One Lugnut Short

AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS

2009-03-24T08:22:00.007-05:00

Normally, I don't blog about such events but there is something special going on with the #71 race team, David Gilliland and the Gilliland Fan club that is note worthy.

Fow sometime now, the David Gilliland fans have been posting on his fan club message board offering help in any way to the TRG race team. How many times have we heard similar offers from fans of other drivers, but those offers went unheard. This story is different, just as the reason many Gilliland fan's support their driver in the first place, there is a grass roots feeling and appreciation from the race team going back to the fans. Yesterday this post appeared on the Fan club from the Director of Marketing at TRG Motorsports:

Good Morning and Happy Monday!

My name is Lloyd Wideman, I am the Director of Marketing for TRG Motorsports. I spoke with Daniela just before getting out and on the road to Bristol about getting the Fan Club on the race car for one or more events... How could I turn down a fellow Missourian???

I ran some concepts past the ownership and spoke to David about the ideas... Here is what we have to work with:

What ever the amount of money you raise, $5 or $5000... we will provide you with the Deck Lid (trunk) for a race. The entire space is yours to do whatever you want with it.

We can put Martinsville together pretty quickly if ya'll would like to do it there!

If you need help developing a concept, please let me know.
Lloyd

Things happen quickly in motorsports and this is no exception. Don't be surprised to see this nice tribute (pictured above) on the rear deck lid of the #71 car as soon as this weekend, and maybe even more races to come.

I noticed last weekend at Bristol the #71 car sporting a 'blank white patch' covering the hood. At first thought, I was thinking that it may have been placed there to 'cover' a late race sponsorship that may have fell through. But I really think this was simply an ingenious way to say 'your company logo here', without being so blunt. This fresh approach just might be what the doctor ordered. Lets hope so!

We have been hearing a lot of 'talk' from drivers and owners about how they want to 'return to their roots' for the average fan. So far, there is one race team that is willing to say 'thank you' to their fans in a different way. 'My Driver' and his posse should take note.

Elliott Sadler stop number 2 of the 2009 ‘No Excuses Tour’—Same song, different verse

2009-02-26T17:28:00.001-06:00

California Dreamin turned out to be another California nightmare for Elliott Sadler and his 19 team. The buzz words were already flowing in pre-race and qualifying quotes, almost in an eerie foreshadowing of the Sunday to come.

“We have a lot of effort put into our front clips, front geometry, trying to get the front tires to work as efficient as we can. Some owners may be thinking its body, motors, rear clips, center cage….there are many things that you can work on. Right now we’re really working on our front clips area, bump stop and front geometry stuff. As a team, we think that’s where we need to be better. Right now, that’s where the emphasis has been with winter testing so far.”

Listening via the greatness of PitCommand, it was pretty clear from the start that Sadler was not happy but it goes further than that.

Lap 5 caution (rain)
Sadler after five (really 4) short laps tells CC Kevin Buskirk that there is a problem with the front end by announcing that the 19 car is ‘a little snug in the middle and a little snug back in the gas….and that the splitter seemed to be dragging a bit’, in the corners. After a small exchange that the 19 team finally figured out that the radios used need the ‘big antenna’ in order for Sadler to hear them (maybe the Best Buy Geek Squad should assist) another ‘track position’ pit strategy move instead of making an honest attempt to ‘fix’ an ill handling car, 2 tires and a half pound out of the right rear was the pit call. The 19 entered the pits running 25th, and took the green flag running 21st.

Side note: This caution lasted over 15 laps and it was during this caution that Sadler was asking for the dreaded TRACKBAR change in order to give him some more ‘forward bite’. Since the last pit stop, no green flag laps had been run, and Sadler is already ‘complaining’ about the car. Not that there is anything wrong with this, except for the ‘strategy’ 2 tire stop laps before. Why not simply make the changes, take four tires, lose a few positions , in the name of making the car better in the long run? But I have been a broken record about this for almost a decade.

Lap 35 scanner chat:
Sadler tells Buskirk that the 19 is ‘still dragging the splitter on entry’, and is a ‘little free off’. The 19 car is running 26th at this time.

Lap 41 caution (rain):
Sadler reinforces that the ‘splitter is still dragging too much on entry’ He goes a bit more in depth for his CC with ‘Front end is trying to work, its better than yesterday.’ And lastly again states he wants ‘a little more forward bite on exit’. Buskirk quickly and commandly tells the 19 team to go up on all 4 tire pressures and to add a ‘packer’. (not sure which tire the bump stop was added to though). Sadler added that he didn’t think it would need much, maybe a ‘1/16th’, not much more. The 19 enter the pits running 27th, and took the field running 39th. It was then decided after a nice suggestion by Brett Griffin that it might be a good idea to ‘top off’ because there were only two cars running behind the 19. After topping off, the 19 takes the green flag running 40th.

Just before taking the green scanner chatter:
Buskirk wants to clarify; ‘As I understand, you were tight from dragging the splitter, not chassis tight right’? Sadler responds with a not very confident, ‘I think so’.

Lap 48 scanner chatter (running 35th)
Sadler; ‘I don’t know if the bump did anything, but I think it took a lot of the rear grip away’. No response on Pit Command

Laps 66 scanner chatter (running 34th)
Sadler states that the 19 ‘is not driving as good as it did the last run. Don’t know if is the tires or that bump stop.’ Buskirk answers; ‘I hear ya, we are gunna make a change.’

Lap 85 green flag stop: (running 31st)
Buskirk calls for 4 tires and one round down on the TRACKBAR (something Sadler was calling for since the first caution) The 19 cycles through pits stops running 33rd.

Lap 88, the 19 goes one lap down running 32nd.

Lap 91 scanner chatter (running 31st)
Sadler; ‘Still just way on the splitter on low pressures’.
Buskirk; ‘Just give us what you got, I know its bad’. (someone give Kevin a pom pom next time!)

Lap 95 scanner chatter (running 31st)
Sadler; ‘Not sure what changes we made, but I cannot use the brakes, the more I use the brakes the more the car slids.’
Buskirk; ’10-4’ (followed by some more cheer leading)

Lap 105 scanner chatter (running 31st)
Sadler; ‘the car doesn’t like the changes…..grip, slide, grip, slide’.

Lap 109 scanner chatter (running 31st)
Sadler; ‘We done something to this thing, the front end is really gone’.
Buskirk; ‘All we was a little air pressure adjustment and down one on the TRACKBAR.’

Lap 121 green flag stop (running 31st)
Sadler wanted to pit a few laps earlier and stated he was worried about the right front tire wear.
The pit called for 4 tires, one round up on the TRACKBAR (the ‘180’ from the pit stop at lap 85, so take a drink in the Elliott Sadler Drinking Game). After pit cycles through, the 19 is still running 31st. Buskirk notes to Sadler that the ‘tires were perfect, just perfect’.

Lap 130 scanner chatter (running 31st)
Buskirk waves his pom poms once again by stating, ‘hang in there bud, we can make something out of this day. ‘

Lap 141 caution (rain, running 31st)
Sadler; ‘Front end not working like I need it to, when I am on the brakes. Its just not doing what I need it to do….I think we need to be thinking about strategy, do the opposite of what everyone else does……..it’s just bound up on the front end on entry, a little free up off……I would rather have the free off.’
Buskirk; ‘Well I don’t know what is going on, if it (the splitter) is hitting the RF or hitting the LF.’ At this point, Buskirk is almost begging Sadler to give proper communication of what the car is doing. Sadler still could not give a good answer. The 19 pits, 4 tires, and takes the packers back out (another ‘180’, take a drink). Buskirk asks the 19 crew to take a bit of extra time, to check the splitter to see where the dragging is.

Back to green lap 151 running 33rd.

Lap 153 scanner chatter (running 33rd)
Sadler; ‘Is the splitter hitting?
Buskirk; ‘It was hitting on the left front.’

Lap 168 scanner chatter (running 31st)
Sadler; ‘Too tight in the middle, still sliding the nose…..what ever we are doing to it, its just bad.’

Lap 170 caution (running 31st)
Buskirk; ‘Got a lot of air in the front end, we can take that out.’
Sadler; ‘okay, do you think that will help me off?’
Now Sadler is not so concerned about the ‘front end’, and the tight entry and middle, but has more of a problem with the car getting looser off the corner.

Long caution (rain) and the 19 finally pits with one to go on lap 175 for 4 tires, down on the front pressures (no other changes mentioned)

Lap 198 scanner chatter (running 29th)
Sadler; ‘‘Do we have anymore room in the front tires, I would like more of that, and maybe something to help the exit’

Lap 206 scanner chatter (running 29th)
Buskirk; “we are gunna pit in 7 laps’
Sadler; ‘need help in the center, and forward bite off’
Buskirk; ‘We have a plan’

Lap 207 caution (running 29th)
Buskirk; ’ save gas…all the time under caution’ followed by some more cheerleading, ‘I can tell you a trying, I appriciate it.’
Sadler; ‘I am trying but there is something about this front end’
Buskirk; ‘Okay so we ARE better than yesterday right?’
Sadler; ‘Oh yeah, we are way better, I don’t know if this tire is different from Rockingham, or what.’

I still will question how data from a 1 mile track that has a reputation that ‘eats’ tires, can translate to a two mile superspeedway with long sweeping turns, and speeds that reach 200+ mph.

restart lap 215 (running 25th)

Lap 227 scanner chatter (running 26th)
Sadler; ‘we just really unhooked the back, there is just not much I can do with it’ (loose car)
Buskirk; ‘just do the best you can’
Sadler; ‘I feel like I am killing the right rear.’
Buskirk; ‘the tires have been great’

Lap 232 scanner chatter (running 26th)
Sadler; ‘I just can’t get it any gas’
Buskirk; ‘its okay, those are good laps’

lap 235 scanner chatter (running 26th)
Sadler; ‘My right rear is gone, sorry, this last adjustment we just changed the balance of the car a bunch’

After the 8 car blows up, the 19 car is now running 25th and finishes the race in that position.

Post race scanner chatter (finished 25th)
Buskirk; ‘What did we do to the car on last stop’
Sadler; ‘I think the air out of the LR made it looser, extremely loose on exit.’
Buskirk; ’10-4, I’ll write that down’.

So the word of the day was ‘front end’, well maybe this is simply ‘excuse number 1’ in the early season. Lets hope not. It's on the Las Vegas!

Another Failed Bit

2009-02-23T12:26:00.005-06:00

It was just a little less than a year ago when Elliott Sadler, along with a few sidekicks used their influence and went public with their nationwide sales pitch for ‘Sheridan Ridge’. This week we now find that all five have either pulled out completely or filed quick claim deeds in order to recoup the original investment. Needless to say, this latest venture in which Sadler made claims of “it’s going to be great”, is just another in a long list that can be trashed with the likes of VLP, Infield Parking, MySpace and even the Sadler Fan Club.

