Wednesday, December 31, 2008

The year in review and 2009 perview

Hello my friends, I’M back with my end of the year thoughts and a look ahead to 2009.

2008 was the best year in sports in a very long time. We had the best Super Bowl and biggest upset in the game’s history. We had the greatest Olympics of my lifetime. To highlight a few events, the spectacular opening ceremony, Michael Phelps and his eight gold medals, Usain Bolt’s 100 meter dash, and the women’s gymnastics, this was truly the greatest Olympics that I have ever seen. We also had the Boston Celtics returning to the top of the NBA and win title number 17 in an old school finals against the L.A. Lakers. We can’t forget Tiger Woods winning the U.S. Open on virtually one good leg. We had the longest and best Wimbledon Men’s final of all time. I don’t think you can get any better than 2008. Oh my, what a year.

2009 will be a transitional year in sports because it will be a non-Olympic year. There will be a World Track and Field Championship and I’M looking forward to what Usain Bolt will do for an encore. I’M also looking forward to the World Swimming Championship to see what kind of magic Michael Phelps has in store for us. Not to mention the Confederations Cup in Soccer, not only is the U.S.A. playing in the event, but it will be a warm up to the 2010 World Cup with South Africa as the host of both events. South Africa’s sports history is something I’M very interested in.

Domestically I’M looking forward to the return of Tiger Woods at the Masters. Hopefully some of the young guys like Anthony Kim and Sergio Garcia can step up and challenge Tiger. On the tennis front I’M looking forward to more of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal renewing their rivalry. I’M of course looking forward to the NCAA Basketball tournament; both UCONN men and women have a great change to go far in the tournament. The Celtics and Bruins are doing very well; can they win their respected championships? We will see.

Personally and professional this year I have a few goals. One is I would like to lose weight and get back on the wagon, I was losing weight in the first part of 2008 and I what to get back there. Professionally I would like to get a job, either as a sports reporter or as a self-advocate for people with disabilities. As a sports reporter the three events I would like to cover are the 2010 Soccer World Cup in South Africa. Like I said before South Africa’s sports history is something I’M very interested in and I would like to cover it. I would like to cover the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in London. London is a very historic city and I have always wanted to cover an Olympic Games like my idol Jim McKay. The third places I would like to go and cover sports is Australia. Ever since I was a young boy I have been fascinated by Australian sports, in one word I would call then crazy.

I hope every one has a HAPPY NEW YEAR. See you in 2009.

Jamie Lazaroff

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The week that was and the week to come

Well, I told you I would cry at NBC’s presentation of the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii and I did. The Ironman is the toughest event in all of sports, not only do you have to swim 2.4 miles in the ocean, then bike 112 miles, and finish with a marathon, but you have to do this with the heat of Kona and the trade winds that blow across the island. The other thing that makes the Ironman great is that anything can happen to ruin a good day. The defending champion Chris McCormack was in the lead on the bike but the brake cord broke and his day was done. As the announcer, Al Trautwig said, “ You can train for anything, than something like that ruins your day.” The last great thing about the Ironman is that people from every walk of life come to the Kona Coast to cross that line and become an Ironman. One day I hope to go to Hawaii and cover this great event. When the sun goes down the finish line becomes a magical place, because you have to finish the race before midnight when the course is closed and the race is official over.
I don’t know who writes what Al Trautwig says on the coverage of this event, but it is the most well written edited sports event of the year, and Al delivers his lines that definitely befit the drama of the event. No wonder it wins the sports Emmy for edited sports special each year. Great job and for you that did not catch it this weekend, I think NBC replays it in the springtime, I will let you know when it’s on again.


I have not forgot about the Boston Celtics, this past week they set the record for the best start in franchise history at 21 wins and only 2 losses. To think a franchise with the history of the Boston Celtics: 17 World Championships and 31 Hall of Famers, some of the greatest players and teams in the history of the NBA, is off to the best start ever. It’s not how you start but how you finish! Hopeful they can keep this hot start going and win title number 18.

What to watch

This is another slow week, but there are a few good events to follow this weekend. Number 2 in the polls UCONN has its first real test in Number 7 Gonzaga in Seattle. This is also only their second road game of the season. Should be a good indication as they begin Big East play at the end of the month. The game is 4 P.M. on CBS.

This week is the inaugural season of the Winter Dew Tour, with a shop in Breckenridge, Colorado. Events will be snowboarding and free-skiing in splopestyle and superpipe, should be fun. The tour is on NBC, Saturday 2:30 to 4 P.M. and Sunday 4 to 6 P.M.

This is week 16 in the NFL. The Patriots are at home versus the Arizona Cardinals. The Pats need to win to keep their playoff hope alive. Arizona has already clinched the NFC West title. Game is at 1 P.M. on FOX.

I have decided to do a blog on the events and games I’m looking forward to in 2009, and not a awards column. This will be my last week of the year post. Look for it than.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Jamie Lazaroff

Thursday, December 11, 2008

The week in sports and what's to come

Hello everyone

I’M writing this with a head cold and I don’t know how I got it.

This past weekend was the end of the regular season in college football. Florida beat Alabama in the SEC title game to get in the championship game. As one sports writer said “ Tim Tebow willed Florida over Alabama”. Alabama was the better team but when Florida needs him most Tim Tebow stepped up and won the game. The defense also stepped up big. Oklahoma just beat up on Missouri 62 to 21 to set up the meeting with Florida in the national championship game, January 8th in Miami. Texas should be in the championship game because it beat Oklahoma earlier this season; I guess if you score 62 plus points in your last five games of the season, your in. It is not whom you loose to but how much you score that matters. I’M also looking forward to the Fiesta Bowl that has Ohio St. versus Texas on January 5. As I said Texas should be in the title game but I think they are in for a test in Ohio St. I think Ohio St. is underrated. Should be very interesting.

Saturday was the re-airing of the Paralympic Games Special that premiered a few weeks ago. The special sowed the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat but in the end the athlete’s spotlighted are just that athletes. I hope TV networks and cable stations get the point because athletes are athletes and should be covered just like any other sport.

What to watch this week

Saturday is a little light this weekend but I would suggest the Ironman Triathlon World Championships from Hawaii at 2:30 P.M. on NBC. It is a perennial Emmy award winner. Al Trautwig is underrated. He is another announcer who paints pictures with words. This show makes me cry each year, watch the last 15 minutes, your see what I mean!

Saturday night at 9 P.M. on Spike is the live season finale of the UFC Ultimate Fighter realty show for Las Vegas. The winner of the lightweight and light heavyweight final will get a six-figure contract to fight in the UFC. Should be fun, some of the fights in the past have been classics.

Saturday night 10 P.M. on ESPN 2 is the final round of the 2008 National Finals Rodeo from Las Vegas. This is when the World Champions for the year will be crowned.

Sunday is week 15 in the NFL. The Patriots are at the 3-10 Oakland Raiders; kickoff is 4:15 P.M. on CBS. The Pats need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. Should be fun.

Like I said a little light, Saturday you may go Christmas shopping, but please record the Ironman and watch it Saturday night.
I’II be back next week for a full report. Look for my end of year awards in a few weeks.

Jamie Lazaroff

Thursday, December 4, 2008

Weekend viewing guide

What I’M watching this weekend

Saturday December 6, 2008

Noon, Eastern Time, college football, Army Vs. Navy on CBS.
This is America’s game with a lot of history and tradition.

