Denny Hamlin has a major issue with the NASCAR on FOX broadcast. But Hamlin isn’t sure if it’s FOX‘s fault or something on his end.
Speaking on Monday’s “Actions Detrimental” podcast, Hamlin said the audio coming from FOX isn’t going through both of the speakers a part of his TV setup. He wants to know if anyone else’s audio is “f*cked up,” or if it’s just him.
“Is FOX‘s audio f*cked up for anyone else?” Hamlin asked. “Like, I notice in my living room and in my bus, I have multiple speakers. I have a TV and then I have speakers, a left and a right. But the audio during our races only comes out of our right speaker. It’s like it’s on analog. I don’t know. I’ve noticed it for a few weeks that they’ve got something going on with their audio that is just not like all other audio coming through FOX or any other station for that matter. I don’t know what’s going on.”
Hamlin might have a gripe with FOX. Richard Petty certainly does. With throwback weekend taking place at Darlington Raceway, “The King” stopped by the broadcast to share some stories of his time racing at “The Lady in Black.” But as Mike Joy, Kevin Harvick and Clint Bowyer were saying goodbye on-air, Petty took a subtle jab at the network’s coverage of races.
“Thank you. It’s been interesting watching y’all try to operate up here,” Petty said, via Kyle Dalton of Athlon Sports.
Petty made the comment in a joking manner, and it drew some laughs from the three-man booth of Joy, Harvick and Bowyer. Joy said he took it as a compliment compared to what Petty said last year in the booth.
“I’ll take that as a compliment because last year on leaving you said, ‘I don’t know what race you guys are watching,” Joy responded.
Joy’s comment prompted more criticism from the 87-year-old Petty. He went after the network for not showing more of the racing taking place in the middle of the field.
“The big deal is, when I’m sitting here and see what I see on the TV and the race is really back about 15th or 20th,” Petty said. “Them guys, they drive their fanny off every lap. I mean, they’re really racing back there, but you know, if you’re here you can see that. You can’t see it on TV.”
Joy countered Petty’s critique: “We try to get back there as much as we can… but you’re right, if you wanna see it all, come buy a ticket.”
FOX continues to take shots from fans on social media. Now, it’s coming from drivers both past and present — far from what the network likely wants to hear.
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Training camp has started for the Las Vegas Raiders, and Christian Wilkins still isn't on the practice field. He hurt his foot in Week 5 of last season and continues to be in recovery. Head coach Pete Carroll didn't exactly instill confidence when he revealed that there's still no timeline for his return. “It’s still uncertain,” Carroll said during his Tuesday press conference. “We sort of have to wait it out.” Wilkins appears to be out of the boot, so that's a good sign, but there's been no clarity on when he might be able to get back on the field. With that in mind, the Raiders might want to consider adding more defensive line help. Linval Joseph Could Be Fit for Raiders At this stage of the offseason, there aren't going to be great options in free agency, but the Raiders could find a dependable veteran. Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report believes Las Vegas should target free agent defensive tackle Linval Joseph. "Joseph finished his 2024 campaign with two sacks, two tackles for loss and 19 total tackles," Knox wrote. "He'd be a solid addition for any team needing depth along the defensive interior, and there are a couple. "The Las Vegas Raiders may need another defensive tackle, as Christian Wilkins still hasn't fully recovered from last year's second-ending foot injury." Joseph spent last season with the Dallas Cowboys and had 2.0 sacks. He's 36 now, but was able to play in all 17 games in 2024. He also went to back-to-back Pro Bowls in 2016 and 2017 when he was with the Minnesota Vikings.
New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has stirred up a whirlwind, looking to fulfill his priority of bringing a frontline starter to New York. In his latest round of relentless phone calls, MLB insider Jon Heyman reports that Cashman spoke to San Diego Padres general manager, A.J. Preller, about two-time Cy Young candidate Dylan Cease. Cease has been a source of interest for MLB teams since 2022, when he pitched to a spectacular 2.20 ERA with 227 strikeouts in 184 innings, coming second in the Cy Young voting. Landing with the Padres last season, Cease again flashed potential, tossing to a 3.47 ERA with 224 strikeouts through 189.1 innings of work. That year, he placed fourth in Cy Young voting. But as much as Cease is talented, he is also flawed. In 2023, just after his best year, Cease posted a lackluster 4.58 ERA, and this season has been no better. Through 113.2 innings this year, Cease owns a 4.59 ERA with 144 strikeouts. Cease has been quite the strikeout artist since his debut, but the rest of his results haven’t always been that good. His 42 walks and 16 home runs surrendered on the year make him a risky bet. According to Heyman, the Yankees are one of four teams that have “checked in” on Cease. He notes that trading Cease is a long shot since the Padres are in contention, but they still may be inclined to do so as he is in the last year of his contract. One might also add that his performance this year probably won’t help them reach the World Series. For the Yankees, or any other interested team for that matter, dealing prospects or players for a slumping half-year rental might not be the best idea. Still, the Padres might just receive a decent haul for Cease since the market for spotless, front-line aces is non-existent at this trade deadline.
