Learning from Dan Wheldon

Chances are you've heard and read far more in the past few days about a handshake than about a death.

Most of the injuries that take place in sports are the type than can ruin games, but not lives. Dan Wheldon's death Sunday in Las Vegas could ruin an entire sport.

Auto racing has always been and probably always will be a dangerous sport. But as technology advances, there are things the people who run auto racing can do to reduce the risks. Unfortunately, it took Dale Earnhardt's death to get NASCAR to require things like the Hans device and the Safer barrier. These measures, though imperfectly implemented, have been shown to save lives. For evidence, we need look no further than Saturday night's race in Charlotte, where Jimmie Johnson walked away from the type of wreck that could just as easily have taken his life.

Wheldon's death took place at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, which has implemented the safety features mandated by NASCAR. None of those features could save Wheldon once his car went airborne over a track already strewn with wreckage. If the folks who run open-wheel racing want to memorialize Wheldon in something other than a chassis, they will ask themselves some hard questions. Was the field for this season-ending race too big for a track that small? Did a $5 million incentive persuade a driver to risk his life needlessly and recklessly? Are there things that can be done to the cars themselves to keep them on the ground in an accident? After all, that's why NASCAR drivers will be using restrictor plates Sunday at Talladega.

Meanwhile, there's something you can do to make sure Wheldon didn't die in vain. From time to time, you might hear somebody say "These safety measures are taking all the fun out of racing." The next time you hear someone say that, hit him.

Very, very hard.

Remember that we are taking votes on the free agent wide receiver poll through Wednesday night. The People's Pigskin needs someone to take the roster spot being vacated by the recently released Mike Sims-Walker. Thanks for voting, and encourage a friend to do the same.

We'll be back with the results of that poll.

Time to Get Some Help

Once again, the People's Pigskin fell short, though we're getting closer to victory.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost to Team Brotherton this week by a score of 84-76. We are now sitting on a three-game losing streak and a 2-4 record.

Before we get to the step we're about to take to turn things around, here's a look at how we got here.

Tony Romo, QB: 27 of 41 passing for 317 yards, 1 rush for 17 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception and 15 fantasy points. Those stats would probably be higher if Jason Garrett hadn't decided the best way to beat New England was to kill the clock (and force his opponent to use timeouts) by running the ball late.

Ray Rice, RB: 23 rushes for 101 yards, 5 receptions for 60 yards and 16 fantasy points. All that was missing this week was the touchdown, which was taken by the vulture Ricky Williams. (Remember him?)

DeAngelo Williams, RB: 12 rushes for 44 yards, 1 reception for 2 yards and 4 fantasy points. One has to wonder if the Carolina Panthers would win a little more if they relied a little less on Cam Newton to carry the offensive workload.

Wes Welker, WR: 6 receptions, 45 yards, 1 touchdown and 10 fantasy points. If this is what happens when the defense focuses all its efforts on taking the best receiver in football out of the game, imagine what happens when the defense has to worry about something else.

Plaxico Burress, WR: 1 reception, 16 yards and 1 fantasy point. Burress looked more than just a little off against a winless Miami Dolphins team on Monday night. Who knew a prison sentence could do that to you?

Michael Bush, Flex: 10 rushes for 28 yards, 1 reception for 9 yards and 2 fantasy points. The good news: Those 10 carries were a season high for Bush. The bad news: None of them took him to the end zone. Whether the new quarterback is good or bad news remains to be seen.

Brandon Pettigrew, TE: 8 receptions, 42 yards, 1 touchdown and 10 fantasy points. Pettigrew was actually targeted several times in the end zone. His relationship with Matthew Stafford is obviously much warmer than Jim Schwartz's relationship with Jim Harbaugh.

Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 5 sacks, 13 points allowed and 10 fantasy points. Now that's more like it.

John Kasay, K: 2 for 2 on field goals, 2 for 2 on extra points and 8 fantasy points. Fantasy football players, please note that Kasay, currently tied for fourth among kickers in fantasy scoring this year, was taken in the last round of our draft.

Bench: Eli Manning led the bench with 11 fantasy points, followed by Jason Witten (10), Percy Harvin (7) and Danny Woodhead (2).

Now, let's talk about our receivers. The People's Pigskin welcomes Larry Fitzgerald back from its bye week, but we'll have to say goodbye to Mike Sims-Walker, whom the St. Louis Rams released Monday to make room for the newly acquired Brandon Lloyd. We'll have to waive Sims-Walker and pick up a wide receiver to take his spot. (Before you ask, Lloyd is taken.) That's why we have a new poll today. According to ESPN, the top four wide receivers available to pick up in the People's League are Steve Breaston, Damian Williams, Jacoby Ford and Doug Baldwin. They are featured in our newest poll, which will close Wednesday night. Please vote now. And if you think we should get someone else instead, please fire off a comment.