I guess it was questionable enough that this resort’s website hosts pictures of existing completed buildings and such, we now found out that although the subdivision plats and erosion and sediment control plans were filed and approved by Smyth County more than a year ago, there has been no construction on the site. So where are these beautiful buildings that are on this site?

Of course, when eventually ask, I am sure that Sadler will fall back on the old standby justification that it ‘wasn’t his fault’, and that he ‘had no control’ over the situation, even though as being named ‘Advisory Board Member’. Sadler himself spoke last summer and comment about the ‘commitment’ to the ‘buildings’ that they are building and such, but it is getting clearer that Sadler was simply ‘shilling’ the product.

Also this week, there were a handful of Sadler quotes concerning what he would do if he wanted to get more fans in the seats at Fontana.

"I would go to every Boys and Girls Club, the Girl Scouts, middle school -- give away tickets, give them a chance to come to this race that might not have come before. You might make a fan; you might not. If you don't make a fan, what have you lost? You really haven't lost anything, because you didn't have anyone in the seat anyhow.

"If you gain a fan, you maybe gain a couple tickets for next year. That's my Emporia (Va.) opinion, which is not worth two cents out here in Los Angeles, California."

Not that this is a bad idea at all, but just as Eddie Gossage fired back at Dale JR last month for JR’s opinion that ‘tracks should do more for the fans’. I think it is fair to ask Elliott Sadler the same question and give him an opportunity to show just what added value has he added to his fans, and more specifically his fan club, over the past few years.

In 2004, (probably the peak of Sadler’s fan club and trackside popularity) his fan club annual dues were $10 for a single membership. Today that same package will cost you $25. Also in 2004, access to the Fan Club’s message board where many fan offers and personal insight from both Sadler and his spotter/PR Brett Griffin was free of charge. Today one has to become a fan club member to access these posts.

Before that, Sadler’s fan ‘appreciation day’ was a free ‘come as you are’ event and was truly directed at the fan. Today this event has become a commercial spectacle costing fans a minimum of $25 just to get on the property. If one would want to feel truly appreciated, that comes with a fee upwards to $250. For someone that just a few years ago would have much signage and fan sightings at trackside events and grand stand events, it is interesting to see the lack there of these days.

Now don’t get me wrong, I understand everything comes with a price, but when one is willing to give advice at no expense of his own, one should be ready for some backlash. Eddie made that very clear to JR and JR also responded and the fans a better for it.

That being said, The changes to Sadler’s website ElliottSadler.com have been enjoyable to see. I also (along with others) have been critical of previous releases of this site, but there seems to be someone that is ‘getting it’. While the site is not full of bells and whistles, it is easy to navigate, and seems to be emphasizing content. The ‘news’ section is still pretty generic, but it does give a central location that is updated in a timely manner with pre and post race/qualifying quotes can be found along with race recaps. The added fan question section is a nice touch as well. While the ‘fluff’ pieces in the new video section are probably not for me, it is also a nice added touch that many might enjoy. So kudos for the Sadler camp for the change, and hopefully it will continue.

Caly race recap should be up on Wed, it was interesting.

Elliott Sadler stop number 1 of the 2009 ‘No Excuses Tour’ – Is the glass half full or is it half empty?

2009-02-17T13:32:00.008-06:00

Breaking down the roller coaster ride for the ‘Southern Gentleman’ that was also known as the Daytona 500 last Sunday afternoon and a few other notable items:

After the ‘Duals’ and the post race comments by Sadler where the claim was made that they were ‘laying back’ to help a teammate get into the 500, I was perplexed a bit and had a few questions. While I didn’t take the best of notes, I do remember it no time was the 44 car (A.J. Almendinger) found itself actually behind the 19 car. Even after the final caution the 44 car was restarting well ahead of the 19. So the term ‘laying back’ might have been a bit of mis-information, although it was pretty obvious that when the 44 did get hung out, the 19 was very willing to hang with him and be a nice pusher. Props to the 19 for that and that makes the glass half full at this point.

That being said, it was on to the ‘500’ and all the hoopla that goes with it and a few observations:

Lap 25 competition caution:
After the competition caution on lap 25 (actually the 2nd caution of the day) Sadler was complaining that the car was doing much the same as it was in the Duals, which was the car, was pushing in the corners. Not as bad as Thursday, but non the less, the car was not what Sadler wanted. New CC Kevin Buskirk, pulled from his bag of tricks something that 48 CC Chad Knauss does almost every race, which was to tweak the inner liner pressures. (This is something that has been very successful for the 48, but used very rarely by any of the plethora of former Sadler CCs. Even with the 55 car not helping by stopping short in his pit box and the 19 team having to push the car back just a bit in order for Sadler to exit the stall safely, the 19 entered pit road running 16th, and when the green flag fell, remained 16th. That’s a half full glass if I ever saw one.

One interesting note was that after the stop and before taking the green flag, Sadler was already asking for a ‘little wedge’ before even seeing the results of the previous stop.

Lap 51 scanner chatter:
Sadler asked Buskirk if they could ‘go any further on the front inner liner pressures’ (Me thinks Sadler was liking the direction the changes were going) and Buskirk answered with, ‘we have a lot more room’.

Sadler then does something that I have been critical of him for years. He tells Buskirk to ‘give him a little more of that (inner liner pressure change) BUT THEN the ‘greedy’ Elliott comes out. He then asks for a ‘little more grip on entry…..maybe track bar’. A confused Buskirk asks for a clarification by saying, ‘rear grip?’ At that point Sadler brushes the wall and the focus is changed to if there was any significant damage to the 19 car. Brett Griffin quickly responds always the optimist with ‘you are good, letters still on the tires’. Again, we have a half full glass!

Lap 55 caution:
A quick exchange between driver and CC before the stop, the plan is four tires, and again going with more front inner liner pressures and Buskirk agrees to make a track bar change to ‘help the rear’. The 19 entered pit road running 17th and took the green flag running 16th, another great stop considering the 19 team also popped the right front fender out a bit (from brushing the wall) and according to Buskirk, ‘everything is perfect’. Also it was at this stop that driver and CC had good communication concerning the impending weather with Buskirk reminding Sadler that ‘weather was coming, and a lot of it’. Sadler obviously thinking some strategy asked if they would ‘get to lap 114’, and Sadler was assured they would along with some encouragement from Buskirk. That’s another half full glass.

Lap 76 scanner chatter:
The 19 car is having a slight bit of over heating issues and Sadler smartly is getting out of the draft occasionally to help cool the engine.

Lap 80 caution:
Sadler complains that the 19 is a ‘little bit tighter’ (something the team was fighting all week) and Buskirk explains that ‘everything is the same’ but he also questions that the track bar change maybe part of the problem. Sadler agrees, and wants the trackbar changed back to where it was before the last stop (see the Elliott Sadler Drinking Game, and take a drink). The 19 entered pit road running 22nd and took the green flag running 24th. Buskirk tell s Sadler that there was some ‘trash on the grill’, but they also ‘pulled one row of tape, but it shouldn’t matter much’ where the 19 was racing. Sadler didn’t sound like he was buying what Buskirk was saying though. For the first time in 2009 the glass is half empty.

Lap 100 scanner chatter:
Sadler feels that the ‘tape hurt him a lot and made the car pushy’ (although it has been that way all week) Buskirk attempts to encourage Sadler by telling him that he is ‘doing a great job. He also asks for temps, but I never heard an answer.

Lap 107 scanner chatter:
Buskirk asks again for temps, and this time Sadler responds with ‘230/250’. Griffin chimes in with a well timed reminder that ‘rain is coming’, but also adds that there is a ‘long ways to go’. At this point on lap 107, the 19 car is running 11th, the highest the team had been in the running order all day. That glass is filling back up.

Laps 115 – 117 green flag stops begin:
Lap 115 saw the first cars coming in for green flag stops, but these stops were really a bit early. Tire issues being a concern I guess. But on lap 117, Sadler’s voice came over the scanner in an almost panic mode, that he ‘had a vibration’. Less than a straight away later, Sadler announces he is ‘coming in this time by’, Buskirk agrees. At that point the whole race changed for the 19, as Sadler entered pit road, we all hear the voice of Griffin proudly announcing that the ‘caution was out’! We have heard for years that Sadler just has a lot of ‘bad luck’, but this event alone might make up for all of them as now the 19 when the race goes back to green will restart the race in ‘P1’, and frankly giving the team a realistic chance to win the Daytona 500. Now that’s another half full glass!

Lap 124 caution, the ‘big one’:
At this point, I thought there might be a great chance that the ‘ever coming’ rains would actually happen with the 19 at pace speed just behind the pace car and then making a trip to victory lane. But by lap 132, the race did indeed go back to green with the 19 leading the field.

Lap 139 green flag scanner chatter:
Sadler must have been feeling the pressure from the cars behind and vented his frustration about the weather by saying, ‘just my luck Kevin, rain on the radar, no rain on the track’. Buskirk made huge kudos with this race fan when the CC ‘spanked’ Sadler for his comment by saying, ‘don’t be like that….we have had some great luck today’. Buskirk would be most correct with this statement, and I am guessing that when Sadler reflects on the race, there were some extraordinary things that happened to his favor, but just not the end result.

A lap later, coming off turn four, Sadler saw that the 17 and 29 car were going to make a good run and Sadler had a 50/50 choice to make of which line he was going to run exiting the tri-oval. We will never know which decision would have been better, and that is not the point. The point is that for a first leg of a marathon season, the 19 team as a whole performed well and not simply because of the end result. From the pre-race prep, to pit stops, to spotting and help missing a potential race ending wreck, to the driver showing smarts and patience and thinking big picture, this was a great effort over-all, and even would have been had the 19 finished 20th.

Post race
Yes, Sadler looked and sounded like a beaten puppy dog in his post race presser, but that to shall pass. We all have seen Sadler tug at the heartstrings in the passed for the sympathy vote, and is getting just that with some of the fans with not x chromosomes. That’s expected. Just a guess, but when Sadler finally returned to his motor coach Sunday night, had a couple of cold ones, there was some good reflection of the events known as the '500' before boarding his jet Monday morning for the trip back to Statesville. But it is on to California and frankly a track that can be used as a benchmark for teams of where they are at in relation to others. But after week one of the ‘No Excuses Tour’, the glass is clearly half full.

Later this week, some interesting fan's reactions to the 'last lap' pass and some pretty good changes on the revamped ElliottSadler.com pages.

Quick hits on the Bud Shootout

2009-02-09T10:06:00.003-06:00

1) The C.O.T. at plate tracks.

I remember the first COT plate race at Dega a little over a year and a half ago and how many complained that the COT was not race able at a plate track. Knowing the Dega and Daytona are very different in terms of car setup, I will throw this out there. I truly loved the way the COT cars handled on the very bumpy plate track last Saturday night. The cars were squirrelly, but not in an overly dangerous way. It was obvious that the cars were a handful, but that also contributed to the action on the track, and gave just another reason for the more skilled drivers to move to the front, not just the driver who happens to have the most aerodynamic car.

