What do we know after week two? Part 1...

Jimmie Johnson followed up a disappointing Daytona 500 with a win today at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, Calif. Johnson dominated the 500 mile race and was only challenged once with several laps to go by Kevin Harvick, who faded after slapping the wall. One thing is for sure at this point is that Johnson, Chad Knaus and the rest of the Hendrick Motorsports Lowe's Chevrolet team are poised to make a run at a fifth consecutive Sprint Cup Championship.

Now, I know it has only been two weeks and Jimmie has a 35th place finish to go along with his Auto Club 500 win; however, the best way to follow up a bad finish is to go out lead the most laps and win the race. And that is just what that race team did. Eventually someone will dethrone the 48 team, but it is going to take one massive effort.

Jamie McMurray roared to the front of the pack to win the Daytona 500. He garnered a lot of attention and toured the talk shows all week long. What did he and his team have to do in order for people to take them seriously? Well, I think they felt they needed to secure the pole for race two, work on the car all day and back up a win with a solid finish. Unfortunately after running inside the top ten most of the latter part of the race until things got wild toward the end and McMurray was shuffled back to 17th place. Still, the team shoed the ability to run up front. They may not be a championship contender, but the Bass Pro Shops Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Chevy should be a serious Chase threat.

Richard Childress Racing had a dismal 2009 season. Zero wins across the 4 teams. Jack Daniels took their sponsorship and Casey Mears became the odd man out. The team, as a whole, persevered and finished the '09 season on a strong note with several top fives and top tens. What have they done in the season's first two races? Well, they placed all three drivers in the top 11 in the Daytona 500 and then came out in California and put all three in the top eight. Kevin Harvick currently holds the points lead followed by teammate Clint Bowyer in second and RCR's elder statesman, Jeff Burton, climbed to fifth in the points with his third place finish Sunday. Only one thing can be said about RCR...They're Back!

Jeff Gordon followed up a dismal Daytona 500 with a dismal Auto Club 500 finishing 21st and 20th respectively. Definitely not the way he wanted to start his drive for a fifth championship. The team, led by crew chief Steve Letarte, has shown promise by leading laps in both races. Gordon probably wasn't expecting to be 22nd in points after 2 races, so don't expect them to stay there for long.

In my mind, these are the biggest story lines of the season so far. The racing has been awesome. The new and improved tire combinations and NASCAR's "have at it boys" approach have made for some side-by-side "rubbin' is racin'" action. eWe have seen some awesome racing despite the long delays in Daytona and the threatening weather in Fontana. We still have a long way to go before the Chase for the Sprint Cup gets under way after Labor Day. So, sit back, relax and watch it unfold. Come back next Monday for my thoughts after Vegas...

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?

As I sit here tonight I have found myself watching Ken Burns' Baseball on the MLB Network. In case you are wondering, it is the Sixth Inning of the great PBS Documentary. Currently they are profiling Joltin' Joe DiMaggio, owner of the longest hitting streak in Major League Baseball history. I have always been enamored by DiMaggio. Unfortunately, I was born about 60 years too late. I would have loved to have witnessed the wonder years of baseball.

Today, professional athletes take their gifts for granted. It is all about the paycheck and not about the game. We, the fans, seem to be less important than we have ever been. I still love the game and I think it is the greatest spectacle there is in sports. There is nothing better than sitting in the sun with an ice cold Coke, a bag of peanuts, a pencil, a scorecard and bright red foam tomahawk.

I only wish that the players cared for the game and the fans the way they did in years past. I mean we have stuck with these guys through thick and thin. We were there through the Black Sox scandal, two world wars, the Yankee dynasty, the amphetamines era, the dead ball era, the ugly uniforms of the '80's, the Pete Rose scandal, the strike of the mid-90's (I still remember to this day my grandfather and I writing a letter to the commissioner pleading for no strike...we also protested outside his house at 2176 Amoora Dr. in Fayetteville, NC) and the ugly steroids era. However, it seems that the players can't stick by our sides when we need them most.

These days you have to pay for a personal autograph, even when you supply the card. It is a crying shame to know that's the case and I can pay to see a game and not even get to see my favorite players hustle out a ground ball. I would give my left leg at the end of my career to have just played one game in the Show. I mean I have won more World Series in the backyard of my grandparents house in one summer than the Yankee's have in the last 100 years.

I guess I am asking too much of today's stars. I mean they have to manage their hypodermic needles, mistresses, parties, piles of money, endorsements and collective bargaining agreements. What the heck am I thinking that me and the millions of other fans are the reason that these guys have an arena to display their God given talents? I must be an idiot, huh?

