Racing fans will shed tears tonight. ESPN reported that fan favorite Dale Earnhardt Jr. will no longer be racing under the #8. Henricks Motor Sports couldn’t reach an agreement with DEI.

What does this mean? It means All those red #8 hats you see people wearing will end up in Goodwill centers across the South. Earnhardt is getting a new car, new number and new sponsors. That means more merchandise to be sold! Crack open that piggy bank, it’s time to show your support for Junior.

All the changes will begin in 2008 at the start of the season. If I cared about Nascar, I might wonder about how this will effect the sport. Will Dale fans riot in the streets? Will Daytona hold a mass burning of all #8 merchandise ala the Detroit Tigers and Disco music? What will happen… only time will tell.

In a recent Fox Sports article, Seattle Seahawks Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu was quoted as saying Fred Taylor is the best running back in the NFL. Go ahead and read it for yourself.

“Frank Gore, who always plays great against us, is the third-best running back. LaDainian (Tomlinson) is second. But Taylor is clearly No. 1. You know where he is going and you cannot stop him. That’s the best thing you can say about a running back. He was outrunning our cornerbacks and breaking tackles from the front seven. Taylor is the ultimate blend of power and speed. And I’ve played all these guys, played Steven Jackson, Edgerrin James, all of them. I’m telling you — Fred Taylor is the best running back in the league.”

Tatupu isn’t the only one who thinks Fred Taylor is the best RB in the NFL. Even the great Jim Brown has publicly stated he thinks Fred ranks #1. And we at Mugdish couldn’t agree more (with all Jags homerism aside).

His 4.6 career yards per carry average ranks 5th all-time, behind only Jim Brown, Barry Sanders, O.J. Simpson, and Tiki Barber. That’s right. Fred Taylor has a better career rushing average then Ladainian Tomlinson. Shocked aren’t you. He’s also shooting for 10,000 career rushing yards this season, and should have it by week 4. The only thing holding Taylor back from the #1 spot in public opinion is touchdowns.

Thanks to fantasy football, the general football fan regards a 15 yard 2 touchdown performance better than a 130 yard 0 touchdown performance. Fred was a touchdown machine early in his career. He later lost goal-line caries to bigger backs like Stacey Mack and Greg Jones. If he played in a system that featured only one back, Fred could have broken NFL records left and right.

What options does Vick have? Plea guilty now, or face 3 years in prison.

It is reported that two more of Vick’s co-defendants accepted a guilty plea agreement in their role in dog fighting. Vick has been given until Friday to accept the agreement or face more federal indictment charges. If Vick accepts, he’ll like get 10-16 months in prison, whereas if he fights the charges in trial and is found guilty, he could face 3 years.

What’s there to consider? 10 months or 3 years? Someone needs to send Vick a message that if the feds can throw Martha Stewart in jail, then there’s no doubt they will throw Vick in jail. When the feds indict someone, they usually have enough meat to convict them. Otherwise they wouldn’t indict in the first place.

My advice to Vick… accept the plea agreement, tell everyone you were mixed up in the wrong crowd and that you’re sorry, serve your time, and prepare for the 2008 season. 10 months is nothing.

According to ESPN, the new owners of the Seattle Supersonics hopes to move the franchise to Oklahoma City where Majority owner Clay Bennett lives.

“They’ve got 60 days to make some decisions they haven’t been willing to make in the past year,” Aubrey McClendon told The Journal Record, “and if they make them in a way that satisfies Clay, then the team will stay there. If they don’t meet the requirements he’s laid out, the team will move, and Clay has indicated they’ll come to Oklahoma City.”

Looks like Kevin Durant might get to place closer to his alma mater Texas than he originally planned. College hoops is HUGE in Oklahoma and North Texas, so there’s no reason to believe that the NBA can’t succeed there for the long term.

Seattle really needs to get their shit together. If the lose the Sonics, they won’t ever get an NBA franchise again. I feel that Seattle needs an NBA franchise, their citizens tend to disagree.

“They take pride in Seattle not needing an NBA team to be considered a world-class city. That’s probably true — they don’t,” McClendon told The Journal Record.

