His meltdown after the Iowa State game notwithstanding, Mike Sanford is a gentleman and a class act. It's unfortunate he wasn't able to achieve success on the field at UNLV but he represented the university well and, for the most part, his players stayed out of trouble off the field and graduated.

Is it true that NASCAR is going to expand the "Chase" field next year to 25 drivers so that Junior is guaranteed to be included?

I certainly hope NASCAR puts more thought into this than they did the COT. Brian France and Mike Helton like to talk about "unintended consequences" whenever the subject of change comes up but they didn't take that into consideration when they launched the smoldering pile that is the COT.

Hey Rebinreno: NASCAR MUST matter for you to take the time to look at this blog and then expend the effort to post a comment. Go back to roping goats or whatever it is you people do in Reno.

Don't you think the Cup racers would have a little more control over their cars than the nitwits that populate the bottom half (two-thirds?) of a Nationwide Series race?

I'm all for rain tires in Cup.

To quote Sheriff Buford T. Justice of Portague County (a.k.a. the late, great Jackie Gleason):

"There's no way -- no way -- that you came from my loins."

I find it amusing that Kyle Busch has been saying the same thing about the new car since its debut and the media (largely) has ignored it. But as soon as Junior pipes up, the media falls all over itself running to their laptops to pound out their little stories because The Chosen One has spoken.

Shortening races, breaking races into segments and adding transfer spots are sure ways to drive off the hard-core fans. It's OK for the all-star race, which is once a year, but true fans wouldn't put up with that nonsense.

NASCAR needs to stick with and/or get back to its roots instead of trying to cater to those with ADD who can't sit through a 500-mile race. What's next? Shorten major league baseball games to 6 innings?

OK, thanks for checking.

There must have been some TV of the game because I saw one of the Las Vegas channels ran highlights. I don't know why the 51s couldn't have used that feed -- it certainly wouldn't have cost them &75,000 if the other station was already televising the game. Maybe the 51s are saving up for their next Beach Towel Night.

I enjoyed reading your dispatches from Wrigley.

Oops! I meant the 51s. Sorry about that ... old habits die hard.