Gästebuch » spent plenty of time running around getting his han

LOUDON, N.H. -- Carl Edwards has mastered the art of starting first at New Hampshire.Its winning the race that has caused him fits.Edwards turned a lap of 135.453 mph to win the NASCAR Sprint Cup pole at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. He took the top spot Friday for the third time in the past four New Hampshire races, winning his sixth pole of the season.We need to turn that into a race win, Edwards said.The Joe Gibbs Racing driver has failed to win in 24 career starts at New Hampshire. Edwards finished seventh and fifth off his two poles last season. Edwards would advance to the second round of the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship with a win on Sunday.Hed rather take the checkered flag in the No. 19 Toyota and not have to worry about taking care of business next week at Dover.If we have a bad day here, Im going to be real upset about it for about three or four days, and then if you have a bad day at Dover, youre going to be upset for the rest of the year, he said.Edwards led the way in qualifying for the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship drivers. Martin Truex Jr. followed his Chase win at Chicagoland Speedway with a solid run to join Edwards on the front row.Ryan Newman will start third, followed by Chase drivers Jimmie Johnson, Denny Hamlin, Kyle Larson, Jamie McMurray and Matt Kenseth.Chase drivers Chris Buescher and Austin Dillon failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying. Fellow Chase drivers Kurt Busch, Joey Logano, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart failed to get out of the second round.Edwards won his 22nd career pole. He had never won more than three poles in a season.The cars are great, but its not just that, Edwards said.Its Toyota. Its crew chief Dave Rogers. Its the support of having three stellar teammates in Kenseth, Hamlin and Kyle Busch (who starts 12th).Kenseth has won the past two New Hampshire races for JGR.I became a lot better, certainly, when I started driving there. Its funny how that works, he said.Here are some other items of note from Friday at New Hampshire:DELAY OF GAME: Inspection issues delayed several cars from taking the track in the first round of qualifying. Nearly a dozen cars were in line at the inspection station once qualifying started. Clint Bowyer spun during his lap to bring out the red flag and buy time for the rest of the cars to complete inspection.TOUGH BREAK: Buescher (28th) and Dillon (29th) have the worst starting spots among Chase drivers. Dillon qualified in a backup car following an accident in practice.Its not the exact same car -- its a little older car, but same type of car we ran here the first time and we ran pretty solid in that race, Dillon said. We will just go out there and drive it hard and see what it gives me.Buescher realized that just making the Chase because of a rain-shortened win at Pocono will stand as the highlight of his season.Were playing our own game right now, he said. We know that if we come out of here and do the best we can, put in our maximum effort, thats all we can do.THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS: NASCAR drivers have found the violent protests in Charlotte, North Carolina, in the wake of the fatal shooting of a black man by police unsettling.The NASCAR Hall of Fame in downtown Charlotte had its exterior damaged this week during the protests.A lot of times when you see things like this happen its in a different city and you dont recognize where its at, but when you see the NASCAR building getting vandalized and you see areas of the city that you know very well with just crazy things happening, it makes you sick to your gut, Logano said. DJ Moore Panthers Jersey . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. Greg Olsen Panthers Jersey . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. http://www.shoppanthersonline.us/panthers-jordan-scarlett-blue-jersey/ . The phone hearing is scheduled for 4:30pm et/1:30pm pt. Winchester, who was not penalized for the hit, appeared to make contact with Kellys head early in the first period of Thursdays game in Boston. Will Grier Youth Jersey . With their top three point guards and Kobe Bryant all sidelined by injury, the Lakers signed Marshall out of the D-League on Friday before their home game against Minnesota. Brian Burns Youth Jersey . In the response filed Wednesday to the complaint by 30-year-old Alexander Bradley, attorneys say the former University of Florida player is invoking his Fifth Amendment right that protects people from incriminating themselves.Expectations were high for the 2015-16 rookie class after the NFL Draft in Chicago last April with a number of high impact