Brian De Los Santos

Hendrick Motorsports is doing an engine overhaul after discovering an issue during practice for the Gatorade Duels.

Jeff Andrews, head engine builder for Hendrick Motorsports, met with the media to discuss the situation:

ON WHAT HAPPENED WITH HMS ENGINES: "No, we did not have any of them that truly broke. Right now we are looking at the lifters. We don't have anything apart yet, we just have assumptions based on some early signs we saw in some check overs following that early practice. We have a group of guys back in Charlotte, the best group of guys in my mind, have already started on a fix for the program. We will get this stuff back, get it rebuilt and get it brought back down here. What we had to put in the cars, we have a lot of confidence in for tomorrow."

ON IF IT IS RPM RELATED: "No, it is not RPM related, not for us. I am not sure of their (another manufacturer) exact problems. Right now we are making a lot of assumptions because we haven't been in and haven't looked at the full picture until we get the engine completely apart. We know we have a problem there with that lifter interface and until, like I said, we get the engine dissembled and find out what has actually caused that problem, I can't really comment. I can't really relate it to Toyota's problems, because our package is different is theirs."

ON HAPPENING EARLY ON IN PRACTICE: :"That is right and that is what is leading us to think we have an issue with a batch or something because this is the exact same package that we came down here and tested with. We have, I think, three durability runs on our AVL dynos back at the shop so we have a lot of confidence in the package. The same package we raced in the Bud Shootout. We took engines back after the Bud Shootout, they look really good. Looked, great, so we are looking at a batch issue right now and trying to sort through some things to get the guys in Charlotte pointed in the right direction."

ON IF THIS A TIME FOR CONCERN: "Well, it is a concern, naturally, because it is a wide spread problem. But, it is early enough that we can fix it and, like I said, we have a group in Charlotte that is going after that right now."

ON HONING IN ON ISSUE: "Not until we get them apart. It would just be making assumptions. Like I said, because the Bud Shootout engines looked so good, we have to start looking at some batch issues on some things and try to get our facts together. Right now our biggest focus is to get stuff in the cars that will be good for tomorrow and practice again on Friday. We will make some decisions about the race later on here tonight or early tomorrow."

ON HANDICAP TO START AT THE BACK OF 60 LAP RACE: "I am not sure about the starting positions. Our concern is the amount of work we are putting our race teams through here. From our side, we got to get our bases covered. We will let our drivers handled themselves during the race."

ON BEING THE SAME VENDOR: "For us, yes.  I can't tell you the other vendors. Because of the large quantity of engines we do, we buy large quantities of parts and pieces. They all have batch numbers on them, they all have IDs on them, so we will just go back through and take a look at what we have got.  Again, the key is to get this stuff apart and know what we have really got, so we aren't making assumptions here."

ON REPLACING ENGINES FOR LEASE CUSTOMERS: "We treat all of our teams exactly the same. Whether it is a Hendrick team or a lease team, we will treat them exactly the same."

I don't get it.

I have my favorite teams, but I've never felt the need to do harm or deride somebody simply because they have an allegiance dissimilar to mine.

Last night at the Illinois game, Illini fans were shouting all types of derogatory remarks toward Indiana's Eric Gordon, all because he reneged on his commitment to the school.

Toward the end of the 2OT game, some unruly fans began throwing things. A cup of water struck his mother. So sad.

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/story/10626903

Umm, he's a teenageer people. He changed his mind. Get over it. Simply ridiculous that  that much vitriol would be directed toward the kid. Would the Illini be better with Gordon? Sure, but in the big scheme of things what difference does it really make. Whether your team wins or loses shouldn't alter your life.

I've been a diehard Dolphins fan for more than 20 years. None of those seasons have ended in a championship. But I've seen the rival Bills go to four straight Super Bowls and the hated Pats go to five Super Bowls, winning thrice. Strangely enough, even when the Pats won their first Super Bowl, my life went on the next day. I rooted for the Giants in this past Super Bowl as if they were the Dolphins themselves. I wanted the Dolphins to remain alone in NFL lore as the lone unbeaten team. The Giants won and I was happy. Good for me.

