From the looks of various polls on auto racing Web sites, it appears NASCAR is going to have a big selling job if it decides to use a new plan to pick its Nextel Cup champion.
Fans have roundly rejected the idea of using points scored in the final 10 races to determine a champion.
One of the main objections seems to be the idea of locking in the top 10 after 26 races and having only those drivers contend for the title over the final 10 events. They feel a driver who finishes strongly ought to have a chance to place in the top 10.
In the 29 seasons the current system has been used, however, only 33 drivers who were not in the top 10 with 10 races to go finished there. Only one driver, Kurt Busch in 2002, earned a top-five points finish after being outside the top 10 with 10 races to go. He finished third. And the deepest any driver has come with 10 to go to earn a top-10 finish was 16th. That has been done four times, the last by Bill Elliott in 2003.
A decision on the points system is expected in mid-January.
GOLF: Watson, caddie honored
Tom Watson and his caddie, Bruce Edwards, were honored by the Golf Writers Association of America. Edwards won the Ben Hogan Award, given to the person who continues to be active in golf despite handicap or serious illness. Edwards has Lou Gehrig's disease but still caddied for Watson in seven of his nine majors, one of them a victory on the Champions Tour. Watson won the Charlie Bartlett Award for unselfish contributions for the betterment of society. Watson was an advocate for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and raised $3-million for research. They will be honored April 7 at the annual GWAA dinner in Augusta, Ga.
IT'S NOT FUNNY MONEY: Sergio Garcia's goal at the start of the year was to win the money title on both sides of the Atlantic. He'll have to settle for winning the silly-season money list. Garcia did that in one tournament, earning $2-million from the Nedbank Challenge in South Africa. Davis Love III was the only other one in seven digits with $1.2-million in the Target World Challenge.
TENNIS: Garrison gets the job
Zina Garrison's appointment to replace Billie Jean King as captain of the U.S. Fed Cup team was officially announced. Her debut will come in April against Slovenia in the first round of the tournament, the women's equivalent of the Davis Cup. Garrison was on eight Fed Cup teams, helping win three titles.
PLAYERS ENGAGED: Australian Lleyton Hewitt proposed to Kim Clijsters of Belgium during a cruise on Sydney Harbor. Hewitt's management company confirmed the engagement but said no wedding date has been announced.
RAFTER RETURN: Two-time U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter will end his yearlong retirement next month by playing in a doubles match at the AAPT Championships in Adelaide, Australia.
SOCCER: U.S. training team picked
U.S. coach Bruce Arena picked 30 players for a training camp before the team's 2004 opener against Denmark. Twenty-seven are from Major League Soccer; the others are foreign-based. The Americans, who haven't played since July, open Jan. 18 against Denmark at Carson, Calif., then play the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Feb. 18. The team opens qualifying for the 2006 World Cup on June 13 at home against Grenada or Guyana.
ET CETERA
SKATING: Catherine Raney won at 5,000 meters and Chad Hedrick captured the 10,000 at the U.S. Speedskating Long Track Championship in West Allis, Wis. In four races over four days, Raney finished first overall for skaters specializing in distances longer than 1,000 meters.
