Michael Andretti is taking over as promoter of the struggling Milwaukee Mile IndyCar race, and he knows he won't have the mainstream appeal of Danica Patrick to help bring fans back to the track.
Andretti says that's fine. He insists the series is better off in some respects without her. With Patrick in IndyCar, Andretti said, ''It became all about her. Even our racing was secondary.''
Andretti went out of his way to make it clear that his comments weren't meant as a criticism of Patrick, but rather the amount of media attention she receives - leaving other drivers undiscovered. Patrick has left IndyCar and will concentrate full time on her NASCAR career this season.
Andretti's marketing company is promoting the Milwaukee IndyFest, which will be held June 15-16.
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Thursday, March 1, 2012
Italy vs. USA: First Victory over Italy Perfect for New Coach Jurgen Klinsmann
The United States men's national soccer team beat Italy 1-0 on Wednesday, marking the first time that team USA has ever defeated the Azzurri and an excellent start to the Jurgen Klinsmann era.
This win is a sign of great things to come, even if it was just a friendly match. Clint Dempsey scored in the 55th minute, which was all team USA needed to get it's first victory over Italy in 11 games over 78 years.
What's even more remarkable is that this amazing win occurred without Landon Donovan, who is arguably team USA's best player.
As for Klinsmann, he knew he had to turn the team around and make them believe in winning big when he took the job. Beating Italy was a great start, and team USA is now headed for winning ways.
After the match, Klinsmann said via CBS News that the historic win was a huge step for USA soccer.
"It's historic for us beating a team of Italy's level," Klinsmann said. "If you beat Italy on their own soil then that means a lot. ... Obviously as a coach you're pleased because you see them progressing, you see young players stepping up and playing against these amazing, experienced Italian players who have won the World Cup and played big tournaments year in and year out. Obviously it was a big step for us."
Since taking over as head coach, Klinsmann has a 5-4 win/loss record. However, taking down Italy really brings home the excitement.
Had team USA lost, it would have been another setback. With Klinsmann calling the shots, this team had to start doing big things. A loss would have meant they're not where they need to be.
A blowout would have been stellar, but a close victory is just fine. It shows that USA soccer is on the rise, and teams around the world need to watch out.
Considering how strong other teams are, they may not fear the Americans, but they do need to start paying attention.
They're on the rise, and beating Italy is a strong indication that Klinsmann will be leading team USA to greatness.
Ryan Braun: Does It Matter to MLB If He Actually Used PEDS?
The story of Ryan Braun continues to be front page news and it will continue to be for the rest of the 2012 MLB season and possibly his entire career.
Did he or did he not use PEDs? That question still hasn't really been answered. If you ask MLB, the answer is yes he did because his sample was not tampered with and was properly tested, revealing the heightened testosterone levels.
If you ask Braun, he absolutely did not, yet he can not provide any type of realistic answer as to why his test results came back the way it did.
Does it even matter though?
Braun should be suspended. There is no second way about it. Whether he did take PEDs or not.
This "dramatic" tale has become the storyline of one man against the evils of MLB and their "flawed" system. Doesn't that alone go against what baseball even stands for?
No one man is bigger than the game in baseball. No one man is more important than the team. Just look at Matt Kemp for a perfect example.
Kemp had an incredible year last season. A split line that reads .324/.399/.586 is a monster year. Add in the 39 home runs, the 126 runs batted in and the 115 runs scored and there is no question how talented Kemp is.
But it didn't matter. The game wouldn't let it make a difference. The Los Angeles Dodgers didn't make the playoffs because one man can not carry a team.
And one man should not be the major story of spring training. Or the 2012 season. Yet, Braun most likely will be all because he had his suspension overturned. If Braun was suspended, people would move past it. Even if he denied ever using, people would have just moved on.
But instead, what Braun has done is taken a game that is about the team, about the league and about the fans and made it into a one-man show. A one-man show about the one thing Major League Baseball can't afford to have it about, steroids.
The image that MLB has worked so hard to restore, the steroid era that baseball has worked so hard to move past is now all being called into doubt. Does Major League Baseball really care about steroids, or was it just a publicity stunt to try to bring back some of the older generation of fans?
Braun showed more negative character traits in being OK with undoing the years of work that MLB put in to try to fix the image of their brand than he could have possibly done by just shutting his mouth and accepting the suspension.
Innocent or not, this black mark will hurt absolutely hurt MLB and Braun will probably never recover from it.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1086516-ryan-braun-does-it-matter-to-mlb-if-he-actually-used-peds
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Tar Heels' Zeller deserves ACC's top honor
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- Barring a total disaster, which isn't going to happen, North Carolina senior center Tyler Zeller sealed home the ACC's Player of the Year award with his stellar performance versus Maryland on Wednesday night.
Playing in his last game at the Dean Dome, Zeller scored 30 points, a career-high for an ACC game, grabbed eight rebounds, and played with the kind of spirit that trickles down to his teammates. The Tar Heels clobbered the Terrapins 88-64, and will enter Saturday's rematch with Duke feeling pretty darn good about themselves.
But it's Zeller whom they should feel best about.
The Indiana native has come a long way from when he arrived in Chapel Hill nearly four years ago. He actually scored 18 points in his debut, getting 23 minutes of playing time because Tyler Hansbrough missed the opener due to an injury. But Zeller broke his hand against Kentucky in the next game and came back for the final 16 games of the campaign, which included the postseason. He played about five minutes a game for the eventual national champions.
While Zeller is proud of that title and being a part of the team, he has often said he wants one of his own, one he's much more responsible for. And that's where the final leg of his drive this season comes from. And now, it just may result in being named the ACC's top player.
