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There's a reason why only a few people are allowed into the Sprint Cup garage, or any garage area for that matter, during a practice session -- it's a dangerous place.

There's race cars not obeying speed limits, blind corners, and speedy golf carts. And oh yeah, lots and lots of metal. From the transporters to the fences to the light poles to that giant piece of metal everyone sits on for the race, metal is everywhere.

Why is metal so dangerous, you ask?

Well in the case here at Chicagoland Speedway Thursday afternoon, metal is a nice conductor of electricity. And when lightning is dancing across the sky thanks to a looming thunderstorm well, you start realizing that the metal is not your best friend.

One of the more interesting dynamics (or exhausting rituals, depending on your perspective) surrounding this summer's Olympics in China is the near-constant songs of protest surrounding China's human-rights policies. Thrust onto the prominence of the Olympics' international stage, China suddenly faced criticism over its policies in Tibet, its approach to Darfur, and its sometimes-tyrannical approach to internal critics.

Then, you know, a devastating freaking earthquake happened, and as many as 50,000 of China's citizens were killed. Thousands more are injured. Even more are displaced. As the Wall Street Journal notes today, it's pretty tough to imagine criticizing China now:

"The tone of advocacy has to change because of the earthquake," says Jill Savitt, director of Dream for Darfur campaign, which has been protesting China's support of the Sudanese government. "It would really be unwise and unstrategic to continue to pound on China and not to realize that there have been hundreds of thousands of people who have been killed and wounded. It would be foolhardy."

Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been fighting for the Democratic nomination for months now, but the primary results keep breaking down along the same demographic lines.

Currently, Obama and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton are neck-and-neck in Indiana, a (perhaps the) basketball-crazed state full of the same sort of white, working-class voters that proved so difficult for Obama to court in Pennsylvania.

But do voters care if a candidate can ball? Obama's campaign clearly thinks so.

Sean Jensen is an award-winning writer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press and columnist for AOL Sports. He's eating $1 pimento cheese sandwiches and filing dispatches from Augusta until someone tries the green jacket on for size.

One of the joys of covering my first Masters are my housemates. Yes,
housemates.

Since sportswriters can't rack up our Marriott points in Augusta, my veteran
peers would rather rent out large houses for the week. Somehow, I landed one
of the prime quarters.

Dave Kindred of Golf Digest and formerly a columnist at The Sporting News
had a vacancy, and I requested the room because, well, I have read his stuff
for years.

Then, I learned that he was rooming with luminaries like Tom Boswell, John
Feinstein and Len Shapiro of The Washington Post.

I happily accepted the worst room, and I listened to all their advice. So
when they invited me to join them in a tradition, I agreed without knowing
any of the details.

... and that's coming from a Gator fan.

Oden was stunningly good in Ohio State's 84-75 loss to the defending national champions.

25 points? 12 rebounds? 4 blocks?

Against one of the greatest teams in the history of college basketball, that's a pretty damn fine exclamation point to a one-year college career which most believe just ended on Monday night.

Oden's individual plays were simply outstanding. The Big Fella's rejections were incredible: he cleanly took a two-handed dunk right out of Corey Brewer's hands. He was unstoppable in the post; Al Horford's hands flapped vainly around the air, just 2 inches below that treasured leather, unable to do anything to stop Oden's advance. Any one-on-one matchup with Oden usually resulted in giving the seven footer a good look at the basket, and more often than not, points for the Bucks. Clearly, standing alone among Florida's three talented bigs, Oden was the best post player on the court. And for once, I agreed with Billy Packer when he suggested that Oden be named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player despite being a member of the losing team. Corey Brewer won that honor, and deservedly so given his performance of the past few games, but Oden's broad shoulders brought Ohio State's young cast to the brink of greatness.

Of course, Oden alone couldn't carry this team. Oden's greatness wasn't mirrored by his accompanying cast in this particular game, but that had a lot to do with Florida's defense. In fact, I'd go so far as to say Florida was the most defensively dominating team in the tournament. At the end of the day, most post-mortem writeups of this game will probably chime in agreement that Florida was simply too good to beat. Their twin back-to-back national championships bookend a football BCS title, won just a few months ago, also at Ohio State's expense.

