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This topic is open to all kinds of interpretations.  There isn’t going to be a right or wrong answer.  For my purposes, I’m limiting the discussion to actors.  I’m going to distinguish between three types:

Tough Guy

Ladies Man

Man’s Man

There are plenty of tough guys like Lee Marvin, Charles Bronson, Chuck Norris, Steven Segal, Sylvester Stallone.

There are plenty of ladies men, pretty boys like Robert Redford, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise.

But there aren’t a lot of men’s men.  This is a short list.  My definition of a man’s man is a tough guy who chicks really, really dig.  Here’s my top five:

1.      Clark Cable

2.      Sean Connery

3.      Clint Eastwood

4.      Steve McQueen

5.      Humphrey Bogart

6.       Mark Wahlberg (courtesy of GOG)

7.       John Travolta ( as per PBT)

8.       Burt Reynolds (courtesy of Petr Johan) temporary, needs more support

9.       Kevin Costner (courtesy of Shaky Spider) temporarily on list. Needs some support

What about the current generation?  I’m scratching my head frankly.

Bruce Willis?  Matt Damon? Daniel Craig? (thanks, Southern Lion).  Don't know.

Please feel free to chime in with any men’s men I’ve left out, or how you define a man's man.

OK based on the below comments so far, I'm admitting the following actors to the Man's Man club:

Robert Downey Jr. (courtesty of Southern Lion)

Liam Neeson (courtesy of Southern Lion & Shaky Spider)

Jim Brown (courtesy of PBT)

Al Pacino (courtesy of PBT)

Well hey there SB Nation. How you all doing? Just thought I'd pop in a NASCAR blog amongst the other fun stuff here at tsbn. I hear a lot of you aren't sure about NASCAR or understand it. So here I am to try and bring you in.

First stop? February 22, 1959. It's the first Daytona 500. Actually it's called The 500 Mile NASCAR International Sweepstakes. Only $8 to get in but there's no bathrooms yet so don't be drinking too much. Qualifying pole speed was 143.198 mph and that was without a restrictor plate. Compare that to Carl Edwards pole speed from Saturday the 18th at 194.738 mph with a restrictor plate. The fans at the track, all 41,921 of them got to see a photo finish after 3 hours and 41 minutes of racing. It took 3 days for NASCAR to declare Lee Petty the winner over Johnny Beauchamp.

Fast forward to 1968. Cale Yarborough is in his #21 Wood Brothers Mercury. He has a faulty transformer but Glenn Wood is able to switch one out and only lose a lap and a half doing it. A pair of 3 car accidents and some expert driving gets Cale back up to 3rd with 40 to go. He's having over heating issues now but a peek at his pit stall as he drives by lets him see Glenn Wood holding a pit board stating there's 6 laps to go. Cale sling shots past LeeRoy Yarborough and takes the checkered flag and victory.

On to 1976 and heading into turn 3 is Petty and Pearson. They're fighting hard and Petty dives to the inside and sticks it just for a second but shoots up the track and into Pearson who hits the wall hard and spins down into the grass. Petty looks as though he's going to save it but nope. He too hits the wall and stalls the car. Pearson never stalled and limps on to the finish line for the win. Petty's crew tries to push start him but the car never refires.

On to 1979. It's the first live flag to flag broadcast of The Daytona 500. Early on on lap 32 Cale Yarborough, Bobby Allison and Donnie Allison get into a scuffle on the track and car repairs need to be made. Fast forward to the last lap. Cale has made up the 4 laps he lost making repairs in the pits. Donnie Allison is in first with Bobby Allison a lap down near by. A half a lap away is Richard Petty, Darrel Waltrip and AJ Foyt. Cale goes down low for the pass on Donnie. Donnie moves down and pushes Cale onto the apron and then the grass. Contact is made and the 2 go spinning into the grass. While Donnie, Cale and Bobby are swinging gloves, helmets and fists at each other Richard Petty goes by for the win.

1980 sees Buddy Baker win and set a record average race speed of 177.602 mph.

