Is there anyway that Jr. ends up at DEI at season's end?  It seems like Jr. woke up and finally realized that he is the biggest star and NASCAR and has more leverage than any athlete in the history of professional sports.  Jr. is the man in NASCAR.  What makes that more amazing than anything is that this popularity has come with a moderate amount of success.  The NBA equivilent would be if Jeffrey Jordan, Michael's son, entered the league and played at a Paul Pierce level, but got LeBron James endorsements and attention.  Don't get me wrong.  Paul Pierce is a great player, but he's no LeBron, D-Wade, KG, or Tim Duncan.  Much like Jr. is great, but he's not Stewart, Johnson, or Gordon.

Having said all of that, with the addition of Toyota, who seems to be willing to pay any price to make a major splash in the sport, Dale is NASCAR's first A-Rod type free agent.  Anyone will pay anything to have him as the face of their team.  Anyone except maybe his jealous stepmommy. 

Here are Dale's 2008 options:

1)  Stay at DEI as the majority owner of the company and remain the face of NASCAR as we know it.

2)  Join a team like Hendrick or Roush with the proven ability to win championships with multiple teams and drivers.  This way, he can begin to build a legacy outside of his father (if that's even possible).

3)  Join a Toyota team, take Budweiser with him, and create a major shift in the power and influence of the newest and most controversial manufactoring brand in NASCAR history.

Whatever Dale chooses, he brings a marketability and economic power with him that no human being has ever had in any sport.  Good luck in the negotiations Dale.  The sport anxiously awaits.

What do you think he'll do?  What would you do?

Tomorrow is National Signing Day for all of you already-football-starved folks out there.  We have finally reached a time where football is so popular that people will latch on to something that is about as irrelevant as my top 25 most played list on my IPOD just because it's about football.  ESPN.com has an entire page dedicated to tomorrow's college football "event".  Don't be fooled folks, this is not an event.

We all (especially Arkansas fans like myself) remember the circus a month and a half ago surrounding Mitch Mustain's mother, along with two other highly touted freshmen's parents questioning the role of their children to Arkansas A.D. Frank Broyles.  Why was this a story you ask.  Tomorrow is the reason.  We give stardom away to college kids, even high school kids now because we are so determined to find the "next one".  Without this hype, Mustain and the others would be seen for what they are, spoiled, overhyped brats who are nothing more than a backup QB, blocking TE, and fast, no hands WR.  We can't enjoy the greatness that is Peyton Manning for one week without digging out Tom Lugginbill's rankings of the incoming freshman prospects to find out who will steal Manning's throne in 2015.  Let me tell you something folks, HE DOESN'T KNOW who will be great at the college level.  Even more, you don't know either!  You won't know until these kids play the game.

I'm so sick of hearing about these recruiting classes.  How many years did we hear about Texas's incoming class?  We heard all about it until they got beat by 50 in the Red River Shootout from about 1998-2004 (give or take a year or two).  Can we please give it a rest?  Can we please reserve news for. . . well. . .NEWS?  These are glorified children that are about to start playing a young man's game.  Some will be great, others will never be heard from again.

If you are interested in what happens tomorrow, I challenge you to do one thing.  Print off your little ESPN top 150 list and save it.  Four years from now, when you watch the NFL Draft (and you will because anyone who cares about signing day would absolutely treat the NFL Draft like Christmas morning) take out your list and see how it stacks up.  See how many people go in the first round.  See how many get drafted at all.  I guarentee that you will look at the list and say, "Boy, I really wasted a lot of time worrying about which school Noel Devine was going to attend."  You're right.  You did.  I'm trying to help you save that time.  You'd be much better off taking Martin Lawrence's advice and having a Coke and a smile.  It will last a lot longer.

The Colts will defeat the Bears 23-7.

Peyton Manning/ Tony Dungy/ Adam Vinatieri   vs.    Rex Grossman/ Lovie Smith/ Robbie Gould

The Colts have a distinct advantage in all three categories and will win the game decisively.  Peyton Manning will officially become the greatest QB of all time when he pulls a Steve Young and gets the big game monkey off of his back. 

Congrats to Peyton and Coach Dungy ahead of time.  No two people deserve it more.

Long live Prince and great commercials.  Am I the only person who will TiVO halftime and not the game itself?