We'll be back with some more thoughts on what happened Sunday.

Treading Water in Carolina

Under the circumstances, things could have gone worse for the People's Pitstop on Saturday night. They could have gone better, too.

The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team scored only 213 points during the Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Our season total of 8,169 leaves us in fourth place in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league. We are now just over 100 points away from the current leader, Dale Jr Amp National Guard 88. In other words, it's still anybody's race.

Here's how our team's weekend went.

Carl Edwards: Started 3rd, finished 3rd, 1 lap led and 99 fantasy points. Edwards maintained his spot at the top of the point standings, but he probably lost his spot on Kyle Busch's Christmas card list.

Mark Martin: Started 13th, finished 37th (47 laps behind the leaders) and 18 fantasy points. To the growing list of "phrases you never want associated with your fantasy NASCAR driver," you may add "broken wheel hub."

Dale Earnhardt Jr.: Started 15th, finished 19th (1 lap behind the leaders) and 54 fantasy points. Of course, having your driver's name next to the words "frustrate" and "disappoint" in a NASCAR.com story headline is no picnic, either.

Regan Smith: Started 21st, finished 22nd (2 laps behind the leaders) and 42 fantasy points. Smith might have known he had a better car than the results showed, but someone must have forgotten to tell his car that.

Next up for the NASCAR drivers is the fall race at Talladega Superspeedway. Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday, so our lineup polls for the People's Pitstop will close Friday night. Please feel free to get your votes in early. NASCAR has penalties for a lot of things, but voting early in a lineup poll isn't one of them.

We'll be back with the fantasy football results.

Fearless Predictions - Week 6

You don't need to hear Hank Williams to be ready for some football. We at the People's Pigskin are always ready for a good game. We're also always ready to pick a fantasy football matchup or two. So, without further ado, here are the predictions for this weekend's games in the People's League. Last week's picks went 3-2, leaving us with a season record of 12-13.

People's Pigskin vs. Team Brotherton. If things hold true to form, Tony Romo should find more passing lanes against the New England Patriots than Donovan McNabb finds against the Chicago Bears. Romo may not necessarily win his game, but he'll help the Pigskin win its game.

t-bay jacks Young'ry Buccs vs. Hudson Valley Hawks2. There are injuries, and then there are injuries. Missing LeGarrette Blount and Julio Jones will hamstring the Buccs and help the Hawks go to 5-1.

Glen Gardner's Finest vs. Minneapolis Houll. To pull this one off, the Finest will need the New York Jets defense/special teams to stomp on the Miami Dolphins. Fortunately, the Dolphins feature both a backup quarterback and a coach who's about two days away from hearing "Dead Coach Walking" in the hallway. The Finest will get over the hump on Monday night.

Arcadia Roses vs. LA Lockouts. Don't look now, but the top running back in fantasy football is . And he gets to face a banged-up New York Giants defense. He'll be the difference in a Roses victory.

VinSethVaughn Bears vs. Palm Bay, Fl. BearDown85. One of the advantages of loading your fantasy team with players from a single team is that sometimes you'll walk into the Sunday night or Monday night game with enough weapons to erase a major deficit. The Bears have three Chicago Bears in the starting lineup for Sunday night's game against the Minnesota Vikings. That gives the fantasy Bears the ability to come from behind and beat the BearDowns.

Enjoy the games, everybody. We'll be back with some results.

The People's Choice - Week 6

UPDATED 12:30 P.M. Sims-Walker is surprisingly inactive this week, so we are calling an audible and starting Michael Bush, after all. He faces the Cleveland Browns in a late afternoon game.

As you go through your normal Sunday morning routine, we're glad you've taken a moment to check in with the People's Pigskin. We're also glad you voted on the lineup the Internet's favorite fantasy football team will use in this week's People's League matchup against Team Brotherton.
Quarterback: Both of the quarterbacks on our roster were available again this week, but you liked Tony Romo slightly more than you did Eli Manning. Romo gets the start this week and faces the New England Patriots late Sunday afternoon.
Running back: That long touchdown last week must have really made an impact. The winner of this week's poll is DeAngelo Williams (who plays the Atlanta Falcons). Ray Rice took the runner-up spot and will take on the Houston Texans (minus Mario Williams) in a late afternoon game.
Wide receiver: We have another surprising winner in this poll. That would be Plaxico Burress, who hosts the Miami Dolphins on Monday night. The other starting spot goes to -- who else -- Wes Welker, who plays the Dallas Cowboys in a late afternoon game.
Flex: This week's battle of third-place poll finishers pitted running back Michael Bush against wide receiver Mike Sims-Walker. Using the projected points as the tiebreaker, Sims-Walker (5) edges out Bush (2). He'll get the Green Bay Packers.
Tight end: Despite what happened Saturday night, the Detroit resurgence keeps rolling along. The latest evidence comes from this poll, in which Brandon Pettigrew beat out Jason Witten. Pettigrew welcomes the San Francisco 49ers this week.
There were no changes at defense/special teams (the Pittsburgh Steelers versus the Jacksonville Jaguars) or kicker (John Kasay, taking on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a late afternoon game.)
Thanks again for voting. We'll be back later this morning with People's League predictions.

