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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
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ENlGary Harmon
The Seahawks cheerleader’s break it down after a Seahawks touchdown.
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ENI Gary Harmon
Treyvon Mitchell for the Seahawks prepares to hit Jaydon Norman of the Rough Riders
as he runs around the end.
Chase mishaps unfortunate but part of the game
The fans want jus
tice. Those who wear
Budweiser red and
Lowe’s royal blue or cover
their Mark Martin-shaded
hair with a No. 6 cap.
Their guy, be it Dale
Earnhardt Jr., Jimmie
Johnson or Martin, should be
in the thick of the NASCAR
Chase for the Nextel Cup.
And he is not, through no
fault of his own.
The fans want new rules.
The fans want a car
pool-like lane on the track
reserved for Chase drivers.
Some, mostly the
Earnhardt crowd, even want
blood.
But justice ain’t cornin’,
nor should it.
Because as frustrating as
it is to see Earnhardt Jr. and
Johnson spun out on the last
lap while leading or Martin
clipped by some rookie try
ing to pit while the white
haired veteran is running in
the top-10, NASCAR can’t
tell the 33 non-Chase driv
ers to “git out the way!”
They’d like to. We’d all
like to.
Brian Vickers’ hit-and
run victory at Talladega two
races ago cost Earnhardt
Fans can vote for 25 greatest NASCAR Busch Series drivers
Special to the Journal
In recognition of the 25th
anniversary of the NASCAR
Busch Series and its asso
ciation with series sponsor
Anheuser-Busch, fans and
media can select the “25
Greatest NASCAR Busch
Series Drivers” via on-line
polls available starting
today on NASCAR.COM and
NASCARMedia.com.
Forty-one drivers are listed
among the nominees. Fans
and media can vote for 25
Jr. as least 76 points and
Johnson a minimum of 79.
Both would be within 60
points of the leader with five
races to go.
And J.J. Yeley’s decision to
dive for the pits while Martin
went by him Saturday night
in Charlotte cost Martin 72
points.
And that’s
assum
ing he
finished
sixth,
where he
was run
ning at the
time of the
accident.
Martin’s
car
appeared
Adam Van
Brimmer
Columnist
Morris News Service
good enough to challenge
winner Kasey Kahne for the
victory.
NASCAR’s perennial
bridesmaid - four runner
up championship finishes
- would be riding leader Jeff
Burton’s bumper instead of
lamenting his luck.
“It wasn’t meant to
be,” Martin told reporters
Saturday night. “If it was, I
would already have a Cup.”
Yet that, as they say, is
drivers including one write
in nominee.
One vote per fan or media
member.
Drivers with at least one
NASCAR Busch Series
championship were auto
matically included among
the nominees. Other criteria
utilized to create the list of
nominees included:
■ A minimum of 150
starts.
■ Percentages of wins ver
sus starts, top fives versus
starts and top 10s versus
Weekend warriors
racin’. Accidents happen
and they happen fast at 175
mph. Yeley wasn’t trying to
wreck Martin, and Vickers
certainly didn’t take out
one of his own teammates,
Johnson, intentionally at
Talladega.
The only thing at fault
in those crashes is the sys
tem. Ten guys are racing for
points, while the other 33
want to win. When a play
off system contains three
times as many also-rans as
contenders, some would-be
champs will fall victim to
bad luck.
The drivers can only police
themselves in this situation,
and that hasn’t happened
in the Cup series since Dale
Earnhardt was killed in a
crash five years ago.
With a few exceptions,
they don’t respect each
other. There is little give and
plenty of take.
Only the Johnson faith
ful felt bitter about their
driver’s wreck at Talladega.
No driver has triggered
more superspeedway contro
versy in recent years than
Johnson.
He and Earnhardt Jr. were
involved in a multi-car wreck
starts.
“These polls are a great way
for our fans and media mem
bers to express their opinions
on who they feel the greatest
NASCAR Busch Series driv
ers were and are,” said Jim
Hunter, Vice President of
Corporate Communications
for NASCAR.
“The series has such a
long and storied history and
to select only 25 drivers will
be a tough task. We look for
ward to the results.”
The polls will be avail
SPORTS
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ENI Gary Harmon
Jaydon Norman of the Rough Riders is met head on by Jacquez Jackson of the
Seahawks in Saturday’s game at Tanner Field in Warner Robins.