4 P.M. is the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Championship game between #1 Alabama and #4 Florida on CBS. If Alabama wins the game they are a lock for the National Championship game in January, but if Florida wins they may get in.

At 8 P.M. on ABC is the Big 12 Conference Championship game between
#2 Oklahoma and #20 Missouri. If Oklahoma wins they are a lock for the National Championship game in January, but if Missouri wins Florida or Texas or even USC may get in. Should be a fun Saturday watching all of this? We will know the two teams in the National Championship Game on Sunday after the NFL on FOX at around 7:30 P.M.

Also on Saturday at 4:30 P.M. on NBC is the re-airing of the Paralympic Games Special that premiered a few weeks ago. I strongly urge everyone to watch this special, if you have to tape it or record it in some way (DVR) I strongly in courage you to view it because like I said before it is the best thing I see on TV this year. It was very well done and is getting a lot of positive reviews from media people not in the disability world.

Sunday is week 14 of the NFL season with the Patriots at Seattle; kickoff is at 4:05 on CBS.

Also on Sunday at 3:30 P.M. on ESPN is the 4th round out of 10 of the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas. This is the best of the best in Pro Rodeo riding and roping for over 5 Million dollars in prize money. According to ESPN the Magazine, only tennis’ U.S. Open, the Daytona 500, the Indianapolis 500, and golf’s Players Championship offer more money than the NFR.

Enjoy your sports weekend because it gets slow after this.

Jamie Lazaroff

Jimmy V

Hi All

This week is ESPN's tribute to Jim Valvano and his foundation. Below do many others and I consider Jimmy V’s speech at the 1993 ESPY Awards the best speech ever given? This is the speech were I get my mantra don’t give up, don’t ever give up.



Enjoy

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

My Take

Hi Forks, I’M back and better than every.

The UCONN Women lived up to their #1 ranking by beating #4 in the Nation, Oklahoma 106 to 78, Sunday night. UCONN was on fire, shooting 54.5% (42-of-77) from the floor while Oklahoma shot just 38.8% (33-of-88). UCONN also made 12 3-pointers in the game shooting 52.2% (12-of-23). These percentages were the keys to the game, also keeping Oklahoma’s 3-time All-American Center, Courtney Paris, scoreless in the1st half for only the 2nd time in her career was a factor in the win. The only thing that they should work on is free throws. They were 10-of-14 (71.4%), not good free throw numbers in a close game, and there will have them. Next up for the Huskies before they break for final exams, when the Holy Cross Crusaders come to Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 PM and the game will be televised locally on CPTV.

One of the wackiest stories this weekend is New York Giant Wide Receiver Piaxico Burress accidentally shooting himself in the right thigh at a New York City nightclub. There is a concealed-weapon permit law in New York City. According to ESPN legal analyst Roger Cossack Burress could face up to seven years in prison if convicted on a felony charge of carrying a concealed weapon without a permit. My question is: where was Piaxico’s personal security? How come he didn’t know the law in New York?

College Football is coming to a close and controversy rains. The big controversy this week is that the Big 12 Conference used the BCS standings to break a 3-way tie between Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech for the Big 12 South division title. The highest raked team in this week’s BCS standings won the division and will play Missouri (who won the Big 12 North title) in the Big 12 Championship Game. The controversy is that Oklahoma is raked #2 over Texas who is #3. Texas beat Oklahoma earlier this season, how is this possible? This is why we need a playoff in college football. This weekend’s conference championship games will determine the national championship game and all the other bowls. Should be fun.

I hope to get back to a more regular calendar this month. See you next week if not before.

Jamie Lazaroff

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

This week in sports

Happy belated Veterans Day everyone, hope you honored our veterans in some way.

Did you watched the Paralympics special on NBC? NBC did an awesome job of capturing the dedication and the true athletic abilities of these men and women that, in many cases, outshine the accomplishments of their able body counterparts. The film shows many winners and losers, it also addressed the 83 million disabled Chinese — which is equal to the population of Germany and shows how the country embraced and supported the Paralympics. Even the Great Wall of China has been made wheelchair accessible. If you think your life is bad a lot of these athletes not only over came their disability, but in some cases, have been abandoned as kids and adopted by other families. The special also underlined the fact that it is not about winning a medal, but it is about competing and taking part. I hope NBC will product a DVD of this special and its Paralympics event coverage, which is re-airing this week on Universal Sports.

It’s a big weekend up coming. Saturday is UFC 91 with the main event of Randy “the Natural” Couture vs. Brock Lesnar. This is the biggest fright in UFC history as Randy is one of the biggest names in the game. He is a 5-time champion (2-time light Heavyweight, and 3-time Heavyweight champion). He is also a member of the UFC Hall of Fame. Brock Lesnar is a former WWE champion and one of the toughest people in the world. I give the edge to Brock, but if he makes a mistake like he did against Frank Mir, Randy can win. Should be fun.

Also this weekend is the start of College Basketball season. I can’t wait, as both the UCONN Men and Women teams are number 1 in the preseason polls.

Enjoy the weekend and I hope to be back with a report on the UFC if I can find a friend to watch it at as its on PPV and I can’t get it at home.

Good night and good luck.

Jamie Lazaroff

Storys of inspiration

Hi Friends

Here are two videos for last nights series finale of ESPN's E;50 program. First, is the story of DJ Gregory and his dream to walk every hole of every golf tournament. The second is the story of Adam Bender, an active little boy who lives with one leg.



Sunday, November 9, 2008

This week in sports

Tuesday night November 4t, 2008 we saw history being made. Did you think America would elect an African American to the White House in your lifetime? I don’t care how you voted or what political persuasion you are, Tuesday night was a historical point in our nations history. Yes I did have Goosebumps and a tear in my eye. I believe that, as President-Elect Obama said, “Yes we can” make America great again. For you that did not vote for him, all I have to say is, just give him a chance. As senator McCain said, “It’s time for the county to stand united”.

Over last weekend I did watch the 20/20 cricket match for 20 million dollars. The Stanford Superstars beat the England National Team by 10 wickets. It was as one sided as it sounds. In one sense it was good for the US Audience because the Superstars hit some very big shots that were very exciting. In other senses I think it was not good because it was very one sided and we (the America people) what to see close games. The America people also like to see national teams go head to head not just one-time teams like the Stanford Superstars. I hope ESPN will do more cricket matches, I enjoyed it and the more its on the more people will tune in.

This weekend’s big event is the finals 5 rounds of the PBR World Finals from Las Vegas. Thursday thru Saturday it’s on Versus Network at 9 P.M nightly. NBC has the final 2 rounds on Sunday from 4 to 6 P.M. Should be fun, we saw some great rides last weekend, should be more of the same this weekend.

Before the PBR Sunday on NBC, the network has its highlight package for the PARALYMPICS from China. Show is 2:30 to 4 P.M. Don’t miss it.


Talk to you all next week. Hope to have a report on all this and more. Enjoy an other crazy football weekend.


Good night and good luck.

Jamie Lazaroff

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

This week in sports

Hello Friends

October is a transitional month for sports. This month is between Baseball regular season ending and Basketball season getting starting. Yes, you have Baseball’s postseason, but it is not every night like the regular season which is 162 games over 6 months.

Last time I talked about the postseason baseball announcers so I will not go there. However, Chip Caray still has a very annoying voice and is one of the worst announcers of all time. Good to hear the solid team of Joe Buck and Tim McCarver calling the World Series.

