He's done it! Andy Murray has won the men's singles title at Wimbledon! Seventy-seven years of waiting for a British winner is over! (And I wouldn't be surprised if he goes on to add more Wimbledon titles to this one, and other grand slams to his US Open title - he's every bit as good as Djokovic, Federer and Nadal).
Nah he's a British Hero for life now. He'll be knighted before he's retired, and I wouldn't be surprised if the All England Club name the centre court after him. He deserves it too. With Nadal and Federer beginning to decline, it's beginning to look like he and Djokovic are the future of the sport. Dave Nonis is very bad at his job, managing to 'fix' the few things that weren't wrong with the Leafs, blow their cap money on a 29 year old grinder and the utterly useless Bozak, without doing a thing to fix the problems with the team. If the Leafs can't make the playoffs next year, I hope they end up last in their division so that Nonis won't get the chance to do lasting, crippling damage to the franchise with Kessel's contract ending next off-season. Without Kessel, the Leafs may as well ice the Marlies, their AHL team.
Ryan Braun suspended for 65 games after it turns out that "I never had anything else to do with Anthony Bosch" was a lie, as was his whole case against the original suspension. He says he "made some mistakes". No he didn't. He cheated, then lied about it, then lied some more. He says he is "taking responsibility". Really? It seems to me that if he were really "taking responsibility", he'd give back his fraudulently won MVP award and quit the game for good. That would be taking responsibility. Sadly, we're not done, yet. Still to come is the full drama of the A-Roid suspension, all while Hal Steinbrenner does his best Captain Renault imitation ("I'm shocked! Shocked!"). I'm not against baseball giving itself an enema - it's certainly past due for one. I just wish they'd do a more thorough job of it.
Baseball is in trouble. It's image is tarnished. I think they should gut the thing and rethink their model (start with fewer games, maybe) ... weed out some of this foolishness going on. There is plenty of young, honest talent that will step in and replace this old, roid-fueled guard that is bringing shame on the sport.
There is no question that baseball has been done in by the chase for still more dollars - too many teams, too many players, too many meaningless games. When I first started watching baseball, there were 18 teams in the two leagues, combined. There were no divisions, just two leagues, the winners meeting in the World Series. That means that, by that standard, 40% of players we now call "major leaguers" should be in AAA or lower. That's why the quality of play is so much lower than it used to be (well, as well as the radically increased travel, the elimination of planned doubleheaders, etc etc). Also, let's not forget much longer games, as more room is stuffed in between innings for commercials - three minutes every half inning means 54 minutes of dead time. I remember a game at Yankee Stadium in '71 or '72 against the Angels - Nolan Ryan pitched. Not a no-hitter, but a very well-pitched game. It took less than two hours (yes, for a 9 inning game). Couldn't happen now.
[MENTION=18415]EdFromNY[/MENTION] Wow--I'd love to see Nolan Ryan pitch. Didn't he put a guy in a headlock once? That's a great point about the duration of the games, and it's a problem that American football suffers from as well (I played both baseball and football until I graduated college and love both sports). This is one of the main draws of the NHL and soccer, in my opinion. When you watch these sports, you get a period or a half of nearly uninterrupted sport. As much as I love football and baseball, I simply don't enjoy watching them anymore.
I actually cannot watch an American football game in real time. I have to record it, then start watching about an hour after the start of the game. That way, I can fast forward through all the breaks. If I start watching later, I even get to fast forward through the more egregiously inane commentary. I still love the sport. It's television I can't stand. And yes, soccer is a joy to watch on television, but I don't expect it to last. I remember a few years ago watching a college soccer match on ESPN, and there was an official timeout in the middle of each half to allow for commercials. I immediately turned it off. American college soccer is hard enough to watch without that kind of nonsense.
I don't watch baseball, but I agree with the football. I read that football games have 11 minutes of actual playing time. As a result, there's a ton of filler material (commercials, useless commentary, shots of players in a huddle, etc.). Like Ed, I usually record the game and watch it later.
Phil Mickelson was incredible this past weekend, I figure his amazing performance needs a mention on this thread. Even my friends who are usually not his supporters did their fair share of showing him praise for such an incredible comeback. Way to go, Phil! ~~SP
Tonight, it's the Red Sox and the Rays going at it. I won't see the game live on TV, however. Instead, tomorrow they'll probably have the replay of the game on NESN. The replay only lasts 2 hours long.
