April 9, 2007
One of the most unlikely of golfers claimed his piece of history yesterday afternoon. Zach Johnson not only won The Masters, he won the respect of millions of fans across the world. It took a player with guts to shoot a 69 in the final round at Augusta. Any person who thinks Tiger lost this is wrong, Johnson won this tournament with outstanding play.
There are a couple of moments that will define this tournament for me. The first is Johnson’s 2nd shot on the 18th. He left it about 20 yards short of the pin and I thought he was going to Bogey the hole and open the door for Justin Rose, and Tiger Woods. On his third shot he nearly holed it for the birdie, but instead left it within a gimme put. That chip effectively won him the tournament. Rose would have to go one under on the final 2 or Tiger would have to go birdie, birdie and neither happened.
The second defining moment was on Tiger’s second shot of the Par 5 15th. He wanted to use his 4 iron, but that was broken the hole earlier on his incredible shot out of the rough. Tiger had to reach the green with a strong 5 iron on 15. He did not and went into the water. He saved par, but he needed to at least birdie that hole to catch Johnson. What a great day for golf, at least for one major a player tamed the Tiger!
April 8, 2007
One of the most exciting times of the golf season, is when The Masters comes around. There is nothing quite like the fight to win the honor of wearing the green jacket. The first three rounds have been grueling and perhaps the most grueling ever at Augusta.This is the first time ever that the leader after 54 holes has been over par. The precious high was even par. Tiger was excellent all day, but bogeyed his final 2 holes to set back his round.
The other player that looked great until the 17th was the Australian Stuart Appleby who was under par heading the the 17th but choked with a triple bogey. That mistake by Appleby could very well cost him the tournament. It has to be a daunting task for Appleby knowing he is paired with Tiger on Sunday at Augusta.
I am ruling Appleby out for winning the green jacket, there are only a few players that would derail Tiger’s quest for yet another major. The player with the best chance is Padraig Harrington who is only two strokes off the lead and one off of Tiger. He shot a 68 Friday which is tied for the best round of the tournament. He is capable of putting up a low number and putting the pressure to Tiger. There is a large group of players at six over who could all put up a quality score, but one has to figure at worst Tiger shoots a 72 tomorrow. The conditions are brutal, it is cold windy and scoring is high. Who can derail the Tiger train? Smart money says Tiger slips on a green jacket tomorrow evening, but if anyone can knock him off it is Padraig Harrington. We all anxiously await the final round.
April 4, 2007
The Florida Gators capped an incredible run of college sports, by capturing their second straight NCAA hoops title. Florida also won the BCS Championship in Football this past January. The Gators truly are on top of the college sports world. The biggest issue facing Florida sports right now, is whether Billy Donovan will leave to take the Kentucky basketball job or stay in Gainsville.
It has been quite a ride for Donovan, who was an assistant under Rick Pitino at Kentucky for five years before starting his head coaching career. That culminated with the head coaching job at Florida in 1996. Donovan has been at Florida for 11 seasons and made this football school a force to be reckon with on the basketball court.
I think it is time for Donovan to leave Florida and move to one of the best jobs in all of college basketball at Kentucky. There are a couple different reasons I am saying this, the first is Kentucky is set to offer Donovan a long-term deal averaging 3 million per season.
The second is Florida is filled with talented players 3 of which will be sure bet lottery picks. They have two others who will be late first early second round picks. Al Horford, Joakim Noah, and Corey Brewer are tremendously talented players, that passed up big money to come back to school once, and you can’t expect they all will do it again. Donovan has put himself into elite company.
Florida always has and always will be a football first school, Kentucky is just the opposite, those fans live and die KU hoops. Donovan will always play second fiddle to Urban Meyer and the football team in Alum’s and boosters eyes. As wonderful as things are in Florida, Donovan needs to make this move for security, legacy, and maybe most important icon status. Kentucky is in the small group of basketball programs with UCLA, UNC, and Duke where their team is a national job. Florida will not be that job in five years with all the talented players leaving. The time is right Billy make the move to Kentucky, you have done all there is to do in Gainsville.
April 2, 2007
The moment baseball fans wait for, is finally upon us. Major League Baseball is back. Unfortunately, for the Red Sox it was not the start they envisioned. Curt Schilling was ineffective and never seemed to get in a grove all afternoon in a steamy Kansas City. The offense was stagnent led by Julio Lugo striking out in his first 3 at bats out of the leadoff posistion. 
The team never found a grove and could not capitalize on opportunities throughout the game. the game is not the way any Red Sox fan envisioned the team starting the season, espicially at a dreadful Royals ballpark. With all that being said, it is one game out of 162 and the team will move foward and the sun will still rise tomorrow. I remain confident Schilling will have a strong season and the team will play well throughout the season. For me the real season starts Thursday afternoon when Daisuke Matsuzaka toes the rubber for his first big league start.
March 29, 2007
After a search of just over three weeks the Quinnipiac Bobcats have found their man to replace Joe Desantis at the helm of Men’s basketball. After attending the press conference I come away impressed at the demeanor and attitude of undoubtedly the most important coach in Quinnipiac athletics history.
Tom Moore gave a great speech about the excitement and anxiousness that comes with a new challenge. This is a great fit for Quinnipiac, it saddens me that I will not be here to enjoy what truly should become a powerhouse in the NEC. Foxsports reports the deal to be in the neighborhood of 300,ooo per year Whatever the exact number is does not matter, what matters is that the most lucrative sport in college athletics at Quinnipiac has a coach they can be proud of. Tom Moore will turn this program into a successfull team on and off the court, something former coach Joe Desantis failed at during his tenure at Quinnipiac.
