If the Titans win, I get to take over his “Silent Pagoda” site for a day. If the Colts win, I have to relinquish control of this site to his evil genius for a day.

I’m not worried.

…but good stuff on Schmidt.

btw, George — can you put a filler post in between this and my article on Monday, please? Maybe something irreverent or off-topic to serve as a buffer. Because it will simply be too jarring for your readers to go from a well-written, entirely thoughtful Sam Schmidt article straight into an asinine Willy T. Ribbs Report recapping the minutae of my weekend. They’ll get literary whiplash, and that would be cruelity of some kind, I’d think. Thanks, sport.

My own two cents on the Sam Schmidt story: I was crewing on an SCCA Formula Ford at the time of Sam’s accident, and that day we were towing from Virginia to Sebring for the first National of the year. It occurred to me around about Daytona that we’d be passing through Orlando in the middle of the afternoon and that the IRL guys were testing there that day. I made sure to roll down the windows of the truck, so that I could hear the cars testing at The Mickyard, since the track’s only a half-mile or so off the interstate. I was puzzled at the silence as we drove by, but just figured that the wind must have been carrying the sound toward the west or something. I was extremely saddened to hear the next day down at Sebring that the reason for the quiet was the stoppage due to Sam’s accident. I’d followed him from his F2000 days and into his ride in IndyCar, and though I knew that he was no Mears or Unser that he was a solid driver, well deserving of his spot in the major leagues. It’s been great to watch his Lights team build up over the years and achieve their place of prominence in the feeder series system. They play an important role in the sport, and the fact that they’re run by such a good, savvy and tenacious guy like Sam makes it all the sweeter.