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The Weekend In Sports

sports — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:34:24 +0000

Many people around the country spent the final weekend before Christmas in malls and department stores doing last minute gift shopping, but for those of us stuck inside due to snow or the wonders of shopping via the Internet, there was plenty of interesting sports news and events that took place.

My personal favorite of the past week was the introduction of NFL Saturday night, which brings the number of days we can watch the NFL up to four (3 more to go!). We also saw the start of the college football bowl season, another MLB trade, our first disgruntled NBA’er of the year, some bold accusations against a college basketball coach, and the untimely announcement of the PGA Tours’ player of the year.

So, in case you missed out on this past weekend in sports, here are five interesting stories that your friends and co-workers will be talking about around the proverbial water cooler.

And then there was one: This seasons Saturday NFL debut actually gave fans a solid matchup between the New Orleans Saints and the Dallas Cowboys. The Saints entered the game as one of two remaining undefeated teams in the league but left their loyal home fans in disappointment as their fourth quarter rally fell just short. The loss leaves the Indianapolis Colts as the lone team with the chance at perfection, with two winnable games left against the New York Jets and at the Buffalo Bills.

Not all Knicks have an Empire State of Mind: No can say that New York Knicks’ guard Nate Robinson has been unprofessional, but after being benched for 8 straight games I don’t think anyone would blame him if he was. Robinson’s agent, Aaron Goodwin, is another story. He reportedly asked the Knicks to have his client traded and the two-time slam dunk champion has been surprisingly quiet about it. He says that he wants to stay in New York, but one has to assume that because he is in a contract year he will want minutes on the court more than anything else.

More college football improprieties: The USC football program finds itself in the middle of another recruiting scandal (remember Reggie Bush?), this time surrounding running back Joe McKnight. McKnight was allegedly seen driving an SUV purchased by Santa Monica businessman Scott Schenter, who has thus far denied any wrong doing. Schenter claims that the car belongs to McKnight’s girlfriend and that he is in fact a Washington Husky fan who merely helped her purchase the car because she couldn’t qualify for the loan.

I know we live in America and people are innocent until proven guilty, but if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck…

Bob Knight still causing controversy: Coach Knight hasn’t been a coach in years but he can still cause a ruckus better than anyone in the game. He recently said — completely unprovoked, I might add — that college basketball lacks integrity and that University of Kentucky coach John Calipari was a prime example. When Calipari heard the news he basically went all Voltaire on the media, saying he disagreed with what Knight said but still respected him as a basketball coach.

I suppose Calipari is simply being the bigger man, although I can’t help but think that Memphis and Missouri, which were both forced to vacate Final Four appearances by the NCAA for infractions made during Calipari’s tenure, would say otherwise.

The PGA is a mess: By now we have all heard about Tiger Woods’ accident and subsequent fallout with his family and commitment to the PGA Tour, so it is with what I would imagine are ambivalent feelings that the PGA announced Woods as the Tour’s Player of the Year. It is the 10th time he has won the award and the 8th time he has swept the Tours three biggest awards.

There is no question that Woods is golf’s best player and most marketable asset; the question is when will he return and how will the Tour fare without him? The answers, in my humble opinion — not soon enough and not well.

Image Source: Zimbio

Weekend Recap: Tiger is Human

sports — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 17:19:57 +0000

It might go down as the biggest upset in golf history. It is something that is just not supposed to happen, especially to Tiger Woods. Tiger was 14-0 when leading after the third round in majors and after leading the first three rounds in this major it seemed like the Championship was his. Then stepped in Y.E. Yang, who seemed not at all in awe of the moment or the fact that he was playing the world’s greatest player. Playing head-to-head Yang out shot Woods by five strokes on the day to turn a two stroke deficit to a three stroke win. It was pretty crazy to watch and I thought Tiger was going to be a for sure winner, but it just didn’t happen. With the loss Tiger goes 0-4 in majors this year, he won a lot of other tournaments this year, but I have a feeling that he will come out of the year disappointed. I mean it’s Tiger Woods. He bases his game on majors not just total wins. But there is no need to feel sorry for Tiger because he’ll be back. After all this was his first season back from his knee injury. For Y.E. Yang it’s a big win and a dream come true. You always have to be happy for the underdog who wins against all odds.