Speaking of the World Series, I think it will get better ratings than most people predict. Tampa and Philadelphia are both young and have nothing to loose, in fact, four of the first starting five pitchers in this series are under the age of 30, and there are great storylines on both side. Tampa was the worst team in the America League for the first 9 years of the franchise and Philadelphia has not won the Fall Classic since 1980. My prediction (sure to go wrong) is Philadelphia in 6 Games; their big bats and the bullpen will be the edge.

Last week the Patriots were on Monday Night Football, this got me thinking about the series’ golden days. For 36 years Monday Night Football was a staple on the ABC Television network. In 2006 Monday Night Football moved to ESPN cable. Back in the 70’s and 80’s Monday Night was must see TV. People would tune in to hear what Howard Cosell would say. That would be “water cooler” talk at the office on Tuesday. This does not happen any more, Tony Kornheiser tries but he is no Howard Cosell. In 2006 the NFL moved it network prime-time weekly game to Sunday night and the package to NBC this means that the best game is not necessarily on Monday Night. ESPN just needs to let it go. It has worn out its welcome with Monday Night Football.

This weekend is the opening three rounds of the PBR bull riding world finals in Las Vegas. Bull riding is like a car crash, you watch with one eye open. It’s great when one of the cowboys ride a bull for the full 8 seconds.

The other big event is that ESPN is broadcasting a Cricket match for the first time. The match is the England National Team against a Stanford superstar team made up of some of the best players from the rest of the world. It is the shortest version of the game with about 120 balls in play and only runs count and not how many outs you may have. Should be fun, I hope to have a full report after the match on November 2 at 2p.m. on ESPN2.

Talk to you next week.

Good night and good luck

Jamie Lazaroff

Friday, October 10, 2008

My Take

Hello Friends

This past Sunday ESPN’s Sports Reporters program marked its 20th Anniversary. Every Sunday since October 9, 1988, millions of viewers have tuned to the sports version of the Sunday morning political discussion programs. This is one of the best sports shows each week because there is no yelling and just intelligent sport talk. Three of the most prominent journalists from newspapers and other outlets across the country are regulars on the program. As long time executive producer Joe Valerio said, “the strength of the show is our unbiased view we don’t root for teams; we root for good stories”. One of the greatest experiences of my life was back in 1996 I was invited to a tapering of the Sports Reporters by my friend Mike Lupica. I got to talk to the late great Dick Schaap and sit next to him while he did the opening of the show. I have a great photo of Lupica, Schaap, Bob Ryan and Mitch Aborn pointing up at me while am behind them. The cool thing is that Lupica, Ryan and Aborn was on the 20th Anniversary this past Sunday. I hope one day I will have one of the best seats in sports. To think the Sports Reporters have been around for 20 years, boy, I feel old.

I have enjoyed the baseball postseason this year. This is TBS second year of coverage of the major league baseball playoffs. I have rediscovered Dick Stockton; he is a great announcer and can paint a picture with words. Ron Darling is a surprise and very good. Harold Reynolds is a great in-game analyst and has great enthusiasm for the game that really comes through. At first I was turn off by the sound of Chip Caray voice but he has grown on me and Buck Martinez is very good. I have watched the studio show only once and Cal Ripken Jr. is not good. He gets very worded and you can’t understand him. I think he has a lot of information in his head and can’t get it out.

Talk to you next week.

Good night and good luck.

Jamie Lazaroff

Thursday, September 25, 2008

My Take

Hello friends

This last weekend was one of the most exciting of the year. Golf’s Ryder Cup was the highlight; it is a match play event with 12 players from the United States versus 12 players from Europe. Going into the matches I was not that excited about this event because the Euros have won 5 of the last 6 matches and the USA was without Tiger Woods. I was glued to my TV all weekend. It was some of the finest golf I have ever watched. The matches were played in Kentucky and home state players Kenny Perry and J. B. Holmes played well and got the home fans into a frenzy. Boo Weekly was a welcomed surprise, he is a great golfer and can fire up the crowd like no other. The highlight was Weekly on the final day. He was filmed riding his driver "cowboy horse" style down the first fairway. I was really impressed with Anthony Kim; he is a great young player. His Sunday singles match against Sergio Garcia was the best performance for a young golfer in a long time. I see a major in this kid’s future.

The other big event this past weekend was the final game in the 85-year old “ Yankee Stadium.” As a Red Sox fan I have to say that I too felt a little nostalgic because, before every game was televised, only postseason baseball was shown and for most of the time the Yankees were playing in the Stadium. In fact according to Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated 15% of all postseason and 21% of all World Series games were played at the Stadium. I also understand that Yankee Stadium hosted some of the most significant moments in America history beside baseball. Muhammad Ali fought there and Joe Louis beat Max Schmeling there in “38. The game that put the NFL on the map, the NFL Championship game in 1958, the first overtime game in NFL history was played there. Three Popes said mass there, Nelson Mandela gave his first speech, after being released form prison, there in 1990. So much history, I will miss Yankee Stadium for those moments. If those walls could talk, the stories it would tell.

This week’s event I’m looking forward to is the first Presidential debate on Friday or as CNN is calling it “debate night in America.” Should be fun.

Talk to you next time as baseballs postseason gets going.

Good night and good luck.

Jamie Lazaroff

Saturday, September 20, 2008

An Inspiration for all of us

Here is a video from former CNNer Daryn Kagan about D.J. Gregory, how is walking every PGA tour event this year. Oh by the way, D.J. has cerbral palsy.



Enjoy

Saturday, September 13, 2008

This week in sports

MRHi folks, sorry I have not written in a while, I have been preoccupied with the political conventions. There are two things you should never talk about, religion and politics, so I will not tell you my persuasions.

The fall is the best time in sports, baseball is in the home stretch and getting ready for the post season, and football is starting up, also you know basketball season will be upon us soon.

I can’t believe I missed week one of the NFL season! I was on the golf course for my Special Olympics tournament. One of our playing partners got a text message about Tom Brady going down and leaving the game with a injured knee. When I don’t watch, something big always seems to happen. I feel bad for Brady and the Patriots; this season will be an up hill battle now without the league MVP and 3-time Super Bowl champion. My big question is Matt Cassel; Sunday’s game versus the Jets will be his first start since high school. In college he backed up two Heisman Trophy winners in Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart at Southern California (USC) and spent the past three years as the back up for Brady in New England. I think they will be fine; they still have the best coach in the league in Bill Belichick. As wrestling announcer Jim Ross says, “Business is about to pick up.” Just made the NFL season a little more interesting.

One of the most awesome things I have ever experienced is going to Fenway Park to see a Red Sox game. I have been to a few games over the years but on Labor Day Monday I got two tickets from my cousin Carley, you remember, she is my triathlon cousin. The seats were two rows up from the field and just by the visitor’s dugout. I even caught a foul ball, just amazing. Thanks again Carley and thanks to her daughter Ella for wining the tickets.

Update from my last blog about the Paralympics. NBC will have a 90-minute special featuring athletes and highlights of the games at 2:30pm Eastern time on October 13th. NBC figures that what it does this year, both online and on television, can help them gauge the demand for more coverage in the 2010 Vancouver and 2012 London Paralympics games. “I don’t think it has yet been proven that there’s an audience that will support live television in this marketplace,” network Olympics president Gary Zenkel said. “That’s what we hope to assess over our multiplatform coverage this year.” Please watch the October 13th telecast and show NBC that there is an audience for the Paralympics in the USA.

