WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Jeff Gordon shouted "Oh, yeah boys! Yoo Hoo!" over his radio, then punched his right arm skyward when he emerged from his No. 24 Chevrolet as his resurgent season continues. Gordon turned a fast lap of 129.466 mph on Saturday to win the pole for the Cheez-It 355 at The Glen, edging road racing ace Marcos Ambrose and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson in the second and final round of knockout qualifying. It was Gordons first pole of the season, third at Watkins Glen, and 75th of his stellar career. Just like old times at Watkins Glen International, where Gordon has won four times. And on his son Leos birthday no less. "This year has been phenomenal," said Gordon, whose last pole at the storied road course was 11 years ago. "I wished him a happy birthday this morning and said, All right, Im going to try to get you that pole. "I wasnt real confident in that statement, and now I really cant wait to talk to him." Kevin Harvick and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five. AJ Allmendinger was sixth, followed by Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth, Brad Keselowski and Ryan Newman. Defending race winner Kyle Busch will start 19th. Just missing the final round of qualifying was five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart, who will start 13th. Danica Patrick, who crashed in final practice on Friday and will start at the rear of the field, used the session for practice and ran 11 laps. With five races left until the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship begins, the drivers on the cusp of making the 16-driver field didnt fare well. Greg Biffle will start 28th, two spots in front of Kasey Kahne. Rookies Kyle Larson and Austin Dillon were 23rd and 31st. Ambrose, who has won two of the past three Cup races at Watkins Glen, set a track record of 129.491 mph in the first round of qualifying and had the fastest lap of the second round until Gordon went out at just the right time with no other drivers to contend with. Ambrose sped out in the closing seconds in an attempt to make one final run at the top spot but was too late and had to settle for second. "I wish Jeff was a little kinder to me to let me get the pole," said Ambrose, who needs a victory to make the Chase and is at the track where hes the odds-on favourite. "It was a pretty good lap, though, and I will take it. You have to be happy with front-row starts." Indeed. The last four winners at Watkins Glen came from the top 5 in qualifying. Keselowski, who won the pole for the Nationwide race at The Glen earlier Saturday and has finished second in the Cup race here the last three years, had traffic on one run and had to do a second trip around the 2.45-mile layout. "It kept all stacking up," Keselowski said. "I feel like we are really fast in race trim, we have a lot of speed. We just need it to not fall off so much. It we can do that, we will have a shot to win." Scott Kingery Jersey .com) - Novak Djokovic captured a mens Open Era-record fifth Australian Open title on Sunday by defeating rival Andy Murray in the final in Melbourne. Chuck Klein Jersey .Mihajlovic was sent off minutes from the end of Thursdays 2-0 win over Brescia and has been punished for using a disrespectful expression toward the fourth official and throwing the contents of a bottle of water at him, thus assuming an intimidating attitude. http://www.philliesrookiestore.com/Phill...ids-Jersey/.com) - Hassan Whiteside scored 20 points with nine rebounds in the Miami Heats 83-75 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday. Will Middlebrooks Jersey . -- The guys in green raced off the court and into the locker room where they danced and sang, compared whose shot was most likely to end up featured on "One Shining Moment," and checked Twitter to see who was giving them a shoutout. Jake Arrieta Jersey .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Falcons by 3 1/2RECORD VS.The situation in the East is simply fantastic for fans of the CFL. All Week 20 games in the East matter as to who is in the playoffs and that’s how you want it to play out. I will be on site at the marque game of the week, Montreal at Hamilton. I am looking forward to seeing Hamilton’s new stadium and the facilities they have for the players and coaches. I can remember when I worked for the Ticats, Jamie Barresi and I shared an office which was fine except for when we had to meet with the players there. The players sat on the floor and watched practice and game film on two TVs we jerry-rigged to play the same video. We had to do this because the room had a weird shape and the guys closest to the exit could not see the big TV. The big TV was actually one I had at my house and had brought in to be able have a bigger screen! I have heard nothing but great things about this new facility that will provide the players with a professional work environment they deserve, looking forward to seeing that. Speaking of Coach Barresi, he is now the head coach of the University of Ottawa, and led them to a 5-3 finish and a first round playoff win over Windsor. He will now come home to Hamilton to take on McMaster this weekend in the second round of the playoffs. I am not sure that this situation has ever happened in the CFL. