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Back,
Back, Back.... Get ready for it. In honor of Derek Jeter reaching the 3,000 hit plateau over the weekend, ESPN's Chris Berman plans on using "back, back, back" at least that many times during the three-hour HR Derby. I kidded around on the TV commentary last week about the amount of media attention that surrounded Jeter's quest for 3K hits....and it didn't disappoint on Saturday. The Yankee shortstop had a fabulous 5-for-5 afternoon and reached the mark with class by going yard. Rumor has it that somewhere in front of a mirror during Jeter's bomb, Berman practiced his HR catch phrase while preparing for the big moment this week. Now that we've reached the All-Star break, we can probably start to draw some conclusions: The Yankees and Red Sox look to be the class of the AL....no surprise. Can Cleveland hold on in the Central? I don't think so. The West has Texas back on top, but the Angels are showing signs of life. The Phils and Braves look to be the best of the NL....that's a bit unexpected. Not that Philly is in the mix, but how well the Braves have played under new manager Fredi Gonzalez. Both teams have terrific pitching, and look to be better than everybody else in the NL. The NL Central is wide-open, and that includes the Pittsburgh Pirates. The NL West has my beloved Giants on top, but they are a shell of what they were a year ago. The D-backs are legit and I keep waiting for Colorado to wake up. The good news is that the Dodgers suck more than they usually do....and they are broke, too. The second half of the season should be a good one....and if the NFL and NBA can't figure out a way to straighten out their labor situations, then MLB should be the big winner along with college football. I don't care what anybody says, to award homefield advantage of the World Series based on the final result of the All-Star game is one of the dumbest decisions in sports history. It's just an exhibition game....and no way should it affect the most important event in the game. It is simply ridiculous. The British Open takes place this week, and the chances of an American kicking ass are few and far between. Tiger Woods announced he was not showing up, and as expected, the rest of the American golfers will probably follow suit. Steve Stricker, Matt Kuchar, Phil Mickelson....come on over, and give it your best shot. I'd love to see one of "our guys" win the Claret Jug, but I'm not betting on it. When you consider the venue (which I'll get to in a second), and the fact that the best players in the world happen to be Donald, Westwood, McIlroy and McDowell (all European)...then I really don't like our chances. The Open Championship is being played at Royal St. George's near Sandwich, England. My brother and I attended the Open Championship at Royal St. George's in 1993. That year, Greg Norman won the tourney...and I still remember it like it happened yesterday. We stayed with a family in the lovely village which is an easy 10-minute walk to the course. The town had one stop light and about three dozen pubs...including the Red Cow. It was awesome....so were the people and the golf course. It's probably the least publicized, since it doesn't have the history of some of the other links used for the Open....but anybody that appreciates the game, understands the skill needed to survive the disaster that looms. I still remember walking the course with Fred Couples and Davis Love III during a practice round earlier in the week of the tournament. The golfers invited my brother and I to "jump the ropes" and walk with them....it was a blast. If you love golf, you owe yourself a trip to the Open Championship....it is a journey you'll never forget. How about the bizarre story about Paige Duke? She was recently fired as one of the three traveling Miss Sprint Cup sweethearts that always find themselves being sprayed with a drink sponsor after every NASCAR race. In this case, Paige Duke lost her gig when some old photos of her shaking her moneymaker surfaced on the web and into the hands of the Sprint suits. Needless to say, the corporate suits were not happy, since the pictures did not portray the moral fabric of their company and she was dismissed. It turns out that Paige wanted to give her boyfriend at the time some pictures to remember her by and unfortunately they came back six years later to haunt her. What is ironic about this entire deal is how NASCAR has been selling the Danica Patrick BS in order to lure viewers, advertisers or anybody else to the sport. Danica had some pics in Playboy but the difference between her and Paige Duke is that the former Miss Sprint Cup actually knows how to find Victory Lane. I'm not a huge soccer fan. I appreciate the skill, but I seldom if ever watch or follow it....and that holds true even for the World Cup. Of course, I must admit I'll check out the Brazilians only in hope of the spectacular crowd shots. I'm sure you can figure out why. Now that the women's World Cup is taking place, I spend even less time following it, keeping up with it, or anything else associated with the event. By dumb luck, my girls were watching the conclusion of the USA-Brazil match on Sunday when I stumbled home from running an errand and I caught the best part of the match....the 122nd minute. It was an awesome goal and the penalty kicks shortly thereafter sealed the deal for the USA. Very cool. I just wished my SF Giants scored as often as Team USA....maybe we can send our women to take place of Landon Donovan and the rest of his crew? Good luck to the USA women in the semi-finals....whenever and whoever they play next? In closing this week, I'd like to give my thoughts and prayers out to the friends and family of Shannon Stone. Stone is the 39 year-old firefighter that died last week after tumbling 20 feet out of his seat in order to catch a ball at the Texas Rangers game. It is one of the saddest stories that I've read about or seen in a long, long time. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all the parties involved. |
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