players expected to make their way into the professional ranks. As always with college players stepping up to the NFL, the results proved to be a mixed bag. There were some big winners and some high-profile drafting mistakes.Here we offer our opinion on the best five picks and the five who might want to work a little harder ahead of their second season in the league. Live free agency updates All the latest news of the comings and goings Top fiveTodd Gurley (St Louis - RB) - pick 10 (229 carries, 1,106 yards, 10 TDs. 21 catches, 188 yards) Todd Gurley scores a 71-yard touchdown run against the San Francisco 49ers Gurley was one of the 2015 NFL Drafts biggest risk-reward picks, thanks to a serious knee injury he suffered playing for Georgia in the college ranks, and the bravery of the Rams picking him so early looks like paying off in spades.He missed the first three games of last season as he continued his fitness crusade, and had only nine yards on six carries in his NFL debut, but his career would take off in the next four games as he piled up 566 yards and three touchdowns.Some defences caught up with him later in the season, but a rookie campaign of 1,106 rushing yards and 10 scores bodes well for Gurleys future, should he avoid injury. Hes a candidate to top the league in rushing next season when the Rams restart life in Los Angeles, but only if they can find some other offence to take the focus away from him.Jameis Winston (Tampa Bay - QB) - pick 1 (312 pass completions, 4,042 yards, 22 TDs, 15 INT. 54 carries, 213 yards, 6 TDs) Jameis Winston throws his first NFL touchdown With the first pick of the NFL Draft comes great responsibility - and the Florida State product certainly managed that in his first season, thankfully making his headlines on the pitch rather than off it.Winston and Marcus Mariota, the second pick in 2015, had fairly similar seasons but the Buccaneers quarterback was more durable and just about edged the Tennessee Titans QB in terms of results as he posted franchise records for a rookie quarterback in passing yards and touchdowns.The 22-year-old looks to have an exciting future ahead of him but he could do with an extra weapon out wide, and perhaps wants to cut down on the more avoidable mistakes if he is to improve on the 6-10 record from his rookie season.Marcus Peters (Kansas City - CB) - pick 18 (60 total tackles, 8 INTs, 26 passes defended) Marcus Peters celebrates after defending against a pas The defensive rookie of the year proved a superb first-round pick for the Chiefs, slotting into their defence from day one and ending the season tied with Cincinnatis Reggie Nelson for the league lead on eight interceptions.His career started in sensational fashion when he picked off Houstons Brian Hoyer on his first career snap, and he also counted the likes of Peyton Manning (twice) and Derek Carr among his interception victims.Peters was highly-rated coming out of the University of Washington, but the Chiefs might not have expected such an early impact and it might not be long before he is being talked about in the class of Josh Norman and Darrelle Revis.Tyler Lockett (Seattle - WR) - pick 69 (51 receptions, 664 yards, 6 TDs. 33 kick returns, 852 yards, 1 TD) Watch Russell Wilson hit rookie Tyler Lockett for this 43-yard touchdown Speed, speed and more speed was what the Seahawks expected when they drafted Lockett in the third round last year - they certainly got that, but you have to wonder whether they thought he would turn into the receiver he became as the season wore on.Lockett proved to be a spark plug from week one, most of his early damage coming on kick and punt returns with his first return touchdown coming straight away against the St Louis Rams.The receiving game took a little longer to develop, but by the end of 2015 he and Doug Baldwin had emerged as a dangerous wideout pairing, and Russell Wilson looked in their direction often. While Baldwin took many of the plaudits, scoring 10 touchdowns in four games in one spell, Lockett might be the receiver to follow in Seattle for many years to come.Thomas Rawls (Seeattle - RB) - undrafted (144 carries, 830 yards, 4 TDs) Highlights ofThomas Rawls performance against Cincinnati Bengals Who? That was the question on many lips when Rawls made his breakthrough in week three of the regular season, coming in for an injured Marshawn Lynch and rushing for 104 yards on 16 carries.ddddddddddddThe powerful running-back was an inconsistent player at best in college, used as a short-yardage back in Michigan before transferring to Central Michigan and spending a lot of time on the sidelines with injury.No-one took a risk on him late in the NFL draft and he landed with the Seahawks - and how thankful they are now that Lynch has announced his