2) NASCAR’s version of John Madden

It has been a nice couple of months not having to listen to anything Jimmy Spencer has to say. Has there every been anyone in a NASCAR pre-race show say so much, yet adding so little to a broadcast? I should have known better to tune into Speed’s pre Shootout coverage, but I honestly thought after a couple month lay-off, he would have brought something useful to the table. I was wrong again. Maybe Frank Caliendo should add a ‘Spencer’ to his repertoire.

3) Elliott Sadler grade card

While his night was cut short, it really shouldn’t be considered a failure night for the driver of the 19. After getting shuffled to the rear of the lead draft, Sadler was battling a slightly looser car than he would have like, but from his post race comments, it appeared that there was a plan in place. The more fuel the 19 burn, the more the car seemed to ‘come to him’. But just as an ‘mismatched’ bump draft that ended M. Waltrip’s day from Sadler, Sadler’s day himself was ended in a similar way by David Stremme. It should be noted that Sadler was very gracious in his post race comments, and pointed no fingers. So while Sadler DNF’ed this race, if this race were to count on the scorecard, I would have graded it a solid B-. But grades don’t start to count until next Sunday.

4) Anonymity on the message boards?

Not directly Bud Shootout related, but note worthy anyway. I mentioned on this blog a couple of years ago the comedy and out right libel that was prevalent on the ‘Elliott Sadler Topix Forum’. Seems that 100s of anonymous posters from another TOPIX forum are now being targeted in class action lawsuit and now a Tarrant County judge has ruled that their true identities and IP address’ be revealed and turned over to the courts. Looking at the history of the TOPIX Elliott Sadler forum and some of the claims made there, it is pretty clear that a handful of ‘Sybils’ from Richmond, New Jersey, Louisiana, Atlanta and even Emporia should be concerned simply because of their written styles and claims. TOPIX has 30 days to comply with this court order and it will be interesting to see if there is any 'spill over' to other Forums. From what I have been reading, even when the posters ‘Tor’ in attempt to hide their IP address, it can be traced. History shows that Sadler is not afraid to turn to the courts to get his way, and frankly, it is about time for that place.

On to the big dance on Sunday. It has begun!

2009 Elliott Sadler; The ‘No Excuses’ tour begins Saturday night

2009-02-06T12:14:00.005-06:00

In ten or so years of full time Cup driving, Elliott Sadler has run the gambit when it comes to on track performance or lack there of. He has also run the gambit with the excuses for this performance. But after this eventful off-season, if he was smart, Sadler should bill this upcoming season as the ‘No Excuses’ Season.

And before this season even commences, lets put some of these excuses to rest, and to be fair, many of these excuse have not come from the driver of the 19, but from his official fan club members.

1) The ‘We just need some time to get the driver/Crew Chief communication down, so every knows what I want in a car’.

One only needs to read Sadler’s pre-season quotes about his crew chief for 2009.

“For anyone out there who isn’t familiar with Kevin Buskirk you will be very soon. Kevin’s worked with some of the best in the business. He worked with me in 2004 on the No. 38 team at Yates when we won three poles and two races and made the Chase. He won the Daytona 500 as an engineer on the No. 29 team at Richard Childress Racing in 2007. The guy flat out knows what he’s doing and we are thrilled that he came over to join us for 2009.”

Now I do think the Buskirk is a great choice for Sadler’s CC, especially after losing Childers. However, on the flip side, he only has a handful of race calling the shots on the pit box. Over all, Sadler is beaming with confidence about his new crew chief, so scratch that excuse.

2) The “If only Elliott was getting the same equipment as Kasey’ or ‘getting competitive equipment’ over-all.’

Brett Griffin has already been quoted on a previous blog that the equipment is pretty much equal each week. But the rub is what the team and driver does with that equipment. It was good enough for the 9 car to earn a few appearances in victory lane, and we all know that earning a chance to victory lane is a priority and a benchmark of 'season success' for Sadler.

3) The ‘because of the firing and then re-hiring, the 19 team and owner will see to it that Sadler will not have a chance to perform well on Sundays, after-all they don't want him driving anymore’.

Break out all the Tin Foiled Hats you want, but this conspiracy just won’t hold any water, especially in these economic/sponsor times. The risk/reward simply is not there. But Sadler himself squelches this theory with this quote.

“The No. 19 Dodge team has a lot to prove this year. We are coming in with a big, and when I say big—I mean HUGE chip on our shoulders and we want to make sure that we are competitive each and every week of the season. There is no room for error and each and every member of this team is going to be held accountable. The No. 19 team has been given the tools to be successful and now it is up to all of us to use those tools and get this car competitive and into victory lane.”

Remember the words from the driver himself, ‘each and every member of the team is going to be held accountable’. If ten or so races into the season, one of the other Richard Petty Motorsports cars is having sponsor issues but is getting results on Sundays, don’t be surprised to see a ‘sponsorship change’ in mid season.

4) The ‘if only we could get rid of this bad luck’.

This most likely is the worst excuse of all time, as how soon we all forget the races where you have good luck. The races where fuel mileage came into play, or when attrition came into play for top 10 finishes. Yes, bad luck can happen, but there is not one driver/team that over the course of a full season experiences any more or less bad luck than anyone else.

Let the season begin, and let the results speak for themselves. 2009, the year of no excuses! I'm keeping score, are you?

post script: I am thinking that the Sadler Fan Club should have 'No Excuses' T-shirts printed up, just as a reminder!

New Jersey fan now an OU Believer

2009-01-26T21:30:00.003-06:00

Sometimes, things just need to be retold. After all, many times it is only the negative that gets posted, but this North Easterner 'gets it'

from RIVALS.COM

Editor, The Transcript:

As a communications and messaging strategist based in Princeton, N.J., I am blessed (or cursed) with a hypersensitvity to how people communicate, and what message people send through verbal communication, body language and actions.

On a recent business trip to Miami, I spent a few days at the Fontainbleu Hotel, and happened to coincide with the BCS title game. Little did I know upon my arrival that I would spend the next few days with the Sooner Nation, including the team, and what seemed like an endless sea of maroon and white.

I was born on the campus of Purdue University and did my undergrad work at an ACC school, so I was no stranger to college football and passionate fans.

That being said, the sheer number of fans and the intensity and devotion to OU was overwhelming. I didn't know what to expect -- I do know one thing I did not expect was to become an overnight fan of the OU players and the fans from Oklahoma.

In my world, everything you do communicates a message, and I mean everything. This was no different for the OU players and fans.

The reality was that the few acres that the Fontainblue sits on had become Oklahoma with a beach for the week. Maroon and white everywhere. Thousands of fans. I was not wearing maroon and white, I speak with a Northeastern accent, and knew no one else there except for my small group. That didnt stop nearly everyone I encountered from starting a conversation, smiling and generally being warm and inclusive -- I am still wondering if there was a pregame tailgate I wasn't invited to.

I happened to be in the auxiliary lobby of the hotel at the same time as the OU players on the morning following the devastating defeat. That being said, as I was walking through the lobby to the restaurant, I casually told one player in passing, "you guys played well, you should be proud." He, and three teammates standing with him, smiled and thanked me -- and then started a conversation, asking about where I was from, what I did, etc. This cascaded into a number of conversations with a number of players.

These players have been in the national media spotlight all year, had tens of thousands of fans, many three times their age, follow them to Miami, a few will be instant millionaires next year, and they had just had what for many had to be one of the roughest nights of their college lives. I am not a coach, agent, writer or even a fan and was dressed in a sweatsuit. The players could have nodded or just said nothing and it would be completely understandable. They did the opposite.

Everything you do sends a message, and the message sent by the actions and conduct of the OU players and fans did more, in my eyes, for the university and state of Oklahoma than any advertising program could have.

In an era where there are endless stories of players and fans behaving poorly, stories of egotistical and arrogant athletes and stories of big time programs getting into some sort of hot water (stories that have included OU in years past), the class and dignity exhibited by the fans and players of OU did the university and the state proud. You might not have won the game but I guarantee you did gain new fans of Sooner Nation. Congratulations.

Matt Eventoff

Princeton, N.J.

Now it is time to let the LugNutting begin, just a few more weeks till the 500.

Did Elliott Sadler really keep a straight face?

2009-01-15T14:35:00.005-06:00

There is damage control, and then there is Sadler Damage Control and yesterday the NASCAR Nation was treated to a taste SDC.

Damage control is the term used in the Merchant Marine, maritime industry and navies for the emergency control of situations that may hazard the sinking of a ship.

Examples are:
* rupture of a pipe or hull especially below the waterline,
*damage from grounding (running aground) or hard berthing against a wharf,
* temporary fixing of bomb or explosive damage.

Sadler Damage Control is the use of a controlled press conference to air ‘his side’ of his professional and personal issues.

Examples are:
*Claim that you were ‘blind sided’ yet you were told this was a possibility of a driver change almost a month prior
*Claim that you ‘don’t think it is fair to say that the team didn’t want me’, all the while this very same team told you to ‘entertain any other offers’.
*Saying it was a ‘family situation’ while allowing your lawyer to name people in a potential suit that you haven’t even respected enough to speak with them one on one.
*After the fact, saying that your employers were ‘very fair and up front’ yet suing to keep your ride, then later saying it was his lawyers ‘strategy’ and his was simply trusting him.
*Comparing other sports such as football and baseball and key personnel changes but omitting that those changes do not involve any type of court case.
*Lastly, claim to be taking the ‘high road’.

A couple of odd observations I came away with from this press conference; 1) When Sadler was commenting on the ‘legal’ threats and such, he would say that he had to ‘protect MY sponsors’, then when speaking about the 19 team and the future the tune changed to ‘OUR sponsors’. 2) Sadler commented a couple of times that he feels that a few of hierarchy in the GEM food chain are truly ‘Sadler Fans’. Note to Elliott, being a ‘fan’ and taking an honest and realistic evaluation of performance must be segregated. While I am still your fan, I am also honest about your on track performance.

Those were just obvious examples of the Sadler spin and damage control tactics that this blog has been pointing out for years. But Sadler also said some very significant things about his 19 team and the upcoming season that might get over looked.

“We've got our team headed in the right direction. We feel like we've got a handle on things in the direction we want to go.”

This could simply be another example of the ‘pre-season’ Sadler glad handling, but by saying this he is building a case for a ‘no excuses season’.

“The reason why I really wanted Kevin is the history we had together already. If we had a chance to go get another crew chief or another person that I hadn’t worked with before, of course there would be some type of learning curve that would take longer than what Kevin and mine is going to be.”

So would it be fair to throw out the ‘learning curve’ excuse for the first third of the season then? Sadler made numerous comments about how familiar to two were/are.

“History shows you have to be successful in the first seven or eight races to have a legitimate chance of making the Chase.”