In track and field, the World Championships were going on in Berlin. All eyes where on the Men’s 100 where raining “Fastest Man in the World” Usain Bolt was looking to defend his title and possibly break his record. This time though he would have to go through American champ Tyson Gay, who did not make it to the final in Beijing. This would be the first time that the two go at it and Gay said that he was primed to come out with the win. The hype for the race was as big as any and both racers where waiting at the start with their contrasting pre-race styles. Tyson was very serious and focused on the race at hand. Bolt on the other hand was carefree and joking around with the crowd and other competitors, a style that everyone has been used to since Beijing. It was then time for the race and it didn’t disappoint. Bolt flew to a world record of 9.58 making everyone else look slow including Gay who ran an American record and third fastest time ever of 9.71. Bolt is just in a totally different class from everyone else after slashing .11 from his world record time and I don’t see any one taking his crown anytime soon. After all he’s only 23-years-old. Next up for him is the 200 where he will again face Gay and try to take his World Championship title.

Image Source: Getty Images

Weekend Recap: Are You Ready for Some Football?

sports — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 18:47:45 +0000

Football is finally here as the preseason kicked off with TO’s new team, Buffalo Billls, took on the Tennessee Titans. The starters didn’t play very long, but for what they did play they looked pretty good. LenDale White looked especially good, as he came into camp a lot lighter for the season. I think with him and Chris Johnson the Titans are going to have a very potent running game this season. TO also had a few catches in his debut for Buffalo. Its going to be a fun season to watch and I’m just glad that its finally here.

In golf, Tiger Woods was back at it again at the Bridgestone Invitational, dominating the field for his 70th career win. This was his 16th win in 30 World Golf Championship events for Woods and his 5th win this season. All is good for Woods but I have a feeling that he will be very disappointed if he doesn’t get a major win this season, 0-3 this season. He will get his chance this week at the PGA Championship at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minn. I think that Woods will finally get his major win there, although I have said that going into every major this season because of him winning a tournament a week before each. The pressure will be on Woods, but I have a feeling that he can handle it. We will see if he breaks through this week.

In UFC 101, Anderson Silva proved he is one of the best by dominating and even embarrassing former light heavyweight champ Forrest Griffin. Silva was so confident in his skills that he even dropped his hands in front of Forrest then knocked him out as he lunged to hit him. Forrest was so embarrassed by this domination that he ran out the ring and into the locker room after the ref ended the fight. The only question is, who can beat this guy? After Saturday’s performance I’m not sure anyone can right now. I’ll be very interested to see who he will fight next, after Dan Henderson who is already his next fight. I think he is going to stay at light heavyweight so there is plenty of talent there to fight. B.J. Penn also looked good in his fight choking out Kenny Florian.

Image Source: Getty Images, Sherdog.com

Weekend Recap: Boos for Beckham

sports — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 17:58:52 +0000

It was kind of a slow weekend for sports as 3 of the 4 major sports (NFL, NBA, NHl) are in their off-seasons and Tiger Woods didn’t make the cut at the British Open. The NBA is having the summer league but most of the players playing don’t have a real shot at playing in the NBA so the games aren’t too interesting. Soccer had some interesting games though, with the U.S. playing in the Gold Cup and top European clubs (Chelsea, Inter Milan, AC Milan) coming to the states to play exhibitions. The biggest game though may have been David Beckham’s first home game since his return. Let’s just say it wasn’t a warm welcoming! Beckham was greeted with boos from the home crowd with some holding up anti-Beckham signs. Beckham even got into it with a fan that he said “went too far” motioning him to come down from his seat and do something. The fan jumped down and security quickly grabbed him ending the confrontation. Even with all the boos and signs Beckham still thanked the fans when he came out of the game and after said that it was only a few that went over the line. He actually played a pretty good game assisting on two goals in the 2 -2 tie with Italian soccer power AC Milan, the team Beckham was loaned out to. It’s safe to say that home games for the rest of the season are going to be a circus. Maybe Becks solid play will win the fans back.

