What a great weekend of sports this past weekend. We had the Kentucky Derby, with the horse “Mind That Bird” who was the horse with the second longest odds to win in the 135-year history of the race. Also, this past weekend was Game 7 of the Celtics versus the Chicago Bulls. It was a great series just not for Celtics fans, the young Bulls would not die. The Celtics are really hurting without Kevin Garnett. They are in the middle of a big test in the next round with Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic. Howard is a young kid that can do it all on the basketball court. Should be a great series. I would like to have been in South Korea for the inaugural round of the new Triathlon World Championship Series. The men’s race was a photo finish with Bevan Docherty of New Zealand beating Brad Kahlefeldt of Australia. What a race, after a 1500 meter swim, a 40km bike and a 10km run these two were separated by mire inches.
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is the unofficial fifth major of the golf year the Players Championship. Can Sergio Garcia defend his title, or will Tiger and Phil contend for their second Players title? The two young guns I will have my eyes on this weekend will be Anthony Kim and Rory McIlroy. Watch for the 17th hole, it is one of the most difficult holes in golf. TV coverage is Thursday and Friday on the Golf Channel at 1 P.M. both days, weekend coverage is NBC Sports from 2 to 7 P.M. both days.
The NHL and NBA playoffs continue this weekend with the Bruins (NHL) taking on the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference semifinals. Game 4 is Friday night at 7:30 P.M. on NESN and game 5 is Sunday May 10 at 7:30 on Versus. The NBA playoffs are also in the conference semifinal stage with the Celtics playing the Orlando Magic. The NBA games are the same day as the NHL, Friday at 7 P.M. on ESPN and Sunday at 8 P.M. on TNT. Enjoy!! I know I will.
Personal
Next week I’M in Florida with my family, when I come back I will have the audio podcast up and ready to go. I have an account on Twitter so come follow me there (@jman20008). When I come back from Florida I will be doing a daily what to watch on TV and will be updating my blog on it.
See you in a few weeks, if not before. I will be bringing my laptop to Florida with me so I won’t be out of touch.
Jamie
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The view form the Chair
The big news this week is the retirement of NFL broadcaster John Madden. After winning the Super Bowl in 1976 with the Oakland Raiders, John started a career in broadcasting and became the best color commentators of all time. John is the only broadcaster to announce for every NFL TV partner; NBC, CBS, ABC, and Fox. He stared his broadcasting career with CBS sports in 1979. In 1981 he was elevated to the network's top team with Pat Summerall, they went on to call footbal games for CBS until 1994 when CBS lost the NFL to FOX Sports, Madden and Summrerall went with them. Madden and Summrerall called eight Super Bowls together, (five for CBS and three for FOX). In 2002 John left FOX and joined Al Michaels at ABC’s Monday Night Football. After Monday Night Football was relegated to cable, John made his last jump to NBC’s Sunday Night Football. On February 1,2009 he became the only person to call the Super Bowl on the “Big Four” TV networks. By the way he did call 2 Super Bowls while at ABC. All this for a grand total of 11 Super Bowls. Madden's lively and flamboyant delivery has won him critical acclaim and fourteen Sports Emmy Awards for Outstanding Sports Event Analyst. He was also the first broadcaster to use a telestrator to diagram and analyzel plays. Madden’s enthusiasm for the game of football is what made him great. What I also liked about him is that his did not talk over the audience by using big words. You knew it was a big game when John Madden was on the call. Before a one-week break last season he had a streak of 476 consecutive weekends calling football. So John, you deserve you retriment, enjoy the grandkids!
One story that caught my attention this last week, is out of Washington D.C. Wahington Nationals player Elijah Dukes was five minutes late to the stadium. He was fined $500 , suspended, and threaten with demotion to the minors if it happened again. The problem is, he was late because he was speaking at a Little Legue event. Fine a player for being late, but he was doeing something good for his community. The problem was the event was not sponsored by the Nationals so he got in trouble. The Little Legue program is paying Dukes fine. To quote Jim Mraz, President of the Freat Falls LL, “The point is, this guy gave back to our community, and now he's in a hard spot. We need to help him, It's not a question of whether this guy can afford the $500 bucks. We're just trying to send a message to our kids: He was here for us. Now we've got to be there for him." Good for them. The General Manager of The Nationals wants to change the culture of the team, this is not the way to do that.
