This week in sports

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


Jamie Lazaroff

The week that was

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

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

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

This Week in sports

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

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

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

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

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

Jamie Lazaroff

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

My Wish

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




Jamie

Update

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

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

Goodbye Jim Mckay

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

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

The week ahead

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

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

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

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

Good night and Good luck.
Jamie