In golf, the British Open had a pretty good story going on, even with Tiger Woods being out before Saturday. 59-year old Tom Watson was trying to become the oldest champion ever and win his 6th British Open. It was pretty unbelievable to watch as he kept hitting good shot after good shot to lead the field. On the last hole, Watson needed a birdie for the win. He made it on the green with a very make able birdie putt but missed short forcing a 4-hole play-off with Stewart Cink. By this time fatigue and the pressure of the situation had to be setting in for older Watson. And it showed in the play-off as his shots weren’t as crisp as they were all week bogeying three of the four holes. Cink on the other hand came up with three birdies to take the championship and steal the storybook ending for Watson. It was still fun to watch the last round and play-off. Part of me wishes that Watson could have won but on the other hand Cink deserves to get the win also. He was asked a question after if he “felt like the villain in the movies that comes in at the end and steals the girl away from the main character.” He responded laughing and said jokingly, “as long as I get the girl” and that he did.

Image Source: Getty Images

Golf Bags: Quality for Under $120

sports — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 19:26:07 +0000

A quality golf bag helps out so much on the course, especially when your walking it. It allows you to play comfortably knowing that anything you need is ready for you in the bag. Also having a stand on the bag allows you to keep the bag up and ready and prevents you from having to always bend over all day. Here are some good quality bags that I found all for under the reasonable price of $120:

2009 Taylor Made Monaco Cart Golf Bag - $79.99

New Taylor Made Monza Stand Bag Grass/White - $79.99

TaylorMade Tourino Stand Bag - $79.99

Sun Mountain Mini Stand Bag - $79.95

Sun Mountain Womens Mini Stand Bag - $79.99

Sun Mountain Lightning Stand Bag - $119.97

TaylorMade Corza Stand Bag - $119.99

Check out more golf bags at Smarter.com

Golf Deals: Get Geared Up for Under $150

sports — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 17:52:45 +0000

In the last deal of the day I showed you high quality putters that you can find for under $150. Now I’ll show you how the get geared up apparel wise for under $150. My goal is to find good quality products that are either on sale or have a reasonable price. There are plenty of other combinations of products to get geared up for under $150, but I tried to go with quality and name brand. Here’s what I found:

Nike Dura Feel (Golf Gloves)- $5.99

Adidas University Golf Shoes: $34.99

ClimaCool White Base Stripe Polo: $34.99

Nike Golf SP Pant: $49.99

That brings the total to $126.96 not including tax. What a deal!! These are all high quality products with name recognition. You now have an extra $23 to buy anything else you think you need while your out on the course.

Shop through a wide variety of discount golf gear and equipment at Smarter.com.

Good Deals on Golf Putters

sports — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:39:49 +0000

One of the most important parts of the game of golf is putting. It can drive even the most advanced players crazy! Having a putter that you are comfortable and have a feel for can make all the difference. You’ll start seeing the difference in no time. Yes like all golf clubs they can be expensive, but you can still get a great deal on putters for under $150. Here are some good putters for great prices:

Odyssey PREMIUM PRE-OWNED WHITE HOT XG BELLY PUTTER: $129.93 (Was: $189.99)

Odyssey White Hot XG Marxman Putter: $139.00

Buy it from Amazon.com and get FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25 – no coupon code required.

Nike Ignite Putter: $69.99 (Was: $89.99)

Buy it at GolfSmith.com and get FREE SHIPPING on your order when you enter BBAC710 at checkout.

