could only palm away the midfielders cross to Griezmann,

HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The celebration was a bit messy. That tends to happen when history is made.?As Jimmie Johnsons Chevy blew burnout smoke along the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch and his crew hugged it out behind him, the ticket buyers bum-rushed the gates. Race fans funneled through an opening in the catch fence that lines the grandstand and poured over the shoulder-high wall that separates pit road from the racing surface. By the time track workers had set up the stairs to aid their climb, it was too late. They were on the track by the hundreds. And only a few of them wore Jimmie Johnson gear. That did not matter.?I thought people were supposed to not like Jimmie, right? observed Johnsons employer, Rick Hendrick. I said on Friday that I felt like a guy like him wouldnt be appreciated until his career was done.The just-crowned 12-time champion car owner looked over the still-growing crowd being showered in confetti.But it looks like they are doing a pretty good job of appreciating him right now, doesnt it? Hendrick said.? ?Johnson, the 41-year-old Californian, outran the field on a wild final restart, holding off two of his four fellow championship competitors, as well as Kyle Larson, the noncontender who had dominated the 400-mile event. With the win, Johnson became only the seventh driver in NASCAR Cup Series history to reach 80 wins. That was merely his second-most impressive record of the night -- a distant second.?Johnsons seventh Cup title places him alongside Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt to share the most coveted line of the stock car racing record book. His march to that accomplishment has not been easy.He grew up on the low end of the income scale in Southern California, where he became a desert rat, an off-road truck racer. His personality and work ethic endeared him to the builder of those trucks, Chevrolet, and it pushed him into stock cars.He moved east and slept on other racers couches while working to find his NASCAR footing. When Jeff Gordon was wowed by Johnsons fearless style while driving second-tier Busch Series (think Triple-A baseball) equipment, he impossibly tabbed the kid to drive for the team he was cofounding with Hendrick.No one -- especially not Johnson -- foresaw the near-immediate success that followed.?Yet, somewhere along the way, Johnsons story became twisted, from the blue-collar truth into a silver spoon myth. Some of that was rooted in his ride. Hendrick Motorsports is the New York Yankees of NASCAR. More money, more resources ... so, no way the driver could actually be great, right??Petty heard the same complaints in the 1960s and 1970s as he blew past the records set by NASCARs pioneers, including his father, three-time champion Lee Petty. But by the time he won his seventh Cup in 1979, he was the sports most beloved figure.?Earnhardt dealt with even more vicious criticism, directed at his steel-toed driving style and a perception that he was handed multiple advantages by Chevy and even NASCAR. It is conveniently forgotten to history now, but when The Intimidator clinched his seventh Cup at Rockingham, North Carolina, in 1994, the crowd reacted with as many boos as cheers.How dare that scofflaw tie The King!But eventually, even the naysayers embraced Earnhardts greatness.?I think you end up getting what you deserve, Dale Earnhardt Jr. explained, having just left a stage celebration that included his teammates, Gordon and Johnson, as well as a conga line of visits from Tony Stewart, who had just finished his final Cup race, and Kyle Busch, a former Hendrick teammate and one of the fellow title contenders Johnson had to hold off at the end.I think people are coming around, Earnhardt said. Hes always had a great understanding with his people, his fans. Now others are realizing how great he is.?I can tell you this, Earnhardt continued. I have no doubt that you can take Jimmie, my dad and Richard Petty and they would have won championships races whenever and wherever they raced. If Jimmie had raced against Dad, Dad wouldnt have won seven championships; and if Dad had raced against Jimmie, he wouldnt have won seven championships.Again, I think people are coming around. I hope so.?? ?????? ?Thats why Hendrick said what he did on Friday -- that Johnson would be appreciated only through the rearview mirror of time. But the crowd that climbed and shoved its way into his celebration on Sunday night never uttered as much as one boo. Instead, there was thunderous applause, from the grandstand in front of him to the skyboxes behind him.?There was no shortage of questions about how this title was earned. The caution flag that set up the madness -- a pair of late restarts and a red flag -- created plenty of online outrage.Austin Petty, grandson of Richard, tweeted that NASCAR was doing all it could to help Johnson win. (Petty later took the tweet down.) On any other night during Johnsons career, that would have been the prevailing sentiment. Come Monday morning, when sports talk call-in shows crank up, it might be again.?But thats not what the Homestead crowd was running with on Sunday evening. They were running with their smartphone camera apps open, eager to capture the moment.Before the race, when they put the four of us [Cup contenders] in the truck to do a lap around the track, usually I get flipped off, like a lot, Johnson recalled of traditional parade laps. I mean, I get flipped everywhere, every state, no matter where we are. So today, I looked up and they had their hands up, and I realized they werent holding up one finger. They were holding up seven -- so maybe, with what we were trying to do, no matter what hat they were wearing, we had their support today.?Earlier in the day, around the team transporter of Richard Pettys famous No. 43 team, there was a lot of talk about history and what it might mean should Johnson match their boss famous mark.The