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NASCAR drivers at this Sunday’s Best Buy 400 will have to be totally attentive from the dropping of the green flag to the waving of the checkered flag. The one-mile high-banked oval in Delaware will require near perfection on the part of the drivers—not just to win, but also to simply survive. The concrete track will require mashing on the gas on the straights and slamming on the brakes when entering the corners. Get lulled into a false sense of security and the wall will reach out to grab you. That’s why the drivers call this track the ‘Monster Mile.” One driver who has mastered the track is pole-sitter Greg Biffle, who turned the fastest lap on Friday morning at 153.879 mph. Biffle has two wins and four top-five finishes in the Nationwide Series, along with a win and three top-five finishes in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. In second and third are the Busch brothers, Kurt in second and Kyle close behind. Jimmie Johnson qualified in fourth with Jamie McMurray grabbing the fifth spot. NASCAR favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. will be way back in 25^th at the start of the race, but will be moving up fast once things get under way. Look for lots of excitement and plenty of crashes.

British superstar soccer player David Beckham has so many other interests these days—including his beautiful wife Victoria (aka Posh Spice)—that there’s a wonder he even has time to think about soccer.  For those of you who don’t know, Beckham is a midfielder member of the England national soccer team and also a star on the Los Angeles Galaxy of the Major League Soccer League. Let’s just recap a few of his most recent happenings. Yesterday, Beckham gave his wife a birthday present of a Napa Valley vineyard and winery. On hand for the party were a few other notables, including Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, Kate Beckinsale and Seal. A few days earlier, Beckham was voted America’s sexiest man in a poll conducted by U.S. magazine. And just in case he doesn’t have anything else to do, Beckham can take free guitar lessons from Bon Jovi star Richie Sambora. “David should come and see me. I’d gladly give him lessons. I’d be privileged,” Sambora said in an interview.

The Calgary Vipers of the Northern League had a problem. One of their pitchers, an American named John Odom, was having trouble crossing the border into Canada. Don’t know why. But the Vipers came up with an interesting solution. They traded Odom to the Laredo Broncos of the United Baseball League for 10 bats. Not just any old bats, these were custom maple bats known as Prairie Sticks. Manufactured by Prairie Sticks Bat Company of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada, these hard maple bats are gaining in popularity among professional baseball players. The ones involved in the trade for Odom were the 34-inch double-dipped black C243. They are made from rock maple grown in eastern Canada. The company only sold 1,500 bats last year, but when word hit the Internet about the trade of 10 bats for a professional pitcher, the phones in Red Deer started ringing off the hook. According to an Associated Press account, players from California to Connecticut wanted Prairie Sticks bats. Where it all goes from here is anyone’s guess, and my guess is that things in Red Deer are going to continue to get better and better. And for Odom, originally from Atlanta, Laredo, Texas is a lot closer to home. This trade is one of those win, win, win situations.

He’s only 21 and his batting average is a cool 1.000. In his major league debut with the Reds, Jay Bruce played center field and batted second. And he had a great game, helping Cincinnati to a 9-6 win over the never easy Pittsburgh Pirates. Jay’s line went like this: At the plate five times, but two were walks so they don’t count as times at bat. He went 3 for 3, with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI’s. He also had a stolen base. Heck of a start for the youngster from Beaumont, Texas. At 6’3” and 205 pounds, lefthander Bruce is coming into his prime. Reds CEO sees Jay Bruce as the team’s next superstar and he may very well be right if yesterday’s start is any indication. The Reds could certainly use a superstar right about now. They struggled last year to a dismal 72-90 record and haven’t had a winning record since 1999, when they finished 96-67. They haven’t had a consistently good team since the late 1980s, so they’re about due. Good luck, Jay.

