Miss-N-Out

Today's adventures saw a visit over to Bill Armstrong Field for Miss-N-Out, a spring series event leading up to the Little 500.

I liked these ones.

IU v. Michigan State Baseball

so i shot my first baseball game today at sembower field on the iu campus. and i loved it.

it was such a relief to get away from the baseline and have free reign, and i just love the color in these photos. iu won 2-1 on bottom of the 9th single to bring in the winning run.

enjoy these. i'm proud.

so rough clarity is gonna take on a new shape (again)

well, in case many of you (and when I say "many" and "you" i mainly dedicate that to my fellow pick em competitors and the kicker) don't know, I'm now on for blogging for AOL in the NASCAR Fanhouse.

so where does that leave rough clarity? I don't even know. AOL is quite a bit of work as I've found, and I can't just copy posts and put them here, but I can link to AOL here, with story snippets.

over there, I'll be doing upwards of 14 posts a week on NASCAR, with Power Rankings being my responsibility every two weeks.

so that leaves rough clarity with a few options, and it will likely take on less of a NASCAR approach. however, i really want to keep it going with the hours i put it into at the beginning. that probably means more youtube vids, funny news articles i see, and random commentary. and i think i should get back to the primary goal of displaying cool photos for err'yone to see. got some ideas? let me know.

as for now, definitely watch for pick em here each week, and snippets of the AOL FanHouse stuff. and if you get too lonely, just head on over to the NASCAR FanHouse, where i'll be, bright and early everyday.

thanks for being such loyal reader(s). much love.

Eddie Griffin is a tool

first, he wrecks one of the world's classiest cars. Then he jokes about it.

Go home, Eddie.

Round 5 pick 'em champ: Geoffrey Miller

the standings.
after round 5 of 36 (Food City 500, Bristol)

1. 35 points - trevor sager (1 race win, 1-Top 10)
2. 35 points - geoffrey miller (3 - Top 5s, 3-Top 10s)*
3. 15 points - drew owen (1 - Top 5, 2 - Top 10s)
*= trevor still leads the standings due to race-wins tiebreaker.
well, the COT was a success in its first race.

trevor sager (35 points + 0 points) - matt kenseth. In a race that was not typical for recent Matt at Martinsville, the only time Kenseth played a role all day was with an early caution. Matt got into the UPS Toyota of Dale Jarrett, ending his day. Jarrett was none too pleased after the race, and neither were the fans hoping to get free curly fries on Monday. Kenseth wound up 11th.

geoffrey miller (25 points + 10 points) - jeff gordon. In what was ultimately a statement day for the 24 bunch, Gordon started on the pole and fell back dramatically to as far as 27th. However, the DuPont Chevy hit pit road nearly every chance it could and the crew adjusted on it all day. A 3rd place is a great day for these guys -- in what is looking like a start to a year for championship contention.

drew owen (10 points + 5 point) - dale earnhardt jr. The Budweiser chevy came home with its best finish of the year at Bristol with a 7th place, and for the first time since Daytona, Drew has collected some points. He's scrapping back into it.

busch holds off burton, gordon

The shrub, Kyle Busch, held off a late charge by Jeff Burton and teammate Jeff Gordon to win the first ever Car of Tomorrow race at Bristol. On an unusually warm day in Thunder Valley, Busch managed to stay out front at the checkers because Jeff Burton raced him clean. The race could have easily been a different story, as Burton had several opportunities to push the 5 out of the way.

Tony Stewart led a race-high 257 laps before breaking a fuel pump with 211 laps to go.

Pick 'em results, race rewind, and power rankings coming soon.

