Sorry I have not written in a while, I have had a few computer problems. I hope to be back on a regular schedule soon. I would like to update a few stories that are back in the news. “He’s back”, weeks after saying he would not come out of retirement Brett Favre decided to come back and signed with the Minnesota Vikings. Why Brett? You have every thing, a Super Bowl title and named league MVP 3 times. What do you need to accomplish next to leave the stage? The only reason I can see is he came back because he loves the spotlight. After last year with the Jets he wants the opportunity to go out on a winning note. Also, the Vikings are a divisional rival of Brett’s old team, the Green Bay Packers and I think he wants to stick it to them for forcing him to retire back in 2008.
An update on the Michael Vick story, he did sign with the Philadelphia Eagles. After some thought I think this is a good move for Michael. The Eagles have a veteran quarterback in Donovan McNabb who will be able to help Michael get his life back in order. The Eagles have already talked about using both QBs at the same time. The team has already had meetings with animal rights groups about having Vick as a spokesman for their organization. Last week, Michael was fully reinstated to play in week 3 of the season by commissioner Roger Goodell.
I would like to comment about the Plaxico Burress story. On Tuesday August 25th, Plaxico gave his first interveiw since that night, and I have a few thoughts about the whole incident. Plaxico came off as the victim of the incident in the intervew. He said “I shot myself but now I’M the one going to jail” I think that before you decide to take a gun with you, you should know the laws of the state or city you are in. By the way because of the incident Plaxico was fired from the Giants and he is not playing this season for any club.
I have been watching ESPN’s coverage of the US Open Tennis Championship which started Monday Aug 31st. This is ESPN’s first year of covering the Open after it was on the USA network for many years. ESPN did there expected great job on tennis. I do like that they have added Mike Tirico to the teleacast. He was one of the hosts and has also called some of the matches. He is a much better than host Chris Fowler who also calls some of the matches. Chris should stick to hosting College Football Gameday. ESPN has also hired John and Patrick McEnroe along with Mary Carillo, this group gives them the best announcers in the business.
A few weeks back, I told you ESPN is bringing back Australian Rules Football. Well, a couple of weeks ago, Spike TV announced it is also bringing back the Australian Rugby League to US TV. Most games will be taped for air at 11 P.M., but the Grand Final (championship game) will be aired October 4th at 11 A.M. I will be watching. By the way I did watch a little of the frist week, I like that Spike used the Australian game announcers. ESPN does the same thing with the English Premier League, I like that as well. I also like that ESPN seems to have dropped the bottom line scoring/news scroll during the English Premier League games. I find the scroll distracting.
Until next time America.
Jamie Lazaroff
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tennis. Show all posts
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The view from here
Oh my! Last week was a huge sports and news week. So lets get to it.
Sunday June 21st was Father’s Day and the last group game for the U.S. National Soccer Team in the Confederations Cup Tournament. The U.S. played Egypt and needed a miracle to advance to the semifinals. If you remember, we were out scored 6 goals to one, in their first two-group games, by Italy and Brazil. They beat Egypt 3 to 0 and needed Brazil to beat Italy by more than 2 goals, they beat them 3 to 0 for the U.S. to advance. I will have the semifinal game later in this report.
Monday was the final round of the US Open Golf Championship at Bethpage State Park on Long Island New York. The Championship usually ends on Father’s Day but with all the rain on Long Island it played the final round on Monday for only the 4th time in the tournaments 109-year history. It was full of stories, Phil Mickelson trying to win one for Amy, his wife who is battling cancer. Phil came up just short this year but in the process he set a record for the most runner-up finishes in his career. I can’t imagine the pressure and the emotions Phil was feeling that week. Great show Phil!
Ricky Barnes was another story at the US Open; he was the 2002 US Amateur Champion but struggled as a pro. This was his first year on the PGA Tour but his season was not going well and he came out of nowhere to set a record for the lowest half way total in this tournament. Hopefully this performance will lead to bigger and better things. Another great story was the resurgence of David Duval. David was a former number one player in the world who has struggled in recent years with his game. Hopefully this performance will lead him back to the Winner’s Circle soon. The Champion is the last great story, Lucas Glover. Lucas is a journeyman golfer, who did not make the cut in his three previous US Open appearances and has one PGA Tour victory. Lucas survived a tough week and deserves this victory. What I like about Lucas is that he could have taken the week off after the win, but he made a commitment a few months ago to play the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and kept that commitment. Bottom line is if you make a commitment keep it. Good for you Lucas.
Tuesday was a slow day with the Red Sox beating the happless Washington Nationals 11 to 3 and it was day two at Wimbledon.
But Wednesday was one of the biggest upset in worldwide Soccer history as the US National Team beat Spain 2 to 0 in the Confederations Cup Semi Finals to advance to their first FIFA worldwide final. Spain was the world number one team, had a fifteen game win streak and beat their three group opponents in this tournament by a total of 8 goals to 0. With stats like that a lot of people, myself included, thought the US would get killed. But we played a perfect game with the defense and especially goalkeeper Tim Howard really steped up. My question is where was this performance in their first two games? If we want to contend in the World Cup next year I think we have to play well in all games not just the ones that matter?
Thursday was a crazy day. First was the other Semi final in the Confederations Cup: Brazil beat South Africa 1 to 0. I was very impressed by how the South Africa’s played by keeping Brazil to one goal. (They scored 10 goals in the group stage) South Africa will be a tough opponent next year at home for the World Cup. This result gave the US a ray of hope for the final. Remember the US lost to Brazil 3 to 0. Right after the game ended news was breaking that Michael Jackson had died. If you like him or didn’t like him you had to respect his music and his dancing. In fact while writing this post I was rocking out to some old school Jackson 5 music.
I will skip to the Confederations Cup Final on Sunday. I will admit that I missed the first 15 minutes or so because I though the US would get blown out and that they could not put two big upsets together. I was shocked to see that Clint Dempsey scored the first goal in the 10th minute and than added to the lead in the 27th minute with a Landon Donovan goal to make it 2 to zero at halftime. At the half I was thinking that we could shock the world but than I remembered that there was 45 minutes to go and Brazil being Brazil any thing could happen. Then it happen Brazil scored 3 goals in the second half to win. After the first goal in the 46th minute I thought OK we can hold them for 44 more minutes, well we could not, Luis Fabiano scored again in the 74th minute to tie it up. Then I started to panick and knew we were going to loose. Thank goodness it didn’t go to PKs because I think it’s a hideous way to end a major championship. Thankfully Brazil scored in the 84th minute to put me out of my misery. Good game from the US, Tim Howard played great again and kept the ball out of the goal as best he could. We forget that there is two halves in a game! The defence that gave us the lead in the first half was forgotten in the second half. Great run in this tournament, they should be proud of the run, but getting to the finals should not be good enough. We need to learn from these experiences because the World Cup is the ultimate test.
This Weekend
The big event this upcoming weekend is the Wimbledon Finals. Saturday the 4th of July is the Women’s Final and it looks like we will have an all American final with Venus and Serena Williams meeting for the championship. Sunday is the Men’s Final with Roger Federer looking to regain his crown and become the greatest Grand Slam Champion of all time. He is tied with Pete Sampras with 14 wins. Roger will meet one of the Andy’s in the final, either Andy Roddick the American or Andy Murray the Brit. This is also the 30th anniversary of “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. In 1979 NBC Sports showed the Gentleman Final at 9 A.M. Saturday morning thus the name “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. That first “Breakfast at Wimbledon” almost didn’t happen. You see, in the old days the Final started at 9 A.M. on the dot. NBC needed time for the announcers to set up the match. They got a lucky break that year; the match was between Bjorn Borg and Roscoe Tanner. One of NBC’s announcers that year was Donald Dell who happened to be Tanner’s manager. Dell told Tanner to come out, go directly to the chair umpire, request a bathroom break, and not to comeback out of the locker room until 9a.m. Because Tanner did this NBC didn’t miss a point of the match. Interesting story to start a summer tradition, I think!
The other big event is the Moto GP at Laguna Seca in California. This is one of the most exciting round of the championship and one of the few times of the year that the bikes are on TV. The race is live on FOX at 5 P.M. on Sunday.
On Sunday I will be at Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox play the Seattle Mariners. I will have a full report next week. I’M looking forward to it. If you get a change to go to Fenway, even if you’re a Yankee fan, I urge you to go. When you walk to you seats through the tunnel and see the Green Monster, I well tell you there’s nothing like it.
Talk to you next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
Sunday June 21st was Father’s Day and the last group game for the U.S. National Soccer Team in the Confederations Cup Tournament. The U.S. played Egypt and needed a miracle to advance to the semifinals. If you remember, we were out scored 6 goals to one, in their first two-group games, by Italy and Brazil. They beat Egypt 3 to 0 and needed Brazil to beat Italy by more than 2 goals, they beat them 3 to 0 for the U.S. to advance. I will have the semifinal game later in this report.
Monday was the final round of the US Open Golf Championship at Bethpage State Park on Long Island New York. The Championship usually ends on Father’s Day but with all the rain on Long Island it played the final round on Monday for only the 4th time in the tournaments 109-year history. It was full of stories, Phil Mickelson trying to win one for Amy, his wife who is battling cancer. Phil came up just short this year but in the process he set a record for the most runner-up finishes in his career. I can’t imagine the pressure and the emotions Phil was feeling that week. Great show Phil!
Ricky Barnes was another story at the US Open; he was the 2002 US Amateur Champion but struggled as a pro. This was his first year on the PGA Tour but his season was not going well and he came out of nowhere to set a record for the lowest half way total in this tournament. Hopefully this performance will lead to bigger and better things. Another great story was the resurgence of David Duval. David was a former number one player in the world who has struggled in recent years with his game. Hopefully this performance will lead him back to the Winner’s Circle soon. The Champion is the last great story, Lucas Glover. Lucas is a journeyman golfer, who did not make the cut in his three previous US Open appearances and has one PGA Tour victory. Lucas survived a tough week and deserves this victory. What I like about Lucas is that he could have taken the week off after the win, but he made a commitment a few months ago to play the Travelers Championship in Connecticut and kept that commitment. Bottom line is if you make a commitment keep it. Good for you Lucas.
Tuesday was a slow day with the Red Sox beating the happless Washington Nationals 11 to 3 and it was day two at Wimbledon.
But Wednesday was one of the biggest upset in worldwide Soccer history as the US National Team beat Spain 2 to 0 in the Confederations Cup Semi Finals to advance to their first FIFA worldwide final. Spain was the world number one team, had a fifteen game win streak and beat their three group opponents in this tournament by a total of 8 goals to 0. With stats like that a lot of people, myself included, thought the US would get killed. But we played a perfect game with the defense and especially goalkeeper Tim Howard really steped up. My question is where was this performance in their first two games? If we want to contend in the World Cup next year I think we have to play well in all games not just the ones that matter?
Thursday was a crazy day. First was the other Semi final in the Confederations Cup: Brazil beat South Africa 1 to 0. I was very impressed by how the South Africa’s played by keeping Brazil to one goal. (They scored 10 goals in the group stage) South Africa will be a tough opponent next year at home for the World Cup. This result gave the US a ray of hope for the final. Remember the US lost to Brazil 3 to 0. Right after the game ended news was breaking that Michael Jackson had died. If you like him or didn’t like him you had to respect his music and his dancing. In fact while writing this post I was rocking out to some old school Jackson 5 music.
