Nobody in sports wants to hear that 'B' word uttered (cont'd)

Last week I issued a challenge to my frighteningly proactive reading audience. In my previous column I assigned eight famous quotes to eight of the Chase drivers leaving four spots open for fans to fill out the rest (read more). Here are the winners ...

With no disrespect intended, I would submit on behalf of Kyle Busch a Frank Lloyd Wright quote "I feel coming on a strange disease, humility."
-- Mark from New Jersey

I fear that if the same results keep crashing in for Kyle, we could be looking at a full blown epidemic.

"Telling the future by looking at the past assumes that conditions remain constant. This is like driving a car by looking in the rearview mirror." -- Herb Brody

Martin Truex Jr. knew he was the man when the other Junior announced he was leaving. And he hasn't looked in the rearview mirror since ...
-- Terry from Canada

Good point Terry. In fact, the only constant at DEI this year has been blown engines for the 8 team.

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." -- Helen Keller

To say that Carl Edwards has had a bad couple weeks is a mild statement. During these trying times instead of acting like a big baby he sucks it up and moves forward.
-- Paula from California

As much is written and said about Carl Edwards, I'm guessing this is the first time he's been linked to Helen Keller. Thanks for that Paula.

"Problems worthy of attack prove their worth by hitting back" -- Piet Hein
-- Bev from Vancouver, B.C.

Kurt hit back by moving up two positions in the Chase this week, but he still might have too much ground to make up considering the group of talent in front of him.

And finally, my favorite quote of the week, and the overall winner, is applied to Kyle Busch again (there were too many to choose from on the Busch brothers.)

The best quote I can come up with for Kyle Busch is what my grandfather used to say:

"Life is like getting up to bat in baseball; sometimes you get balls, sometimes strikes. Today we got hit by a pitch." -- Thomas Bonavita Sr.
-- Thomas Bonavita III from parts unknown

I have a special place in my heart for grandfather comments so I'll add to this comments from my own grandfather, Hugh Estes, and apply them to the sight of Kyle Busch's wrecked car at 'Dega: "Looks like he about got the good out of that one."

The Real Champion
I hope any and all Jeff Gordon doubters were put to bed over the weekend as he yawned his way to Victory Lane in Talladega. This season belongs to the 24 team. Crown whoever you like and chase Jeff right out of a championship if you prefer, but I know the truth -- I know who The Real Champion is.

However, one interesting storyline that I'll continue to follow is Hendrick's chase for the best season by win percentage for an owner in the modern era. Hendrick's guys will need to win four of the last six races to rewrite the history books. Now that is a Chase I can get into.

Here are the cold, harsh numbers revealing Jeff Gordon's truly awesome domination of the entire 2007 season.

Chat Room Chatter
This week I was off covering the baseball playoffs for TBS Hot Corner so I had the chance to see the chat room from afar. It's interesting to view the comments of a race that you watched as a fan, rather than worked as a broadcaster. Below is one I particularly appreciate ...

1st half of race was absolutely boring!
-- Lynn from Minneapolis, Minn.

I rarely find entire races boring and that certainly wasn't the case for the race of last weekend. However, I'd up Lynn's total to say that all but about the last 25 laps were a snoozer. Also, I'm glad to see the driver and fans in step on this one. Now the onus is on NASCAR to make the improvements in order to continue entertaining its legions of fans. Remember, that is what this is all about. If you, the fans, aren't entertained then the show is over.

As a footnote to this, I counted up the total number of uses of the word "boring" in the JD Post Race Show chat. Twenty-seven times "boring" was cited and that does not include "bored" or "bore" or any other synonyms.

I will go on record as guaranteeing NASCAR fixes this issue before the 50th running of Daytona.

Finally, as we head to Charlotte, I'll be interested to see if Clint Bowyer can hang in there and continue to make this a three-horse race. He survived his theater of nightmares in Alabama and currently stands as the one driver who can interrupt a pas de deux between Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

Enjoy the race.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.