Front Row.com Blog

 With all the excitement surrounding the NFL Draft and the NBA Playoff we’ve been a little neglectful of the latest news on NASCAR. Let’s take a break from pigskin and roundball and venture a gander at the next few weeks of the NASCAR schedule.

 The usual litany of names are riding the first few spots in the standings. Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson are in a pretty tight group in the lead. Tony Stewart, Kyle Busch, and Denny Hamlin are well within shooting range and things could change pretty quickly so pay attention. The next major NASCAR races will certainly change things.

 The Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway on May 9th will be a good one. Kyle Busch took this one last season and if he can do it again it will push him at least into the top five.

May 24th brings the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowes Motor Speedway. Maybe they should call this the Casey race since Casey Mears and Kasey Kahn have claimed it the last three years.

Camping World RV 400 – I still like to call this the Dover 400. But a rose by any other name. Get ready to end May with a bang at the Dover International Speedway.

NASCAR ticket will bring some surprises and the standings now won’t be the standing come the end of May. Catch all the cation with NASCAR tickets from Frontrow.com.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 New storied coming across the wire have been full of the fact that Michael Vick is now being offered the chance to play football for $200 a week. No doubt Michael Vick, former quarterback of the Atlanta Falcons, has paid the ultimate price for his participation in the “sport” of dog fighting. My opinion? Vick, while certainly guilty of bad judgement and involvement in an abhorent practice, has mostly been the victim of a smear campaign that is grossly out of control. My example? Leonard Little:

 In 1998 Leonard Little of the St. Louis Rams was convicted of involuntary manslaughter by drunk driving. In this case Little killed an actual HUMAN BEING. Yet he continued his career in the NFl with very few repercussions. Michael Vick killed DOGS. As unpopular as this viewpoint may be, there is a huge difference between humans and animals. Animals are killed for our consumption every day, with numbers in the millions, and nobody says anything. Dog, chicken, pig, cow, these are animals and I can’t help but be astounded that nobody has pointed this out. All perspective has been lost. I am no fan of dog fighting but I am a fan of human life. There’s a double standard here. I wouldn’t claim to know what the proper punishment for either Michael Vick or Leonard Little should be but my gut instinct tells me that human life is more valuable and taking a human life should carry more punishment than taking the life of an animal. Call me stupid. It’s been done before.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 Hey, what’s up with the Boston Red Sox? I woke up from a dream where the Sox where running in 4th place in their division. Now I’m looking at a string of 11 wins and Boston riding the wave quite nicely. The streak includes a 3-game sweep of the hated New York Yankees and continued yesterday with a dramatic  9th inning home run by Jason Bay that lifeted the Red Sox over the Cleveland Indians 3-1.

 Needless to say the Sox are looking like a team that can contend for a World Series once again. We’re a long way from playoff time but the Beantown fans who were scratching their heads at Fenway are now beginning to relax and settle in for the long run. Suddenly those Tampa bay Rays and Yankees look easily beatable by what may be the hottest team in the MLB.

Note: Speaking of the New York Yankees: Is the Sabathia deal going to work out? It’s not looking too good so far. Hopefully for the Yankees and baseball in general, C.C. will come on strong a little later in the season.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 Every year over 200 college players earn their NFL tickets. Most won’t stay around long but some are destined for good things. The surprising thing is that it’s not always the top picks who have staying power. Be on the lookout for the sneaky guy who wants it really badly and won’t let anyone stop him. Here’s a look at the NFC South Draft. Other d9ivision to follow.

New Orleans Saints – The Saints had some glaring weakness on defense. The free agent market yielded a pair of veteran safeties. The draft yielded Malcolm Jenkins of Ohio State. Jenkins was the best of the D-Back stock in this draft. He should fit well into the new defense Sean Payton is installing to go with his leading offense.

Atlanta Falcons – After scoring big with Matt Ryan last year you can expect this crop of rookies to be closely examined. If the Falcons do that well again they’ll be a Super Bowl contender. For now, Atlanta has gone almost exclusively to the defensive side of the ball, taking Lawrence Sidbury first and following with safety William Mooore.

Carolina Panthers – The biggest question going into the draft was whether the Panthers would be looking for quarterback help. The re-signing of Jake the Snake eliminated that question before Saturday. Like their brethren in New Orleans and Atlanta the Panthers went for defensive help early, taking linemenEverette Brown of Florida State and backing it up with Corvey Irvin of Georgia in the 3rd.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers – Of all the teams in the NFC South the Bucs went for offense in a big way, trading up to take Kansas State quarterback Josh Freeman. This is an intriguing pick. Freeman was not the highest rated QB in the draft but perhaps offers the most value and potential down the line. Defensively Tampa Bay went for some mid to late round guys that fit their new system. Freeman is the big news but may not pay divoidens for awhile.

 Overall the NFC South looks to be a much stronger division on the defensive side of the ball. That may be a reaction to the Saints and Falcons success last season. Look for a new division winner in the 2009 NFL season as historically the team that womn it the previous year drops back into the pack and a new NFC South Champion emerges on a yearly basis.  

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 The hottest action in golf tickets in the month of May will be found down South. That makes sense since some places in the north atre still shaking off the effects of snow and ice. Take it from me, the south is where you want to be.

 Starting the month off with a bang will be the Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The Players brings in the biggest names in golf with a huge purse, cold beer, and bikini clad girls somewhere close by.