Just for fun, lets take a look at Sadler standings after the first 7 races:
2008 – 20th in driver points (finished 24th)
2007 – 16th in driver points (finished 25th)
2006 – 12th in driver points (finished 22nd)
2005 - 8th in driver points (finished 13th)
2004 - 5th in driver points (finished 9th)
2003 – 20th in driver points (finished 22nd)

So it looks like Sadler has some stats to back up his claim and understanding how important the first 7 or so races are. The reason why this is ‘key’ is the A.J. Allmendinger has sponsorship for only 7 points races so far this season. Sadler’s statement alone would be ‘justification’ for a driver change around race 7 of Allmendinger somehow was in the top 15 or so in points, while Sadler was in the 20s. Just a speculatory thought!

“Last year we were trying to - because Kasey had some really successful runs, and we all want to work together as close as we can. But mine and Kasey's style are just not the same. We just do not drive the car the exact same. We hold the steering wheel a little different. It would be like Tiger Woods playing golf with Phil Mickelson's golf clubs with the same shafts in them. You try to do the same thing, but it's just not tailored to what I was trying to do.”

This is not an excuse for last season’s results be any means, but the fact that Sadler and his new crew chief understand the differences is key. We already know that the equipment between the 9 and 19 is the same and verified not only by Sadler, but his spotter (Brett Griffin) and others associated with the team last season. But now the team is identifying ‘how to use’ that equipment to the best advantage. While this may have been attempted in the past, this is one of the first times in Sadler’s career where they have openly admitted this approach. This can only be a good thing.

“I do know A.J.'s and Kasey's style are very close, probably more than what mine and Kasey's are.”

Another ‘justification’ for a driver change? I seem to remember that Ray Evernham himself thought that Elliott and Kasey had ‘similar’ styles and one of the reasons for Sadler joining the 19 team in the first place, but I guess over time that theory was found to be untrue.

“As we move forward with four teams, I think generally all the cars will be built alike, but each crew chief is going to have to put his own little bit on it to give the driver what he needs.”

Again, the equipment is the same, this is important to remember come ‘excuse time’.

“I'm the senior member of the team; I have to be the leader of the team and initiate conversation and make sure we're all on the same page and stuff like that. I don't foresee any problems going on with A.J. and I. I like his style; he's very aggressive. He's a good guy to be around. We have had our differences, but you know what, I played on a lot of sports teams growing up, and I think any time you get competitive people fighting for the same real estate, you're going to have some type of differences of opinion.”

This is a huge step in the right direction and one that Sadler should be commended for. It does make sense that he would not have much of an opportunity to speak to A.J. during this off-season, as there would be little reason for A.J. to be at the GEM garage since he is/was technically still a free agent.

“I think that's every team's goal (to make the Chase) at the beginning of the season. I think we can make it happen. I have that much confidence in Kevin who we brought in as a crew chief, and a lot of things are going to have to go right for us, but we can do it. We can be a part of that.”

There is nothing wrong with setting lofty goals. But just don’t ‘give up’ once you realize that the goal has become unattainable.

“Well, I'll tell you what, statistics don't lie no matter what you're talking about or who you're talking about. Not having a Dodge in the Chase I think means that, yeah, we have fallen behind a little bit. Does that mean it's the manufacture's fault? No, it's not. It means us as Dodge teams have to do a better job, whether it's working together more or figuring out more information to run faster.”

Be careful saying that ‘statistics don’t lie’, if you honestly believe that, then you are saying to everyone that you are an ‘average middle of the pack driver with one banner year under his belt in a decade of racing’. Remember, this is a ‘no excuses’ season coming up!

“Maybe I've lost some of that confidence maybe from some of the media and stuff in the sport, but I want to gain that back. I want to be a top tier driver in this sport, and I've got to get my butt in gear and I've got to do good and race hard each and every lap and make that happen. This is the best motivation I've had in a long, long time to make sure when I start at Daytona to start off on the right foot and do the best job I can.”

Yes Elliott, it is put up or shut up time. The clock is ticking.

Who is really driving the GEM bus these days anyway?

2009-01-12T12:07:00.005-06:00

Well, Friday afternoon while enjoying the Miami sun I get texted that Elliott Sadler is ‘back in the 19’. Even though I was still in a state of depression from the previous night’s National Championship game, this news was some of the most unusual driver/owner dilemmas I have seen in sometime, probably not seen since the days of Robert Yates, and Ricky Rudd (note; irony alert)

So what happen now? (Thanks once again Mr. Weber) Lets look at a few different aspects of this question:

So Sadler now has his ‘#19’ back for the 2009 season. Or does he? The latest reports say that A.J. Allmendinger will now run the #10 car for the Bud Shootout and 8 ‘other’ races during the season. If GEM is smart (yes, we know that might be a stretch) this means that A.J. will have an ‘8 race showdown/shootout’ with Sadler and the best results may very well get the sponsor(s) for the remainder of the season. The loser goes home or simply becomes a figurehead and back-up driver for GEM . If I do the math right, this
would make the spring Texas race an interesting one.

Because of mergers and other team’s downsizing, the #10 team should be in the top 35 in owner points and like the 19, locked into the first handful of race. That being said, both GEM teams should be considered playing on a level playing field. Sadler has had the luxury for 5 or so years of not having to perform week in and week out in order to keep a ride. Now it very well could be that for eight weeks, he may have to.

Can he step up his game? I really don’t know. Will he give his best effort? Of course he will. But just what happens if things go south early on? One can be a ‘sponsor’s” dream all they want, but over time, even that can wear off with mediocre on track results every week. I don’t see Masterfoods knocking on the door lately, and even with their ‘bad boy’ driver. The appearances in victory lane, the Chase and running up front most weeks far out weigh another ‘TeVee face’ glad-handing his sponsors every interview.

The plus side is that Sadler has a history of coming out of the gates strong in most seasons.

Kevin Buskirk to the rescue!

I have always been a silent fan of Kevin and while he might be considered a ‘journeyman’ in the NASCAR ranks, wherever he has gone, the team he was with has seen success. He brings a lot of COT knowledge after heading up DEI’s testing program this past year and even has an insight to ‘Sadlereeze’ after being his crew chief for 9 races at the end of the 2005 season. Considering my ‘8 race theory’ above, this hire might be the most significant GEM decision in this have fiasco and one that might be the different maker.

While I am optimistic about Buskirk, he joins the long list of crew chiefs for Sadler and will most likely be blamed if the 19 car continues to run mid pack. It is really amazing the revisionist history many of the Sadler faithful present to the table when it comes to former crew chiefs. This blog has showed time and time again, that there is a common denominator that for years has gone unchanged. A dozen or so crew chiefs can’t always be wrong can they? Someday, maybe they can all get together for diner one night, and ‘exchange’ Sadler anecdotes, someone bring a camera, but better get a large table reserved first.

Putting on the tin foiled hat for a moment:

In my research of Buskirk, I stumbled across something that I had not connected before. Remember when Sadler finally came clean with Robert Yates and the NASCAR Nation that the ‘real’ reason he wanted out of the two years remaining on his contract had more to do with a ‘difference in team philosophy’ and the direction that the team was going? Well, that may have been the truth, but there is another striking ‘coincidence’ from that season. It seems the Buskirk left RYR in early April of the 2006 season to go to what became a successful stink with RCR. It was two weeks later when the first ‘report’ of Sadler wanting out of his contract from RYR surfaced. So was Burkirk the real missing link? Maybe, maybe not.

We have all heard the stories that Sadler ‘getting his ride back’ was not only ‘dollar/court’ driven, but sponsor driven as well. Even though they are not scientific, I have yet to see an Internet poll that supports Sadler getting his ride back, and most show an overwhelming favor toward A.J. From a sponsor’s standpoint, I wonder if this data is ever considered? I’ll leave that one up to Best Buy.

Not even sure what to say...

2009-01-09T08:08:00.004-06:00

But here goes...

I don't even have the words to truly convey how I feel right now. I am ticked off, upset, disappointed, and frustrated as hell about this loss.

BUT...

I am proud of our team. I am proud of our coaches. We went into the game and played it well-prepared and ready to play. OU didn't lay down and die. OU didn't take Florida lightly. It was a well-fought game between two, of what I feel, are STILL the best 2 teams in the country. Unfortunately, we came out on the wrong side of the W/L column. Florida beat us. No excuses. If they are better than us, they are not better by much. It's no consolation, I know, but it is what it is. So, I extend my congrats to the Gators and their fans (and they were very gracious before, during and after the game, unlike LSU fans from 2004). And many came up after the game when we were leaving Dolphin Stadium (talk about a great venue to watch football) and were honest enough with themselves to thank their lucky stars that they stopped us inside the 10 yard line twice. Otherwise, we all might be feeling a little bit better right now by celebrating our 8th NC.

I don't know what else to say. But again, I'm proud of our team and of our coaching staff. I'll take Stoops and his crew of coaches, along with the magnitude of the success that he has brought back to Norman any day, and EVERY day! Anyway, that's all from me for now, we are off for one last day on the beach and some Florida sunshine.

Again, congrats to the Gators. They were better last night.

Frustrated and Crushed but STILL Proud,
Okla21fan

What I have learned from Florida sports radio this morning

2009-01-08T11:08:00.006-06:00

gunna try blogging via the greatness of the blackberry, hope the formating works.

live from south beach (and when did southbeach go topless?)

here is what the guys on 790theTicket have to say:

florida's defense will shut down oklahoma.
tim tebow is god and there is no way oklahoma can stop this offense.

some think Utah is more deserving and may be a better match up.

the big 12 is mediocre as usual...the bowl season proved that.

they have been predicting scores of 49-24, 49-17, 35-14, 55-21 today...nobody and I mean nobody has picked Oklahoma
oklahoma has no shot at staying in this game...they have never faced the speed like this.

urban meyer will out coach bob stoops.

dominique franks is an idiot...he basically gave oklahoma the kiss of death by talking trash about tim tebow

I AM LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT! BOOMER!

btw, side note: sooner fans are everywhere in south Beach, maybe a 4 to 1 ratio. i guess the gator fans are driving down as we speak. off to do some tailgating and to the stadium. see ya later alligator!

My fun at the DFW airport this afternoon

2009-01-06T12:26:00.006-06:00

So I had to get to the airport at DFW this afternoon around noonish to catch the flight for the 'big game' in Miami Thursday night. I KNEW the place would be crawling with horns, so I made sure to wear an OU sweatshirt and cap...shorts and flip flops and just a general happy feeling and pride for the Sooners.

Not TWO seconds after checking my bags at the curbside check in, out comes, "45-35!!!" A horn fan yells while waiting to catch the shuttle. I quietly speak back, "How'd that work out for ya?" I then pulled out my Blackberry and say, "Give me your address...I'll send you a post card from South Beach!!" He turned and walked away.

