Monday, November 23, 2009

True grit for a Lion

I'm not hurt, much: I admired the grit of Detroit Lions QB Matthew Stafford after he hurt his shoulder Sunday against Cleveland. They replaced Stafford with Daunte Culpepper, but the Browns called timeout. Stafford normally would have to stay out one play because he was taken out, but the timeout allowed him to return.

He threw a one-yard touchdown, and the Lions won the game of 1-8 teams. Actually, it was one of the most exciting games of the day, and Stafford and Cleveland QB Brady Quinn were two good reasons.


I loved the quote by Lions coach Jim Schwartz.


“Matt’s best play of the day might have been eluding four team doctors to get back on the field,” Schwartz said.


You have to wonder about the shape of Stafford's shoulder, though.


As slippery as an eel: The Dallas Cowboys' Tony Romo had one of the best plays of the day, as he threw a late touchdown to Patrick Crayton in a 7-6 win over the Washington Redskins. DE/LB Brian Orakpo had Romo within his grasp, but Romo spun away, rolled out, looked for an opening and hit Crayton. "Just Romo being Romo," Orakpo said. "Very elusive, very slippery. That's all she wrote. Touchdown."


Hard to believe: I was there when Dale Earnhardt won four of his seven Cup championships and when Jeff Gordon won his four titles. I've only watched Jimmie Johnson from afar, but I'm amazed that he's done what he has. Four in a row is amazing.


I wrote a story for Stock Car Racing magazine a few years ago about the eras of NASCAR. Herb Thomas had a short era. So did Lee Petty. Richard Petty's era ranged from around 1964 to about 1975. Cale Yarborough's era was from 1976 to '78. Darrell Waltrip's started somewhere around 1979 or '80 and ran to '85. The Dale Earnhardt era was from '86 to '94, and the Jeff Gordon era was from 1995 to 2001.


We didn't have an era for a few years. Then the Jimmie Johnson era began four or five years ago. And the end may not be in sight.


More later.


Contact: I can be reached at tgilli52@gmail.com or nc3022@yahoo.com.



Blog entries from The Auto Racing Journal
(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)
(the book of great NASCAR stories)

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Your blog keeps getting better and better! Your older articles are not as good as newer ones you have a lot more creativity and originality now keep it up!

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