Redemption and Tragedy -- Sean Taylor "Clings to Life"

The Toughest Game One Redskin Has Ever Played

Most of the time, this blog is all NASCAR. But as a long time, passionate fan of the Washington Redskins, today is different. Today is bigger than NASCAR, bigger than the NFL and bigger than sports.

A man many thought of as invincible was shown to be a mere mortal.

He is a freak of nature -- carrying a size with speed rarely if ever seen.

He is one of the most fearsome players to ever don a uniform.

He is larger than life in so many ways.

The idea that 24 year old Redskins Safety Sean Taylor is now "clinging to life" after being shot in an apparent home invasion is nothing short of unbelievable.

You can read the full post at Epic Carnival.

Live Blog of Sunday's Race: Phoenix Checker 500

Throwing The Black Flag at Sunday's Race

The Black Flag will be taking a new toy out for a spin today at 3:00 EST with a live blog of the Checker 500.

This live blog will be happening right here using a great piece of software called Altcaster I was turned on to by Keith over at Sports Media Journal.

If you've read more than three posts here, you probably already know what to expect. Feel free to lurk or stop by and kick in your own reactions in as the race unfolds.

To see the transcript of the Altcast, click HERE.

Is That Cheating?

Greenies. Steroids. Jet Fuel. Video Tape. Unapproved Wings. Wide Receivers Pushing Off. Running Over the Commitment Cone. Sports Fans Wonder: "Where is the Line?"

Words need to have meaning.

Words like cheating.

In sports, much like in relationships there are rules and people break those rules all the time.

Since the entire steroids scandal in baseball, the word "cheating" has been getting thrown around at the drop of the hat.

That leaves me wondering if that word has lost meaning.

So I've got to ask: where is the line between breaking rules and cheating?

Here is what I mean....

At Texas last weekend, Greg Biffle ran over the pit road commitment cone while trying to avoid a wreck and get onto pit road.

Running over that cone is against the rules. He got hit with a black flag and had to start at the end of the longest line on the restart.

Is that cheating?

How about getting a Hummer from an intern who is built like an H2?

Is that cheating?

Just for the sake of argument, let's say that one would be considered cheating.

Could there be mitigating factors (hypothetically speaking) that would allow it be viewed as a simple rules violation (like leaving the seat up) if the recipient of said SUV happened to be married to the person who is going to be our next president?

What if instead an intern in a blue dress, the Hummer was coming from F Da Eagles Heather? Whether it's cheating or not, I could at least understand it.

How about the case of Hall of Fame Wide Receiver Michael Irvin. No, I'm not talking about Irvin's activities at the Dallas Cowboy's White House.

This is about what he did on the field. Irvin is in the Hall of Fame today because of his ability to push off of covering defenders without getting caught.

Is that cheating?

This year in NASCAR there have been a number of major penalties handed down. The year started off with Michael Waltrip getting busted for having "a jet fuel like substance" found in his manifold (after further investigation, a cone of silence settled upon the NASCAR enforcers and on Michael Waltrip Racing about what really happened).

Is that cheating?

Later, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. got popped for using an "unapproved" wing mount on his car. Shortly after that, Hendrick Motorsports got nailed because both Jimmy Johnson and Jeff Gordon had bent there fenders to give them more down force.

Is that cheating?

Even the Michael Waltrip incident doesn't even come close to an entire laundry list of things the late, great Smokey Yunick managed to pull off. Say what you will about Smokey. The man was an innovator. An amazing, genius of an engineer.

My favorite Smokey story is the one when NASCAR pulled his gas tank after an inspection (this was pre-fuel cell) and he was able to THEN start his engine and drive away. Smokey had found away OUTSIDE the rules -- not AGAINST the rules to get more gasoline in the car by having a longer fuel line.

Is that cheating?

There is a line out there somewhere. It's just that I'm not sure anyone cares where it is.

It's just easier to slam somebody by calling them a cheater.

Were Gordon and Johnson's Cars on 'Roids?

NASCAR Tests Then "Confiscates" Eleven Engines for Excessive Horse Power Following Texas Race

Two different reports now say that NASCAR found excessive horse power in the engines of eleven cars on Sunday including those driven by Chase leader Jimmie Johnson and second place Chase driver Jeff Gordon.

The Roanoke Times says the other cars involved include those driven by Chase drivers Martin Truex Jr., Tony Stewart, Jeff Burton, and Matt Kenseth as well as those of Ryan Newman, Dave Blaney, Kasey Kahne, Ricky Rudd and Brian Vickers.

The report at AutoRacingSport.com says the cars were all about 5% over the 750 HP limit (some where as high as 788 HP).

However, that is not a hard limit and engine horse power can change due to a variety of factors including weather, drafting and engine heat.

In the event NASCAR decides that over a quarter of the teams have replaced their watered down Sunoco gasoline with fuel from BALCO, the current Chase standings could be thrown into chaos.

If multiple teams found an "edge" that allowed them to "discover" extra horse power, the conspiracy theories will run amok within the Black Helicopter community and the debate among NASCAR fans over the definition of "cheating" will become heated and passionate.

DirecTV NASCAR Hotpass Moment Contest Part III: The Winners...

...Have Just Been Announced.

You can take a look at the full post over at the contest HQ at Epic Carnival to get all the details.

Also, I want to thank everyone who entered and all of our judges for their hard work on this contest.

Those judges are....

• Queen of the NASCAR blogosphere TallGlassOfMilk.
• Former New York Times NASCAR reporter and author of the new novel "Yellow Flag" Robert Lipsyte.
• NASCAR media critic John Daly of The Daly Planet.
• Chuxtory is on the panel.
• We also have KLValus, winner of the FoxSports/Miller Lite NASCAR Next Great Sportswriter Contest.

This contest was something I certainly enjoyed doing and it is the kind of thing I'm hoping you will see more of from The Black Flag in the future.