Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:29 pm EST
As the decade of the 2000s draws to a close, we're looking back at the greatest NASCAR moments, events and stories of the last 10 years. We begin with the most successful drivers of the decade -- bearing in mind, we're ranking them on what they've done this decade, not before that. And yes, you already know who's #1.
1. Jimmie Johnson: Like you expected anything different. Four championships, 47 wins and 180 top-10 finishes over just nine years. He's staked out one of the most dominant stretches of success in NASCAR history ... and the scary thing is, he may be in the middle of it, not at the end.
2. Tony Stewart: Were it not for Johnson, Stewart would be the runaway driver of the decade. With two championships, 34 wins and 209 top-10s, Stewart was already money, but making the jump to team ownership and staying strong as ever? Unbelievable.
3. Jeff Gordon: The difference between Stewart and Gordon is razor-thin on this list, but Stewart gets the nod because of his two championships. In the 2000s, Gordon has only one. But he's also finished in the top 10 for nine of the decade's 10 years, along the way picking up 33 wins and 217 top-10 finishes over 358 races. That'll work.
4. Kurt Busch: He's pinballed between excellence and mediocrity, but when he's been good, he's been very, very good -- one Sprint Cup championship, four top-ten seasonal finishes, 20 wins, 136 top-10s. Imagine how good he'd be if he could make friends.
5. Kyle Busch: The highest-ranked non-Sprint Cup champion on this list, he's got 62 wins across all three major series. He's said his goal is to get 200 wins over all three, and considering the fact that he's 24, would you bet against it happening? Once he calms down and races consistently, he'll be one of the all-timers.
6. Bobby Labonte: He led off the decade with a championship, which is a nice way to start but unfortunately means there's only one way to go. Still, he's notched 8 wins and 101 top 10s over the decade, and if he had been in better equipment over the last couple years, that total would be much higher.
7. Matt Kenseth: The 2003 Sprint Cup champion, though it's not his fault he won the Cup without having won a race. In the decade, he's had 18 wins and 172 top-10s over 358 races.
8. Mark Martin: Had he not flirted with retirement toward the middle part of the decade, he'd be much higher on this list. But six top-10 seasonal finishes, including two second-places, combined with nine wins and 159 top-10s put him solidly in the conversation for the top drivers of the 2000s
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.: 18 wins and 141 top-10s over 358 races, and for a time he was right there in the mix for a championship, ranking in the top 10 four times from 2001-2006. He's fallen off the pace just a wee bit.
10. Carl Edwards: In 193 races, he's got 16 wins, 61 top-5s and 99 top-10s. He had a severe dropoff this year, but he's one of the best in the sport and should be very close to the top on the list of the 2010s' best.
All right, your turn. Who else belongs on this list? Rusty Wallace, Kevin Harvick and Greg Biffle just missed the cut; do they belong? Who's too high or too low? Have your say!
Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:00 pm EST
Trey Kerby of The Blowtorch searches high and low across the Internet for NBA-related goods you never knew you needed. You know, phenomenal swag. Email Ball Don't Lie any relevant products you find here.
Darryl Smits: "Hey, let's design a Phoenix Suns shirt."
Rick Dagilio: "Really? That seems kind of two years ago. Maybe even four."
DS: "No, it's cool. I've got a really good idea."
RD: "Alright, hit me."
DS: "Phoenix Guns. Boom! 30 bucks."
RD: "Phoenix Guns?"
DS: "Yeah. Boom!"
RD: "That's your really good idea?"
DS: "Boom!"
RD: "You're joking right? Because that's not really a good idea. It kind of sends the wrong message, and it's kind of dumb on top of that."
DS: "But 'guns' rhymes with 'suns.'"
RD: "I guess you're right."
Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:59 pm EST
Dion Phaneuf(notes) of the Calgary Flames as the well-earned reputation as one of the NHL's most fearsome hitters. Whether you believe some of those hits are of the cheaper variety probably depends on your feelings about the player himself or borderline hits in general. Or if you're Kyle Okposo.