Food City 500 pick 'em

just getting the picks in before today's race at bristol. yeah, it's been one of those weeks. anyways, today starts a new era for nascar as the car of tomorrow rolls out for its first race in competition. today's forecast is also a new era for bristol as last year at this time, snow was a threat. today? a heat wave could push temperatures into record digits in the 80s. boy, that race track will be slick today. enjoy the race, here's the picks.

trevor sager (25 points) - matt kenseth.
trevor feels that matt got a bad break going out first in qualifying and that he will run strong today. kenseth did win the last race at bristol, but that was with a different car. he'll start 38th.

geoffrey miller (20 points) - jeff gordon.
is this turning into a battle of who has the better favorite driver? looks it this week. man, i'd love to break the cycle, but when gordon is starting on the pole and looking good to start the season -- it's tough to pick against him. of course, this is bristol.

drew owen (10 points) - dale earnhardt jr.
3 weeks and no points. thats a tough start for drew. a 31st-place starting spot for dale jr. doesn't look promising for drew, but you have to remember that the 8 car went to victory lane from 30th spot in 2004 at the night race in bristol.

the standings.
after round 4 of 36 (Kobalt Tools 500, Atlanta)

1. 35 points - trevor sager (1 pick 'em win, 2 Top-10s, 1 top 5)
2. 25 points - geoffrey miller (2 - Top 5s)
2. 10 points - drew owen (1 - Top 5, 1 - Top 10)

Monday Race Rewind: Kobalt Tools 500

Straight from the rim-riding day at Atlanta.

The Story.
Winner: Jimmie Johnson
How it was done: Johnson got around Tony Stewart with 3 laps to go on a slide move through turn 2 and set sail from there.
Top 5: Tony Stewart, Matt Kenseth, Jeff Burton, Juan Pablo Montoya
Yellow Flags: 6 cautions for 27 laps, just one incident
Points Situation: 1. Mark Martin, 2. Jeff Gordon (-8), 3. Jeff Burton (-11)

News/Notes/Ramblings.
Why apologize? I still can't figure out where the big deal is about Jimmie Johnson's pass around Tony Stewart. Stewart was described as being "miffed" that Jimmie slid up in front of him. Johnson apologized profusely in victory lane for the move that led to Stewart scraping the wall. I can't say this bodes well for the season, as apparently hard racing is no longer allowed. The fact of the matter is Jimmie Johnson had the line, and simply moved up in front of Tony's run. Sure, it's good that Tony backed off and didn't wreck them both, but at the same time, this is about winning, not people's feelings.
Miffed Part Two. Greg Biffle, a prerace favorite, ended up in a four-car accident going into turn 3 on lap 233 as a result of contact with David Reutimann. The #00 Toyota got into Biffle's rear, collecting Brian Vickers and Kasey Kahne. Biffle was pretty upset after the race, feeling that it could have been a little payback from his dumping of Reutimann at California. Said Biffle, "The 00 right-reared me at the end of the backstretch and turned me in the fence. I guess it's payback from California, I don't know. I moved up a little bit to get a little air off of the 83 because we were side-by-side and, I don't know, he must have been splitting the difference or something and got my right-rear, I don't know. Maybe he didn't mean to do it, but those are the facts." (that's racin')
Martin Keeps His Word. Despite being the point leader, Mark Martin will not be anywhere near Bristol this weekend to defend the lead and try to Car of Tomorrow. Instead, Martin is sticking with his partial schedule this season and heading to Lake City, Fla. to North Florida Speedway to take on a different role. He will serve as the crew chief for Ricky Carmichael, the accomplished motorcycle racer who is making the jump to stock cars -- far away from the hordes of media.
Finally. Brian Vickers and Dave Blaney did something Sunday that has never been seen before. They put their Toyota Camry's out front, in the lead. Vickers held the point for five laps while Dave Blaney led one. It's progress, but Michael Waltrip has now missed 3 straight races, AJ Allmendinger hasn't been in one, and Dale Jarrett is going to run out of champions provisionals fast. Right now, the fears that Toyota Racing Development would dominate the sport are very unfounded -- but that could change when Toyota starts pumping more cash into this sport. Toyota hates to lose.