Jeff Gordon is in first place in the Nextel Cup Chase standings with just four races left to go. If he holds on to win, he’ll claim his fifth Cup championship. Is Gordon the best of all-time?

Now hold on there. NASCAR may not do a very good job of promoting its rich history, but there are a few other notable drivers you may have heard of: Dale Earnhardt, Cale Yarborough, Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip leap to mind. Gordon certainly belongs in the mix; however, even in the subjective world of “Who’s best,” it’s hard to argue against Petty.

NASCAR tends to ignore any results before the “modern era” of stock car racing began in 1971. Petty won five Cups between 1971 and 1979, but he also took the Grand National division in 1964 and 1967. He also won a record 200 races during his storied career, including seven Daytona 500s. All hail “The King.”

Justice has been served on the Formula 1 circuit. Or has it?

Last month, manufacturer McLaren was fined $100 million and booted out of the constructors’ championship for engaging in industrial espionage against rival Ferrari. That decision made Ferrari the runaway champion carmaker over BMW Sauber.

McLaren was still lined up nicely for the drivers’ championship, with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso holding down the top two spots going into Sunday’s season finale at Sao Paulo. But Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen won the Brazilian Grand Prix to finish on top of the standings by a single point over Alonso and Hamilton.

There’s one hitch, though. According to the BBC, race officials are investigating whether some of the cars that placed ahead of Hamilton, who finished seventh, had irregular fuel temperatures. If those cars are disqualified, Hamilton will move up to fourth place at Sao Paulo and will win the drivers’ title. Hold on to those tickets.

It’s going to be hard to bet against the Colorado Rockies in this year’s World Series. They’ve won 21 of their last 22 games, sweeping the Chicago Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks to reach their first Fall Classic in franchise history.

However, this is still a National League team. The talent level in the senior circuit is simply not at the same level as the American League. Only two teams played well enough to register 90 wins: the Diamondbacks and the Rockies, and it took a tiebreaker victory against the San Diego Padres to put Colorado at 90-73. Over in the AL, four teams topped that mark, including the two ALCS combatants from Cleveland and Boston, each with 96 wins.

The folks at Baseball Prospectus had Colorado’s World Series chances pegged at 46.9 percent heading into Game 5 of the ALCS. Cleveland was at 47.4 percent, and Boston 5.6 percent.

Between the Tim Donaghy scandal and the Joey Crawford suspension, the betting public has been exposed to the sadder side of NBA officiating. ESPN’s Ric Bucher cited “as many as nine” veteran referees this past August who were unhappy with their jobs and the way the league is treating them. “With every whistle, guys think, ‘Will the tape justify the call?’” said one official.

The anticipated response from the zebras is one of zero tolerance around the rim, something the head office has advocated for several years. We may also see a rise in borderline flagrant fouls as the refs err on the side of caution. This march to the free-throw line would lead to higher scores (think Dwyane Wade) while further disrupting the flow of the game.

Ironically, Donaghy was believed to have increased his whistle-blowing in order to drive the “over” to the pay window. Now everyone will be able to profit at the charity stripe.

Scouting is still alive and well in baseball. Statistical analysis may be the preferred method of drafting young talent for smart teams on a shoestring budget, but if you’ve got the dough, it pays to get a first-hand look.

College baseball teams across the nation have been holding their annual Scout Day events over the past few weeks. These typical “combine” events herald the start of training camp, featuring the kind of offensive and defensive drills we’ve come to know and love (or loathe): 60-yard dashes, stealing bases, taking grounders. An intra-squad game usually caps off the proceedings.

These scout days are open to alumni (and sometimes to the general public) as well as scouts, so it’s a golden opportunity for handicappers to get to know their school’s baseball programs. Otherwise, the results of these combines aren’t published nearly as widely as they are for college football. Consider yourself on the “inside” if you attend.

Scoring is supposed to be down in the MLB playoffs. Forget that. Seven players managed to swat a pair of home runs in their short division series; five of them have advanced to the league championships.