I will skip to the Confederations Cup Final on Sunday. I will admit that I missed the first 15 minutes or so because I though the US would get blown out and that they could not put two big upsets together. I was shocked to see that Clint Dempsey scored the first goal in the 10th minute and than added to the lead in the 27th minute with a Landon Donovan goal to make it 2 to zero at halftime. At the half I was thinking that we could shock the world but than I remembered that there was 45 minutes to go and Brazil being Brazil any thing could happen. Then it happen Brazil scored 3 goals in the second half to win. After the first goal in the 46th minute I thought OK we can hold them for 44 more minutes, well we could not, Luis Fabiano scored again in the 74th minute to tie it up. Then I started to panick and knew we were going to loose. Thank goodness it didn’t go to PKs because I think it’s a hideous way to end a major championship. Thankfully Brazil scored in the 84th minute to put me out of my misery. Good game from the US, Tim Howard played great again and kept the ball out of the goal as best he could. We forget that there is two halves in a game! The defence that gave us the lead in the first half was forgotten in the second half. Great run in this tournament, they should be proud of the run, but getting to the finals should not be good enough. We need to learn from these experiences because the World Cup is the ultimate test.
This Weekend
The big event this upcoming weekend is the Wimbledon Finals. Saturday the 4th of July is the Women’s Final and it looks like we will have an all American final with Venus and Serena Williams meeting for the championship. Sunday is the Men’s Final with Roger Federer looking to regain his crown and become the greatest Grand Slam Champion of all time. He is tied with Pete Sampras with 14 wins. Roger will meet one of the Andy’s in the final, either Andy Roddick the American or Andy Murray the Brit. This is also the 30th anniversary of “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. In 1979 NBC Sports showed the Gentleman Final at 9 A.M. Saturday morning thus the name “Breakfast at Wimbledon”. That first “Breakfast at Wimbledon” almost didn’t happen. You see, in the old days the Final started at 9 A.M. on the dot. NBC needed time for the announcers to set up the match. They got a lucky break that year; the match was between Bjorn Borg and Roscoe Tanner. One of NBC’s announcers that year was Donald Dell who happened to be Tanner’s manager. Dell told Tanner to come out, go directly to the chair umpire, request a bathroom break, and not to comeback out of the locker room until 9a.m. Because Tanner did this NBC didn’t miss a point of the match. Interesting story to start a summer tradition, I think!
The other big event is the Moto GP at Laguna Seca in California. This is one of the most exciting round of the championship and one of the few times of the year that the bikes are on TV. The race is live on FOX at 5 P.M. on Sunday.
On Sunday I will be at Fenway Park to watch the Red Sox play the Seattle Mariners. I will have a full report next week. I’M looking forward to it. If you get a change to go to Fenway, even if you’re a Yankee fan, I urge you to go. When you walk to you seats through the tunnel and see the Green Monster, I well tell you there’s nothing like it.
Talk to you next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
Saturday, June 20, 2009
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
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
Sunday, June 14, 2009
A view for the chair
I’m really getting into the NBA finals this year. The Lakers are a great team; Kobe Bryant has taken over the game. Magic is the team of the future. In my opinion Dwight Howard of the Magic is the future of the NBA but needs some more work before I call him a superstar. A lot of the Magic success is because of coach Stan Van Gundy who, I think, is an extremely underrated coach. He made the necessary adjustments needed after game one and the blowout by the Lakers to continue in this series and to help make it competitive. Two of the games have gone into overtime, the Magic should have won these games but they blew it in OT.
I think ABC is doing a great job on the telecast of the games. Mike Breen is the best play-by-play man in the business. Jeff Van Gundy (Stan’s brother) is a great analyst. He is a former coach but talks the fans language. Mark Jackson is also very good he comes up with some funny lines but his voice is very monotone.
My question about the NBA Finals is, why do the weekday games start around 9 P.M. and weekend games start around 8 P.M.? Last Thursdays game did not end until after midnight, to late for me! Should it be revised? Just a though!
Last weekend was the finals of the French Open. Roger Federer won a career Grand Slam and is now tied with Pete Sampras for the most all-time Grand Slam singles titles with 14 championships. Roger is the greatest tennis player I have every seen. Wimbledon in two weeks will be very interesting. Can Roger regain his crown he lost last year to Rafael Nadal? Let’s talk about NBC’s telecast. I think Ted Robinson is the second best play-by-play voice in tennis behind Dick Enberg. John McEnroe is the best in the business behind no one. Mary Carillo is very good too. These three combined may be the best announcing team in all of sports.
