dalist with six UFC tidalist with six UFC ti | Forum

Topic location: Forum home » General » General Chat
123
123 Jul 3 '19
HOMESTEAD, Fla. Ken Webster Jersey . -- Theres a changing of the guard occurring in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, and Joey Logano is leading the charge.The 26-year-old Connecticut native has qualified among the final four drivers to compete for the Sprint Cup title in two of three years since NASCAR adopted an elimination playoff-style format to determine its annual champion.Logano is the youngest driver to reach the final four, and he is in position to become NASCARs youngest Cup Series champion since Jeff Gordon took the honors in 1995 at age 24. The only obstacle standing in his way is the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he needs to beat six-time Cup champion Jimmie Johnson, Carl Edwards and defending Cup Series titlist Kyle Busch in a straight fight.In a sport where longtime star Gordon retired (theoretically) at the end of the 2015 season and three-time champion Tony Stewart is ready to exit the big stage, the younger generation is taking over. Johnson and other top Cup stars like Kevin Harvick and Matt Kenseth are all over 40 and likely soon to be thinking about following Gordons and Stewarts lead.Meanwhile, Logano and a band of rising twenty-somethings who are trying to become NASCARs future champions and stars are trying to capitalize.For Logano, the time is now. Although hes just 26, hes wrapping up his eighth full season in the Cup Series and making his second serious run at the championship.No driver has won more Chase races (seven) than Logano in the elimination format era, and he knows that based on what has transpired the last two years at Homestead, he will probably need to take his first win at the Florida track if he wants to secure the crown.Coming off a crucial victory at Phoenix International Raceway certainly helps.Weve got momentum, he said.?Theres a lot of excitement.?I remember when we got through a couple years ago to Miami, I wasnt as excited. I was immediately nervous right after the race [at Phoenix]. This time the feeling is, Hey, weve got confidence. I know we can do it. I dont feel like its a long shot like it was last time because weve been here before.?Weve been in these situations.The fact that Logano ended up fourth among the four title contestants at Homestead in 2014 after a slow pit stop led to a disappointing finish doesnt faze the Team Penske driver.Everyone told me Youve got to lose one to win one, and I thought that was the biggest crock of crap Ive ever heard in my life, Logano related. But you know what, its not the fact that you have to lose one to win one, its the fact that maybe it really helped me to just live through it once. Since then, weve been in those situations where we had to win a race to stay in the championship. And Homestead [in 2014] was the first time we ever had to do that.?I think were approaching it like its a normal weekend, he added. We race to win every week; why should we race differently for a championship, right?? Were racing to win that race, and thats ultimately going to have a championship attached to that.?Weve got momentum. Weve won multiple races. Weve got on rolls before where youve got that momentum and that confidence and it just keeps stacking up like it did last year, and were in good position to do that again.As a backdrop to Loganos championship aspirations, team owner Roger Penske is celebrating his 50th anniversary in racing as a team owner. Simon Pagenaud already won the IndyCar Series championship for Penske in what has been a very successful season for the most successful team owner in American motorsports history. But he only has one Sprint Cup title on the list, 2012 with Brad Keselowski.With Logano, Penske has found the perfect blend of youth and experience that is necessary to contend in the sport today.I can tell you that hes a quality young man, Penske said.?He listens. He motivates his team. I mean, hes there at the shop day in and day out, and theres never been a time weve asked him to do something on or off the track he hasnt done it with a smile.?You look at how tight hes been running here the last year and a half or two years, he really pretty much stayed out of trouble, and I think hes earned a reputation in the garage area that you can race hard with him. To me, thats important.But more important, I think the person himself, he represents us in a first-class manner, and he can be with us a long time, working together with Brad, Penske added. Hes matured, and you have to say that if you go up and down the garage area, at his age, weve got a real winner.Crew chief Todd Gordon likes what he has seen from Logano throughout this season, and especially when the pressure has increased in the Chase.I think the peace that weve had success and weve had speed through the last five races kind of builds your confidence to feel like we just need to go forward and do the things that weve done, and we can be successful, Gordon said.?Hes focused on that and focused on making sure our weekend runs the way weve run our weekends and doesnt change anything up.???????????I feel a lot of calm from his feedback and what hes saying and what hes doing and the mannerisms, he continued.?Hes all over just making this another race, and I think in a great position.Any of the four drivers in Sundays championship finale would make a worthy 2016 champion for NASCAR. But Logano has the opportunity to make his mark on the sport at a much younger age than the others.For him and for the Cup Series, the future starts Sunday. Kevin Faulk Jersey . