ZuDfunck

I Love You, Petty, and Favre

When a commenter caught my eye with this I was thinking Richard Petty, not Tom. But I dig Tom Petty and no doubt Favre so if you are in the Big Apple this summer check this out:

An Official Selection of the Midtown International Theater Festival and pending acceptance into the New York Fringe Festival, “I Love You, Petty, and Favre” is a heart warming and heart breaking love story about a Wisconsin couple that spans 25 years.  The main character, Brian, is an obsessed Packer fan, so much so that he marries a girl named Brett.  Brett in turn, has her own obsession with music, mainly that of Tom Petty.  Sports fans will certainly enjoy this play, particularly those that love Brett Favre.  In a hilarious and memorable scene, Brian takes his 3 year old son and 5 year old daughter to their first football game.  In another, Brett fulfills Brian’s fantasy by throwing on the pink jersey of his favorite player and putting on a “show”.  A touching and funny story about love, football, and music, it is a show that that anyone can enjoy.

“I Love You, Petty and Favre” runs July 14th – August 10th.  Tickets and official showtimes soon to be available.

2008 NBA Playoff Picture

            

Eastern Conference	Western Conference
vs. (1) BOSTON   vs. (8) Atlanta (Boston won 3-0)   vs. (2) DETROIT   vs. (7) Philadelphia (Series tied 2-2)   vs. (3) ORLANDO   vs. (6) Toronto (Orlando won 2-1)   vs. (4) CLEVELAND   vs. (5) Washington (Series tied 2-2)	vs. (1) LOS ANGELES   vs. (8) Denver (Los Angeles won 3-0)   vs. (2) NEW ORLEANS   vs. (7) Dallas (Series tied 2-2)   vs. (3) SAN ANTONIO   vs. (6) Phoenix (Phoenix won 3-1)   vs. (4) UTAH   vs. (5) Houston (Utah won 2-1)

NBA Playoff time when the NBA plays for real. ZuD is pulling for a Celtic/Laker NBA Final don't know what the odds of that are but it will certainly make ABC happy as the previous finals have been tiresome and predictable. Here's hoping for a great set of match ups which we get in the West every year. Too bad TNT is stuck with the East this year. Graphics from NBA.com

Brett Favre to Join NFL Today on CBS or NASCAR?

As we speculate on Brett Favres' future I would like to see Brett get hired by CBS Sports to replace Shannon Sharpe, that marble mouthed dude has outlived his welcome and if that's not possible put Brett in the wings with the third segment and maybe supplant Boomer or Marino down the road.
That of course is ZuD's second choice, as we would love to see him go into NASCAR. Probably not as a driver as in college he had a near death experience driving. For all we know he doesn't even drive a car anymore after that. But as former NFL quarterbacks such as Aikman and Staubach have shown it is a fertile field for once great, washed up quarterbacks.

USA Today's Sports Media God has a take on all this.

Tuesday, networks wouldn't elaborate on plans to corral Favre. Which isn't surprising, given nobody likes to end up looking like an also-ran if they don't succeed. And networks figure there's no point in having their on-air types fret about being dumped for Favre — until, that is, that actually happens.

 

Awaiting California Events to Begin, ZuD Looks Ahead

As we look ahead in the schedule to upcoming races I am most excited about the short track events, Bristol Sat, Mar. 15 & Sun, Mar. 16 and the Talladega Superspeedway Sat, Apr. 26 & Sun. Apr. 27. Then the Night races that follow in May. Here's a sample with the focus on the Nationwide Series:

Sat, Mar. 1 4:30 PM ET	NASCAR Nationwide Series at Las Vegas Las Vegas Motor Speedway		Tickets Travel
Sat, Mar. 8 2:00 PM ET	NASCAR Nationwide Series at Atlanta Atlanta Motor Speedway		Tickets Travel
Sat, Mar. 15 2:30 PM ET	NASCAR Nationwide Series at Bristol Bristol Motor Speedway		Tickets Travel
Sat, Mar. 22 3:00 PM ET	NNS at Nashville presented by Tractor Supply Company Nashville Superspeedway		Tickets Travel
Sat, Apr. 5 3:00 PM ET	NASCAR Nationwide Series at Texas presented by Yamaha Texas Motor Speedway		Tickets Travel
Fri, Apr. 11 9:45 PM ET	NNS at Phoenix presented by Cici's Pizza Phoenix International Raceway		Tickets Travel
Sun, Apr. 20 2:00 PM ET	NASCAR Nationwide Series at Mexico City Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez		Travel
Sat, Apr. 26 3:00 PM ET	Aaron's 312 at Talladega Talladega Superspeedway		Tickets Travel
Fri, May. 2 7:30 PM ET	NASCAR Nationwide Series at Richmond Richmond International Raceway		Tickets Travel
Fri, May. 9 7:30 PM ET	NASCAR Nationwide Series at Darlington Darlington Raceway		Tickets Travel

Budweiser Shootout 2008 Results

ZuD isn't  stat guy but I know some you are here ya go:

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Order of finish for Saturday's   Budweiser Shootout at Daytona International Speedway (Lap length: 2.5 miles;   Starting position in parentheses):