Last Friday as Roger Federer was outlasting Juan Martin del Potro in the French Open Semifinals, we in the United States did not see it live until that afternoon on Tennis Channel. Here is an explanation from NBC Sports via Richard Deitsch from Sports Illustrated. NBC Sports’ contract with the tournament allowed it to air only one of the semifinals and they gave NBC a “blackout window” after the broadcast of the NBC taped match ended. NBC’s window was 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. because it wanted to protect the “Today Show”. By the way I thought the “Today Show” went to 11 A.M.? I would like to know why there was no live tennis on NBC the first weekend (May 30 and 31) of the French Open? As Richard says in his Monday column, the three network partners (NBC, ESPN, and the Tennis Channel) need to figure out how to air live coverage on the first weekend and last Friday in 2010.
Last Saturday, June 6th was the season opener for the WNBA Connecticut Sun. It was one of the worst games I have every witnessed. I hope this was just season opening jitters. On Sunday, June 7th they beat New York, so we will see how they do in their next game, Sunday, June 14, 2009 at home versus Atlanta. I won’t be there!
Now on to hockey for a minute, why are some of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals games on the same night as the NBA finals games? Just asking?
Last Sunday TNT took over NASCAR coverage from FOX. I think play-by-play announcer Bill Weber is good but no Mike Joy. I don’t like Wally Dallenbach, I think he is too laidback and comes off as arrogant sometimes. Kyle Petty was a good diver in his day but is no good in the booth. He speaks diver language but for the most part I can’t understand him. After just one week, I miss Darrell Waltrip. Larry McReynolds is part of TNT coverage but just trackside but he’s not on enough to be effective.
Last Sunday night Mike Brown and Urijah Faber put on a great show for the WEC on Versus. Mike Brown won the fight by unanimous decision to retain the WEC Featherweight Championship. Faber broke his hand in the frst round of the fight, but still fought all 5 rounds @ 5 minutes each. Just incredible, in fact, I missed the overtime of game 2 of the NBA Finals to watch this fight. Versus needs to find a new announcer because Todd Harris was just awful. He should not do any sports, he is bad at everything he does. Kenny Florian was great as the analyst. He has been an analyst on ESPN internet show MMA live, but I did not know how he would do on live TV. After his fight career is over Kenny has a furtue in TV.
This Weekend
The big event this weekend is UFC 99 from Cologne, Germany on pay-per-view. There are no championship fights on this card, will have some great matchups, like former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich “ACE” Franklin fighting fomer Pride Middlewight Champion Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva in a 195 lb bout. The other headliner is the return of Mirko “Cro Cop” to the Octagon. “Cro Cop” is a former Pride Openweight Grand Prix Champion. Should be fun.
The other big event is the start of the FIFA Confederations Cup from South Africa on Sunday. The good news for soccer fans in the U.S. is that all of the games will be on ESPN and ESPN2. Here is next weeks schedule:
Su 6/14 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 South Africa vs. Iraq
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 New Zealand vs. Spain
Mo 6/15 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 Brazil vs. Egypt
2:25 p.m. ESPN USA vs. Italy
We 6/17 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 Spain vs. Iraq
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 New Zealand vs. South Africa
Thur 6/189:55 a.m. ESPN2 USA vs. Brazil
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 Egypt vs. Italy
Enjoy, I know I will!
See you next week, if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
I think ABC is doing a great job on the telecast of the games. Mike Breen is the best play-by-play man in the business. Jeff Van Gundy (Stan’s brother) is a great analyst. He is a former coach but talks the fans language. Mark Jackson is also very good he comes up with some funny lines but his voice is very monotone.
My question about the NBA Finals is, why do the weekday games start around 9 P.M. and weekend games start around 8 P.M.? Last Thursdays game did not end until after midnight, to late for me! Should it be revised? Just a though!