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. DAngelo Ross Jersey . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. http:///...c-jake-bailey-jersey . According the Toronto Star, a knee injury will keep Sundin out of the lineup, which includes former teammates Gary Roberts, Darcy Tucker, Tie Domi and Curtis Joseph. Ronda Rousey, one of the most transcendent stars that mixed martial arts has ever produced, will officially return to competition on Dec. 30.And one cant help but wonder if it will be for the last time.UFC president Dana White announced Wednesday that Rousey, 29, will attempt to reclaim her bantamweight championship against?Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in Las Vegas. It will mark Rouseys first appearance since a stunning and vicious knockout loss to former champion?Holly Holm last November.That was the first loss of Rouseys MMA career and she has laid low since. She made a handful of public appearances in 2016, including a hosting gig on Saturday Night Live, but has otherwise cherished privacy.One can certainly understand why as Rouseys fame blew up in 2015. Its not that she wasnt a public figure before that, but a 14-second armbar victory over Cat Zingano at UFC 184 sent her into uncharted territory. Six months later, a 34-second, one-punch knockout of Bethe Correia in Brazil took Rouseymania to a feverish state.The UFC then asked Rousey for a quick turnaround, as the promotion needed a headliner for a stadium show in Melbourne, Australia. It would be the final act of a truly insane year for Rousey -- one in which, looking back, she might have been better off turning down.Rousey appeared on edge heading into the Holm fight; her media demands were exhausting. In the weeks prior to the event, her romantic relationship with UFC heavyweight Travis Browne, who had faced accusations of domestic violence on a former spouse months before (no charges were ever filed), spilled into the headlines.Also before the fight, Rouseys mother, Dr. AnnMaria De Mars, publicly criticized her coach, Edmond Tarverdyan. When the bout did arrive, Rousey looked agitated. She shoved Holm, whod been nothing but respectful, during a staredown at the weigh-in. There was talk Rousey would take an extended break from the Octagon after defending her title.All of this brings us to the present: Rousey is scheduled to face a very talented, athletic opponent iin Nunes, who is coming off a first-round submission win over Miesha Tate at UFC 200. Dontrelle Inman Jersey. o one can predict the future -- Rouseys last fight is a great reminder of that -- but it sure seems reasonable that Dec. 30, win or lose, could end up being Rouseys last fight.For starters, there was always reason to believe she was never extremely long for the sport. Opportunities in other career paths were banging down her door prior to fighting Holm and, although they have seemed to cool in the wake of her defeat, she will never want for a job.She has dealt with injury, some of which can likely be attributed to a long career in judo prior to MMA. She has had trouble with her knees and underwent minor procedures in 2016. She dealt with a gruesome fight-related hand injury in 2014.And of course, she has now been on the receiving end of a concussive head kick to the chin, which she later told ESPN.com?prevented her from biting an apple for months.Exiting the sport on that kind of loss would have been a tough decision. Not only had she become a Mike Tyson-esque, invincible combat athlete, she was a symbol of female strength.Rousey was never supposed to fall at all. But to not get up when it happened? That wouldnt have been a very Rousey thing to do. And in her first interview with ESPN.com following the loss, she did immediately promise she would be coming back.But once she has done that at UFC 207, will she stick around? A loss might push her away for obvious reasons, but a win could do the same. If she is successful in reclaiming her spot at the top, overcoming doubt for the first time in her career, how attractive will a dangerous catchweight fight against Cris Cyborg Justino (or a Holm rematch) really be?Rousey is an Olympic bronze medalist with six UFC title defenses to her credit. Im not questioning her competitive resolve, Im just saying theres reason to think this might be the final go. Wholeslae Jerseys NFL Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NBA Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap MLB Jerseys Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Cheap College Jerseys Cheap Football Jerseys Cheap Basketball Jerseys Cheap Baseball Jerseys ' ' ' 
Share: