The beginning of the NASCAR season is this week and the first event is the biggest of the year. The other sports, the big event is at the end of the season but not NASCAR. Every February around Valentine's Day NASCAR arrives in Florida two run what is called "The Great American Race." I don't like to compare events as the Super Bowl of ..., but "The Daytona 500" is the Super Bowl of NASCAR. This is a race where the greatest of drivers have won, but every competitor has a chance.
Before Daytona International Speedway was built in 1959, racing was done on the actual beaches of Daytona Beach, Florida.
After the cars were getting faster and faster and racing on the beach was getting more dangerous, a 2.5 mile track was built inland. At that time, only the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was as big an oval track.
Now some say that the popularity of NASCAR was fueled by what happened in The Daytona 500. It would take too long to recap all 50 runnings so I'll only mention some of the more well-known ones. To get a great insight on all 50 '500's, watch the 5-disc set of The Daytona 500. It has a 10 minute recap of every Daytona 500 race from the first in 1959 to last year's race.
1959 was the first Daytona 500 and there were many worries from the drivers and from NASCAR. No one had ever gone this fast (150 mph) in a stock car before and some were worried that any small mistake could bring possible fatal consequences. Astonishingly, there wasn't a single caution flag and ended up as one of the greatest and closest finishes in NASCAR history featuring one of the greats, Lee Petty.
The 1976 Daytona 500 featured the two winningest drivers in NASCAR history. Richard Petty, Lee's son, and David Pearson were laps ahead of the field and used the last half of the race to battle it out themselves. In one of the most crazy finishes in NASCAR history, two rivals battle to the bitter end.
The 1979 was the beginning of a new era in NASCAR history. This was the first race to be shown live and be shown flag-to-flag from beginning to end. This has been regarded as one of the greatest NASCAR races ever and NASCAR received many fans because of this race and specifically this finish. My father was at this race and said that it was one of the greatest finishes he ever saw.
Exactly 22 years after one of the greatest days of NASCAR, the sport experienced one of the worst when Dale Earnhardt, one of the greatest drivers in NASCAR was fatally injured on the last lap of the Daytona 500. Trying to block the rest of the field to allow his two owned cars which included his son fight it out for the win, Earnhardt got accidently tapped from behind and was turned into the wall dying on impact. The first video features the finish shown live and the second is a tribute to Earnhardt.
Because of his death, there have been tremendous advances on safety. The Head And Neck System (HANS) device prevents a driver's head from whipping forward in a high-impact crash. SAFER barriers were built in the turns of all NASCAR tracks that help absorb a car's impact into the wall. There are things I feel NASCAR should do something about. SAFER barriers should be placed around the entire track instead of in the turns and removing restrictor plates on the bigger and faster tracks that slow the cars and causes close racing and dangerous wrecks like Earnhardt's, but that's something for another time.
There have been 50 memorable chapters of "The Great American Race." Sunday will be another chapter and it should be no different than the previous races. The drama of the last few laps of the race. The danger of the close racing and the risk of crashing in any of the 500 miles. And the dedication of a driver and team of working for months before and dreaming throughout their entire lives about winning this race.
And if you think the recession has hurt NASCAR, it has, but it also created new opportunities. Two drivers, Jeremy Mayfield and Scott Riggs are driving for teams that were just formed with crew members who were laid off from, more successful teams. Many of these people have been working for nothing and both teams knew they were long shots to even make the race. Now that they have, the crew members are getting paid and they both have a chance to pull off the upset. If you have the drive and determination, you can win the greatest, richest, most prestigious auto race in the world. That's the epitomy of the "American Dream" and why it's called The Great American Race.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
The STEELERS are SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS!
It's been twelve hours since it happened and I still can't get over the fact that the Steelers are champs once again. I was born in the 80's and never got to see the reign of the 70's Steelers. After year after year of disapointment of the Steelers getting so close to winning, they finally won Super Bowl XL. It wasn't one of the greatest Super Bowls ever played, but I still thought it was one of the greatest games ever. I finally got to see my team be like those great Super Bowl teams of the 70's.