 Then it’s on your way to the Lone Star State for a three week golf fantasy swing. Start in San Antonio where you’ll catch the Valero Texas Open. Next stop? HP Byron Nelson Championship at the TCP Four Seasons in Irving. Finally, you can finish the month off right with the Crowne Plaza Invitational in Forth Worth.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 8,000 miles removed from the big show the NFL Draft is the talk of the troops. Endless debates about what ought to be done have changed to even more endless debates about what was done. No sport generates as much interest as the NFl in it’s selection process. here’s my take on a few of the picks:

 Detroit Lions – I can understand the move to pick a potential franchise quarterback. But on a team that went 0-16 can you really put a guy you’re spending $80 million on and put him in front of a weak offensive line? Can a talent like Mathew Stafford, or any talent, produce magic without a supporting cast? I doubt it. Trading down and re-stocking in the lines made more sense to me.

 New York Jets – Any New York team is going to be splashy. The Jets prove the rule with a major trade that allowed them to move up and pick Mark Sanchez of USC. Sanchez has been pronounced the most NFL ready quarterback of the draft. Another big name hero comes to New York and Jets fans seem to be happy about the deal. Others are dubious.

Oakland Raiders – Crazy Al strikes again. The Raiders made a name for themselves bucking the trend and now they’ve done it again by taking Darrius Heyward-Bey with the 7th pick. A boom or bust pick by the ultimate gambling team. Heyward-Bey is super fast and super raw. Expect growing pains and drama, as usual, in Oakland.

Denver Broncos- Another head scratcher. The Denver Broncos couldn’t stop their own grandma last season and their top pick is a running back. With an anemic defensive line you would expect the Broncos to look for a run stoipper or pass rusher. In an odd way though, it makes sense to me. Maybe a good running game will help their new starting quarterback and keep the other offense off the field. Or maybe that’s wishful thinking.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - After years of casting around for quarterbacks the Buccaneers must have decided to grow their own. Josh Freeman is not expected to become an instant starter but has all the tools to grow into a capable NFL quarterback.  

New York Giants – Wide receiver became an issue in the offseason and the Giants took steps to correct it. The selection of Hakeem Nicks gives Eli Manning a young, speedy, and reliable wideout. If he lives up to his potential, Nicks will becomes Manning’s fav.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 For those of us exiled to the mountains of Afghanistan or the dusty plains of Iraq (I’ve seen both. Afghanistan is better.), the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs are a distant dream. Strangely enough for a Louisiana boy however, with the MLB season getting underway and the NFL draft making major headlines of specualtion, the Stanley Cup Playoffs have been the frequent subject of some late night conversations. The general agreement seems to be that these playoffs could yield some surprises. Opinions vary from the Detroit Red Wings as the eventual Stanley Cup Champions to the Anaheim Ducks to the NY Rangers.

 Whatever the result, the Stanley Cup remains the pro championship of sports for some of these guys. A young soldier from NY told me that even the NFL can’t match up against the NHL in terms of sheer brutality and athleticism. His opinion was echoed by another young man from Detroit. These guys were raised on hockey so I’ll have to take their word on it. I’ll be looking into it. I’ve already informed my wife by phone that when I get back we’ll be making a pilgrimage to the nearest NHL city. She hung up on me.

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 The Atlanta Falcons made a surprise run to the playoffs last season. With all expectations that they would fold after the Michael Vick debacle, Atlanta rallied around Matt Ryan, a rookie quarterback with the intangible knack for making plays. Barring a sophomore slump, Falcons fans are hoping for even bigger things in the 2009 NFL season. The Atlanta braintrust has given Ryan a new weapon for the upcoming season, having traded a second round pick to the Kansas City Chiefs for Pro Bowl Tight End Tony Gonzales.

 While Gonzales has been in the NFL for a decade, he shows little sign of wear and tear. Still a dangerous target, Ryan should reap benefits from having a dependable receiver around to work the short passing game. With running back Michael Turner and wide receiver Roddy White. Matt Ryan has enough weapons to keep opposing defenses on their toes.

 The Falcons join the list of teams that have made significant roster changes prior to this weekends draft, most notably the Chicago Bears move to sign Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler. It only makes sense. Why spend the money on an unproven rookie when you can get a proven commodity. Certainly you still need to be bringing in young talent and developing it, but spending the big bucks on a sure thing just makes sense.  

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 There have been some mild surprises in the NBA Playoff for sure. Examples are the Chicago Bulls first game win over the Celtics. Then there’s the Denver Nuggets total blowout of the New Orleans Hornets. Even the Philadelphia 76ers got into the act, taking a 2-point win over the Orlando Magic.

 At this point though it appears that the two top acts the NBA has to offer are performing up to expectations. The Cleveland Cavaliers are cruising through the first round and the Los Angeles Lakers have easily handled the Utah Jazz. Certainly tougher games are to follow. But right now there are no apparent weaknesses emerging and the NBA should reap the benefit of a prime time matchup.

 The Los Angeles Lakers have been a team heaped in traditional winning and occupy one of the most publicized and high pressure spots in the world of sports. They’ve long outclassed even New York in fan expectation. The Cleveland Cavaliers have come on to the scene more recently, riding the wave of LeBron James. Seeing these two pair off in the NBA Championship seems inevitable, or at least highly likely. And that’s the way it shpould be unless a glorious Cinderella emerges from a so so pack.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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 Looking at the season results you’d think the an NBA fan with Boston Celtics tickets was clearly well ahead of the game over an NBA fan with Chicago Bulls tickets. And during the regular season you would clearly have been correct.

 But now it’s playoff time. The Chicago Bulls have come out on top with an overtime win in the first game of the series. Boston rebounded in Game 2 by a narrow margin (118-115). Think about it, that’s a difference of one shot. To say the Bulls have been intimidated or awed by playing the defending NBA Champions would be foolish. These Bulls have shown they are the equal of the Garnett-less Celtics and since that’s the Celtics team in the playoff this series is now anyone’s game. Chicago could be the spoiler that destroys the Boston Celtics vs Cleveland Cavaliers matchup that’s been anticipated since late in the regular season.

Tags: sports by edrouant
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