We can add another name to the list of people who think players named Phaneuf cross the line with their hitting: Canadian women's hockey legend Hayley Wickenheiser. Only her gripe is with Dion's younger brother.
What the heck? Was Hayley trying to apply the Million Dollar Dream on Phaneuf? Was Virgil standing by with a dollar bill to shove in his mouth after she choked him out?
From the Calgary Sun's Eric Francis:
Dion Phaneuf's 15-year-old brother Dane caused a bit of a stir in Edmonton last week when he rubbed out Hayley Wickenheiser in a non-contact exhibition game against the women's national team. Wickenheiser, 31, took exception to the jarring and let him know by applying a rather violent choke-hold from behind in an effort to try wrestling him to the ice. Dion thought it was funny, and so do I.
Yeah, and so do we. If only because we fully endorse more brutality in women's hockey ... even if it's instigated by a teenage boy.
Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:50 pm EST
No one expected much from the Pac-10 this year. It's a down year. UCLA
isn't dominant. USC is bombed out and depleted. California and
Washington are the conference's two leading lights, and while they
should be plenty good on their own, when the national reputation of
your conference is riding on that duo, you're probably not in great
shape.
That said, the Pac-10's start has been even worse than imagined. After Oregon's loss to Montana last night, SB Nation's Sean Keeley took stock of the damage. It is not pretty:
It would be curious enough if Montana's upset of Oregon tonight happened in and of itself. But when you compound it with UCLA's stunning loss to Cal-State Fullerton, Cal's getting taken behind the woodshed by Syracuse and Ohio State, Stanford losing to San Diego and Oral Roberts as well as USC dropping a game to crosstown smallfry Loyola Marymount, it makes for an extremely depressing start to the season for the conference.
Again, looking the conference up and down reveals only one team that seems primed for a national run, and that's Washington. (It would follow that Washington has yet to lose a disappointing early-season game thus far.) Cal is probably a half-step below. UCLA will be fine, but they won't be UCLA. After that, what do you have? Arizona is talented but rebuilding in their first year under Sean Miller. Arizona State is missing Jeff Pendergraph and lottery pick James Harden, who is busy doing things like this in the NBA. Washington State could be all right, but it too is in the midst of a coaching transition. Yahoo!'s Rivals previews actually slotted Oregon State, a team that went 0-18 in the conference just three years ago, at No. 5 in the conference. All due respect to the Beavers, but that has as much to do with their improvement as the Pac-10's collective decline.
Still, though, this start is worse than predicted. These teams should not be losing to Loyola Marymount and San Diego and Oral Roberts and Cal-State Fullerton. It's just November; there's plenty of time for the West Coast to turn things around. But right now? The Pac-10? Not so much.
Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:35 pm EST
On the Spot: Players, coaches and teams with the most at stake on Saturday.
For all the derision -- heck, that's putting it lightly: For all the barely concealed rage that greeted the hiring of Gene Chizik as Auburn's 25th head football coach last December, the actual results on the field have been surprisingly positive. The Tigers started the season 5-0, matching their win total for all of 2007, and were ranked as high as No. 17 in the AP poll with a torrid offense that performed miles beyond the 2008 version despite deploying essentially the same personnel. There have been low points in SEC play -- losses to Arkansas and Kentucky, a 31-10 shellacking at LSU -- but the Tigers still have a chance to win eight or nine games this season, which would match the average Tommy Tuberville established in 10 years on the Plains.
As inspiring as all that has been, though, the first eleven games were just the undercard. We all know the main event, which cranks up when undefeated Alabama rolls into Jordan-Hare Stadium on Friday. Yonder lies your future, Coach Chizik: The Iron Bowl is the game you must win if you are ever to be served a meal in Lee County again, and the result will dictate public perception of your manhood until you die or voluntarily take a job elsewhere, whichever comes first.
