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Tag: Gordie Howe

  • Hot 20 – Would reducing the dangers of Daytona also reduce its thrills?

    Hot 20 – Would reducing the dangers of Daytona also reduce its thrills?

    We want drivers and fans to be safe. We want action that is anything but safe. It might sound hypocritical, but deep in our hearts, we know it to be true.

    Talladega concerned some drivers. Kyle Busch says it was “pretty dangerous for all us drivers.” That may have been true. He also said it “wasn’t very exciting.” That is false. For fans, watching drivers inches apart at up to 200 mph, where disaster is only a sneeze away, is pretty damned exciting.

    Personally, it is the threat of a wreck that is more exciting than the actual carnage. The boys and girl are doing something I do not have the ability to perform nor, to be honest, the courage to attempt. It appears to be dangerous and, according to Kyle, that is because it is.

    We want the danger. Yet, we also want to see Kyle climb out of his Xfinity car unscathed at Daytona. We wanted to see Dale Earnhardt, Adam Petty, and Kenny Irwin Jr. step out of their wrecks. We want to see the crushing hits in the NFL, but it appears their helmets cannot prevent the devastation of long-term brain injuries. We want the fights and the hard hits of the NHL, yet the mounting evidence of long-term head trauma has brought rule changes to make the sport safer.

    Does reducing the danger also reduce the excitement for the fans? It has to. Hall of Famers Sprague Cleghorn, Eddie Shore, Rocket Richard, and Gordie Howe would have had to play differently to avoid lifetime suspensions in today’s NHL. Some used their sticks, some their elbows, and some just beat the crap out of their opponents. Seeing a receiver take the hit just as he receives the ball, slamming straight to the ground or doing mid-air flips upon impact, is a great visual, but it has to take a toll on the human being involved. Does anyone remember Lawrence Taylor’s sack of Washington Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann that broke the pivot’s leg in two places? Pretty amazing. Pretty devastating. For safety sake, change is required, change is happening, and more change is coming.

    Deaths have happened in most sports, but very few at the highest level. Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians died in 1920 after being struck in the head by a pitched ball. Bill Masterton of the Minnesota North Stars struck his head on the ice and died in 1968. In football, AFL players Howard Glenn and Stone Johnson died in the 1960’s due to neck injuries. Chuck Hughes of the Detroit Lions suffered a fatal heart attack in a game in 1971. Then there is professional boxing. Then there is motorsports.

    Joe Weatherly, Fireball Roberts, Tiny Lund, J.D. McDuffie, Neil Bonnett, John Nemechek, and Carlos Pardo remind us that we cannot build more durable humans, nor dismiss the heartbreak of their loss. Pit road is safer, yet only after the Southern 500 in 1960 cost the lives of mechanics Paul McDuffie, Charles Sweatlund, and official Joe Taylor. We lost crewman Randy Owens at Talladega in 1975. Yet, we liked the excitement of those old cars, the open faced helmets, and the speeding down pit road. We still do, but not at that price.

    If NASCAR gets too safe, might it cause fans to wander off seeking new distractions, new outlets for their thrills and emotions? It could. It may have already taken place to some degree. I love watching the action at Daytona and Talladega, watching those who can do what I cannot, or will not, even attempt. I watch what I enjoy, and often we can not say exactly what it is that caused us to lose interest. I loved hockey, the hard-nosed 1960’s, the violent 1970’s, and the grace and majesty of the 1980’s, but it is rare to find me sitting through an NHL game today. Many once loved NASCAR; they had it bad and could not get enough of it. Today, the tracks no longer even release attendance figures and grandstands are being torn down. Sports of all kinds are trying to increase the “fan experience,” all but admitting the action on the field is no longer enough.

    Saturday night should be enough. It is Daytona, the Firecracker 400 as it was known until 1989. A race that has meaning, a race that has tradition, a race that has high speeds and, yes, a race that has a measure of danger.

