Fan Stop Central

From NASCAR.com

A defiant Clint Bowyer met with the media Friday at Dover International Speedway, insisting that he and his No. 33 Chevrolet team from Richard Childress Racing “did nothing wrong” to earn the whopping penalty it received from NASCAR two days earlier.

Bowyer won the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway last Sunday, capturing the opening event of the 10-race Chase to the Sprint Cup. The dramatic victory temporarily vaulted him from 12th to second in the point standings.

“You always want to win races, and you’re very proud to win races, and I’m still proud of that win,” Bowyer said. “I don’t believe that we did anything wrong. I guess I’ll go on record as saying that … and I want my fans to know that.

“There is a lot of integrity that goes into this sport. I’m damn proud to be part of this sport. I love being a part of this sport — and I wouldn’t cheat go win a race in this sport. We have a lot more integrity [than that] with my race team and at RCR.”

Bowyer’s ascension in the driver point standings was temporary because the left side of the rear of his car was deemed too high by a small margin after being taken back to the NASCAR Research and Development Center for further inspection following the race. That led to a 150-point penalty being issued to Bowyer by NASCAR; along with a 150-point deduction for Childress in the owners’ standings; a $150,000 fine and six-week suspension for Bowyer’s crew chief, Shane Wilson; and a six-week suspension for the No. 33 car chief Chad Haney.

The 150-point hit dropped Bowyer from second back to 12th in the championship standings. So instead of trailing leader Denny Hamlin by 35 points with nine races remaining in the Chase, Bowyer now trails by a seemingly insurmountable 185.

The penalties and Wilson’s fine have been appealed, allowing Wilson to work this Sunday’s AAA 400 at Dover, but Bowyer and Childress did not sound like he’s holding out much hope for having them overturned.

“All I am going to ask for is a fair appeal,” Childress said. “That is all I want: a fair appeal. And I have only in the history of RCR don’t think we have been but to maybe three appeals. We didn’t win any of them.”

Bowyer admitted that he and his team had been warned of their car being “too close to tolerances” following the previous week’s race at Richmond, and that at the same time they were told their car would be taken back to the R&D Center after New Hampshire “whether it finished first or 43rd.”

Having established that, Bowyer asked the assembled media why in the heck would his team have attempted to alter the car again?

“After being told they were taking the car, we made double-sure when we were going to New Hampshire that car was right,” Bowyer said. “Who in their right mind — knowing they were going to take that car — wouldn’t have made triple-sure that it was right before going to the race track?”

Bowyer, who ran out of gas while doing a celebratory post-race burnout at New Hampshire, added that he was careful to keep his car in one piece after securing last Sunday’s win.

“I could have hit the wall doing a burnout; I could have done a lot of things a lot of other drivers and a lot of other teams have done in their post-race celebration this year,” Bowyer said. “I didn’t. I didn’t want to push that in NASCAR’s face. We appreciated them warning us on the fact [after Richmond]. They told us about that situation on Wednesday [before New Hampshire] and we tried to fix it. We had about two hours to jump on that car and make sure that thing was right.”

In addition to believing they had done so prior to leaving for New Hampshire, Bowyer pointed out that his car passed both pre- and post-race inspection before failing the more detailed inspection over the next three days at the R&D Center in Concord, N.C.

“How can a car pass pre- and post-race inspection, and three days later get such a huge fine?” Bowyer said. “They take the car apart to make this inspection, and in my opinion that’s not the way the car was raced on the race track. I think that’s something that needs to be said.” … continue reading »

Popularity: 1% [?]

Premiering December 22, 2010 - It has taken 10 years, two little Fockers with wife Pam (Teri Polo) and countless hurdles for Greg (Ben Stiller) to finally get “in” with his tightly wound father-in-law, Jack (Robert De Niro). When Greg and Pam’s entire clan - including Pam’s lovelorn ex, Kevin (Owen Wilson) - descends for the twins’ birthday party, Greg must prove to the skeptical Jack that he’s fully capable as the man of the house.

Little Fockers is an upcoming 2010 comedy film and a sequel to both Meet the Parents (2000) and Meet the Fockers (2004) starring Robert De Niro, Ben Stiller, Owen Wilson, Blythe Danner, Teri Polo, Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand. It is the first film in the series not to be directed by Jay Roach and was instead directed by Paul Weitz. However, it was produced by Jay Roach. It was announced on August 24, 2010 that Dustin Hoffman will reprise his role as Greg’s father, Bernie Focker. In addition to the original cast, Little Fockers stars Jessica Alba, Laura Dern and Harvey Keitel.