Then, while I stood in line to check in, Texas fans double taking all over the place...hundreds of them...completely disgusted to see me. A fresh reminder of their party being over and the REAL party getting started.

So then I am about to go through security and four Texas fans...all men...were right behind me. A lady walking beside me and in a business suit told me I was awfully brave to be wearing that today. I told her, "Brave? I'm just heading to Miami for the national championship!"

So then we are standing in line and I was trying to call my good friend, 'Benny the Sooner fan', to tell him about the fun I was having. Since I knew he was at work and wasn't flying out till Wed. I just acted like he was on the phone.

"HEY, MAN! WHAT TIME DOES YOUR FLIGHT GET TO MIAMI??"

"OH, YEAH! FIRST ROUND AT THE CLEVELANDER IS ON ME!!"

"YEAH, THEY BLEW THEIR SHOT LAST NIGHT!!"

"OH, THE BEACH IS GONNA BE AWESOME! SEE YOU AT THE FOUNTAIN BLUE!!"

If looks could kill!

We may get drilled Thursday night, but having a little fun at the expense of a Horn fan is always priceless. We board in 10 minutes, BOOMER SOONER!!

Time to feed that monster! See ya in a few days.

Buenvenidos a Miami!!!!!

Elliott Sadler's shoe is on the other foot, lets go to court!

2009-01-05T13:02:00.005-06:00

When the shoe is on the other foot, Elliott Sadler threatens to go to court. Some have called it Karma, others call it ironic, but the firing of Elliott Sadler might be more comical than anything else. One thing we do know is that Sadler appears to have chosen to not air his case in the media and there has not been a peep from the ‘Southern Gentleman’ since this story broke.

A few items we ‘know’ and a few items we ‘speculate’:

Sadler and his attorney John Buric are not only seeking full compensation of the two years remaining on Sadler’s contract, but also asking for that compensation to be trebled (3 times the award)

Sadler claims that he was not aware that GEM was an any ‘active negotiation’ with other driver(s) to replace him and that he was not informed of the decision until Dec 30th (even though the original story broke nationwide three days prior)

Buric conceded that there was ‘communication’ between GEM and Sadler that a driver change was being considered prior to the story breaking.

Sadler signed a contract extension in the spring of 2008 (running through the 2010 season), although it was not officially announced until late May of 2008

Sadler in his two full seasons with GEM finished 25th in points in 2007, and 24th in 2008.

Now a few items who know from Sadler’s past:

Sadler has broken two previous contracts himself and in the latest instance began negotiating his newer contract BEFORE notifying his current owner of his intentions.

In both cases above, Sadler cited ‘performance’ of his equipment and ‘chances of winning a race/championship’ as a justification for breaking the contract.

So if Sadler is willing to break contracts because he feels the race team, as a whole is not as competitive as he would like, then the converse should also be true. It should be fair to say that when Sadler signed his two-year contract extension in early April, he was also saying that he was getting competitive equipment. If Sadler is such the marketable driver (on and off the track), he would be foolish to resign with GEM if there equipment was inferior or inferior enough to be used as a viable excuse for poor performance.

GEM and the sole owner before them, had a history of terminating drivers with remaining years on their contracts based on a lack of on track performance. The most recent being the former driver of the 19 car, and ironically the driver from where Sadler’s current problems came from. Jeremy Mayfield chose a bit different tactic in his court strategy and air much of the team’s dirty laundry with the press prior to filing his claim. His agreement/settlement however also had a ‘gag order’ placed on it, where neither party would/could comment on the details of the settlement.

My hope for a resolution:

Just a guess, but I am thinking that Sadler’s positioning to a nice, quiet out of court settlement would be preferred. From a personal stand point; I hope this will become the furthest from the truth. I truly hope this goes to a court of law where BOTH parties can air the grievances publicly and that we as fans can really see just what happened. AND, if Sadler is truly due compensation, I hope he receives it, and yes treble the amount due to him, as the chances of him ever returning to the ‘Cup Elite’ while not that great anyway, are pretty much dissolved at this point. If the judgment for no compensation is granted, so be it as well. Chances of either happening though is about as good as me getting a CUP ride next year based on my 4.99 Iracing safety rating alone. Like most driver/owner disputes, this will be swept under the carpet and both parties will ‘claim’ victory after the fact.

Elliott Sadler, you're fired!

2008-12-30T13:09:00.007-06:00

Remember when Marty Mcfly was ‘fired’ via a fax in ‘Back to the Future II’? One has to wonder if that was the manner in which GEM fired Elliott Sadler even though there was two years left on his contract. There is never a good time to let ANY employee go, and there is never a pleasant way to do it, but business decisions like this are made every day in the ‘real world’ and when I have been asked over and over via email and phone calls if I ‘was surprised by this move’, my answer has been the same every time. ‘Not really’

There have been many questions by the Sadler faithful of when and why the GEM management did this and I have a couple of theories (as speculation is pretty much all we can go by at this point until the principals speak up.)

Question #1; When was the Sadler camp informed?

OneLugNutShort’s theory: We pretty much all know that Elliott has been spending much of, if not all of the off season at home in Emporia (getting ready for his big date) and at his hunting camp(s) which are located near Emporia (which allows dog hunting). I would think that a decision of this magnitude would have to be done ‘face to face’ and at the GEM shop/offices. Tracking Elliott’s private jet in December reveals two possible dates. Dec 1st in which the jet made two trips before noon est between Statesville and Emporia. (1st trip to pick up Elliott at home in Emporia and the second trip to return him) Allowing for a little over two hours in Statesville in between leaving open for the possible ‘meeting’ time. The second possible date would fall on December 14th when Sadler's jet had spent the previous two days in Emporia only to fly to Statesville, where the plane set idle for almost 8 hours before flying to Greensboro, NC, where the jet has set idle since.

Just speculation but I think that Sadler was informed on Dec 1st personally (a Monday), and that the team would be ‘privately’ informed in Dec 15th (another Monday) thus allowing Sadler to ‘clear’ out his personal affects the day before on Dec 14th, a Sunday.

Question #2: Why did GEM do this?

The question of the week and there are many reasons. But I am reminded of a post by Brett Griffin on SFC that pretty much sums up the hirings and firings in the NASCAR CUP world as we have come to know it today.

“To quote Eddie Wood in 1999 when I first met him, "Brett, if this were easy everybody would do it".

Well, it isn't easy and that's why the best of the best survive -- drivers, crewmembers, owners and sponsors! (Hopefully if business managers and spotters fall into that saying I'll be around for at least a little while longer!) No one is exempt from that rule anymore. If you don't believe me just look at the lack of sponsors this year, look at the good ol' boys that no longer drive on a regular basis in the Cup Series or look at the teams who used to be around that you'll never hear of again -- the pioneer owners now down to a handful of smart business guys.”
Brett Griffin 3/10/08

I have read and seen some of the ‘excuses/justifications’ from some of the Sadler faithful going from ‘marketability and likeability’ to ‘equal equipment’ to the need to be with a more ‘loyal company’ and even ‘bad luck’. While these are factors that must be considered, they do not always carry as much weight, as the Sadler fan wants them to. Lets take a short look at each:

Marketability:
This can by a real touchy and unique subject and no matter how nice one is in front of the camera, if one doesn’t perform well and up to expectations on the track, the marketability can take a back seat. Looking back at the past couple of years, just where has Sadler ‘fit’ into his sponsor’s marketability plans? Other than the occasional cardboard stand-up at Best Buy in all honestly would it make any difference if it was A.J. Allmendinger or who ever. Sure Sadler lists his favorite fast food at the ‘Big Mac’, but I don’t see many add campaigns. There was the ‘Sonoco’ ad campaign but I think that was directed more towards the ‘likeability’ aspect (so below). Is A.J. as marketable as Sadler? On the short term, that answer is no, but when Sadler was cutting his teeth with the Wood Brothers, neither was he.

Likeability:
I have never been a fan of the ‘side show’ acts of Trackside Live, but there are many fans that do. That being said these appearances have to have added to his ‘likeability’ for many, but does that translate into sponsorship dollars and opportunity? Looking at that other ‘regular’ drivers on these types of shows, it appears to be more about shock value and an act, than the content of the show itself. Is A.J. as likeable as Sadler? Depends on your tastes, Ask me two years from now, but he is not unlikable at this point.

side bar: 2008 marked Elliott's Sadler's omission from the CHEX Most Popular Driver Award finalist (finishing in the top 10 in fan voting) after making the list in 2006 and 2007. Before 2006, Sadler had never been a finalist.

Equal equipment:
This has been an Achilles heal for a lot of drivers/fans when justifying poor performance. For the 2008 season, again I will fall back on a Brett Griffin quote from about 1/3 into the 2008 season.

“Are we getting the same stuff? Yes. Are there cars the same? No. And, they never will be. They have different teams and the reality is they may be similar but they'll never be the same... a round of wedge here, a track bar adjustment there, a degree more of right front camber on the right front, 50 pounds more spring in the right rear -- that's called racing man. And, that's what keeps us all coming back -- to see who will be the best next week
Brett Griffin 3/19/08”

Brett brings up some great points, which was further validated after the Spring Michigan race where Sadler asked to have ‘the same stuff as Kasey was getting’. Then crew chief Rodney Childers explained that the ‘stuff was the same, with the exception of the front end stuff the you (Elliott) don’t like’.

I think cutting to the core of what Brett was stating is that each driver gets different results from similar equipment. While that result may only be a quarter a tenth a lap difference over a fuel run, over the course of a race, that can be the difference between a top 10 and finishing a lap down. Is A.J. one of these drivers that can get that quarter a tenth? I honestly have no clue.

Loyal company/team:
Actually this is sort of amusing considering the history of GEM/Evernham and also considering Sadler himself. We are speaking of a driver with 10 full CUP seasons under his belt and raced for 3 different teams. Two of which Sadler broke existing and recently signed contracts to go to another race team. I have heard of one comment that Sadler did not burn any bridges when using ‘out clauses’ and such. Not sure, but I would be very surprised if Doug Yates has been waiting on Sadler’s door step to offer him his old job back. While time may have healed some open wounds with the Wood Brothers, even in their current state would they even consider Sadler again?

Bad Luck:
How many years is this one going to be used? It has been a staple since 2005. Lets just leave this one alone for now.

So what happens now? (Thanks Mr. Weber)
Is there a ride out there for Sadler? Of course. Will it be a ‘better’ ride than the 19? In the short term, no (there is a reason why the ride was open in the first place), but on the long run, who knows?

I think that Sadler puts his best seasons together when there are not high expectations placed on them. I don’t think he will ever be the ‘dominant’ driver of the tier one group (and there are only a handful of those), but he can still get the job done after ten years. When he focuses and has the drive, he is a smarter/better driver now than he was in the 2004 ‘chase’ season. And he will still have the best spotter in the business if he chooses.

The road is long, but I still believe there is ample time for a methodical return for the ‘Southern Gentleman’ on the track. You will bounce back, Elliott.