Think that's a little overwrought? I just left Birmingham, Ground Zero of the Alabama-Auburn rivalry, after seven years (and six Iron Bowls), and I can assure you it's not. The animosity between the two fan bases results in a 24/7 statewide genitalia-swinging contest that is the simmering inspiration behind every car-flag purchase, every call to the Paul Finebaum radio show and even a substantial portion of wardrobe choices this time of year. A lot of hopes and dreams are invested in this matchup, and when those hopes and dreams get dashed, the coaches more often than not take the blame.
Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:27 pm EST
Sure Mike Brown may have lost the WEC featherweight title, and he has a busted up face. But chocolate cupcakes make everything better. What is Mike thinking about? Leave your caption in the comments, and read on for winners of our last create-a-caption.
Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:26 pm EST

Okay, folks, you've got to bring some game to this one. Yogi Berra and Jimmie Johnson. Visit this site (or many others) for suggestions on appropriae Yogi-isms.
And remember, if people don't want to come to NASCAR races, nobody's going to stop 'em.
After the jump, Kyle Busch is feeling left out.
Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:24 pm EST

The Hunt for the Most Interesting Team in the World is the Dagger's 2009-10 countdown preview series. Check out the overriding principles here.
Last year's record: 22-11, 9-9 Big Ten
2009-10's toughest games: at Butler, at Purdue, at Michigan State, at Michigan
Primary attraction: Tubby Smith leads a quietly rabid Minnesota fan base back into the national conversation. But for how long?
Three items of undeniable interest:
1. Tubby Smith's precarious position. Gophers fans love Tubby Smith. Tubby Smith should love Gophers fans. After all, Smith was expelled from Kentucky for too many just-OK seasons in a row, a rare feat for a fan base who watched that same coach win a national title not all that long ago. But where Kentucky's fans expect everything, Minnesota's fans are more than happy with what Tubby's got going right now: A consistently improving program that can compete night in and night out with some of the best teams in the country, and that seems all but a lock to return to the NCAA title again this season. If he keeps this up, Tubby could probably stay at Minnesota forever. But does he want to? Smith was the subject of some Alabama-related rumors last offseason, and those were not the first in his Gopher tenure. Does Tubby really want to be in Minnesota? And if not, why not?
Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:05 pm EST
Monday to Friday, The Basketball Jones look at the big games and story lines from the night before with a mix of in-depth analysis and irreverent humor. As always, questions and comments are appreciated.
On today's show, Skeets and Tas get to the bottom of the T-Mac saga in Houston. Is he actually ready to play? Is Morey looking to make a trade? Are the Rockets better off without him? All that, plus Michael Redd(notes) returns in Milwaukee, "The Red Rocket" lights it up in San Ant and The Jones are red faced over past mistakes.
The tape never lies!
Subscribe to the video show on iTunes | Download the .m4v directly
Subscribe to the audio show on iTunes | Download the .mp3 directly
Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:40 pm EST
Listen up. File this away. Boston Celtics forward Kevin Garnett(notes) is tired of answering questions about his lingering knee issues ... so fall back like you lost your balance, bloggers and reporters.
"They're getting old," Garnett told Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald when a question about his pregame knee treatment was raised in the media scrum.
"OK? Y'all know what I'm dealing with here. I said (Sunday) that no one in this league at this point ... is 100 percent. Hell, I get worked on even when I didn't have surgery. It's just rituals and stuff like that. I always get treatment before games. If you see Paul [Pierce] and [Rajon] Rondo, I think they get massages before games. My ritual is no different from that."
You got that? Good. And while you're at it, stop asking about his pregame meal. It's a lion. Big deal.
Edited by MJD
Edited by 'Duk
Edited by J.E. Skeets
Edited by Greg Wyshynski
Edited by Matt Hinton
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Edited by Jay Busbee
Edited by Jay Busbee
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Edited by Chris Chase
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Edited by Steve Cofield