After marrying Pam, the daughter of a retired CIA agent, Gaylord “Greg” Focker now has five-year old twins. The film will revolve around the couple trying to cope with raising their children.

Greg begins to go through a mid-life crisis as he ponders the rest of his life as his children come into play, he also begins to worry about being a good father and obtaining a stable job earning money for his family. This leads Jack to become highly suspicious once again about what is going on with Greg. This leads to a lot of suspense between the two and eventually leads to a fight between the two characters.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Statistics would have us believe that since half of the teams began the season with a win, then week 2 would see half of the undefeateds go down … well, statistics prove right this year:

Green Bay, Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay, Chicago, Miami, Houston and New Orleans all escaped week 2 to remain undefeated.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Well, it happens every year … 16 teams begin the season undefeated and 16 begin win-less.

New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Miami, New England, Jacksonville, Chicago, New York Giants, Pittsburgh, Houston, Tennessee, Arizona, Seattle, Green Bay, Washington, Baltimore and Kansas City all take the first step together to be the season’s initial undefeateds … now, who continues this streak is the real question.

Popularity: 1% [?]

In the second season of the Todd Haley era, the Chiefs have a New Arrowhead, new faces, new (old*) coordinators, and a spot on Monday Night Football for opening night nonetheless. Things are supposed to look bright for the Chiefs and their new baby-fresh organization, but things may not necessarily be what they seem.

This could quickly turn into a what’s-wrong-with-the-Chiefs entry, but we’ll try hard to keep this to previewing the Chiefs and Chargers matchup.

The first glaring difference … and frankly one that has stupefied many … is the QB matchup – Matt Cassell v. Philip Rivers. Rivers has had much success already in the League. Rivers had success and experience in college at NC State. It’s fair to say Rivers had success and experience in high school … this is a fairly normal progression for NFL QB’s. But, not so much for the Chiefs’ Cassell. Cassell never started a game in the League until Tom Brady was hurt (ironically against the Chiefs). He was a career backup in college – sure it was USC and Carson Palmer and Matt Leinert were in front of him, but Leinert’s obviously not a League-caliber QB … and honestly, if he didn’t have the ineligible Reggie Bush behind him, who knows how average he would have seemed. Cassell didn’t even start high school until he was a senior. So, the baffling part is that the Chiefs decide to bring him in and pay him $67 million over 6 years. Really? I didn’t start QB in high school. I didn’t start QB in college. I haven’t played a down in the League. I’ll take $67 million. I think this matchup goes to the Chargers.

Running backs. This one has been transformed. Pro-bowler LaDanian Tomlinson is no longer pulling the load in San Diego, and Darrian Sproles now takes over the duties. We’ll see. He’s good – sure. He was good at K-State. He’s been good at fill-in for Tomlinson. We’ll see just how good he is when he takes on the full load. The Chiefs however found a gem last year. After dumping Larry Johnson, Jamaal Charles stepped up and turned in an unbelievable performance – over 1,400 yards in just 8 games! Add to that the acquisition of Thomas Jones, and the Chiefs look to be powerful in the backfield … as long as the O-Line plays their part, and though it has been much improved over the past few seasons, it’s still not the dominating line like when they were starting Willie Roaf, John Tait, Brian Waters, Casey Wigman and Will Shields. I think this still goes to the Chiefs.

Receivers … let’s call it a toss-up. I don’t see either having a dominating receiving corps, so as long as you catch what hits your hands, you’re good. But, the tight end position would have typically been a no-brainer for the Chiefs when Tony Gonzales was still here, but he’s gone on to “greener” pastures in hopes to win a ring … how’s that worked out for you TG? Anyway, the big man for the Chargers, Antonio Gates, has secured the top spot as top Tight End in the AFC. Chargers get this edge.

Defense should be pretty evenly matched up, however, I would give the early edge to the Chiefs on this. They have Romeo Crenell as the Defensive Coordinator who orchestrated the mighty D of the Patriots during their dynasty run. The downside is they have now implemented a 3-4, which will take some time to become like clockwork, but it also allows the opportunity to get some of the Chiefs’ great defensive players on the field together: Derrick Johnson, Mike Vrabel, Tamba Hali, Glenn Dorsey, Eric Berry, Jovan Belcher, Tyson Jackson … these guys are going to have to get it done … and I think they will – in time.

Monday Night Football 9/13

Chargers: 17
Chiefs: 24

Popularity: 1% [?]