Jeff Fisher Interview……..Sunday Sports Extra
Got a chance to sit down with Jeff Fisher today. We talked about past, present, and future. You can listen to a part of the interview on recent videos. We’ll run the entire interview Sunday night on Sports Extra. The coach says he’s taken one day off since the season ended. That’s life in the NFL. You wanna win a Super Bowl you gotta work overtime. In our interview the coach gave me insight as to what the team needs to do to get back to the Super Bowl. He also talks about the departure of Floyd Reese. I hope you get a chance to see it Sunday on Sports Extra after the Super Bowl.
Love the Colts travel plans……….
I am sitting here preparing our 6pm sportscast. Off to my left is a tv with ESPN on. On the tv is the Indianapolis Colts boarding a bus in Indianapolis and then headed to the airport for a trip to Miami and the Super Bowl. They will arrive in Miami around 6:30pm Central. They Bears have been there since Sunday afternoon. Many media members are moaning and groaning about the Colts late arrival. They say it effects their deadlines which directly hurts their subrscribers……….HORSE PUCKEY!
What this really effects is dinner plans for the thousands of writers covering the Super Bowl. Been there done that, know what you’re complaining about. All media must remember this is a football game and we all have a job to do. Enough of the complaining………..
What I really like about the Colts late arrival (the latest ever for a bye week Super Bowl) is that they are showing the world how serious they are about this game. The Bears have been in Miami for over 24 hours and are probably itching for the Colts to arrive so they aren’t the only team dealing with the media. Give the Colts a point for out-smarting the Bears on distractions.
When would you take your team to Super Bowl. I’d do what the Colts are doing. The later, the better.
Snedeker no longer, sneakinger up…
Ok, the title is a bit of a reach but former Vandy golfer Brandt Snedeker is on top of the golfing world, at least right now. After two days of the Buick Invitational, he is leading. A 3 shot lead heading into the weekend is pretty good when Tiger Woods and Phil Mickleson are chasing you.
Now We all know it doesn’t mean a thing if you don’t win, but in golf it is a little bit different. One day leading, beginner’s luck? Two days, you are doing something right.
And even if he doesn’t win, that is ok, because for 2 days, he was all the talk and had everyone chasing him. Even finishing 10th in a PGA event, you are still going to make bank, so it will be ok.
Brandt had been making his way on the Nationwide tour, which is like AAA baseball or NFL Europe. You are good, but not good enough. All Brandt needed was a break and look at him. If you don’t think a hero can be made in 72 holes of golf, just remember what John Daly did back in 1991 at the PGA championship. No one, I mean no one, heard of this guy, and he shows up and wins the tournament.
You go Brandt, a lot of people will be watching you this weekend.
Vandy will be dancing in March………
Time to step out on a limb, go on the record and say that Vanderbilt will make the NCAA Tournament field. There second straight SEC road win Wednesday improves their overall record to 14-6 and 4-2 in the SEC. I know there is a long way to go, but you don’t get lucky and win two straight on the road at Kentucky and LSU. This team is a bonified NCAA Tournament team that is far removed from their loss to Furman back in November.
What are your thoughts on Vandy? Will they make the tournament?
You can’t spell idiot without a T and an O. Name a bigger fool.
Terrell Owens is well on his way to going down as the most talented idiot in NFL history. Owens bad mouthed Bill Parcells after Parcells announced his retirement Monday. Owens once again said he should have gotten the ball more. However, he did not mention anything about his league leading 18 drops (what a shock). This guys track record speaks for itself. He did the same thing in SF and Philly. It’s only a matter time before he blows himself out of Dallas. There are so many stupid things Owens has said but for my money his best line ever is “I love me some me”. That’s all you need to know about this guy.
Who’s the biggest idiot in your professional athlete book? Anybody bigger than T.O.?
INSTANT CLASSIC!!! BYE BYE MONKEY!
If you didn’t get a chance to see the AFC Championship game to the end, you missed one of the greatest championship games ever! When you add the Peyton Manning factor it didn’t get any better. Love him or loath him he finally got the “can’t win the big game” tag removed.
Now here’s the big question………. What if the Colts don’t beat the Bears in Super Bowl XLI? Will his status shift into reverse and go back to “can’t win the big game Peyton”? I don’t think so. But I also don’t think the Colts will lose to the Bears.
Your thoughts?
VANDERBILT TAKES DOWN KENTUCKY
The Vanderbilt Commodores are coming together at the right time and clicking on all cylinders against top-notched competition. The Dores are in a stretch of 5 games where they will face 4 teams ranked inside the top 25. So far Vandy has knocked off #10 ranked Alabama and #25th ranked Kentucky today.
Right now Kevin Stallings guys are answering their critics, but where has this team been. Vanderbilt is 13-6 overall and 3-2 in the SEC. This team could easily be 13-3 and 4-1 in the SEC, but they haven’t played as a complete team in a number of games this season. The Dores are earning respect and notching wins against big time opponets. Wins that should help them get into the tournament if they can keep it up.
Vanderbilt says they are taking it one game at time, that next game is a trip to LSU, followed by a home game against Ole Miss, then a trip to Gainesville to do battle against the nations top ranked Florida Gators.
…….Just One….
It is hard to believe that the top team in the NHL, the Preds are only sending one person to play in the all-star game. You think the guys would be upset right? Wrong.