crew chief for all of Pettys titles, NASCAR Hall of Famer Dale Inman, embraced the idea. (Its likely easier for him to take because he actually has eight titles, winning another with Terry Labonte.) Standing alongside Inman was his nephew, racer-turned-NBC analyst Kyle Petty.The Kings son got visual with his explanation of it all, using a Sharpie to sketch out various peaks to show the eras of his father, Earnhardt and Johnson, with connectors of the others -- the one-, two-, three- and four-time champs.Its like looking at a mountain range, Kyle Petty said. Theres plenty to look at, but the tallest peaks are pretty obvious arent they? It makes it impossible not to notice those guys.??? ?On Sunday night, amid the crushing throng on the Homestead-Miami Speedway frontstretch, they were certainly noticing and perhaps -- finally -- appreciating Jimmie Johnsons ascension to one of those all-time pinnacles.?Honestly, Im a Dale Earnhardt Sr. fan, and Ive always hated Jimmie Johnsons ass, said Bill Lindon of Ocala, Florida, one of those fans who had pushed his way to the edge of the temporary stage NASCAR rolled out atop the start-finish line. But this is a chance to see something thats only happened twice before.I can still think hes great even if I still hate his ass, right? Russell Wilson Jersey . The 27-year-old Scrivens will be joining his third NHL club since signing with the Toronto Maple Leafs as a free agent in 2010. The move also reunites with him with head coach Dallas Eakins from their time together with the American Hockey Leagues Toronto Marlies. Cortez Kennedy Jersey . 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MARSEILLE, France -- France is heading back to soccers elite, and Antoine Griezmann is the man leading the way.Griezmann scored both goals to give France a 2-0 win over world champion Germany on Thursday and a place in the European Championship final against Portugal.It was a victory built as much on German errors as it was on Griezmanns skill, with a handball in the box and a poor defensive pass paving the way for his goals.But that didnt matter to the fans who made Marseilles Stade Velodrome ring with the sound of the Marseillaise, Frances national anthem. Their team won this tournament in 2000, two years after lifting the World Cup, but it hasnt had a trophy since then.Developed as a player in Spain, Griezmann has been the star of the show for France, leading a high-scoring team with six goals, twice as many as any other player in the tournament.I think theres a lot of happiness around France tonight, said coach Didier Deschamps, whose team faces Cristiano Ronaldos Portugal on Sunday at the Stade de France.This team has everything it needs to be loved, Im very proud... Its fabulous to be in the final.Griezmann, who could have completed a hat trick in the 86th minute but shot straight at goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, was already looking ahead.Were very happy, he said. We have to keep our feet on the ground. We still have a match to go.For Germany, defeat cost it the chance to add the European title to the World Cup it won in 2014.It had gone 50 years unbeaten against host nations at major tournaments, dating back to its loss to England in the 1966 World Cup final and encompassing a famous 7-1 humbling of Brazil in the 2014 World Cup semifinals.While a repeat of the Brazil rout was never on the cards, Germany could have scored more than once as it dominated the first half. But it was denied by poor shooting from Thomas Mueller, who ended his tournament scoreless, and a save by Hugo Lloris to block Emre Cans bouncing shot.France took the lead from the penalty spot in first half stoppage time after Bastian Schweinsteiger handled the ball in an aerial challenge with Patrice Evra.Griezmann stepped up to score, striking the penalty hard to Neuers right.I really wanted to take a penalty in a big match like thaat.ddddddddddddI was very composed, I didnt think twice, Griezmann said.It was the second time in as many games that Germany had given away a spot-kick for handball. Jerome Boateng blocked the ball with an arm above his head in the quarterfinal against Italy.Its just bad luck, just an unlucky action, Germany coach Joachim Loew said of the penalty. In a challenge, when youre jumping, there are movements that you cant really control.Trailing in a match for the first time in the tournament, Germany could not recover its previous dominance after halftime. It then had to cope with losing key defender Boateng, who picked up an ankle injury after an hour.The German defense had not conceded from open play all tournament, but it fell apart for Griezmanns second goal in the 72nd minute. A sluggish pass by Benedikt Hoewedes to right back Joshua Kimmich was cut out by Paul Pogba and Neuer could only palm away the midfielders cross to Griezmann, who finished with ease.Germany responded well and could have pulled one back when Kimmich hit the post, before Julian Draxler sent a free-kick narrowly wide and Hoewedes headed over.We had chances to come back, Neuer said. We played a good European Championship and its very bitter to go out.Loew insisted his team had played better than France but had been denied by bad luck, including the injuries and suspensions that hit four key players -- Boateng, as well as defender Mats Hummels, midfielder Sami Khedira and forward Mario Gomez, with the latter three missing the game.Loew, who is under contract until the 2018 World Cup, said he was not sure of his future.France, while not always reassuring in defense, came through victorious in its first game of the tournament against genuinely top-class opposition.After the final whistle, Frances jubilant players celebrated with the fans by performing the Huh chant made famous at the tournament by Iceland.Across France and in the French team, the attention was firmly on the diminutive Griezmann after another decisive performance. Hes our little man that gives us that bit extra, teammate Olivier Giroud said. ' ' '