My favorite driver was haing a few issues with the car and he started to fade at the end, but he was involved in a late race wreck and he finished 15th out of 21 cars when he bump drafted the #19 Dodge (driven by Elliot Sadler) causing him to get loose and he was hit by the #11 car (driven by Denny Hamlin) and that put him into the wall right in front of Dale Earnhardt Jr. (my favorite driver) which collected Junior causing him to spinout.

Fortunately for Dale Jr. that was not the same car he was going to be racing in the Daytona 500 next week or in qualifying for the Daytona 500 coming up later today. The team had two completely different cars ready for this weekends festivities so him wrecking the car last night will not impact his qualifying for the big race coming up next week.

Jeff Gordon’s night ended early when his motor just shutoff on him and he went straight to the garage area and was done for the night. Most of the commentators in television booth were speculating the Jeff Grodon may have hit the engine kill switch by accident and it shut the motor off. I think he hit it on purpose when he saw that he was being out gunned on the track and didn’t want to embarrass himself.   Sorry Don, I couldn’t resist.

It all officially starts today with qualifying for the kickoff race to the 2007 NASCAR season and good luck to all of the 61 cars that are attempting to qualify for the big race next Sunday, but only 43 cars will make it to the big show.

My prediction for the winner of the Daytona 500 will be the exact same it has been since he first broke in the NASCAR Cup Series back in 2000; Dale Earnhardt Jr. in shiny red #8 Budweiser Chevy Monte Carlo SS.

Peyton Manning was voted the MVP of Super Bowl 41 and he got a shiny new red Cadillac. Despite throwing a couple of picks, he still had a very strong game against a very strong Bears defense.

Maybe now Peyton Manning will finally get the recognition he has earned throughout his career. Unfortunately, he has been overshadowed by the media fawning over the much overated Tom Brady just because the Patriots won a couple of Super Bowls.

My prediction of the score was a little off, but I still had the winner of the game correct.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE INDIANAPOLIS COLTS !!!!!!  2006 SUPER BOWL CHAMPIONS

In my opinion the game will come down to Peyton Manning and the Colts offense against Chicago’s formitable defense. If the Bears defense can contain the Colts high powered offense they will not have to rely on their sorry offense, led by Rex Grossman.

I predict Peyton Manning will finally get his Super Bowl ring and that will give him the recognition that he deserves. Despite all his accomplishments, Manning has been playing second fiddle to Tom Brady in the eyes of most of the sports media elite. Now that Manning has made it to the SB all he needs to do is win the game and he will finally get the much deserve accolades.

The sports media have been fawning over Tom Brady ever since he got to New England and walked into a dream situation. The Patriots have had one of the best defenses over the past 6 years that he has been in New England and al;l he had to do is make sure he didn’t screw it up. Instead of giving the credit where it belonged, the media gave it all to Brady and Belichick.

I am sure my last paragraph will not sit well with all of the Tom Brady lovers, but who cares, they will get over.

Super Bowl Prediction: Indianapolis Colts 35 and Chicago Bears 10

It was the news I was hoping never would come, but I knew it would be his ultimate decision. He was just too good of a player to pass up his shot at the NFL. In just three short seasons with the University of Oklahoma he was within 80 yards of becoming the leading rusher in the history of OU. That was no small feat, especially when the leading rusher was Heisman Trophy winner Billy Sims and he did it in 4 years at OU. Since he is leaving early he will finish third on the all time rushing list at OU with 40041 yards which puts him behind Billy Sims (4118 yards) and Joe Washington (4071).

Anyone that has seen Peterson play will understand why he is projected to have a excellent career in the NFL, he is an explosive and powerful runner. He is also 6′2" and over 200 lb. and has sprinter speed with terrific balance for someone his height.

The only negative that can be said is that he has had a few injuries (shoulder separation, broken collar bone) and that will be scrutinized by the NFL teams.

As far a talent goes, he is excellent runner and blocker, but he hasn’t developed the skills at receiving and that will be a limitation.

I wish Adrian Peterson all the luck and success in the NFL, but as a OU fan I would have liked to see him finish up his college career and graduate before going to the NFL.

The Colts, Saints, Bears and Chargers all clinched their respective divisions and the Bears have clinched homefield advantage throughout the playoffs. The Patriots and the Seahawks are still alive in the divisional races and it will depend on the last two games.

