Derek Jeter

Watching the white sox / yankees game for a few innings a moment ago (all the baseball I have seen this year) Hawk Harrelson remarked after watching Jeter get his 3rd consecutive single in 3 at bats: " I believe Jeter now needs only 14 more hits to pass Lou Gherig as the Yankees all time hits leader. I was stunned. I have always really liked the way Jeter plays ball; what a sound player he is and has been. But wow, all time hits leader for the Yankees? That is rarefied air. Congrats to Derek.

A plea from the frozen north

I have heard nothing, nada, zippo about the Cowboys camp. Up here it is cutler, cutler, cutler, what do you think of cutler. So what are folks talking about down there?
As for the bears, I think they are going to enjoy being in the division where Adrian Peterson and Percy Harbin score a gadjillion points and go to the superbowl and lose. ( it is minnesota afterall)

Lightening Bolt

This guy is awesome. from Bloomberg:

Usain Bolt broke his own world record in the 200 meters, running 19.19 seconds at the track and field world championships in Berlin.

It’s the second world mark of the meet for Bolt, who topped his own 100-meter standard by running 9.58 seconds four days ago. He set the previous 200 mark of 19.30 seconds at the 2008 Olympics.

Amazing performance. What strikes me most is ran consecutive 100 meters without stopping at a pace 9.595 or only 15 thousands of a second slower than the world record 100 meter pace from two days ago. In other words he ran the 200 meters faster than anyone else in history has run a 100 meters.
The numbers seem small but he is lowering this record at a colossal pace. A Ralph Boston pace.

Oops!

I withdraw my prior post and replace it with this:

Who the heck is Y. E. Yang?

Ho hum, Tiger wins again . . .

Is it premature to declare Tiger the greatest professional athlete of any sport of all time?

Bullet Bob gets his due. Finally.

Yesterday Bob Hayes was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The only man to win Olympic gold and a Superbowl ring. Hayes changed the game and still holds some Cowboy franchise records. I now have one less thing to rant about.

Thank you Sir! May I have another?

Here is a book I do not want.

The Catch, by Gary Myers. This book hitches the rise of the 1980s 49ers and the fall of the 1970s Cowboys to the 1981 NFC Championship Game when the Joe Montana-Dwight Clark connection orchestrated "The Catch."

(From Rich Gosselin in the Dallas Morning News)

Dad is rolling in his grave. "Montana was throwing that ball away! Clark made a lucky catch"

Hurts So Good

I was just adding Aggie games to my calendar when I noticed that the Ags are playing the Horns on Thanksgiving Day...the actual day...just like when we were kids. Cool. Then I noticed this: the game is at 7:00 p.m. (and will be televised). How am I supposed to make it to 7:00 p.m. without combusting from nerves, anxiety, and antici...pation? I will no doubt watch the Cowboy game and go straight to the Aggie game. This is setting up to be one of those pleasure/pain, hurts-so-good type of deals. No doubt vast quantities of alcohol will help me get through it...beer me, early and often.

IF Jerry signs Vick, he can have Abuse Your Dog day

From Bloomberg.

By Mary Schlangenstein and Thomas Korosec
Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- A crowd of 82,000 isn’t enough for
Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
He has a plan to set a National Football League attendance
record when the team starts playing in its new $1.15 billion
stadium next month. Tickets are being sold to fans who won’t get
seats: They’ll watch the game standing up.

Tiger Wins

Tiger Woods won the Buick Open today at 20 under, 3 strokes ahead of the several folks tied for second. I watched most of the televised play both yesterday and today. Both days, and particularly Saturday, Tiger putted great and his iron/fairway wood play was unreal. But goodness gracious, his driving was terrible. Now according to the commentators, the fairways were really narrow and there were big, erratic winds, but what bothered me was how tortured Tiger's swings seemed to be. I mean, he always had a power swing, not the smooth, graceful swing of, say, Ernie Els. But he really seemed off to me. Is Hank Haney still his swing coach, or has he switched again? The commentators kept replaying his drives in slo-mo to show how he was getting his hips in front of his arms, skewing his spine angle, etc, etc. It was ugly. But, he is so good that he could save just about anything. Today he almost pulled off an unreal cut shot from under a tree 230+ yards from the green but was just short and hit it in the water. (reminded of Kevin Costner in Tin Cup). He took a drop and then proceeded to lob a 53 yard wedge to within a couple of feet of the cup, and holed it for par. Really amazing. Anyway, as he said yesterday, he was hitting the ball badly but scoring well. The guy is just so fun to watch, even when he is off. By the way, I think this was his 69th victory. Not too bad. Can't wait for the PGA tournament in 2 weeks.

The Cowboys Just Got Better

Sadly, the Philadelphia Eagles excellent defensive coordinator, Jim Johnson, passed away yesterday.

Sawed Off?

This is for you, oxey.


Please notice the horns remain intact.

