done more to blunt its sharpness more effectively. Five is an awkward number of teams to play in any league, but stipulating that fo

Our experts weigh in on four of the biggest questions in NASCAR:Turn 1: Kevin Harvick and the 4 team: Is it really as simple as flicking the switch?Ricky Craven, ESPN NASCAR analyst: No, he didnt,?but speed in this business is the closest thing to an insurance policy for NASCAR teams, and Harvick has been lightning fast really since hes been in the No. 4 car. This team has dominated enough races to have three times the wins they have, but so many fundamental errors have cost them. The reverse happened last week. Harvick didnt dominate the race, but he methodically worked his way to the front, made no mistakes and seized the moment. There are three veteran drivers who can win with savvy alone -- Harvick, Johnson, Kenseth. Of the three, Harvick has the most speed.Ryan McGee, ESPN.com:?No way. But I do think that teams can start cycling everything up toward the start of the Chase, like an Olympic athlete builds everything toward peaking just in time for their biggest times of year. Harvicks calling out of his pit crew felt to me like it was part of that process.John Oreovicz, ESPN.com: Not quite. Its mostly a matter of perfect execution. If you regularly run in the top five, youre putting yourself in a position to win, and over the last three years, the No. 4 runs in the top five more consistently than anyone. When Harvick and the team go through a race -- or a Chase -- mistake-free, thats when it looks like they are flicking the switch.Bob Pockrass, ESPN.com: No. Because the switch is a dial. And during the season, they turn the dial to see whether they like a certain amount of light. And then when they really want, they just turn the dial to the optimum level.Turn 2: Which driver is feeling the most pressure headed to Dover?Craven: On one hand, its reasonable to think Tony Stewart has the most pressure. Any shot at a final title hinges on a great race, which isnt likely. But I Believe Tony is at peace with closing out his career, ready for the next chapter, whatever that is. On the flip side is Kyle Larson. He is among a small group of guys capable of being the face of NASCAR for the next decade. If Kyle survives this round, you never know.McGee:?I want to say Tony Stewart, this being his last Chase and all of that. But theres also always been a part of me thats believed hes spent this whole season playing with house money, so theres not a lot of pressure there. So ... well ... yeah, Im still saying Stewart.Oreovicz: Kyle Larson. He came into the Chase on a hot streak, and now hes on the bubble. Its a good track for him and he can control his own destiny by performing well. But honestly, most of the 14 drivers who dont have a win face some pressure.Pockrass: Carl Edwards. Lowest among the Toyota drivers, Edwards remains a legitimate championship contender. At 10th in the standings and an 11-point edge on 12th, Edwards pretty much controls his own destiny. But if he doesnt make it, it will be a premature disappointing end to his season, a year possibly ruined by his pit-road mistake at New Hampshire.Turn 3: Will anyone cross the rear skew line and face a 35-point penalty and a three-race crew-chief suspension?Craven:?Im being told that a team or two found their way around the rule in race conditions earlier in the season. I dont know, but generally speaking, accusations are abundant when folks are getting their butts kicked. That said, if a team gets caught with a mechanically enhanced part, theyll be taken to the woodshed by NASCAR.McGee:?Certainly no one will be that dumb, right?Oreovicz: We wont know until it happens. As closely as it is being monitored, you would think that teams would be a bit conservative in that area.Pockrass: Yes. Teams must flirt with the line in order to remain competitive. Someone will venture too close and get a three-week vacation from the track.Turn 4: James Hinchcliffe is holding his own on Dancing With The Stars. What driver would you want to see in what reality show?Craven:?Tony Stewart on Gold Rush. Tony pushing dirt with a bulldozer, verbally sparring with Todd Hoffman. That would be entertaining -- and perhaps the perfect escape for the three-time champ.Jeff Gordon spending a season on Bering Sea Gold would be a close second, only because I know he wouldnt survive the season.McGee:?I want to see Jimmie Johnson on Survivor. Hes smart, hes in amazing physical shape, hes a great people person, but he also has a killer competitive streak and could be unexpectedly ruthless when he needs to be. Then again, DeLana and Kevin Harvick on the Amazing Race would be awesome, too.Oreovicz: Its one step removed from drivers, but I think a season of The Real Housewives of Lake Norman, featuring the likes of DeLana Harvick, Samantha Busch and Katie Kenseth could be interesting. It would also be fun to see Tony Stewart try to keep his cool interacting with a group of roommates in the Big Brother house.Pockrass: Tony Stewart on Survivor. Would the other participants enjoy kicking Stewart off or would he charm them into keeping him? Ian McCoshen Panthers Jersey . -- New England Revolution goalkeeper Matt Reis is retiring after a 16-year career to become the goalie coach for the Los Angeles Galaxy. MacKenzie Weegar Panthers Jersey . -- Jimmy Walkers first PGA Tour trophy came with a special gift tucked inside. http://www.hockeypanthersofficialonline.com/jonathan-huberdeau-hockey-jersey/ . It was the second consecutive win for the Pacers (2-5), who lost their first five preseason games. Jeff Teague led the Hawks (1-5) with 17 points and eight assists and Al Horford had 12 points and seven rebounds. Mike Scott scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half. Keith Yandle Panthers Jersey . Oyama had six birdies and two bogeys at Kintetsu Kashikojima in the event also sanctioned by the Japan LPGA Tour. "I have been having this neck ache thats been affecting my golf recently," Oyama said. Frank Vatrano Panthers Jersey .