The Lantern Blog

After much outcry from the fans of the sport, NASCAR has decided to implement double-file restarts, starting this weekend at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania.

On the surface, it seems like a fair system.  Lapped cars currently restart on the inside, with the lead-lap cars starting on the outside.  Many times, the cars on the inside do not have enough speed to keep up with the leaders of the race, so it would eliminate a big possibility of a fast car getting stuck behind a much slower car as racing resumes.

According to ESPN, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick were two big proponents of the new change.

One thing that the new rule change does change is the chance for faster lapped cars to get their laps back.  Once a car falls two or three laps behind, it will be much more difficult for the cars to get back onto the lead lap, without a significant amount of cautions and lucky dogs.

What are your thoughts on the new rule change that NASCAR has imposed?

For Cleveland Cavaliers fans, it has not been great since their team was eliminated by the Orlando Magic a few days ago.

However, there has been quite an uproar across the media over LeBron James walking off the court before shaking hands with the Orlando Magic, as well as him not attending the press conference following their elimination.

Credit: GoErie Blogs (goerieblogs.com)

David Stern said today that he has reached out to LeBron James in an attempt to discuss what took place.

LeBron James spoke to the media one day after the loss, and explained how he felt.  He appeared quite upset—which is understandable, because his Cleveland Cavaliers were the top-seeded East team coming into the playoffs.

Do you believe that LeBron James should be punished for his actions?

Manny Ramirez is currently fourth in MLB All-Star voting, and his position in the voting standings among National League outfielders has Manny’s manager, Joe Torre, commenting on the situation.

Credit: ZDNet Blogs

Torre says that if Manny Ramirez is voted into the All-Star Game, he should skip the game.

And it makes sense.  After all, Man-Ram was suspended earlier on in the season for illegal use of performance enhancing drugs.

Torre made it a point to mention that the All-Star Game should be a showcase of the best first half talent, and not a popularity contest.  However, Major League Baseball has set a double-standard for itself.  While the league wants to get the best players they possibly can into the game, they leave it a majority of the decision to the fans, who get a chance to vote their favorites into the game.

Do you think MLB should modify the way they do the All-Star voting?

Dale Earnhardt Jr., who has had a disappointing season to date, has experienced a major change.  His team, Hendrick Motorsports, elected to dismiss crew chief Tony Eury Jr. today.  Lance McGrew will take over in the interim, unless they find another full-time crew chief option.

Credit: Associated Content

Earnhardt Jr., who is 497 points behind the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point leader (teammate Jeff Gordon), has not had impressive results as a whole over the time he has spent with Hendrick Motorsports.  Last season, Earnhardt Jr. finished 12th in the overall point standings—many NASCAR analysts had pinned Earnhardt for a top-ten finish.

McGrew, the replacement crew chief for Earnhardt, has experienced good success in his years in NASCAR.  In 2003, he won a Busch Series championship with a top young driver, Brian Vickers.  He also has assisted rookie driver Brad Keselowski in his transition to the Sprint Cup.  While McGrew has primarily worked with youngsters, it should be interesting to see if Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s results improve as a result of McGrew’s calls in the pits.

Manny Ramirez, the star left fielder for the Los Angeles Dodgers, was handed a 50 game suspension for use of performance enhancing drugs.  Manny’s suspension has had a profound impact all around Major League Baseball, as well as the Dodgers organization and its fans.

Credit: ZDNet Blogs

Manny is one of the biggest stars to be tied to performance enhancing drugs.  Alex Rodriguez, the New York Yankees’ third baseman, also has been accused of using PEDs.  The latest book on Alex Rodriguez, written by Selena Roberts, discusses the possibility that A-Rod may have used PEDs during high school play.

Losing Ramirez is a big hit for the Dodgers’ organization.  Manny has been one of the team’s biggest marketing tools, with some fans and members of the organization referring to LA as “Manny-wood.”  It is going to be interesting to see how Manny’s suspension for PED usage will affect the way the Dodgers go about marketing their team.

How do you think Manny’s suspension will affect baseball in the bigger picture?

Mark Martin, one of NASCAR’s most heralded drivers, has decided to turn his part-time duty in 2010 into a full-time contract.  Driving for arguably the best NASCAR team on the circuit, the 50-year-old Martin has decided that he will race the entire season next year for Hendrick Motorsports.

Credit: RacingOne

This is great for NASCAR and for Martin’s fans.  He is one of the most well-respected drivers in the garage, and will be a real threat to compete for the Chase for the Cup in 2010.

Apparently, Mark Martin had discussed the possibility with former teammate and current Richard Childress Racing Motorsports driver Jeff Burton.  They had a close bond when they raced for Roush Racing in the early 2000’s.

