Month: June 2008 (Page 23 of 40)

      Tiger wins 14th major after beating Mediate in U.S. Open sudden death

      June 16, 2008 /

      Tiger Woods won his 14th major championship Monday, topping Rocco Mediate in a sudden death playoff at the 2008 U.S. Open.

      Both players shot even-par 71 in the 18-hole playoff, which forced a sudden-death format starting at the seventh hole.

      Mediate hit his drive into a fairway bunker and was unable to reach the green with his approach. Woods, meanwhile, was on the green safely in two.

      Mediate’s long putt for par missed, giving Woods his third U.S. Open title and continuing his run of 14 straight major wins when he leads entering the final round.

      What an amazing U.S. Open this year, from Tiger’s remarkable 12-foot birdie put on the 18th green Sunday, to the massive underdog Mediate forcing not only a playoff, but a sudden death as well.

      Mediate had a chance to put Tiger away in the first playoff when he birdied three holes in a row on 13, 14 and 15, but it’s hard to say anything negative about Mediate because he played his ass off. Tiger is simply the best and he proved it yet again this past weekend, planning through pain in his knee to come up with yet another masterful performance. This might have been his most impressive major win to date.

      General Sports, Golf

      Would Yankees have collapsed if replay existed in 1996?

      June 16, 2008 /

      As baseball continues to mull over whether or not to incorporate instant replay, YAHOO! Sports rewinds 10 plays in sports history and asks the question: What if replay had existed?

      By Hooky or Crooky (10.09.1996)

      Scenario: At a kid-friendly Yankee Stadium, a 12-year-old boy named Jeffrey Maier reaches playing over the right-field wall to snare an all-but-certain catch by Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco. Instead, umpire Rich Garcia rules it a home run for Derek Jeter, and the Yankees proceed to take Game 1 of the ACLS 5-4. They eventually win the series, and the first of four titles under manager Joe Torre.

      Replay ruling: Overturned!

      Rendered Result: After receiving word of the reversal, Yankee Stadium erupts in near-riot, the stands are cleared and the game is completed — with the O’s winning — in front of no live audience. Out for blood, or possibly corned beef, 56,495 fans storm the Carnegie Deli and destroy the Replay Nerve Center. Buoyed by their quick start, the Orioles knock out the Yankees in six games, with David Wells winning twice. The Orioles fall to the Braves in the World Series, but smell blood in the water of the AL East. Unimpressed and kind of frightened by the New York scene, Wells ignores the free-agent overtures by the Yankees, re-signs with Baltimore, dons No. 3 — for Baltimore native Babe Ruth, his favorite player — and pitches a perfect game against New York in 1997. The Yankees miss the playoffs that season, fire Torre, dismantle the roster and lose 116 games in ’98 with a payroll of $9 million. Whatever happened to the kid who caught Jeter’s ground-rule double? A pretty good athlete in his own right, Maier played ball for Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Not good enough to reach the pros, Maier instead quickly worked his way through scouting and administration and, in a shocking move, was named general manager of the Yankees in 2008 at the age of 24.

      Wow. So according to YAHOO!, replay could have sent the Yankees’ franchise into disarray for years. Somewhere Red Sox fans throw up thinking of what could have been.

      MLB

      Woods has two-point lead over Mediate at turn

      June 16, 2008 /

      After the first nine holes in the 18-hole playoff Monday, Tiger Woods has a two-point lead over Rocco Mediate at the 2008 U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Woods shot an even par at 35 in the first nine, while Mediate shot two over at 37.

      Tiger is going to be awfully tough to beat in the final nine. Of course, he’ll probably screw the pooch for the first two holes before rebounding and winning it close.

      More to follow…

      General Sports, Golf

      Lakers did what they needed to do

      June 16, 2008 /

      “One game at a time.”

      It’s a cliché, but it’s true. What else are you going to do when you’re down 3-1 in a best of seven series and on the verge of elimination? As Kobe said in a pre-game interview, it’s like being in the NCAA’s Elite Eight – you have to win three games in a row to win a title. You have to look at it like an opportunity, not a death sentence.

      As Jeff Van Gundy and Mark Jackson made clear during the final minutes, the Lakers didn’t play particularly well in Game 5. Their execution was sloppy down the stretch and if not for a no-call on Kobe’s matador defense on Paul Pierce that resulted in a steal and dunk for Bryant, we might all be discussing how the Celtics’ resilient play led to the franchise’s first title in over 20 years.

      Boston had a chance to win the game and the series, but a few bad plays by Pierce (5 turnovers) and Kevin Garnett (two missed free throws and a missed tip down the stretch) cost the Celtics the game. As well as Pierce has played in the Finals (save for Game 3), those five turnovers really hurt. As for Garnett, he was in foul trouble for the entire game and was never able to get into a good flow. Still, two free throws and a point blank tip in? He has to knock those down.

      So now the series moves back to Boston, and the Lakers have to take the same mentality. They can’t think about a potential Game 7, they have to do whatever they can to win Game 6. There isn’t much pressure on the Lakers; nobody was expecting them to come back from a 3-1 deficit to make it a series, so they might as well play loose and have some fun. If they can somehow eek out a win Tuesday night, then the whole dynamic of the Finals will change.

      NBA, NBA Finals

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