In 1981 The King and his crew chief Dale Inman out thunk every body. On lap 174 all the leaders came in and took fuel and right side tires. Petty came in 2 laps later and got fuel only. That shaved seconds off and gave Petty the victory by 4 seconds over Donnie Allison. Petty said,"We just out thunk 'em there at the end."

1987 Bill Elliot sets a qualifying speed record or 210.364 mph which stands today. It's the last year without restrictor plates. Bobby Allison has a bad wreck at Talladega that year and NASCAR brings the restrictor plate the following year.

In 1989 It's Darrel Waltrips turn. In his 17th start in the #17 Tide car we see Darrell in victory lane dancing a jig, spiking his helmet and repeating over and over...I won the Daytona 500. I won the Daytona 500.

In 2001 we lost Dale Earnhardt Sr as he came to the white stripe he was blocking for Micheal Waltrip and his son Jr for the win. Dale lost control and went head first into the wall. Micheal got the win but NASCAR lost Dale Sr. NASCAR put safety on the front burner after that day. We haven't lost any drivers since.

In 2007 Mark Martin is leading the charge to the finish line when a wreck starts and Kevin Harvick drives through it and passes Mark for the win by inches. Mark wanted to know where the caution flag was as he was crawling out. I did too. 

Last year in 2010 Trevor Bayne in his #21 Wood Brothers Ford became the youngest driver ever to win the Daytona 500.

THE CHASE & POINTS

Lets talk Chase and points.

--- Any driver leading a lap gets 1 pt

--- Any driver leading the most laps gets 1 pt

--- Race winner gets 3 pts

At the end of the race points are handed out in reverse order according to your position at the end of the race. Winner gets 43 pts....2nd place gets 42 pts....3rd place gets 41 pts...4th gets 40 pts and so forth till the 43rd place driver gets 1 pt. Maximum points in any race is 48 pts.

The Chase was introduced in 2004 to give more drivers a chance to win the championship and to intensify fan interest and drama. It's a 36 race season with the last 10 reserved for the Chase. Drivers gain points in all points events except the All - Star race. That's money, ring and trophy only. Same with The Budweiser Shootout. The top 10 drivers in the points standings get into the Chase. There are 2 Wild Card spots given to the 2 drivers in positions 11 - 20 that have the most wins. Tie breaker is their over all points. 

At the start of the Chase the top 10 drivers get 2000 points and 3 points for every win. The 2 Wild Cards get only 2000 points. The winner after those 10 races is the one with the most points.

PURSE WINNINGS

Just because you won the race doesn't mean you get the most money. There's the track purse which is divvied out by position but then you have manufacturers car decals and uniform patches. Don't forget to be drinking that Coke, Gatorade or NOS in your interviews on camera. Oh yes a smile while you do that is appreciated. There's also the $10,000 Front Runner Bonus given to the driver who leads the most laps in a race regardless if he wins or not. There are a lot of bonus programs going on for the drivers as well as team owners. So driving like hell and turning left can really pay if you lead lots of laps, get that TV exposure and smile for the camera while you drink that Coke.

In 1959 Lee Petty won $19,050 and in 2007 Harvick won $1,510,569. Tony Stewart came in last place and still brought home $334,931.

HAVE WE GOT FLAGS FOR YOU

GREEN FLAG - Track is clear.....GO!!!!!

YELLOW FLAG - Caution is out for debris from a wreck or a competition caution to check your tires. Slow done and get behind the pace car.

RED FLAG - Track is blocked by a wreck or rain is falling. Get behind the pace car and come to pit road or if things are blocked park where you are.

BLACK FLAG - You've been naughty or your can needs repair. You need to come to pit road for a consultation or repairs.

BLACK FLAG w/WHITE STRIPE - Your still being bad or still need repairs and now NASCAR has stopped scoring you so get to pit road NOW.

BLUE FLAG w/YELLOW STRIPE - Heads up. Faster cars are coming up on your bumper. You don't however have to move over just pay attention.

RED & YELLOW VERTICAL STRIPED FLAG - Used at road courses to tell you to look out for debris or slippery conditions.