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats can finish first place, second place, or be eliminated from the playoffs! You don’t often have to prepare your team for all those possibilities within a week. But I think there is a very interesting coaching situation for the Cats, let’s talk about it. Hamilton’s playoff scenario is this: if they beat Montreal by eight points or more they clinch first place; if they win by less than eight points or Toronto loses they earn second place; and if they lose and Toronto wins, they are eliminated from the playoffs. Teams that finish in first place statistically have a greater chance of going to the Grey Cup, so does Hamilton change the game plan to put themselves in first place? I think I would. Let’s say Toronto wins the game Friday and Hamilton is eliminated with a loss, this is the harder scenario. Hamilton starts the game basically down 7-0 to the Als for first place. Do they become more aggressive to make up the point differential and go for first place? Aggressive might be a fake punt or special play on Teams to be able get a few extra offensive scoring possessions. Could it be a more aggressive defensive scheme or pressure package trying to limit Montreal scoring? Third and goal from the two-yard line early in the game, usually you kick the field goal but do you go for it to make up the points to try to get first place? All these things mentioned have a risk that when not executed can hurt your chances of winning the game, which is the ultimate goal for Hamilton because they would be eliminated if Toronto wins. Late in the game this will be employed but early in the game is when it could easily affect the outcome. Certainly late in the game, if Hamilton is up by three, you will see the best of both teams, because Hamilton will actually be trying to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown with the lead. That situation does not happenn often.dddddddddddd These are the decisions that a head coach must have a good understanding of not only at the end of the year, but at the beginning of the year. In 2009, when I was the offensive coordinator of the Saskatchewan Roughriders we were in the first of a four-game series with an opponent. It was late in the game and we were winning but I called a few more passes and scored a late touchdown. A coach from the other team after the game sought me out on the field and took offence to my offence (funny?) of scoring a touchdown when we could have taken a knee at the end of the game. I looked at him somewhat surprised and said we are playing you four times and there is the very real possibility that we will end up tied at the end of the year and the next playoff tie breaker is points scored. That is why we were scoring points late in the last drive, we don’t know how we will end up, so you assume you will be tied. Points-scored has to be thought of when you play an opponent twice or four times because you could be tied at the end. Playing someone three times, points is not an issue (unless there was a tie) because someone usually finishes 2-1. Back to Hamilton, let’s assume Toronto loses and a loss by Hamilton will not affect their playoff chances, they would have second place locked up no matter what happens in their game. Now you can see the Ticats being aggressive and be ready for anything that can help them score points. No huddle to get more plays, going for it on third down, onside kicks. Mistakes or poor execution of those plays can also hurt your field position which can help Montreal’s opportunity to score, so executing these calls is key. If you have a chance, look up Head Coach Kevin Kelley and the Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas, a coach who calls for onside kicks every kickoff and will not punt throughout the season. The guy must be crazy and must lose every game right? A state Championship, a loss in the finals, and a semi-final appearance in three years tells another story. Although some of his data may not correlate with the CFL, he believes on kickoffs the difference in the field position is only about 15 yards if an onside kick is recovered by the receiving team and coach Kelley’s teams recover one out of every three onside kicks which is a turnover, and we know turnovers are one of the most telling stats in winning football games. In the CFL, a failed onside kick would probably be a 30-yard difference in field position which is certainly a reason not to do it every time. Kelley never punts because his philosophy is you have to score more points to win the football game and you cannot score without retaining possession of the football. That is why he will always go for it on fourth down, to keep possession of the ball. So if your team is in a fourth and 3 situation four times in a game and they average 5.5 yards per rush, why not go for it? Kelley believes he will make three out of four conversions and will keep the football. Interesting thoughts and I thought of this philosophy this week to see if the Ticats would employ some of these tactics to get to first place. Either way it will be a great weekend for football, punt or no punt. ' ' '