Wednesday Rambler

the Enquirer/Patrick Reddy

What a weekend for sports.  On Saturday night was the inaugural Quaker State 400 at the Kentucky Speedway in Sparta, KY where "Rowdy" Kyle Busch won his 99th career victory by winning the truck race and the Sprint Cup race.  I don't really care for the guy because of his attitude but gotta give credit where credit due. Apparently with the first race of this magnitude little Sparta experience something it never experienced before ----- traffic jams.   It nearly caused Denny Hamlin to miss the driver's meeting . The traffic was so bad that half way through the race Speedway officials had to start turning people away.  I guess they never anticipated something like this  nor did the state of Kentucky, which has the Governor pledging to work with the Kentucky Speedway to make the traffic flow better for next years race.  I would hope so.   I would hate to have been a ticket holder and had to be turned away because there was no parking.  People driving on I-71 said traffic was backed up for 10 miles by 2:30  in the afternoon.
I know the track officials and the State of Kentucky are being hammered on this issue, however if you have a premier event like a NASCAR Sprint Cup race you better C.Y.A and make sure your i's are dotted and t's crossed.

AL 1 NL 5
NL has 2 wins in a row against
the AL.

 

The National  League beats the American League in the Mid-summer classic at Chase Field in Phoenix, AZ  Tuesday night. The big highlight of the game was Prince Fielder's 3 run shot to ensure the Senior circuit would have home field advantage in the World Series.










Today has been a slow sports day unless you follow the college basketball recruiting trail for these elite highschool players that gt some much exposure  its not funny.  I am all for great basketball, but the recruiting services and the media need to quit the hype.  Just because a kid can break the ankles off of another 16 or 17 year old does not translate to the college game let alone the pro game.  Sites like rivals.com I think put undo stress on a kid, I.E. Terrance Jones of Kentucky.   These kids need to make the best decision for themselves not what the talking heads at ESPN, FOX Sports, or CBS Sports.  Let these kids involve their highschool coach not the AAU coach.  Let them involve their parents or legal guardians who usually have the kid's best interest at heart.   Basketball is a great game  these kids that are playing it now in highschool are bigger, stronger and faster than when I played.  
 Don't get me wrong but I like Coach Calipari, but whats wrong with recruiting a kid from Kentucky especially a kid that is a gym rat who can shoot lights out, I know the dribble  drive is not about spot up shooting but on the kick out there is always an open three or two.  I am a proponent of defense sets the tone of a game , I  loved the old Arkansas and UK games  in which you had Corliss Williamson, and Scotty Thurman against Jamal Mashburn and John Pelphrey.  It was '40 minutes of Hell" against the finess style of Pitino.

Enough ranting well maybe not.................. What kind of tool is Richie Farmer?    Sorry Kentucky fans I liked him as a ballplayer, but him turning his back on his wife and kids that comes as a shocker to me.   He finds running for Lt. Governor  is more important that trying to work on his marriage.  Hell his wife is a teacher's aide and she hardly gets a dime from the deadbeat.   Obviously someone needs to take him behind the wood shed and teach him some manners.

Music pic for the day This life by Curtis Stigers the theme song from one of my favorite tv shows on FX , "Sons of Anarchy"   its an awesome show I would recommend it to just about anyone , but is it not suitable for younger audiences.










That's all I have for now make it a great one

Friday night rants and raves

As I am sitting here typing this out the Reds are getting a beat down from the Indians.  Top of the 5th inning and losing 8 to 1.  Good grief I need some Rolaids.   The Indians are actually a pretty good team this year not like these guys.......

Some interesting stuff out there it looks like Michael Vick has finally getting his foot back into the endorsement market according to Yahoo Sports , Vick was re-signed by Nike. Terms of the deal were not released.  I am all about second chances, I don't condone what Vick did.   However he has made the right decisions to get his career back on track.  

I found this pretty interesting Ron Artest aka World Peace playing dodgeball and getting knocked out which was kinda funny , he got knocked out by some skinny dude.   Which brings me to wonder if big Jared Sullinger of Ohio State has gotten over the sting of this.

 

 

That is all I have tonight make it a great night and a better day tomorrow

Its FRIDAY!!!!!!!

I gotta say its been fun so far.    So lets get cracking......... Big news of the day yesterday the NBA and its players association could not agree on how to split the money and the owners will lock out their players.  The World Leader's Michael Wilbon has an interesting take saying it will be a bigger mess than the NFL lockout.  Could we have a year where there is no major professional sports going on next year.  Cause MLB's collective bargaining agreement with its players is up after its season is over.  Only time will tell.

Bengals are 115-204-1 in  20 years

Speaking of NFL my favorite team to hate on besides the Steelers.......... the lowly Cincinnati Bengals.   They were recently ranked last in a listing of the best professional sports franchises in America. Out of 122 , the Bengals ranked you guessed it 122.  Here's to you Mr. Mike Brown, who has no clue on how to run a football franchise.   The Bengals have only had 2, count them 2 winning seasons under your watch.  Its time to fire your family from running the show.   I bet if Coach Marvin Lewis could hire his own coaching staff and maybe if the advance scouting department was bigger you might string together a few winning seasons together.   By the way how did that experiment with  Chad Johnson and T.O. go?? I don't blame Carson Palmer for wanting out of your despot franchise.


Ok lets get back to some more cheerful news the Cincinnati Reds are chipping away and have found themselves 2 games back of the division leaders, they are like the little engine that could.   With the All-Star game coming up the second half of the season should start to heat up.

The University of Kentucky unveiled new football uniforms , here is a link to some of the pictures of the news uniforms , which happens to be one of my favorite sites for all things UK Wildcats.

For you NASCAR nuts the inaugural Quaker State 400 is only 8 days away in Sparta, KY, who you rooting for????

Music pick for the day and for this July 4th holiday weekend, Happy birthday to the USA.

Make it a great one and have fun.