CHECKERED FLAG - Race is over

SAFETY STUFF

After Earnhardt Sr passed away the HANS devise that drivers were trying out became mandatory. So did full face helmets. The drivers seat was moved toward the center of the car a few inches. Foam was put in the doors of the cars. The seat belts were revamped. Roof flaps were put in. And the new safer barriers were installed at the tracks. A safer barrier is styrofoam insulation blocks put in between the concrete wall and steel tube railing on the outside. The drivers car hits the steel tubing and bounces off way better than just concrete alone. Drivers say it still hurts but not nearly as bad. Pit crew members were required to start wearing helmets too. 

DON'T FORGET THE RULES

At  Daytona or Talladega there is no going below the yellow line to advance your position. If you get bumped down there or for whatever reason you go there if you give back your position then it's no harm no foul. If you don't give it back then you get a black flag. Not cool cause it means you'll be coming into the pits for a pass through penalty most likely and you'll be separated from the pack which means your toast.

On a double file restart you must wait till the leader gets to the start finish line before you try to pass him. actually no matter where you are in that line you must stay in your position till you cross over the start finish line. If you don't....uh huh..that's right...black flag.

When pitting you must wait till all equipment is in your box and tires are under control and up against the wall. No driving over your air hose and no taking equipment with you onto the track or you guessed it....black flag. Your tire changer better make sure all the lug nuts are on too. Of course there's the pit road speed of 55 mph to worry about going in and out of the pits. Favorite pit stalls? The ones on either of the ends, the stalls on either side of the garage entrance and on the timing lines. Since NASCAR used timing lines and not radar the guys have learnt that if your pit stall is on a timing line you can speed leaving your pit and pass 1 or more cars. Just remember to whoa up at the next timing line or you'll be coming in for a pass through penalty at pit speed of course.

When the yellow flag comes out the field is frozen and you need to slow down and get behind the pace car. There's no racing back to the finish line to gain positions. This was done after Dale Jarret became stranded like a sitting duck in the middle of the track while everyone zoomed by him.

Whether it's a big wreck or a fender bender you are going to the infield care center for a check up. This was mandated in the 80's when Ricky Rudd had a bad wreck in the then Busch series and refused treatment. He raced in the Winston Cup Daytona 500 the next day. When he got out of the car his face was so swollen he had taped his eyes open so he could race. If you get a chance to go and look that wreck up on You Tube. He came within inches of the end of an infield wall.

DAYTONA 500

So Carl Edwards got the Daytona pole position with a lap of 194.738 mph. His team mate got 2nd. Both are locked in those positions. The rest will qualify with a combination of the positions in the Gatorade Duels on Thursday, regular qualifying, top 35 owners points and champion provisionals. It's just too complicated to write without taking up too much space. 

The Daytona track is 2.5 miles and in a D shaped oval. It has 31 degrees of banking in the turns, 18 degrees in the tri oval and 6 degrees in the straights. It seats 168,000.

So there you have it. Iceman gave you the driver changes and I gave you some rules and history. Hope you'll join us on Sunday.........

I suppose it's necessary to say something about the opening of Spring training for the Major League teams. Is it just me or didn't we just finish the World Series? I would swear it was late October or Early and one team got clobbered and the other team was the champion. A lot has happened since then and I've been diverted. One regrets that the big story just now, and probably for some little while, in baseball and the eye searing ten year deal Albert Pujols got. Currently-notice, currently-he's the highest paid player . As is always the case, today's ceiling is tomorrow's floor when it come to salaries. In 1960 the country gasped when 20^th Century Fox announced they would pay Elizabeth Taylor the enormous sum of ONE MILLION dollars to play Cleopatra. One Million, just think of it. Is there that much money in the world? But the world changes and, adjusting for inflation, today, were the lady living, she could easily nail fifty million and it would be considered a good deal. (Who remembers that Miss Taylor was NOT the original choice to play the role? That honour went to Joan Collins. It's interesting to think what might have happened if that bit of casting would have been adhered to.) But we're talking big money here, folks.BBBBIIIIIGGGGGGG MMMMOOOOONNNNNEEEYYYY.

Yessiree. I haven't read or read much about his contract-the staggering sum mentioned is enough-so I don't know if this is what it's potentially worth if certain goals and conditions are met.

