I would love to start with discussing the race at Talladega, but I have to take a turn into the garage for a few laps.

HOW ‘BOUT THE COWBOYS!!!  I thought the Boys had blow a game they should have dominated from the beginning.  But even before the game started on Monday night I was a little concerned.  Those in the know thought the Boys would win this one.  It was Buffalo, not the best team in the NFL of late.  The Boys were 4-0 only a handful of undefeated lefts in the league.  I told Postman the Boys needed to come out out score early and often and keep pounding the entire game. a  However this did not happen for majority of the game.  Romo had 4 inceptions going into half time.  It was as if the wheels on the Cowboy Express had been left off.  What was happening?  It was Monday night.  Weird things happen on Monday night football (i.e. Theisman’s leg).  I have to admit both Postman and I became disillusioned with the Boys.  The Boys have struggled over the past few years and this looked like another one. So I went to bed.  I decided to flip over to see how the game was right before I went to sleep…and too my surprise the Boys were within 2 points and were headed towards the goal line thanks to a late quarter touchdown and a onside kick recovery.  The Boys were in position to get in field goal range.  Field goal unit on the field, Folk kicks an incredible kick of 53 yards and it’s good…but wait it wasn’t.  Once again just before the ball is snapped the Bills coach calls a time out to ice the kicker (side bar–this rule needs to be changed–coaches are abusing the spirit of the rule).  Here we go again…Cowboy nation held their collectively breath and BOOM…through the uprights!!!  COWBOYS WIN!!!  For the love of Pete…COWBOYS WIN!!!  Talk about pulling one out from the dark crevices of the backside. If the Boys play like they did against the Bills, the Patriots will be 6-0 after Sunday.

Now on to Sunday’s race.  There were a lot of unknowns for the COT.  This was the first test of the COT on a super speedway.  I was a little excited about how the COT would do on the place where everyone waits for the big one and were bump drafting is an art.  I have to say I was a little disappointed.  I don’t know if it was because of the unknowns drivers were using different strategies, but I really hate “follow the leader” races.  You know its boring when a driver gets out of his car and he thinks it’s boring.  For the race wasn’t all that exciting until about 50 or so laps left.  HMS teammates hooking up and Smoke making a charge to the front.  I have to give Gordon his props.  He did exactly what he said he was going to do.  Stayed out of trouble, hung around the pack, and then made his move towards the front and into victory lane with a little help from his teammates and Smoke.  Tony finished 8th.  Gordon leaves Dega with the points lead.

I hated to see Waltrip’s day end on a bad note.  He qualified on the pole and ran pretty good much of the race and at one point looked like he was going to get a good finish, but alas Waltrip bad luck struck again.  And again the #8 had a DNF due to an engine failure.  Take heart Jr Nation, that won’t happen over at HMS.

More football notes…OU beat UT (when you put state pride in the hands of the Horns, you will get the short end of the stick), but A&M did beat OSU, so not all was lost for Texas.  USC lost to Stanford…way to go!  Ohio State rolled to victory and my Red Raiders pummeled Iowa State.  We play A&M this weekend in Lubbock.  This is one of two games the Red Raiders look forward to every year.  I don’t usually comment on the goings on in my fair city–there’s plenty of that out there, but I have to comment on something that happened.

Apparently in getting for the onslaught of Aggies that will enter the Hub City, a TTU fraternity designed and printed T-shirts for the occasion.  This is nothing unusual, but in this case it’s just wrong. 

Here is the front of the shirt.

And the back

I find this shirt VERY OFFENSIVE!  As an alum of the university I am outraged.  Our university began a campaign entitled Raider Power with the four emphasis being HONOR, RESPECT, PRIDE, TRADITION.  This is certainly not honorable, respectable or full of pride or tradition for Texas Tech. 

The fraternity at the center of this has been placed on probation by the university for the rest of the year.  The fraternity will destroy the remaning shirts, donate all monies earned from the sales to a local animal shelter, make a public apology and sponsor an educational seminar on animal cruelty.

I am still trying to understand what were the members of the fraternity thinking with this idea.  Was there some sort of adult beverage involved when this idea was conceived?  And the fact the shirts were printed bothers me as well.  The company who printed the shirts didn’t question the content of the shirt?  I just don’t understand who was at the helm on this train wreck.  If the fraternity wanted to raise money with the sell of t-shirts to commemorate the Aggie weekend, there are far better ways to do it.  Shame on you!  Shame on you!

That’s it from the Park!