The Miami Heat and head coach Eric Spoelstra are hoping to get back to being a contender in the Eastern Conference during the 2025-26 NBA season. Last year, the Heat finished the season with a 37-45 record. They were able to work their way into the playoffs as the No. 8 seed in the conference through the play-in, but were quickly swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round. So far this offseason, Miami has made a couple of moves. As far as adding outside talent, the big acquisition has been the trade to acquire Norman Powell from the Los Angeles Clippers. Davion Mitchell was re-signed in free agency as well. While the addition of Powell was a quality move, the Heat could use more. Keeping that in mind, a major new prediction has been made for Miami. That prediction would see the team sign longtime star guard Russell Westbrook. Bjorn Bergstrom of PFSN has predicted that Westbrook will end up with the Heat. That move would give Miami much-needed back-court depth and a dynamic presence to lead the second unit. "With a culture that routinely gets the most out of players, head coach Erik Spoelstra and team president Pat Riley would be inclined to believe they could accentuate Westbrook’s strengths while hiding his flaws," he wrote. Westbrook is coming off of a 2024-25 NBA season with the Denver Nuggets where he played a key role. He played in 75 games and made 36 starts, averaging 13.3 points, 6.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game, while shooting 44.9% from the floor and 32.3% from 3-point range. Those numbers would fit nicely with the Heat coming off of the bench. It's just a prediction at this point. Miami has not been officially reported to have interest in Westbrook, but it's a move that could make sense for both parties.
It probably shouldn't come as a surprise that through two days of training camp, the Vikings' defense appears to be pretty far ahead of the offense. Brian Flores is now in his third season as Minnesota's defensive coordinator, and many of his key players have been in the scheme since he arrived. Others are now in their second year, and even some of the newcomers seem to have picked things up quickly over the course of this offseason. Meanwhile, the Vikings are breaking in an offense with a new starting quarterback (and a new backup), as well as some new pieces on the offensive line and elsewhere. Expected or not, my main takeaway from Thursday's practice was how impressive this defense already looks. On a beautiful 80-degree day at TCO Performance Center, Flores' group appeared to be in mid-camp form, if not ready for the regular season to begin already. That was also the case on Wednesday, when they snagged a pair of pick-sixes on the first day of camp. The lone interception on Thursday went to 14th-year safety Harrison Smith, the league's active leader in picks by a healthy margin. In a 7-on-7 period, he snagged a J.J. McCarthy pass that deflected off of Lucky Jackson's hands, then — in humorous Smith fashion — proceeded to lateral it to teammate Jay Ward shortly thereafter. So many different members of the first-team defense stood out at least once. Jonathan Allen, Javon Hargrave, and Harrison Phillips blew up run plays and got into the backfield. Jonathan Greenard roasted tackles with speed off the edge. Blake Cashman burst unblocked through a gap on a blitz for a would-be sack. Ivan Pace Jr. did the same off a stunt. Isaiah Rodgers made a great play to break up a McCarthy back-shoulder ball intended for Rondale Moore (who, at 5'7", probably won't be the recipient of many back-shoulder targets in game action). The Vikings were second in defensive DVOA last season, and I don't think there's any question that they got better — at least on paper — over the course of the offseason. That doesn't guarantee more dominance this season. But it's hard not to get excited about a defense that has a chance to be incredible up front with Allen, Hargrave, Phillips, Greenard, Andrew Van Ginkel, Dallas Turner, Cashman, and Pace. If the secondary reaches its potential, Flores could be cooking with all kinds of gas this season. That context is also why no one should panic if McCarthy and the offense aren't particularly sharp over the course of training camp. This defense might just be better than any they'll see over the entire regular season. Here are some other notes from Thursday's practice. Jeff Okudah is a player to watch. He's the No. 3 corner with the first-team defense right now, alongside Byron Murphy Jr. and Rodgers. The former No. 3 overall pick is on his fourth team in as many seasons, but he's only 26 years old, and if anyone is going to help him revive his career, it feels like Flores and Daronte Jones could be the coaches to do it. Okudah is physical and not afraid to come up in run support, which he did for a would-be TFL in this practice. Mekhi Blackmon has been working with the second-team defense so far. I think I'm obligated by law to comment on McCarthy's performance, even if just for a few sentences, every day throughout camp. I thought he was fine on Thursday, but maybe a bit more shaky than on Day 1. There was the INT to Smith. He also sailed a ball over Justin Jefferson's head when trying to layer an intermediate throw early in practice, which led to a discussion with Kevin O'Connell and others while watching the replay. But McCarthy also completed plenty of passes, most of them of the short variety. He's shown quite the rapport with Jordan Addison, who was his top target in this practice after Jefferson departed (more on that in a second). McCarthy's fastball is impressive, and he used it to connect with players like Addison, Jalen Nailor, and even rookie Tai Felton late in practice. His best throw of the day was an intermediate out route to Addison, who was covered tightly by Theo Jackson. Jefferson sat out most of the team drills out of precaution after experiencing some minor tightness in his legs following a leaping catch. You can read more on that here, but the key thing to emphasize is that it's nothing significant or concerning. Josh Metellus, whose full participation in Wednesday's practice was a story due to his contract situation, watched practice from the sideline on Thursday due to what the Vikings described as a minor ankle issue. It'll be interesting to see if Nos. 18 and/or 44 are out there on Friday. Some of the depth guys on the defensive line will be fun to track over the course of camp. Levi Drake Rodriguez goes 110 percent all the time and ended up in the backfield on a couple plays, including one where he wound up on the ground near Sam Howell's legs (which coaches don't like). Jalen Redmond burst through the line for a TFL at one point. On another rep, Gabriel Murphy and rookie Elijah Williams put pressure on Max Brosmer, who got a few snaps in this practice after not seeing any on Wednesday. Brosmer, by the way, attempted the longest throw of the day, but it was just out of the reach of a well-covered Dontae Fleming. More Vikings coverage
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