FanHouse Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS -- It took just three hours, 28 minutes and 29 seconds to undo the 15-year love affair between the Brickyard and NASCAR.

Four-hundred miles of shredding tires and competition cautions left a lump in the throat of stock car racing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2008, and a year later, the Sprint Cup Series has returned to the disaster zone facing a myriad of questions. Can stock cars produce a good show here? Should NASCAR be at the Brickyard? And, most importantly, do drivers still feel the awe and prestige of this legendary speedway?

Yes, yes and especially yes, drivers say.

At-track reporting, live chats with drivers and live updates on the ol' Twitter feed -- that's all on the plate for this weekend's NASCAR festivities in Indianapolis. FH writers Holly Cain and Geoffrey Miller will both be trackside for all your Allstate 400 coverage. Come on back, y'all.

Is it not amazing how bold NASCAR and their spokesman Ramsey Poston have been about the Jeremy Mayfield saga? One would think it would be in their best interest to go into "no comment" mode about the ugly situation, instead of consistently adding meth fuel to the fire.

Tony Stewart can't be a big fan of the word "detrimental".

The word has been slapped on Stewart multiple times in his career in the form of a NASCAR penalty because the sanctioning body nearly always includes Rule 12-4-A "Actions detrimental to stock car racing" for every violation of the rule book.

And even in the case of USAC penalties, Tony Stewart can't avoid it there either as that sanctioning body's vice president of racing operations called Stewart's most recent actions "unacceptable behavior detrimental to the sport" Monday afternoon.

The incident last Thursday night at O'Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis brought the two-time Sprint Cup champion a $10,000 fine and probation.

Of course, he's probably pretty used to that probation thing.

He also will buy the series brand new radios and uniforms for the officials.

The penalties come from Stewart's temper, as he got tremendously irritated after USAC failed to allow the midget car he owns of Tracey Hines back on the race track in time to avoid going a lap down during an event at the half-mile track that preceded the Craftsman Truck Series and Nationwide Series events at the track.

So somewhere in between the waking up, the egg hunts, possible early spring yardwork, a Sunday dinner, and church -- if that's your thing -- you're gonna be wondering what to do without 500 miles of NASCAR action tomorrow.

Well, screw the lawn mower and forget about cleaning the bathroom. Here's some ways to get the racing fix on the boob tube today. All times Eastern, because I'm too lazy and ignorant to find out the rest. They just confuse me.

7:30am - Back in the Day, SPEED Channel
- Total apologies if you're up this early, but hey, it's retro NASCAR and a decent show, despite its VH1 "Pop-up Video" styling.

11:00am - AMA Supercross, SPEED Channel
- If you get your kicks on two wheels, then a three-hour marathon should suffice you. Races from Orlando, Indianapolis, and Irving are covered.

12:00pm - NHRA Lucas Oil Sportsman Series, ESPN
- It's not the Nitro guys, but who's picky on a day like today? And it's in HD.

You read this blog at work, don't you? And you've been known to read other sports sites at work, and manage your fantasy team, and talk to the guy at the next cubicle about last night's game, and maybe skip out early if there's a big game that night.

You slacker. You're one of the reasons a loss of productivity related to the Super Bowl will cost American employers more than $800 million, according to one study.

Assuming employees, for example, spend 10 minutes a day talking about the game, making bets, surfing the Internet or shopping for a new television, their bosses will lose some $162 million per day. In a five-day workweek, that adds up to $810 million, based on average earnings and expected viewership.

Ten minutes a day? Most football fans I know spend more like a couple hours a day feeding their football obsession while allegedly working. But forgive me if I don't feel too sorry for all these employers. After all, the average American employer costs its workers something like 2,000 leisure hours a year. That's the real scandal.

So I ran across SI.com's "Top 10 QB-WR Tandems In the NFL" article today online. As I started to read from 10 to 1 there was no doubt in my mind about who would be pictured in the #1 slot. It would be Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison. They did just pass Steve Young and Jerry Rice as #1 on the all-time list didn't they? Maybe I was dreaming that? Wait...no I wasn't. Actually, SI.com even quotes it for me...

Harrison and Manning snapped Steve Young and Jerry Rice's NFL mark of 85 TDs by a QB-WR tandem back on Oct. 17, 2005, against the Rams. The two know each other inside-out at this point and continue to be one of the most feared duos in the NFL.

However, to my surprise, the Manning and Harrison duo was not #1, nor was it even #2!. They came in 3rd place. Jake Delhomme and Steve Smith took 2nd. Keep in mind that they have only had one great year together. 1st place was Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson. Once again, only one great year together.

I guess SI.com thinks that one year of success in Cinci and Carolina trumps the 7 straight years of 1000+ yards and 10+ TDs from the "tandem" in Indianapolis. Laughable!

The Indianapolis Colts made one of the biggest changes in team history this off-season when they let franchise running back Edgerrin James sign with the Arizona Cardinals. The signing came as a shock to all Colts fans, simply because "The Edge" will no longer be setup behind Peyton Manning. It is something we had all become accustomed to. I have always been a huge fan of James, but lets face it folks, it was time for a change.

The Colts took Joseph Addai, a 6-0, 214 pound, running back out of LSU with their first overall selection in the 2006 NFL draft. During Addai's last 2 seasons at LSU, in only 288 carries, he averaged 5.8 yards a touch and scored 17 total touchdowns.

Colts front office and fans have been asking themselves for years what change needed to be made in order to get the team over the so-called "playoff hump". It is nauseating to me when I hear NFL fans discussing how Peyton is "over-rated" or "can't win the big game". Spare us! Sure he hasn't won the big game ... yet. Please see John Elway and Phil Mickelson. Moving on ...

You can call me crazy, but I think one of the pieces to the puzzle was a change at running back. Yes, Edge was solid while he was here, but in his last few years he wasn't as great as everyone made him out to be. In his first two and a half seasons with the Colts, before the knee injury, Edge had 23 runs of 20 plus yards and totaled 9 receiving touchdowns. Since returning from knee surgery in 2002, he only has 17 runs over 20 plus yards and only two receiving touchdowns. Not to mention James' inability in his last few years to put the ball in from the red zone. It has been enough to drive a fantasy owner nuts!

Don't get me wrong, like I said, Edge was and is a great back and will most likely succeed in Arizona but the Colts will not suffer from letting him go. He never has been able to bust the big run, he is no longer the receiving threat he once was, and if the combo of Addai and Rhodes can cover those two categories they could make the Colts offense even better. James was a durable back, but we needed a change.

Career Averages of 4.2 yards a carry and .66 touchdowns a week can be replaced. Now let's just hope Addai can block ...