retirement. Although Rawls, who runs like a bowling ball, ended the year on injured reserve he did more than enough in his seven starts to suggest a decent career is likely.I was going to put running-back David Johnson in here, who broke a number of Arizona Cardinals rookie records during his first season in the league, but there is just something about an underdog story that gets me.Flop fiveMelvin Gordon (San Diego - RB) - pick 15 (184 carries, 641 yards, 0 TDs. 33 receptions, 192 yards, 0 TDs) Melvin Gordon surges with the ball Many expected Gordon to be taken before Gurley in last years draft, as more of a sensible pick than one who might excite a franchise. As it turned out, sensible was…well…hugely disappointing as well.Gordon played okay - thats about as good as descriptions get - in the first three games but then performed a disappearing act, ending the season on injured reserve with not a single touchdown in 14 appearances.What next for the Wisconsin running-back? The Chargers might have to look at the position again in the draft this coming April, and a high-profile selection could mean curtains for Gordon already. Of course there is a chance we are giving up on him too soon, but early evidence is not positive.Nelson Agholor (Philadelphia - WR) - pick 20 (23 receptions, 283 yards, 1 TD) Nelson Agholor reacts after dropping a catch in the endzone Agholor was a consensus first-round pick in last years but might have landed in the wrong spot, or at least with the wrong quarterback on an Eagles team that struggled badly and will start next season with a new coach, and possibly not Sam Bradford under centre.He is undoubtedly talented, but there are concerns Agholor could not force his way into a more regular role in Chip Kellys offence, ending the year with a paltry 23 catches and scoring only once - his top yardage game was only 64 in week four.The main problem? Slippery gloves. Dropped catches plagued him in training camp, in pre-season and that stretched into the regular season as well, leaving him seventh on the team in receiving - simply not enough of an impact for a first round pick.Phillip Dorsett (Indianapolis - WR) - pick 29 (18 receptions, 225 yards, 1 TD) Tennessee Titans bring down Phillip Dorsett Dorsett was described as a wild card pick when selected by the Colts last year and based on the evidence of his rookie season he could retain the work in progress description for at least another season, although much will depend on off-season business.He missed a handful of games in the middle of the season, but his final line of only 18 receptions has to go down as a disappointing return for a player that was meant to be a big threat because of his speed.Dorsett will likely become a third receiver next year, in the expected absence of veteran Andre Johnson, but he needs to work on his chemistry with Andrew Luck and be more consistent running routes. If the Colts yet again target a wide receiver in the draft (it would seem unlikely) he could find himself on the outside looking in, very early in his career.Danny Shelton (Cleveland - DT) - pick 9 (19 solo tackles, 17 assists, 0 sacks, 4 tackles for loss) Danny Shelton of the Cleveland Browns makes a tackle ESPN recently announced their best draft pick per team, and Shelton won the honours with Cleveland - that might just tell you something about the Browns and the way they build for the future.Shelton is a huge run-stuffer, who was a tackle machine when playing for the University of Washington. Sadly none of that translated to the professional ranks and he spent plenty of time running around getting his hands on absolutely nobody.Zero sacks, zero impact. And as for the ESPN rankings, you have to wonder what running-back Duke Johnson, who at least showed signs of ability in his first season, thinks about their Shelton pick.Dante Fowler Jr (Jacksonville - LB) - pick 3 (no stats) #3 pick Fowler dressed to impress at last years draft There is always one bad-luck injury story coming out of the NFL Draft, and this year it was Jacksonvilles turn to taste the misfortune as they lost a potential defence-changing player before he even managed a snap.In fact the only snap he heard was that of his anterior cruciate ligament in the Jaguars rookie minicamp not long after he had his named called out at the draft in Chicago.Jacksonville had hoped to turn Fowler into a defensive lynchpin, and those hopes will remain in place for 2016-17, when you have to at least pray the 21-year-old gets to experience his first NFL game. Without him, they ranked 31st out of 32 in points allowed and 29th in pass yardage. Things cannot get much worse for Fowler or the Jags…they will hope. Also See: Free agency updates Six who stole the show An ode to Beast Mode Super Bowl talking points ' ' '