But Muthagawd! What goals and conditions could possibly exist to justify that kind of money. It goes without saying that, somewhere in those ten years, it's expected that he and his team will win at least one-or more-World Series. And it's hardly farfetched to think that he might be expected to maintain a batting average of no less that Ted Williams in his best years. It goes without saying that he's not just a member of the team, but is available for whatever management wants him to do. PSA's by the gross, appearances whenever and wherever, no sick days even if he's concussed on the field in front of a stand full of cheering fans. He has to get up, score the winning run, save a fan from falling from the edge of the seats into a concrete track, and do a triple back flip whilst driving a Zamboni. Is that too much to ask? Not for a quarter of a billion dollars it's not. And, with no disrespect to the gentleman, can his performance or his persona justify that amount of money?

If your answer to that question is “yes” go outside and beat yourself stupid with a baseball bat. If he could cure cancer-all forms-end world povery and hunger-then you'd find me handing over every penny I've got and so would many others. But he cannot do that nor is he expected to. But what are the expectations? Trying to be reasonable, one might say that he needs to contribute all he has to his team, be a great popular player with the fans, get along with the other players.....and lets pause right there for a moment. The other players. Now you know and I know that somewhere on that roster there will be those who think he got a gold mine and they got the shaft. Particularly some player, close to retirement, who finds his salary cut for no reason that's given to him. But then no reason need be given; It's Albert Pujols. Across the board it's hard for me to imagine that this deal was greeted with gladsome cries and statements of appreciation for what management has done. Which is effectively semi-screwed all the other players. Perhaps they'll accustom themselves to him but that for some little while there may be a tense locker room. I could be wrong, I often am, but in this case, I'm going to bet it the way logic dictactes and that's only for the sake of publicity is the team nominally behind him and, oops, there's another group to be dealt with, the fans.

This is a super star player with a glowing record so, initially, he'll be as welcome as the second coming. However, it's a tall fence to jump to keep their loyalty particularly if things don't pan out as promised. This is, after all, a new team to him, the rhythms and dynamics are going to be different. How long before they all coalesce into a productive team that allows him to do what he does best? That's not a fatuous question, it's one that's going to be on the minds of the fans. Great that he's there and now what? In the stands there's going to be the obvious reminder that they, too, have contributed to his hiring and they do so every time they buy a ticket, patronize the concessions or buy a programme. They're all a few pennies more than before and while some of it is reasonably credited to inflation, only part of it, the rest is going to pay for the newly acquired player. Even over ten years it takes a lot of pennies to have a quarter of a billion dollars. In these parlous times, putting a hundred million in the bank and letting the interest compound at current rates won't produce that 250 million in ten years and, up front, there's the matter of a loose hundred million to be found.

Unfortunately, we live in an age where monies paid have almost eclipsed deeds and performance. Three years from now when a bigger deal has been struck between another team and another player, this will be forgotten save by the team who still has to honour it. At the time the deal was made it was bruited about that the only reason it went through was to prevent another team from acquiring his services. That other team must be doing cartwheels of delight, not only did they not get stuck with a player who may or may not perform over the many years of the contract, but they saved themselves a can full of money to use making equally good if far less expensive deals.

What Pujols has signed up for is, effectively, an infinity contract. Clearly it's anticipated he'll finish out his career there and, somehow, validate the monies he's being bad to do so. (And let us not forget what he can make from endorsements and other side deals.) But the history of these things suggests that other things might happen. Like him or not, they're stuck with him and, should they choose to sell him-after, say a three year slump-it might be hard to do. There's that enormous contract to be considered and, were I Mr. Pujols, I'd hang on to the right to every penny of it.

At the end of it, I suppose what I want is for someone in five or so years to go back and, just superficially, be able to say either, “Helluva deal, couldn't have been better” or, “Well, it might have worked if he hadn't pulled a (name a muscle relevant to hitting) and they lost him for most of two seasons. And there's a third option, in some ways, the worst one; He proves to be a good player, nothing more and eventually drifts back to the farm system as the most overpaid player in AAA ball.