Saturday night under the lights, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series enters the equivalent of Week 17 in the NFL!  This race at Richmond International Raceway is appropriately titled the Chevy Rock & Roll 400, and we're certainly going to rock and roll all night, but some drivers won't be partying every day after the race concludes.

It started back in February down in Daytona, a 26-race “regular season” if you will that would determine the 12 drivers who would make the first ever Chase for the Sprint Cup. 43 drivers started the Daytona 500 hoping to not only win the race, but make it into the Chase by September. Those 43 drivers have been cut to just 14, and Saturday night, it all comes down to 400 laps under the lights in Richmond. 5 drivers are locked in, 2 more are in virtually by starting, and 1 other is 90% safe. 6 drivers remain in contention for 4 spots. The rest of the field will have to wait for their chance at the Chase until next year.

What can we expect to see on Saturday? 

Read More

If this was just the first week of "fall," we're in for plenty of drama. We've got political drama, name changing drama, and blessed football, football, football. 

• NFL vs NCAA football debate never gets old, at least not when you're comparing cheerleaders.
• Lebron James needs to work on his H-O-R-S-E skills.
• LaRon Landry got... Jacked Up!
• It's official, Chad Ocho Cinco will be on the field this weekend in Baltimore.
• Completely Useless By September
• JoePa has higher standards in Happy Valley.
• Steal Tatum Bell's job, he'll steal your bags. Moron.
• UFC Fight of Century, or something like that, is all set for November.
• AP Pollsters are already off to a puzzling start.
• George O'Leary is going to have a whole lot more reporters calling into his teleconference next week, and it's not because they just beat South Florida.
• CC Sabathia was robbed of a no-hitter, fourth doublecheeseburger.
• Slick Rick and Norm Chow are going to be some kind of pair in Westwood.
• Michael Phelps is doing what you'd do if you just won 8 gold medals.

It's a calm before the storm type of weekend in college football, but that's OK because it's Kickoff Weekend in NFL Football. Love it. Tomorrow I'll be in Ann Arbor to watch my Redhawks upset the Wolverines, so you might not hear much from me aside from a few colorful pictures in the live thread, but we'll have any big events covered. Our focus is on Sunday. Best of luck in getting your fantasy lineups correct, mine is complete with the entire Tampa Bay Buccaneers cheerleaders.

Have a good one. Cheers!

No best of the blog today, because you'll get that in the Week in Review. Instead, here's what to watch this weekend......right after this brief message.

The FanIQ Chasing Joe DiMaggio hitting streak is obviously ending at the end of the month. The goal is to, on a daily basis, predict which MLB player will get a hit. The current high streak for the season is 21 games, which means that you better get on this right now to win. Since's Friday's poll is about to close, here is Saturday's poll. Take it now, or I will never forgive you.

Want to know my current streak? One game, baby.

Now for the weekend on TV. Also, be sure to get your college football and NFL football picks in before the games. Then trash talk your opponents who dared to pick against your team.

FRIDAY

7pm - ESPN - Navy at Ball State
10pm - ESPN - Diamondbacks at Dodgers

SATURDAY

11am - CBS - US Open: Men's Semifinals.
12pm - ESPN - Ohio at #3 Ohio State.
12pm - ESPN2 - Miami (OH) at Michigan.
3:30pm - ESPN - #8 West Virginia at East Carolina.
3:30pm - NBC - San Diego State at Notre Dame.
3:30pm - ABC - Cincinnati at #4 Oklahoma OR Oregon State at #19 Penn State OR Mississippi at #20 Wake Forest
4pm - Fox - Diamondbacks at Dodgers OR Phillies at Mets.
7pm - ESPN2 - #17 South Florida at Central Florida.
8pm - ESPN - Miami at #5 Florida.
8pm - CBS - US Open: Women's Final.
10:15pm - ESPN2 - #10 Texas at UTEP.

