Johnson is the best on the track

I have been accused of making The Corner a place where the negative seems to dominate the landscape so here goes something to help my reputation. I can't help but say something positive about NASCAR champion Jimmy Johnson.

If someone wins any sports title four years in a row, they deserve some applause. I think it is particularly true in NASCAR if your name isn't Jeff Gordon or Dale Earnhardt, Jr. The NASCAR fan base has always seemed divided equally among those two camps but I think division is in the air.

What Johnson has done is remarkable. Perhaps, more specifically, I should say what Johnson's team has done deserves our applause. 

Of course it is the driver who wins the title and gets all the glory but like every superstar he has a team behind him. Imagine what he would be like if his pit crew was daydreaming when he pulled in. Even a second can be all that counts when 200 mph speeds are involved. Johnson and his team have my nomination for sportsmen of the year.

That is unless 52 year old Mark Martin takes it from them. To be that old and to finish second in the NASCAR standings is worthy of some kind of recognition. It is another one of those feel good stories we all like so well. It would have been even better if he won it but this is one case where second place isn't so bad.

I would say Martin is the best over the hill story of the year but that is unfair to Brett Favre. That is another story for another day.