous and has brought down the ratings.  Also, it would be totally unfair to Yarborough.

So, if you were to ask me if the Jimmie-Cale comparison is legit, I'd reply, "No, it is not because of the new Chase format."

                                             

The Championship is pretty much in the hands of Jimmie Johnson as he dominated all day and night in the Valley of the Sun.  All of the excitement about Carl Edwards making a comeback has vanished as he is trailing Johnson by 141 points.  It was a typical Jimmie Johnson race on Sunday; qualify on the pole, lead the most laps, and win the race.  To me, it isn't too exciting when the number 48 car is out front because no one stands a chance.  He is always one step ahead of the rest of the field.  Phoenix has become one of his best tracks with his long streak of wins.  I used to say that Carl Edwards could come back and win the Cup, but now, even I have realized reality.   This man is going to rewrite the record books and be a legend in our sport.  In my opinion, J.J. is NASCAR's current generation "King" of the sport.

Carl Edwards did all he could but still came up short.  It was indispensable to his Championship hopes that he finished far ahead of Johnson, but Carl ended up in fourth.  Edwards even had lots of help at the end of the race with the debris cautions.  The point of many of those cautions was to give Carl a chance against NASCAR's top dog.  But if Edwards couldn't keep up, too bad so sad.  He may win the race at Homestead; it will take a miracle though for him to win it all.  I hope he can do it, but as I said, I have realized the truth.

To the Dog Pin

I've got to dog ABC.  Who wouldn't?  They have proved to us all that their priorities are on America's Funniest Home Videos instead the end of a playoff NASCAR race.  If they're going to cover the race, then, they need to cover the whole thing.  Most networks stay until the end of a sporting event no matter how late it goes.  I don't care how late it goes or what programming is scheduled after it.  Man, I wish FOX got to cover more of the racing season.  It seems as if their section just flies by and ESPN/ABC's goes on for years.

That race seemed like it would never end.  It started in the afternoon and ended at dark.  Those day to night races always seem longer.  I'll be glad when the checkered flag flies next week in Miami; our racing season is way too long.
                                                          

Carl Edwards has become all of our hope to stop Jimmie Johnson from a third straight Championship.  After struggling at Talladega and Charlotte, Edwards has now raced back into Title contention with two dominating performances in a row.  The driver of the number 99 car swept the Texas races this year.  History has proved its accuracy as Carl won Atlanta and Texas back-to-back.  He and his crew chief Bob Osborne make another phenomenal call to not pit for fuel in order to close Johnson's lead.  That right there shows us how much motivation and fire Edwards has to win this Championship.  He will do whatever it takes and fight through any perilous situation.  I am all for Carl winning it all for the first time ever.

The past couple of racing seasons have seemed pretty redundant.  Jimmie Johnson points races for the first 26 races and slips into the Chase.  Then, in the playoffs, he blasts by everyone and cruises to Cup after Cup.  Somebody has to stop this, and Carl Edwards is in the position to end the streak.  I am not saying it is going to all work out though.  Jimmie Johnson has won the past two Phoenix races and is a conservative racer at Homestead.  Johnson has the luxury of taking it easy and being circumspect.  For Edwards, it is going all out and fighting like a madman.  He has acted like a madman with last lap moves like the one at Kansas and fuel mile gambles as we have seen many times.  In order for Carl to pull it off, the final two races have to play out identical to this one: Carl Edwards leads the most laps and wins; Jimmie Johnson struggles and finishes outside of the top 15.  Finishing one spot ahead of J.J. like last week at Atlanta won't cut it for "Cool Carl".  This race could result as a runaway or be down to wire until the checkered flag waves in Miami.  The outcome of this long season rests in the hands of Carl Edwards.

"Second is like a win for me here at Texas."

"Second is like a win for me here at Texas."  This is how Jeff Gordon looks at the 1.5 mile speedway just outside of Fort Worth.  He has never won at The Great American Speedway and had a terrible finish of 43rd back in the spring.  I thought that would all change today.  I thought he had a strong enough of a car to get it done from the pole.  Once again, I was wrong as he did the fuel mileage gamble at the end and got second spot.  The clock is ticking: two more chances for the famed racer before he is shut out for the first time since who knows when...

Young and Wrestless

These are some nicer words to describe David Gilliland after he suddenly took out Juan Pablo Montoya on the backstretch at Texas.  It was a move that he could not possibly defend.  Obviously, it was an intentional knockout which is completly unacceptable.  NASCAR needs to definitely ban him for the last two races and might need to take further action going into 2009.  I cannot image how painful that hit was for Montoya.  He has had bad luck two weeks in a row.  Juan's last palm reading probably wasn't too pretty...