    May our Hot 20 and the rest provide us with excitement and, despite our barbaric nature, a safe event.

    1. KYLE BUSCH – 3 WINS (452 Pts)
    No new rules to slow down the cars at Daytona, and Kyle isn’t happy about that.

    2. CARL EDWARDS – 2 WINS (510 Pts)
    Has run good at Daytona, has run bad, but has never won there.

    3. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2 WINS (506 Pts)
    Tried out an IndyCar at Road America, and plans to run Indianapolis…some day.

    4. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS (469 Pts)
    Daughters cannot listen to team radio…because sometimes daddy says bad words.

    5. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 WIN (562 Pts)
    Sixteen races, 13 Top Tens. Some have more wins, no one has more points.

    6. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN (527 Pts)
    Formula 3000 is just one step below F-1…and could be in Kurt’s future come December.

    7. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (493 Pts)
    If Tony and Denny had crashed on last Sunday’s final lap, guess who would have won.

    8. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN (469 Pts)
    Tony, Tony, Tony…but did anyone notice Martin finished fifth? Did not think so.

    9. MATT KENSETH – 1 WIN (430 Pts)
    He did not have Chris Osborne as his eyes in the sky in February. He will on Saturday night.

    10. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN (421 Pts)
    With Tony Stewart behind him at Sonoma, Denny thought for a second he was Ron Thornton.

    11. CHASE ELLIOTT – 473 PTS
    Good talent, good car, equals good results.

    12. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 413 PTS
    Newman, McMurray, and Junior battled on the track, only to face de-feet in the sky.

    13. RYAN NEWMAN – 402 PTS
    The winner.

    14. AUSTIN DILLON – 400 PTS
    I am trying to remember how his Daytona race finished last year. So is he.

    15. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 398 PTS
    If a pissed off Stewart is a motivated Stewart, does that make Jamie his personal Tony Robbins?

    16. KASEY KAHNE – 385 PTS
    If you think Kasey’s season sucks, please consider Clint’s situation.

    17. RYAN BLANEY – 382 PTS
    New rule change locks even unchartered teams into Chase races…but they have to be Chasers.

    18. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 365 PTS
    Damn rolling tire.

    19. TREVOR BAYNE – 361 PTS
    You might remember that he has won at Daytona before.

    20. KYLE LARSON – 355 PTS
    Do you remember when everyone was gushing over Kyle and Trevor?

    30. BRIAN SCOTT – 205 PTS
    Sometimes holding down 30th gets you recognition…at least for this week.

    32. TONY STEWART – 196 PTS (1 win)
    As Kyle did before him. Now cue the Jaws theme.

  • Hot 20 – Like life, Sonoma is a series of challenging twists and turns

    Hot 20 – Like life, Sonoma is a series of challenging twists and turns

    It is not always just about NASCAR, as most of us got a chance to check out other things since the boys and girl last ran at Michigan. There was a basketball game in Cleveland I understand of some note. The NHL has an amateur draft this week and it seems you will have yet another reason to go to Las Vegas in the winter soon enough. One of the sport’s greatest icons, Gordie Howe, passed away. Wayne Gretzky’s future son-in-law won a golf tournament, France continues to host a big soccer event, Ichiro Suzuki gets closer to 3000 MLB hits, and the Chicago Cubs are #1. Hell, I am even reading a book.

    Sadly, damned idiots are everywhere, as Mike Wallace and his family discovered. Leaving a concert, the former driver was attacked and knocked unconscious and even his daughter was injured as she tried to protect her dad. They will be alright, though Mike requires some dental work. Three thugs have been arrested, and here is hoping real justice prevails. I do not give a damn what their problems are or how pathetic their lives have been. They did wrong and should pay for it.

    Meanwhile, some think Jeff Gordon could be the new Regis or Michael Strahan on set with Kelly Ripa. His first season as a FOX announcer is about to come to an end after this month, and we will have to wait until the fall to find out where his future lies. Life sure has a lot of twists and turns. So does Sonoma, the next stop on the NASCAR Cup tour on Sunday.

