Sports Blog » Running

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

It was a slower weekend than most in sports, but some interesting stuff still happened.  In soccer, Team U.S.A. was in their first ever final of a tournament in their international soccer history.  They got there by shocking the world in beating Spain, the number one ranked team in the world by FIFA.  Now to get their first ever win they would have to go through another world power in Brazil.  The game started out well for the U.S.A. as they got a quick goal only 10 minutes into the game.  This seemed to give them confidence as they dominated play for the rest of the half adding another goal before have time.  It was a shocking score at half time but you knew Brazil would try to answer in the second half.  And that they did as they dominated play in the second half and scored 3 times to get the 3-2 victory.  The U.S. seemed to be playing not to lose in the second have and it came back to bite them as they allowed to much room for Brazil to just keep attacking.  Even after losing the match, the U.S. could keep their heads high as they matched up with two of the best teams in the world and had a chance two win both games, even dominating play at times.  Nobody expected that to happen and it should put the world on notice to what Team U.S.A. is capable of going forward.  Next year’s World Cup should be very interesting.

In track & field, the U.S. was holding its annual National Championships.  The winners of these races are going to represent the U.S.A. in the in the World Championships in Berlin.  While most of the favorites in the races came out with victories, a surprise result happened in the men’s 200m when Shawn Crawford ran one of his best races in years and came out with the victory.  A gold medalist in 2004, Shawn had been quiet in track for a while.  Now he’ll get to compete for the World Championship.  Other new National Champions include Christian Cantwell (shot put), Jenn Stuczynski (pole vault), Bershawn Jackson (400 hurdles) Dawn Harper (100 hurdles) and Lopez Lomong (1,500 meters).  All will be representing the U.S. at the World Championships.

In baseball, Mariano Rivera became the second player in baseball history to reach 500 career saves.  He’s been one of the best closers in baseball for a while so it’s good to see him get to this milestone.  I think it only validates his Hall of Fame credentials.  Also, Manny comes back to the Dodgers this week.  After playing to sold out excited minor league stadiums he will finally have to face a major league crowd.  It will be interesting to see how the fans react to him on the road, as we already know the Dodger fans will still love him.

Music lovers and avid runners/walkers will gather together Saturday, September 15^th at 9 a.m. at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the Nike Run Hit Remix. This sounds like a BLAST. Instead of jammin’ out on your iPod why not run/dance to LIVE MUSIC?! The performers this year are better than last year’s (in my opinion – minus De La Soul): Sir Mix-A-Lot , Naughty by Nature, Dawn Robinson of En Vogue (more recently Lucy Pearl), The Sugar Hill Gang, and last but not least MC Hammer. That’s right. MC Hammer will be at the finish line for the final performance so you can celebrate your accomplishment of running a whole 5 MILES with a little “You Can’t Touch This”.

I wish The Sugar Hill Gang was going to be at the end of the race instead of MC Hammer. If they performed “Apache”, just as I crossed the finish line, I would dance like Carlton and Will on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. See the clip below - “Jam on it, Jam on it!”

YouTube - Watch 

Registration started August 6^th and is capped at 10,000 runners. Hurry because it sold out last year and WILL sell out this year. Click here for volunteer information and to register for this event.