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. To say Najam Sethi at the PCB has been a shade bullish about the Pakistan Super Leagues prospects would be an understatement. It is understandable, given the PSL was virtually entirely his idea, and it is a mark of his influence at the PCB that the league has come into existence at all. (The public support of Shaharyar Khan, the PCBs chairman, for the project was mystifyingly muted; was it indicative of his thoughts on the whole idea?)Sethis delight at the PSL getting underway was irrepressible. The PSL will be the biggest thing that has hit Pakistan cricket, he said in an interview. He added that, five years down the line, if the PSL were held in Pakistan, it would be far more exciting than any FTP engagement could ever be. The PSL will be more like the IPL than other leagues, he declared.Although Sethis bombastic build-up to the PSL and his eagerness to associate it with the IPL come off as rather transparently insecure, the league has whipped up excitement among Pakistans cricket-starved fans in a way quite unlike anything else in recent memory. Hopes that the PSL will help bring back Pakistans glory days, even bring international cricket back to the country, fly unchecked. The extent and variety of raw young Pakistani talent on display is marvelled at. The number of international stars present is pointed to as proof of the tournaments marketability. Anything less than utter and complete admiration of everything PSL risks coming off as churlish in the extreme.Make no mistake, there is much that the PSL needs to be admired for. It has given Pakistani players the chance to participate in a lucrative T20 league. It has allowed them to gain precious experience sharing dressing rooms with international crickets biggest names, and financial incentives of the sort that have, unfortunately for Pakistani players, been severely curtailed in the past for a multitude of non-cricketing reasons, from a precarious security situation in Pakistan to an unstable political relationship with India. The PSL has greatly boosted the earning potential of young players on Pakistans domestic circuit, many of whom have had to hold part-time jobs, and often had to choose between feeding their passions and their families. It has enabled parts of Pakistan rejected by the cricketing establishment to take pride in their citys exploits. The irony of Quetta being joint top at the end of the group stage, the capital city of a province that has never seen a player turn out at ODI or Test level in Pakistans history, is not lost on anyone who loves a good underdog tale.But fans and administrators alike seem to be laying a greater burden on the shoulders of the tournament than it can possibly bear. Sethi, Ramiz Raja and Wasim Akram among many others have talked up the possibility of the PSL bringing international cricket back to Pakistan. One cannot help wonder how. Cricket did not move away from Pakistan because the countrys appeal went down in cricketing terms - indeed, Pakistan won the T20 World Cup three months after its international isolation began - but because of security issues, which have nothing to do with whether the PSL is a roaring success or a whimpering failure. The PSL could be as successful as the English Premier League and it couldnt bring cricket back to Pakistan as long as the threat of a team bus being ammbushed and attacked by bullets and hand grenades on its way to a stadium remained realistic.dddddddddddd If that is the yardstick by which the event will be measured, the PSL risks being unfairly set up for failure. Moreover, if the concept and layout of T20 league cricket is designed for entertaining, fast-paced cricket, the PSLs format could not have done more to blunt its sharpness more effectively. Five is an awkward number of teams to play in any league, but stipulating that four go through to the knockout round (which isnt actually a knockout, but thats a different story) makes the group stage almost pointless. Thats an unwelcome indictment, given the group stage is more or less the entire tournament. Therefore, all the teams needed to do to stave off elimination was ensure they didnt finish rock bottom, which meant that very soon, Quetta and Peshawar werent playing for too much at all.It also, surely, made Karachi Kings the worst team in the short history of T20 cricket to advance to a round where they were three matches away from winning the entire event. Shoaib Maliks (and then, of course, Ravi Boparas) men were so ordinary by the end of the group stage that they were guaranteed a losing win-loss record, even if they went on to win the tournament. A format that permits this to happen cannot be much more than a work in progress. Surely the only sensible format was the top two teams making the final? Make that a best-of-three if you must. It would be far more exciting to see Quetta and Peshawar play three hard-fought contests between them than the mess that is the current arrangement.The disappointing crowds at almost every game not held on a Friday, particularly in Dubai, have been a sobering reality check. The huge, lifeless stands that have become an unwelcome hallmark of Pakistans adopted home have been in full evidence for large parts of the event. A smattering of passionate support in a small part of the ground does not do nearly enough to dispel the impression of indifference to the PSL in the UAE - which Sethi put down on the eve of the tournament to a tight marketing budget. While it seems hardly fair to criticise the PSL for sparse crowds - it was an inevitable consequence of the tournament not being held in the cities whose teams featured in the league - such a strong lack of interest in the event from the people of the cities where it did take place is a solemn reminder of the work that still lies ahead if the PSL is going to last much longer than its debut season.That will be the greatest challenge of all. For the PSL to have any kind of long-term future, it needs to come back to the country whose name makes up one third of the acronym, and the unlikelihood, at present, of that happening makes its long-term prospects rather bleak.The PSL has done many things right, but there is room for improvement. (It could take on three more teams and adopt a logical format, for starters.) However, a number of factors in Pakistan cricket simply arent within the PSLs power to change, and it is crucial the tournament doesnt become a wishing wand for spectators and administrators alike. It may well fill the PCBs coffers, but it cannot fill Pakistans stadiums. ' ' '