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Elliott Sadler

2008-12-29T10:09:00.004-06:00

One can't help wondering if recent conversations between Elliott Sadler and PR man Brett Griffin might have been similar to scene #5 from Andrew Lloyd Weber's, EVITA, 'Another suitcase in another hall'. In this 'silly' time, one can have a giggle now and then. After all, it is good for the soul!

"ANOTHER RIDE IN ANOTHER GARAGE"
(a parody of "Another suitcase in another hall")

ELLIOTT
I don't expect my rides to last for long
Never fool myself that my dreams will come true
Being used to mediocrity I anticipate it
But all the same I hate it--wouldn't you?
So what happens now?

BRETT
Another ride in another garage

ELLIOTT
So what happens now?

BRETT
Take your picture off a sponsor’s wall

ELLIOTT
Where am I going to?

BRETT
You'll get by, you always have before

ELLIOTT
Where am I going to?
Time and time again I've said that I don't care
That I'm immune to gloom, that I'm hard through and through
But every time it matters all my fans desert me
So anyone can hurt me--and they do
So what happens now?

BRETT
Another ride in another garage

ELLIOTT
So what happens now?

BRETT
Take your picture off a sponsor’s wall

ELLIOTT
Where am I going to?

BRETT
You'll get by you always have before

ELLIOTT
Where am I going go?
Call in three months time and I'll be fine I know
Well maybe not that fine, but I'll survive anyhow
I won't recall the teams and races of each sad occasion
But that's no consolation--here and now
So what happens now?

BRETT
Another ride in another garage

ELLIOTT
So what happens now?

BRETT
Take your picture off a sponsor’s wall

ELLIOTT
Where am I going to?

BRETT
You'll get by, you always have before

ELLIOTT
Where am I going to?

BRETT
Don't ask anymore

Elliott Sadler...his name is A.J. Allmendinger

2008-12-27T18:25:00.009-06:00

update 4:45 CST 12/28/08
Seems the Sadler faithful are getting a bit restless, and understandably so. They would like some answers or at the very least some words of wisdom from either the 'former' driver of the 19 or his PR man. Brett is still lurking but the cat has got his tongue so far. The questioning on SFC has even brought out some that swore they would never post there again. But like history has shown, the 'paying' Sadler fan is left out in the cold. At least so far.

update: 8:30 CST 12/27/08
Brett Griffin (aka spotterman) was lurking on the SFC message board a little more than an hour ago. There is little doubt that he saw the thread concerning this story yet made no denial or comment. It is a usual practice for Sadler's PR man, to normally squelch such a rumor. Maybe he is simply gathering his thoughts though.

I have to think there is more to this rumor than simply firing a driver. (but this is the 'Evernham way')

Remember when Elliott Sadler didn't have the courtesy to call a fellow CUP driver by name? Ego aside, it was a classless move and one that was criticized on this blog. Now there is a hard core rumor from what most call a very credible source that Sadler will be replaced this up coming season by good ole 'WhatHisName'.

This just 6 months after Sadler had signed a multi year extension to his existing contract. Can anyone say IRONY alert???? Seems there must be some pesky 'out clause' being used by GEM. Double irony alert.

Let the spin cycle begin and I am sure I will receive word from SFC and other Sadler opinion sites and will be happy to post the spin. And lastly, it was also just a few months ago that I jokingly said that Sadler would be the next driver in the 8 car at DEI. (well, I was close, just didn't get the car number right) Maybe my jokes are reality, maybe not. Can't wait to see A.J. on IRacing next time.

More to come on this story.

A few things we, as Sooner fans, should know...

2008-12-20T21:59:00.001-06:00

...about the Florida Gators. Having the benefit of CBSC (the college cable channel for CBS and hence, the SEC) and DVR, I have now seen multiple Gator games on tape. The first thing I have to say is, wow. They are damn good. Their O is multiple and dangerous, their D is fast, aggressive, and smart, and their special teams are special (to the tune of blocking 8 kicks this year, returning 2 punts for TD, and hitting 75/76 XP and 11/12 FG).

Things most of us already know:

Tebow is very athletic and very accurate, which could give us serious fits. He runs very well when he needs to, can hit most throws with ease, and when he's on fire, he will tear any D apart. He is like Zac Robinson in a lot of ways (remember the number of 'dead to rights' moments we had him in OU-OSU?) but better.

The top three options at RB for UF are not only fast, but very quick, can find the hole quickly, make a quick cut, a move, and be off to the races. That goes for Rainey, Demps, and Harvin. They are fast, to be sure, but that only counts after you make the first and second level miss, and they do that at least as well as any running back we have faced. All three of them.

Brandon Spikes is the real deal at LB. He is among the best LBs I have seen this year on tape. He plays very fast, has great instincts, and is dangerous for passers across the middle (4 INT, 2 returned for TD). He was absolutely brilliant against LSU. None of their other LBs (They've started 5 at the Will and Sam combined over the year) are much to write home about, but they are good.

Things most of us don't know:

Their front four are very, very good. Maybe the best we've faced. Their rotation is awesome. Dunlap isn't even a starter all the time, but he is a headhunter (12 TFL, 9 Sack). Cunningham and Trattou are the listed starters, and they are very, very good. Very much like Beal and Alexander in our last few games. Their interior is stout. Terron Sanders and Lawrence Marsh allow the ends to have some freedom. Sanders was the one that recovered that fumble against UGA and broke loose for 20 yards to set the score up (very athletic move for a 300 pound man).

Their secondary is among the best we've seen, again, maybe THE best. Black is a Ballhawk and so is Wright. Black leads the SEC in picks with 6 and has 2 TDs. Haden and Jenkins are lockdown cover corners. Both have three picks.

Their O-Line is big, agile, and strong. They average about 312. The Pouncey twins are damn good, and they're not even the best blockers on the team. Phil Trautwein probably takes that honor (although it's close). These guys grade out very high and pancake the hell out of D-Lines.

So... All things considered, we've got our work cut out for us. Is it NASCAR season yet??? I hope not.

A (very) long statistical analysis of OU and Florida

2008-12-18T09:43:00.005-06:00

Yes, I have been distracted from NASCAR over the past few weeks and after the new year I will offer my never ending opinions of the goings on with the sport and especially 'my driver' and the #19 GEM team. But it is not every day that your college football team makes it to a BCS champ game:

I know the prevailing wisdom seems to be that Florida is going to beat us 65-63, but I don't see it playing out that way. I have come to a different conclusion. One team may light up the scoreboard, but I don't think both teams will. I think it's either a blowout, or a very close game with a lower final score than people expect. The reason I believe this is OU and Florida's recipes for success are extremely similar. Dynamic offenses that are put in favorable positions by opportunistic defenses. Because I love my team, but more so because I'm a massive 'numbers cruncher', I've done some exhaustive investigative web-surfing to support this supposition. This is a very long post, and very stat-heavy, so go ahead and stop reading...right about....now.

An opportunistic defense creates turnovers and momentum-changing events like quarterback sacks and tackles for loss. I'll start there.

Turnover Margin

No surprise, Oklahoma and Florida are 1st and 2nd nationally in turnover margin. Oklahoma is +1.77 per game, Florida +1.69. This seems like a push, however if you dive a little deeper the statistics reveal a little more. Florida leads the nation in passes intercepted with 24. However, Sam Bradford has thrown just one interception since the Texas game, or one interception in his last 257 attempts. Tim Tebow has thrown 3 interceptions for the year on 258 attempts. It seems unlikely either team will gain an advantage in this department. OU may have an advantage in fumbles. We've recovered 17 fumbles on the year, while Florida has lost 8 fumbles. Conversely, Florida has only recovered 9 fumbles on the year, while OU has only lost two fumbles on the season. That in itself is amazing, and is the lowest total of any team in the country. The next lowest team has 4. For reference, OU has lost two fumbles on 1,036 plays for the season for an average of one fumble lost every 538 plays. Florida has lost 8 fumbles on the season on 800 plays for an average of one fumble lost every 100 plays. I would give OU a very, very slight advantage in the turnover department. If we can recover just one fumble in the game it may be the difference.
Verdict-Slight advantage to OU

Sacks/Tackles For Loss

OU is 3rd nationally with 42 quarterback sacks. Florida is 33rd with 32 quarterback sacks. OU averages a sack against the opposition once every 11.83 pass attempts. Florida gets a sack once every 12.57 pass attempts. Guess who numbers 1 and 2 are in sacks? Texas and TCU. In case you're wondering, 7 of the 11 sacks OU has allowed on the season were to Texas and TCU. We've faced 3 other teams on the season with more sacks than Florida: Cincinnati, Texas Tech, and Nebraska. Those 3 teams combined for a total of 2 sacks against us. OU has allowed a total of 11 quarterback sacks on the year which is 4th best statistically. Florida has allowed 16, which is 13th best. This is where it gets interesting though-OU allows a sack every 43.27pass attempts, Florida allows a sack every 18.68 pass attempts. Florida has also faced more defenses that are statistically weaker in quarterback sacks. I'm not sure how significant this will turn out to be, but it appears to be an advantage for OU

There is a pretty significant discrepancy in our advantage in tackles for loss. OU ranks 9th nationally with nearly 8 per game, Florida is 85th with just over 5 per game. Both teams are nearly identical in TFL allowed. OU 12th, Fla 14th, both allowing just over 4 per game.
Verdict-Advantage to OU

3rd down offense/defense

I believe this is one of the most overlooked stats in football. Converting 3rd downs offensively allows a team to sustain drives and retain momentum. Conversely, a defense's ability to stop the opposing team from converting 3rd downs kills momentum and gives the other team the ball back. Not surprisingly , OU and Florida both excel in each category.

OU is 7th nationally with a 3rd down conversion rate of 51.6%. Florida is 13th with a conversion rate of 49.3%. What's interesting is we've already faced 5 teams with a higher conversion rate than Florida. Texas-2nd 57.1%, Texas Tech-4th 54.5%, Mizzou-5th 54.4%, TCU-8th 51.5%, and Kansas 11th 50%.

Again, both teams are nearly identical in 3rd down defense. Florida is 15th nationally, allowing opposing offenses to convert 31.8% of the time. OU is 21st, allowing a 33.3 conversion rate. Something to consider about this statistic that lends itself in OU's favor-OU's defense has faced 5 of the top 11 offenses in converting 3rd downs. This would appear to be a good sign for us defensively. There's a common theme that manifests through these statistics-TCU and Cincinnati. These are very solid teams. TCU is 5th, Cincinnati is 6th in this category.
Verdict-Even

Defense

I'll attempt to dissect the defensive statistics a little now. FYI, I won't be breaking down the offensive numbers. Most of us know them anyway. Defense is supposedly an overwhelming advantage for Florida, but the statistics reveal some interesting things. I'll break this down in 3 categories-Rush defense, pass defense, and total defense.