The Return of Joe Mexico

As expected, Michael "Mad Dog" Vick has been reinstated. Talk here is that the Rams are interested in him, as a QB, I guess. Also, the commish announced that Tony Dungee (sp?) is going to assist Vick in "transitioning" back into the NFL. Right. Let me know how that works out. In the meantime, I imagine that all the PETA people are sharpening their nails in anticipation of launching attacks at the team that signs ole Mad Dog. Should be fun.

P.S. Several years ago MV was sued by a woman who alleged that she contracted an STD from him. He had told her that his name was "Joe Mexico". This still makes me laugh.

Greetings

L2, thank you for the invitation to participate. Agree that The Open is the optimal championship to win. Carnoustie may well be the best place to win it. They say Saint Andrews got the historical fame but Carnoustie got the golf course. Nevertheless, I think I would pick Turnberry for my one Open Championship (no greed here) which I attribute to it's beauty and a magical round played at dusk with Jack when he was 16 y/o. Bill Kingman from San Antonio joined us. I'm eager to begin what has so far transpired.

Buerhle Pitches A Perfect Game

Bloomberg;

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox pitched a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the 16th time in Major League Baseball history that a pitcher retired 27 batters without allowing a baserunner.

The White Sox won 5-0.

I saw the lst few pitches but the highlight was the fantastic catch made up against the wall to retire the 2nd out in the 9th inning. The best catch I have ever seen in such a situation. The outfielder should get a partial credit on the perfect game. Try to see the replays on ESPN.

My Favorite Sport

Last weekend, I competed in my favorite sport: Movie watching. HP&HBP is great but I will say no more for those who have not seen it. There is nothing better than a sport that involves the consumption of popcorn, Dots, and Dr. Pepper -- except, of course, watching college football with Bud.

I realize I did not achieve the same calorie-burning level as the so-called lsquared, but at least I did not have to go to work this week needing to explain away various Wii-bowling injuries. More importantly, there are only 45 days until September 5 when we get U.La-Monroe @ UT, New. Mex. @ TA&M and N.Dakota @ TTech. -- six powerhouse teams.

Me, Myself, and Wii

As regular readers of this blog know, I recently purchased a Wii. In the few weeks that I have had it, I have strained muscles I had forgotten that I had. My most serious injuries (plural) were to my bobo. These injuries resulted from...drum roll, please...bowling. Anyway, yesterday I finally set up the Wii Fit board. The first thing you do with this little dealio is the body test, which tells you your weight, BMI, and after you do a couple of little balance tests, your Wii fitness age. So, I did all this stuff, just as instructed and my fitness age is...dirge, please...75. I am 55, but my fitness age is 75. 75. Wii --1, me--0. I unhooked the fitness board, threw it in the pool with the fitness disc, and drank a beer.

Not really. I tried to go on. I did a few of the balance exercises...slalom...I can ski, I thought, so I can do this, I thought. Wrong. Wii--2, me--0. Ok. Move on to soccer. I actually played freakin soccer, in college, for a college team. For 3 years. This I can do. Wrong. Wii--3, me--0. Ok. Screw it. Time for a beer.

Later that same day, a very fit, very very fit, much younger friend of mine came over to try it out to see if she and her husband should get one. Her fitness age was 59. Hahahahahaha. I felt so much better but she was NOT happy, with a capital NOT. She then tried slalom (fail), soccer (fail), tightrope walking (double fail). Now she is really NOT happy. Furthermore, she now is making excuses...this thing doesn't work right, this can't be right, blah blah blah. After I stopped laughing, I got out the instruction manual, just to indulge her. And guess what? The friggin board was facing the wrong way. Oops, my bad.

Today, I went through the whole thing again with the board facing the correct direction and guess what, my Wii fitness age is ... fanfare, please ... 40! I am excited, I am ecstatic, I throw my hands up in celebration and... thrust my fist into the spinning blades of the ceiling fan. Wii--4, me--0.

Those Who Can't, Read

As I watch the British Open today, I am reminded of one of the best books...not just a great sports book but one of the best books...that I have ever read, Final Rounds by James Dodson. It is a beautifully written, eloquent, and powerful story of a journey taken by a father and son. It is about life, love, and golf. A wonderful, wonderful book. (I recently started reading it again but couldn't finish...the loss of my own dad is a little too fresh). So, of course, I began to think about other wonderful sports books. Here are some of my favorites, in no particular order: Rick Reilly's Missing Links and his Whose Your Caddy?, Semi-Tough and Life Its Ownself by Dan Jenkins, 1939: Baseball's Pivotal Year by Talmage Boston, Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand, Money Ball by Michael Lewis, and Positively Fifth Street by James McManus. And, I'd give Jenkins' Dead Solid Perfect an honorable mention at the very least. These run the gamut...fact, fiction, funny, not so funny. Anyway, check 'em out.

Yes...No...Maybe

Is anybody as sick of the "will he or won't he" drama generated by Brett Favre as I am?

Watson Takes British Open Lead

Bloomberg:

July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Five-time winner Tom Watson took the first-round lead of the British Open.

The 59-year-old American, the oldest golfer on the course, was at 5-under-par on the 17th. Australian John Senden and England’s David Howell were tied for second, a shot behind him.

Like Greg Norman last year. I hope he can hang in there till day 4.