Last weekend was the finals of the French Open. Roger Federer won a career Grand Slam and is now tied with Pete Sampras for the most all-time Grand Slam singles titles with 14 championships. Roger is the greatest tennis player I have every seen. Wimbledon in two weeks will be very interesting. Can Roger regain his crown he lost last year to Rafael Nadal? Let’s talk about NBC’s telecast. I think Ted Robinson is the second best play-by-play voice in tennis behind Dick Enberg. John McEnroe is the best in the business behind no one. Mary Carillo is very good too. These three combined may be the best announcing team in all of sports.
Last Friday as Roger Federer was outlasting Juan Martin del Potro in the French Open Semifinals, we in the United States did not see it live until that afternoon on Tennis Channel. Here is an explanation from NBC Sports via Richard Deitsch from Sports Illustrated. NBC Sports’ contract with the tournament allowed it to air only one of the semifinals and they gave NBC a “blackout window” after the broadcast of the NBC taped match ended. NBC’s window was 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. because it wanted to protect the “Today Show”. By the way I thought the “Today Show” went to 11 A.M.? I would like to know why there was no live tennis on NBC the first weekend (May 30 and 31) of the French Open? As Richard says in his Monday column, the three network partners (NBC, ESPN, and the Tennis Channel) need to figure out how to air live coverage on the first weekend and last Friday in 2010.
Last Saturday, June 6th was the season opener for the WNBA Connecticut Sun. It was one of the worst games I have every witnessed. I hope this was just season opening jitters. On Sunday, June 7th they beat New York, so we will see how they do in their next game, Sunday, June 14, 2009 at home versus Atlanta. I won’t be there!
Now on to hockey for a minute, why are some of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals games on the same night as the NBA finals games? Just asking?
Last Sunday TNT took over NASCAR coverage from FOX. I think play-by-play announcer Bill Weber is good but no Mike Joy. I don’t like Wally Dallenbach, I think he is too laidback and comes off as arrogant sometimes. Kyle Petty was a good diver in his day but is no good in the booth. He speaks diver language but for the most part I can’t understand him. After just one week, I miss Darrell Waltrip. Larry McReynolds is part of TNT coverage but just trackside but he’s not on enough to be effective.
Last Sunday night Mike Brown and Urijah Faber put on a great show for the WEC on Versus. Mike Brown won the fight by unanimous decision to retain the WEC Featherweight Championship. Faber broke his hand in the frst round of the fight, but still fought all 5 rounds @ 5 minutes each. Just incredible, in fact, I missed the overtime of game 2 of the NBA Finals to watch this fight. Versus needs to find a new announcer because Todd Harris was just awful. He should not do any sports, he is bad at everything he does. Kenny Florian was great as the analyst. He has been an analyst on ESPN internet show MMA live, but I did not know how he would do on live TV. After his fight career is over Kenny has a furtue in TV.
This Weekend
The big event this weekend is UFC 99 from Cologne, Germany on pay-per-view. There are no championship fights on this card, will have some great matchups, like former UFC Middleweight Champion Rich “ACE” Franklin fighting fomer Pride Middlewight Champion Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva in a 195 lb bout. The other headliner is the return of Mirko “Cro Cop” to the Octagon. “Cro Cop” is a former Pride Openweight Grand Prix Champion. Should be fun.
The other big event is the start of the FIFA Confederations Cup from South Africa on Sunday. The good news for soccer fans in the U.S. is that all of the games will be on ESPN and ESPN2. Here is next weeks schedule:
Su 6/14 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 South Africa vs. Iraq
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 New Zealand vs. Spain
Mo 6/15 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 Brazil vs. Egypt
2:25 p.m. ESPN USA vs. Italy
We 6/17 9:55 a.m. ESPN2 Spain vs. Iraq
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 New Zealand vs. South Africa
Thur 6/189:55 a.m. ESPN2 USA vs. Brazil
2:25 p.m. ESPN2 Egypt vs. Italy
Enjoy, I know I will!