Rush Defense

OU and Florida are nearly identical in rush defense. Florida ranks 16th nationally, OU ranks 18th. However, OU has a slight advantage in yards per carry allowed (OU 3.24-UF 3.33). Once again, we faced the top two defenses in these statistical categories this year: TCU and Texas. If you exclude quarterback sacks, we had identical yards per carry averages against Texas and TCU-2.43. What's encouraging is we're averaging 5.74 ypc since the Texas game. Florida averages 5.96 ypc on the year.
Verdict-Even

Pass Defense

This is where it supposedly gets ugly for us. A casual glance at the statistics would support this theory. OU ranks 99th at 253 ypg allowed. Fla ranks 19th at 174 ypg. However, once again, if you dive deeper there's more to the story...First off, a difference of only 79 ypg translates into a difference of 80 spots in the rankings. More interesting tidbits...OU has more pass attempts against than any other team in the nation (497). Florida averages 7 fewer pass attempts against its defense a game less than OU. OU's defense allows 12.01 ypc and 6.62 ypa. Florida allows 10.47 and 5.45. In pass efficiency defense Florida is 2nd nationally. One of the primary reasons for this is they lead the nation in passes intercepted. As discussed previously, you wouldn't think this would be a major factor against us. OU ranks 41st nationally in pass efficiency defense, and 1st in the Big 12. TCU ranks 4th nationally, and Cincinnati 28th. This area is obviously still an advantage for Fla, but its not as drastic as you would be led to believe.
Verdict-Advantage to Florida

Total Defense

The defensive rankings are really easy to be fooled by. It's been proclaimed over and over again by the media that the only team in the Big 12 that plays defense is Texas (50th in yards allowed nationally,). But Texas allows only 20 fewer ypg than we do. We're 2nd in the Big 12 in this category behind Texas, but only 65th nationally. The 3-game stretch of Texas, KU, and KSU earned us the reputation of having a terrible defense, and rightfully so. We allowed 438 yards to Texas, 491 to KU, and 550 to KSU . Now...can anyone tell me if anything might have happened in the Texas game that created this sudden inability to stop opposing offenses? A major upheaval in personnel, perhaps? Anyone?

Once the defense settled in and identified a suitable replacement for Reynolds we've allowed a respectable 350 ypg since the Kansas State game. For reference, that's against the 12th (Nebraska), 4th (Texas Tech), 7th (OSU), 6th (Mizzou), and 77th (damn you, TAMU!) ranked offenses nationally. We're not as bad defensively as everyone seems to think.

Florida allows 279 ypg, which is 9th nationally. They allow 4.4 yards per play on the season. OU allows 5.06 yards per play on the season. OU's defense has faced 922 plays this season, which is the 5th most of any team. Florida's defense has faced 826 plays on the season. Florida has played 4 teams this year that rank 97th or lower in total offense (!), not including a lower division team, The Citadel. The highest ranked offense they've played against this year is Georgia's, which ranks 21st. The second highest ranked offense they faced belonged to Ole Miss (37th), and we all know the result of that game. TCU is ranked 2nd in total defense, Cincinatti is 26th.

Just judging from the statistics I'm inclined to give the advantage to Florida, but not by a substantial margin.
Verdict-Slight advantage to Florida

Special Teams

This will be the last area I dissect. It's pretty bad...but maybe not as bad as you would think.

I keep hearing about how great Florida's special teams are, but the statistics I have don't back that up. I can't find statistics on blocked field goals/punts, which they may very well be proficient at. What I do have is a little surprising. We rank 107th nationally (not surprising) in kickoff return average defense with an average of 24.1 per return. Florida is not a whole let better though, they rank 90th with a 22.4 average. We're dead last out of 119 teams in kick-off touchdowns allowed (4). However, Florida has not ran a kickoff back for a touchdown this year. What's surprising is Florida's relative ineptness at returning kickoffs. You would think with all their (alleged) sub 4.3, Olympic team alternate sprinters they would be among the best in the country in this category. They rank 44th, with a 21.83 average. We rank 7th, with a 25.17 return average, which also surprised me.

They're better at punt returns, which may not benefit them significantly because we don't punt a lot. They're 8th nationally, with a 14.4 average and 2 td's. We're 70th nationally, with a 8.3 average and 1 touchdown. We're actually outstanding at punt return coverage, we've allowed a return on 9 punts for a total of 49 yards. Florida is equally impressive, allowing 63 yards on 13 returns for the season. Hopefully we won't have to punt the ball much, because we have the 5th worst average of all teams at 36.37 yards per punt. Fla averages 42.79 yards per punt. We have punted more than them, 51times for us, 42 for them.
Verdict-Advantage Florida, but not as bad as we thought

Final Analysis

Using all of this information, I'll go ahead and offer a prediction. I'll get to that in a minute. The statistics indicate a matchup between two very evenly matched teams. Some things I didn't include because it seemed like common sense, such as an OU advantage in total offense. What all the statistics reveal to me is if both teams play their A+ game, OU wins narrowly. However, both teams are so evenly matched and so similar in game plan that even a -1 in turnover differential could make all the difference. This is also with the assumption that OU's A+ team shows up. That is the key variable in the entire equation. What OU team shows up? Is it the team that went on the road to Stillwater and out dueled OSU's best team in a quarter-century, or is it the team that was by embarrassed in the Fiesta Bowl? That leads me to another troublesome observation...we've seen a team in the last year a lot like Florida...and that team was West Virginia. Except Florida has better athletes, and more of them. However, despite the media love affair with Tim Tebow I'm of the opinion he's less dangerous than Pat White. West Virginia probably had a superior running game to Florida, but Florida's offense is more diverse. Attempting to pick this game objectively I think it would be somewhat irresponsible to pick OU, given our recent history in bowl games. I won't make anyone happy with this, but if I'm picking with my head I'd be forced to pick Florida. But if this team plays like we all know its capable of, I do think we have the superior team and can therefore achieve victory.

All roads in the Big 12 South lead to.........

2008-12-01T21:43:00.005-06:00

Three teams tied for the Big 12 South Division Championship in 2008. Shiny, new trophies now reside in Norman, Austin and Lubbock. Lubbock? Yes Lubbock, where Texas Tech claims just as much of the crown as Oklahoma and Texas. All are 7-1.

You remember Texas Tech. After 10 games and back-to-back wins over Oklahoma State and Texas, the Red Raiders were 10-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation. The college football world was all awash with Tech's high-powered offense and obviously improved defense, and for good reason.

Then OU happened. Tech ran into a buzz saw on Owen Field and lost by 44 points. Mike Leach's program went from belle of the ball to the alternate at an eight-year-old's birthday party. Talk of Tech vanished faster than Michael Crabtree's short jaunt into the end zone, and the reasons for that aren't pretty.

Yet call up Big12Sports.com and there Tech remains, tied atop the Big 12 South and part of this triangle that has everybody's diastolic number well north of 100. PR campaigns aside, Tech is and must be part of the discussion. Tech is just as tied as Oklahoma and Texas.

Ties in sports were made to be broken, NFL games and at least one past MLB All-Star game notwithstanding. When available, the best way to break ties is through head to head match-ups although a quick look through the NCAA basketball bracket will reveal teams in the tourney that were beaten by teams that were left out. Still, head-to-head works pretty well until three teams tie, and each of the teams can claim a victory over one of the other three, but not both.

So here we sit, trying to find a South team to go to Kansas City for the Big 12 title game, and staring squarely into the eyes of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS). Let's talk about the BCS as a tie-breaker.

You can hate the BCS if you choose and Lord knows a lot of people do. But the fact remains that the BCS is the system we use to determine the participants for the national championship game and the most lucrative bowls.

When each college football season commences, the six BCS conferences have two clearly defined goals: 1) Get two teams into BCS games and, 2) Get one of the teams into the national championship game.

And that is why the Big 12 Conference implemented a tie-breaker plank that includes the BCS. Some want to argue that it doesn't belong, but like most arguments against the BCS or even a playoff, it is impossible to look at the circumstances in any one particular year, and think that a remedy for this season would necessarily work in subsequent years. Here's why.

Let's say that OU, UT and TTU all were tied just as they are now, but that instead of OU and UT holding down the Nos. 2 and 3 spots in the BCS they held down Nos. 2 and 4, respectively, with USC sitting at No. 3.

Now, if you're the Big 12 and you're in that scenario, which tie-breaker makes the most sense? Do you want to dislodge Oklahoma and forfeit a potential spot in the national title game? Of course not.

But ignoring precedent we're now getting a plethora of other tie-breaking suggestions, including one that recommends a point differential. For Heaven's sake, in the attempt to perfect a system let's not forfeit sportsmanship.

Remember the fallout from Oklahoma's 77-0 win a few years ago. What if that score had been 90-0 in the interest of breaking a tie? Think for a moment about the ugliness of a road team, already up by four or five touchdowns, punching in another as time expires.

And what about teams that win with defense rather than a high-powered offense. Is 60-20 more valuable than 35-0? I guess a point differential could be capped ala the NFL, but in college ball would that really solve anything?

Question the BCS all you want, but as long as the BCS is here, you can't question tie-breakers that are pointed in that direction.

Now, what you can question is posturing, politicking, etc. As an Accounting professional, I am all for advocacy and holding a standard while putting the best foot forward, and to be sure, OU did those things. But when one team goes to a rival's stadium to face a rival that is unbeaten at home and ranked No. 11/12 nationally, and wins by 20 points, then falls in the human polls, the human element has taken a turn that raises a lot of questions.

Tell you what, get on Google and find me the instances in which a ranked team has beaten another ranked team under those same circumstances and then dropped in the polls. It's not unprecedented but it is rare on rare.

Bottom line is this … three teams tied for the Big 12 South championship. Three. That tie is being broken in a manner that best maximizes a system, whether it's flawed or not, that determines college football's highest honor.

Here's to hoping that the process can play out with professionalism and the high road still intact.

BOOMER!!

Rock, Paper, Scissors

2008-11-30T15:56:00.004-06:00

Paper beats Rock in Dallas.
Scissors nick Paper in Lubbock.
Rock smashes Scissors in Norman…and keeps on rolling.

Sorry Paper.

THAT was Oklahoma Football!!!!

2008-11-23T15:37:00.009-06:00

A post game Bob Stoops acknowledges the Sooner faithful after 'calling' them out the week before the OU/TT game

What a game, for sure, but I get the sense that something happened last night which is bigger than the standard undressing of Texas Tech we tend to do annually (the last two trips to Lubbock notwithstanding).

This sense I got reminds me in a way of the feeling I got after meltdown in the 2004 Orange Bowl against USC. I came away from that game with the fear,nay, knowledge,that something had changed. The Sooners were no longer bulletproof. Bob Stoops didn't walk on water after all. We could be blown out just like everyone else. Since that time the program hasn't been the same. The players have seemed as a whole not to have 'it', whatever 'it' is. Stoops seems to have lost an edge. Even the fans have developed what I'd describe as a cautious optimism about big games rather than the confidence we had before that night.