San Francisco 49ers coach Mike Nolan has a new mantra and it reminds me of a soap opera.  “One day at a time,” he professes, and I for one think that’s a smart approach to the new season. Coming off the 49ers’ less than stellar 5-11 performance last year, his new philosophy is exactly what the players need to hear.With a little more than a month remaining before training camp commences, Nolan is making it clear to everyone in the organization that no one has a lock on a starting position. Things will all be sorted out on the field, he says, and when the final decisions are made, they will be based on performance and nothing more. Nolan believes that competition is healthy for the players. “Our guys know what’s at stake. It creates a sense of urgency to do things now. Things don’t take care of themselves.”Nowhere is the competition more intense than at quarterback, where three distinctly different individuals will be fighting it out for the coveted starter’s job. Will it be Alex Smith, Shaun Hill or J.T. O’Sullivan? We’ll find out in due time, but meanwhile all the jockeying for Nolan’s favor will make for some training camp and pre-season controversy.Just to make things a little more interesting, let’s toss into the equation a new offensive coordinator, San Francisco’s fourth in four years. Quarterback guru Mike Martz brings a proven track record of success to the 49ers. While at the St. Louis Rams, Martz guided two-time NFL Most Valuable Player Kurt Warner to a victory in Super Bowl XXXIV, and followed that by mentoring a couple more pretty good NFL quarterbacks—Trent Green and Mark Bulger.The question in 49er camp comes down to which of the three QB prospects will shoulder the load. I give J.T. O’Sullivan an outside chance at best. Martz is familiar with O’Sullivan’s abilities, having coached him in Detroit last year where O’Sullivan filled a backup QB role for the Lions. Martz must have liked what he saw of O’Sullivan in Detroit because that’s the primary reason O’Sullivan is a 49er now.So it comes down to last year’s season-opening starter Alex Smith and his main challenger Shaun Hill, who started the last two games. Both had a modicum of success in 2007. Smith showed some real maturity as a starter until suffering a separated shoulder in late September against the Seahawks. Hill didn’t see action until he replaced an injured Trent Dilfer in early December. Hill led the 49ers to victory in that game against the Vikings and then the final two against Cincinnati and Tampa Bay. Nolan wants to see how everything plays out over the next few weeks before naming his starter. With three solid QBs vying for the spot, the head coach’s task won’t be easy.

In a little less than two weeks, undefeated Big Brown will walk onto the track at Belmont Park in an attempt to become the first horse to win the Triple Crown of horseracing in 30 years. Big Brown is heavily favored to run away from the field in the grueling 1 ½-mile Belmont, the final leg of the trifecta. The horse easily captured the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. But hold on, let’s not crown our champion just yet. Which brings me to what I was referring to with this post’s headline. The 1970s were the decade of the Triple Crown, starting with the great Secretariat, who ended a 25-year Triple Crown drought in 1973. Four years later, another great, Seattle Slew won the three-race combo. And the very next year it was Affirmed winning it all. So what about the safety pin? Well I’m coming to that. In 1979, the truly phenomenal Spectacular Bid rolled over the competition in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. The horse was a prohibitive 3-10 favorite to win the Belmont. He couldn’t lose. But then the unthinkable happened. Spectacular Bid stepped on an open safety pin that someone had dropped. With tender hoof, Spectacular Bid gave it everything it had, finishing third. Hence the costliest safety pin in the world. In sports, as in life, anything can happen.

Sunday will be a real challenge for the American sports buff. Start out with a full slate of MLB games—15 games in all. Then toss in game three of the NBA Western Division finals, with Kobe Bryant’s Lakers leading 2-0. With this game being in San Antonio it’s time for the Spurs to get back on track. They lose this one and it’s all she wrote. They would have to win the next four straight and that isn’t going to happen. Also on tap is auto racing, starting with the Indianapolis 500 and then NASCAR’s Coca Cola 600. Add it up, that’s 1,100 miles of racing this Sunday. Perhaps golf is your forte. No problem, the final round of the Colonial in Fort Worth is on tap with fan-favorite Phil Mickelson leading the pack. I haven’t really been a big Mickelson fan, but I’m starting to come around a little bit, plus I picked him to win in my fantasy golf league, so I guess I’ll be rooting for him tomorrow. Oh, and did I mention tennis? It’s one of the big four starting tomorrow at Roland Garos—the French Open, this year’s second Grand Slam. Favorites Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova will be taking on a formidable group of challenges led by Roger Federer and Ana Ivanovic. The only major professional sport that won’t take place tomorrow is NHL. First game of the Stanley Cup final between the Detroit Red Wings and Pittsburgh Penquins takes place tonight in Detroit. Sunday is an off day and then they will all be back out on the ice on Monday. So good luck in choosing what to watch. Personally I’ll be toggling back and forth between the Indy 500 and the French Open, with quick checks of basketball and golf during commercials. Baseball can take a back seat at this juncture in the season.