Odyssey 2009 White Hot XG Putter: $119.99

Odyssey PREOWNED WHITE HOT XG 2BALL BLADE: $129.99 (Was: $169.99)

Find at Smarter.com: Shop through all golf putters.
Discounts on golf gear.

Weekend Recap in Sports

sports — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:54:58 +0000

It was an interesting weekend for sports. The marquee event the U.S. Open had rain and bad weather all weekend so it needed to end today. Tune in if you can as big names like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson are still lurking for the win. It has been a surprising tournament so far as two unknown players (Lucas Glover and Ricky Barnes) have been pacing the field. The first two rounds they were playing unbelievably well, but they started to fade back toward the field in the 3rd round leaving an opening for others to win on the final round Monday. I would say that its all up in the air right now and the player that shoots best today will win the U.S. Open.

In soccer, Team U.S.A. pulled off one of the most improbable runs to the Semifinals in the Confederations Cup with help from Brazil. Needing just about a miracle to happen, it just did. The only way the U.S. could advance to the next round after losing the first two games to Italy and Brazil was with a win over Egypt and an Italy lose to Brazil. Not only that they needed to make up the 6 goal differential tie-breaker. Brazil did their part beating the Italians 3-0 giving way for the U.S. to advance if they won 3-0 also. And they did, playing their best game of the tournament. It was very exciting to watch as both games were going on simultaneously, but you could tell that the players on each field knew the score on the other. When the U.S. game went final there was pure jubilation amongst the players as they knew they pulled off the improbable. They’ll take on number one in world Spain on Wednesday in the semis. It will be a very tough game and I don’t see the U.S. advancing, but we will see. In the other semifinal Brazil will take on the host South Africa.

In baseball, the College World Series has its two final teams as LSU will take on Texas in the Final series. It will be a good match up between two college baseball powers. Keep an eye on it during the week. In the MLB, there were some good inter-league series with my personal favorite, the Freeway Series between the Angels and Dodgers. The series concluded on Sunday night with the Dodgers pulling the 5-3 victory and World Champion Kobe Bryant was in attendance enjoying the game.

Image Source: Getty

Top 5 Sports Events to Watch this Week

sports — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 18:24:48 +0000

Monday was a very slow day in sports. The NBA and NHL just ended their seasons, Baseball had only two games on in the MLB and the NFL is still at least a month away. There was some good news as the College World Series was getting into elimination games and an international soccer tournament was just getting under way. The rest of the week should get a lot better in sports. Here’s the list of top 5 sports related events to watch this week.

5. Laker Championship Parade

Sport: NBA
When it’s on: Wednesday, June 17 @ 11 a.m. Pacific Time

The Lakers clinched the NBA Championship last Sunday in Orlando. The next logical step for any champion is to have a parade. But, when you’re the Lakers, you have a victory parade that costs about $2 million. This will be a big event for LA not so much for Lebron James (I just had to put that in there). This event is so big that they had to have it in a football stadium to make room for all the people they are expecting. The thing to watch for will be what Laker busts a Mark Madsen and embarrass themselves. My money is on Pau Gasol!

4. College World Series

Sport: College Baseball
When it’s on: All week starting today @ 11 a.m. Pacific Time

I know college baseball doesn’t get all the publicity that football and basketball does, but the CWS is always fun to watch. It’s a tournament where any team is capable of winning and many times the unexpected does happen. The last four champions where not even ranked in the tournament. It’s a fun event to watch even if you don’t have a team. You can just pick a designated team and have fun watching till the end.

3. MLB
Sport: MLB
When it’s on: All week

The baseball races are starting to heat up right about now with teams finding out if they are contenders or pretenders. This week should especially be fun to watch with many AL-NL rivalries taking place because of inter-league play. Some interesting match ups include: Cubs vs. White Sox, Dodgers vs. Angels, Astros vs. Rangers. It’s always fun to watch two teams from the same state or city battle for bragging rights amongst fans.

