Showing posts with label NASCAR. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NASCAR. Show all posts

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Power Ranking Top 10's

Visit - "All World All Sports"

-Digger's Daily-

It's a great time of year to be a sports enthusiast. NCAA Basketball Tournaments. NBA & NHL teams fighting for playoff position. Baseball season soon to be in full swing. NFL teams putting pieces together for another new season. PGA & LPGA swingers tee off. NASCAR burning rubber. All in all, there's something for everyone.

Time to handicap (power rank) major sports top 10 teams.

MLB
1. St. Louis Cardinals (World Series Champions always return as pre-season #1 in All World All Sports polls).
2. Philadelphia Phillies
3. Texas Rangers
4. New York Yankees
5. Detroit Tigers
6. Los Angeles Angels
7. San Francisco Giants
8. Tampa Bay Rays
9. Milwaukee Brewers
10. Atlanta Braves

NBA
1. Chicago Bulls
2. Miami Heat
3. Oklahoma City Thunder
4. San Antonio Spurs
5. LA Lakers
6. Orlando Magic
7. Dallas Mavericks
8. Philadelphia 76ers
9. Indiana Pacers
10. Atlanta Hawks

NFL
1. New York Giants (Super Bowl Champions)
2. Green Bay Packers
3. New England Patriots
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Baltimore Ravens
6. New Orleans Saints
7. San Francisco 49ers
8. Denver Broncos
9. Houston Texans
10. Detroit Lions

NHL
1. St. Louis Blues
2. New York Rangers
3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Pittsburgh Penguins
5. Detroit Red Wings
6. Philadelphia Flyers
7. Nashville Predators
8. Boston Bruins
9. Chicago Blackhawks
10. New Jersey Devils

NASCAR (Sprint Cup Standings - current)
1. Greg Biffle
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr.
4. Tony Stewart
5. Martin Truex Jr.
6. Matt Kenseth
7. Denny Hamlin
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Jimmie Johnson
10. Ryan Newman

Thursday, October 20, 2011

October Random Ramblings

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-Digger's Daily-

Random thoughts evolving from recent events in the sports world.

NBA
Timing couldn't be worse for millionaire crybabies. Players vs owners remain far apart on negotiations. The blame finger points towards everyone involved. It doesn't matter which side you're rooting for - or against. Bottom line is two weeks of games have been wiped out. As these greedy folks attempt ironing out their differences - or finding common ground - the people losing out most are middle America. How many ticket collectors, food vendors, beer sellers, parking lot attendants, maintenance crews, security personnel, ushers, now find themselves out of work? It effects far more than just stadium/arena folks. How about the pizza shop which loses thousands of dollars without fans? Transportation systems? Parking garages? Local cabs? Bus service? Parking meters? Local corner newsstand? Hotels? Restaurants? Air travel? All are taking a direct hit during economic times when the cost of everything - especially lost wages/revenue - soars. It's become a crippling domino effect.

SOMEONE TELL THESE FOLKS TO STOP BICKERING AND GET BACK TO WORK!!!

NFL
Did everyone catch the post-game clip of what transpired between 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh & Lions coach Jim Schwartz ? Wow. Harbaugh's rough handshake/shove of Schwartz nearly caused a bench clearing brawl. Surging SF had just beaten previously undefeated Detroit and Harbaugh seemed to shove Schwartz aside. Schwartz then verbally went after Harbaugh. They soon had to be separated. Players and coaches from both teams were involved trying to keep them apart without starting a melee between themselves too. Quite the spectacle. Catch the YouTube video here

New feud brewing? Rex Ryan vs Norv Turner? Ryan's big mouth was at it again. Ryan has since apologized for dissing Turner over comments made to reporters earlier this week claiming - "Well, I think I would have had a couple of rings," Ryan said. "I'm telling you, those teams were loaded."
Turner's response: "I hadn't seen his quote and I was a little bit surprised by the call," Turner said. "And then after I saw the quote, I didn't have a chance to ask him this, but I was wondering if he had those rings with the ones he's guaranteed (New York) the last couple of years."
These two teams go toe to toe this weekend at MetLife Stadium. It should be a bruising game - and San Diego victory.