I think it's safe to say that after being swept, Ohio State has now had enough of the Gators. But this Gator can't get enough of Greg Oden's magnificent play, which was really the highlight of this game despite Florida's command of the match from the word go.

Congratulations to the Florida Gators and Greg Oden, both of whom made the 2007 college basketball season a memorable, special celebration of the sport we all love.

Texas fans know it's an extreme long shot that freshman sensation Kevin Durant will be anywhere other than the NBA next season. But they'd do just about anything if it means Durant will return for his sophomore season.

That's what Burnt Orange Nation found out when it asked its readers to finish this sentence: "If Kevin Durant returns to Texas for another year, I will ____"

The resulting comments were often hilarious and demonstrated just how much the football-mad school has fallen in love with its basketball superstar. Some of the best included:

I will attempt to convince my future wife that our first son's name should be Kevin Durant Collins rather than Vincent Young Collins. (NB: I have yet to convince her on the Vince Young idea.)...

If Durant comes back, I will buy a dog, name him Kevin Durant, and force him to watch Air Bud repeatedly for three years. At that time, I will challenge the human Kevin Durant to a 1 on 1 basketball game with dog Kevin Durant. It will be the most epic 1 on 1 basketball match ever played. Win or lose, both Kevin Durants will go down as legendary players in a historic interspecies battle for hoops supremecy that will be remembered for ages....

I will shave KD in my chest hair.

Read the whole thing. I don't think Durant will return, but I know if he does, he'll make some people very, very happy.

Previously at FanHouse:
Durant Doesn't Need Another Year in College
Danny Ainge Cozying Up To The Durants
Kevin Durant Is Smooth
Naismith Race: Kevin Durant Wins
Don't Be Surprised if Kevin Durant's Story Changes
Kevin Durant Tells Teammates He's Staying at Texas

So how's this thing going to shake out? Conventional wisdom and hype suggest that Oden is the superior player. In 2010, he probably will be ... but for 2007, I am unconvinced.

We'll start with defense. Oden's got the better reputation, and his shot-blocking ability is (rightfully) talked about all the time, but ... let's not sleep on Roy Hibbert in the defensive department. Hibbert doesn't have the blocked shot numbers, but he wouldn't. Georgetown prefers to play at a more deliberate tempo, and since he has fewer opportunities to block shots, he gets fewer blocks. I don't know what the exact numbers are here, but if you project Hibbert's blocks per game to blocks per possession, I bet they're pretty close to Oden.

Like Oden with the Buckeyes, Georgetown's defense absolutely leans on Hibbert. When he's in the game, it's like a giant oak tree sprouted up from the floor right in the middle of the paint. Ask UNC how much easier it gets when Hibbert sits. He alters a ton of shots when he can hang out around the basket. And since Ohio State never really moves Oden away from the basket, Hibbert will always be around it.

And defensively, in this game, Oden could struggle. John Thompson III, with elements of that Pete Carril offense, is going to make Oden guard all over the floor. He can't do it. He's a great shot blocker, amazing defensive rebounder, and in the paint, he's a beast. But he's not that good of a defender near the perimeter. When Georgetown's running their sets, they make everyone on the floor guard. They could get Oden into foul trouble like this.

Offensively, both players could stand to be a little more assertive and demand the ball. Oden more than Hibbert, really, since Georgetown runs so many structured things that don't leave a lot of room for ball-demanding. Ohio State is more free-flowing, letting Mike Conley call the shots, but did show get the ball more in the post and showed more moves against Memphis than he had all-season long.

I think Ohio State made it a point to hammer it in the Oden in the regional final against Memphis for two reasons: 1) It would be fun to mess with Joey Dorsey, and 2) it would be easy to mess with Joey Dorsey (and I don't want to leave out Dorsey's backup, Kareem Cooper, who might as well have been a student manager standing there holding one of those big padded things).

Neither of those things would be true against Roy Hibbert, and I think Ohio State would be wise to stay out of the paint. It's not that I think Oden can't handle Hibbert ... he'd get his points. But Hibbert is the strongest point of a strong defense, and Ohio State doesn't need to go inside. Why mess with it if they don't have to? They can just as easily score on the perimeter, and I think that's what you'll end up seeing.

