My Take: It's Big Brother AfterDark on Showtime and The Glass House online for me right now, but here's my opinion on both games...

You got to love it, right now its just after midnight and I'm watching the Big Brother AfterDark live on showtime on my HDTV (talking strategy and playing pool), while I am watching the new reality show, The Glass House online (doing what the fans want them to do). These are two completely different games to watch. But here's my opinion on both games as of tonight.

Big Brother:
While Big Brother 14 is only on week 3, this has been one of the craziest seasons in recent years especially with all of the new twists this season. So far, Big Brother fans have seen four former players return to the game as coaches (Janelle, Mike "Boogie", Dan and Britney), three evictions (Jodi, Kara and JoJo) with a fourth to follow this coming Thursday night, and one houseguest get expelled (Willie).

And now of course fans are waiting to see if the latest twist with the coaches being invited to join the game as players (its a America's Vote) actually happens or not this Thursday night? I'm really enjoying the season so far and its Shane who is outplaying everyone by winning one (current) HOH and two POV's, while Ian is outlasting everyone in a good social game. Right now I'm still getting to know the houseguests and it will be a few more weeks before I have a favorite player if I do at all. I normally don't have a favorite.

I just have to wonder if BB fans will give coaches the chance to join the game as players to complete for the $500k grand prize and will there be a second chance competition for the evicted houseguests. I would like to see both happen and some good double eviction weeks to follow. Now that's Big Brother.

The Glass House:
In the first of what I hope to be many seasons of The Glass House. The players have been cut in half over the last several weeks now and are down to seven players with two currently in limbo. The Glass House is growing on me including with the cast of characters in the house are interesting to watch. I like the fact that fans really have a good say in what happens in the house from what the players eat, see, dress like, sleep, date, right down to who the team captains are and ultimately who is sent packing.

Right now though as the players continue to be sent packing one by one, I wonder how much longer these team challenges and alliances are going to last before a front runner finally emerges. Personally I'm routing for Gene, Joy, and Erica. Which means, any of them go into limbo and I vote for them to return to the game.

I believe I have summed these two up pretty good. But boy, I will say it once and I will say it again, these are two completely different games to watch for this fan.

NASCAR: Jimmie Johnson captures 4th Brickyard 400 victory, Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes point lead and ESPN steps up and gives solid broadcast.

Congratulations to Jimmie Johnson and the #48 team on winning their
4th Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway
(Photo Credit: Jimmie Johnson Facebook Page)

Today at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway was all about kissing the famed bricks and for the fourth time, Jimmie Johnson did just that after he and the #48 team was in his own zipcode today leading 99 laps, winning his 4th Brickyard 400 at IMS. Just one question, in the kiss the bricks ceremony, what gives with the purple pillows? When did Dale Jarrett and his team did this for the first time back in 1999, they just got down on the ground and kissed the bricks.

Anyway, today's Brickyard 400 was a solid race today which had its moments for sure. But in the end it was Jimmie Johnson winning the race over Kyle Busch, while Dale Earnhardt Jr. taking the point lead over Matt Kenseth by 14 points. And after the terrible TNT six race summer series, ESPN just stepped up to the plate and did a solid job today with the TV Broadcast.

I especially liked the fact that Allen Bestwick just took control of the broadcast booth and gave viewers most of the information we needed. No mention of start and park cars nor Kurt Busch going to the garage with engine troubles. Good day, but I do have to say that for 2013, NASCAR should make this triple header weekend of Rolex Series, Nationwide Series and Cup Series with the Brickyard 400 race on the road course. It would be more entertaining for sure and it would give NASCAR a third road course in Cup.

Congrats to Brad Keselowski and Penske Racing on winning first NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Indy. NASCAR should run road course in 2013.

You know despite the poor call made by NASCAR on black flagging Elliott Sadler on the final restart and costing fans a good battle for the win, we shouldn't and can't take anything away from the real story of Brad Keselowski and the #22 Penske Racing team winning the Nationwide Indy 250 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Keselowski had one of the fastest cars all race long next to Kyle Busch and Elliott Sadler and Brad earned this victory hands down.

With that said, I believe that while NASCAR did make the wrong call in moving this race from the small track at LOP to IMS, NASCAR should have all three series, the Rolex Series, Nationwide Series and the Cup Series with the Brickyard 400 run on the road course instead to add some excitement to these races. So far, the Rolex Race on Friday was more exciting then the Saturday Nationwide race. Sorry, but the racing on the Indy oval isn't all that exciting for stock cars anymore.