MLB
It's World Series time. One game and one unfortunate distinction/record recorded. Texas Rangers starting pitcher CJ Wilson became the first pitcher in Major League history to lose an All Star Game, American League Divisional Playoff game, American League Championship Series game and World Series game all in the same season! That's got to hurt an ego. Don't forget - the American League All Star Game loss meant the National League representative would have World Series home field advantage. Wilson served up a game winning homer to Milwaukee's Prince Fielder meaning St. Louis hosts 4 of 7 games if needed.

Welcome to the show Arthur Rhodes. Rhodes (StL) appeared in his first ever World Series game last night after 900 regular season games. Manager LaRussa summoned Rhodes from the bullpen to get out Texas slugger Josh Hamilton in the 8th inning. Hamilton's been struggling at the plate nagged by a lingering groin injury. Manager Washington (Tx) plans to shift Josh from CF to LF. Rangers need their slugger who looks out of synch due to the groin issue.

It appears Theo Epstein is soon to officially take over GM duties of the Chicago Cubs. He was a main architect of Boston's jinx breaking 2004 World Series winning squad. Can he reverse another curse? Chicago's gone over 100 years without a World Series title. Cubs will be paying a hefty price tag. It's been reported Epstein is set to earn over $15million! You've got to be kidding me? I guess it's desperation - once again - in the Windy City. Theo's hands will be challenged to systematically transform the Cubs into winners. Good luck. While credited with helping Boston win a World Series - he must also be credited with handicapping Boston's payroll for years to come after several bad contracts (John Lackey, Carl Crawford). Cubs already have contract troubles which questions why they're interested in gambling $15million on a GM?

NCAA
Football
Potheads busted! #1 ranked LSU Tigers suspended three players for testing positive for a synthetic type of marijuana in a university administered test. Not cool fellas. These 3 players - cornerbacks Tyrann Mathieu and Tharold Simon and tailback Spencer Ware - will not be forgiven anytime soon if LSU loses this weekend vs rival Auburn. They've let down a lot of people from fellow players, coaches and student body. Exactly how long these 3 will be out of action has yet to be determined. Simpleton's weren't thinking or didn't care.
Basketball
Get ready for regular season NCAA hoops. The first poll of the year was released and North Carolina is the near unanimous #1 pick in the coaches poll (30 of 31 1st place votes). Pretty high praise indeed as experts expect UNC to roll through the regular season after finishing 29-8 a season ago. Defending champion Connecticut and a host of other noteworthy teams set out to prove the pollsters wrong.

NHL
Toronto's Phil Kessel is on fire scoring at least one goal in 4 straight games. He's tallied a league best 7 goals in 5 games along with 5 assists topping the NHL with 12 points.
Washington Capitals off to another fine beginning in 2011-12. Eastern Conference leaders undefeated and untied after 5 games (5-0-0). Western Conference sports Detroit perfect after 4 contests surrendering a league low 5 goals against.
Columbus starting out in the opposite direction losers in all 5 games.

NASCAR (In memorandum)
Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Dan Wheldon was tragically killed Sunday in the IndyCar season finale at Las Vegas. One of racing's good guys leaves this world way too soon. Click link to: In Memory of IZOD IndyCar Series Champion Dan Wheldon. Rest in peace.

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Streaking Teams Highlight Newest Power Rankings

Visit "All World All Sports"

-Digger's Daily-

New Orleans Saints are NFL Champions! Baseball spring training begins this month. NBA, NHL, NCAA races are heating up. Danica Patrick splashed into the NASCAR scene. She'll rev up again this weekend in Daytona. PGA Tour not missing a beat.

Power ranking time. Here's how they look in my book.

