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But with
less than 20 laps to go she was leading the race in a commanding
fashion and threatened to dominate the field. Perhaps if fate had
been just a little kinder to her, she would've pulled off one of the
greatest victories in sports history! She had to pit with about 40
laps to go, which meant she was a real threat to run out of gas (I
think those Indy cars are good for about 30 laps to a tank of gas)
before reaching the finish line.
Because she was trying to stretch out
her run, her crew instructed her not to run it too rich. The three
cars that passed her were running theirs rich, and basically that
was the difference. I would've loved to have seen what she would've
done if she could've run it wide open until the end. I think we
would've crowned a new champion.
Apparently, I wasn't the only one
caught up in the excitement. As the ABC cameras scanned the crowd,
the majority of the fans were standing and cheering wildly for
Danica Patrick. Win or lose, she emerged as a newfound hero of the
sport. It was certainly an exciting day at the track!
Railers claim regional title
The Lincoln Railers baseball team
beat Decatur MacArthur 8-1 Saturday morning to capture the regional
baseball crown. The Railers will now advance to the Illinois
Wesleyan Sectional tourney, where they will play Normal West
Thursday night at 6. Good luck, Railers!
Mount Pulaski loses a heartbreaker
Mount Pulaski's nine suffered a
narrow 5-4 loss in a sectional contest versus Williamsville.
However, the loss can't take away from another great season turned
in by the Hilltoppers!
Cardinals maintain cadence to the
march
…as they took two out of three from
the new-look Washington Nationals. However, they should've swept the
series, and that's not just wishful fan talk. I thought they were a
little lackadaisical after taking a 2-0 lead early in Sunday's game
and allowed the Nats to score three runs in an inning after two
outs. However, they got back on track Monday night in Colorado as
Albert Pujols bailed them out by lifting a three-run homer that
nipped the fence before it went over the wall. A decent outing by
Jason Marquis and a very nice close by Izzy maintains the Redbirds'
7.5 game lead over the Cubbies, who have won four in a row.
Cubs trying to right the ship
The Cubs look a lot more relaxed and
it shows. They pummeled the Dodgers last night in L.A. and looked a
lot more like the team I thought they would be this season. I STILL
think it is way too early to rule them out of the race.
[to top of second column in this article] |
 Sox loosening their grip a little
Texas muscled-up on the Sox, but
they somehow managed to pull out a win at home yesterday over the
L.A. Angels of Anaheim. They did let several scoring opportunities
go by the boards, but amazingly scored two in the night to snatch
victory out of the jaws of defeat.
Johnson wins third 600 title in a
row
I've pretty much demonstrated how
little I know about motor sports. But, one thing I do know… is if
something works or somebody knows how to do something, I always
suggest getting in touch with them to find out how they're getting
it done. I don't know about the NASCAR drivers, but if I owned a car
or a team (and on my budget I should be able to own one by the year
3008) and we were racing in the Coca Cola 600, I'd sure try to find
away to copy the style of that Johnson character. That's right,
Jimmie Johnson has now won the event three times in a row in spite
of a record number of cautions. Also, if that Mayfield guy ever wins
again or becomes a consistent champion, I sure hope it turns out
that we're related!
Suns and Heat show a little life
Phoenix staved off elimination and
forced the series back to the desert for at least one more game by
their inspiring win last night. An amazing series of events by Amare
Stoudemire proved conclusive. He blocked Tim Duncan's dunk attempt
(and you don't see many blocked dunks… please consult Greg Taylor to
discover whether that is goaltending or not… the shot WAS coming
down), but then he ran down to the other end to get in position for
an entry pass. Instead a teammate hoisted up a shot and he tapped it
out to the corner. Again, he did not wait to see if a teammate was
there or not, so he sprinted over and recovered the ball by himself.
It was one of the best playoff hustle plays that I think I have
seen, and it cemented the win for the Suns. They won't win three in
a row, but they have had a marvelous year.
Miami also won on the road at
Detroit, behind Shaq's clutch free-throw shooting (there's a phrase
you haven't heard often over the years). I still think this series
will go to the wire, and it is a real pick-'em situation.
That's it for me… Have a great week,
everybody!
[Jeff Mayfield] |