NASCAR makes bad call on Elliott Sadler, costing Sadler possible Nationwide Series victory at Indy and late race battle for lead.

On the final restart with just 18 laps to go in the Nationwide Series Indy 250 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Brad Keselowski lead with Elliott Sadler next to him in second. When the green flag came out, Keselowski spin his tires and got jacked up by this teammate Sam Hornish Jr. and Sadler who was in second went as he should have with fourth place Austin Dillon pushing him took the lead.

But NASCAR black flagged Sadler for jumping the restart. It was a bogus call and all indications showed that Elliott Sadler would have either won or finished in the top 3. What a terrible call, it ruined the rest of the race, I would loved to see if Brad Keselowski battle Elliott Sadler for the Nationwide win at Indy. But no dice.

WWE delivers big on 1000th episode of Monday Night RAW including AJ as Raw GM and Triple H vs. Brock Lesner at Summerslam.

WWE Monday Night Raw 1000th episode
DX returns. (Photo: WWE Facebook)

Damn, last night's 1000 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw was 3 hours of entertaining moments that even left me surprised a time or two along the way. 

It was cool to see Raw kick off with all five members of D-Generation X including Triple H and Shawn Michaels and give Damon his well deserved Raw moment. 

I really don't like the whole legal lawsuits storylines in the WWE, they aren't entertaining. A prime example of that was Christan last year and him not getting another title shot. Its a terrible way of bring in a storyline. But now we have Triple H vs. Brock Lesner. The only reason I'm interested is because of the match at SummerSlam between these two. Personally I think there is no room in the WWE for Brock Lesner considering he's just no entertaining and nor is Paul Hayman.

And of course the reuniting of Kane and the returning Undertaker was a cool, touching moment as I wondered what happened to The Undertaker. And the can be said for all of the WWE legends including Leta and the APA giving Heath Slater (the one man rock band) his overdue Raw moment. Its just cool to see them all back for a one night bash.

However this wouldn't be entertaining or the WWE without those two head scratching, keep them guessing, surprise moments and those two honors goes to AJ and also the WWE Champion match.

First, now when I say AJ, I'm wasn't really talking about the wedding between her and Daniel Bryan. You see you have to understand that there has been two big weddings in the WWE ring and neither one of them has ever ended in wedding bliss. So it didn't surprise me that AJ stopped the wedding at the last possible moment. But it was at that moment when Vince came out, I thought he was actually marring AJ for a second there. Hay weirder things have happened. But instead revealed that AJ had accepted the new Raw GM job, I was speechless and shocked. Just think, an unpredictable wild child, namely AJ as the new GM...damn that should be entertaining.

Second, once The Rock announced that he would be facing the WWE Champ at the Royal Rumble, I instantly thought of the last night's main event, John Cena cashing in his Money in the Bank contract and facing CM Punk for the WWE Championship. Of course my thought was finally, the Wrestlemania rematch of Cena vs. The Rock with the WWE title on the line and Cena getting his payback on the Rock once and for all, but nope.

Instead it was an awkward match that would end with The Big Show screwing John Cena, setting up Cena vs. Show at a later date. Does the WWE have nothing better than for The Big Show to do then play a human wrecking ball and disrespecting the WWE fans...I mean damn come on.

But also The Rock running to the ring to take out The Big Show only to get taking out himself a few times by CM Punk, that had its moment. CM Punk would retain the title, but more so it would setup Punk vs. The Rock feud at a later date.

Now one thing, the announcers said that with CM Punks actions, Punk turned his back on the WWE fans, but I don't think so. Punk made a statement to The Rock that he wanted The Great One, The Rock in a big match. Its just sad that all this costed John Cena his Money in the Bank contract and that sucks. Why the contract couldn't have been cashed in at Wrestlemania or the Royal Rumble puzzles me.

Also The Rock vs. The Big Show would have better hands down and that would have left for a real block buster headline feud between CM Punk and John Cena for the WWE Championship. Cena and Punk should be the ones in title contentions, not The Rock.

Damn, congrats to the WWE on 1000 episodes and here's to another 1000 episodes.

NASCAR: James Buescher outduels Brendan Gaughan to win a wild Truck Series race at Chicagoland.

It just goes to show you, you never give up and a race isn't over until the checkered flag flies. And for James Buescher and the Turner Motorsports team, they started out back, and ended up charging to the front twice including being 2 laps down at one point to outduel a hard charging Guaghan to capture his 3rd victory of the season.

But a tip of the hat to Brendan Gaughan, that was a good run for him today, he was the strongest truck in this race, but he only managed a 2nd place finish.