This week in Sports
The big event this weekend is the inaugural Red Bull Indianapolis GP for the MotoGP motorcycle series. The race will be on NBC Sports, Sunday, September 14th from 3 to 4 p.m. (ET). The broadcast team for the event will include veteran motorcycle racing play-by-play announcers Ralph Sheheen and Robbie Floyd, and color commentary by 1993 500cc World Champion Kevin Schwantz.

The other big event this week is the Dew tour (action sports) in Salt Lake City for the Toyota Challenge. NBC has coverage Saturday September 13th from 2 to 3:30 p.m. and Sunday September 14th from 4 to 6 p.m. Freestyle motocross is back on tour and it should be as crazy as ever. One of the highlights of the Olympic games, BMX is an event this week in Utah.

The big college football game this weekend is Ohio St. at USC. This game maybe a preview of the National Championship game in January. It’s on at 8 p.m. on ABC.

Talk to you next week.

Jamie Lazaroff

Thursday, August 28, 2008

The Olympics review

Well, the Olympics are over and it was probably the greatest Olympics of my lifetime. The doubts I had about China did not come true. I had an uneasy feeling that something would happen, but thankfully noting did. The Chinese did clean up the air quality, and it did not affect the endurance events.

Michael Phelps broke Mark Sprilz’s Olympics record by winning 8 Gold Medals in a single Olympics. Seven of his races he finished in World Record time, one of the greatest performances in Olympic history, but is he is the greatest Olympic athlete of all time. The numbers say he is when you add his 6 Gold medals from the Athens Games four years ago. He has the most Gold’s in history. I think Michael is the greatest swimmer of all times, but not the greatest Olympic athlete.
Just think about the beach volleyball team of Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh. They have not been beaten in 108 matches but, because they don’t have the same number of opportunities for multiple medals in one Olympics, they can only win one Gold Medal at the Olympics every four years. So, why aren’t they in the conversation of being the greatest Olympic Athletes?
The BIG story of Track and Field was Usain Bolt of Jamaica. His performance in the 100 and 200 meter finals was just awesome. Both races were run in World Record time. In the 100 final Usain started to celebrate before the finish line. I shudder to think how fast he would have been if he did not pound his chest before the line, but he still broke the World Record. He then broke a 12-year World Record in the 200. This was just pure speed. I could not believe what I was seeing. The two best performances in Olympic Track and Field history. Just think this kid is only 22-years old. See you in London Mr. “Lightning Bolt."

Nastia Liukin won the Women’s Gymnastics all-round title. She joins Mary Lou Retton and Carly Paterson as the only three gymnasts from the US to win the Olympic all-round title. Shawn Johnson won the Sliver for the first ever 1-2 sweep for the US in this event. The ladies did win a Sliver in the team events. Between the ladies and Men’s team this was the best US Gymnastics preference in non-US games. Shawn’s Gold on the Balance Beam was one of the many highlights of the gymnastics competition. One stand out on the men’s side was Jonathan Horton. His Sliver on the Bar was just great.

The US men’s Basketball team did what it set out to do and won the Gold Medal. The redeem team did it with style and a will to win a Gold Medal for their country that was refreshing to see from high priced pro athletes. The women won Gold also; this was their fourth consecutive Olympic titles. Lisa Leslie has been on all four teams, what a remarkable achievement. Leslie should be on the list of greatest Olympic athletes.
The US women’s soccer team won the Gold after losing their first game of the tournament.

The BMX racing lived up to my expectations; it was awesome with a capital A. Just crazy and would like to see more of it. I hope someone will pick it up as a televised sport. It should be on the Dew Tour or X Games.

There were so many great stories in these Olympics, too many to write about here. One story is the US men’s volleyball team’s Gold Medal. On the first day of the games the father-in-law of the coach died after he was stabbed in an unfortunate act. Coach McCutcheon missed the team's first three games to be with his wife, former volleyball Olympian Elisabeth "Wiz" Bachman McCutcheon, who was there when the attack occurred. For a team to rally around their coach like this team did and get the job done in a very tough Gold Medal game was just great to watch.

I think NBC did a great job covering the games. They focused on the athletes and not China and that was a good thing. One constructive criticism I have is a lot of time Tim Daggett and Elfi Schlegel on Gymnastics would talk over a performance, I wish sometimes they would just let the pictures tell the story. I loved Bela Karolyi. He was a breath of fresh air and I don’t care if his wife is the US Women’s Gymnastics team coach he was classic TV and I loved it. I also liked how NBC used its cable channel to show other events. It must have been tough for the announcers to call these sports off monitors in New York; they could not react to the crown and feed off of them. I know the soccer was tough to call because they could not see the whole field and see plays develop. I fell in love with Handball, it is a fast pace sport with a lot of action. It is kind of like basketball with a net and not a hoop. Table Tennis was another sport I enjoy every four years. I think Modern Pentathlon is great as well. It is five events in one day, shooting, fencing, swimming, show jumping, and running. The winner is truly the world’s greatest athlete.


One thing that I would like to see televised on US TV is the Paralympics Games next month from China. Last time I looked most other countries are in some way covering the Games. For the record, the Summer Paralympics have never been televised, why? The winter Paralympics was televised by A&E back at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City. This was the case because the games were in the US. I don’t understand the networks reasoning or hesitancy to cover these events. Maybe the networks are hesitant because they think people will not watch or the competition is not exciting. For one, I would watch and I know a lot of my friends would watch. People with disabilities are one of the largest minority groups in the US; I think we would all watch. Paralympics athletes have trained all their lives just like the athletes at the Olympics; they should get the same respect as all other athletes! Just because an athlete may have a disability they, from my view, are over looked. You can catch the Paralympics on www.universalsports.com starting September 6. At least this is a start to something bigger I hope.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Olympic Preview

It was raining Wednesday on Cape Cod Bay so my crazy family went to Provincetown so I though I would stay home and give you the Olympic preview I promised.

The major story will be China itself. My question is why did the International Olympics Committee chose Beijing over cites like Paris and Toronto? How will the air quality affect the endurance events like the Marathon and Triathlon? Will Michael Phelps win seven gold medals to tie Mark Spiitz’s record of seven gold medals in a single Olympics? What will be the story of Tack and Field? Can the hometown hero Xiang Liu defend his 110-meter hurdlers title? Will Shawn Johnson or Nastia Liukin win the All Round title in Women’s Gymnastics? How will our Basketball teams do? All these questions and more will be answered in the next three weeks. Starting Friday 8-8-08 at 7:30P.M. The women’s soccer has already lost to Norway. They will have an up hill battle from here without Abby Wambach, their star forward who broke her leg in their final exhibition game. This is why I don’t like preseason games, but that’s another rant for another day. The new event to look out for this year is BMX bike racing. This should be fun to watch.

Talk to you next week, when I’M home and out of this craziness. I do love my family.

Until next time America.

