VIDEO CrossFit Girl Snatches 35k

Libby DiBiase Crossfit

Breakthrough Nationwide Driver of the Year

           

            NASCAR racing as a whole has been a male dominated sport from top to bottom; there is no question about it. A few females have broken through the gender gap, and have had success in stock car racing. Names like Janet Guthrie, Shawna Robinson, Patty Moise, Tammy Jo Kirk, and Danica Patrick. No, this article isn't about Danica Patrick, even though I am a big fan of her driving style, but she has a lot to learn in a stock car. This article is about a young girl from Pensacola, Florida. This driver's name is Johanna Long.

Johanna Long celebrating her 2010 Snowball Derby Victory. Photo from 5flagsspeedway.com.

           

            I first started to pay attention to Johanna Long during the 2011 truck race at Atlanta. She was a good looking girl, and she was working her way up in the ranks. Unfortunately she had an accident during that race, and finished 31st. Just being the way I am, I started to do some research on her racing resume, and pedigree and she is quite impressive already at the young age of 20. At age 15 she was the youngest and first female track champion at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. This track is famous with the Pro Late Model crowd in being the site of the prestigious Snowball Derby. 2008 was the first year that she raced in the Snowball Derby as well. 2009 was a banner year for Johanna as well. She tallied 5 wins, 18 top fives, and 27 top tens in 38 races across the southeast. That is amazing, especially when you think about all the guys who are putting a bulls eye on her back, and trying their hardest to not get beaten by a female. In 2009, she would also win the pole for the Snowball Derby, and made her first two starts in the ARCA series.

Johanna Long in her ML Motorsports #70 at Kentucky Speedway. Photo from Getty Images from Zimbio.com.



            2010 for Johanna was probably one of the best years in her young career in my opinion, until 2012. Johanna was the Snowball Derby Champion at Five Flags Speedway. If you are unfamiliar with this race, let me give you some of the finishers from the finishing order. Landon Cassill finished 4th, David Stremme-13th, Casey Roderick-16th, Chase Elliott-17th, Ross Kenseth-19th, Grant Enfinger-20th, Cale Gale-21st, Ryan Sieg-26th, and David Ragan-27th. These drivers are either in NASCAR's top three series (Trucks, Nationwide, or Sprint Cup), or on their way with Chase Elliott, and Ross Kenseth. This race routinely attracts top NASCAR stars, notable in the massive list of past winners including Kyle Busch, Steven Wallace, Rich Bickle Jr., Jeff Purvis, Tammy Jo Kirk, Rick Crawford, Ted Musgrave, and Darrell Waltrip.

2010 Snowball Derby 3-way fight between Stremme, Cassill, and Long.





            Let’s fast forward to 2011 and 2012. 2011 brought her a best finish in the Craftsman Truck series of 11th at Texas, and a best start of 5th at Daytona in only 17 starts. I feel her best year to date has been 2012. She has made 19 starts this year for ML Motorsports in the #70 Chevrolet. She has started a best of 8th at Richmond, and finished 12th twice at Daytona and Kentucky. Considering the budget this team operates on, she along with the small number of team members get the absolute most out of what they have. I am glad that everyone is taking notice of what she is doing from the commentators at least. Kyle Petty gave her a shout out today during practice at Texas, which triggered this blog post. Johanna needs to make a bet with Kyle Busch to get a ride in either his Craftsman Truck, or his Nationwide car. Maybe the Snowball Derby this year? I can only hope a big name ride will become available to her, because with the talent she has behind the wheel, I think she can knockdown some wins and possibly fight for a championship one day. Only time will tell, keep an eye out for her. Check out johannalong.comfor more information on Johanna. If you are on twitter, follow her @JOHANNALONG. Also, you should check out SPEED51.com for more information about short track racing around the country, including the 45th Snowball Derby from Five Flags Speedway on Nov. 28th - Dec. 2nd. Bob Dillner (@bobdillner) owns and runs the website, and is also an awesome on air personality for all things NASCAR on Speed. Until next time.

Landon Cassill (@landoncassill) after the 2010 Snowball Derby. This guy is nothing but class, even if he doesn’t wash his jeans.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Panthers-Redskins prediction and some pregame notes

For a game between two losing teams, Sunday should be a lot of fun. That's primarily because we can watch two young quarterbacks -- Washington's Robert Griffin III, shown above, and Carolina's Cam Newton -- as they try to one-up each other.

Griffin and Newton have very similar skill sets, although Newton is a lot bigger. Griffin's hype very much matches Newton's from a year ago -- there's nothing like a rookie coming in and dazzling people to get ESPN all aflutter. Watching him play against a Panther defense that is very used to mobile quarterbacks, having faced Newton every day, will be cool. Middle linebacker Luke Kuechly will be particularly important for Carolina Sunday, because he's one of the few people in the Panthers' front seven who can keep up with Griffin in the open field.

-- There is far more at stake Sunday than a simple football victory. According to the "Redskins Rule" -- which has proven true in 17 of the 18 presidential elections contested since the Redskins moved to Washington in 1937 -- a Redskins win in the team's final home game before Election Day has meant a win for the incumbent party occupying the White House. A Redskins loss has meant a victory for the challenging party.

