Going to the dogs, literally
(With the temperatures dropping like UT quarterbacks, what could be better to warm your heart like a healthy dose of random Robservations?)
Last Friday, in a quote I know for a fact he actually said, Southern Standard editor James Clark mocked your friendly neighborhood sports editor’s football prognosticating abilities.
“Nunley’s going to the dogs,” he mused after pulling within a game of me in the weekly “On the Line” football picking contest.
He didn’t know at the time just how right he was.
Since James, who had established a permanent residence in the cellar from the opening week, has now passed yours truly, I have turned over the responsibility to picking my 10 winners each week to a young boy I know I can trust — my dog, Rocky.
See for yourself. Go to page 2-B, and look at his cute little mug in place of mine. Go ahead, I’ll wait.
Are you back? OK, we’ll continue.
So why let the Nunley family dog pick my games? Why not? He can’t finish any worse than I have the past few weeks.
Plus, look how cute he is! He’s enhanced the overall cuteness factor of that group of six mugshots by leaps and bounds. Of course, now that Duane Sherrill has a new photo, it might just cancel out the puppy factor.
So, at least for this week, little Rocky will try his hand — or, more accurately, his paw — at choosing some football winners. Let’s hope he can bring some pride back to the family name, and finish better than I have.
And, should Rocky turn in a good week, James has informed the “On the Line” rules committee that his cat is in the running to take over his picks in the near future.
• Back to more pressing news concerning actual sports, NASCAR finally reclaimed its liquor license this week.
The ban on hard-liquor ads on its cars was lifted on Wednesday, and already Crown Royal’s parent company has announced it will sponsor a car next season.
For a sport which owes its legacy to the south’s “good-old days,” when Uncle Jesse and J.D. Hogg were hauling shine, and Steve Earle’s grand-daddy was running whiskey in a big black Dodge, this isn’t that momentous a leap.
Budweiser already sponsors one of the most popular cars on the circuit, and an entire other circuit has been sponsored by Busch beer for years. So making the step up to the harder stuff is almost a logical progression.
To their credit NASCAR, as well as the liquor companies who will jump on the chance to sponsor race teams, are all preaching responsibility when it comes to spirits. NASCAR president Mike Helton — who has already tried to clean up the good-ol’ boy image of the sport by fining those who can’t watch their language on TV — has said strict guidelines for liquor advertising will be enforced, including a requirement that responsible use of the sponsor’s product must be stressed.
Let’s hope so, for safety’s sake. Because NASCAR fans are notorious for being brand-loyal when it comes to the sponsors of their favorite driver’s car. If the Wild Turkey Monte Carlo, for example, is tearing up the Nextel Cup standings, I’d hate to think about that driver’s fans celebrating by downing a few fifths then tearing up the highway like they were on the straightaway at Darlington.