A fundamentalist baptist church in North Carolina (shocker) says that several athletes are going straight to hell upon their death because of the way they conduct their lives. Some of the athletes mentioned include Tom Brady (child out of wedlock), Joakim Noah (long hair) and of all people Richard Petty. Yep, the Amazing Grace Baptist Church in Canton posted on its website the names of athletes that are going to hell and why.

Here’s what the church had to say about The King:

“As a public figure Richard Petty makes it clear that the two most important things in his life are his family and his fans. “I don’t particularly tell my guys to cheat. I just tell them not to get caught.” Richard Petty’s god is racing, not God Almighty. He teaches that is okay in life to cheat just don’t get caught doing it. Is Richard Petty your idol?”

To get a better understanding about this church, which has 14 members, you need to know that the church is also promoting a Halloween book burning, which includes all non-King James versions of the Bible and all of “Satan’s” works. The site also stated that all music, including country, southern gospel and contemporary Christian needs to be purged.

On the brighter side, the church plans to have “bar-b-que chicken, fried chicken and all the sides” for anyone that wants to participate.

Below is a link to an interview with the Pastor. Does anybody else find it shocking that he’s wearing overalls? And people wonder why Southerners and mountain folk are stereotyped the way they are.

Yee Haw!

Bill France Sr., the founder of NASCAR, his son Bill France Jr., who succeeded his father in 1972 and ran the sport for nearly 30 years, Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt, NASCAR’s two seven-time Cup champions, and Junior Johnson, one of the pioneers of the stock car racing, are the first five inductees into the NASCAR’s Hall of Fame.

The announcement came down Wednesday afternoon.

None of these are really a surprise, although it to me it seems kind of odd that the Frances are even eligible. It’s a business that they own and run. It’s sort of like Sam Walton, founder of the world’s largest retail store, getting inducted into the Wal-Mart Hall of Fame, if there is such a thing.

I don’t know, to me the Hall of Fame should be for those that built the popularity of it by risking their lives every week, not those that own and control everything about the business.

Baseball owners get into their sports hall of fame because they own a franchise and are compared to those that own other franchises. But nobody owns Major League Baseball. I’m not trying to rain on anybody’s parade, but it’s well known that NASCAR has been shady from the very top for a long, long time.

People can say, “They didn’t vote themselves into the Hall of Fame.” Well, ask yourself this, if the Walton family said they were building a Wal-Mart Hall of Fame, don’t you think the people doing the voting would feel somewhat obligated toward putting them in?

Just a thought.

A pair of old and very dear friends, Jack Daniels and Jim Beam, have each decided that they no longer want to be affiliated with NASCAR. The decisions came down within 24 hours of each other and NASCAR fans were heard screaming all the way from Cherryville to Fayetteville. This means no more cool race shirts and hats with Jack Daniels or Jim Beam splashed across them. But it also signifies that NASCAR is in deep trouble.

The fact that Jim Beam, the world’s largest selling bourbon, thought it would get much more bang for its buck by leaving NASCAR and sponsoring Kid Rock’s world concert tour tell you all you need to know about how things are going in the sport that used to have the most dedicated following in the country.

What all this signals is that the trend of NASCAR losing its popularity is continuing. Need further proof? How about checking out the rating from Sunday’s race, which were down 21.9 percent from last year. Overall, only five races this season have equaled the ratings of the same event last year.

People aren’t watching because NASCAR has become boring as boring can be.

Unless it’s Daytona, Charlotte or Talladega, I refuse to watch the entire race. Instead, I see what time the race came on, and then three hours later will watch the final 10 laps … if I remember to do so or don’t get sidetracked doing something more exciting, like clipping my toenails. And to be honest, I generally won’t watch all of the three races I listed above, though I certainly will watch more of them than any of the others.

Apparently I’m not a lone in this. People everywhere have quite showing up at NASCAR events and have quite watching. I think it’s because of the cars and the drivers.

The cars are designed to all look alike now. Remember when there was a distinct difference between Bill Elliott’s Ford Thunderbird and Dale Earnhardt’s Chevy Lumina. Chevy and Ford fought all the time for the loyalty of fans. You were either a Ford guy or a Chevy guy. Now, everyone is a Car of Tomorrow guy.

Then there are the drivers.

This is a true story: A few weeks ago I was at the Epicenter in Charlotte, which is a big complex that houses several bars and restaurants, when some skinny white dude walked by without a throng of people around him. He had five people at the most in his little entourage.

A friend of mine said to me, “Do you know who that is?” I said, “I haven’t got a clue.” He said, “That’s Denny Hamlin, the NASCAR driver.”

Here’s my point: Hamlin had just won the previous weekend’s race and he currently stands third in the Chase standings and he was walking through this massive crowd and very few people recognized him or even cared. He didn’t have a bunch of groupies or fans following him, just a couple of friends at his side. I didn’t see one person ask for his autograph or to have a picture taken with him.

Drivers have become boring, just like the cars and races. Few of them are from the South anymore and they all wear hair gel. It’s hard to tell one from the other.

Now ask yourself this: Had that been Rusty Wallace, Elliott, Darryl Waltrip, Earnhardt, Sr., or just about any other top 15 driver from the 80s or 90s, would he have been recognized and would he have been able to walk through a massive crowd in Charlotte without getting asked for an autograph?

It’s clear that NASCAR isn’t what it used to be and it’s doubtful it ever will be again. Is this the beginning of the end?

My friends Jack and Jim think so.

The 2010 NASCAR schedule was announced today and by the looking at all the empty seats at races this year, they could really use your support. So, in these tough times, forget about taking the family to the beach or on an educational trip to the Grand Canyon. Instead, load up the camper, buy your favorite driver’s new hat and shirt, and go park in the infield of your local race track for five days. (more…)