Fearless Predictions - Charlotte

OK, so the quest to lift our NASCAR predictions to .500 for the season will fall a little short. Big deal. We can still finish this season with a bang. Here are this week's picks for the Sprint Cup drivers to finish in the top 10. Last week's forecasts went 2-2, leaving us with a season record of 41-71.

One from the front: It's hard to ignore Jimmie Johnson (who starts 9th tonight) at this time of year and at Charlotte Motor Speedway in particular. He has a whopping six wins on this track. And he finished 3rd in this race last year on his way to a fifth straight Sprint Cup title. Let someone eles pick another driver from the top 10.

One from the back: The pickings in the bottom 10 are as supermodel slim as ever. This week, we'll take a flyer on Dave Blaney, who starts 35th and has finished in that position or better in the last five races. You don't do that if you're going to start and park.

Two from the middle: Don't count Kevin Harvick out of it yet. He's starting 14th tonight, but he's still 2nd in the points standings. Also, he's finished in the top 10 in five of the last six races this season, and he won the 600-mile race at Charlotte in May. And you have to respect a driver willing to wreck his wife just to star in an ESPN commercial.
For our final pick, we're going to reach all the way back to the 20th starting spot for Kurt Busch. He finished in the top five here in May, and he won a race here last year. Besides, the best way to snuff out questions about your crew chief is to have a strong day at the track.

Remember that you can still vote on the fantasy football polls on right side of this page while you watch the race. The People's Pigskin needs to mount a comeback, and we need your help to assemble the lineup. Please vote now.

We'll be back with the football poll results.

The People's Choice - Charlotte

Watching the New York Jets implode under the weight of their own hubris has been fun for the last couple of days. But fortunately, you, the Internet, have been busy making selections for the People's Pitstop. Here are the drivers who will represent the Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team during Saturday night's Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

A List: This week's poll resulted in a tie between Carl Edwards, the current points leader and defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson. Thursday evening's qualifying session put Carl Edwards in the 3rd starting spot, six points in front of Johnson and high enough to get the People's Pitstop 3 bonus points.

B List: It's a good thing we have four roster spots for this group of drivers, because we had a four-way tie involving Mark Martin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Juan Pablo Montoya. Martin (13th) and Earnhardt (15th) will start, while Keselowski (26th) and Montoya (32nd) will watch the proceedings from the bench.

C List: Another poll, another tie. We're starting to look like John Belushi in the disciplinary hearing scene of "Animal House." This tie was between the new usual suspects, Regan Smith and Bobby Labonte. And if there could have been a tie in qualifying, these two drivers probably would have done that, too. As it turns out, Smith (21st) is one spot in front of Labonte and gets the start.

Remember that the fantasy football polls are still open and will remain open until Saturday night. The People's Pigskin needs all the help it can get in getting its season back on track. Please vote now.

We'll be back with our weekly NASCAR predictions.

OK, This One Hurt

If you play fantasy football for any length of time, eventually you will suffer a beatdown like the one the People's Pigskin experienced.

The Internet's favorite fantasy football team lost to the Arcadia Roses by a score of 122-86. This lowered our season record to 2-3.

Here are the scoring details, which are almost as gory as some of the signs from the Wall Street protests.

Eli Manning, QB: 24 of 39 passing for 420 yards, 3 rushes for 5 yards, 3 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, 1 fumble lost and 20 fantasy points. This season, the People's Pigskin seems to be collecting quarterbacks with a propensity for late turnovers.

DeAngelo Williams, RB: 9 rushes, 1115 yards, 1 touchdown and 17 fantasy points. As so often happens in fantasy football, most of Williams' points came from a single play. But we'll take it all the same.

Joseph Addai, RB: 6 rushes for 19 yards, 1 reception for 6 yards and 1 fantasy point. Addai left the game in the first quarter with a hamstring injury. That's something we'll have to monitor throughout the week.

Larry Fitzgerald, WR: 4 receptions, 66 yards and 6 fantasy points. Fitzgerald's fantasy points dropped for the third straight week.