Jamie Lazaroff

Friday, August 1, 2008

This week in sports

The end of July is typically one of the slowest parts of the year. Except for last Sunday. My cousin Carley Ceppetelli and her best friend Nicole McAleer competed the
New England Danskin Women’s Triathlon at
Lake Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg
in Webster MA, and I went to watch. I was very impressed with the whole event; it was very well run and was a professional quality race. I thought it was a town-wide event but found out when I got there that 2,471 women were competing. I did not know the Danskin Women’s Triathlon series was in its 19th consecutive year. This was a sprint distance triathlon of a half-mile swim, 12-mile bike and 2.8 mile run. Carley finished under 2 hours at 1 hour 43 minutes and 11 second coming in at 1471st place. Nicole just beat her at 1 hour 40 minutes and 33 second coming in at 1321st. This was Carley’s first triathlon and Nicole’s second. We are extremely proud of both women. It was very inspirational to see women as many women do there very best to get to the finish line. Carley, her husband David, and Nicole and Lenny McAleer are competing in an Adventure Race in September. The race is held in Douglas, MA. I will certainly be there at the finish line for that race as. Congratulations on this great achievement. YOU GO GIRLS!!!

This Weekend in sports

This is another slow weekend on the sports front. The big event this weekend is ESPN’s “Summer X Games”. This is the 14TH annual action sports showcase that usually turns out to be absolutely crazy. Last year Jake Brown almost died when he fell 45 feet in the skateboard Big Air event. Brown miraculously walked away after this fall. What will happen this year?

Next week is the main event: The Olympics in China. The Opening Ceremony is on 8-8-08 and goes for 16 days of glory. Lot of news will be coming out of theses games, and not just the sports competition but with the games in China and all the issues that might come about, it will be very interesting to follow all of this.

I will be on the beach next week on Cape Cod with my family on vacation, but I will be taking my laptop to give you all a preview of the Olympics. Check out Newsweek this week, they have a very good preview of all the major storylines.

Have a good week, I know I will down on Old Cape Cod

Jamie Lazaroff

Thursday, July 24, 2008

This week in sports

This was a busy weekend in sports so lets get to it.

Padraig Harrington won the “Open Championship” for the second year in a row. The two big story’s this week at Royal Birkdale was the weather: the wind was up to 50 MPH and at some times it was raining and just really nasty. It was so nasty that 1985 champion Sandy Lyle quit after his first 10 holes on Thursday. As American Boo Weekley said, "If this is the summer, I couldn't live here." The other story this week was 53 year-old Greg Norman was on top of the leaderboard though three round. Norman was bidding to become the oldest major champion even though he not played in the previous 11 majors or even the last two “Open Championships”. Greg came to Royal Birkdale to practice for this week’s “Senior Open Championship.” He did not win but put on a get show and proved that with hard work you can do anything you put your mind to. Sunday’s final round was a great roller coaster ride with Padraig and Greg trading the lead through out the round while Norman had the lead after the front nine. The tournament was not decided until the 17th hole when Padraig eagled it to win by 2 over Ian Poulter of England.

The other big event Sunday was the Untied States round of the MotoGP season from Laguna Seca in California. Valentino Rossi and Casey Stoner staged a fierce battle for the lead until Stoner was forced off the track with eight laps to go. It was the best side-by-side racing I have ever seen. The start of the race included a horrendous highside crash for Jorge Lorenzo. This was one of the most unbelievable one-person crash I have ever seen, just awesome! Lorenzo was ok after the crush. One of the best races ever. Can’t wait for the MotoGP tour to come back to the U.S. in September at Indy.
This Week in sports

This is another busy weekend for sports. A Red Sox - Yankees series at Fenway. It’s not for the American League East top position as both teams are behind Tampa Bay, who knew! It is still Yankee vs. Red Sox. Should be fun. Series starts on Friday.

Saturday night is the second Saturday night fights on CBS. The main event is a rematch between Middleweight Champion Robbie Lawler and Scott Smith whose match on the initial EliteXC Primetime show on CBS was stopped due to an unintentional eye poke. The other main event will be for the EliteXC Welterweight Championship between Jake Shields and Nick Thompson. The show will also feature up and coming Lightweight Nick Diaz. Should be a good time.

The last big event of the weekend is the “NASCAR Sprint Cup” at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the “Allstate 400 at the Brickyard”. I can’t believe that this will be the 15th NASCAR race at the famous speedway. This race could be the pivotal point to the series championship.
Twice in the four-year era of the “Chase for the Cup”, the race winner at Indy has gone on to win the championship. Should be interesting.

Talk to you next week.
Good night and good luck (stolen from Keith Olbermann who stole it from Edward
R. Murrow)


Jamie Lazaroff

Saturday, July 19, 2008

The week that was

Did you see the Home Run Derby on Monday night? Josh Hamilton put on a show with 28 home runs in the opening round. It was the quality and not the quantity of his home runs. Of his 28 homers, at one point he hit 13 in a row. Three of them went further then 500 feet. His longest was 518 feet. What makes this story great is that in 2004 he was suspended for violating the MLB drug policy. Between 2002 and 2006 he did not play baseball at all. After getting sober he returned to baseball and made his Major League debut on April 2, 2007 with the Cincinnati Reds. This year in 93 games for the Texas Rangers he’s batting .310 with 21 home runs and 95 RBI. The story of Monday night got better when he selected 71-year-old Clay Caunsil to pitch to him for the derby. Caunsil was a volunteer who threw batting practice to Hamiltion as a kid in North Carolina. To top this all off, in 2006 when he was trying to get back into baseball, Josh had a dream where he participated in a home run derby at Yankee Stadium. Dreams do come true. Josh did not win but was the story of the night; Even the winner Justin Morneau said it was Josh’s night and his stage.

During Josh’s 28 home run show I did think this kid had to be on something. But now that I read his story and the fact that he has to provide urine samples for drug testing at least three times per week, per the MLB drug policy I know that this was real and he was not juiced up. I hope he can keeps this up and continue to do well. If this is the future of baseball, we are in great sharp.

I did not get a change to see the game it self. I was at a Connecticut Sun game. This begs the question of why the WNBA would schedule a national televised double-header versus the MLB All-Star game. The WNBA should have had the double-header today, Wednesday; the most boring day of the sports yea. The WNBA would have had the day to themselves. I could run the WNBA better than this.

This Week in sports

If last weekend was slow this week is very busy. Let’s start with the third major of the golf season, The British Open at Royal Birkdale in Southport, England. The Open Championship as it is called in England, is the oldest championship and played in some of the hardest conditions in golf. The course is right on the sea with wind and somtines rain. This course is called links style which was played on back in the 18th century. Without Tiger Woods the field is wide open. My pick is Sergio Garcia, he was the runner-up last year in the Open Chanionship. Interesting fact, the last two times the Open has been at Royal Birkdale the Champion has been decided in a playoff. Will be interesting.

One other event this weekend is the first of two Motorcycle GP events in the US this year. This weekend the two-wheel tour comes to Laguna Seca in California. Casey Stoner is the defending race and season champion but 5 time champion Valentino Rossi is in the points lead. Should be interesting and a lot of fun.

The last event of the weekend is the ESPY Awards. This is a celebration of the past year in sports by recognizing major sports achievements, reliving unforgettable moments and saluting the leading performers and performances. Always a good time and it benefits the V Foundation for Cancer Research, established by ESPN with the late Jim Valvano and announced at the inaugural ESPYs in 1993.

Enjoy a great sports weekend. Talk to you again soon.