See you next week, if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
Friday, June 5, 2009
A view for the chair
Hi folks
I’m back and better than ever. We are diligently working on the audio podcast; I hope to have it up by the end of next week. I’ll keep you posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
There is a lot going on in the world of sports, so let’s go. Rance Mullinicks was in the booth this weekend as the Red Sox were in Toronto to play the Blue Jays. New England Sports Network (NESN) has been using different analysts since May 6, when Jerry Remy took a leave of absence so he can fully recover from the effects of cancer surgery. Rance has been the best sub NESN has had; he was clear and did not use baseball jargon. Please come back soon Jerry, we miss you.
Breaking news: Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison are the new analysts for NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Rodney and Tony worked for NBC at the Super Bowl in February and were very good. They are replacing Cris Collinsworth, who is leaving the studio and replacing John Madden in the game booth and Jerome Bettis who was let go by the network. I cannot believe Tiki Barber as the only holdover from last season and Jerome was let go. Jerome you could tell loved the game and it showed. He had passion and Tiki is seems like he’s just going through the motions. Tony and Rodney has that passion and I think they will do very well.
For the past two weeks, ESPN has been sharing converge of the French Open with the Tennis Channel on weekdays and NBC Sports on the weekends. This past Sunday 4-time defending champion Rafael Nadal lost to 23rd seed Robin Soderling. NBC had all the matches on the day taped for the afternoon; remember that Paris is 5 hours ahead of New York. Next time something big happens please NBC, let ESPN (as they are in more homes than the Tennis Channel) show the match live. The finals this weekend will be live, the women are Saturday and the men are Sunday.
There is big news in the mixed martial arts world this week. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that former eliteXC fighter Kimbo Slice is a part of season 10 of there reality TV show the “Ultimate Fighter” that will start airing on Spike on September16. UFC President Dana White, at one point last year, called Kimbo “not a real fighter”, a “fraud”, and that he would not let him in UFC. Dana has stated the only way Kimbo will fight in the UFC is if he wins the Ultimate Fighter contract. The other fights announced for the show are all former NFL players…will be a fun season and I can’t wait for September.
I have one question, why are games 3 and 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on Versus? I don’t know any major sports league other than the NHL that has their championship series on cable TV. For a league that needs showcasing, the NHL does a terrible job at being visible. Just a thought.
This weekend
This is a huge weekend for sports. The crazy French Open wraps up with the Women’s Final Saturday morning and the Men’s final on Sunday morning, both live on NBC.
It is a huge weekend for mixed martial arts with events on both days. Saturday is Strikeforce on Showtime. The main event is Robbie Lawler versus Jake Shields, but the fight I want to see is Nick Diaz versus Scott Smith. These will be two very entertaining bouts but there are great fighters up and down the card. Should be fun…wish I had Showtime.
On Sunday night is the WEC on Versus at 9 P.M.. The main bout is a rematch for the Featherweight Championship with defending champion Mike Brown fighting Urijah Faber, the man he beat for the title.
Saturday is the Belmont stakes on ABC at 5 P.M. Calvin Borel will be looking for a jockey triple crown, as he won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird, and the Preakness on Rachel Alexandra and he is back on Mine That Bird for the mile and a half “test of the champions.” Will be very interesting, I don’t think he can do it. The Belmont is the longest Triple Crown and perhaps the longest race the horse will run in his entire career. Calvin Borel is a jockey made for shorter races.
Besides all this, the WNBA starts its season. I will be at the season opener this Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena when the Sun take on the Washington Mystics. I will have a report next week. Should be fun.
Also, can the USA Men’s national soccer team rebound after a 3 to 1 lost to Costa Rica Wednesday night in World Cup qualifying? Saturday the U.S. host Honduras at Soldier Field in Chicago at 8 P.M. on ESPN. With only two home games left in qualifying I think we need to win this game. The national team has a big month ahead of them as they head to South Africa for the FIFA Confederations Cup and play some of the best national teams in the world. Their first two games in South Africa will be against Italy and Brazil; these two teams combine for 9 world cup titles. Will be some good matches, I hope.
Talk to you next week if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
I’m back and better than ever. We are diligently working on the audio podcast; I hope to have it up by the end of next week. I’ll keep you posted.
Enough about me, on to the sports.
