Garrett Duke

Jimmie Johnson was just announced Forbes most Influencial (Sp? LOL) player or athlete. . .Dale Jr was on the list but slipped from third last year to seventh this year. While Jeff Gordon slipped of the list completely (was excited to see JJ at the top until I read about poor Gordon...as if his rotten luck on the track wasn't bad enough? LOL). Don't know how newsworthy that is, but thought I'd make mention of it. My congrats go to Jimmie Johnson...he is well deserving of it!

Well y'all hold on to your seats because here it is Monday and I am here to post the OFFICIAL standings after the Kansas race. (Roger, you no longer can call me a slacker in other words. ) Here is the top ten in driver points: 1. Greg Biffle 2. Martin Truex Jr 3. Matt Kenseth 4. Dale Earnhardt Jr 5. Denny Hamlin 6. Kevin Harvick 7. Jimmie Johnson 8. Tony Stewart 9. Carl Edwards 10. Ryan Newman And well I know how much y'all like Jeff Gordon (after all he's only the best on the track!) ... well OK perhaps that is of my opinion and as far as I know, I'm the only Jeff Gordon fan on this great board. But in case y'all are interested Jeff Gordon now resides in the 18th spot and -112 points behind Greg Biffle. Yep. This 2012 NASCAR Sprint Cup season is looking pretty dismal for this 24 fan...all the same, refuse to give up hope. The only good thing I can think of is...it can only get better from here. Right? We are onto Richmond next Saturday night for some night racing...and then a week after that they will be racing at Talledega for my birthday. Perhaps Big Daddy will give me a win for my birthday. *Sigh* I can only hope. He'll have to avoid the 'big one' in order to do so since Talledega is known to have lot of BIG wrecks...Richmond is next Saturday night. Love night racing!

It is sad that they have to post something that should be common sense to all in order for someone not to attempt what is done during a commercial like that. Love how Dale Jr seems to be snarling at the guy in the store when he grabs the last dew...that and the taxi waiting on him to drink the Dew.

Another NASCAR commercial...

Sorry to break this to you K, but your Reds lost to the Cubs yesterday. Cubs won one out of three games against the Reds...just how their season has been going so far. Your Reds won today 4-3. Congrats...though my Cubs gave them a late game play for the lead, just didn't pull it off. Did like seeing Dusty and Sean though... Well Roger...the way the Cubs have been playing, you are bound to win BIG time over me. But don't worry...things can only get better for the Cubs. GO CUBS!!!!!!!!!!! (I REFUSE to give up hope!)

Well K...bet you are smiling right now. Game ain't over ... yet. LOL. Am a die hard Cubs fan who refuses to give up hope despite how bad it looks. HA HA. Though thought I would ask you something...how you like Dusty Baker and Sean Marshall? You got both of 'em from my Cubbies...would love to have them back as well. Ol' Dusty was the only one big enough to stand up to Sammy Sosa...anyway...Go CUBS. LOL

Well the Sprint Cup race at Kansas just got over and Denny Hamlin just won his second race of the 2012 season. Not a lot of action to today's race...just a lot of engine failures and dropped cylinders. Including JEFF GORDON. Am not a happy Gordon fan right now as he comes home 21st after finally getting into the top ten and he drops a cylinder with 30 laps to go. Clint Bowyer was the first victim of the dropped cylinder and later hit the wall. He had time to take it to the garage for a little while. AJ Allmindinger who started from the pole led a lot of laps before being passed by Martin Truex Jr who also led a lot of laps until Denny Hamlin passed him to later on win the race. AJ had engine problems as well...I think that was what his problem was. Johnson and Jr both had a great and fast race. Stewart had hit the wall at one point but later said he was going in the right direction... Here is the top ten finishes of the Kansas race: 1. Denny Hamlin 2. Martin Truex Jr 3. Jimmie Johnson 4. Matt Kenseth 5. Greg Biffle 6. Kevin Harvick 7. Dale Earnhardt Jr 8. Kasey Kahne 9. Carl Edwards 10. Kyle Busch And before I forget to post this important information as I had for the Saturday night Texas race, the Sprint boys will be racing under the lights next Saturday night at Richmond. Love night racing...really hope Gordon will be taking home the trophy or at least a top five. Something to be excited about...

Love Dwight Yoakam's unique style of music. Miss Dwight's music on the radio...guess that is where my CDs come in handy.

Welcome back to Hnet, DaisyxEnos! I've missed seeing you on the board. Glad you had fun at your prom...and good luck on your barrelling. Hope it goes good for you. Glad to see you back!

Thanks Hoss . Sorry for slacking again...didn't get to it last night and had to run to get breakfast, but did want to give a heads up.

They race at Kansas today at 12:30 ET...11:30 my time...Central. Probably the pre-race starting at that time. But do love watching the pre-race show on FOX. Love the announcers on FOX and really wish they would just keep NASCAR on FOX...all that my opinion of course. HA. The other announcers on the other stations are good too, just like the ones on Fox a bit better. Anyway... AJ Allmindinger and Kevin Harvick will be starting on the front row with AJ having the pole today. Don't have the top line up as of now and don't have much time, but thought I'd make a note of what time it will start....12:30 ET on FOX. Am hoping for a great race for my Hendrick team...especial Jeff Gordon. Hope all of your favorite drivers will have a GREAT race as well. Can't wait to hear them say them magical words in NASCAR..."Gentlemen start your engines!"