Hibbert vs. Oden: The Hype
Hibbert vs. Oden: The Breakdown, Part I
Hibbert vs. Oden: The Breakdown, Part II

Several members of the Jacksonville Jaguars have been arrested in the past 15 months, and the Jacksonville Times-Union ran a front-page story on those arrests last week. Many readers criticized the paper for that story.

"A little bit racist," is how Brenda Bellard-Harris described the package, which was dominated by color photos of five black Jaguars on the front page. A small photo of a white former Jaguar was inside.

Interspersed among the race-related complaints were others from fans seemingly perplexed over how the newspaper could do such a thing to the home team.

"Are we doing a negative on our team?" asked Dick Sadler, a season-ticket holder.

"It is sensationalizing," said Tom Miller. "I've had two phone calls from friends who asked, 'Did you see the garbage on the front page today?'"

I strongly disagree with anyone who thinks newspapers (or blogs, for that matter) shouldn't publish negative news about the local teams. If a newspaper is going to publish stories about the Jaguars' performances on the field, the same newspaper shouldn't look the other way when Jaguars get in trouble off the field.

On the other hand, I can understand why readers found it troubling that five black Jaguars were pictured on the front page, while a white former Jaguar was in a smaller photo on an inside page. That former player was Rich Tylski, who was charged with child abuse last year. Those charges are at least as serious as anything any of the current Jaguars have been accused of, and if Tylski (pictured above) is worth being mentioned at all, he's worth being shown on the front page.

The most troubling part of all this, of course, is that these stories are available for the paper to write. If fans don't like opening up the paper and seeing news about local athletes getting arrested, they should put the blame where it belongs, on those athletes themselves.

Previously at FanHouse:
Khalif Barnes Arrest Video Shows Eerie Calm
Jaguars' Khalif Barnes Calls Cop 'KKK Devil'
Another Jaguar Arrested with a Gun
A Jaguar I've Never Heard Of Gets Arrested

As we head into the final stretch of the regular season, some teams will continue to stay focused, while others will simply coast into the playoffs. The Phoenix Suns seem to be content to be in the latter category, and the players admitted as much after yesterday's loss to Sacramento.

Steve Nash was particularly honest, explaining that right now, the Suns just aren't that interested in bringing the intensity for these games:

"I just don't think it means much to us right now. We're taking it too lightly. We're not a very hungry group. We don't really get up for games unless it's a big team. It's disappointing."

Hey there Mr. MVP, if it's so disappointing, how about using some of those leadership skills to motivate the rest of the team to focus? Nash had one of his worst games of the season, recording nine assists and seven turnovers, while allowing Mike Bibby to hit nine three-pointers and drop 37 points. Amare Stoudemire was frustrated with the lack of defense after the game, and while he didn't call out Nash by name, we all know who was guarding Bibby:

"I was upset because we've got to do a better job of locking guys down. We've got to make a conscious effort of playing defense. No time for excuses."

Nash's teammates aren't the only ones discussing his lack of defense. As Sam Smith pointed out, Nash's inability to stop people may ultimately cost him a chance at his third straight MVP this season:

With Mike Bibby getting 37 in a win over the Suns on Sunday, Steve Nash could be denied that third straight MVP because the guy they once called "Irk" for no "D" is a better defender.

In recent losses to Detroit and Denver, Nash gave up 25 points to Flip Murray, and 44 points to Allen Iverson. If the Suns plan to go deep into the playoffs, Nash will have to do a better job of at least slowing down the other team's point guard. And a little of that MVP leadership wouldn't hurt either.

Peter Gammons tossed out an interesting blind item in his ESPN Insider blog this weekend:

As it turns out, the reason the 2002 All-Star Game ended up tied was that a pitcher on one of the two teams was imbibing in the clubhouse and was not in condition to pitch, hence the game ended.

And that's how home-field advantage is decided in the World Series, not by regular-season excellence. But then again, what owner thinks about the guys who spend their money on tickets?

Interesting theory, and given Gammons' stature (if anyone is connected enough to know the whole back story, he's the guy) I'm willing to accept it as fact. I'm calling B.S. on his "not by regular-season excellence" assertion, though, since home-field advantage was never decided by a team's record but by alternating between leagues each year.

But still, just who was the player who single-handedly (or not -- maybe he was double-fisting?) gave meaning to the outcome of America's favorite exhibition game?