The view from the chair

This is a South Africa themed post.
Here is my recap of the FIFA CONFEDERATIONS Cup from South Africa. The first match of day one (Sunday) was a lifeless scoreless draw between the hosts South Africa and IRAQ. Match number two was Spain versus New Zealand, score, Spain six to zero. Spain shows that they are here to win and stamped their authority on this tournament. New Zealand was just out classed.
Day two (Monday) was the greatest day of football (soccer) I have ever seen. Match one was Brazil versus Egypt. Brazil survived a tough Egypt team 4 to 3. Brazil won on a controversial handball in the Brazilian goal area from an Egyptian player. That led to a Kaka penalty kick to win the game. For the record, I did not see the handball, but every one I talk to did. The Egyptian team has filed a protest, not on the handball its self, but the fact that the third official may have seen a video replay of the handball and gave advice to referee Howard Webb to award the penalty kick. Video replays are not used in soccer; by the way, FIFA (world’s governing body) has rejected Egypt’s protest. Despite the controversial call, as my fellow soccer sportswriter, Jamie Trecker, said this match was a great advertisement for soccer. It had everything, goals, send offs, PK’s, corner kicks, free kick, and the best part for sports writers, like me, controversy.
Match number two of day two was the United States National Team taking on Italy. This match was not with out controversy either. In the 31st minute the Americans were down to 10 men when Ricardo Clark was given a straight red card. But the Americans took the lead when Jozy Altidore was taken down in the penalty box by an Italian player. Landon Donovan stepped up to convert the PK. The second half was a different story as the 11-man Italian side scored three times. The irony is that two of the Italian goals were by Giuseppe Rossi, who was born in New Jersery, but his dad was born in Italy and he decieded to play for the Italy national team. Again, as Jamie Trecker said there are no more moral victories anymore for the American team. Ricardo Clark’s red card could have gone either way. It was a reckless tackel but I think it should not have been a direct red card which meant an immediate ejection but should have been a yellow card. The U.S. should know by now that FIFA tournaments are called in a tighter fashion than MLS because the refs are under the microscope by their bosses. If anything, FIFA refs tend to overcompensate. When will they learn?
The US played Brazil and lost 3 to 0 Thursday morning; in one of the worst games I have seen the US National Team play. Their defense was just awful; they even had another player sent off for a reckless tackel. Didn’t they learn anything from the other day? I guess not. As much as the Americans played terrible, Brazil was Brazil, they put on a show and scored in every way possible, off free kicks and in the run of play, thankfully not on a PK, I would have killed someone, that would have put me over the edge. My question is, why does the US play well against their regional opponents but when it comes the worldwide tournaments, they suck? Just sayin!

There is good news about next year’s World Cup in South Africa and the way ESPN will cover the event. According to the Sports Business Journal, ESPN is sending two SportsCenter sets and three host anchors to the event. The setup will be similar in scale to how the network uses “SportsCenter” at the Super Bowl as opposed to how it uses remote sets at an event like the recent Belmont Stakes and this weekends US Open Golf Championship. ESPN is finally identifying the World Cup as one of its three corporate priorities. In years past, the only other productions to make that list were “SportsCenter” and the NBA. ESPN hasn’t made any decisions about announcers and analysts for the games, but the executives said that it planned to handle the 2010 World Cup more like its telecasts of the Euro 2008 tournament than that of the 2006 World Cup. For the Euros, it used Sky Sports commentator and Brit Andy Gray, whereas for the 2006 World Cup it used American Dave O’Brien, who is a baseball guy and did not know anything about soccer. The difference between next year and the last World Cup is that the network sublicensed the rights from Soccer United Marketing in 2006. Next year in South Africa and 2014 in Brazil, it will own the rights to the events outright and it is treating the event accordingly. I’M glad to see ESPN owns the rights and will be treating the event as the global spectacle it is.
The next news story is also about South Africa, ESPN is finally giving Nelson Mandela the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at its ESPY awards show. I can’t believe ESPN finally is recognizing the 1995 Rugby World Cup and the impact it had on South Africa. He is the first paragraph of the press release: “The 1995 Rugby World Cup was hosted in South Africa for the first time. Following the victory of the host national team, The Springboks, and in a pivotal moment for South Africa, President Nelson Mandela, wearing a Springbok rugby shirt and cap, presented the William Webb Ellis Cup to South African captain Francois Pienaar to the delight of black and white sports fans across the country. This iconic gesture helped to unite a previously divided nation through a shared passion for sport, and further cemented the transition from apartheid to democracy”. Also what made this moment so moving is that while Mandela was in prison he would listen to rugby matches and because rugby was such a white sport, he would rote for the other team. This year the Arthur Ashe Courage Award coincides with Mandela Day, which will fall on July 18th, Nelson Mandela's birthday. Mandela Day will act as a global call to action for people to recognize their individual power to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better. The Nelson Mandela Foundation and 46664 (Mandela’s number in Prison) are calling upon people around the world to commit 67 minutes (Nelson Mandela has been making an imprint on the world for 67 years) of their time to make an imprint and help change the world around them. Talk about cross promotion, but it’s good to see him get this award. The ESPYs will be televised Sunday, July 19 at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN HD.

This Weekend

This is a big sports weekend. It started Thursday with the first round of the US Open Golf Championship at Bethpage Black on Long Island NY. Bethpage staged the Open back in 2002 and was the first public course to host our National Championship of golf. The main storylines are; can Tiger come back after last years win and his win at the Black in 2002. The other major story is Phil Mickelson who came back to the tour after his wife Amy was diagnosed with cancer. He said he only came back because he thought he could win the Open. He was the runner-up to Tiger in 2002 by 3 shots. The course is always the story at the US Open. The United States Golf Association says that protecting par is the goal for the tournament. NBC has the weekends, Sunday 1:30 to 7:30 P.M.

For you fight fans the UFC has their Ultimate Fighter finale Saturday on Spike TV at 9 P.M. This is when the 7-figure contract will be handed out for the winner of the Ultimate Fighter realty TV show. The Main event of the night is a lightweight fight between two of the most exciting fighters in the world, Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida. This one should be good. Also on the card is Nate Diaz against Joe Stevenson, both fighters are very exciting. Should be a fun night.

Monday was starts the Wimbledon Championships from London. This is the first year that there is a roof over center court, no more rain delays at the All England Club! The main story will be; can Rafael Nadal defend his title or will Roger Federer win back his crown. Update: Rafael will not defend his title he withdrew this week, this news opens the door wide open for Federer to win the tournament. On the women side, will Venus Williams defend her title or will someone else win the crown. From the British point of view will Andy Murray be the first Brit to win the Gentleman’s Crown in a long long time. Always interesting to see Wimbledon from the British point of view, you have to love the Brits. Should be interesting. ESPN will have the coverage starting Monday through Friday 7 A.M. to 5 P.M. each day. Enjoy!

See you next week, if not before.

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

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