We went out to eat for my sister's birthday tonight and they had the game on. Didn't see the end, but figured unless I missed some Cubbie excitement, that they were going to...well I refuse to say the L word. HA HA. Congrats on the win K . . .even though am not too happy about it - personally that is. Tomorrow is a new game Well Roger, would have to look up that info on Wrigley. Saw an article on Facebook about them playing the Reds at Wrigley - but was known as a different name - in 1916 and won. (Well K...may have been that many years ago, but the Cubs won! HA...LOL). But would have to look at when it was built. Shame on me. Very true about loyalty to a team being rare. That is one reason why I like Kerry Wood so much. Before the Cubs traded him a few years ago (they hired him back a couple of years ago) I heard he turned down a better contract with another team to stay in Chicago. (Leave it to the Cubs to later trade him...that was a very sad day for me!) Was very excited when teh Cubs hired him back...right after Ron Santo had died. But the Cubs told him they didn't have much money and he agreed to $1 million dollars. A lot to us, but is nothing to them. He is now playing for $3 million this year...still not anything compared to some of them contracts out there. He is just so good for Chicago...and for the Cubs. Once again K...congrats on the win. Am hoping the Cubs will even out the odds tomorrow...(even though Kerry Wood is now on the 15 disabled list due to his shoulder... )

Well Roger, thank you for your service and all that you did.That was a HUGE sacrafice and commitment. Thank-you. Perhaps for that, your Pirates should win. Glad you have at least some World Series memories...and of the Pirates winning them. That's awesome for you and your team. Perhaps this is one of them years for your Pirates or for my Cubs...I refuse to give up hope. No matter what. Those are some sad statistics Roger...but isn't our wager suppose to be how good our team is and not how bad our team is? Trust me when I say NO ONE forgets how long it has been since the Cubs last won the World Series. It don't matter...I'll be a Cubs fan til the day I die and beyond. As for my dream Cubs team...that is the team I grew up knowing and following. Probably teh 1990 Cubs team. Still miss the players on that team. Can still list them and their position. (Granted they didn't go to the World Series and all that fancy stuff. But did like the players that played that year and the years around that year...) Love the Cubs team today and the players, but it is different than how it use to be. Back then a baseball team stayed together with perhaps a few players traded here and there. Today it seems like the players are more about money and players are always being traded. Well there is my vent...LOL. And in case y'all have forgotten who is the best in my book GO CUBS GO!!!!!!!!!!

You are very welcome, Roger. As they say, it is better late than never.

Well I have been told that I have been slacking in my NASCAR duties on HNet and I greatly apologize. Coming to this thread only proves that I have slacked a tiny bit. HA. Guess it is kinda sad for me to look at the points to see Jeff Gordon all the way down to the seventeenth spot as of now. Though he is getting ever so closer to the top twelve...if anyone can do it, it is Big Daddy himself. OK enough with my excuses...I apologize for slacking on this thread and will try to do more better at posting the points. NO MATTER where my drivers are. HA HA. Here is the top ten in points after the Texas race: 1. Greg Biffle 2. Matt Kenseth 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr (Dale and Matt are tied pointwise, but gets the edge since he has a win and Dale doesn't...though the way ol' Dale's been racing this season, that win is soon to come!) 4. Martin Truex Jr. 5. Kevin Harvick 6. Denny Hamlin 7. Tony Stewart (-4 positions due to the race yesterday) 8. Jimmie Johnson 9. Ryan Newman We are onto Kansas next Sunday afternoon on FOX. 10. Clint Bowyer

Well at least your Pirates started off good...the Cubs on the other hand? Well they''ve had a good game here and there. Don't worry though...they'll come around. They're just working out the few kinks in the system of their WHOLE new manager staff they have. Ol' Theo broke the Red Sox curse and took 'em to the World Series...well now he's in Chicago and he'll break the Cubs billy goat curse and take 'em to the World Series. Just watch and see...idealistically probably not this year, but it can happen. As for your virus, Roger, perhaps you should get all the facts before throwing your stones at this ol' Cubs fan. The link goes to youtube. Not the Cubs...but even if it did, it wouldn't send no virus to your computer. Has yet to do that to mine. In fact, it probably would improve your computer greatly. Think of all that speed you'll get by visiting the Cubs...at Cubs.com. Just awesome. 104 years...ain't it funny how some horrible number as that seems to stick in none Cubs fans minds. Only to rub it all in to the great fans of the Chicago Cubs. One of these days Roger, that number is gonna shatter....one of these days.