I saw the schedule for this season, which was the toughest regular season schedule in NFL history, that if the Steelers make the playoffs, they will win the Super Bowl. They would be so playoff tested from playing 16 tough games that the playoffs would be a breeze. While it wasn't all easy, they still pulled it out and here's the recap from a Steelers fan's point of view in case you lived under a rock and didn't watch the game.
The first quarter was all Steelers. They marched down the field and got the field goal. The touchdown that was reversed was the right call. Roethlisberger did not get in the end zone when his knee touched. That was the exact play I said they should've done. when he was in Pittsburgh, Coach Whisenhunt called on Ben Roethlisberger to run a bootleg to the left in Super Bowl XL in the first quarter. I do, however, thought they should've gone for the touchdown instead of the field goal. One, it's six inches. If you can't gain six inches on a QB Sneak with a 235 pound QB, you don't deserve to score any points. Two, even if the Steelers don't get the touchdown, the Cardinals get the ball on the 1 and the best defense in the NFL can easily get a safety. Hell, the Cardinals did it later in the game.
The Cardinals got it going in the second quarter. First impressions on the Cardinals were that they were too tentative on offense. They ran too much instead of targeting Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston. If the Cardinals just allowed Kurt Warner to throw lobs to Fitzgerald so he can only catch the ball, the Cardinals would've dominated the entire game instead of only the 2nd half. The half was defined by James Harrison with the longest play in Super Bowl history.
I was prepared for the Cardinals to kick the field goal and tie the game. This changed everything in the game. As far as whether he scored or not. I saw it that Harrison had the ball on Fitzgerald's leg and he was clearly in the endzone. The rule about being down is that the elbow or the knee must touch the ground for someone to be down by contact. The helmet doesn't count and I thought it was an easy touchdown. James Harrison was the overwhelming choice for MVP at that time.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed in the Halftime Show and I have to say I was disapointed in the performance. It wasn't really Bruce's fault, but in the HD feed, I could barely hear him. The sound was horrible and that brought down the performance in my opinion.
The second half was all Cardinals. I thought the Steelers were too conservative for the Cardinals. I know the Steelers have historically been conservative when they have the lead in the second half, but you don't do it against a great passing team like the Cardinals. The Cardinals are never out of it and the Steelers should've known better.
I just have one thing to say about the James Harrison punchng that caused the Steelers to be on the 1 yard line. He should've been tossed from the game. That was no excuse for what he did and it almost doomed the Steelers. Due to a holding penalty in the end zone, the Cardinals got a safety and were only down by four points. The Steelers conservative nature got the better of them and Fitzgerald got an long, easy touchdown.
Now, with 2:30 in the game, that is plenty of time to get a Super Bowl winning drive going. We've seen great winning drives in the Super Bowl in past years, but never a winning drive where the same two players are involved in every important play of the drive.
Ben Roethlisberger always looked up to Quarterbacks like John Elway and Joe Montana. Two Quarterbacks known for comebacks in big games. Now, Ben Roethlisberger is with that pantheon of great Quarterbacks and is now a lock to go to the Hall of Fame. As for Santonio Holmes, I forever regret about thinking the Steelers were wrong to trade up in the NFL Draft to select you. I wanted Sinorice Moss and thank goodness the Steelers didn't listen to me. With the catch at the end, the camera angle showed that Holmes was possibly pushed out of bounds and I thought that would be what would deny them the touchdown. That was a great catch and was what saved the game for the Steelers.
I liked the fact that Joe Namath presented the Vince Lombardi Ttrophy. The story about Namath and the '68 Jets is a great story and I'll write something about them in the future. I have always been a Namath fan and he's from western Pennsylvania, so it was fitting. It also must've meant something for Namath, because the last time he was a prominate figure at an NFL game, he was publically drunk and hit on a sideline reporter on live, national tv. He since gotten control of his drinking and now he's turned his life around.
All in all, it was really one of the legendary Super Bowls. It might not have been the greatest ever, but it was in the top 10 of Super Bowl games. Now I must leave and get one of those Super Bowl Champion T-Shirts and Hats. They really look nice.