And if the Pats had won? I'd have shrugged my shoulders and gone about business as usual, just as I did after Giants won, just a bit happier.

I'm still hoping that one day one of my cruddy teams will win a championship. Obviously winning feels better than losing. But you know what? It's not going to change my life one bit. I'll be extra happy for a day or two and then life's trials and tribulations will set in again. I'll have bragging rights among my friends, perhaps I'll even get a shirt that says champion on it -- but that's about the extent of it.

A few year's back, I went to a Cubs-Marlins game at Dolphins Stadium. Some jerk started throwing peanut shells at me and my wife -- and why? Because I had the gall to where a Cubs jersey to the game. Really? I wasn't doing anything in particular to draw attention to myself, cheering when the Cubs managed to do something good in the game. Isn't that what a fan is supposed to do. But this jerk had to go ahead and ruin things.

So here's a little advice. It's a GAME. It's ENTERTAINMENT. There's nothing that's going to happen in any game that's personally going to change your life. Just sit back and try to enjoy. Certainly try to get into the spirit of the game, but don't be so angry about every little thing. 

To paraphrase the wise and all-knowing Yoda:

“Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.”

As promised, here are the Super Bowl XLII predictions from the CBSSports.com production team.

Booms: Pats 59, Giants 21 – Randy Moss
EB: Giants 31, Pats 28 – Michael Strahan
JDD: Pats 34, Giants 24 – Tom Brady
RD: Pats 31, Giants 28 – Laurence Maroney
AG: Pats 35, Giants 17 – Tom Brady & Randy Moss
RL: Giants 35, Pats 31 – Eli Manning
BR: Giants 42, Pats 3 – Jeff Feagles
MB: Pats 31, Giants 14 – Wes Welker
And finally, yours truly
DLS: Giants 41, Pats 0 – Ahmad Bradshaw

As you can see, we have a few Patriots haters in the group. Three of the four people who picked the Giants are Dolphins fans, including me, so aside from being division rivals, we have the 1972 perfect season to think of.

So yes, those Giants picks are a bit biased, but we can hope can't we?

Yes, it's true, I don't really believe the Giants will win 41-0, it's more like my wish pick. If I had to make a really for real honest pick, say somebody gave me a million dollars and told me I had to make a bet on one team and I could only keep the money if I won the bet, the pick would be the Pats. It's the smart bet.

But I think the Giants have a chance, at least that's what I keep telling myself. The first key is getting pressure on Brady, plain and simple. Throughout history, the only proven way to beat a great QB is with pressure. You can't let him pick you apart like Jacksonville did. What a horrible game plan that was. Fortunately putting pressure on the QB is something at which the Giants excel.

In their Week 17 meeting the Giants had only 1 sack.  If they can't improve the pass rush Sunday, probably will need at least 4 sacks, then they're toast.

And offensively, I gotta believe they have to run the ball. I know Eli has been playing mistake free, but you can't count on him alone. I'd like to see somwhere in the range of 120 yards rushing.

Enjoy the Giants' victory everyone.

Talk radio has nothing on us.

Inevitably me and my nearby cubicle cohorts will get into some sort of debate about sports, movies, tv or just life in general. We kindly refer to this in these here parts as "Dumb" talk, because, well, usually, someone says something dumb --- not me, of course.

It could also just be something that somebody doesn't agree with -- and that person is then called dumb for disagreeing with the person in question -- but the word dumb is thrown around here more than any other word. Yes, we're really mature around here.

Anyhow,  one of this week's hot topics at the office actually began with a dumb question: Will Tom Coughlin make the Hall of Fame if the Giants beat the Patriots?

(Yes, the person in question was immediately flogged).

Of course, Coughlin isn't going to make the HOF for winnin