Well the NASCAR Sprint Cup raced at Texas last night. I am sorry my review is late...to be honest, didn't even think about it. Perhaps it was because it was thundering, raining, and lightnining through most of the race. With four or so laps to go the lights go out...I was so mad. LOL. Then went on, but took awhile for the box to find the cable again. Luckily I was able to watch the last couple of laps before it went out again...and back again so I can hear them talking to Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon. I turned the TV off once they were going back to normal programming and turned my computer off as well. So I apologize for my write up and review being so late. I even had a dream last night that someone already beat me to it when I came on today to do it... LOL. Perhaps I am a bit biased, but I do have to admit that last night's race was probably the best race of the season so far...seven races into the season. And no, Jeff Gordon did NOT win...but it felt like a win. He qualified in the thirty-fourth position. Was not happy to see him starting all the way back there, but it happens. Well he must have had an awesome fast car last night. By the time they got on lap 39 he was twentieth...didn't seem like too much longer when he broke into the top ten. Long story short, he came home fourth last night. From 34th starting position to fourth. Nice going JEFF GORDON! Sounded like he had the fastest car on the track several times last night and was the one that passed the most cars for position as well. Not a win, but it feels like one after the last six races and how they had ended. He is now 17th (unofficially) in points...there is hope after all. Well enough about Gordon...just had to express my excitement over his race. Sorry if it was a bit biased. LOL. I try my best not to pinpoint my favorite drivers, just sometimes it is a bit hard to do. Martin Truex Jr started the race from the pole and led a lot of laps and came home sixth. Greg Biffle started second...and went onto lead the most laps and to win the race. His first race won in 49 races. Both Truex Jr and Biffle was on my fantasy team last night so once this season I had a great race fantasy wise as well. They broke speed records last night going 160 or 170 mph through the three hour race...five hundred laps in three hours. Was an awesome race with the last 234 laps being caution free...also a record. Not a lot of action when it came to cautions and accident. Think the only accident was when the wind knocked Trevor Bayne into the wall...they had really high winds last night in Texas. Jimmie Johnson led a lot of laps as well until Greg Biffle did the slide job on him to pass him for the last time of the night. Then with fifteen or ten laps to go JJ, I think, swiped the wall or something happened and something was wrong with his car. But he went onto hold position and finish the night second. In fact all four Hendrick cars finished in the top ten...JJ 2nd, Gordon 4th, Kasey Kahne 7th, and Jr 10th. Which is awesome for my boys...still not the 200th win for Hendrick that they are all going for. Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Tony Stewart all had rough nights last night. Here is the top ten finishes of last night's race: 1. Greg Biffle (point leader as well!) 2. Jimmie Johnson 3. Mark Martin 4. Jeff Gordon 5. Matt Kenseth (also on my fantasy team ) 6. Martin Truex Jr. 7. Kasey Kahne 8. Carl Edwards 9. Kevin Harvick 10. Dale Earnhardt Jr. The next race will be at Kansas where Jimmie Johnson won his last race at. It will be Sunday on Fox...

As much as I love the Cubs, I'll have to admit that it is most likely not the winning season that keeps the bleachers packed at Wrigley. Found it kinda ironic a several years back when the Braves were so hot and going to the World Series so often, that I had turned either a Braves World Series game or play off game...think it was a World Series game, in Atlanta if memory serves me correctly, and saw the stands only half full if that. Yet the Cubs will get a packed crowd even on their worse year. Agreed...the rivalry is all in good fun. An amusing wager would be fun...especially to see you with a Cubs avator or what else you cook up. Cubs may not be off to the best start, but it only means it can only get better. This Cubs fan, refuses to give up hope.

Hoss- I love your photo! Of course I always love seeing the Cubs Wrigley Field marquee, but is awesome seeing my name in it! Very thoughtful for starting a compaign for me...would really hate to be deleted just because I support the better team. I may need your campaign and all the extra help I can get so I can stay on this great board.. once Roger sees how much better my Cubs are over his Pirates. Thanks Hoss for the photo and for the smile. It was great!

Right now I am reading one of the best books that I have read in a long time. It is a book that I have had a hard time putting down and a book I continue to think about while I am not reading. It is a book that I can't wait to see what happens, but dread finishing the book knowing that will be the end of it. Funny thing is, is that I just got it to pass time and ended up not needing it for that when the time came. . .but am glad that I got it. The books is COURAGEOUS by Randy Alcorn. It is the book to the movie by the same title. I have yet seen the movie but plan to do so once I finish the book. It is a Christian book filled with references to scriptures and all other things like that. So if anyone is in search of a great book of the sorts, I would recommend this book...though as I said, I have yet to finish it. Am only half way through the book...

Well Roger went and asked for it with his suggestion to have me deleted for liking the BEST team there is. So Roger I dedicate this song just for you and who ever else is against the Cubs. Hey Roger...if you listen to the whole song carefully you will notice that there is a line that says the Cubs have the best fans. Now ain't that the truth or what? (Also if you watch the slide show the first Cubs player they show is Kerry Wood who is now a relief pitcher. He is my favorite current Cubs player...him and Alfonso Soriano. Though Ryne Sandberg, now retired, will always be my all time favorite Cubs player...) Brian...perhaps that is why our characters don't seem to get along. HA. Brewers and the Packers - you are doubly against me it seems. Ah well. May the best team win as you say - which will be the CUBS/BEARS. (Sorry couldn't help myself...) How you enjoying ex-Cubs third baseman Aramis Ramirez?