 1.  (7) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 70, 143.3.
 2. (10) Tony Stewart, Toyota, 70, 108.5.
 3. (18) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 70, 79.2.
 4. (22) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 70, 80.1.
 5.  (6) Reed Sorenson, Dodge, 70, 102.3.
 6. (16) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 70, 85.7.
 7. (19) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 70, 99.4.
 8.  (2) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 70, 76.0.
 9. (12) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 70, 68.9.
10.  (8) Kasey Kahne, Dodge, 70, 62.5.
11.  (3) Michael Waltrip, Toyota, 70, 66.3.
12. (20) Carl Edwards, Ford, 70, 79.0.
13. (15) Dale Jarrett, Toyota, 70, 38.1.
14. (21) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 70, 50.1.
15. (13) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 70, 45.9.
16. (11) J.J. Yeley, Toyota, 70, 43.7.
17. (23) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 70, 42.4.
18.  (1) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 70, 55.3.
19.  (5) David Gilliland, Ford, Accident, 48, 69.0.
20. (17) Greg Biffle, Ford, Accident, 48, 33.6.
21.  (9) Martin Truex Jr., Chevrolet, Accident, 47, 58.7.
22.  (4) Jamie McMurray, Ford, Accident, 24, 90.4.
23. (14) Bill Elliott, Ford, Accident, 15, 23.3.

---

Race statistics 

Time of Race: Average Speed of Race Winner: 140.751 mph.
Time of Race: 1 hour, 14 minutes, 36 seconds
Margin of Victory: .136 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 16 laps.
Lead Changes: 17 among 8 drivers.

Lap Leaders: M. Waltrip 1; D. Gilliland 2-3; M. Martin 4; M. Waltrip 5; D. 
  Earnhardt Jr. 6-22; C. Edwards 23; D. Earnhardt Jr. 24-27; D. Blaney 28-31; 
  D. Earnhardt Jr. 32-37; T. Stewart 38; D. Earnhardt Jr. 39-41; J. Gordon 42; 
  D. Earnhardt Jr. 43-49; D. Blaney 50-52; D. Earnhardt Jr. 53-60; T. Stewart 
  61-68; D. Earnhardt Jr. 69-70.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led: Dale Earnhardt Jr. 7 times for 
  47 laps; Tony Stewart 2 times for 9 laps; Dave Blaney 2 times for 7 laps; David 
  Gilliland 1 time for 2 laps; Michael Waltrip 2 times for 2 laps; Carl Edwards 
  1 time for 1 lap; Jeff Gordon 1 time for 1 lap; Mark Martin 1 time for 1 lap.

Awaiting Daytona 500 Qualifying

As we paused to grab our breath from that excitement filled Bud Shootout and await qualifying today on Fox at 1pm EST I wanted to share the experience and elation I felt when I flipped on the HD channel of Fox and saw in High Definition the Old Daytona Track in the splash of lites and depths of color that must be truly awesome to see in person.

Man what I felt being 1500 miles away must be just spectacular up-close in the stands. The sounds sights and smells must be magnificent but yet and still it is all that in my living room. I can’t think of any sport except for football that provides that kind of intimacy via TV and in HD it’s breathtaking!

So I will have my Bacon and Eggs, Ruffles and Dip, Coke and Ice ready at 1pm to soak in all the drama that comes with making the big one or packing up and going home…

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Wins Bud Shootout

Junior wins! His first in two Years!

Image courtesy: Bench Racing with Steve and Charlie The "On Pit Row" Nascar blog

ZuDfunck, NASCAR Fan, Y'all

As I await the Bud Shootout tonight at 8pm EST on Fox and transform my four-year-old blog into a NASCAR blog I thought I would officially proclaim my self a NASCAR Fan. For those who don’t know me I am an over fifty hippy of some repute who in my earlier years developed alternate content via telephone answering machines in the seventies and eighties and used the web in the years of this decade to delight and inform all generations on what is hip and important. So I am taking a huge sidestep to devote my energies toward NASCAR, but I do it both on a casual basis and in a fundamental political way to proclaim that one needn’t be from the Southeastern United States to be a NASCAR fan.

In yesterdays Trading’ Paint episode on the Speed channel Kyle Petty spoke to that exact point that NASCAR needs to return to it early ways but also grow its base and I think its important as did he that Fans down south have an inherent right to dis anyone that isn’t their neighbor. Just as Hockey fans shouldn’t dis southern US fans. As a politically entrenched liberal with a strong distaste for what President Bush has left us I shouldn’t be disqualified from being a welcome member to the NASCAR fan base.

I would like to get your reactions to what I am saying and hope you welcome me as I welcome you to this blog.

Michael Waltrip, ZuD's Favorite NASCAR Driver

I am Convinced this the year the dude makes a mark on NASCAR as a Driver. Last year was a mess and this year shall prove it was a fluke. As I type this post he is top speed in Practice so lets hope the SHootout is kind to him Tonight!

Any Dude who can walk away from this can do anything!:

Bud Shootout Preliminaries 2008, Get Stoked!

I am so stoked to be in the month of February not only did we last weekend have one of the best Super Bowls ever with the denial of supremacy and perfection to the Patriots but we also have the second Super Bowl coming up rapidly and if last nites practice for the shootout is any indication we have another anxiety ridden set of broadcasts to come out of Florida the next eight days.

I am trying to capture the footage and link to it but until I can take my word for it and set your clickers on Fox at 8PM Eastern and settle in for some rockem sockem Racing courtesy Tony Stewart and Kurt Busch…

I am watching Speed right now and Dave Despain just said there were some fisticuffs! All right! Hope he clocked Busch. Speaking of Despain he is anchoring some of the hundred hours of coverage down there with one of the old time announcers Ken Squier and he kind of has this John Madden/Andy Rooney thing going for him.