HAMLIN IN MIDDLE OF, BUT NOT TO BLAME FOR, DAYTONA 500 "BIG ONE"

 Not Exactly Briefly Told ...

The Fox crew was quick to blame DENNY HAMLIN for 

Sunday’s “BIG ONE” at Daytona. Trouble was, if you 

had to point a finger at anyone, it should have been 

impatient RYAN BLANEY, who tapped Hamlin’s Toyota 

from behind, going upwards of 180 miles per hour … 

leaving the Manchester High alumnus with no option but 

to attempt to squeeze by leader JUSTIN ALLGAIER

 and the wall. (Either that on hit the brakes which would 

have guaranteed wiping out much of the field.)

But Allgaier was late, trying to block Hamlin. There was 

contact. Both spun out, joined by 18 more. The total of 20 

was three shy of the track record.

“I wish I could have done better,” Allgaier told Fox.

Talk about entertaining! There was another near-Big One 

involving Hamlin. The finish was chaotic, with TYLER 

REDDICK leading one lap, the last, taking the lead with 

about a half-lap to go then rolling to his first 500 win 

when his closest pursuers all wrecked, eliminating each 

other

FORMER COACH DOM STARSIA, working as TV 

analyst on Saturday’s Virginia/Richmond lacrosse game, 

knew but couldn’t allow himself to say it. The 8th-ranked 

Spiders romped 18-12, and the difference clearly was 

goaltending.

Terrible … awful … lousy … downright bad ,,, Starsia 

could have used any of the above to describe a pair of 

UVA netminders. They couldn’t stop anything while

 CONNOR KNIGHT, in goal for UR, made up for some 

shaky work of his own by making several blue-ribbon 

saves to kill any chance of a comeback by the 13th-

ranked Cavaliers

A 6-4, 225-pound senior from Dallas, Tex., Knight 

finished with a career-high 18 saves.

RYAN ODOM for ACC basketball coach of the year. It could/should happen if Virginia, ranked 15^th, doesn’t 

stumble. In his first season in Charlottesville, he has taken 

a team of strangers and made it play like a bunch of long-

time friends. Be nice if Odom can keep them at least one 

more year. I know, I know … good luck with that.

Cavaliers edged Ohio State 70-66 Saturday night in an 

entertaining yet frustrating game. Sloppy ball handling 

early and late kept the Cavaliers from winning easily.

WHY WAS the UFC’s DANA WHITE at Daytona 

International Speedway Friday, doing a commercial for 

Ram truck’s No. 14, driven by TIMOTHY “MINI” 

TYRRELL, 20, of Manassas?

“The CEO of Ram reached out to me and talked about 

helping them bring Ram back to NASCAR,” White said. 

“I love challenges so I decided to do it and here I am, at 

my first Daytona … actually have some skin in the game 

… and care who wins the race.”

QUOTING: CLEETUS McFARLAND on FX1 … after 

wrecking on the seventh lap in his first career NASCAR 

truck Series start Friday night at Daytona: “It was insane. 

I caused the wreck. I was the only one to wreck. I’m an 

idiot.”

DESPITE A less than attractive matchup … that resulted 

in a terrible game (unless, of course, you get turned on by 

lots of field goals) … the 2026 Super Bowl attracted a 

second-best all-time average of 124.93 viewers … for 

Seattle over New England.

The controversial halftime show, featuring BAD 

BUNNY, did a robust 128.2 million … which still wasn’t 

enough to overcome last year’s record 127.71 million.

Nevertheless, it did set a new high for peak viewership -- 

137.8 million – between 7:45 and 8 p.m., during the

second quarter.

“SUNDAY NIGHT BASEBALL” returns to NBC this 

season for the first time in more than 25 years … with 

recently-retired CLAYTON KERSHAW, JOEY 

VOTTO and ANTHONY RIZZO to headline analysts 

for the pregame shows. BOB COSTAS will be asked to 

moderate … and good luck to him, too.

,

NBC, Peacock and Netflix will replace ESPN, which 

opted out of its MLB deal late last year.

MANCHESTER UNITED is expected to re-sign central 

defender HARRY MAGUIRE, 32, to another long-term 

contract … having re-vitalized his career under interim 

manager MICHAEL CARRICK.

FLORIDA, the state of, last week took a major step 

towards eliminating a requirement that the state’s two 

Thoroughbred race tracks conduct live racing in order to 

be licensed for slot machines … when the House of 

Representatives voted 77-34, spending more time earlier 

in the evening to replace the mockingbird

with the flamingo and scrub jay as official state birds.

Opponents argued it could mean the end of horse racing 

(eventually) when tracks decide to concentrate on their, 

by far, more lucrative gambling operations.

The Florida Senate still must vote in favor, too … and last 

year tabled similar legislation after Gov. Ron DeSantis 

said he probably would veto it.

In Virginia the number of race dates at Colonial Downs is 

predicated on the number of slot (Historical Racing) 

machines in operation throughout the state.

The New Kent County track will expand to 48 days of 

racing in 2026, starting with a three-day botique meet 

featuring the Virginia Derby March 12-14.

Speaking of which … reserved seats are long gone for the 

March 14 Derby, while a limited number of general 

admission tickets remain at $5 (or $75 … that includes 

food and drink vouchers).

Until next time ...