They had their fun throughout the week, from throwing pies in the faces of Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa to poking fun at themselves on David Letterman's show, but now it's time to get serious.
Let the first of the 10 races begin to determine the 2006 NASCAR Nextel Cup champion.

Kevin Harvick, fresh off his win at Richmond, will be on the pole. The rest of the Chasers will start like this:
Jeff Gordon - 2nd.
Denny Hamlin - 5th.
Jimmie Johnson - 7th.
Dale Earnhardt, Jr. - 13th.
Kyle Busch - 16th.
Jeff Burton - 22nd.
Matt Kenseth - 25th.
Kasey Kahne - 33rd. (ouch!)
From the research department: In the inaugural Chase of 2004, Kurt Busch opened with a win at New Hampshire, completing the season sweep. He also went on to become the Nextel Cup champion.
Kyle Busch won at New Hampshire in July. Should he pull off the double like his brother did two years ago, he will zoom into the favorite's role and have a major target inserted squarely between Tony the Tiger's eyes. That's a fact because Kellogg's is the primary sponsor of Busch's No. 5 Chevrolet Monte Carlo.
Can he race in a mature fashion far beyond his 21 years? It's anybody's guess at this point.
While the rest of the Chase drivers have had some winning moments in 2006, it's been a serious dry spell for Mark Martin and Jeff Burton. Martin was the winner at Kansas last October, 31 races ago, and Jeff Burton last won at Phoenix in October of 2001, a whopping 174 races ago.
If either of them want to win the title, they'll have to find a way to break out of the victory funk.
Sadly, while just about all of the attention has been focused on the Chase drivers, the TV folks have missed some darn good performances from those on the outside. At Richmond for example, Dave Blaney managed a fourth-place run and Ken Schrader came in seventh.
Not only that, Schrader starts 10th on Sunday.
But since this is Chase time, not many people will care unless they find a way to get to Victory Lane.
Fear not, O positive folks. In each of the previous Chases, at least one non-Chaser has won a Chase race.
In 2004, Joe Nemechek won at Kansas and Greg Biffle won at Homestead.
In 2005, Dale Jarrett won at Talladega (beating out Tony Stewart on the final lap), Jeff Gordon won at Martinsville and Kyle Busch won at Phoenix (although he wasn't very graceful in dealing with the media following his brother's issues with the Maricopa County authorities).
What 2006 holds is anyone's guess. I'm going to pay attention to all of it, no matter what the TV folks say.

Posted by Tom Zulewski at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBacks ( 0 )

The Washington County Growth and Conservation Act of 2006 has riled people up from coast to coast. Clearly, the people who don’t want to see public lands sold off for development take exception to the idea of the Bureau of Land Management liquidating about 24,000 acres of land under the bill — even if the legislation would preserve 93 percent of the land currently in BLM Wilderness Study Areas.

This isn’t a new debate. Land use and growth issues have been important issues in Washington County for decades, but the debate has been especially lively since the mid-1990s. That’s when the building boom started in earnest, taking the county from about 45,000 in 1990 to more than 140,000 people today.

Those who like the land act say this is a good balance between the interests of conservationists and developers. Opponents call the bill a setback for preserving the beautiful lands that comprise Washington County.

Our editorial board has said many times that it would be good to have people come to the negotiating table and hash out something that both sides can live with — recognizing that there is no way both sides would completely embrace such a plan.

Well, Washington County is at least giving it a shot. The vehicle is a process called Vision Dixie.
Vision Dixie is sponsored by the Washington County Commission. Before people cry foul that this is the entity behind the land act, keep in mind that at least this group is keeping the debate alive on how best to plan for growth in the area, which has been listed among the fastest-growing metropolitan areas on a percentage basis for several years.

This group will discuss important issues, including population growth, the local economy and protection of the environment. Through it all, the commission says that it hopes to find ways to maintain and perhaps improve the quality of life that residents here enjoy.

The goal, of course, is to help county residents reach common ground. And, although the bill now before Congress doesn’t explicitly say so, the commission hopes that the discoveries made through the Vision Dixie process will be used to guide decisions on which BLM land to sell and when.

The only thing missing from this idea is the people. That’s where all of us come in. We can either sit back and gripe about how things are going related to growth in the area, or we can get involved in the process and help shape the form that growth will take.

The countywide meetings will be open to the public and will start in October. Be sure to check The Spectrum and www.thespectrum.com for details of when and where those meetings will be once the information is announced.