The Wild Card spots are still wide open, but there are two teams that are front runners for the NFC Wild Card and AFC Wild Card spots. As of today, the Eagles and the Giants are the front runners for the NFC and for the AFC it is Bengals and the Jaguars. But the list of teams that could over take them is quite long.

I have caught only a few games on the radio this season and I have my favorite and least favorite teams that I would like to see make it to the Super Bowl; The Colts being my favorite and the Patriots being my least favorite and as of right now the Patriots haven’t made it.

If I had to make a prediction now, I would say the Chicago Bears and San Deigo Chargers will be facing each other in the Super Bowl.

As expected Troy Smith of Ohio State was announced as this years Heisman Trophy wiiner at the Downtown Athletic Club in New York City. The more surprising part of the voting was that Brady Quinn of Notre Dame finished a distant 3rd behind RB Darren McFadden. Most of the experts were sure that Brady Quinn would be runner up, but I guess what do the experts know anyways.

By all accounts Troy Smith had great season and his team is playing for the National Championship against Florida and that in most years would be enough to satisfy most people that he should be the obvious choice. I guess that is what the voters were thinking when he won the Heisman voting by the widest margin in the history of the trophy.  

For the fourth time since joining the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series in 2000, Dale Earnhardt Jr. has won the title of Most Popular Driver. I would much rather see him win a championship, but he is pretty proud that he is well liked by the NASCAR fans. It really isn’t hard to tell that he is a fan favorite, one only needs to watch the race broadcasts and listen to the fan reactions when he is introduced during driver introductions. He is generally the driver with the most applause no matter what track they are at.

Many people had some pretty high expectations of Dale Jr. when he moved up to the elite NASCAR series after winning back to back Busch Series championships and those same people feel that he hasn’t lived up to that hype. Well, just because he hasn’t won a championship doesn’t mean hasn’t had success. Afterall, he has 17 wins and has finished in the Top 10 in points four times, including 2 third place finishes.

I fully expect Dale Jr and the #8 Budweiser team to continue to build on the success they had this year since being reunited with his cousin Tony Eury Jr. as crew chief. I fully expect more wins and possibly a championships win come in the next few years.

The real story was the Sooner secondary that covered the Nebraska receivers all game long and never really let them make any big plays. They also picked off Nebraska QB Zac Taylor 3 times, twice to stop Nebraska from scoring deep in OU territory.

Paul Thompson proved many of the critics wrong and played far better than most people expected and led the Sooners to an 11-2 record and Big 12 Championship. I remember when it was reported that Rhett Bomar was kicked off the team just before fall practice was about to start and coach Stoops went to 5th year senior Paul Thompson and asked him to move back to QB from wide receiver. After a little thought about it, he decided to step up and lead the Sooners. All he did was lead his team to an 11-2 record including the debacle with Oregon and ended with a Big 12 title and an automatic bid to a BCS bowl game (Fiesta Bowl)

The Sooners will be without superstar runningback Adrian Peterson again due to the broken collarbone he suffered 6 weeks ago. Fortunately for the Sooners his backups have stepped up and have actually exceeded the yardage output as a group. Second string runningback Alan Patrick has electrified the crowd on more than one ocassion with his power running style and speed when he breaks to the outside. Things looked bleak when Alan Patrick injured his ankle and missed a couple of games and he was backed up by fourth string and rookie Chris Brown. Chris Brown who was supposed to redshirt this season and battle for ther starting job with Alan Patrick, had to come in when Patrick was injured. Chris Brown had two spectacular games in place of Alan Patrick.

Unfortunately, the weather is going to be a huge factor in the game and hopefully it will benefit the Sooners power running game. The Big 12 Championship game is being played at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, MO the home of NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs. The snow has cleared out, the temperature at game time is expect to be around 25 degrees and a little breezy.

Hopefully the Sooners will hold on to the ball this week, unlike the way they have been the past few games (11 fumbles in the past three games).

I predict the Sooners will win in a close game 24-21.

The Sooners relied heavily on the run in this game and they were not disappointed, Alan Patrick returned to the lineup after missing a couple of games due to a foot injury. He had a great game including a 65 yard touchdown and had a total of 163 yards on 23 carries and freshman Chris Brown who played the two games that Patrick missed had 74 yards on 19 carries and two td’s.

Paul Thompson had an efficient game at QB (7/11 for 77 yards and 1 td.) and he guided the Sooners on long drives that ate up the clock.

With this win, their 10th of year the Sooners won the Big 12 South and will play Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship and an automatic BCS bowl game.