“But I think for Oklahoma City to distance itself from other midsize cities, I think enthusiastic support of a well-run, successful NBA team says a lot about the spirit of this community. We’ve got a can-do spirit, and we’ve got a fan base that’s turned out. This is a sports town; nobody ever knew it was a pro sports town. I think it is.”

Don’t you love Tiger Woods cliche post titles? We at Mugdish never get tired of them. Our Tiger Woods prediction for the 2007 PGA Championship at Southern Hills was fulfilled. Despite the wretched heat, Tiger was able to separate himself from the field and win the PGA by 2 strokes.

This marks Tiger’s first Major championship victory with his wife and baby on sight. I can’t wait to see Tiger reunite with his family in similar fashion to Phil Mickelson.

Tiger is now only 5 majors away from tying Jack Nicklaus. He won’t get it next year, but realistically Tiger could tie the record in 2009.

Next stop: The 2007 Fedex Cup… which Tiger already leads the points total by like 100,000. If anyone other then Tiger wins the Fedex Cup, there might be an uproar.

Attention all New York Media: get your A-Rod dirt somewhere else. Chipper Jones is taking a vow of silence to all New York reporters. In response to the way New York newspapers twisted Chipper’s quotes into something badmouthing A-Rod, Chip had this to say “It’s a joke. But what more do you expect from people who follow high-profile guys around with camera phones so they can get them in trouble.”

“There’s been a lot of validation to some of the things that Jose Canseco has said over the years,” Jones told the AP on Wednesday. “… Unfortunately, this cloud is following probably two of the best players of the century,” Bonds and Rodriguez.

“… I’m playing in the steroid era. Everything that I do is going to be judged. It’s the same with a lot of good ballplayers that have put up a lot of good numbers in this era that did it the right way.”

I’ll take a shot at judging Chipper. How about that NL MVP season he had in 1999. He hit 45 homeruns (he hadn’t hit 40 before ‘99 and hasn’t hit 40 since) when all the rest of his stats stayed the same. Hits, runs, RBIs, and batting average were all online with his career averages. Only his homerun totals were out of whack. Coincidently, that’s the year following the McGwire / Sosa derby.

So you’re right Chipper. You will get judged along with every other player from this era, and rightfully so. The only thing Chipper can pray for is Jose not finding any dirt on him.

Word out of Gainesville, FL is that Tim Tebow can run faster than a speeding bullet. Of course that’s just one of the many Tim Tebow sayings that Florida fans have grown to love, and rival fans have grown to despise. What is it about Tim Tebow that makes him a God in Gainesville? Before he stepped a foot on campus that already erected a 15 ft tall statue of him on North/South, I mean Gale Lemerand Drive.

If you’ve been out of the loop, I’ve provided a few examples below of why Tim Tebow is so loved among Gator Fans. Enjoy!

Tim Tebow doesnt break wind…….thats the air crapping all over itself trying to get out of Tebow’s way..

Killing Tim Tebow doesn’t make him dead. It just makes him angry.

Tim Tebow doesn’t do pushups, he pushes the earth down.

Tim Tebow’s tears cure cancer, to bad he’s never cried.

Tim Tebow once won a game of Connect 4 in 3 moves.

When Tim Tebow pissses into the wind, the wind changes direction.

Guns dont kill people, Tim Tebow kills people.

What’s worse? Pacman Jones making it rain in a strip club or Pacman Jones giving someone the rock bottom in a wrestling match? Tonight, Pacman Jones makes his first television appearance in professional wrestling. A lot of fans are curious as to what they might see in the ring?

My guess is he comes out dressed like the Godfather. If you watched WWF in the late 90s then you know what’ I’m talking about. He’ll probably walk out with a couple of fine, robust women on his side with a pimp cane and pimp hat on. Maybe he’ll knock a few guys around in the ring before he pulls out his signature move and yells “All aboard the HOOOOOOOOOO TRAIN!!”

Whatever Pacman decides to do tonight, you know Roger Goodell is steaming in his little Commish office. The NFL can’t control this. Pacman isn’t violating any contract terms by wrestling tonight (unless he gets hurt?). The NFL should be happy he’s at a sanctioned event rather than shooting up a strip club.

Pacman Wrestling Debuts Tonight [The Tennessean]