    Here are our Hot 20 heading to California.

    1. KYLE BUSCH – 3 WINS (417 Pts)
    Just can’t wait to get on the road again, maybe win that Sonoma race again.

    2. BRAD KESELOWSKI – 2 WINS (480 Pts)
    Failed to win in Iowa last week. Bet he feels like a total schmuck.

    3. CARL EDWARDS – 2 WINS (472 Pts)
    On his off days, this is one pilot who purposely takes his vehicle off the ground.

    4. JIMMIE JOHNSON – 2 WINS (441 Pts)
    Along with Junior, listed by Forbes as among the world’s highest-paid athletes.

    5. KEVIN HARVICK – 1 WIN (526 Pts)
    Fifth in the standings but first in points. By far. Maybe it is time to end his Sonoma jinx.

    6. KURT BUSCH – 1 WIN (496 Pts)
    Visited the Middle East to test a Formula One car. That is one way to keep busy on a week off.

    7. JOEY LOGANO – 1 WIN (455 Pts)
    Might be a ways away from taking the Most Popular Driver award, but a Chase place is his.

    8. MARTIN TRUEX JR. – 1 WIN (433 Pts)
    He has a lot of teammates…though he is the only one who gets to drive the car.

    9. MATT KENSETH – 1 WIN (409 Pts)
    Stats show that Sonoma is his worse track. Imagine how much fun Monaco would be for him.

    10. DENNY HAMLIN – 1 WIN (380 Pts)
    2 wins, 20 Top Tens. That is the standard for rookies Hamlin set a decade ago.

    11. CHASE ELLIOTT – 453 PTS
    Still looking for his first victory, but his points collection is rather impressive.

    12. DALE EARNHARDT JR. – 383 PTS
    I was hoping for a 2004 Intimidator SS Monte Carlo for Father’s Day. Maybe for Christmas.

    13. AUSTIN DILLON – 381 PTS
    Maybe Junior or this guy could help me out in my quest. They know people.

    14. JAMIE MCMURRAY – 374 PTS
    Not known as a guy who does well on the pretzel tracks, but maybe he should be.

    15. RYAN NEWMAN – 369 PTS
    Looked great in the Spring 2016 issue of LVLten magazine. Doh! Wrong Ryan Newman.

    16. RYAN BLANEY – 364 PTS
    Plays something called food roulette with his buddy Darrell Wallace Jr. Training for Survivor?

    17. KASEY KAHNE – 353 PTS
    For someone supposedly having such a bad season, even a win might not be necessary to turn it all around.

    18. TREVOR BAYNE – 345 PTS
    A storied yet still single car team making a resurgence this season, and still better than most.

    19. A.J. ALLMENDINGER – 337 PTS
    Win at the Glen put him in the 2014 Chase. Why not another road win in wine country?

    20. RICKY STENHOUSE JR. – 337 PTS
    Not the best place to be, but Kyle, Paul, Greg, Clint, Danica, and Aric would swap in a second.

  • The Final Word – Greats do not always stay great though a few, like Jeff Gordon, leave as they arrived

    The Final Word – Greats do not always stay great though a few, like Jeff Gordon, leave as they arrived

    Legends. Icons. Some athletes simply are the best, at least until Father Time is done with them. Few seem able to be able to step away while there might still be some gas in the tank. I get that. I mean, why quit before the curtain needs to fall?

    Jeff Gordon appears to be one who is prepared to take his final bow while he is not just a legend in his sport, but also a contender. At the age of 43, Gordon has four championships to his credit, 92 victories and an amazing 320 Top Fives in 761 starts. Forty-Two percent of the time, Gordon has mattered in races run since finishing fifth in the 1993 Daytona 500. In 22 seasons to date, he has finished the year no worse than 14th and that was in 1993.

