Sting 11

Datsyuk - Zetterberg - Holmstrom Calder - Lang - Bertuzzi In my opinion, this has the potential to the best playoff-ready top-six this team has had in many years.

I see Hussey is #14...that will get some panties in a twist around here.

No, it was about a 14-way tie! I just had the power to make my thread a sticky from the beginning.

Hoping it's not Kindl...

Yes, we did...thanks to the other mods who helped clean this up, I was really struggling getting site access to merge up those dupe threads! I'll replace my "more to come" w/ the TSN article shortly.

I don't like this one. I don't like the red and blue right next to each other without white striping to separate them. I also don't like all the white in the underarm area...this is getting way too common and looks minor-leaguish. I hope that's not a forced design element of the new Rbk jersey...that was on that proposed Canuck jersey too.

LOVE 'em. Nice combination of modern style with the retro colors and logos.

Ah yes, helmet throwing incidents...gotta love 'em. The unusual thing about Robby Gordon's toss was that it didn't occur at Bristol. I forget where it was, but most of the hot-headedness over the past 10 or so years has come from Bristol. has all of the helmet tosses in it, along with a lot of other racing goodness. The guy's other videos there are good too.

That was a cool looking car. The paint scheme was based off of the Days of Thunder car: I was always a Rusty Wallace fan until Ryan Newman came on the scene. I had to follow Newman since we're both Hoosiers and Purdue grads. Following a driver is key to enjoying racing. The mid-race nap is a family tradition that I'm just now inheriting from my dad. I was actually asleep when Stewart and Busch wrecked on Sunday, so when I woke up I was like "what the hell happened?" Oh, my only tips on picking a driver...don't pick a Toyota driver (obviously), and don't pick Kyle Busch...he's an out-of-control doofus.

It's mainly because Indy cars weigh (roughly) half as much and have tires that are (roughly) twice as wide. Indy cars are quite stable and will pretty much go whichever direction you point them. Stock cars are by nature not very stable and their handling is very touchy. Banking is critical to maintaining your cornering speed in a stock car. Because of a stock car's weight and relatively narrow tires, if you're going too fast for a corner, you will turn the wheel and still pretty much go straight (i.e. understeer). Think of taking a 35 mph corner on the highway; an Indy car would be like driving a Corvette, a NASCAR stock car would be like driving a dump truck. This is a main reason why hotshot Indy drivers tend to struggle mightily when they try their hand at NASCAR. If you're planning on watching the next few races, don't get your hopes up too high for racing as exciting as it was at Daytona. It's not going to be. It might get interesting with pit strategy and stuff, but there won't be as much door-to-door racing, especially at California and Vegas. If you want to see a fun race, circle Bristol on your calendar, March 25.

In 2004, Rusty Wallace did some hot laps unrestricted at Talladega. I guess it was for a radio comms test, but I can't believe NASCAR okayed it. Here's the story:

Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out.

He got parked for that. The restrictor plates are only required at Daytona and Talladega. These tracks are by far the biggest tracks on the circuit, and without the plates the cars would be turning laps 220-230 mph. The plates limit airflow into the carburetor and sap RPMs and horsepower. They were implemented after a 1987 crash at Talladega where a car almost went into the grandstands (video here explains it). The problem the plates cause is they limit the cars' ability to accelerate and also cause the cars to run at speeds low enough to allow drivers to never have to lift off of the throttle at Daytona and Talladega (especially Talladega). These two factors make it so the cars have difficulty separating out of large 20-30 car packs. These packs lead to the wrecks drivers call "the big one". I remember all the talk back in 1988 and 89 of how the plates were supposed to be "temporary". 20 years later we still wait for NASCAR to come up with a real solution.

I'll give it a shot. In 1989 or 1990, there was an accident on pit road that killed a tire changer. NASCAR instituted two rules that were supposed to stop pit road accidents: pit road speed limit and closing pit road. When a caution flag comes out, pit road is closed until all the cars form up behind the pace car and form a pacing line. I've never understood the safety aspect of this; I think they do it to make scoring easier. The problem closing pit road causes is that since cars can't pit until they're all formed up in a slow-speed line, that entire line of 30-40 cars pits at once. Before they started closing pit road, cars would dive into the pits 5-or-so at a time immediately when the caution flew, a good half a lap before cars formed up behind the pace car. That left pit road far less congested. Why they haven't figured this out is, to me, one of life's great mysteries. There were almost no pit road accidents before implementing the new pit "safety" rules. Since then they're commonplace. Go figure. Racing back to the line and the "lucky dog" are interconnected. Before a couple of years ago, when a caution flag came out, the leaders would keep racing until they crossed the start-finish line and took the caution. If a car is laps down, if they could get in front of the leader by the time they crossed the stripe, he'd get a lap back. A few years ago, NASCAR thought it would be a good idea to stop racing back to the line for safety's sake. The field is now frozen immediately when the caution lights come on. Since racing back to the line was the primary way lapped cars got their laps back, NASCAR implemented a fairness rule that automatically gave the first car one lap down their lap back when a caution came out, regardless of where they were on the track reference the race leader. They call the guy who gets his lap back the lucky dog. Stupid rules, all. The answer here is obviously because Americans are, in general, stupid hick rednecks who are stuck in the past and are nowhere near as enlightened and progressive as the marvelous Europeans.