Little surprise that Boston’s Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz are on that list. Or that Colorado’s Matt Holliday continued to feast on the Phillies after hitting 36 long flys during the regular season. Even Arizona’s Chris Young (32 HR) got his usual all-or-nothing cuts against the Cubs. But Stephen Drew?

The presence of the light-hitting Snakes shortstop (12 HR, .370 SLG) underlines the difficulty of predicting a postseason home-run king. It’s a small sample size of games, and anybody can win, just like anybody can win the World Series once you get in. Last year’s big bopper was Detroit’s Craig Monroe with five. Paul Konerko also went deep five times in 2005. Might as well pick Coco Crisp.

Yes, Brett Favre is human. His third-quarter throw to Brian Urlacher (oops) let the Chicago Bears back into Sunday night’s matchup with the Green Bay Packers. And now the Pack are 4-1 SU and ATS.

But we still love Favre. And we like what he might be able to do in Week 6 against the Washington Redskins and their middle-of-the-pack defense. Even with that puzzling interception, Favre was 29-for-40 for 322 yards against the Bears. His 95.1 passer rating after five games is right in line with his best seasons in 1995 and 1996 – the latter earning Favre his Super Bowl ring.

We also love the fact that Favre is still throwing laser beams at age 38 (Happy Birthday, today!). And, of course, he’s got the charisma factor. The movie-star looks don’t win football games, but poise, confidence and leadership do. For the first time in a while, Favre had confidence in his team’s offense.

College baseball continues to make inroads into the sports mainstream – and betting is no exception. This year’s College World Series will get some extra exposure, thanks to the NCAA powers that be deciding in August to move the start of the CWS to a Saturday. ESPN will be pleased.

Here is the current schedule for the entire 64-team Division I men’s Tournament:

Regionals: May 30-June 2
Super Regionals: June 6-8 or June 7-9

Men’s College World Series: June 14-24/25
Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium, Omaha, Neb.
Host: Creighton University

“The Blatt” has been hosting the CWS since 1950, regularly setting attendance records and forcing the expansion of the stadium. Ticket prices are going up a buck for the 2008 series.

It won’t be long before the exhibition and regular-season schedules are announced. Preseason play usually begins in January, with conference action getting underway in March. The Oregon State Beavers are the defending two-time national champions.

The Steelers can be beaten. Arizona knocked Pittsburgh over Sunday, 21-14. So Seattle should have no trouble this week, right?

Pffft. The Seahawks dusted off San Fran 23-3 to match the Steelers at 3-1 SU, but Seattle is just 2-2 ATS and hasn’t played anywhere close to the Super Bowl team we saw two years ago. The Steelers are favored by six points, tucked in nicely under the magic seven.

Over in the Windy City… well, we warned you about Brian Griese, didn’t we? The Bears gamely fought off Detroit’s potent offense for three quarters, as Tommie Harris and several others played hurt, but they couldn’t keep it up for the full 60 minutes. The Packers, meanwhile, are 4-0 SU and ATS and still just laying three points at home. This is mind-boggling. It’s not like Brett Favre’s face isn’t being plastered all over the newsstands. Keep an eye on Chicago’s injury updates, but think Packers.

The New England Patriots didn’t score 38 points this time. But Monday night’s 34-13 win on the road against the Bengals was suitably convincing – New England joined Dallas and Green Bay at 4-0 SU and ATS.

Despite the success of the Pats, Cowboys and Packers, Week 4 was one for the dogs: 9-5 SU and ATS. Among the surprises: Cleveland (+3.5 at home) beat Baltimore 27-13, Kansas City (+12) downed San Diego 30-16, and Arizona (+5.5) stopped Pittsburgh 21-14.

That last result was the biggest surprise of the week. Baltimore has its weaknesses, and the Chargers have certainly struggled, but the Steelers were rolling along quite nicely at 3-0 SU and ATS. Call it a revenge game for Arizona’s Ken Whisenhunt and Russ Grimm, both of whom were passed over for the head coaching vacancy in Pittsburgh. More importantly, call it a victory for proponents of the two-quarterback system. Hey, if it worked for the Florida Gators…