Here are just some casual observations of the present NBA season so far:

• The New York Knicks (19-26) are only one game worse than the defending champion Miami Heat (19-24) while being closer (3 games) to first place than the champs (6 1/2)
• The present #1 seed in the Eastern Conference, Washington Wizards, would be the #7 seed in the Western Conference
• Steve Nash has won two consecutive MVPs and is playing his best basketball this season.  Will voters be afraid to vote Nash into the pantheon of 3 time MVPs along side Chamberlain, Jordan, Jabbar, Bird, Magic, Moses Malone, and Bill Russell?
• Gilbert Arenas recently said he'd give up an NBA season to go back to school and score 85 against Duke in response to Coach K cutting him from team USA.  Wouldn't it be easier for Duke to join the NBA's Eastern Conference?  That way we could see Agent 0 go for 85 a few times in the Conference Finals against Cameron's Crazies.
• Jerry West, an all-time legend as a player, GM, and most notably the logo, cannot go out like this! 
• If David Stern ever has an inferiority complex when trying to compete with the NFL this time of year, he should consider the fact that it could be worse.  He could have to play his All-Star Game on a Wednesday night up against American Idol.
• Isiah Thomas isn't THAT bad of a coach.
• As sad as it is to say, Shaq may be done.  He looks. . . well . . .we don't know how he looks.  He never plays anymore!
• Just how bad is it for Miami?  They beat the Knicks on Monday without Shaq and Wade, then proceeded to lose to the Knicks on Friday WITH Shaq and Wade.
• If the Grizzlies (11-34) could use just their winning percentage against Eastern Conference teams, they would be playing .315 ball which would still put them in last place in both the Central and Southeastern divisions in the East.
• Phoenix has had 2 winning streaks that each total more wins than Memphis, Boston, and Philadelphia have all season.
• When is someone going to finally realize that fans have no business voting for the All-Star starters.  Steve Nash coming off the bench would be like having Elvis Pressley as an opening act for Kenny Loggins. 
• Kevin Garnett has fallen from "best player in the league" to "NBA star" faster than any player I can ever remember.
• Luol Deng is one of the most underrated players in the league.
• This A.I. /  'Melo thing may work.

Maybe I'm not the Tiger Woods of pick 'em after all.  Maybe my system, the XEA Q.C.K.I.Q., isn't the "be all" and "end all" in NFL playoff projection.  After a mediocre 2-2 divisional weekend, I find that the formula maybe more like Phil Mickelson than TIger Woods.  Which of course means that it's not the best, but still better than most.  Here are the Championship matchups:

NFC Championship Game

Drew Brees/ Sean Payton/ John Carney  @  Rex Grossman/ Lovie Smith/ Robbie Gould

The quotient didn't like either of these teams last week, but here they are and here I am!  Brees is a clear advantage over Grossman.  Lovie and Payton are still inexperienced and untested.  Neither coach has won a playoff game on the road, and both have won Coach of the Year.  Only Payton has to win on the road in this matchup, but homefield is not a part of the formula.  This is a push.  Carney vs. Gould is also a push.  So on the strength of Drew Brees, the New Orleans Saints will officially dethrone the Seattle Seahawks as the National Football Conference Champions.  (Come on Mean and BearsView.  Bring that Bears stuff in here!)

AFC Championship Game

Tom Brady/ Bill Belichick/ Stephen Gostkowski  @  Peyton Manning/ Tony Dungy/ Adam Vinatieri

This is a matchup between the two best teams in the NFL based on the formula!  The computer almost exploded tabulating this one.  You thought Michigan vs. Florida was a tough choice? (you were wrong by the way)  As crazy as this may seem, the quotient is designed to only rate the QBs as players.  Not clutch players, just players.  Under this system, Peyton Manning is the best QB in the game.  Therefore, as hard as this is for me to type, Tom Brady is actually not the advantage here.  The edge goes to the Colts and Manning.  The final two categories are blowouts.  Huge advantages go to the Pats for Belichcik and to the Colts for Vinatieri.  Therefore, the Indianapolis Colts will advance to Super Bowl XLI. 

I thought Einstein might be a stretch too, so I went for Dr. Brown.  Get off my Flux Compassitor!