racingmeridian.com

…not much doubt over who Major League baseball is cheering for tonight, they must be blanching at the prospect of a Rays-Phillies final. What’s worse is if the ALCS ends tonight, the opening game of the World Series will not be until Wed Oct 22^nd   by which point everyone outside of Tampa and Philadelphia will undoubtedly have moved on…the Red Sox have been blitzed at Fenway in the past two games, falling behind by multiple runs on both occasions. Daisuke Matsuzaka needs to keep his team competitive early and, who knows, maybe the modern comeback kids can fashion another memorable run. But, no, I’m not betting on it…the ongoing financial crisis could impact NASCAR more severely than any other sport. According to today’s Globe & Mail a major retrenchment in corporate sponsorship could reduce the starting grid from an average of 42 cars this year to a paltry 26 in 2009. NASCAR has become an enormous entity and, secretly, most fans would be delighted by a scaled down schedule and a more formal return to their racing roots. Look, these dudes once raced for moonshine…the same article identified three NHL franchises which could be adversely affected by commercial stinginess; the Nashville Predators, the Atlanta Thrashers and the Phoenix Coyotes. The Yotes, in particular, seem to have a good young team and might fit in snugly in the Southern Ontario market…Thomas Hauser has unveiled another one of his great political rants on the SecondsOut website. It is always controversial when the erstwhile boxing writer beats the political pulpit but his current raving seems destined to be more controversial than most. While making the excellent point that many of the lawmakers who approved the 700 billion dollar bailout also opposed an increase in the minimum wage (5.15 an hour), he goes off board with an assault on the sexual peculiarities of the Republicans. Uncalled for and ridiculous given the peccadilloes of Clinton, Edwards and Spitzer…even lousy tickets for the Madonna shows at the ACC this weekend are going for over 500 bucks a piece. With the Material Girl back in the capable hands of Alex Rodriguez it is puzzling to read she looks underweight and exhausted on recent dates of the Sweet & Sticky Tour…oh no, here we go again. Brett Favre said he hasn’t even begun to consider whether or not he will play again next year. Another summer of speculation about the NFL’s version of Hamlet?…think this is the wrong time for the 4-2 and suddenly boisterous Arizona Cardinals to be going on the bye…is any player more valuable to his team than Daniel Alfresson to the Ottawa Senators? The captain is due back next week after an operation to remove some loose bone from his knee…Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc Andre Fleury has never lost to tonight’s high profile opponent, the Washington Capitals. He’s a sparkling 7-0… Fabian Brunnstrom, courted extensively by the Toronto Male Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings before settling down with the Dallas Stars, scored three goals while making his NHL debut last night…been struggling to find anything worth wagering on at Woodbine the last couple of cards. Maybe it’s Breeders Cup anticipation that is making me squeamish looking at all those bottom level non winners of two…