I've also been a NASCAR fan since I was very little. It's the only sport my family really followed when I was young; I had to learn to like other sports on my own. I don't follow it quite as close as I once did, but I'm still a pretty big fan. I've been to events at MIS 10+ times, and since I live really close to there now, I'm itching to go back. Having grown up with NASCAR in the 1980s (with stories of the glories of the 60s and 70s never far away), I'm a purist. I despise most of the new rules NASCAR has come out with like closing pit road on a caution, pit road speed limit, lucky dog, no racing back to the line, cookie-cutter cars...I hate them all. That having been said I think NASCAR was wrong with not throwing the caution on the last lap wreck and subsequently allowing a race to the checkered flag, because if they're going to make a rule, no matter how stupid it is, they need to be consistent and enforce their rule. I had no dog in the fight at the finish because my boy, and fellow Purdue alum, Ryan Newman blew the engine with 25 to go. I was just hoping for a good finish, and it was, but I'm disappointed that NASCAR adjusted their rules on the fly to ensure that close finish.

The Charger is made in Brampton, Ontario...the Fusion is made in Mexico. It really doesn't matter where the cars are made anyway, since NASCAR race cars no longer bear any resemblance to their highway couterparts. Like betterRED, I also hate Toyota. I hate Toyota with an incredible passion. I will never own a Toyota. The reason is Toyota's corporate strategy. Toyota plans to take over the world with cars that are absolutely bland, nondescript, nonoffensive, and completely uninspiring. Car guys tend to hate Toyota because Toyotas are meant to be an appliance like a refridgerator or a TV. Cars evoke passion and emotion, and Toyota bucks that reality by producing emotionless point-A-to-point-B appliances. Screw them. Not to mention how Toyota appears to get a free pass on quality issues. Camrys had an enormous engine sludge issue and Toyota trucks had a serious ball joint issue. Toyota recalled more vehicles than they sold in 2006. You really have to dig deep to find media coverage on this, though. Their quality is slipping. The Saturn Aura and upcoming 08 Chevy Malibu are flat out better cars than the Camry...hopefully consumers begin to realize this. F**k Toyota.

In my opinion, the rivalry died when Roy retired. With him, Foote, Shanahan, Deadmarsh, McCarty and all the rest of the combatants gone, it isn't capable of being the same.

Unfortunately it will never happen. Conseco Fieldhouse was built with perfect basketball sightlines as the goal and all other sports/events as an afterthought. It's hockey configuration is not adequate for the NHL. And with the huge fight that surrounded Lucas Oil Stadium, Indy won't be getting another sports venue for quite a while. I think that Seattle would make a great market (probly becuz it's not in a hick state!!11!1! ), so I guess we'll just wait and see if a team emigrates to there someday.

Damn. Just...damn.

Having listened to Rush in the past, I'm almost certain his Grossman comments were a tongue-in-cheek jab at those who went off over his McNabb comments. That's often Rush's style. Then the media gets a hold of the transcript and just sees the words and doesn't realize he's being facetious. I just wish we could drop the race crap. Honestly, I don't pay a bit of attention to race until people start making a big deal about it. Let's make that it on this subject, lest this thread get completely derailed into PD'ville.

Orton's my pick (yes, I'm biased being a Purdue grad). He followed Brees and the offense never missed a beat. Orton set school records and was considered a Heisman favorite as a senior until a fateful hit vs. Wisconsin ruined his (and the Boilers) season. Orton has the potential to be great and is wasting away as a third stringer in Chicago.

I thought this was funny...

Lidstrom only.

I've made it all night long, but here come da tears... That is true. They could do much better with that.

This is so great it doesn't seem real yet. Biggest sports event for me ever. Wow...