Almost every Pred players says, oh well, to only one of their teammates getting selected. They say, the real goal is to win the Stanley Cup and not getting any respect, they could care less.
Barry Trotz said the further under the radar they are the better because that just fits into the Preds M.O. and that is fine with the whole team.
Trotz is headed to be an assistant coach on the team, something he said 10 years ago, he could have only dreamt about.
Word is that the game Saturday night is a sellout, the first one in a long time. Well deserved too and it will be loud at the GEC.
SHORT TERM MEMORY…..PREDS REBOUND
A night after dropping a tough one to division rival Detroit, the Preds answer with a 4-0 win over Columbus. The win puts Preds four points ahead of the Red Wings who were idle Thursday. Up next, the Preds host Chicago Saturday night at 7pm.
We’ve come to know the Preds as a very good team. Very good teams don’t let losses bother them. The Preds took care of business tonight.
Oh, and by the way,,,,,,,,,,the Ducks lost tonight. That means the Preds lead the NHL in points for the first time in franchise history.
Benny Parsons 1941-2007
Benny Parsons made a career of beating the odds, rising up from a childhood of poverty in the North Carolina foothills to a job as a Detroit cabbie, and eventually, becoming a NASCAR champion.
When he was diagnosed with lung cancer, Parsons had every reason to believe he would beat that, too. But despite a battle that saw “BP” carrying an oxygen tank around the race track, Parsons couldn’t win this fight.
He died Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C., where he had been hospitalized since Dec. 26 because of complications from his treatment. He was 65.
“Benny Parsons was a true champion _ both on the race track and in life,” NASCAR chairman Brian France said. “Benny loved our sport and the people that make it up and those people loved him. He will be remembered as being a great ambassador for the sport.”
The 1973 NASCAR champion, Parsons was a member of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers and a lovable fixture at the track. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles. He was the first Cup competitor to qualify for a race faster than 200 mph, going 200.176 mph at the 1982 Winston 500 at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway.
He retired from racing in 1988 and entered broadcasting, where his folksy style and straight-shooting manner endeared him to fans and drivers. Sometimes referred to as “The Professor” because of his relaxed ability to deliver information, Parsons spent the past six years as an NBC and TNT commentator and continued to call races from the booth during his treatment.
“When you talked to him he brought out the human element,” said Michael Waltrip, who tested this week at Daytona International Speedway in a car that had “We Love You, BP” painted on the side.
Parsons was diagnosed with cancer in his left lung in July. Parsons, who quit smoking in 1978, underwent chemotherapy and radiation treatments and was declared cancer-free in October. But the treatment cost Parsons the use of his left lung, and he was hospitalized last month when doctors found a blood clot in his right lung. He was placed in an induced-coma.
Known throughout NASCAR as “BP,” Parsons hosted a weekly radio program and kept fans updated on his condition in a blog on his Web site.
“As my radiation oncologist told me today, John Wayne lived and had a great career with one lung. There is no reason why I can’t do the same.” Parsons said in a Dec. 18 entry after learning of the damage to his left lung.
“If given a choice between cancer or losing a lung I would say that I got the right end of the deal,” he added.
That feisty spirit was one of Parsons’ trademarks, carrying him from a poor childhood in Wilkes County, N.C., to a job driving taxis and then to the top of NASCAR. Long after his retirement, he was a popular figure with the fans and driving community.
“Benny Parsons was the kindest, sweetest, most considerate person I have ever known,” said Darrell Waltrip, a three-time NASCAR champion. “He was almost too nice to be a race car driver, and I say that as a compliment. In my 30 odd years of racing Benny Parsons, I never knew of anyone being mad at Benny.”
Parsons was always on the lookout for new talent, and proved to have a keen eye when he discovered Greg Biffle and urged car owner Jack Roush to hire him sight unseen. Biffle went on to win championships in NASCAR’s Truck and Busch Series and is now a top Nextel Cup driver.
“It’s obvious he’s the only reason why I am here in this sport,” Biffle said. “I would still be in Washington racing local stuff if not for BP.”
Parsons’ death comes eight days after former Truck Series champion Bobby Hamilton lost his battle with cancer.
Born July 12, 1941 at a rural home that lacked running water and electricity, Parsons was raised by his great-grandmother near the community called Parsonsville. He eventually moved to Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. After winning ARCA titles in 1968-69, he returned to North Carolina in Ellerbe to become a full-time racer, often listing “taxicab driver” as his occupation on entry forms.
Parsons made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He ended his career with 283 top-10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million.
His 1973 championship season was built on endurance and consistency: He won only one of the 28 races that season while second-place finisher Cale Yarborough won four times and David Pearson won 11. But Parsons finished the most miles that year to claim the crown.
Most Top-10 Finishes:
Cup Series, 1971-1985
Driver Top-10s
Richard Petty 320
Bobby Allison 297
Benny Parsons 243
Darrell Waltrip 239
Cale Yarborough 220
He was honored as one of NASCAR’s 50 greatest drivers in 1998, and was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994. He was inducted into the National Motorsports Press Association’s Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.
Parsons began broadcasting in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst in his first season in the booth. He also created the popular ESPN segment “Buffet Benny” on food available at race tracks.
Survivors include wife Terri, sons Kevin and Keith, a former sports writer for The Associated Press, and two granddaughters. Parsons was preceded in death by his first wife, Connie.
AP
YOUR THOUGHTS ON THE 1973 NASCAR CHAMPION
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