There is a lot going on in the world of sports, so let’s go. Rance Mullinicks was in the booth this weekend as the Red Sox were in Toronto to play the Blue Jays. New England Sports Network (NESN) has been using different analysts since May 6, when Jerry Remy took a leave of absence so he can fully recover from the effects of cancer surgery. Rance has been the best sub NESN has had; he was clear and did not use baseball jargon. Please come back soon Jerry, we miss you.
Breaking news: Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison are the new analysts for NBC’s Sunday Night Football. Rodney and Tony worked for NBC at the Super Bowl in February and were very good. They are replacing Cris Collinsworth, who is leaving the studio and replacing John Madden in the game booth and Jerome Bettis who was let go by the network. I cannot believe Tiki Barber as the only holdover from last season and Jerome was let go. Jerome you could tell loved the game and it showed. He had passion and Tiki is seems like he’s just going through the motions. Tony and Rodney has that passion and I think they will do very well.
For the past two weeks, ESPN has been sharing converge of the French Open with the Tennis Channel on weekdays and NBC Sports on the weekends. This past Sunday 4-time defending champion Rafael Nadal lost to 23rd seed Robin Soderling. NBC had all the matches on the day taped for the afternoon; remember that Paris is 5 hours ahead of New York. Next time something big happens please NBC, let ESPN (as they are in more homes than the Tennis Channel) show the match live. The finals this weekend will be live, the women are Saturday and the men are Sunday.
There is big news in the mixed martial arts world this week. The Ultimate Fighting Championship has announced that former eliteXC fighter Kimbo Slice is a part of season 10 of there reality TV show the “Ultimate Fighter” that will start airing on Spike on September16. UFC President Dana White, at one point last year, called Kimbo “not a real fighter”, a “fraud”, and that he would not let him in UFC. Dana has stated the only way Kimbo will fight in the UFC is if he wins the Ultimate Fighter contract. The other fights announced for the show are all former NFL players…will be a fun season and I can’t wait for September.
I have one question, why are games 3 and 4 of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals on Versus? I don’t know any major sports league other than the NHL that has their championship series on cable TV. For a league that needs showcasing, the NHL does a terrible job at being visible. Just a thought.
This weekend
This is a huge weekend for sports. The crazy French Open wraps up with the Women’s Final Saturday morning and the Men’s final on Sunday morning, both live on NBC.
It is a huge weekend for mixed martial arts with events on both days. Saturday is Strikeforce on Showtime. The main event is Robbie Lawler versus Jake Shields, but the fight I want to see is Nick Diaz versus Scott Smith. These will be two very entertaining bouts but there are great fighters up and down the card. Should be fun…wish I had Showtime.
On Sunday night is the WEC on Versus at 9 P.M.. The main bout is a rematch for the Featherweight Championship with defending champion Mike Brown fighting Urijah Faber, the man he beat for the title.
Saturday is the Belmont stakes on ABC at 5 P.M. Calvin Borel will be looking for a jockey triple crown, as he won the Kentucky Derby on Mine That Bird, and the Preakness on Rachel Alexandra and he is back on Mine That Bird for the mile and a half “test of the champions.” Will be very interesting, I don’t think he can do it. The Belmont is the longest Triple Crown and perhaps the longest race the horse will run in his entire career. Calvin Borel is a jockey made for shorter races.
Besides all this, the WNBA starts its season. I will be at the season opener this Saturday at the Mohegan Sun Arena when the Sun take on the Washington Mystics. I will have a report next week. Should be fun.
Also, can the USA Men’s national soccer team rebound after a 3 to 1 lost to Costa Rica Wednesday night in World Cup qualifying? Saturday the U.S. host Honduras at Soldier Field in Chicago at 8 P.M. on ESPN. With only two home games left in qualifying I think we need to win this game. The national team has a big month ahead of them as they head to South Africa for the FIFA Confederations Cup and play some of the best national teams in the world. Their first two games in South Africa will be against Italy and Brazil; these two teams combine for 9 world cup titles. Will be some good matches, I hope.
Talk to you next week if not before.
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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