Tiger Is Human After All!!!

       Well, Tiger is barely human. Human enough to lose once in a while. The men’s PGA U.S. Open was held at the historic Bethpage golf course on Long Island in New York this past weekend. It took some unbelievably tough weather conditions, a few guys to have some amazing rounds of golf, and Tiger to have a horrible opening round (where he shot a 74) for the first time U.S. Open winner Lucas Glover to pull it off and tame the Tiger.  In fact, Tiger Woods ended the tournament in a tie for 6th place, with Phil Mickelson, David Duval, Ricky Barnes, and Ross Fisher all finishing ahead of him.

       The tournament wasn’t all bad for Tiger though. He was still the only golfer to shoot in the 60′s at least 3 out of the 4 rounds, he finished with a 69 in the final round which was better than any of the 5 players ahead of him on the leader board had posted, and he walks away with $233,350 for his trouble. Chump change to him, but still a decent weekend in all. More importantly, with every passing tournament he is showing more and more that his knee surgery is not in any way bothering him and that he is back and a force to be reckoned with.

       What is my opinion? I am happy for Lucas Glover, but much like Rocco Mediate from last year, Lucas better enjoy this party now. Every major golf tournament there is a new face and a new name that pops up and has a great tournament, finishing somewhere in the top 3-5 spots. However, it take the great ones to consistently be among the top in an individual sport such as golf, like Mickelson, or even Duval, Sergio Garcia, or Vijay Singh. However, if these names are names of great and somewhat consistent golfers, then Tiger is simply in a league of his own. Sorry Glover, but just ask Mediate how good his second place playoff finish feels now after he finished 47th at Bethpage this weekend and had next to no headlines.

Justin Stephens

Sammy “Steroid” Sosa

       So the steroid bug has bitten again! In the most recent reports, Sammy Sosa has reportedly joined Alex Rodriguez as one of the 103 names that had tested positive for a foreign substance in a 2003 drug testing. The test were supposed to remain confidential under the agreement with the players union and the names of the positive donors were not supposed to be released. Yet somehow (only days after Sosa stated to the press that he deserves to be in the MLB Hall of Fame) Sosa’s name has been released.

       Some people are speculating that this might be exactly what it is going to take to keep Sosa out of the Hall of Fame. I am even beginning to wonder myself if the Fed’s are going to be able to lock him up for a little while for lying under oath about ever using illegal performance enhancing drugs (PED’s). If the Fed’s do choose to pursue any legal action, then I wonder if they can even use the evidence against him considering the fact that contractually the MLB wasn’t supposed to be able to release the information anyway. Does this fact make this evidence null and void?

       We now have a longer and ever growing list of PED users in the MLB. The question is, how do we rank these players now in comparison to the players of yester-year? It is typically very difficult enough to compare players of other generations to one another as it is since the players were never able to showcase their talents against one another. If you throw in the fact that one generation now has a huge advantage over the others that was unheard of before and that makes it even more difficult to compare stats.

       What is my opinion? My opinion is that any player that has definitely been proven to have taken any PED’s over the course of their career should be banned from any opportunity to make the Hall of Fame. Baseball is a sport of traditions and statistics and this new generation of users and abusers have ruined the sanctity of the sport.

Justin Stephens

Kyle Busch Must Have Fallen From The Idiot Tree

       Over the years Kyle Busch has given his fans many exciting and thrilling moments to cheer for. There is no doubting his talent to drive a car and there certainly isn’t any doubting his nerves. He obviously will do whatever is necessary to win and in his mind, there is no second place. Why does he have so many fans? It’s simple….. He is willing to squeeze his big race car into a not so big space, he loves to take a two-wide track that is already running three-wide and make it four-wide, and he has been know to drive his cup car like it is a sprint car. He is a young, action-packed, arrogant driver that brings an edge and an excitement to NASCAR that the sport hasn’t seen in a long time. Also, although he has yet to cash in a championship for his fans, he has won 37 NASCAR races since the 2007 season including the Camping World, Nationwide, and Sprint Cup Series. If you are a fan of racing and a fan of winning, then it is hard not to cheer for the guy.

       Why do so many fans of NASCAR dislike Kyle Busch? That too is a simple formula…… It’s because of all of the reasons above! People love him for a lot of the same reasons why people hate him. However, here is something else to think about….. As a fan, it can be easy to anticipate and even enjoy the recklessness of a driver because all too often we like to see that “big wreck”. We know that Kyle Busch enjoys his recklessness, but I would venture to say that there are probably 42 other drivers at most every race that Busch is in that doesn’t appreciate his recklessness as much either. By showing a complete disregard to the safety of his fellow drivers, he is also showing them no respect.

       Speaking of respect, What is my opinion? I would venture to say that the people of Gibson (guitar manufacturer) felt a little disrespected when Busch took the guitar that was given to him as a prize for winning the Nationwide race in Tennessee this weekend and repeatedly bashed it on the ground to destroy it. His desire to be a self centered renegade in the sport that he has used as a pedestal to his self-glossed greatness has actually glossed himself as a pompous ass. Of course since the incident he and his “PR” people have spun it to try and make it look like he was trying to do a good thing, when we all know that if it isn’t benefiting him, he isn’t going to do it. This PR attempt is nothing more than people trying to cover for Busch again so that they can continue to keep their jobs as his “safety net”.