That’s my take I would like to hear yours,

Jamie Lazaroff

Saturday, July 12, 2008

The week that was in sports

I can’t believe I missed the Men’s Final at Wimbledon last Sunday. I had a prior commitment with my dad at the Mohegan Sun. We left after Nadal won the first two sets with relative ease and I thought it was over. But the champion Federer battled back to force a five set, I remember looking at the TV in the casino and thinking I can’t believe this match is still going on. After three rain delays this was the longest Wimbledon men's singles final in history at four hours and 48 minutes. In my last post I predicted that Nadal would beat Federer; I just did not know it would be a classic. If John McEnroe said it is the best final ever than I have to say it was.

The other news last weekend was the US Olympic trials in Track and Field as well as Swimming. The main story at the swimming trials was 41 year-old mother of one Dara Torres making her fifth Olympic team. By the way, she set a new American record in the 50m freestyle to make the team in two events the other is the 100m freestyle that she will not swim in Beijing. To beat kids in their teens and early 20’s is just awesome. There is hope for us all. I hope I’M in that kind of shape at 41. The story at the Track and Field trials is that Tyson Gay’s dream of a 100m and 200m sprint double is over. Gay suffered what his manager called a severe cramp in his left hamstring. This brings up the point that Track and Field is the hardest team to make because the top three athletes in each sport go to the Olympics. If you have a bad day or you get hurt that’s it no second chances, no chance for recovery. I like the way Women’s Gymnastics does it. They name the top two and the rest are chosen at training camp. Diving does this as well. Better chance of making the team.

This weekend in sports

I have to say this is not the best weekend to be a sports fan. There is no big event this weekend. I’M looking forward to next week’s All-Star events in New York. Monday is the Home Run Derby that is always a great show. Tuesday is the All-Star Game. Baseball’s All-Star Game is the best because the winning league gets home field advantage in the World Series. I believe this gives the players something to play for.

Have a great weekend. Talk to you soon, sports will heat up next week.

Good night and good luck, (stolen from Keith Olbermann who stole it from Edward
R. Murrow)

Jamie Lazaroff

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

My Wish

Here is today's My Wish from ESPN. Enjoy.




Jamie

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Update

This week on the 6 P.M. Sports Center show on ESPN is there three annual "My Wish" series. ESPN and The Walt Disney Company partner with Make-A-Wish Foundation to grant unique sports-related wishes for children with life-threatening medical conditions. This is the best thing ESPN does each year. I cry each time. Each "My Wish" is replayed every morning on Sports Center if you don't catch it in the evening. Here is yesterday's "My Wish". Hope you enjoy.

Saturday, June 28, 2008

The week that was

I’M back and better than every. Vegas were fun and restful. I did see last weekend’s sports events, so lets get to it.

Tiger Woods won the “US Open”; beating Rocco Mediate on the first hole of a sudden victory playoff after they tied a 18-hole playoff. This was by far his most remarkable major championship victory. Especially, after coming off six weeks of rehab for knee surgery, it is just incredible, but at what price did this victory cost him. Two days after the win Tiger announced on his website that he will need season ending ACL knee surgery. I know Torrey Pines is his home course but he could have risked his career on one major when he will definitely win more.

Most people are predicting that golf TV ratings will go down without Tiger for the rest of the year. Yes, I lot of people watch TV golf for Tiger and those people will probably not watch. But I do think the “British Open” and the “PGA Championship” will give other golfers a chance to win a major and the season long “FedEx Cup” which is exciting will be worth watching. I think the major hit will be on the “Ryder Cup”, I don’t think the US can win the cup without Tiger but, we will see.

Congratulations to the Boston Celtics for winning the NBA Championship last week. This is the team’s 17th championship but the first since 1986. The old saying goes that defense wins championships and that’s what the C’s did to win the title in six games. I, by the way, did predict that they would win the series in six games. My hats off to coach Doc Rivers for a great coaching job. I had my doubts about him as a coach but he did make the right adjustments. I also would like to congratulations to General Manager Danny Ainge for putting this team together. He did know what he was doing with all those kids, trade them a way for Ray Allen and KG.

I know that I have said in the past that I don’t like watching the drafts, but I was looking forward to the NBA draft on Thursday. I wanted to see if any team would have the courage to make moves like the Celtics did last year. Update, there were no big trades or any big news this year.

This weeks viewing pick is the three and most famous “Grand Slam” tennis tournament, Wimbledon. It is the only Grand Slam to be played on grass counts. The “Australian Open” and the “US Open” were played on grass before sifting over to more hard counts that are used more often now. It is also the most traditional tournament with all players dressed in white. My picks are the same as the “French Open” on the Men’s side or as they say at Wimbledon the Gentlemen’s draw Roger Federer VS. Rafel Nadal, with Nadal taking his first Wimbledon crown. On the Ladies’ side it is wide open with any number of ladies’ could win it. I will pick number 3 seed Maria Sharapova to win. She won it back 2004; I think she can do it again. Late update, I was wrong Maria lost in the 2nd round on Thursday I think one of the Williams sisters may win it. By the way, the Women’s Final at the All England Club is July 5 and the Men’s Final is July 6.

Enjoy the weekend.

Talk to you soon

Jamie

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Goodbye Jim Mckay

Some kids idolize athletes, others, idolize actors or musicians, I idolize sportscasters. The sportscaster that I grew up with and idolize is Jim McKay. Jim died this past weekend at his home in Maryland at the age of 86. Jim was the voice of ABC’s Wide World of Sports for the better part of my youth. It was not Saturday without Jim McKay “Spanning the globe to bring you the constant variety of sport… the thrill of victory… and the agony of defeat… the human drama of athletic competition.” Do you remember the first sports event on Wide World of Sports when it debuted on April 29, 1961? Answer later. Jim was also the voice of the Olympics during my youth. I remember watching the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and marveling at the way Jim told the story of the athletes for around the world. You know it was a big event when Jim McKay was on the spot. As I grew up I have come to appreciate the work Jim did at the 1972 Olympics in Munich when eight Arab commandos slipped into the Olympic Village, killing two Israeli team members and seized nine others as hostages. Early the next morning, all nine were killed in a shootout between the terrorists and West German police at a military airport. Jim was on air for 12 hours straight updating the American people of the story. The amazing thing is Jim was not the host of ABC’s Olympic coverage; Chris Schenkel was the host of ABC’s Prime Time coverage, and Jim was on an off day when he got the call to anchor the unfonding tragedy.

Thank you Jim for the memories, you will be missed. God speed Mr.. McKay, there isn’t and never will be any one like you.

The week ahead

This weekend is the second major of the Golf year, the “US Open” at Torrey Pines in San Diego. Torrey Pines is the longest course in major championship history. The story is that this is Tiger Woods first tournament since knee surgery. In the first two rounds he will be paired with Phil Mickelson and Adam Scott, which will be very interesting.

The coverage starts on Thursday with ESPN at 1PM to 3PM then NBC takes over until 4PM then ESPN is back for 5PM until 10PM, with the same schedule on Friday. On Saturday NBC has coverage from 4PM to 10PM. On Father’s Day Sunday, it’s on NBC from 3PM to 9PM. Enjoy, Primetime golf should be fun.

The answer to my trivia question is the Drake Relays and the Penn Relays. Jim hosted the show from the Penn Relays. Both are by the way, Track and Field meets.

Talk to you all in a few weeks, I’M off to Las Vegas for a vacation with my dad for Father’s day.