The rule didn't work out in 2004, but has every other time. Remarkable, isn't it? So if Washington wins, the "Redskins Rule" says that Barack Obama wins another four years on Tuesday. If the Panthers win, expect Mitt Romney to become the next president.

-- You've gotta love this: According to a story in The Washington Post, Redskins rookie running back Alfred Morris still drives a silver 1991 Mazda 626 with 124,000 miles on it. The pastor at his church sold it to him for two dollars.

-- Expect a high-scoring game, because that's the kind the Redskins usually play. The short version of the Washington scouting report: great offense, terrible defense. The Redskins are dead last in the NFL in passing yards allowed per game, and if Steve Smith doesn't get 100 yards receiving Sunday I will be very surprised. But the Redskins have a strong offense and one that is a lot more balanced than Carolina's because the run is mixed in so effectively.

-- The 1-6 Panthers have made an art out of losing close games this season, having lost their past four by a total of 12 points. I foresee the trend continuing. My predictions haven't been very good this season on the Panthers -- I am 3-4 picking their games because I have trusted them too often. Not this time: Washington 27, Carolina 24.

HALLOWEEN WOD

OCTOBER 31 WOD

A. Gymnastics

- I worked on pistols and HSPU'S. I did 4 sets of 5 HSPU'S rx! :) No more ab mat or blocks for me! Must keep practicing to do better or else I'm back to square one!

Crossfit Pants

B. For time
    100 Hollow rocks
    5 Deadlifts OTM 140/90kg

- This wod took me 8 minutes. I did the deadliest unbroken but I am terrible at hollow rocks. I never get the motion right and 
don't spend enough time on them. PRACTICE!

Human Turkish Get Up

Photo of 7th-graders dressing up as disgruntled Panther fans for Halloween

Five seventh-grade boys at one of Charlotte's private schools banded together to dress as "Disgruntled Panther Fans" for Halloween 2012. (Photo courtesy of Page Hull).

OK, so the Panthers are getting to that jokey stage now -- the picture above only cements that logic. Last year I saw a lot of kids dressed as Cam Newton for Halloween. This year? Well, the Newton jerseys are still out there, but as you can see from the above photo, some youngsters are becoming a little more creative with them in 2012. That's what happens when you start 1-6. Did anyone else out there see any Panther-oriented costumes for Halloween?

Jordan backs Dunlap's l-o-o-ong practices, says Bobcats must get back to basics

It wasn’t the newsiest section of Michael Jordan’s exclusive interview with The Observer Thursday – that would be either the part where he said he was going to own the Charlotte Bobcats for the “long haul” or when he said he had a definite “interest” in renaming the team the Charlotte Hornets if the New Orleans Hornets ever changed names themselves.

But here was one of the most interesting parts to me that came out of Michael Jordan’s 23-minute “state-of-the-team” interview with five Charlotte Observer sportswriters and editors Thursday on the eve of the team's season opener at home against Indiana Friday.

Jordan addressed the Bobcat players Monday to make sure they knew he endorsed new coach Mike Dunlap’s methods, including the three-hour-plus practices that Dunlap has been prone to holding (one even stretched to four hours). Jordan said he knew some players had been grumbling about the extra work – he didn’t name names – and wanted to set them straight.

“This is what championship teams do,” Jordan said he told the squad, adding that those practices reminded him of his own time in the league. “If we did it in Chicago and we became a championship team, why wouldn’t we want to do that here? If you turn your nose up to it, then maybe you need to look in the mirror and see that you’re a part of the problem.”

Jordan said he was particularly happy with Dunlap’s emphasis on fundamentals, such as: “Boxing out. Making good passes. Utilizing each other’s talents. Understanding basic basketball….. One of the reasons I felt compelled to speak to the team was, ‘Look, I endorse what Coach is talking about.’

“Unfortunately we had some guys who were not receiving it that way…. They didn’t want to do it. And I felt the need to step in and say, ‘Look, this is how we’re going to do this. The culture of what’s happening in Charlotte is going to be this. Either you buy in or you’re not going to be here.’

Jordan said he thought his message had been received, but that he wanted Dunlap to reiterate the message of getting back to basics all season.

Death by...

I felt a bit meh today - no idea why. I'd planned on doing either Angie or Barbara today, or even Cindy Max, but when I got to the gym, the pull-up rack was being used. I must admit I was secretly pleased because it meant I couldn't do kipping pull-ups. Yeah, I know I was being damn lazy, but hey, I'm being honest here. I did a few shorter routines instead.

Alternate sets
Incline dumbbell curls - 25s x 10, 27s x 5, 5, 5, 4
Skull crushers - 22s x 12, 25s x 9, 7, 7, 8

======

Death by military press @ 65lb
Score = 8 rounds + 7 reps
1 round increase.

======

Death by chin-ups (strict)
Score = 8 rounds + 5 reps

======

Death by sit-ups x 2
Score = 12 rounds (24 sit-ups) + 14 reps
Another 1 round increase.

I got to the end of the 12th round and immediately started the next one, as there wasn't even time for one second's rest.