"It would be a fantastic honor to be able to win that," he said. "But at the same time, it's a team sport so I just go out and try to help my team in any way possible."
Zeller battled more injuries as a sophomore and averaged 9-3 points per game, and last season he was at 15.7 points and 7.2 rebounds. But after Wednesday's performance, Zeller will enter the Duke game averaging 16.2 points and 9.3 rebounds overall, but in ACC play his numbers are 18.5 points and 9.7 rebounds. His three blocked shots versus the Terrapins gives him 30 in 15 ACC games.
"Tyler does a great job of holding his post position," said UNC point guard Kendall Marshall, who became the single-season assists leader in school history Wednesday. "He also knows how to act; he gets a lot of other big men in a lot foul trouble. But when you have a guy showing you his (jersey) number, where he wants you to get him the ball, it's hard not to give it to him."
But Zeller is about more than numbers. He is a young man of faith, devoted to his family, the values they espouse and live by, and his dedication to academics.
Zeller was recently named the 2012 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year, which is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. And that's another reason he deserves the ACC's top honor
"The most special is I believe he's the true epitome of a fantastic student-athlete," said UNC coach Roy Williams when asked what has been most special about coaching Zeller for four years. "I cannot think of a better representative of that term, I cannot think of a better representative of the University of North Carolina. Early entrance into our business school, going to have a degree
"He's enriched my life and made me a heck of a lot better coach. But more important it's made me a better person being around him."
The 7-footer is a throwback of sorts, a senior who went through the college experience like players used to, and he got better every year. College basketball is better off when players such as Zeller stick around and make the sport proud.
With respect to the other competitors Virginia's Mike Scott, Duke's Austin Rivers and maybe UNC teammate John Henson Zeller simply stands alone. And his performance Wednesday gave him enough separation from the others that pretty much regardless what transpires Saturday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Zeller will win this award.
He certainly has Marshall's vote.
"Without a doubt," he said. "If you're going off of team success and what that player means to the team I think he's head and shoulders ahead of the competition for that individual accolade."
Playing in his last game at the Dean Dome, Zeller scored 30 points, a career-high for an ACC game, grabbed eight rebounds, and played with the kind of spirit that trickles down to his teammates. The Tar Heels clobbered the Terrapins 88-64, and will enter Saturday's rematch with Duke feeling pretty darn good about themselves.
But it's Zeller whom they should feel best about.
The Indiana native has come a long way from when he arrived in Chapel Hill nearly four years ago. He actually scored 18 points in his debut, getting 23 minutes of playing time because Tyler Hansbrough missed the opener due to an injury. But Zeller broke his hand against Kentucky in the next game and came back for the final 16 games of the campaign, which included the postseason. He played about five minutes a game for the eventual national champions.
While Zeller is proud of that title and being a part of the team, he has often said he wants one of his own, one he's much more responsible for. And that's where the final leg of his drive this season comes from. And now, it just may result in being named the ACC's top player.
"It would be a fantastic honor to be able to win that," he said. "But at the same time, it's a team sport so I just go out and try to help my team in any way possible."
Zeller battled more injuries as a sophomore and averaged 9-3 points per game, and last season he was at 15.7 points and 7.2 rebounds. But after Wednesday's performance, Zeller will enter the Duke game averaging 16.2 points and 9.3 rebounds overall, but in ACC play his numbers are 18.5 points and 9.7 rebounds. His three blocked shots versus the Terrapins gives him 30 in 15 ACC games.
"Tyler does a great job of holding his post position," said UNC point guard Kendall Marshall, who became the single-season assists leader in school history Wednesday. "He also knows how to act; he gets a lot of other big men in a lot foul trouble. But when you have a guy showing you his (jersey) number, where he wants you to get him the ball, it's hard not to give it to him."
But Zeller is about more than numbers. He is a young man of faith, devoted to his family, the values they espouse and live by, and his dedication to academics.
Zeller was recently named the 2012 Capital One Academic All-American of the Year, which is selected by the College Sports Information Directors of America. And that's another reason he deserves the ACC's top honor
"The most special is I believe he's the true epitome of a fantastic student-athlete," said UNC coach Roy Williams when asked what has been most special about coaching Zeller for four years. "I cannot think of a better representative of that term, I cannot think of a better representative of the University of North Carolina. Early entrance into our business school, going to have a degree
"He's enriched my life and made me a heck of a lot better coach. But more important it's made me a better person being around him."
The 7-footer is a throwback of sorts, a senior who went through the college experience like players used to, and he got better every year. College basketball is better off when players such as Zeller stick around and make the sport proud.
With respect to the other competitors Virginia's Mike Scott, Duke's Austin Rivers and maybe UNC teammate John Henson Zeller simply stands alone. And his performance Wednesday gave him enough separation from the others that pretty much regardless what transpires Saturday night in Cameron Indoor Stadium, Zeller will win this award.
He certainly has Marshall's vote.
"Without a doubt," he said. "If you're going off of team success and what that player means to the team I think he's head and shoulders ahead of the competition for that individual accolade."
The first wreck of the 2012 NASCAR season involved? DANICA PATRICK
Poor Danica can?t seem to catch a break. She wrecked her car for the third time this weekend at Daytona. She was involved in a multi-car wreck on only the second lap of the Daytona 500. Another notable driver in the wreck was Jimmie Johnson, who has finished 27th place or worse in each Daytona 500 race since he last won it in 2006.
Brad Keselowski is Tweeting Photos From His Car at the Daytona 500
Brad Keselowski is already NASCAR's king of social media.
Source: http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2012/02/27/nascars-brad-keselowski-is-tweeting-photos-from-his-car/
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