One overriding topic of conversation this week in Packer Country has been the bone-chilling forecast for Sunday's NFC Championship battle with the New York Giants. Historically, the uglier the weather, the greater the Packers' success stories. Like following last Saturday's defeat of the Seahawks, Packer players claimed they enjoyed the experience of playing in the snow, quipping it was "fun". And Coach McCarthy is not so much concerned about the frigid temps as the wind factor (but this time he probably won't need to worry, since the game will be played after sunset, when winds theoretically should have died down).

 Why does the Pack dominate in  frigid winter weather? Sure, they now live in Wisconsin, but most, with the exception of a few players like right tackle Mark Tauscher, did not even grow up in the state. Hey, even the star quarterback is a native of Kiln, Mississippi, a name that hardly suggests the frozen tundra.

Continue reading "The Weather Factor in Sunday's Packers-Giants NFC Championship Game"

When Dale Earnhardt Jr. left DEI last year and moved on to Hendrick Motorsports, most of his fans (including me) were surprised (to say the least) and a bit disappointed (to put it mildly). After all, we could have lived with his teaming with RCR or Joe Gibbs Racing. But to become teammates with a couple of his fiercest competitors? Unthinkable!

If preseason testing at Daytona is any indication, however, of how Junior will perform in 2008, his settling upon Hendrick might well prove to have been a not-so-bad choice. The morning of January 15, he was clocked at 185.820 mph on a single lap, while teammate (and reigning Cup champ) Jimmie Johnson only managed to pull off 184.782 mph in the previous week's testing.

We Dale Jr. fans knew all along he had championship potential; it just lay dormant the past couple seasons at DEI. Talk circulated among the racing community that DEI was spending money in places other than technology and equipment--the two areas in which Hendrick has dominated. And if that's the case, current up-and-coming drivers at DEI like Martin Truex Jr. and Paul Menard are undoubtedly of championship caliber as well.

Continue reading "Dale Jr.'s Move to Hendrick Motorsports--The Right Decision?"