This Weekend in Sports
The big event of the weekend is round one of the Red Sox versus the Yankees at Fenway. Series started on Friday at 7:10 on NESN in New England or the YES network in New York. By the way, Boston won the first game 5 to 4. Saturday’s game is on FOX at 4:10 and Sunday game is on ESPN 8:05. I know it’s early in the season, but it’s an early indication of where each team is. Should be fun.
The other big event this weekend is the NFL Draft. I will only watch because ESPN is putting Todd McShay up to challenge so called draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. For what I have seen on SportsCenter this week it should be fun. I wish McShay was in New York and not at ESPN studios in Bristol, but I do expect a lot of disagreements. Can you tell I don’t like Mel? Should be interesting.
Talk to you next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
One story that caught my attention this last week, is out of Washington D.C. Wahington Nationals player Elijah Dukes was five minutes late to the stadium. He was fined $500 , suspended, and threaten with demotion to the minors if it happened again. The problem is, he was late because he was speaking at a Little Legue event. Fine a player for being late, but he was doeing something good for his community. The problem was the event was not sponsored by the Nationals so he got in trouble. The Little Legue program is paying Dukes fine. To quote Jim Mraz, President of the Freat Falls LL, “The point is, this guy gave back to our community, and now he's in a hard spot. We need to help him, It's not a question of whether this guy can afford the $500 bucks. We're just trying to send a message to our kids: He was here for us. Now we've got to be there for him." Good for them. The General Manager of The Nationals wants to change the culture of the team, this is not the way to do that.
This Weekend in Sports
The big event of the weekend is round one of the Red Sox versus the Yankees at Fenway. Series started on Friday at 7:10 on NESN in New England or the YES network in New York. By the way, Boston won the first game 5 to 4. Saturday’s game is on FOX at 4:10 and Sunday game is on ESPN 8:05. I know it’s early in the season, but it’s an early indication of where each team is. Should be fun.
The other big event this weekend is the NFL Draft. I will only watch because ESPN is putting Todd McShay up to challenge so called draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. For what I have seen on SportsCenter this week it should be fun. I wish McShay was in New York and not at ESPN studios in Bristol, but I do expect a lot of disagreements. Can you tell I don’t like Mel? Should be interesting.
Talk to you next week.
Jamie Lazaroff
Thursday, April 16, 2009
A view from the chair
The 2009 Masters is in the books and I think it was one of the most enjoyable in some time. Sunday was like two tournaments in one, we had the pairing of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson the number one and two players in the world trying to make a run and chasing the lead. I was at my cousin Carley home for Easter. Carley’s husband David, her father-in law Bill and I were glued to the TV watching Tiger and Phil duel to the end. We all felt the roller coaster ride with them. When Tiger and Phil ended their round and we knew that they would not win the golf tournament, my dad asked my why I was still watching (he’s not a fan of golf) I said, “ Some one will win and it will be a great story.” After the thrill ride of Tiger and Phil the tournament really took off. Kenny Perry had a two shot led heading to the 17th hole, but he ended up with bogeying the 17th and 18th to set up a sudden-victory playoff with Chad Campbell and Angel Carbera. Carbera came out the winner on the 2nd playoff hole. He is the first player from Argentina to win the Masters. One of the great stories that goes along with Angel Carbera’s win is that in 1968 Roberto De Vicenzo, also from Argentina, was disqualified for signing an incorrect scorecard only to lose the golf tournament. Roberto could not win 41 years ago but finally a fellow Argentinean did.
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is UFC 97; live on Pay-per-view on Saturday night from Montreal, Canada.
The main event of UFC 97 is Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva who returns to the Octagon to defend his crown against number one contender Thales Leites. The pound for pound king Silva has already defended his title more times than anyone in UFC middleweight history and will battle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Black Belt Leites is a winner of five fights in a row. Silva is the best in the world and should win this fight.
Also featured is the Light Heavyweight showdown fans have waited for years to see. As UFC legend Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell squares off against Brazilian superstar Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in what promises to be one of the most explosive bouts of 2009. This is a must win fight for both men as both are coming off of big loses.
Monday is another sign of spring in the running of the Boston Marathon. This is the 113th running of one of the oldest sporting events in the country. Headlining the field is four time champion and course record holder Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya, defending women’s champion Dire Tune of Ethiopia, and former champions Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia and Timothy Cherigat of Kenya. Challenging the champions are Olympians Ryan Hall, Brian Sell and Kara Goucher of America; Deriba Merga and Gashaw Asfaw of Ethiopia and Salina Kosgei of Kenya, as well as additional Olympians and winners of international marathons. The good thing about the marathon is that it is not just a one-off race; it is part of a whole series of races all over the world that will crown a champion at the end of the year.
