When perennial prick Kurt Busch calls you an egomaniacal and emotionally unstable phony and nobody mentions a pot or a kettle, you know you’re having a bad week. Such is the ongoing saga of Carl Edwards, the star of one of the most watched YouTube videos of the week.

            The story goes like this: Edwards, a fan favorite for his broad smile, back-flips, shirtless Mr. Olym ...

Don’t ask Kyle Petty a question unless you want an unvarnished and totally honest answer. And don’t ask him for his opinion if you don’t really care what he thinks. At 47, the son of the greatest driver in NASCAR history and someone who has been behind the wheel of racecars since he could reach the pedals, is too old to pull any punches, and too universally liked to be ignored. So when Kyle sits down behind the TNT desk six times a year or saddles up to his weekly spot on SPEED network’s “Tradin’ Paint” his toothy Petty smile and intelligent down-home analysis make people pay attention. Darrell Waltrip might have “Boogidy, Boogidy, Boogidy,” but Kyle Petty is the man fans want to see and hear. He has, in one abbreviated broadcast season, become the go-to buy for the television-watchin ...

Have no doubt: Saturday night at Talladega makes Mardi Gras look like Vacation Bible School.  I'm told the fall race, going on this weekend, is tamer than the one in April, which is hard to believe given the wide-open scene last night in the campgrounds surrounding Alabama's grandest sporting venue. 

"You ort to see it when the Tide ain't playin'" says a friendly and exceedingly drunk camper known among his compatriots as "Punkass." "I bet they's half-again-as-many veee-hicles camping in the sprang." 

Punkass is a veteran. It is his 20th time to spend the weekend on a small plot of grass within site of the track's infield tunnel. His bus, which is the site of a barbecue on Saturday night, is one of many that will need to be painted after this week. Today it's fire-engine red with the number "8" on both sides, the hood, and on the rear em ...

Sports lost a real champion this week – a guy whose character loomed larger than his 6’4” frame, and whose example shines brighter than all the records he set. Al Oerter, a four-time Olympic Gold Medalist in the discus (1956, 1960, 1964, 1968) and the only man ever to win each of his four gold medals with a new Olympic record, died at the age of 71 after battling high blood pressure and heart disease.

            Maybe it was the time, but Oerter was the kind of man all men wanted to emulate. He didn’t ki ...

Behold the Tao of Woody: After shooting back-to-back rounds of 65 and working his way into the final twosome on Saturday with Tiger Woods, golf's resident philosopher, Woody Austin said of the world's best player, "When he's playing well he's not hard to beat, but he's hard to catch." 

And that restaurant has gotten so crowded that nobody goes there anymore.

Woods, who played the first 27 holes of the tour championship in 13 under, which is where he stands (alone at the top with a two-shot lead over Austin) going into the weekend, looked exactly as you'd think he would when asked about Austin's comment. His first response was, "Excuse me? Say again." When the quote was repeated Tiger stared for a second and then said, "I don't know what to say to that." 

No one else seemed to, either. But that's Woody Austin for you. Yogi would certainly be proud.