Now that was a wild Truck Series race in the second half, I didn't think you could have three-four wide racing at Chicagoland Speedway. Wow now if only the Cup Series could find the excitement that the Truck Series has on 1.5 mile tracks, that would be cool.

PHOTO: Tanner Foust hits the dirt racing hard at New Hampshire Motor Speedway in round 4 of GRC.

Last Saturday (July 14, 2012), the Global RallyCross Series raced at New Hampshire Motor Speedway following the NASCAR Nationwide Series in front of around 45,000 fans in attendance to put on one hell of a show. In the end, fans saw on aggressive race were Travis Pastrana won in his Dodge Dart. Pastrana drove hard and earned his first win of the 2012 Global RallyCross Season. My favorite driver Tanner Foust ended up finishing a close 4th right behind his teammate Brian Deegan in their Ford Fiesta's and now Foust finds himself in the points lead with one race to go in 2012 season at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

PHOTO: Tanner Foust hits the dirt at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.
CREDIT: Jakub Nitka/ERC24.com 

NASCAR: Kasey Kahne grabs his second win of 2012 in New Hampshire and leads in wild card; Goodbye TNT.

Despite the fact the Denny Hamlin dominated and came on strong in the final green flag run passing around a dozen cars, it was Kasey Kahne driving his way to victory in the Lenox Tools 301 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and more importantly leading in the wild card with two wins. 

As a matter of fact, it was Hendrick vs. Gibbs today for sure. And a tip of the hat to Clint Bowyer who finished 3rd and Dale Earnhardt Jr who finished 4th.

But with the checkered flag coming out in New Hampshire and in front of a steller crowd, this is the final race for TNT summer series. You know, this TNT summer series was frustrating to watch for sure except with the pit reporters who do a good job. 

But despite the lack of cautions and TNT's broadcast, New Hampshire was a good race to watch. Goodbye TNT, hello ESPN in two weeks at the Brickyard.

Sent with Acer A100 android tablet.

NASCAR: Tony Stewart winning Coke Zero 400 at Daytona was the only good moment of a frustrating restrictor plate race.

Tony Stewart's victory in the Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway was the only good moment of the entire race weekend. But instead of just bashing restrictor plate racing, here's my statement: "NASCAR restrictor plate racing (at Daytona & Talladega) and I just don't see eye to eye at all and most likely never will. I'm just not a fan of this type of frustrating, crashfest racing. However I do enjoy NASCAR racing in general and that is why I continue to watch, support and blog on NASCAR.

Picture perfect: Tony Stewart celebrating in victory lane.
Credit: Todd Warshaw/Getty Images for NASCAR

IndyCar: Ryan Hunter-Reay takes his third consecutive IndyCar Series win today at Toronto. Now 5 drivers in the hunt for title.

Wow, what a stat, this is Ryan Hunter-Reay's third win in a row in 2012 and here I thought that the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Season season was going to be a classic duel between Penske Racing and Ganassi Racing. But it looks like Andretti Autosport in Chevrolet power is playing spoiler this season as Ryan Hunter-Reay takes the point lead with 34 points over Penske Racing driver Will Power and that's cool to see.

However with Hunter-Reay winning his third race, while other championship contenders has issues, this has opened up the championship picture with what looks to be at least five drivers in the hunt for the 2012 IndyCar Series title including Will Power in second (-34), Helio Castroneves in third (-46), Scott Dixon in fourth (-54) and James Hinchcliffe in fifth (-67).

A personal note:
1. Congrats to Ryan Hunter-Reay on going winning his 3rd win in a row in 2012.
2. I really want to see James Hinchcliffle (mayor of Hinchtown) win one of five remaining races in 2012
3. Will Power win the championship.

Yes readers, I do have my favorites as well.

NASCAR needs 2 preset competition cautions during all Cup Series race to add excitement, pit strategy and double-file restarts without manipulating the race outcome.

Originally Publish: 7/1/2012
Rewritten and updated: 7/5/2012

Ever since before last Saturday night's Quaker State 400 at Kentucky Speedway when Bruton Smith said NASCAR needs mandatory cautions, there has been a heated debut on whether or not this is good idea.

Personally I'm been thinking about this for a long time and I have to say that Bruton Smith's proposal isn't all that far off. And I think its good in this case that he spoke out on this topic because it sparked this debate.