I saw the schedule for this season, which was the toughest regular season schedule in NFL history, that if the Steelers make the playoffs, they will win the Super Bowl. They would be so playoff tested from playing 16 tough games that the playoffs would be a breeze. While it wasn't all easy, they still pulled it out and here's the recap from a Steelers fan's point of view in case you lived under a rock and didn't watch the game.
The first quarter was all Steelers. They marched down the field and got the field goal. The touchdown that was reversed was the right call. Roethlisberger did not get in the end zone when his knee touched. That was the exact play I said they should've done. when he was in Pittsburgh, Coach Whisenhunt called on Ben Roethlisberger to run a bootleg to the left in Super Bowl XL in the first quarter. I do, however, thought they should've gone for the touchdown instead of the field goal. One, it's six inches. If you can't gain six inches on a QB Sneak with a 235 pound QB, you don't deserve to score any points. Two, even if the Steelers don't get the touchdown, the Cardinals get the ball on the 1 and the best defense in the NFL can easily get a safety. Hell, the Cardinals did it later in the game.
The Cardinals got it going in the second quarter. First impressions on the Cardinals were that they were too tentative on offense. They ran too much instead of targeting Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, and Steve Breaston. If the Cardinals just allowed Kurt Warner to throw lobs to Fitzgerald so he can only catch the ball, the Cardinals would've dominated the entire game instead of only the 2nd half. The half was defined by James Harrison with the longest play in Super Bowl history.
I was prepared for the Cardinals to kick the field goal and tie the game. This changed everything in the game. As far as whether he scored or not. I saw it that Harrison had the ball on Fitzgerald's leg and he was clearly in the endzone. The rule about being down is that the elbow or the knee must touch the ground for someone to be down by contact. The helmet doesn't count and I thought it was an easy touchdown. James Harrison was the overwhelming choice for MVP at that time.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band performed in the Halftime Show and I have to say I was disapointed in the performance. It wasn't really Bruce's fault, but in the HD feed, I could barely hear him. The sound was horrible and that brought down the performance in my opinion.
The second half was all Cardinals. I thought the Steelers were too conservative for the Cardinals. I know the Steelers have historically been conservative when they have the lead in the second half, but you don't do it against a great passing team like the Cardinals. The Cardinals are never out of it and the Steelers should've known better.
I just have one thing to say about the James Harrison punchng that caused the Steelers to be on the 1 yard line. He should've been tossed from the game. That was no excuse for what he did and it almost doomed the Steelers. Due to a holding penalty in the end zone, the Cardinals got a safety and were only down by four points. The Steelers conservative nature got the better of them and Fitzgerald got an long, easy touchdown.
Now, with 2:30 in the game, that is plenty of time to get a Super Bowl winning drive going. We've seen great winning drives in the Super Bowl in past years, but never a winning drive where the same two players are involved in every important play of the drive.
Ben Roethlisberger always looked up to Quarterbacks like John Elway and Joe Montana. Two Quarterbacks known for comebacks in big games. Now, Ben Roethlisberger is with that pantheon of great Quarterbacks and is now a lock to go to the Hall of Fame. As for Santonio Holmes, I forever regret about thinking the Steelers were wrong to trade up in the NFL Draft to select you. I wanted Sinorice Moss and thank goodness the Steelers didn't listen to me. With the catch at the end, the camera angle showed that Holmes was possibly pushed out of bounds and I thought that would be what would deny them the touchdown. That was a great catch and was what saved the game for the Steelers.
I liked the fact that Joe Namath presented the Vince Lombardi Ttrophy. The story about Namath and the '68 Jets is a great story and I'll write something about them in the future. I have always been a Namath fan and he's from western Pennsylvania, so it was fitting. It also must've meant something for Namath, because the last time he was a prominate figure at an NFL game, he was publically drunk and hit on a sideline reporter on live, national tv. He since gotten control of his drinking and now he's turned his life around.
All in all, it was really one of the legendary Super Bowls. It might not have been the greatest ever, but it was in the top 10 of Super Bowl games. Now I must leave and get one of those Super Bowl Champion T-Shirts and Hats. They really look nice.
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