Moore comes from UCONN where he worked under the wing of one of the best coaches in all of college basketball Jim Calhoun. Calhoun spoke glowingly about his protege. This is a historic day in Quinnipiac athletics, never has their been a higher profile coach coming in to take over a program. Recruits will improve, graduation rates will improve, and maybe soon enough the conference will improve. There is plenty of pressure on Moore to succeed, but if the press conference said anything it was we have a class act coming to lead the basketball program to success in the imediate future.
March 28, 2007
I was surfing through the web and found an interesting article on the show LOST and more specifically the character John Locke. I feel Locke is representative of everything the show is and what it sets to accomplish. He is a deeply spiritual person who believes in the island and all that it brings. Locke has suffered through many tragidies in his life, most importantly with his con-artist father ruining his life. The show has taken flack for moving to the 10 pm time slot and losing millions of viewers in the ratings, but LOST keeps ticking.
The show may be struggling with viewers becasue of the new time slot, but it still is in the top 10 in the 18-49 demographic. I watch quite a few shows, watching LOST I feel more interested with each show. Compared to shows like 24 and Prison Break, which consistently get worse and extended for no reason. Do yourself a favor watch LOST you might find out that is an entertaining look at the lives of strangers surviving on an island in the middle of knowhere.
March 26, 2007
What a fantastic tournament that has been happening. I cannot remember such a high level of play. I honestly believe the four best teams in the country will be playing this weekend in Atlanta. Kansas and UNC had great years, but ultimately fell short. This columnists agrees with my assessment on the tournament. Greg Oden has got be back on the bandwagon. He is the best player in college basketball. I love Durant and all he has done, but Oden is a once in a generation player. His interior defense is as good as I have ever seen.
If any team was going to knock off Florida, I thought it would be Kansas. They have the talent and athleticism to match-up with any team in the country. They could handle the size and outside shooting of Florida. With Kansas being eliminated it is hard to imagine any of these three teams being able to handle Florida. The UCLA big men are not going to be able to handle Noah and Horford. After that Florida will get one of two stingy defensive teams with limited scorers. Florida to be dismay will more than likely raise another title, giving them the last 3 major college athletic titles. One football and two basketball titles. Florida is the center of college athletics.
March 22, 2007
The long awaited question this spring has finally been answered. The Red Sox have their man
The speculation throughout Red Sox spring training has been who can replace Papelbon. Would it be Mike Timlin, Joel Pineiro, or Julian Taverez. The bottom line is the best solution was to bring back the guy who dominated the American League all of last year. It took a while to come to this, but Papelbon is thrilled with the decision. Red Sox nation should be thrilled too. The Sox now have one of the most dominant and intimidating closers in the business anchoring the back end of their bullpen. The immediate question is who will jump into the rotation in his place. I say Jon Lester will be in the rotation before long. All is good in Red Sox nation their man is back in the fold and life couldn’t be any better.
March 20, 2007
One of the greatest times of the year is right around the corner. That of course is Opening Day and the start of a new baseball season. A season for hope and a new beginning for fans all over the globe. I am blessed to be living during the glory days of Red Sox baseball, but this year might not be so great if this team doesn’t find a closer soon. The season is 13 days away and Terry Francona still has not named his opening day closer. The Boston Herald reported that Craig Hansen is out of the running for closer.
I originally thought going into spring training the tall right hander would be the perfect fit for the anchor of the bullpen, unfortunately he has not been able to find any consistency this spring. Another possibility that exists is long time veteran Mike Timlin could cease the job. Timlin has been solid throughout his career, but it might be to much to ask to have him hold down the fort at the age of 41. Timlin has accelerated his spring throwing in recent days as he recovers from a left oblique strain. He would presumably be the favorite to win the job right now.
I offer two candidates if I were the Red Sox organization I would give a long hard look at for the most crucial position on the pitching staff. The first is hot young prospect Bryce Cox, pitchers have been making the jump from college to the majors quicker than ever a kid with a live arm and a good make-up is worth a look. The Boston Heral’s Jeff Horrgan looks at the possibility of the young right hander seizing the job sooner rather than later.
The second candidate the Red Sox should think about is Kyle Snyder. After getting off to a slow start Snyder has quietly turned it on. He is out of options so if the Red Sox don’t keep him on the 25 man roster he will certainly be scooped up by some other team. He was the #7 overall pick in the 1999 draft. The man has a lot of talent. His curveball and ability to throw consistent strikes could be the solution to the problem that ails the Red Sox bullpen.
Now Red Sox nation waits, but no need to worry Sox fans Keith Foulke was the closer to break out of Fort Myers last year only to lose the job to Jonathan Paplebon who only had 35 saves and a 0.92 ERA last season. Maybe the closer solution will happen sooner rather than later, but if not the team should have a strong enough lineup and starting rotation to win a lot of games. Red Sox nation turns its eyes to you Mr. Francona the move is yours.
March 19, 2007
I was searching through wordpress and found a site dedicated to Bay area teams. David Wells going down with Diabetes is something I will keep an eye on. He is notorious for his drinking and sometimes questionable antics, but he has been a tremendous player for his tenure in the majors.
