keep it alive.

an article in today's indiana daily student talks about how iu junior forward ben allen is looking to get some more playing time as the season comes to a close. and i don't blame him. he's a decent perimeter player that can serve well in a 3 or 4 spot, opposite of dj white. you gotta feel bad for the guy that is trying to be converted to a position he has never played -- and having to do it at the level of big ten basketball. i think ben will get some more playing time tonight because he was even-keel in the michigan game and the hoosiers will undoubtedly get in foul trouble. don't boo the guy, give him a chance.

anyways, the hoosiers take on minnesota tonight at home where they are 15-0. the hoosiers should roll tonight in this must win game against the lowly golden gophers, but this team is anything but consistent. minnesota will come out with a big effort, but the hoosiers are going to feel at home tonight with the crowd behind them, and win easily. hopefully.

67-57.

visual: ben allen defends michigan's courtney sims during the 58-55 loss saturday at michigan. credit:gm

a fantastic partnership.

kelly clarkson is a hero to many. she's that singing goddess that graces the walls and plays on the ipods. she is the american idol.

for 12 year old girls.

nascar is a homegrown sport. it's trying to evade its past of chicken and beer, rednecks and racing. it hates its roots. instead of main street it wants to be broadway. it's an american confusion.

i hope you've drawn the conclusion to this point. yes, kelly clarkson and nascar have signed an agreement for clarkson to promote nascar in a number of ways. she's carried out two of those assignments already by doing a commercial for nascar and singing before the daytona 500. she is also in line to promote "nascar day", a charity fundraiser for the nascar foundation. yes, the american idol is now synonymous with nascar.

or at least that's the idea.

this isn't the first time nascar or its related tracks and partners have seemingly gone outside its social makeup to bring in celebrities. jewel performed in kelly clarkson's role last year for nascar, fergie sang the national anthem at the 2006 daytona 500, kelly rowland sang at last year's brickyard 400, the american idol losers have sang at charlotte for two years in a row, ruben studdard has appeared, and the list goes on. you can understand the natural awkward moments in the stands when the person is announced and a collective "who?" is heard.

sure, nascar is trying to be more diverse. it's trying to get a larger audience to watch its races and spend its money. it wants to be a mainstream sport and have it's super bowl have an event at the half-time show stature. but nascar is missing a very integral part of what got it to the level of signing kelly clarkson -- its base fans. i'm talking about those fans that spend their only family vacation time of the year to go to daytona or (insert race here). these are the "loyal" nascar fans that sponsors crave because of their noted product support for nascar sponsors. these are the lifeblood of nascar. but instead of loving this financial support, nascar is aiming higher -- too high in fact. and evantually, this alienation is going to take a toll on its foundations.

hopefully, the broadway push won't ever leave because nascar might find main street as a ghost town.

new look and feel.

i got tired of the basic template offered by blogger, and got tired of the title. so i got a new one.

let me know what you think.

enjoy.

gotta give the love.

so it may seem a little awkward being a hoosier and all, but i have to give some props to david teague, the shooting guard from purdue. he shot lights out thursday against the hoosiers and really ignited the boilermakers to the win. and now, he was honored with big ten player of the week honors.

david came from pike high school, and while i can't say i know him, my dad knew him pretty well from over there off of zionsville rd. in indy. everything i've seen, he's been a great guy and always a hard-nosed player. so here's to you, david, congrats.

pick 'em round 1 champ: drew owen

congratulations to drew "pb" owen on taking the first week of nascar pick 'em. drew chose david gilliland, the rookie who sat on the pole and led quite a bit early on in the race. the #38 m&m's machine scored an 8th place finish after having some troubles in the pits and rallying back late. i chose ricky rudd, who got caught up in a late race wreck and came home 26th, and trevor might have had the pick of the day until disaster struck on lap 150 when his driver, kurt busch, and tony stewart tangled while leading. busch wound up 41st.

the standings.

after round 1 of 36

1. 10 points - drew owen
2. 5 points - geoffrey miller
3. 0 points - trevor sager

up next: auto club 500, sunday 2/25, california speedway

daytona 500 monday recap.

some news and notes after settling down from a fantastic race.

- 8th best.
the finish on sunday with kevin harvick edging mark martin by .020 seconds (less than 4 feet) was the 8th closest finish in nascar history

- parked.
after flying through pit road trying to avoid a near wreck with about 15 laps to go, dave blaney ended up being the caution. thanks to gps telemetry, fox was able to show blaney traveling at 150mph entering pit road -- and he even faster leaving it. trouble was blaney had a flat right front tire, making the quick turn onto the track impossible. blaney took out ken schrader after the move that nascar was none too pleased with. they parked him for 5 laps, and then decided he was done for the race.

- yellow flag.
should nascar have thrown the yellow flag when kyle busch wrecked before the leaders made it to the start finish line? no way. i think you have to give race director david hoots credit for making the call to finish it under green. however, no love to the nascar spokesman who insisted the caution came out when clint bowyer's car turned over. if that was the case, the race would have officially finished under caution because the leaders had not yet reached the stripe.

- good tony.
can you believe the reaction tony stewart had after his wreck? i thought the shoe-in favorite to win the 500 would have come out fists a-blazin'. but instead, we got the humble tony everyone knows him as off the track. i'll call it now, there's no way he'll keep it up all year.

- ouch.
the jackman for the #31 cingular wireless chevy suffered a severe achilles heel injury in talladega two years ago, forcing him to be bound to a wheelchair and learning to walk again. he was back on pit road sunday, and appeared to incur the same injury for the second time. let's hope for the best for josh yost.

wow.

update: the unofficial results from daytona now list jeff gordon as the 10th place finisher. the official results should be released by nascar sometime monday.

nothing else describes that finish. harvick and martin down to the line. kyle busch losing it off of turn four. car after car after car piling up. clint bowyer crossing the line in his jack daniel's chevy not only on fire -- but upside down.

can you freaking believe that? it was just simply amazing.

congratulations to kevin harvick, but you gotta feel bad for mark martin. he's now 0-23 at the daytona 500. but ya know what? look at that guy. 48 years old and gets out of that car with a huge smile in his face. good for him, and i'm super glad he's not retired.

as rusty put it on nascar now "but doggone, what a great race." it sure made up for the struggles that the 24 had.

gordon finished 12th, which was incredibly remarkable for running way down in the standings through the middle part of the race. we'll go get 'em next week.

pick em updates coming soon.

at least i've got racing.

well, the hoosiers blew it. again. 58-55 to michigan. should stemler have shot? yeah. does this team have a lot of work to do? definitely.

it seems that mental toughness is a problem with these guys. that's all i can muster to say. my disappointment is just overwhelming.

but for now, the daytona 500 on fox. gets under way a little after 3 today, and that's where i'll be.

hopefully we'll have a happier update tonight.

go 24.