Then, make sure you stay engaged. The county commission expects this process could last as long as 18 months. During that time, the community will have the opportunity to share concerns on everything from traffic to air quality to water.

As long as everyone comes to the table willing to compromise, this has a legitimate chance to work.
The stakes are too high to do nothing.

Get involved. Stay involved.

Help shape Utah’s Dixie into a place that remains a beautiful place to live, regardless of how many people call this place “home.”

Learn More About the Land Bill
Additional information is available on TheSpectrum.com, including a map of the proposed Washington County land-use plan, congressional testimony from Rep. Jim Matheson and Suzanne Jones, an editorial published last week in the Salem Statesman (Ore.) Journal and the Web page for Citizens for Dixie Citizens for Dixie.

Posted by Managing Editor Todd Seifert at 09:00 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 9 ) | TrackBacks ( 0 )

Overkill, that's all it is.

The idea of creating new-generation mini-nukes to burrow deeply into the ground to strike hardened targets is ludicrous.

It takes no imagination at all to understand what the detonation of even a small nuclear device would do to a civilian population.

There's the initial explosion, followed by fallout climbing into the atmosphere and, of course, the residual contamination of the target site. And, of course, the inevitable retaliation.

Of course, the four horsemen of the apocalypse -- Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and Rice -- don't seem to care. Or, worse, they don't relate the death of a civilian population on a foreign shore as human.

There's growing evidence to what the Muslim world has feared all along, that this war on terror is nothing more than a thinly disguised recreation of The Crusades. The pope said as much recently during a speech in Germany, why would we expect other proponents from the Christian right to think otherwise? And, of course, that would include such solid humanitarians as our administration and the sheep that mindlessly follow them.

I always thought the true Christian path led to peace.

Posted by Ed Kociela at 08:58 AM | Permalink | Comments ( 2 ) | TrackBacks ( 0 )

The stereotypes have all been said before. NASCAR guys are just a bunch of good ol' boy rednecks. All they do is turn left. Racing's not a sport. Yada, yada, yada.
Memo to the clueless: When they're not behind the wheel, NASCAR guys can actually be halfway funny.
Witness last night's "Late Show with David Letterman" as the perfect example.

On Letterman's Top 10 list Wednesday night, the subject was "Top 10 Things Never Before Said by a NASCAR Driver." From Kasey Kahne to Matt Kenseth, they delivered their lines well and I was laughing out loud at most of them.
But don't mind me. Here's the complete list for you to judge for yourself, taken straight from the Late Show page on the CBS web site:

Top Ten Things Never Before Said By A NASCAR Driver

10. Kasey Kahne: "Anyone know how to drive a stick?"

9. Jeff Gordon: "Does this gas taste funny to you?"

8. Jeff Burton: "I don't care much for country music or beer"

7. Mark Martin: "Switch the 'r' and 'c' in 'racing' and you get 'caring'"

6. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: "Wow, Letterman looks so young in person"

5. Denny Hamlin: "You're looking at a guy who can drive 500 miles without taking a leak"

4. Kyle Busch: "A truly great driver doesn't mind asking for directions, am I right, ladies?"

3. Kevin Harvick: "It would be nice if the guys in the pits occasionally surprised me with a piece of carrot cake or something"

2. Jimmie Johnson: "The Nextel Cup is great, but what I'm really excited for is Late Show Ventriloquist Week"

1. Matt Kenseth: "If you think I'm fast in my car, you should see me in the bedroom"

And to see the whole package in all its video glory, here's the link, with the entry found at the top of the list - wardrobe judgments optional:

http://www.cbs.com/latenight/lateshow/dave_tv/ls_dtv_comedy_clips.shtml

It's recommended viewing, and it's a relaxing touch to cut down the stress they'll feel starting on Sunday at New Hampshire, weather permitting.

Posted by Tom Zulewski at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBacks ( 0 )

The best gig in the world could soon be covering the governor's office.

Not in Salt Lake City, in Austin, Texas, not too far from The World Armadillo Headquarters.

That is, if Kinky Friedman, running as an independent, somehow wins this November.

Imagine this Texas street poet-singer-songwriter-raconteur-rogue making it to the governor's mansion.

First thing he'd do is make Willie Nelson head of the Texas Rangers. Now, before you go off on me, it's largely a symbolic position. Willie would not patrol the highways in a 10-gallon hat with a side-arm strapped to his leg.

The Kinkster said he'd legalize marijuana; be more lenient on the one-time, 30-day stay of execution at the disposal of the Texas governor; appoint new state-level board members; and hire more cops.