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ENI/Gary Harmon
The Roughriders cheerleaders cheer for their fans at half time.
at Talladega last spring and
Johnson and Tony Stewart
traded paint in the 2005
Daytona 500.
Some would consider
Johnson’s spin and 24th
place finish at Talladega last
week - a race he wins if not
for Vickers’ bump - justice.
The rest of the mob should
keep the Chase in perspec
tive.
Five races remain, and no
Chase driver is immune to
mishaps. Sure, the points
leader after Charlotte has
gone on to win the Chase the
last two years.
But Burton, second
place driver Matt Kenseth
and third-place man Kevin
Harvick are as wary as the
rest of the Chasers.
You can’t drive defensively
out there, and those already
stung by misfortune might
be better off: They can just
relax and enjoy the race.
Fans would be wise to do
the same.
Adam Van Brimmer is
an Atlanta-based writer
for Morris News Service.
E-mail him at adam.
uanbrimmer@morris.com or
telephone him at 404-589-
8424.
able through Nov. 12 fol
lowing the NASCAR Busch
Series Arizona Travel 200
at Phoenix International
Raceway.
The results of each poll
will be announced during
the final week of the sea
son when Kevin Harvick is
officially crowned the 2006
NASCAR Busch Series
champion at Homestead-
Miami Speedway.
Harvick clinched the title
last Friday night at Lowe’s
Motor Speedway.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 18, 2006 ♦
Falcons focused on
quick fix to run defense
By Adam Van Brimmer
Morris News Service
ATLANTA _ The tape is
being logged and cataloged
by 30 NFL teams this week,
and Falcons linebacker
Keith Brooking knows it.
The New York Giants
found the soft spot of the
NFL’s third-best rush
ing defense Sunday at the
Georgia Dome. The Giants
rushed for 259 yards using a
leather-helmeted approach
_ by blocking the run-stop
ping nose tackle, handing
it to a workhorse tailback
and running it hard right
at the defense.
“We will get if fixed,”
Brooking said. “We have to
get it fixed.”
The repairs must be done
quickly by the 3-2 Falcons.
The Pittsburgh Steelers
visit Atlanta on Sunday,
and they may possess the
most blue-collar offense in
the NFL.
Tailback Willie Parker
lacks the girth of recently
retired Steeler battering
ram Jerome Bettis, but he
still averages better than
four yards a carry behind a
physical offensive line.
And Parker, a speedster,
will scoot through holes
up front faster than the
Giants’ Tiki Barber did.
Barber rushed for 185
yards.
The Falcons’ health
will determine their effec
tiveness Sunday. Atlanta
played most of the second
half against the Giants
without defensive tackle
Rod Coleman and defen
sive ends Patrick Kerney
and John Abraham.
All three will likely be
listed as questionable on
the injury report for the
Pittsburgh game.
Coleman bruised a toe on
New York’s first touchdown
drive of the second half
and missed several series
before returning. Kerney
suffered a hamstring strain
in the third quarter and
did not return. Abraham
left the game as a precau
tion when his injured groin
which sidelined him for
the previous three games _
tightened up on him.
“Those are three guys we
have to have playing for
us to perform,” Mora said.
“All three of them are Pro
Bowlers. You take three
Pro Bowlers off your line,
you’re going to have a fall
off.”
That trio’s absence left
Atlanta with five defensive
linemen. And with New
York’s offense controlling
the ball for 18 minutes, 33
seconds of the game’s final
27 minutes, fatigue became
a factor.
But the defensive line
can’t take all the blame,
safety Chris Crocker said.
Barber averaged 7.1 yards
a carry with a long of 29,
and his ability to break
tackles _ or Atlanta’s
inability to make them
resulted in many drive
extending runs.
Barber had runs of 29,
16, 9, 13 and 17 yards and
a 16-yard gain on a screen
pass during the Giants’
three second-half touch
down drives.
“We didn’t tackle well,”
Crocker said. “We had
opportunities to stop them
and put them in long
yardage situations and we
didn’t take advantage of it.
It came down to tackling,
and we had a difficult time
taking that guy down.”
Like Brooking, Crocker
expressed confidence the
Falcons’ defense will shore
up their run defense.
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