By Jon D. Gaede

BVN Sports

Race officials knew a storm was coming on Sunday. NASCAR’s policy has always followed the halfway rule. Any lap after that point would constitute an official race. Tony Stewart, NASCAR’s hottest current driver, had won half of this season’s races. His good fortune continued at Fontana, as his Home Depot Chevrolet held the lead on lap 129. The sky had darkened over the track and the rain began to fall.

The drivers lined up on pit row to wait it out, but it wouldn’t be for long. NASCAR officials called the race official, 35 minutes into the down pour. Tony Stewart collected another 2012 win.

The weekend was also billed as Southern California’s NASCAR debut of Danica Patrick. She raced her ‘Go Daddy‘ Chevrolet on Saturday night’s Nationwide ‘Purple 300‘ Patrick, who has experienced success on the Indy car open wheel circuit, has had some difficulty crossing over to the bumper to bumper grind of NASCAR.

She has dedicated herself to the entire 33 race Nationwide series. Associated with Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s racing team should prove to be a boost.

The Joe Gibbs racing team had won seven consecutive nationwide races at Fontana. Saturday night would be their eighth, as Joey Logano took the checkered flag. Logano passed Ricky Stenhouse after the final caution and held on for the victory.

On the eve of her 30th birthday, Danica Patrick would have loved an appearance in the ‘Winner’s Circle,” but it was not to be. A radiator leak led to a blown engine and early exit.

Throughout the barrage of interviews, she remains positive, however, she feels that mechanical issues have kept her from being competitive. Patrick currently ranks 17th in the points with most of the season ahead of her. A reminder to all fans of Indy cars, they are returning to the Auto Club Speedway in September.

By Leland Stein, III

Okay, football, especially in the NFL is a very violent game. It is a first cousin to the Roman Gladiators, who fought so gallantly against lions and each other in the now world famous Coliseum.

Sure we have stepped up the humanity and have taken the lions out of the contest, and, the gladiators no longer have to kill each other at a king or queen’s behest. There are now rules and referees that oversee the on field carnage, but make no mistake about it, football is a contact sport. Just ask Hall of Famers the late John Mackey, who pasted prematurely with frontal temporal dementia. Or ask former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon, who is experiencing early dementia.

So when the word came out recently that the New Orleans Saints' had a well known bounty system, I can understand the outrage. It is reported that the Saints bounty scandal operated between 2009-2011 and involved 22 to 27 defensive players. Conversely, the biggest buzz in sports is the NFL’s penalties handed to the New Orleans Saints for the bounty scandal.

The NFL announced heavy sanctions against the Saints recently after concluding an investigation that proved former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams administered an illegal bounty program between 2009 and 2011. New Orleans defenders were financially compensated for injuring opposing offensive players. Williams, who left the team in January to become defensive coordinator in St. Louis, was suspended indefinitely by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Saints head coach Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season. General manager Mickey Loomis (eight-game suspension) and assistant head coach/linebackers Joe Vitt (six) also were disciplined. In addition, the franchise was fined $500,000 and stripped of 2012 and 2013 second-round draft picks.

The NFL said four quarterbacks were specifically targeted by the Saints. One of them was dynamic Carolina Panthers rookie Cam Newton in 2011. Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis said he could understand why Newton was on a proverbial hit list. “When you see Cam come in and produce, you wonder why they wouldn’t select him as one of those guys to go after because he meant so much to our team,” Davis said. Suspensions and fines for players who were involved are forthcoming. NFLPA executive George Atallah said he hopes the union is consulted in that disciplinary process. He said the NFLPA was unaware the league had conducted a lengthy investigation into the Saints until the day that findings were announced to the media. Atallah also said the NFLPA still has not received access to the full report that was compiled. Okay I understand the discipline on the coaches and soon maybe the players, but is it over done? Did any of the players actually hurt anyone. In fact, it is very close to impossible to just not tackle but twist, maim or mutilate an individual, without the public or NFL administration seeing it.

Every defensive player is trying to put a hard hit on an opposing runner or receiver or quarterback.

The NFL issued this penalty because it is worried about its image and public relation status to the world. The game itself is violent and will always be so. Knockouts and cremating hits are what the game is all about. Every team wants, needs to take out a quarterback to ensure a chance at winning the game. Anytime big bodies clash into each other injuries will happen. For example Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Theismann's leg was gruesomely broken by Lawrence Taylor in the 1980s on national television . . . but, hey that was just football. John Unitas getting his head taken off by Dick “Night Train: Lane or Jim Brown getting closed lined by Sam Huff.