NBA
1- LA Lakers (40-13)
2- Cleveland (41-11)
3- Orlando (35-17)
4- Boston (32-17)
5- Utah (31-18)
6- Denver (34-17)
7- Dallas (32-10)
8- Atlanta (32-17)
9- Phoenix (31-21)
10-San Antonio (29-21)

NCAA Men's
1- Kansas (22-1)
2- Syracuse (23-1)
3- Kentucky (22-1)
4- Villanova (20-2)
5- Purdue (19-3)
6- West Virginia (19-3)
7- Duke (19-4)
8- Kansas State (19-4)
9- Tennesee (19-4)
10-Brigham Young (22-3)

NHL
1- Washington (41-12-6)
2- San Jose (39-11-9)
3- Chicago (38-15-5)
4- New Jersey (36-20-2)
5- Vancouver (35-20-2)
6- Phoenix (36-19-5)
7- LA Kings (36-20-3)
8- Pittsburgh (35-22-2)
9- Colorado (33-17-6)
10-Ottawa (33-22-4)

MLB
1- Boston Red Sox
2- Philadelphia Phillies
3- New York Yankees
4- Tampa Bay Rays
5- Los Angeles Dodgers
6- Minnesota Twins
7- Seattle Mariners
8- LA Angels
9- St Louis Cardinals
10-Texas Rangers

NFL (final)
1- New Orleans
2- Indianapolis
3- Minnesota
4- San Diego
5- NY Jets
6- Dallas
7- Green Bay
8- Philadelphia
9- Cincinnati
10-Arizona

Coming soon. Winners & losers during baseball's off-season.

Monday, April 20, 2009

News Makers, Rumors, Champs & More Chumps

Visit All World All Sports

-Digger's Daily-

Another week of sports news made headlines. Plenty to talk about from new ballparks to retiring legends.

GoodNew Yorkers were treated to the unveiling of new baseball stadiums. Yankee Stadium and Citi Field officially opened to tremendous fanfare. Unfortunately, both Yanks & Mets lost their inaugural regular season games.

Florida Marlins (10-1) hot start is turning heads. Florida has baseball's lowest payroll ($36,834,000 vs #1 Yankees $201,449,189). They're a great young team. This organization keeps rolling out baseball's brighest young stars. I've always admired how the Marlins were able to keep winning games year after year considering how they normally trade away star players due to tight budgets.

NBA & NHL Playoffs have begun. Early favorites in hoops seem to be Cleveland and Los Angeles Lakers. On the ice, Boston and San Jose try duplicating their regular season dominance. I'm thinking it'll be Lakers & Bruins as champs.

Rumors
NFL Draft begins this weekend (April 25). Rumors flying on what Detroit (0-16) will do with the leagues first pick? I wouldn't be surprised to see them deal off #1 for more picks which is exactly what this team needs. If they decide to go first, then their front office needs to get it right. Detroit has a young nucleus of players. 0-16 will be etched into the record books forever but these guys are only a couple of players away from becoming playoff challengers. All sorts of fantasy leagues are open for fans to guess how the draft unfolds.

Is it already hot seat time for Yankees Manager Joe Girardi? 2008 was his first year at the helm (replaced Joe Torre) and Yanks failed to make playoffs for the first time since 1994. Baseball's biggest payroll, new stadium, new monster free agents... if it doesn't fall into place soon, he could be MLB's first managing casualty of '09. 22-4 scalping by Indians couldn't have helped.

New York Giants shopping for a wide receiver. Rumors swirling around Cleveland's Blaylon Edwards. Giants need 2 speedsters for Manning. The coming days leading up to the NFL draft will be very interesting for many teams.

Boston Celtics star Kevin Garnett is considering risking returning prematurely from his knee injury. Injuries suck, but KG would be foolish to risk his future. His injury is a great test for the C's to regroup. Many Championships have been won with stars injured on the sidelines.

Champs
The Masters handed out another Green Jacket. Angel Cabrera withstood a furious surge then fadaway by Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to win his first Masters.