SUNDAY

1pm - TBS - Angels at White Sox
1pm - CBS - NFL - Check this map for what game you'll get.
1pm - Fox - NFL - Map link. Ditto.
4pm - Fox - NFL - Map link. Ditto again.
4pm - NBC - US Open: Men's Final.
5:30pm - ESPN2 - 2008 Basketball Hall of Fame Induction
8pm - ESPN - Phillies at Mets
8:15pm - NBC - Bears at Colts

September... Ahh... September. I remember back to the days before I moved to Arizona. September is that time of year when leaves begin their annual deed to turn and fall from the trees, when the local swimming hole turns unfavorable, when the days get shorter while we are warned that soon the winds will get nipplier. September ushers in Autumn which means: Oh, so many marvelous things are coming soon!

The local department store is preparing their Christmas displays, the few remaining farmers of the great land begin their great harvest, the local school's bus stops are crowding up in the morning hours and football is ON!!! Before you know it, NBA and NHL teams will start to gather for training camp and the New York Yankees will be making golf reservations in Scottsdale and chartering fishing boats in the Gulf of Mexico.

But more important than all of these - September is the month when baseball lore is forged. If not for the Stalwarts of September there can be no Heroes of October. September is when leads are extended or choked away. September is when the 162 game season rears it's ugliness - when star players succumb to the daily rigors and burn out down the stretch and where newly minted rookies dig deep and find unknown talents and powers to push themselves into legends to be told for decades. It's when the Boys of Summer evolve into winners or losers. When the wheat is done growing and it's time to separate it from the chaff...

Read More

Chuck Liddell was the UFC light heavyweight champion for 3 years, until his loss to Quinton "Rampage" Jackson in April of 2007. Since then, he has been set back again by a loss to Keith Jardine, but then jumped right back into the spotlight with a win over Wanderlei Silva.

Now, Liddell is in a position to get what he wants. His UFC 88 opponent Rashad Evans (16-0-1) is the only thing that stands between Liddell and another shot at the title. Evans is coming off a split decision win over Michael Bisping, and a controversial draw with Tito Ortiz, in a fight that many thought Evans should have won.

No matter what happens, it's hard to see this fight going the distance. Liddell and Evans are both masterful knockout artists, and both will looking for their chance to land a huge shot whenever they can.
Prediction: Liddell by TKO, 2nd round

In the other huge fight of the night, former middleweight champ Rich Franklin is moving back up to light heavyweight to fight Matt Hamill. Hamill's last fight was a convincing TKO over Tim Boetsch. But in his previous fight, he lost a very controversial decision to hometown favorite Michael Bisping a year ago at UFC 75 in London. Hamill is on the warpath now, and I think that we'll see that he's a lot better than people think.
Prediction: Hamill by decision

Speaking of UFC 75, the main event on that card was Liddell vs Pride Champion Dan Henderson. Henderson was the Pride champion at both middleweight and light heavyweight, and came to the UFC to fight the best in each division. Rampage destroyed him in an easy decision in London, and then Anderson Silva made him tap in the 2nd round to ruin Henderson's chances at retaining either title.

But don't get confused... Henderson is still a great fighter. He just happened to make the switch to the UFC at a very bad time. Both Jackson and Silva were at a point where they were dominating anyone who crossed their paths, and were 2 of the best pound for pound fighters in the world. In UFC 88, Henderson is fighting Rousimar Palhares. Palhares is a Brazilian submission expert (almost a redundancy, I know). The good news for Henderson is that he is sticking at middleweight. I think that 185 is a great weight for him, and while he may never be able to beat Silva at this point, he can definitely do some damage in this division.
Prediction: Henderson by TKO, 3rd round


Other Fights:
Martin Kampmann vs Nate Marquardt (MW)
Thiago Taveres vs Kurt Pellegrino (LW)
Tim Boetsch vs Michael Patt (LHW)
Dong Hyun Kim vs Matt Brown (WW)
Jason Lambert vs Jason MacDonald (MW)
Roan Carneiro vs Ryo Chonan (WW)


Give us your predictions, and which matchups you're most (or least) excited about. This looks like a great card, and the UFC is really doing a great job of getting several quality fights on each card. We'd love to hear your take.