The unprecedented severity of Goodell’s punishment has become a hot debate topic. It has never happened in sports that coaches would get this type of treatment. “Anybody who has played this game, there’s a 100 percent injury risk under normal circumstances,” said an unidentified NFL veteran. “To hear there have been bounties placed on the heads of players . . . I understand you have incentive for interceptions or fumbles where you’re not trying to cause bodily harm to another man. But to actually put a price tag on somebody else’s head and go out there with the intent of trying to hurt that man and take food out of his family’s mouth, it’s unacceptable. How can I argue or dispute his retort? I do not!

But it is really all about public relation and the way it all looks on paper and not really about the game itself.

I think Goodell is trying to make sure he sends the right message that this will not be tolerated. He wants the appearance that the league is trying to focus on the health and safety on their players. This was a direct attack on that. The commissioner did this to send that message.

I think the penalties were pretty harsh and directed at the perception of what the league is all about. But this ruling that has taken the media world by storm, but it will not stop the injuries and inherent violence that is the NFL. Scientific studies show head trauma can leave long-term damage. Hundreds of former players are suing the NFL in federal court, saying they weren't protected properly from injury. Congress is paying close attention. Part of the reason the New Orleans Saints were punished so severely for their bounty system could be, as Commissioner Goodell indicated when explaining his decision, that nothing is as critical for the league right now as the safety of players and real concern about concussions.

In the current climate, those issues seem to permeate every decision made at NFL headquarters.

I get the morality bit and the image of the game, but let’s keep it real for a moment, the NFL is not a place for the delicate or the fragile. Never has been (with shout outs to Sam Huff, Dick “Night Train” Lane, Deacon Jones, Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary, Vince Lombardi) and never will be.

It is naive to think players and teams don’t talk about this kind of stuff - or aren’t generally rewarded for this kind of stuff with jobs and contract extensions – you’re not paying attention to the inherent violence of this game. The gridiron is not a polka dance or knitting contest. It’s territorial and can get bloody. Players and coaches know they can win games by inflicting pain, and the intent is always to win games, so imposing pain is a goal of every defensive player bounty or no bounty system.

Yeah, I know the bounty system looks bad. I mean no one should be out to hurt another athlete for the sake of money, but on the other hand isn’t that why everyone gets paid to do. It’s wrong, but it happens.

The late Raiders owners, Al Davis said:“The quarterback must go down, and he must go down hard.” Davis was brutally honest and he was right. That’s not dirty. That’s just the sport - survival of the fiercest. If you get hurt, you lose. Great defenses are angry defenses that inflict hurt on offensive players trying to break their will. I’ve been around football too long to think otherwise.

Leland Stein can be reached at lelstein3@aol.com or at Twitter @lelandsteinIII.

By Gary Montgomery

Ontario – The Citizens Business Bank Arena clock hit zero and the J.W. North bench rushed toward center court to begin traditional winner’s dog-pile. The Huskies had just beaten a tough Santa Ana Foothill team 57-49 to claim the CIF Division II Southern California Regional Championship for the first time in the programs history.

North’s rags to riches story has been well chronicled since the start of the playoffs. Coming off a 4-21 season just one year ago and getting to this lofty position is miraculous indeed. But, the real story lies in the way they did it.

“Our strategy was to give them 42 minutes pressure rather than 32 minutes and I knew that would give us a better chance to win the game,” said North coach Leonard DeCoud. North’s plan worked to near perfection. The Huskies trapped the ball at every opportunity forcing the Knights into an uncharacteristic 18 turnovers for the game and a 9-point lead for North (26-17) late in the first half.

However, the Huskies lead dwindled to 26-24 at the half and the two teams played the third quarter dead even as the Knights started to adjust to North’s relentless pressure. Foothill took the lead early in the fourth for the first time and suddenly the momentum started to shift away from the Huskies.

With fouls starting to mount and North holding a slim lead, the game took a turn for the worst. The Knights had started attacking the basket on every possession to capitalize on North’s foul troubles. With 4:24 left in the game, Priscilla Brooks (17-points, 10 rebounds) fouled out of the game.

“It felt a lot like Anaheim again all over, but I knew we were playing a little bit better than we were down there so I felt like my team could pull it off and win the game,” said Brooks. Priscilla was referring to the CIF finals game against Lynwood. Brooks fouled out of the game at nearly the exact same time and the Huskies were roiled by her loss and went on to lose that game to Lynwood.

This time the team’s reaction was completely different. In a near seamless transition, Brittany Crain moved over and manned the post position. “Once she fouled out, I moved into the position. I just had to relax and concentrate on the plays and what I had to do,” said Crain.