2. Confederations Cup

Sport: International Soccer
When it’s on: All week for group play

International Soccer is one of my favorite things to watch. The passion that the players and fans have for the game is almost unmatched. This tournament although not that big (only 8 team) should be fun to watch because of world powers such as Spain, Brazil and Italy. The U.S. is also in the tournament looking to make a statement, which should give the average U.S. fan something to root for. The U.S. has a lot of work to do after losing to Italy in their first game to make it to the next round, but it should be fun to watch anyway. Some great match-ups to watch for: U.S. vs. Brazil, Italy vs. Brazil, Spain vs. anyone. I just love to watch the way Spain plays.

1.U.S. Open

Sport: Golf
When it’s on: Starts Thursday, June 18 @ 4 a.m. Pacific Time

This is the main event of the week. All eyes will be on Tiger Woods to see if he can defend his Open title. He played really well in the last tournament with his come from behind win. This year’s course is said to be very difficult. So, it will be fun to watch these pros smack the ball around and look average. Any one can win on a course like that, but my money is still on Tiger. It will be exciting to watch.

Source: AP Photo

Weekend Recap: Titles Won and Almost Won

sports — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 18:23:21 +0000

It was great to be a sports fan this weekend. With the NBA and NHL Finals going on surrounded by many other great events and tons of baseball, one could have stayed home and watched sports all weekend. Let’s see what happened. The amount of people doubting Tiger Woods would ever return to his great form, just got a little smaller on Sunday.

Tiger is back on form and his final round Sunday proved it. Down after 3 rounds, Tiger came roaring back and found himself tied for the lead with two shots to go. It seemed like every shot was just perfectly placed and by this time I don’t think anyone though that anyone besides Tiger was winning this tournament. And with two more clutch birdies on the final two holes, he did win. It was just amazing and fun to watch. Even the host of the tournament Jack Nicklaus was very impressed. Saying that he expects Tiger to break his 18 career majors record, with his 15th coming in two weeks at the U.S. Open. From what I saw on Sunday my moneys on Tiger too.

While Tiger was winning on the golf course another great player had a lot to prove on the tennis court.

Through Roger Federer’s greatness, he had still never won the French Open. And with the much younger Rafael Nadal seemingly unbeatable on this surface, many wondered if he ever would win it. But on Sunday he did it and in the process of winning the career Grand Slam, he also tied Pete Sampras at 14 Grand Slams. Though he didn’t have to go through Nadal (was upset earlier in tournament) on this time, no one can take this victory away from him. Even Sampras said that with this win it “solidifies his place in history as the greatest player that played the game.” I agree with him for right now, but I believe that Nadal will pass him by the time he’s finished. Federer also got a little scare from a fan running on the court and trying to put a hat on him. It was funny but kind of scary that it took so long for the security to chase this guy away.

On the ice there’s been a pretty good series going on that probably no one is watching between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings. And I don’t think the NHL or NBC cares by the way they have scheduled the games.

Who plays back to back games in the Finals? Hockey I guess. The series was just tied up by the Penguins before they got blasted by the Wings 5-0 on Saturday. That win gave them a 3-2 series advantage but the next game is in Pittsburgh and the home team has won every game in this series. I expect it to go 7 games with the Penguins winning at home. Game 7 will be a toss up that can go either way.

In the NBA Finals the Magic had a lot to prove to all the people saying the series was over after the blow out in Game 1.

Both teams came out slow in the first half missing many shots and just playing sloppy. But in the second half a very entertaining competitive game broke out. In the closing seconds both teams had a chance get the win. Kobe was blocked from behind on his attempted for the win and the Magic then called time out with less than a second. The Magic drew up an excellent out of bounds play that got rookie Courtney Lee a wide open alley-oop lay up. He missed it though sending the game to overtime where the Lakers pulled out the win. This game was a lot more competitive than the first game and there should be more of the same as the series shifts to Orlando. Game 3 is going to be big for both teams. If the Lakers win we could be looking at a sweep. If the Magic wins then this series will most likely make it back to LA. We’ll see this week.