Also running this year is Terry Moulin of Woodstock CT. Terry works for my mom at The Arc of Quinebaug Valley in Danielson. Terry is running in the marathon to raise money for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Game Camp in Ashford CT. Good Luck Terry, I for one will be watching for you.
See you next week if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
This Weekend
This weekend’s big event is UFC 97; live on Pay-per-view on Saturday night from Montreal, Canada.
The main event of UFC 97 is Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva who returns to the Octagon to defend his crown against number one contender Thales Leites. The pound for pound king Silva has already defended his title more times than anyone in UFC middleweight history and will battle Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Black Belt Leites is a winner of five fights in a row. Silva is the best in the world and should win this fight.
Also featured is the Light Heavyweight showdown fans have waited for years to see. As UFC legend Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell squares off against Brazilian superstar Mauricio "Shogun" Rua in what promises to be one of the most explosive bouts of 2009. This is a must win fight for both men as both are coming off of big loses.
Monday is another sign of spring in the running of the Boston Marathon. This is the 113th running of one of the oldest sporting events in the country. Headlining the field is four time champion and course record holder Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot of Kenya, defending women’s champion Dire Tune of Ethiopia, and former champions Lidiya Grigoryeva of Russia and Timothy Cherigat of Kenya. Challenging the champions are Olympians Ryan Hall, Brian Sell and Kara Goucher of America; Deriba Merga and Gashaw Asfaw of Ethiopia and Salina Kosgei of Kenya, as well as additional Olympians and winners of international marathons. The good thing about the marathon is that it is not just a one-off race; it is part of a whole series of races all over the world that will crown a champion at the end of the year.
Also running this year is Terry Moulin of Woodstock CT. Terry works for my mom at The Arc of Quinebaug Valley in Danielson. Terry is running in the marathon to raise money for Paul Newman’s Hole in the Wall Game Camp in Ashford CT. Good Luck Terry, I for one will be watching for you.
See you next week if not before.
Jamie Lazaroff
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
One Shining Moment
Here is the 2009 edition of CBS sports video olde to the NCAA Turnament. Enjoy!!!!
Watch CBS Videos Online
Watch CBS Videos Online
The view from the chair
This year’s first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament was not the most exciting action, there were no major upsets and the games were pretty boring with just 2 overtime games and a few buzzer beaters. The only double-digit seed to advance to the sweet 16 is Arizona. The good part is that my bracket is holding up pretty well, most years it in the can by now. By the way, I am beating President Obama’s picks after the first weekend and the second weekend as well. The good thing about no upsets is that there were some very good matchups.
Update #1: We did get great games and a few surprises with Missouri over Memphis and Villanova over Duke. Villanova also beat Pittsburgh to advance to the Final Four. Update #2: Your Final Four was UCONN and Michigan State, Villanova and North Carolina, until UCONN lost to Michigan State this past weekend, and North Carolina beat Villanova. Tonight, Monday April 6th it is Michigan State and North Carolina. Update #3: North Carolina won the national title in a blow out. President Obama did pick the champ, and I lost.
It’s an interesting year when the Women’s Tournament catches my interest, there were some great games and a few buzzer beaters, and they even had some upsets. The problem I have with the Women’s Tournament is that the first two rounds are held at on campus sites so some teams have their home crowd on their side. Most of the time it’s the higher seeds home court but this year some of the double-digit seeds had the advantage. This caused two major upsets as Rutgers beat a second seed Auburn and Michigan State beat a # 1 seed Duke. The Men’s Tournaments are played on neutral sites all the way through. I would love to see the Women play their first rounds with the Men.
Let me talk about some of the announcers, UCONN had the team of Carter Blackburn and Jay Bilas on Thursday, Jay is one of the best analyst in the business, Carter in the new kid on the block and may be good in the future but he had no enthusiasm for the game or the event. We had Jay with Dick Enberg for the other three games. Dick is a legend in the sports broadcasting business but this tournament he mispronounced names and called a
2-pointer a 3 pointer that clearly was not. At 74 years old he can still call Tennis better than any one but basketball is a young man’s game. I fell badly for him but when your time is up its up.