I don't know a state that doesn't need more cops. Make that good cops. As far as state-level board members? Again, every state could use fresh blood by tossing out the codgers and cadgers who have been around far too long. And, they kill far too many people in the Texas correctional system.

Legalizing marijuana?

Why not?

There are lots more dangerous drugs out there like tobacco and alcohol. There are also a lot of other equally dangerous substances out there like chocolate, which can make you very obese and cause heart attacks and other illnesses, to overdosing on high-fat foods that will clog your arteries and explode your heart.

More than 20 percent of the states in this country have approved the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes — a very compassionate move for those with serious illness or chronic disease. But, it's time we delved deeper and lifted this prohibition that, in reality, was instigated by William Randolph Hearst when he pushed to have hemp of all kinds banned. Seems it would have put a serious dent in one of his many businesses so he put the pinch on the government to outlaw the production of hemp in any form. Then, cultural and religious pressures came to bear to uphold it.

Sen. John McCain thinks it's a good idea. So do a number of others in the Congress. So do I.

So, go, Kinky, go.

Posted by Ed Kociela at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBacks ( 0 )

It's hard to believe since the time has gone by so fast, but the Chase for the Nextel Cup is officially here. Seven newbies, including two familiar faces who took a one-year sabbatical, are in.
The Chase will run on everything from the Martinsville half-mile to the 2.66-mile superspeedway that was titled in the latest Will Ferrell laugh-fest (Talladega, in case you forgot). A rookie is in. One driver is looking to duplicate what Tony Stewart did one year ago.

All bad news aside with the coming changes in the point system, four storylines punctuate the third year of the Chase.
- Can Matt Kenseth win his second championship in four years, just like Stewart did before him?
- Will Kevin Harvick pull off a historic double with the Busch and Cup titles in the same year?
- Can Jeff Gordon win the drive for five?
- Will a rookie become champion?
Unlike a year ago, when Kenseth had to drive like a maniac just to get in to the Chase, his back-to-back wins at Michigan and Bristol were the icing on his cake of consistency. He hasn't been any lower than third in points all year long, and his late surge has pushed him to the top, in prime position to become the 15th driver with multiple titles in NASCAR history.
He may be a big reason NASCAR has the Chase in the first place, but Kenseth's showing in 2006 should shut the critics up for good.
As shocking as this one was, Kevin Harvick can actually be considered as a favorite to make history. He already has the Busch title basically in the bag (that series doesn't have a Chase, but it should), and his Nextel Cup run is part of a major resurgence at Richard Childress Racing. Teammate Jeff Burton is also in the Chase mix, but he has to come from eighth.
Harvick has wins at Phoenix, Watkins Glen, and Richmond to his credit in 2006. The last two required some seriously daring passes late, but that's Harvick for you. If he's in contention, the daredevil comes out.
In the Busch Series, Harvick can coast home to the title. He's got somewhere around a gazillion-point lead.
Jeff Gordon, for all of his championship pedigree and capability, took a big points hit at Richmond, barely getting in just two points ahead of Kasey Kahne. But after a year away, Gordon will be a force. He's good at short tracks - a win at Martinsville in last year's Chase and a runner-up in April of this year - but he'll need to be consistent out of the gate to make up the differential he lost. Instead of being 15 points off the lead, Gordon has to come from 40 back.
And how about Denny Hamlin? From saying "who's he?" when he won the Bud Shootout at Daytona in February, Hamlin has blown everyone away with how good he is. He has two wins - both at Pocono starting from the pole with dominant cars - and has formerly-defending champion Tony Stewart as a teammate. With Stewart racing for 11th and the $1 million bonus that goes with it, his knowledge will only help Hamlin down the stretch.
Facts to note: In 2005, Tony Stewart led for all but one of the 10 weeks of the Chase. Only two non-Chasers won races - Dale Jarrett beat Stewart to the line on the final lap at Talladega and Kyle Busch won at Phoenix.
By contrast, the lead changed hands every week for the first half of the 2004 Chase before Kurt Busch took control and held on for dear life down the stretch. There were also two non-Chasers who found their way to Victory Lane - Joe Nemechek won at Kansas and Greg Biffle won at Homestead.
But it's time to throw out the stats and tighten the belts. See you at the starting line on Sunday.

Posted by Tom Zulewski at 04:30 PM | Permalink | Comments ( 0 ) | TrackBacks ( 0 )