70-0 Routing Sends "I" Packin'

The University of Arizona football team opened their 2008-2009 season against the Vandals of the University of Idaho. Quite possibly the worst team in NCAA D-1 football, the Vandals uniforms may even be worse than their game.

After losing the opener 70-0, the Vandals thought it was time for a change in the program. They figured, start with the embarrassing pants they have to wear. Located on the buttocks of the pant sits a large 'I', where they want those who attend the game looking, instead of at their horrible play on the field. But the 'I' will be the first thing to go, hoping for a miraculous spark and change in their play on the field.

Man, I'd hate to be the equipment manager that has to remove over 80 sewn-in letters from the back seat of the teams' bottoms. Interesting move. We'll see if it works out for them.

Are The Olympics Live?

As a person who lives and dies by the media, I pick and prod at ways things could be done better when it comes to television, radio and the like. I'm sure most of us are avid Olympics watchers. The opening ceremonies alone were over 4 hours long, and those who watched got to see the largest LCD screen on the face of the planet. And then, the sports got underway.

Beijing is 15 hours ahead of us for those that live on the west coast. If you live in other places, do the math to determine how far ahead it is for your part of the nation, it's not tough. NBC, the leading broadcaster for anything and everything Olympics, usually has sports on in the early to late morning, then the big broadcast takes place in "prime time". Here's a secret for all of you who don't know already: those sports that you are watching in such high anticipation, hoping for the U.S. (or whatever country) to win the gold, have been over for quite some time.

The way I figure it, the sports that you are watching have been over for 3 hours. For those of us who have ESPN as our homepage, we cringe the minute we open our browsers because the headline usually reads: "Phelps wins gold" and we sit back and think, "no point in watching now".

Throughout all this, you are welcomed by the loving voice of Bob Costas saying, "Thanks for joining us, we'll have all the events for you LIVE tonight." Well actually, Mr. Costas, those events have been over for a while now, but thanks for the effort.

How does it feel when you turn on the television to watch that event you've been waiting 4 years for (maybe not but you're pretty excited) and they put up those four letters in the top right-hand side of the screen, then you realize, hey, this isn't live!?!

This has been the torture of my life these last 7 days. Knowing the outcome before I see it. It's almost as if I can see into the future. Do you think it's OK for NBC to lie to the public and say that the events are live? I sure don't.

Great Writing

From time to time, I like to post videos of commercials that I feel are truly written well. Here's one that I feel merits a post. It's a new (somewhat) Old Spice commercial. The marketing/writing package is just brilliant.

Going Yard

Heading into the All-Star break, it's interesting to look back at the first half of the season. There's been some ups and downs, some surprises, and hey, we've already seen one no-hitter. Two key trades have taken place with the home run hitting CC Sabathia to the Brewers and Rich Harden to the Cubs. With the addition of these two pitchers, the N.L. Central race just got a little tighter, and my pick for the N.L. Wild Card just got a little more solid.

But what about the home run hitters? Ryan Howard leads the major leagues with 28 HRs, but hasn't done much else, hitting .234 and has another league leading 129 strikeouts. Howard won't be heading back to this year's home run derby.

Who will be?

1. Lance Berkman - Houston Astros 22 HRs
2. Ryan Braun - Milwaukee Brewers 23 HRS
3. Justin Morneau - Minnesota Twins 14 HRs
4. Josh Hamilton - Texas Rangers 21 HRs
5. Evan Longoria - Tampa Bay Rays 16 HRs
6. Grady Sizemore - Cleveland Indians 23 HRs
7. Dan Uggla - Florida Marlins 23 HRs
8. Chase Utley - Philadelphia Phillies 25 HRs

No Yankees will be putting on a home run show for their home fans at Yankee Stadium. I'm not complaining.

Who will win?

Great question. The feel good story of this years derby is that Josh Hamilton is having a 71-year-old pitch to him. His name, Clay Counsil. He coached Josh's older brother Jason in American Legion summer ball, but never had the chance to coach this year's RBI leader. Hamilton will advance, but he won't win the derby.

Ryan Braun obviously has the gusto to do it, but will fail to advance out of the first round.

Justin Morneau, the last addition to the field and the player with the least amount of home runs, may come in looking to turn some heads and bust out a few dongs. My guess is that he comes up short as he did in last year's derby.

What about Evan Longoria? The kid should win rookie of the year. My gut tells me that his glove is better than his bat, and he'll also fail to get out of the first round.

Grady Sizemore. Guy is a player. I'm going to go out on a limb and say that he edges out Uggla by one or two to go to the semis.

Dan Uggla went on a tear a few weeks ago. He was out for 11 games because of an ankle strain but made a decent return. He finally hit a home run on Sunday against the Dodgers. He hadn't hit a home run in close to a month. He's got something to prove. But won't quite get the job done to advance to the semis.

Chase Utley is legit. Being a former second baseman, I love guys who can play the two-bag and bring some wood to the plate to match. Utley goes to the final but will lose in a close race against Berkman.

Lance Berkman is a hitting machine. The lefty has one of the smoothest swings in baseball. He's got a point to make. He's competed in this competition before, and wants revenge from losing to Miguel Tejada in 2004 in front of his home crowd at Minute Maid Park.

Semi-Finals: Lance Berkman, Chase Utley, Grady Sizemore, Josh Hamilton.

Finals: Lance Berkman vs. Chase Utley.

Winner: Lance Berkman

This year's derby doesn't have as much draw as others, only the fact that it's taking place at Yankee Stadium which gets demolished at the end of the season. However, the story that Josh Hamilton brings with him will definitely be something to watch.