The #5 car has a rich history, and Martin will only carry on that tradition.  Terry Labonte, one of NASCAR’s good guys and solid veterans, drove the car from 1994-2002.  Kyle Busch drove the car as a rookie, and was somewhat successful in the ride.  Casey Mears was brought in for one season to drive the car, but was a bust in what was supposed to be the opportunity of his life.

Only time will tell to see if Mark Martin will find continued success in the #5 car.  How do you think Martin will fare in 2009 and 2010 in the ride?

Just over 18 years ago, Brett Favre was drafted 33rd overall by the Atlanta Falcons. Today, he is considering the addition of another team to his Hall of Fame resume.

Favre and Vikings head coach Brad Childress are planning to meet this week to discuss Favre’s potential future with the team. Last season, the Vikings were lead by Gus Frerotte—now a free agent—to a 10-6 record to win the NFC North. They were knocked off by the Eagles in the first round of the playoffs.

Favre’s ability to turn around the Jets last season is desirable to the Vikings, who would be definite contenders in ’09.

But really, Favre is going through this emotional retirement saga again? In the spring of 2006, we had to wait for him to make a decision about his future following a disappointing 4-12 season.

In January 2008, ESPN covered every tear during his “retirement” press conference, only for him to “itch” for a comeback in June. A movie-like break up between Favre and the Packers landed Favre in New York for the ’08 season.

A week and a half ago the Jets drafted Mark Sanchez, and in turn, they released Favre.  This was because he was set on retirement and wanted to spend more time with his family—they never expected him to come out of retirement again.

No one besides Favre knows if he will last 16 (or more) NFL games, but I know that many career-long Favre fans will side with the future of the Packers, Aaron Rodgers, when the respective teams face off twice next season.

What do you think Favre will end up doing this time?

Brad Keselowski, a NASCAR rookie, was able to win his first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race today.

However, it came at the steep price of a massive crash.

One of the scariest (and craziest) crashes in the past decade took place at Talladega Superspeedway today, when Keselowski spun out race leader Carl Edwards to take the lead.

After Edwards’ car came down, the entire carborator was separated from the front of the car—showing just how much impact the car took when it hit the infield fence.

Two race fans had to be taken to the hospital for medical care, and neither is considered to have serious injuries.

After a crash like that, NASCAR has to be thankful that the infield fence held up.  If the infield fence was not as strong as it was, fans could have easily died due to the flying debris.

Take a look at the YouTube video posted above.  Do you think that NASCAR should implement more safety for their race fans?

Rich Rodriguez, the head football coach for the Michigan Wolverines, is looking a different direction to add much needed quarterback depth for his roster.

Greg Paulus, a former Duke PG, apparently met with Rich Rod to discuss the possibility of playing quarterback for the Wolverines this season.

This is a fairly surprising move, as Paulus has played four years of college basketball at one of the best basketball schools that this country has to offer.  For him to jump right back into football seems a bit far-fetched, at least initally.  Paulus was a top recruit coming out of high school, but chose to play basketball for Coach K.  And who could deny that kind of opportunity?

If this story is indeed true, and Paulus is truly thinking about going to Ann Arbor to lead the maize and blue, then this is a huge story from a recruiting standpoint.

Will Rich Rod start Paulus over top recruits Tate Forcier and Denard Robinson?

Will it end up being a Steven Threet-Nick Sheridan type platoon like last year (we all know how that ended up)?

All in all, this is surprising news to many around the nation this morning.  Hopefully someone can clarify just how serious Paulus is about taking on the QB job.

Today, the 2009 National Football League schedule was released to the public.  For fans of the two Ohio NFL teams, there are some stark differences in the schedules.

For the Cincinnati Bengals, they draw the toughest schedule in the AFC North, according to NFL.com.  The team opens on September 13, 2009 vs. the Denver Broncos.  The next two games are at Green Bay, vs. Pittsburgh, and then a road trip to see the Cleveland Browns for the first time in the season.

Chad Johnson will be able to wear Ocho Cinco on the back of his jersey this season.

It certainly appears off hand that the Cincinnati Bengals got a raw deal for the upcoming season.  The first part of the schedule appears brutal with games vs. Pittsburgh, at Baltimore, and vs. Chicago.

The Cleveland Browns are a different story.  They have the 8th softest schedule in the league, which should help them to improve significantly this year.  They will play one Monday Night Football game this year vs. Baltimore in Week 10.

With the exception of games against San Diego and Pittsburgh, the Browns appear like they could cruise right on through. If they can improve their defense, this team could take a big stride this year.