Speaking of enthusiasm, one man that had too much of it was Gus Johnson. One game I heard him scream the last name of the officials, I thought to myself, calm down, the game has not even begun. The main team this year is Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. Clark took over for Billy Packer who has called the Final Four since 1974 until last year. Clark was CBS’s studio analyst from 1997 until this year. I think he is better in the studio because he has more time. He uses stats and that’s more useful in the studio, at the game just call what you see. I think he will get better the more he does it. One person I would love to call the Final Four is Bill Raftery. His enthusiasm for the game is infectious. He’s a lot of fun to listen to. By the way, Raf will be on the radio to call the title game tonight. Here is one of his gems from the first round of this year’s tourament with partner Verne Lundquist.
What to watch for this weekend
Easter weekend bring us the first major of the golf season, The Masters from Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. Converge begins Wednesday with the par-3 contest 3 to 5 P.M. on ESPN. The first two rounds will be on ESPN 4 to7:30 P.M. each day. CSB has the weekend converge on the weekend with the Third-Round on Saturday from 3:30 to 7 P.M. Easter Sunday is the Final Round from 2 to 7 P.M. For the 24th consecutive year Jim Nantz will cover the Masters for CBS (his 22nd year as host). This is CBS sport’s 54th consecutive year of converging the Masters. It is truly is a tradition unlike another and a sure sign of spring. Enjoy!!!!!
This week is the start of Baseball season. The Boston Red Sox have there home opener today at 3 P.M.
Jamie Lazaroff
Update #1: We did get great games and a few surprises with Missouri over Memphis and Villanova over Duke. Villanova also beat Pittsburgh to advance to the Final Four. Update #2: Your Final Four was UCONN and Michigan State, Villanova and North Carolina, until UCONN lost to Michigan State this past weekend, and North Carolina beat Villanova. Tonight, Monday April 6th it is Michigan State and North Carolina. Update #3: North Carolina won the national title in a blow out. President Obama did pick the champ, and I lost.
It’s an interesting year when the Women’s Tournament catches my interest, there were some great games and a few buzzer beaters, and they even had some upsets. The problem I have with the Women’s Tournament is that the first two rounds are held at on campus sites so some teams have their home crowd on their side. Most of the time it’s the higher seeds home court but this year some of the double-digit seeds had the advantage. This caused two major upsets as Rutgers beat a second seed Auburn and Michigan State beat a # 1 seed Duke. The Men’s Tournaments are played on neutral sites all the way through. I would love to see the Women play their first rounds with the Men.
Let me talk about some of the announcers, UCONN had the team of Carter Blackburn and Jay Bilas on Thursday, Jay is one of the best analyst in the business, Carter in the new kid on the block and may be good in the future but he had no enthusiasm for the game or the event. We had Jay with Dick Enberg for the other three games. Dick is a legend in the sports broadcasting business but this tournament he mispronounced names and called a
2-pointer a 3 pointer that clearly was not. At 74 years old he can still call Tennis better than any one but basketball is a young man’s game. I fell badly for him but when your time is up its up.
Speaking of enthusiasm, one man that had too much of it was Gus Johnson. One game I heard him scream the last name of the officials, I thought to myself, calm down, the game has not even begun. The main team this year is Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg. Clark took over for Billy Packer who has called the Final Four since 1974 until last year. Clark was CBS’s studio analyst from 1997 until this year. I think he is better in the studio because he has more time. He uses stats and that’s more useful in the studio, at the game just call what you see. I think he will get better the more he does it. One person I would love to call the Final Four is Bill Raftery. His enthusiasm for the game is infectious. He’s a lot of fun to listen to. By the way, Raf will be on the radio to call the title game tonight. Here is one of his gems from the first round of this year’s tourament with partner Verne Lundquist.
What to watch for this weekend
Easter weekend bring us the first major of the golf season, The Masters from Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia. Converge begins Wednesday with the par-3 contest 3 to 5 P.M. on ESPN. The first two rounds will be on ESPN 4 to7:30 P.M. each day. CSB has the weekend converge on the weekend with the Third-Round on Saturday from 3:30 to 7 P.M. Easter Sunday is the Final Round from 2 to 7 P.M. For the 24th consecutive year Jim Nantz will cover the Masters for CBS (his 22nd year as host). This is CBS sport’s 54th consecutive year of converging the Masters. It is truly is a tradition unlike another and a sure sign of spring. Enjoy!!!!!
This week is the start of Baseball season. The Boston Red Sox have there home opener today at 3 P.M.