Good night and Good luck.
Jamie

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

This week in sports

Hi all,

This was not the busiest weekend for sports, but it was a huge weekend for “Mixed Martial Arts”. Saturday was the first network TV broadcast of MMA on CBS. Everyone is talking about this show (blogers, sports radio, ESPN Sportscenter) even my assistant watched it.

Here is my review of the action. I liked the beginning of the show when Frank Shamrock showed the moves of MMA and some of the terms used on the show. My fight of the night goes to the ladies, Gina Carano Vs. Kaitlin Young. This was the first time I got to see women fight and I didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised at how good they were. The next match was "Ruthless" Robbie Lawler VS. Scott Smith for the Elite XC Middleweight title. This was a great match until the referee stopped the fight because of Lawler inadvertently stuck his finger into the right eye of Smith. This action by Lawler caused the fight to end because it was ruled as a no contest. The rules state that a title fight must last at least three full rounds, or result in a no contest. Championship fights are 5-5 minute rounds. The good thing about this event is that we will have a remacth between the two.
The main event of the evenining was Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson VS. James "The Colossus" Thompson. Kimbo won after 38 seconds into the third round. Slice landed a punch to the left side of Thompson's head bursting his already heavily cauliflowered ear. Thompson was not ready to quite but I belive the fight was stopped because of the blood coming out of his ear and The Elite XC did not what its drawing card, Kimbo, to loose. I believe if you put Kimbo in the Ultimate Fighting Championship he would loose because he wouldn’t be able to get past the first round.

This first show, overall, was very good. The real question will be the second show. You’re not going to get the same type of fighters, (hard hiters and strikers) like you had this time. The only thing I did not like about the show was that they announced the fighters twice, once coming down to the cage and then again in the cage for the offical announcement. The announcers on the show were very good. I was surprized how knowable of the sport Gus Johnson was and just how good Frank Shamrock is as a commentator. Mauro Ranallo was great. I liked the fact that they talked about the fighter’s past with other organizations like the UFC and Pride Fighting Chanpionship. It was interesting to read that the show was produed by CBS Entertainment and not CBS Sports. Interesting, maybe next time CBS will realize that it is a sport and will cover it as such.

Did you watch this show? If you did let my know what your thoughts are. Drop me a line at jman200086@netscape.net. You can give the show a thumps up, thumps down, or thump in the middle and what you throught was the fight of the night.

What’s Ahead this weekend?

The NBA Finals start this Thursday with the “Boston Celtics” taking on the “Los Angles Lakers”. This is an old school matchup with these two teams meeting for a record 11 times in the finals. This is tied with the New York Yankees VS. the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for meetings in a championship series across all sports. These two franchises combined to win 30 of 60 NBA campionships since 1947. In the 80’s these two teams played in some of the greatest games in NBA history. With Larry Bird and Magic Johnson battling it out for the NBA championship was the reason I and a lot of people starting watching basketball. This year is a great matchup with Kobe Bryant VS. Boston’s big three of KG, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. I think Boston will win it in six games.

Also this weekend is the Belmont Stakes. Big Brown has a change to do something that has not happened in 30 years, which is to win horse racing’s “Triple Crown”. The Belmont is the longest of the three races at 1mile and a half. I think he can do it and win the “Test of the Champions”. The race is Saturday on ABC Sports at 5PM. Before this is 6 hours of pre race hype on ESPN starting at noon.

The last major event this weekend is the start of the “UEFA Euro 2008 Soccer Championship”. This event goes for three weeks. There will be 16 teams in this championship tournament. Ten of these teams are ranked among the top 15 in the FIFA World Ranking. The UEFA European Football Championship is one of the most prestigious and competitive tournaments among national soccer teams. Fourteen of these teams have earned a spot in the finals following a two-year qualification process among 50 UEFA member nations while the host nations – Austria and Switzerland – received automatic berths. Since its inception in 1960, the competition is held every four years. Greece won the last Championship – UEFA Euro 2004 – hosted by Portugal.

Do you plan on watching any of there events or did you over the weekend? Drop me a line at jman200086@netscape.net and let me know what you think or give me your report on them?

Enjoy the weekend and I will be back next week with a recap. Saturday I’M off to Boston for the Visa Championships for Woman’s Gymnastics, I think this is the Olympic trails.

Good night and good luck.
Jamie Lazaroff

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

This week in sports

Sorry I did not write last weekend, but Memorial Day is one of the best sports weekends of the year.
The “Indy 500” was the highlight of the weekend. This year’s race was the first Indy 500 since 1994 when the Indianapolis Motor Speedway led a split from “The CART Series”. It is the longest race in Indy Racing League; compare it to this week IRL Race in Milwaukee, which is 225 Miles. Also, Indy has one of the smallest pit roads on the IRL circuit. All of this makes the Indy 500 one of America’s greatest sports events each year. It is my opinion that a lot of the Indy 500 is luck. It was a great race with a lot of passing and storylines including Marco Andretti trying to win at Indy, something his dad and car owner Michael never did. One of the other major stories was Danica Patrick trying to be the first women to win at Indy. My opinion is for the media to leave Danica alone! During the race Ryan Briscoe took her out in the pit lane, she got mad and went to his car for a talk, but security stopped her and the TV announcers made a big deal about it. This kind of thing happens all the time, usually not on pit road in the biggest race of the year but it happen back in the gauge area, so what’s the big deal.
Congratulations to Scott Dixon for the win, he stayed out of trouble all day and his team did a great job in the pits. One thing I know is that in the future Marco Andretti will win this race many times, he really showed me that he is a great driver. Danica may win Indy one day when the media gets off her back and lets her be a racer, than I think she can win the big one.

The other big race this weekend was the “Coca-Cola 600” at Charlotte. This is NASCAR’s longest race of the year. It is interesting also because it starts at 5 PM in sunlight and ends around 10 PM. Without sunlight the track changes because it becomes faster with out the heat of the sun. Kasey Kahn won when he pitted before anybody else. This was his second win in the 600 after wining in 2006. He is the sixth driver to win the All-Star Race and the 600 in the same year.

The French Open began this week in Paris. It goes for two weeks with the Women’s Final June 7th and the Men’s Final June 8th. My picks to win are any of the Russian women and Rafael Nadal who will meet Roger Federer in the Men’s Final for the third year in a row.

This just into the Laznet newsroom, ESPN is adding John Kruk to its coverage of the Women’s College World Series starting May 29. Should be fun. Kruk is an ESPN baseball analyst that is known to say outlandish things. I will be watching just for him.

Talk to you later.

Good night and good luck.
Jamie Lazaroff

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

News of the week

A lot of news to get to, so let’s start with an update of an ongoing story, Oster Pistorius, the double amputee who wants to run in the Olympics this year but was banned by the IAAF to do so, appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration of Sport. Last week he won his appeal and can now try to qualify for the China Games. In the past few days Oster has come out in the press and stated that 2012 Games in London would be more realistic for him to try to qualify for. Good for you Oster, for standing up for what you believe in and not giving up on your dreams. Hope to see you in China or London; it will be a historic day when you do run in the Olympics.
There will be a South African amputee in the Beijing Olympic, 24-year-old Natalie Du Toit. Natalie lost her left leg when a car while riding her scooter in 2001 hit her. She has qualified for the 10-kilometer open water-swimming race, which is making its Olympic debut in China. Unlike Oster, Natalie does not use a prosthetic limb when swimming. She said, “I have always had a dream to take part in the Olympic Games, and losing my leg didn’t change anything.” Good for you Natalie and go for the gold. Hopeful, Natalie and Oster’s stories will inspire young people with disabilities to reach for their dreams.