Wes Welker, WR: 5 receptions, 124 yards and 12 fantasy points. That point total would be much higher if Darrelle Revis hadn't stopped him from scoring on his 73-yard catch.

Percy Harvin, Flex: 1 rush for 12 yards, 1 reception for 11 yards and 2 fantasy points. Someone on the Minnesota Vikings must have remembered that they had Adrian Peterson on the active roster.

Brandon Pettigrew, TE: 4 receptions, 39 yards, 1 touchdown and 9 fantasy points. That touchdown helped the Detroit Lions reach 5-0 for the first time since this man was president.

Pittsburgh Steelers, D/ST: 1 interception, 3 sacks, 17 points allowed and 6 fantasy points. No one will confuse this year's Steelers with the Steel Curtain, but as long as they keep winning, no one in Pittsburgh will mind.

John Kasay, K: 3 for 3 on field goals, 3 for 3 on extra points and 13 fantasy points. Don't look now, but the 41-year-old Kasay is now the third-highest fantasy scorer among kickers. We may have a debate about what to do with him when his bye week comes up.

Bench: This report will be short but not sweet. Plaxico Burress scored 4 fantasy points. Everyone else was on a bye week, injured or ignored by his team.

This week, we get several of those bye-week players back, including Jason Witten, Tony Romo and Ray Rice. But we send Fitzgerald to the bench for this week's matchup against Team Brotherton. And we certainly need your help filling out our roster. Therefore, the lineup polls are now open (below the NASCAR polls on the right side of this page) and will close Saturday night. Please do your part to help us turn this ship around. Thanks.

A Kansas Comeback

Don't count the People's Pitstop out just yet.
The Internet's favorite fantasy NASCAR team piled up 308 points during Sunday's race at Kansas Speedway. The season total of 7,956 lifted us two spots in the 9beersfantasysportstavern league, to 4th place. We are just over 100 points behind the leader, so winning the championship is more than a mere mathematical possibility.
Here are the more detailed results.
Kevin Harvick: Started 14th, finished 6th and 80 fantasy points. These results probably would look even better if we hadn't benched the eventual race winner. Harvick slipped just enough late in the race to trail Carl Edwards in the points standings by a single point.
Kasey Kahne: Started 5th, finished 2nd and 88 fantasy points. The remarkable thing isn't that Kahne got so close to the front but never led a lap. It's that he got so close to the front after an early problem on pit row left him in 40th place.
Brad Keselowski: Started 12th, finished 3rd, 5 laps led and 96 fantasy points. The truly encouraging thing about Keselowski's day is that he was hungry for more when it ended. He'll be somebody to watch next year on the A List.
Regan Smith: Started 16th, finished 24th (1 lap behind the leaders) and 44 fantasy points. Frankly, this is probably as good as we can expect from the C List drivers available to us for the rest of the season.
And if you debated whether to watch this race or the Sunday afternoon NFL games (or if you sprained your finger switching back and forth), this is the week for you. NASCAR is taking its act to Saturday night for a Chase race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The qualifying session is scheduled for Thursday, so we're going to need to pick our drivers by Wednesday night. The polls are now open. Please note that both Kahne and A.J. Allmendinger are down to their last starts for us. And please vote accordingly.
We'll be back with the fantasy football results.

Fearless Predictions - Week 5

The People's League predictions had a week almost as bad as Ryan Howard's -- and almost as painful. The picks went 1-4 last week, lowering our season record to 9-11. But this is no emergency. We can pull out of it without any trouble at all.
People's Pigskin vs. Arcadia Roses. The top running back in fantasy football faces the top receiver in fantasy football. Our money is on the receiver. Look for Wes Welker to lead the Pigskin to victory.
Team Brotherton vs. VinSethVaughn Bears. Losing Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens defense/special teams to a bye week will prove costly. The Bears should get enough production from their namesake players on Monday night to squeeze out a win.
Hudson Valley Hawks2 vs. Palm Bay, Fl. BearDown85. Speaking of Monday night, the mere fact that Mike Tirico & Company are visiting Matthew Stafford should tell you how far he and his Detroit Lions have come. He'll beat the Chicago Bears and help the Hawks go to 4-1.
t-bay jacks Young'ry Buccs vs. Glen Gardner's Finest. The People's Pigskin learned the hard way last week never to discount LeGarrette Blount. He and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers will keep on rolling and help the Buccs get the win.
Minneapolis Fantastic Houll vs. LA Lockouts. You have to be impressed with a fantasy team that can bring out six players ranked in the top 10 in their positions -- on the first bye week of the season. The Lockouts get the pick here.
Thanks for reading. Enjoy the games. We'll be back with the results.
R.I.P., Al Davis.