    There are other legends in other sports who have provided incredible statistics. Wayne Gretzky once scored 92 goals in a National Hockey League season and 930 in his career when you include the 46 from his lone World Hockey Association campaign. The Great One had only nine in his final season as a 38 year old. Even the man Gretzky considers the best of the best, Gordie Howe, who scored 15 in his final season, and he was 52 years old.

    The Great One was preceeded by simply The Greatest. As Cassius Clay, the boxer the world came to know as Muhammad Ali, was an Olympic gold medalist in 1960. In his prime, he was a heavyweight who fought with the speed of a middleweight. He won the title in 1964 in a shocking win over Sonny Liston. After a three year ban and four more years that included losses to Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, he shocked the world again by regaining the crown from George Foreman. After another epic battle with Frazier, he lost then regained the title in 1978 against Leon Spinks. He retired, but came back for two ill-fated bouts, being stopped by Larry Holmes in 1980 and losing in 10 rounds to Trevor Berbick a year later, at the age of 39, a phantom of his former self.

    Babe Ruth is, was, and will forever be the face of baseball. A seven time World Series winner. A dozen home run titles, including 60 in 1927. When he hit more than 50 homers in both 1921 and 1922, his closest rival had hit 35 fewer. He hit 714 in his career, still ranked third best all-time. Ruth won a batting title, hit .342 in his career, and in 1916 even had the best ERA amongst all American League pitchers. That year he went 14 innings to win a World Series game on the mound. In his final season, at the age of 40, the Bambino lasted just 28 games. He hit six home runs (swatting 3 of them six days before he retired) and batting a mere .181.

    Two hundred wins, 27 of them coming in the 1967 season alone. Seven NASCAR titles. An astounding 25 seasons ranked amongst the Top Ten. There is a reason Richard Petty is the King. By the time he was done, the tank was dry. Over his last five seasons, he was winless and failed to crack the Top Twenty each of those seasons. By the time his final season came around, at the age of 55, a trio of 15th place finishes were his best on the year. Petty’s final win was already eight seasons behind him.

    Most retire when the tank is empty, but not all. Ken Dryden was 31 when the Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender called it quits, winning top goaltending honors in five of his seven seasons. Dryden ended his career as a Stanley Cup champion, his sixth, to become a lawyer, author, and public servant.

    Rocky Marciano was undefeated in 49 fights, 43 won by knockout, including the final seven that saw him leave the ring as World Heavyweight Champion. Marciano was thrice named by Ring magazine as fighter of the year, with his 1952 fight with Jersey Joe Walcott judged the best knockout ever. The Rock was just 32 when he hung them up.

    Sandy Koufax played through pain, winning three Cy Young Awards, including one for his final season. In 11 seasons with the Dodgers, he won 165 games for a 65 percent winning percentage, striking out 9.3 batters for every nine innings played. One season he won both the Cy Young and was the National League’s Most Valuable Player. The arthritis that caused his early departure failed to stop him winning 27 games in his final turn. Koufax retired at the age of 30, not because he could no longer pitch but rather to avoid the threat of a permanent disability.

    Which brings us back to Jeff Gordon. He will be 44 when he retires at the end of the 2015 season. His back hurts, and time will tell how much he has left in the tank, but odds are he will still be among the best on the track each week. Four wins in 2014 bodes well. Over the past four years, in his last 108 races, he has won 10, to go with 76 Top Tens. Gordon has been a Top Ten driver at the end of every season of his career, with the exceptions of 1993 (14th) and 2005 (11th), rating sixth best the past two.

    It will be sad to see one of the greats leave his seat early. The good news is that he leaves on his terms, still at the top of his game. The great news is that a wife, daughter, and son get to see him a whole lot more and his fans have memorabilia that will never go out of style. Oh, yes, we also get to have one more season watching one of NASCAR’s greatest drivers in action as the drive for five remains alive.