Unlike the CIF Title game, North picked up the slack for their leading scorer and finished the deal. Although there were tense moments down the stretch as Foothill’s Dayanara Armenta hit a 3-pointer with 1:57 left to pull the Knights to 51-49. But, that’s when Brittany Crain tapped a ball loose from a Foothill player that lead to a Kamille Diaz layup to make the score 53-49 and the Knights (28-6) would not score again.

Saturday’s victory gave the Lady Huskies the program’s first Regional title and a ticket to the state championship where North will square off against San Jose Archbishop Mitty in Sacramento’s Power Pavilion (Formerly Arco Arena) at 6 pm on Saturday.

Archbishop Mitty stunned perennial NorCal power house and three-time state champion St. Mary’s of Stockton 53-51 on Saturday. The Monarchs (23-5) won the Division II state title in 2008 beating Mira Costa-Manhattan Beach.

Making their first ever appearance in the State finals against the experienced Monarchs will certainly be the biggest challenge North has faced this year. But, since they have found a way to conquer all of their other challenges it’s a good bet that they can do it again. And, if they can’t get it done, their effort will certain make Southern California proud.

G. Montgomery can be reached at sports@blackvoicenews.com

By Gary Montgomery,

BVN Staff Writer

In its inaugural season, the first ever Pac-12 Basketball Championship began with little hype. The Pac 12 conference has not yet garnered much respect in the big time world of college basketball. With UCLA, the legendary powerhouse struggling to stay barely above the 500 mark, its morass likely shapes national perception of the entire conference.

However, it could be argued based on the conference’s overall record that it’s much better than perceived. With six twenty win teams in the conference and at least five of those on the NCAA tournament bubble; I would say the Pac 12 is in relatively good shape.

The Washington Huskies (21-10; 14-4 Pac-12) entered the tournament as the conference’s regular season winner, favorite to win and likely NCAA tournament invitee. However, Oregon State upset the Huskies in the first round leaving the championship to be decided between the remainder of the field. For the 15 or 20 of us who actually fill out Pac 12 bracket, Arizona, Cal and Stanford became the top picks. Cal quickly dispatched Stanford setting up a semi-finals showdown with the #6 seeded Colorado Buffalos led by former Riverside King Star Carlon Brown.

Brown, a 6’5” senior shooting guard played three seasons at Utah before transferring to Colorado for his senior season. He was the Buff’s leading scorer during the regular season averaging 12.6 Points per game. Teaming with freshman Spencer Dinwiddie in the backcourt, Brown willed the Buffs to a 21-10 season record and its #6 seed in the first ever Pac 12 basketball championships.

“We need him on the floor. Obviously, he’s been feeling it offensively. Carlon is playing with a sense of urgency that we need right now and I think it’s infectious and obviously it has infected the rest of our guys,” said Colorado head coach Tad Boyle. Entering the tournament, Brown raised his game to a completely new level averaging 15 points per game throughout the tournament and nearly two double-doubles. And more importantly, Brown seemed to rescue his squad countless times when need arose.

“Yes, my teammates depend on me, that’s what I was recruited here for to replace a departing senior and provide veteran leadership and do whatever necessary to help this team be successful,” said Brown after beating the #2 seeded Cal Bears.

Brown brought down the house down in the closing minutes of the Cal win with an unscripted windmill dunk off a turnover. “That’s something I’ve done before, so it wasn’t that exciting for me. I just knew I wanted to put an exclamation on the game and make sure we won and I wasn’t going to be lackadaisical, so I just attacked the basket and jumped with all my might.“ Brown’s dunk sent the raucous Buffalo student section into a rage as they continued with continuous series of chants for the entire game.

Colorado beat Utah, Oregon, Cal and finally Arizona to win the first Pac 12 Basketball Championship tournament. As tournament champions, the Buffalos earned a guaranteed bid in the NCAA tournament. Colorado will begin play on Thursday against UNLV in the opening round of the South Regional.

The Buffalos have certainly been rewarded by Browns excellent play. NBA analyst, Charles Barkley raved at Brown’s skill level and leadership, saying he has most definitely raised his NBA draft stock.

Consider this quite the complement coming from Barkley who seldom praises young players. It will be a difficult task for the Buffalos to maintain the high level of play needed to fight through the tough South Bracket with teams like Baylor, Indiana and #1 Kentucky in the standing in the way.

No matter what the outcome from here on, Carlon has already shown “what Brown can do for you”. G. Montgomery can be reached at sports@blackvoicenews.com