Sadler streamlines flip
Crashing spectacularly on the front straightaway at Talladega Superspeedway is one habit Elliott Sadler would like to drop.
A year ago, Sadler walked away without injury from a wild, barrel-rolling crash. He did it again in Sunday’s EA Sports 500, this time sliding backward through the grass and flipping once before sliding across the finish line on his wheels on the last lap.
“Everything did its job again and it wasn’t half as bad as last year,” Sadler said after the mandatory checkup at the infield hospital. “It was just a few tumbles and everything was fine. Last year it just kept flipping and flipping and flipping. I don’t think I got as high this time as last time.
“I couldn’t get as much lift off the grass as I could off the asphalt, so I’ll work on that next time,” he joked.
Missed opportunity
From Pete McEntegart of Sports Illustrated.com: “Cowboys coach Bill Parcells told 60 Minutes in an interview that several of his players have taken a swing at him during his coaching career, but that it was OK with him because he considers confrontation healthy. Reached at a Jets practice, quarterback Quincy Carter reportedly replied, ‘Now he tells me.’ “
Betting on baseball
The Chicago Cubs finally won on Sunday after losing for the seventh time in eight games on Saturday and being eliminated from the wild-card race. Losing two of three to the lowly New York Mets Sept. 24-26 may have been what doomed the Cubs.
According to New York Newsday, lame-duck Mets manager Art Howe had extra incentive because New York radio personality Chris “Mad Dog” Russo of WFAN had bet him that the Mets couldn’t win two games in the series with the Cubs. The bet was for a Bermuda vacation for Howe and his wife.
Now Howe’s problem will be collecting. WFAN general manager Lee Davis told Newsday, “This is on Chris’ tab, not WFAN’s. He’s going to send them for one day.”
Blame anyone
A day after it was reported that Cubs announcer Steve Stone was called in and told he was being too critical of the team’s play, Fox’s Tim McCarver had this to say:
“I have never seen an announcer of any team have an effect on any game. When you as a player started looking upstairs instead of, as Dallas Green used to say, in the mirror, then you’re looking in the wrong spot.”
The last word …
“The Charles Barkley Reading & Learning Center opened Friday in Peoria, Ariz. The center is expected to perform important work in teaching youth to speak without thinking.”
–Pete McEntegart, Sports Illustrated.com.