Two weeks off, plenty to catch up on

Bill Koch wrote a story which debuted on Friday on the Cincinnati Enquirer about Camp Higher Ground—the UC football off-site training camp, where I’ve been spending the past two weeks. (Read more here: http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090827/SPT0101/308270090/1064/Bearcats+like+Higher+Ground) In the two weeks out in West Harrison, Indiana I had limited internet connection and it was tough to keep up on the news, but here’s some of what I was able to glean in the past two weeks.
I got to follow around the Bearcat in order to film for his run at the Capital One Mascot of the Year challenge at Kings Island amusement park. He wanted to ride some rides with the players. Well, it got to be too funny for me when he got kicked off of Bumper Cars because of a potential safety hazard. On bumper cars…seriously?

And it seems that bumper cars is the closest that folks in Cincinnati will get to the Sprint Cup Series for at least one more year, because…

Kentucky Speedway not on Cup Schedule in 2010
Kentucky Speedway’s new owner Bruton Smith said a race at Kentucky on next year’s schedule is all but out of the question. “I think it's a dead issue. The lawsuit did not get resolved at the appellate division and we ran out of time. NASCAR now has the schedule, and if it happened tomorrow I don't see NASCAR changing the schedule to accommodate Kentucky,” he said.

Kentucky Speedway sits one hour between Louisville and Cincinnati

Smith added that he was, “disappointed because it's a great speedway and it’s a beautiful speedway and we’re anxious to get it on.” Smith assured the media that Kentucky Speedway will be a part of the Sprint Cup schedule in the future. “Absolutely, yes, absolutely we'll be there in 2011.” (Parts of this were taken from PRN's Garage Pass)

So I’ll have two opportunities to watch Mark win in 2011, and by then he might have 1,100 starts in NASCAR…

Mark Martin completes 1,000th NASCAR start with second place finish
In Mark Martin's 1000th start he came home second, a familiar place for Martin. He's finished runner up twice this season.

Fans at last Saturday's race celebrated Mark Martin's 1000th NASCAR start

Should Martin have put a bumper to Kyle Busch to move him out of the way in order to win? Not according to either racer. After the race Martin told ESPN's Jamie Little, “That’s not the way he would have raced me.” Busch, in victory lane said, “He had a chance. He could have done it.” But added, “Mark Martin--what a class act.”

Martin and Busch put on a show in the closing laps of the Sharpie 500

Could Mark Martin have caught Kyle Busch if Michael Waltrip hadn't wrecked? It would have been interesting to see if he could have. Instead the red flag with eight to go only gave the two four laps to duke it out. In my opinion, Martin had Busch if there was just one more lap left in the Sharpie 500.

This weekend brought the gang formerly known as the Busch Series to Montreal where last season Goodyear tried out rain tires on the Nationwide Series cars. And every year the same debate gets brought up; should NASCAR adopt rain tires in the Cup Series?

Well, there are some baseball purists that hate retractable roofs on stadiums, so I’m sure some NASCAR purists would hate having rain tires. I mean, the Marlins do well enough without a retractable roof…in Florida.

And speaking of the Marlins…

Marlins fall off face of planet…again
It seems that every year the UC Bearcats head out to camp at Higher Ground in West Harrison, Indiana the Florida Marlins fall apart. Last season they were within striking distance of the eventual world champion Philadelphia Phillies—just 2.5 games back when the UC football team headed to camp. They ended up out 7.5 games of the Phils.

Well, this year has been no different. Two weeks ago the Marlins were only back four games of the Phillies in the NL East and two games back of San Fransico in the Wild Card. They then tanked, going 6-8 over the past 14 days and they now sit 7.5 games back of the Phils for the NL East crown and in 4th place in the Wild Card standings. They trail the Colorado Rockies, amongst others, by 4 games there.

Well, maybe they can take the Wild Card. It’ll take one heck of a run in September to do so, but if they do it the NL should take heed: The Marlins have won two World Series titles (in 1997 and 2003) and both times they won the Wild Card to make it into the playoffs.

According to everyone’s favorite Colts coach Jim Mora, “Playoffs? You talkin’ about playoffs? You kiddin’ me? Playoffs? I just hope we can win a game, another game!”

High School Football Kicks off in Cincinnati
Next to the Brickyard 400 weekend, the beginning of football, both high school and college might be the best time of the year. And yesterday was Christmas for some high school football fans in the Cincinnati area.

It began with a game between Moeller and Winton Woods where the Winton Woods Warriors took a 21-0 lead…in the first quarter. Moeller battled back to win the game with a few special teams plays and defensive touchdowns, by a score of 45-38.???

It was on to the nightcap which featured two nationally ranked powerhouses, Elder and East St. Louis. The Panthers, ranked #4 in the nation by many polls took an early 14-0 lead before East St. Louis fired back. The first half featured nearly 600 yards of total offense between the two teams.

Elder ended up pulling away in the second half and winning 49-28. The statistics—provided by yours truly—were gaudy on both sides. The Elder Panthers were led offensively by senior running back Adam Brown who carried the ball 18 times for 212 yards, a 12 yard average. Senior quarterback Mark Miller threw three touchdown passes on the night. He totaled 197 yards through the air and his main target was fellow senior Tim O’Conner who caught six passes for 78 yards and two touchdowns.

As crazy as those numbers are, the East St. Louis Flyers put up larger numbers. The Flyers had a running back who went hog wild on the Panther defense. Courtney Molton ran the ball 22 times for 227 yards and three scores. He also caught three passes for 83 yards and another touchdown. His quarterback, Detchauz Wray threw 37 passes, completing 20 of those for 227 yards.

Overall it was a good start to the season for the Elder Panthers who take on Colerain next Sunday on ESPN. It’s too bad I’ll be in flight to New Jersey for that one. It should be another fine matchup between the two programs.
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It’s now game week for the UC Bearcats. This week—if I can find time—I’ll take a look back at what happened when the UC Bearcats traveled to Piscataway in early October of 2007, in my first season as a video guy at UC. I also will break down the matchup between my second favorite team, the Naval Academy Midshipmen and the team they play this week, the school two hours to our north in Columbus. Until then, enjoy your week.