Gunna be a boring "Sox in 2" watching a rain out I would've lost my shirt if someone offered me a bet that they'd be first to 60 wins and in first place for more than 2 straight months before the season started... ~~SP
In the NFL, the head coach gets too much of the credit if his team wins a lot, but receives too much of the blame if his team falters.
Yankees signed Hideki Matsui to a one-day minor league contract so that he could officially retire from the Yankees, and had a nice sendoff for him at Yankee Stadium today. Not only that, but Derek Jeter hit a homer off the first pitch he faced, Soriano hit another and then drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win (after Phil Hughes had blown the lead...twice) for Mariano Rivera. The predicted heavy thunderstorms never materialized, and all we got was the occasional sprinkle. All in all, a very rewarding day at the ballpark.
Okay, I love the sport of baseball, and as a lifelong player and fan, I think it's ridiculous that we have to watch this embarrassing PED saga but Major League Baseball won't release archival footage of Dock Ellis throwing a no-hitter on LSD. Come on!
I'm interested in watching the New England Patriots pre-season games this month to see how good (or bad) the new receiving corps is. They've lost a lot of good recievers this offseason. So we'll see how the new guys make out.
I hope you're kidding. You want more home runs? Move the fences in. Besides, the play in baseball has not improved in the steroid era - if anything it has degraded considerably. Today's players can't bunt, don't know when to let throws from the outfield go through or when to cut them off, and the art of baserunning is completely gone (hint: it is not and never was about just speed. I would have thought that Charley Finley's "designated runner" experiment with Herb Washington put paid to that notion). And once pitchers lose their 95 mph fastball, they're done (Exhibit A - CC Sabathia). Baseball has made itself completely about "stats", because they're easier to sell. Dying for one's art is an old cliché. Dying for one's contract is just stupid.
Ah, Sports. Here is who I follow and why. Lacrosse - Denver Outlaws Why: Because they're really good and Atlanta doesn't have an MLL team. Yet. I play in an old guy Lacrosse league and I coach U-13 girls lacrosse. It's fun, fast paced and addicting. Basketball - Indiana Hoosiers Why: I'm from Indiana and I went to a Division II school. I've followed IU Basketball since as far back as I can remember. Football - Indianapolis Colts, Denver Broncos, Atlanta Falcons, Virginia Tech Hokies, Auburn Tigers Why: I'm from Indiana, hence the Colts. Peyton Manning now plays for the Broncos and I have a lot of family in Colorado and I love it out there, so I follow Colorado teams. Falcons? I live in Atlanta. VT - My nephew is the punter for the Hokies, so I gotta pull for them. Auburn - My wife's Alma mater, so I've been indoctrinated to follow them. Hockey - Winnipeg Jets, Colorado Avalanche Why: The jets USED to be the Atlanta Thrashers. I was a Thrashers season ticket holder until those morons mismanaged the team and sold it. Colorado - see explanation above for Colorado teams. Baseball - Yawn. Don't really care, but I'll cheer for the Brave's until they have their late season collapse. Although, this year might be different. We'll see if they blow their 11 game lead. There's still 2 months left. Soccer - What's that? Motor Racing - Don't follow NASCAR. I enjoy GT racing; i.e. Lemans and mixed course rally racing. I also attend the Indy 500 quite often.
The first Patriots pre-season game this year is on the ninth of August. They'll be facing the Eagles of Philadelphia.
This Ashes series has to be the worst-umpired Test series I've ever seen. It's all well and good blaming DRS, but the fact is that the umpires themselves have been appalling. DRS is only in the spotlight because the umpires have been getting it wrong more often than not. Anyhow, moving on from the cricket, Town face QPR this afternoon. I quite fancy the Kilner Bank to get on top of Joey Barton and wind him up into a rage that'll see him given his marching orders.
Mo Farah did the Olympic/WC long-distance double double the other day. Fantastic achievement, such a great athlete, well done Mo! A lot of people are calling him the greatest British athlete of all time now, though. Fellow brits, or indeed anyone else, do you reckon this is justified title?