The world’s top two tennis players will both be trying for the one Grand Slam title that has eluded them over the years when they pull out their racquets in Paris this weekend for the start of the French Open that goes through June 8. Roger Federer, ranked No. 1 for the men, and Maria Sharapova, ranked No. 1 for the women, are both competing for French Open titles. Both have titles in the other Grand Slam events—the Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the U.S. Open—and both badly want to win the title at Roland Garros to complete their ensemble. It won’t be a stroll in the park for either one, as there are plenty of strong challengers for both men and women. For the men, one can’t overlook perennial favorite Rafael Nadal. Also pushing hard for the title are No. 3 Novak Djokovic, the fun-loving Serbian, and No. 4 Nikolay Davydanko, the hard-hitting Russian. On the women’s side of the draw, Sharapova will need to watch out for a pair of Serbians. Maria had little trouble with No. 2 ranked Ana Ivanovic in the Australian Open final a couple months ago, but this time the match will be played on clay, a much slower surface and Sharapova’s power game will be somewhat neutralized. Anything can happen. And don’t discount Ana’s compatriot Jelena Jankovic, who is ranked No. 3. Jelena has never won a Grand Slam event and I know that has to be eating away at her. And then of course there’s Serena Williams, ranked No. 5 and winner of eight Grand Slams, including the French Open in 2002. There will be a lot of action and it all starts on June 8.

Stock up on the beer and pretzels because there will be 1,100 miles of auto racing on Sunday. Even though it’s Memorial Day Weekend and not the Fourth of July, I can promise you plenty of fireworks. Things get going early with my personal favorite, the Indianapolis 500, which is hands-down the best motor sport in the world. You NASCAR fans might try to argue the point, but give me a break—you just can’t compare NASCAR events to open-wheel racing. And this year at Indy we have the added attraction of 11 first-time drivers at the brickyard. Track veterans will have to be especially alert to even make it through all the carnage, let alone arrive unscathed to the winner’s circle. That bottle of milk will taste especially good this year. Then comes the Coca Cola 600. Yep, 600 miles on a “cookie-cutter” track. This will be one of NASCAR’s patented endurance races. Unfortunately with NASCAR, the best driver doesn’t always win. In fact, the best driver seldom wins. There are so many intangibles—freak blowout in car right in front of you, missing lug nut, a poor pit stop and the list goes on. So pull up a chair, position the ice chest just right and grab the remote. It’s race time!

Fully a third of the 33 drivers in next Sunday’s Indianapolis 500 are rookies, which to me equates to some unprecedented excitement. Their inexperience at the Brickyard, particularly at the start of the race, could spell trouble. While many of these drivers are experienced in other venues—Formula One for example—driving in the Indianapolis 500 is a horse of a different color.I think the start of the race is one of the most breathtaking moments in sports. Picture 33 drivers in supercharged open-wheel rockets roaring down the straightaway with eyes locked on the flagman as they anticipate the green. Imagine 11 rows of three abreast at over 200 miles an hour and every driver aiming for that first turn. There have been some tremendous crashes at the start in previous years, and this year with 11 rookies in the field the atmosphere will be taut with tension. Let’s hope no one gets hurt. I can’t wait until Sunday! You won’t find this kind of racing in NASCAR.