Jamie Lazaroff
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Jamie's view
Last week I went to Washington D.C for Special Olympics Capitol Hill Day and it was an awesome experience. We meet with all of the Connecticut Congressional delegation, or their staff. We had photo ops with Senator Lieberman, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, Congressmen John Larson, Congressmen Jim Himes, and Congressmen Joe Courtney. At one point in the day we saw former NFL great Herschel Walker, who was on the Hill lobbying for the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. Herschel was there with the request to make physical activity a priority for our nation by making it more accessible and more affordable to all. At the end of the day we had a reception in one of the committee rooms, the highlight of the evening was meeting and listening to Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy.
Of all the experiences I have had with Special Olympics this was the most fun. At first I was pretty nervous because I did not know what to expect, but everyone was so nice and it was just like having a conversation with any one. They all are really champions of rights for people with disabilities. It also helps that Connecticut hosted the 1995 World Special Olympics Games in New Haven and everyone had a connection, in someway to the Special Olympics.
Now back to the sports beat. The big news while I was away was that Al Michaels will be NBC’s daytime and weekend host of the Winter Olympics next year in Vancouver. I think this is a good fit, Al Michaels is one of the all time best play-by-play men in the business and deserves to host an Olympics. Al is synonymous with the Winter Olympics because he was the man behind the mic for the "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" call of the U.S. hockey victory over the Soviet Union at 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. I think it was time to replace Jim Lampley as daytime Olympic host as I believe that he “mailed it in” and did not show enthusiasm at last years Olympics in China. If Lampley doesn’t take a hockey role (it is rumored he turned it down) at the games this will end a string of working 14 straight Olympics. “Bob Costa and Al Michaels”, two Hall of Famers working the same Olympics, I can’t wait!
Here are my thoughts about Jim Calhoun ‘s Press Conference from a few weeks back. I think the “Reporter” ambushed Calhoun. The “Reporter” should have stopped after Calhoun told him to "shut up" after the question about his state salary (which is public knowledge) but the "Reporter" continued to ask about his deal with Comcast. This is a personal issue and has nothing to do with the University. I think Calhoun went a little over board, but if I were in his shoes I would do the same thing.
Talk to you next week at the start of the madness.
Good night and good luck.
I would like to hear from you, sent me a comment or shoot me an e-mail.
Jamie Lazaroff
Of all the experiences I have had with Special Olympics this was the most fun. At first I was pretty nervous because I did not know what to expect, but everyone was so nice and it was just like having a conversation with any one. They all are really champions of rights for people with disabilities. It also helps that Connecticut hosted the 1995 World Special Olympics Games in New Haven and everyone had a connection, in someway to the Special Olympics.
Now back to the sports beat. The big news while I was away was that Al Michaels will be NBC’s daytime and weekend host of the Winter Olympics next year in Vancouver. I think this is a good fit, Al Michaels is one of the all time best play-by-play men in the business and deserves to host an Olympics. Al is synonymous with the Winter Olympics because he was the man behind the mic for the "Do you believe in miracles? Yes!" call of the U.S. hockey victory over the Soviet Union at 1980 Winter Games in Lake Placid, New York. I think it was time to replace Jim Lampley as daytime Olympic host as I believe that he “mailed it in” and did not show enthusiasm at last years Olympics in China. If Lampley doesn’t take a hockey role (it is rumored he turned it down) at the games this will end a string of working 14 straight Olympics. “Bob Costa and Al Michaels”, two Hall of Famers working the same Olympics, I can’t wait!
Here are my thoughts about Jim Calhoun ‘s Press Conference from a few weeks back. I think the “Reporter” ambushed Calhoun. The “Reporter” should have stopped after Calhoun told him to "shut up" after the question about his state salary (which is public knowledge) but the "Reporter" continued to ask about his deal with Comcast. This is a personal issue and has nothing to do with the University. I think Calhoun went a little over board, but if I were in his shoes I would do the same thing.
Talk to you next week at the start of the madness.
Good night and good luck.
I would like to hear from you, sent me a comment or shoot me an e-mail.
Jamie Lazaroff
Monday, March 2, 2009
The view for Jamie's Chair
Hi all, Hope all of you are doing well. The last weekend of February was very uneventful. Saturday was a very boring day. I felt ill and slept in my chair most of the day. Sunday was again, another boring day but I was pleasantly surprised to see ESPN on ABC televising the USA 7’s Rugby Tournament taped last month in San Diego. Rugby 7’s is the short version of Rugby Union, it’s played with 7 players compared to Rugby Union’s 15. Rugby 7’s only has 7-minute halves (10 minutes in championship games) compared to 40-minute halves in Union. The field is a lot smaller than Rugby Union so there is a lot more scoring in 7’s games. You can imagine how fun it was to watch! I hope ESPN does more Rugby 7’s events, at the end of the program announcer Dave Sitton did say “See you next time on the ESPN family of networks.” I hope this is true and it’s on ESPN in the United States and not on ESPN International, which I fear because; as you probably know we can’t get ESPN International.
