Glad I’m not Jeff Burton. The leader in the NASCAR chase to the Nextel Cup has both Jeff Gordon and Matt Kenseth on his bumper.
NASCAR has pared the stock-car field to 10 cup-eligible drivers with only eight races to go. The top 10 plus everybody else reconvenes for the Banquet 400 in Kansas City (12:30 p.m. Sunday, KUSA-Channel 9).
It’s a chance for NBC to redeem its coverage, which it shares with Fox and TNT, after race fans cririticzed the network’s many commercials.
“MNF” ratings soar
Buoyed by the back story of New Orleans’ revival from Hurricane Katrina, “Monday Night Football” attracted 14.9 million viewers, the largest audience in ESPN history, on Monday.
In terms of audience penetration, it was the second most-watched cable show ever, behind the Ross Perot-Al Gore NAFTA debate on “Larry King Live” on CNN in 1993, which drew more than 16.3 million viewers.
No football fan
A reader known to me only as “Wilson/Denver” is really irate about KCNC-Channel 4 slicing long-time high school reporter Marcia Neville to part-time status.
“Big-business football bites the hand that feeds it,” e-mails Wilson. “KCNC leads the charge, with real news coverage and Ms. Neville’s earnest efforts taking the hit. If only KCNC would dump Jim (Benemann) and Molly (Hughes) the station could somehow find more time for Donkey coverage.”
Big-time players
Two of the best high-school prospects in the nation, signed to two of college football’s premier programs, on display tonight when Oaks Christian of Westlake Village, Calif., meets Venice, Calif. (8 p.m., ESPN2). Oaks, led by running back Marc Tyler, already committed to USC, and quarterback Jimmy Clausen, headed for Notre Dame, has defeated three opponents, 49-0, 60-6 and 59-13. Tyler scored five touchdowns in last week’s victory.
Around the dial
Our Rockies, finally making some noise now that their season is all but over, officially end the season this weekend when they take on the even more mournful Chicago Cubs in three games at the Friendly Confines (12:20 p.m. Friday, FSNRM and WGN; 2 p.m. Saturday, WGN, and 12:20 p.m. Sunday, FSNRM) … In lieu of a Broncos game (enjoying a bye week), get your pro-football fix by checking out the San Diego Chargers against the Baltimore Ravens (11 a.m. Sunday, Channel 4) … College game of the week: No. 1 Ohio State a 7-point favorite over Iowa (6 p.m. Saturday, KMGH-Channel 7) … One more time: Coach Dan Hawkins re-lives CU’s narrow defeat to Georgia on “Buffalo Stampede” (7 tonight, FSNRM). … Quotable: “If you think the last four words of the national anthem are ‘Gentlemen, start your engines,’ you might be a redneck.” Jeff Foxworthy
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-954-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