I think that the following conversation between Joe DiMaggio and a teammate toward the end of DiMaggio's career when the Yankee Clipper's career was coming to an end and he was often seen limping around the clubhouse complaining of aches and pains should be posted in every MLB clubhouse. The teammate essentially asked why DiMaggio, despite all of his injuries, continued to play so hard and hustle the way he did. DiMaggio simply replied, "There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I ow him my best." That is what the game was built on. Today a kid goes to his first big league game only to see his favorite player take the day off and sit in the dugout with a t-shirt on. We need some more Joe DiMaggio's to come along. If I take my kid to a ball game I want him to see Joe DiMaggio, not some multi-billionaire who has forgotten he was once my kid with a big league dream.

"He'll live in baseball's Hall of Fame, he got there blow by blow, our kids will tell their kids his name, Joltin' Joe DiMaggio. We dream of Joey with the light brown plaque, Joe, Joe DiMaggio, We want you on our side..." Written by Ben Homer & Alan Courtney and performed by Les Brown and Betty Bonney.

http://www.thedeadballera.com/Audio/JoltinJoeDimaggio.mp3

Lee Fowler: It's Time to Go!

On September 5, 2000 NC State hired Lee Fowler to direct the athletics program at the University. It seems like it has been a century since that giant mistake. The program has fallen even further down into the hole than it had following the debacle of troubles left following the Jim Valvano era.

At the beginning of the century it seemed that the program was on the rise. Herb Sendek had the basketball program groomed into a perennial tournament squad inside the nice new Entertainment and Sports Arena (now known as the RBC Center). Chuck Amato was building a contender on the arm of Philip Rivers. Carter-Finley has also since undergone a major facelift. It seems to me that all that has improved in Fowler's tenure are the facilities. And for that I am thankful.

However, I think it is time for State to head in a new direction, under a new athletics director. Someone that can be the face of the program. Someone who will come out in front of the media and support his or her coaches and players. Someone who will open the wallet and do what is necessary to build a successful program. It seems to me that the definition of a successful program to Fowler is a program that is mediocre at best and well in the black. I do not claim to know the financial numbers of the program, but it seems to me that little is being done by the leadership to build a winner.

There are those of you who will say that a university is a learning institution and not a sports institution. Well, how many people would apply to Southern Cal if they didn't win football games? Would as many people want to go to Kansas if the Jayhawks weren't #1 in basketball? Would UNC be the UNC it is today without the National Championships? Does NC State still get free publicity every March when they show Jimmy V running around looking for someone to hug? No, no, no and yes! So, I will now get back to what I was saying.

Herb Sendek left our 2 time National Championship winning program for greener pastures at the always under achieving Arizona State University. Since Sendek's departure the basketball has had one miserably failed coaching search that saw us land Sidney Lowe as head coach. The coaching search had several promising candidates, most notably Rick Barnes. Barnes chose to stay at the University of Texas where they win football and baseball championships, not basketball. Maybe had Fowler done a better job of recruiting and laid the cash on the table, then we would talking about how far into March we would be playing and not wishing for this year to be over.

Sidney Lowe is an NC State legend and I greatly respect the hard work he has put into making this work. The problem is that it is just not working. It is time that we part ways with Lowe and once again focus on Barnes or some other top notch candidate. And this time we need to pay them what they deserve. I think hazard pay for having to recruit against Roy Williams and Coach K is necessary. I know the money is there to be spent. We have a lot of boosters with a lot of money and a lot of hatred for the two shades of blue within 30 miles of the Raleigh campus. Hopefully, we can put this all behind us and move on to a more successful decade.

Now to the football program. The one good decision that Fowler made was to part ways with Amato. It was hard, even I hated to see the man who had brought us so much get fired. But, it was a necessary evil that had run its course. Then Fowler made another great move by hiring Tom O'Brien from Boston College. However, since that move O'Brien has had a hard time moving the needle. And we have heard nothing from Fowler. He needs to come out and say that we are going to do whatever it takes to put a more consistent winning program on the field. However, he has failed to do anything of that nature.

There is no doubt that O'Brien is the man for the job. There is also no doubt in my mind that Fowler is not the man for the job. I am to the point that I am ashamed to say that I am a graduate and fan of the Wolfpack. And it all is because of the athletics director. I am not going to stop pulling for the Pack, or speak disparagingly of them. I will not, however, mince words when it comes to the leadership of the athletics program. We need a face for the program. We need someone that the Alumni and fans can feel confident in. The more confident we are in the leader, then the more likely we are to give more money and invest in season and lifetime rights tickets.

If there is one thing that I could ask the new Chancellor, Randy Woodson, and the Wolfpack Club leadership for would be to part ways with Fowler and take a drive across town and speak to former Pittsburgh Steeler head coach and Wolfpack Alum Bill Cowher. He would be my ideal candidate, but not highly likely. At this point I would prefer Mr. Wuf to Fowler. Maybe, just maybe, by this September 5 we will have a new Director of Athletics...