The big news of this past weekend was the return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour at the Match Play Championship in Arizona. I think this is a bad move to come back at the Match Play Championship as it is one of the hardest tournaments in golf, the event starts on Wednesday (most tournaments start on Thursday), if Tiger gets to the weekend he may have to play the equivalent of one tournament in just two days. The PGA Tour defiantly needs Tiger, as ratings are down by 50 %. It’s great excitement for golf and I’M defiantly looking forward to it. The Match Play Championship is one of my favorite tournaments of the year because it’s one on one and just like the NCAA Basketball tournament it is loose and go home.
UPDATE #1: Tiger lost in the second round on Thursday to Tim Clark. Oh well, NBC is not pleased but what are you going to do, my advice to NBC is don’t put all your eggs in one basket. It was not a given that he would get to the weekend, it’s Match Play, anything can happen. There are still some great stories in action, like 19-year-old Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland, and, is it possible for Phil Mickelson win this title?
UPDATE #2: No Phil can’t win he was knocked out by Stewart Cink on Friday. Still it should be great golf.
UPDATE #3: Well it’s over and Geoff Ogilvy is the champion. This is his second Match Play title; he won it back in 2006. The other big story was that 19-year-old Rory McIlroy lost in the quarterfinals to Ogilvy. The next World Golf Championship is in two weeks in Miami. We will see.
Big news to me, NBC’s Universal Sports Channel covered the US Olympics Curling trials this weekend. The winning men and women's teams will be nominated to represent the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Also Universal Sports will have coverage of both the Men and Women’s World Championships Curling this month. Curling is a great sport that is like shuffleboard on ice. You just have to watch to know what I mean.
UPDATE: I watched, and I enjoyed it very much. Curling is a sport that combines strategy and execution of shoot. This was the first live coverage of curling in the United States out side the Olympics. I’M really looking forward to the World Championships.
This week I’M off to Washington D.C for a Special Olympics meeting. I will talk to you and give you my take on the Jim Calhoun Press Conference ambush when I come back.
Good-bye and good luck
Jamie Lazaroff
The big news of this past weekend was the return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour at the Match Play Championship in Arizona. I think this is a bad move to come back at the Match Play Championship as it is one of the hardest tournaments in golf, the event starts on Wednesday (most tournaments start on Thursday), if Tiger gets to the weekend he may have to play the equivalent of one tournament in just two days. The PGA Tour defiantly needs Tiger, as ratings are down by 50 %. It’s great excitement for golf and I’M defiantly looking forward to it. The Match Play Championship is one of my favorite tournaments of the year because it’s one on one and just like the NCAA Basketball tournament it is loose and go home.
UPDATE #1: Tiger lost in the second round on Thursday to Tim Clark. Oh well, NBC is not pleased but what are you going to do, my advice to NBC is don’t put all your eggs in one basket. It was not a given that he would get to the weekend, it’s Match Play, anything can happen. There are still some great stories in action, like 19-year-old Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland, and, is it possible for Phil Mickelson win this title?
UPDATE #2: No Phil can’t win he was knocked out by Stewart Cink on Friday. Still it should be great golf.
UPDATE #3: Well it’s over and Geoff Ogilvy is the champion. This is his second Match Play title; he won it back in 2006. The other big story was that 19-year-old Rory McIlroy lost in the quarterfinals to Ogilvy. The next World Golf Championship is in two weeks in Miami. We will see.
Big news to me, NBC’s Universal Sports Channel covered the US Olympics Curling trials this weekend. The winning men and women's teams will be nominated to represent the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Also Universal Sports will have coverage of both the Men and Women’s World Championships Curling this month. Curling is a great sport that is like shuffleboard on ice. You just have to watch to know what I mean.
UPDATE: I watched, and I enjoyed it very much. Curling is a sport that combines strategy and execution of shoot. This was the first live coverage of curling in the United States out side the Olympics. I’M really looking forward to the World Championships.
This week I’M off to Washington D.C for a Special Olympics meeting. I will talk to you and give you my take on the Jim Calhoun Press Conference ambush when I come back.
Good-bye and good luck
Jamie Lazaroff
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