I think a switch turned off that night in Miami. And even after big wins of the Texas and Mizzou and more Big 12 Championships since that night, it still feels like the switch has been off.

But last night it's like the good old days all over again. We had two weeks of anticipation, of listening to talking heads rag on the Sooners, of hearing again and again how losing to Ole Miss at home is of much higher quality than losing to UT in Dallas. The whole world was watching and they saw OU play in a way I'm not sure they have since Mike Stoops was calling the defensive play calls.. They played smart, consistently seeming to be in position and creating big plays on D. The execution and want to by the O line was a sight to behold. The crowd and players and coaches seemed to be one group last night. The Whole nation saw what Sooner football is all about.

Maybe we'll win at OSU next week, and with some fortune we'll play and beat Mizzou in the Big 12 Conference Champ game.. And maybe we'll even play for and win all the marbles. And maybe we won't, we'll see.

But wouldn't it be nice to take a Sooner team to the scene of the crime in Miami and show the world that OU has turned the switch back on? Because damn, it sure felt like we did last night. And it can't be put it into words, but I wonder if there is some people in the college football world thinking that 'big game Bob' and the Sooners are back. I sure hope so! I am just thankful to be an active part of that game in the stands, a memory I will not soon forget. The whole college football world saw it and saw it on a big stage.

"OU never left and yet it feels like the Sooners are back."

BOOMER!

HIATUS

2008-11-04T10:46:00.003-06:00

hiatus
–noun, plural -tus·es, -tus.

1.	a break or interruption in the continuity of a work, series, action, etc.

2.	a missing part; gap or lacuna: Scholars attempted to account for the hiatus in the medieval manuscript.

3.	any gap or opening.

From the many emails I have received over the past month or so, it's clear that there are some people that have been wondering about my whereabouts. Rest assured that everything is fine, but I have had a few distractions that has taken away from the weekly grind of OneLugnutShort. From work, to Oklahoma football, to even making it to a few NASCAR tracks.

I have many stories to tell, and the never ending research has not stopped, and yes, there are some interesting developments. As the NASCAR and College Football season wind down, I will be back to more blogging.

BOOMER!!!!

2008-09-05T14:38:00.001-05:00

PLINKING and POP SHOTS

2008-08-15T09:44:00.006-05:00

Here are a few little tidbits that have been floating around lately in NASCAR and Sadlerville. Nothing really mind-boggling but sometimes you just have to take a step back and ask ‘what is the deal here’?

The ‘tongue and cheek’ picture above is one that is linked from this blog by other sites more than any other picture for reasons that I have no idea. Literally, this blog receives over a 100 hit a day from this, but really that’s not important. We all have heard the engagement news and fall out by some from it, but I have to wonder something. According to Sadler, his future wife has in three weeks, already made all the wedding arrangements for a January wedding. Three weeks? I’m thinking that the Sadler PR Machine should employ Amanda to plan and get the details for the next ‘bigger than ever’ Sadler Barn Party. That way Sadler fans would not have to wait and wait and wait for the ‘more info coming soon’ excuses in order to make travel plans.

Speaking of the Sadler PR Machine, they have been working overtime the past few weeks and there are all kinds of ‘feel good’ fluff stories being written. Even going so far as Brett Griffin making a few token appearances on the Sadler Fan Club Message Board. While his presence is always welcome and insightful, this time Griffin dropped the ball on a few pending and direct questions. Griffin conveniently ignored questions concerning the demise of VLP. Frankly, the fans just want to know what happened, after all it was Brett and Elliott that less than a year ago, spoke of ‘how great and fun this is going to be’. But like most Sadler PR nightmares, just don’t speak of it and it will eventually go away.

Seems I am not the only one who is critical of the Sadler PR Machine and just how behind the times they seem to be. NASCAR INSIDERS recently blogged about the 'BEST and WORST' NASCAR driver websites and guess who was 'number two' on the worst list? Yep, it seems that they have also seen through the facade of ElliottSadler.com and the presentation there. Quoting the blogger:
"If I was a race fan searching out my favorite driver’s website, I’d want a slick place where I could hang out, get news, see some photos, or maybe catch a podcast or a blog. These five just don’t deliver........In today’s corporate NASCAR, I feel like it reflects badly on drivers who have a crappy website. I’m sure their sponsors are less then thrilled also. More and more, the first place most of us go for information is the internet."
Remember all the promises of 'exclusive' content and that Sadler himself would be 'stopping by for frequent updates'? These guys would like to have seen those claims actually become reality aswell.

Remember a few weeks ago the comments made by Elliott Sadler and his opinion concerning the Roush/Yates alliance and that Roush ‘never helped Yates and still doesn't’? I made it clear that he was simply doing the ‘Sadler Speak’ routine and made a small mention wondering how Robbie Gordon feels about his alliance with GEM. If you were listening to HotPass from the Watkins Glen race during the red flag you would have heard Robbie expressing his discontent to Larry McReynolds that ‘he wasn’t getting the same engines as the other GEM cars’. I received the normal hate emails not liking my comment to Sadler about ‘glass houses’, but it seems that it is justified in this case at least Robbie thinks so.

On to Michigan, and a pretty unusual promotion for the 19 team. It seems that Stanley Tools and Ace Hardware have pledged a million dollar donation on one condition. That the 19 goes to victory lane on Sunday. So Sadler jumps on the bandwagon and once again requests his fans to donate money by stopping by an Ace Hardware store and purchase a "Racing for a Miracle" icon. Again we see the ever growing trend of a multi millionaire holding his hand out to the masses whom many are living pay check to pay check. (more on this in a future blog) To his credit, Sadler did spend a couple of hours Thursday at Sparrow Hospital, the Children's Miracle Network area hospital in Lansing, Michigan and that was a good thing. But the premise of having a third party to donate a substantial amount of money to a charity for a win does lend to the ‘tin foil hat’ theories if they came to fruition. Chances are Lloyds of London has already ‘done the math’ and realized that the odds are pretty good to risk a million dollar payout on a driver who has one top 5 in 19 attempts and an average finish of 23rd.

And lastly, I have been cautiously optimistic about the way the 19 has been running over the past couple of months, and taking aside the ‘bad luck’ excuse weeks is the 19 really becoming a contender or an apparition? I have voiced displeasure in the past concerning how the 19 seems to be more concerned with ‘track position and two tire stops’ more than ‘fixing the car’ and making it better for the final 1/3 of races and I still think that displeasure is justified. Looking at the NASCAR scoring loop data, the numbers still tell a story that the 19 does significantly more ‘passing’ in the pits than on the track. The final results over the past few months also show the risk verses reward with relying too much on such a strategy. Is the 19 better than they were this time last year? Of course it is and things will only get better I think. But playing the strategy game week after week and rolling the dice is not the best way to prepare a race team to be a contender next season.

Time to reload the plinker!

DID I HEAR THIS CORRECTLY?

2008-08-12T09:14:00.007-05:00

I must admit that I didn’t and don’t watch ‘this week in NASCAR’ regularly, but I did catch some innerweb rantings concerning Michael Waltrip’s comments about the ‘big one’ at Watkins glen last week. So thru the greatness of Tivo, I was able to catch the show late Monday night.

In a nutshell, Waltrip accused the driver of the 38 car, David Gilliland of purposely causing this wreck. Now this is eerily similar to the claims Elliott Sadler made when he was knocked out of the All-star race. (Funny how thier careers mirror each other as well) We have all seen the replays and one just has to wonder what Waltrip is smoking!

Now I am not going to lay blame on either driver as both contributed in their own ways. Gilliland ‘maybe’ could have given a bit more room once the 00 stuck a nose under the left rear quarter panel, and McDowell ‘maybe’ could have showed a bit more patience and not tried to complete the pass in a single turn. (The 00 would have been in a good passing position on the next right hand turn number 1 if needed)

We all saw the result of ‘hard driving’ by BOTH drivers, but that is a product of the late stages of a road course race. I have seen some calling McDowell’s move a ‘rookie’ mistake, but I have seen worse road course Bonzai moves by such ‘ringers’ like Ricky Rudd or even Robbie Gordon. But Waltrip’s accusations are simply over the top, and his justifications are even more humorous. To say that Gilliland is ‘fighting to keep his job’ or ‘just trying to stay in the top 35’ is priceless, and the look of disbelief on co-panelist’s face, Greg Biffle was something out of a Saturday Night Live skit.

While host Steve Byrnes did question Watrip’s reasoning somewhat, like most hosts, he treated his weekly guest with ‘softball’ questions and skirted the real issue. This again was much how Dave Moody lobbed softballs at guest Elliott Sadler when Sadler was ranting about being wrecked at the All-star on Moody's Sirius radio show. My question to these hosts; Are you that afraid to ask the really hard-core questions for fear of losing a guest (or even your show). Maybe you guys should take a page from Tim Russert. He would not waffle simply to keep a guest, but would ask FAIR but hard questions of his guests, and expected at the very least reasonable answers. If he didn’t get that, he would call out his guest, and that’s what gave him much credibility.

Lastly, there is a right way and a wrong way to publicly voice your opinion about matters like these. One only has to look at David Gilliland’s post race comments and all his comments since, to see the ‘right way’. And this is coming from a driver with less than 3 seasons in CUP; maybe some of the ‘veterans’ should take note.

DID I HEAR THIS CORRECTLY part two:

Thru the greatness of the innerweb, many NASCAR fans aid their race day TeVee coverage by joining chat room and exchanging information such as scanner chat and ‘race view’ coverage. Frankly, it has enhanced that TeVee race day experience for many. However, some last Sunday seemed to fall victim to one of the oldest tricks in the innerweb books. That would be the ‘driveby’ post by some anonymous or unknown chat room member who claimed that MRN reported there were ‘team orders’ for the 00 car to wreck the 38. The 'claim' was that these team orders originated from the driver of the 55 (Michael Watrip) scanner chat. This ‘claim’ spread like wildfire in a handful of driver chat rooms, but little if any verification could be found. If one takes a peek at some of the driver’s message board they can see the fallout of this driveby even two days later.

I had MRN playing during the race, in addition to Elliott Sadler’s scanner along with the Official’s channel. I did not recall hearing anything about it, so I took the report with huge grains of salt. This week, I visited over 20 message boards, and there was absolutely no mention of the supposed MRN report. Frankly, it would be impossible for such a statement to be made, and not have it hit ANY of the other boards, including the NASCAR.com chat room.

Another blogger buddy, stayed up quite late Sunday night to listen to the MRN replay on Sirius. Even after the wreck there was no mention backing said driveby. To be clear, there was NO mention of ANY inter-radio communication between Waltrip and McDowell from any of the broadcasters on MRN. NONE!

I’ll file this one under another driveby that claimed a few victims, but those victims have fallen for stuff like this before, so I cannot say I am surprised.