Shout out: Jason Donald was the starting shortstop for the U.S. team in the Future's Game on Sunday. The U.S. only had three hits against team World, one of them collected by Donald. Donald is an Arizona Wildcat, and you can bet he's looking to take over once MVP Jimmy Rollins hangs 'em up for the Phillies. Nick Hundley, also a Wildcat, made his major league debut on July 4th for the San Diego Padres. Kid is a catcher who can do great things as long as he brings his bat with him to the dish. Watch for both of these players in the future.

The Beauty of the Wild Card

The wild card race for Major League Baseball is always one that comes down to the wire. Last year, the National League witnessed the tightest battle, with the Rockies and the Padres fighting it out in a one-game winner take all to get to the post season. The amazing story is that the Rockies not only won, but won their way through the divisional series, and the championship series to gain a berth to the World Series against the Boston Red Sox. Unfortunately, if we all remember, the story ended there, with four quick games and a sweep by the Red Sox for their second title in the last four years.

Nearly half way through the 2008 season, the National League again remains another close race, but just between two teams, St. Louis and Milwaukee. The real race that we will see come September will fall in the American League with 4 teams, if they keep the pace they're at. The unbelievable Rays, the untimely A's, the no wonder Yankees, and the up and coming Twins. A betting man would say the Yankees will blow the other three out of the water and win the wild card for the second straight year, but fans here in Oakland say the A's will give it the best shot they've got. The Rays will have to continue to play well and it's a very young team, which results in the classic "choke" come crunch time. The Twins will have the toughest time, mainly because no one is really hitting for them, and the pitching staff is is left with all the pressure.

I believe the ticket to the post season will be punched for the team who makes the best trades come July 31. The Yankees, being the team with the most leverage, but smart GM's can come up big. My question to the readers out there, is who will win the Wild Card?? Here are my picks as of June 26, 2008.

National League: It'll be close, but I'm going to go on a limb and say the Brewers will beat the Cards out in a one game playoff.

American League: As much as it pains me to say it, the Yankees will go on a tear in the second half and clinch the A.L. spot.

America's Tournament

One of the greatest smells in the world comes around 7 a.m. on any golf course in America. It's the smell of fresh cut grass, giving the course a fresh look for that hungry golfer looking for birdies.

This week the grass that gets cut out at Torrey Pines Golf Course in La Jolla, California, will lay at the feet of some of the best golfers in the world for the 108th meeting of the U.S. Open conducted by the USGA. Some of golf's greatest memories have happened at the U.S. Open. The putt in 1999 by Payne Stewart out at Pinehurst No. 2, to last year's winner Angel Cabrera lighting up a cigarette to calm the nerves on number 18 at Oakmont Country Club.











Just as in any other tournament he plays in, all eyes are on Tiger Woods to win his third U.S. Open in the last eight years. The hot story is if he will be the Tiger we all know after recovering from knee surgery in April. This will be his first tournament back since the surgery. Tiger says the knee is a little sore, but I'm sure a guy like him will play through the pain. So far, Tiger is 0 for 1 in majors this year, so we'll have to wait another year to see if Tiger can be the first person to win the Grand Slam of golf in the same year.

Day 1 is filled with great groupings, of course headlined by the group of Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Adam Scott. Mickelson is ranked #2 in the world, and is still seeking his first U.S. Open championship. Other notable groups on Thursday are Stewart Cink, Sergio Garcia, and Vijay Singh, followed by Mike Weir, and the last two years' Master's Champions, Trevor Immelman and Zach Johnson.

It's America's tournament and ultimately, any member of the USGA has a chance to play. The field is always littered with a few players who have played their way through qualifying rounds to buy themselves a spot to play in the U.S. Open.

Players to watch: Jim Furyk (runner up in the 2007 U.S. Open), and Segio Garcia (a.k.a El Nino) winner of this year's Player's Championship in search of his first major of his career. Garcia finished second to Tiger Woods at the PGA Championship in 1999.

The Dreaded A.L. West and the downfall of the Seattle Mariners

Something unnatural seems to be taking place this year in the A.L. West division of Major League Baseball. The Angels have won the division 4 times in the last 5 years, and look to be the team to beat again this year. The A's are the surprise team of the division, keeping up with the Angels and somehow beating teams they shouldn't. Just yesterday they completed a 3-game sweep of the World Champion Boston Red Sox who brought the best record in the major leagues with them.

The Rangers are just as surprising, with a guy like Josh Hamilton on your team, you can win ball games. The pitching staff won't hold for a post-season berth, but they are still winning games nonetheless.

Then we arrive at the Seattle Mariners. A team that most baseball analysts expected to be over .500 at this point in the season. They added tremendously to their pitching staff by picking up Erik Bedard and Carlos Silva, to compliment the young fireballer in the likes of Felix Hernandez. Problem is, these guys aren't doing much for the team. Bedard (3-3, 4.70). Silva (3-4, 5.14). And Hernandez, who has lost 4 of his last 5 starts since the last time I wrote about him when he was then 2-0, is now 2-4. The problems are everywhere. They can't pitch and they can't hit.

Even Ichiro, the guy who is expected to give you at least 200 hits a year and a 300 average is batting only .289. Close but no cigar. The Mariners are hurting.

I think Richie Sexson knew something else when he charged the mound and threw his helmet at Texas' pitcher Kevin Gabbard. He knew the once worst team in the west was now better than they were. Any matter, Sexson is batting .197. Somehow the guy has 9HR. Whoopity do. They guy needs to go back to Milwaukee, they only place he did any good for the game.

So as the season drags on in the A.L. West, there are new faces vying for the top spot. But one team surely isn't. The Seattle Mariners.