Justin L. Stephens

The NBA Finals

       The NBA Finals are about to start with game 1 on Thursday night in Los Angeles. Everyone wanted to see the battle between the two thought to be the absolute best in the NBA, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. While Kobe and the Lakers held up their end by winning the Western Conference Finals, LeBron and the Cleveland Cavaliersare planning their off season vacations. The Cavs were surprised by the underdog Orlando Magic who beat them 4 games to 1. Frankly the series was nearly a sweep. Many people felt that the Cavs had the better talent on the team but the Magic simply had a tougher match-up than the Cavs could handle.

       At any rate your finals are Lakers Vs. Magic in a seven game series. Kobe Vs. Howard, East Vs. West….., talent Vs. coaching? Lets face it, the Lakers have the better talent across the board, but the Magic have been consistently good throughout the season (for the most part). Also, even though the Magic’s head coach has been referred to as “The master of panic” by his former center Shaquille O’Neal, he has really done an amazing job to get his team to this point. Stan Van Gundy has taken a lot of ridicule in the past but he has prooven his ability to adapt and overcome by changing a game-planand overcoming obstacles. Let’s look at the rosters talent wise (not by positions or matchups) one person at a time for each team…..

Kobe or Dwight Howard…….. Kobe

Lamar Odom or Turkoglu…….. Odom

Pau Gasol or Rafer Alston…….. Gasol

Derek Fisher or Anthony Johnson…….. Fisher

       I think you get my point. Now after these main stars the edge for talent for the rest of each teams supporting cast might go to the Magic. Also, keep in mind that the Magic’s 4th year stud guard Jameer Nelson is trying to make a comeback from a very serious shoulder injury that he sustained earlier this season. Nelson is a great talent that is very complementary to Dwight Howard. He was the starter for the Magic before his injury and had some seriously dangerous numbers (particularly in his 2 games against the Lakers). Although he will obviously not be able to start or even do as well as he did before his injury, the Magic are hoping he might be able to come back and add another dimension off their bench and provide some productive minutes.

       What is my opinion? My opinion is that with or without Nelson the Lakers should win this series in 6 games…. Maybe even in 5 games. If Nelson is affective, then maybe the Magic can take it to a game seven, but I even seriously doubt it then. I feel that the real key factor here is Kobe Bryant. My prediction now is the Lakers in 6 games, but I think that if you were to have Kobe and Dwight Howard swap teams for this series only, then the Magic would probably win it in 7 games (the extra game coming from the Magic’s lack of a good big man if Howard were a Laker). Kobe has all the money that he will ever need and if his career were to end today he would be a first ballot Hall of Famer. Kobe has nothing else to play for but his own legacy. I think that his drive and desire to be the best to ever play the game is enough motivation to win the championship.

Justin Stephens

Can Anthony Gonzales Be A Viable Number Two Wide Receiver?

       Anthony Gonzales is a wide receiver (WR) out of Ohio State that has played for the Indianapolis Colts for the past three years now. Over the course of his three year career, Gonzales has been the #3 WR on the roster behind veterans Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne. Now that Harrison is no longer on the roster, the Colts are forced to make a decision. Do they take Gonzales and convert him into a #2 WR opposite of Wayne, or do they put someone else in that position and leave Gonzales in is normal #3/slot WR position?

       Typically the #2 WR on the roster is taller and more of a deep threat for a team than Gonzales is. Anthony Gonzales makes a wonderful slot WR, and he has the potential to be a great slot WR. Unfortunately no one normally remembers the #3 guy. A team traditionally looks for a smaller framed, speedy, light weight WR with outstanding hands to play the slot WR position. That is the definition of Anthony Gonzales. The problem that arises from leaving him at the #3 position is that the Colts really don’t have anybody on their roster to fill the #2 position nicely.

       The Colts do have Gonzales’ teammate from Ohio State, Roy Hall, on their roster. They have also drafted Austin Collie out of BYU and they still have Pierre Garcon, a two year veteran out of Mount Union that are waiting in the wings. The traditional thing would be to leave Gonzales in the #3 spot and hope that Collie (with his build and ability) can learn quickly. Meanwhile He, Hall and Gacon can all fill in at that #2 spot. However, when have the Colts ever done anything in the “traditional” manor?

       What is my opinion? I think that the Colts would be better off by simply leaving Reggie Wayne as their primary #1 WR, then filling in the rest of their WR needs by mixing it up a little bit. This will allow many different formation and game plan problems for their opponents. I feel that with Peyton Manning’s ability he makes the players around him better than they really are anyway. Therefore, have younger players step in to fill a role is perfect for the Colts. They are not very well known, so Manning should be able to utilize that in a good way for the Colts.

Justin Stephens