NASCAR's Mark Martin won the Subway Fresh Fit 500 in Phoenix (1st win of the season).

Hall of Fame former Oakland Raiders NFL Head Coach turned game commentator John Madden has called it a career after 30 years in the booth. As Raiders head coach, he became the youngest to win 100 regular season games. Retired from coaching due to ulcers after 7 division titles & 1976 Super Bowl victory. One of the most noted broadcasters and launched best selling video game (Madden NFL, EA Sports). I've always been a Madden fan. I'm going to miss is goofy in game comments and 8 legged Thanksgiving Day turkeys.

Chumps
New York Yankees, in their Stadium opening weekend, were embarrassed 22-4 by the Cleveland Indians. The Tribe's 14 run second inning was the most ever scored against the Yanks in a single inning. I'm betting the Joe Girardi stop watch has been set. If things don't get better in a hurry, he'll be gone (soon to be followed by GM Cashman). Their new $1.5-billion Stadium unleashed an MLB record 20 home runs (the most ever during an opening homestand at a new park). Apparent routine fly balls to right kept going and going and going... This can't be what the Yanks brass had in mind. Then again, maybe it was just their horrid pitching staff tossing up meatball after meatball.

New York Mets organization deserves chump status for failing to pay any sort of tribute to team history in new Citi Field. Most fan complaints have been how this new park seems more like a tribute to the Dodgers instead of the home team. Exec GM was lured onto local sports talk radio to field questions of fan concerns only to dig a deeper hole. Tax funded field fails to recognize the team for which it was supposed to be built. It's a mind boggling blunder.

RIP
Harry Kalas, a people's champion, died on April 13th. Kalas was a legend in the Philadelphia area, calling Phillies games since 1971. He was also known as the voice of NFL Films since 1977. There was never mistaking his voice for another.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Power Rankings

Visit All World All Sports


by Digger


NBA & NHL seasons winding down. MLB warming up in Spring Training. NCAA basketball teams fighting to qualify for tournament play. World Baseball Classic set to begin. Tiger Woods returns to golf tour. NASCAR car jockeys fighting for points.


It's time for my power rankings of the top 10 teams in sports.


MLB

1) Chicago Cubs

2) New York Yankees

3) Philadelphia Phillies

4) Los Angeles Angels

5) Tampa Bay Rays

6) Boston Red Sox

7) New York Mets

8) Chicago White Sox

9) Minnesota Twins

10) Los Angeles Dodgers


NBA

1) Los Angeles Lakers

2) Boston Celtics

3) Cleveland Cavaliers

4) Orlando Magic

5) San Antonio Spurs

6) Houston Rockets

7) Denver Nuggets

8) New Orleans Hornets

9) Utah Jazz1

10) Portland Blazers


NHL

1) Boston Bruins

2) San Jose Sharks

3) New Jersey Devils

4) Detriot Red Wings

5) Chicago Black Hawks

6) Washington Capitals

7) Calgary Flames

8) Vancouver Canucks

9) Philadelphia Flyers

10) Montreal Canadiens


NCAA MEN's
1) Connecticut

2) North Carolina

3) Pittsburgh

4) Oklahoma

5) Duke

6) Kansas

7) Michigan State

8) LSU

9) Xavier

10) Louisville


NCAA WOMEN's

1) Connecticut

2) Oklahoma

3) Stanford

4) Maryland

5) Auburn

6) Louisville

7) Baylor

8) Duke

9) North Carolina

10) California


NASCAR

1) Matt Kenseth

2) Kyle Busch

3) Jeff Gordon

4) Clint Boyer

5) Kurt Busch

6) Tony Stewart

7) Brian Vickers

8) David Reutimann

9) Greg Biffle

10) Bobby Labonte


PGA

1) Tiger Woods

2) Geoff Ogilvy

3) Phil Mickelson

4) Vijay Singh

5) Padraig Harrington

6) Sergio Garcia

7) Kenny Perry

8) Ernie Els

9) Jim Furyk

10) Mike Weir