Last week two of the greatest women athletes of this generation retired. First, Annika Sorenstan, in my opinion, the greatest women golfer of this generation. Annika won 72 LPGA tournaments, 10 Major titles, and a record 8 Player of the Year awards. She will retire at the end of the year to peruse other avenues outside of competitive golf. She will be best remembered for playing with the men in the 2003 Colonial tournament, becoming the first Women to play on the Men’s PGA tour since 1945. She will be missed, she was the reason I watched the LPGA.

On the other hand Justine Henin has announced her immediate retirement from professional tennis. She is only 25 years old and the world’s number one player at the time of her announcement. Justine won 7 Grand Slam titles and 31 WTA career wins. I can understand this retirement; tennis is a hard sport that has no off season. December is the only month of the year without a regular tournament but it is filled with big money exhibitions in Asia. January starts all over again with the first Grand Slam of the year the “Australian Open”. I’m a little surprised at the timing of this announcement with the “French Open” starting next week! But if you’re burned out you’re burned out and need to step away from the sport.

Hopeful, I will have an update and weekend TV preview later this week. Talk to you later.

That’s my take: I would like yours.

Jamie Lazaroff

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

This week in sports

The great month of May continues this weekend with the Second Jewel in Horse Racing’s Triple Crown, “The Preakness Stakes”, Saturday May 17th, at Baltimore’s “Old Hill Top” Pimlico Race Course. The question is, can Big Brown win this 1 mile and 3/16th race and set up a Triple Crown run in three weeks at the Belmont in New York? We have not had a Triple Crown winner since 1978, so it’s about time. The Race is set for 6 P.M. Listen for “Maryland, My Maryland” at around 5:30pm. No red carpets show this time on NBC.

Also on Saturday, is the NASCAR “Sprint All-Star Race” at Lowes Motor Speedway in Charlotte, NC. Start is 7 pm on the Speed Channel. This is the best All-Star event in all of sports. The race is for no championship points, so there is no pressure to do well and first place pays One Million Dollars to the winner. Also, Charlotte is a home track for most teams, so they want to do well for their families and sponsors that are there. Anything can happen and usually does in this “All-Star Race”. It will be great.

Last week was the Players Championship in golf. What a great final round it was Sunday. Underdog Paul Goydos held the lead for most of the day until the last few holes. Sergio Garcia flirted with the lead all day and caught Paul in the end. Sergio won on the first and only playoff hole when he pared the famous par 3-17th Island Green. Paul put his tee shot in the water and bogeyed the hole. This was the best story the PGA tour could ask for. Paul Goydos, the underdog story challenging for the title. Sergio a kid that has shown promise for so many years winning the big event. The question coming out of the weekend is can Sergio win a major? I think he can, the “British Open” is his best chance. He has been runner-up the last two year at the Open Championship.

What’s wrong with the Celtics? Best record on the road in the regular season, but can’t buy a road win in the playoffs. I don’t get it?

That’s my take; I would like to hear yours.

Talk to you next time.

Jamie Lazaroff

Friday, May 9, 2008

This week in sports

Hi folks,

The One Hundredth and Thirty-Fourth (134) Kentucky Derby is in the books for this year. Big Brown is the winner, but the big story this year is runner-up Eight Bells. She broke her two front ankles and had to be euthanized by injection on the track after the race. This is the second time in three years that a horse has gone down in a Triple Crown race. At the 2006 Preadness, Barbaro broke one of his ankles. A horse named George Washington was euthanized in last year’s Breeders’ Cup races. Horse racing is the sport of kings and when they are running down the stretch it is beautiful, but when it goes wrong it is very sad. I believe the problem lies with the tracks and not the trainers or owners. The tracks in California and the Keeland in Kentucky have installed artificial surfaces that are a lot easier on the horse joints and ankles. As we all know dirt is hard, tracks do water the surface to give the horses more traction but this is not enough. Also you don’t hear about breakdowns on the turf or grass courses. This is what happened to George Washington, he raced on turf and grass for most of his life but last fall at the Breeders’ Cup his owner’s put him in the Classic on dirt because it is a bigger money race then the races on the turf course. I think this owner was the exception to the rule; most owners’ care about their horses more then the purse.

NBC showed great restraint in not showing Eight Bellies going down or going into the horse ambulance. I have to say, I did not like their pre race red carpet show, it was very cheesy. It did not tell me anything about the upcoming race. ESPN did a much better job in telling the story of the race and the characters that make up the “RUN FOR THE ROSES”. ESPN did go overboard with its piggy bank; they named it and then broke it. It was a little over done and I’m not sure we needed to see any of that.

This week’s big event is the Players Championship in Golf. It is considered the 5th major because it’s owned and run by the PGA Tour. Most of the top 50 players in the world are playing this week. Also the TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida is one of the toughest courses on the PGA Tour. The signature hole is the 17th, Island green. Keep you eye on this one.

Talk to you all next week.

That’s my take: I would like to hear yours.

Jamie Lazaroff

Thursday, May 8, 2008

This week in sports

Hi all,

It’s the calm before the summer. The last two weekends have been slow with sports. Don’t get me wrong; the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing. I just have not gotten into them. This weekend starts the great month of May with the first leg in horse racing are Triple Crown: The Kentucky Derby. The hype starts at 4 P.M. on the first Saturday in May. Listen for the playing of “My Old Kentucky Home” around 5:30 P.M. and the “Run For The Roses” gets under way at 6 P.M. The Derby is one of the toughest things to pick in all of sports because, all the horses are three years old and this is the first time in their life their running a mile and ¼.

Congratulation to Danica Patrick and Ashley Force for being the first women to win in their respective motor racing series. Danica won two weeks ago in an Indy Car Race in Japan. It was here first win in 52 career starts in the Indy Car Series. Way to good Danica, now go out and win at Indy next. Ashley Force is the first woman to win a NHRA Funny Car National Event. In the final of the Southern National in Georgia over the weekend she beat her father John Force a 14-time series champion. John was going for his 1,000th round win. Ashley is also the first woman to lead the Funny Car points at any time in the NHRA’s 33-year history. Way to go ladies.

This past weekend was the NFL Draft. I have written before about how I don’t like the draft and the fact that it’s a crapshoot. One of the other reasons I don’t like it is all the so-called “Draft Experts” that make mock-drafts and try to predict the first round. I did find evidence on just how bad their so-called experts are. The guys over at Cold Hard Football Facts.com have tracked the records of four experts for first round picks over the past three years. Lets just say the “experts” nail, on average, about 4 percent of the 220-plus players selected in the NFL draft. I don’t see how these people like Mel Kiper Jr. keep their job. Mel is the worst of the lot.

Finally, some sad news to report on the passing of Don Gillis, a longtime Boston sportscaster. I will remember Don as the host of Boston’s Channel 5 Candlepin Bowling program on Saturday mornings. I miss Candlepin Bowling, it was part of my childhood and I remember watching Candlepin Bowling, Candlepin Doubles, The Pro Bowlers Tour, and ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Candlepin Bowling ended on January 27, 1996. I miss those good old days.

I hope to be back with another post this week with my picks for the

Kentucky Derby.

That’s my take: I would like to hear yours

Jamie Lazaroff