I've been listening and commenting all week long on mandatory cautions and I can see both sides. Keep in mind that these races are 300-400-500-600 mile races or a good 3 hours+ in length and NASCAR needs a few cautions during a race to reset the field, have pit stops, see pit strategy and once back green, the double-file restarts are always exciting and gives drivers a chance to really pickup or lose several positions in a few laps.

So after hearing all sides of this topic, I have my own proposal. I believe NASCAR should have 2 preset competition cautions during all NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races. The preset competition caution flags would not only take advantage of what NASCAR already has been doing during some races, but adds another caution later on in the race as well.

Like I said, NASCAR already sometimes uses competition cautions during Cup races after the rain washes away the once rubbered in racetrack or there is a tire concern. So fans already know what a competition caution looks like and is and meant for. Only now, instead of NASCAR making the choice of whether or not to have a competition caution in race, every race would automatically have 2 preset competition cautions in place at specific set points or lap numbers during each race.

I would say the location of the 1st competition caution should be halfway through the first tire wear run which is where it normally is now when NASCAR choices to use it. The second one could be just about anywhere, but I believe the halfway point would work the best as the race normally starts to heat up just after halfway like the Southern 500 at Darlington did earlier this season.

With that said, some NASCAR fans, media members and even NASCAR officials have said that mandatory or competition cautions could be or are looked at as manipulating a race. But I see it more as a combination of safety with tire wear and taking a breather. Point blank, two preset competition cautions aren't going to effect the outcome of a race. 


Look at it this way, so if we can't have 2 preset competition cautions because of so-called manipulation, then what is the chase -- isn't the chase manipulating the outcome of who wins the championship? Personally ever since NASCAR finally created a new points system, why do we need to the chase? 

My Take: Matt Kenseth leaving Roush-Fenway Racing opens new door for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne in 2013.

So many NASCAR fans, media and the NASCAR community were surprised to learn his past Tuesday that Matt Kenseth will part ways with Roush-Fenway Racing at the end of the 2012 season. This move by Matt Kenseth has sparked a big debate especially among the media and fans as to who will Matt Kenseth drive for 2013?

Of course Kenseth does have options, but right now he is quiet about 2013. But let’s be honest here, Matt Kenseth is a championship winning driver who gets the job done in a Cup car. He isn’t about to leave a championship winning organization like Roush-Fenway Racing were he is winning races for another team without already having a plan in place.

I truly believe that Matt Kenseth already has a deal either just about done or a done deal for 2013 and beyond and I think we will see an announcement within the next month or so once everything including sponsorship, car number and more are in place. I also believe the options for him is wide open from JGR and Stewart-Haas Racing to Penske Racing, Richard Petty Motorsports or a new team at Dodge.

But what I read in the press release last Tuesday as well as the interviews with Roush-Fenway Racing is that with Matt Kenseth leaving RFR, this opened the door for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. to move up to the Cup Series driving either the #17 or better yet the #6 ride in 2013 and beyond.

I believe that with a Nationwide Series Drivers Championship (2011) already on his resume, Stenhouse Jr. is more than ready to drive full-time in the Cup Series. He has the talent and now carries himself well for the major jump. I also think that while 2013 will be a learning curve as it normally is for rookie contender coming up to the Cup Series are, 2014 will be a good year for Ricky Stenhouse Jr. And over the next few years, Stenhouse Jr. will be successfully in the Cup Series.

And in the interviews, with Kenseth’s departure also opened a new door for Trevor Bayne, the 2011 Daytona 500 winner to take over the #6 ride full-time in the Nationwide Series once Stenhouse Jr. moves to the Cup Series. I truly believe that this is exactly what Bayne needs to get back on track after having to give up his full-time ride in the Nationwide Series this season (2012) due to lack of sponsorship.

I just really hope that Roush-Fenway Racing can lock down sponsorship for Trevor Bayne in the Nationwide Series so he can finally challenge for wins and contend for the Nationwide Series drivers championship. Of course I believe that Bayne will also be driving the #21 in the Cup Series for the Wood Brothers in 2013.

Now only time will tell what happens next for Matt Kenseth, Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Trevor Bayne, hopefully they all find success in their new rides in 2013 and beyond.

Checking out TNT's The Great Escape again and this show is cool as this weeks its on the USS Hornet.

Last week I checked this new reality show The Great Escape out and it was gripping to watch. Of course last week was from Alcatraz. This week, its the USS Hornet. The format is basically the same as last week in that three teams are racing through stages in search of the pieces of The Great Escape key and once found, then trying to find the host without being caught. You got to love it when for one hour, you really don't know what's going to happen. What can I say, I like interesting shows to keep my attention.