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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL |gMM|j, * - \ ■ iKI amJmm Jfjji*^ // ®B| v tT\p^m^Mw& 4BrJBLt “ J JJS » y jp-*' t * w iff -- - rz —‘-* *" mg W ■<BHr •.* ■■ IHr > i>s ' ~ -^WT-, ; • "pSBTft m "ifte —•■■ • JranHnw *lhßb > ; . JF_ ? v SB) - ENlGary Harmon The Seahawks cheerleader’s break it down after a Seahawks touchdown. r PiriNiPSMßfc P Jl 161111 J&* flßfc p *gM|- i IbßßK.lj|»fifi| jgggr^^^BHßKL. 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 " M-l. ***■ Jm* .iy ■ Jf Jump _■ %kM i %jyy| 4 H If * ill mtf iTr’ --In'i IRPWI W Il H" BMW ill h<H I" ll I i ■ I IMI ili - t - ---* - *•.»•-» ~ .._ 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. .■'’*“ 4" - v •" ’ ‘ -, ~.-»_ ■. . "- ( . ~ -* _. ... >, K> ' j,^ ■ •■**' ■ __*' jS/M > w a iHKSM ,n r' ir# “ « <k# Jfl . . ~ - M ..... Z2j H» w ■ ■■ - ■• 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. 6B