Three's Company But There's Only One

Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson, and Bubba Watson. These three gentlemen will be paired for the opening round at this year's U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in San Francisco. There is a lot of hype surrounding this group as it features three of the best golfers in the world. However, neither Mickelson nor Watson compare to Tiger Woods.

 

Coming off a remarkable win at the Memorial Tournament only a couple weeks ago, Woods enters the U.S. Open as the 3-1 odds favorite. Tiger's win at Memorial was his 73rd PGA Tour win of all time tying him Jack Nicklaus for 2nd all-time. Tiger is now only 9 PGA Tour wins behind Sam Sneed who has the most PGA Tour wins of all-time at 82.

Bye Beads

I'm a big ESPN guy for those of you who didn't know that already.  It's my homepage on my computer and it's on the TV even when I'm not in the house. One day I hope to be lucky enough to land a job there with my own radio show or as an anchor for the latest edition of SportsCenter.  So, when I hear that Michelle Beadle, a good-looking, funny, and knowledgeable female is planning on leaving ESPN for NBC Sports Network it rattles me a little bit.

Let's be honest, Beadle is a babe.  She's been deemed as the heir apparent to Erin Andrews who is the godmother of sexy sports reporters.  For what it's worth, I give a slight edge to Andrews in the physical department and Beadle a slight edge in the mental department.  Andrews has raw talent, she's good, and she knows it.  Beadle's a guy's girl.  She looks good but knows how to have a good time.  Either way you look at it, it's like Andrew Luck and RG3, you can't go wrong.

SportsNation

Beadle was best known at ESPN for her role on SportsNation.  This was a great show in large part due to her gorgeous blue eyes and my man Colin Cowherd giving the best insight to all things sports since Berg & Bisq.  The show was funny, it was light, it was sometimes stupid, but it was different and that's what made it appealing.  This duo definitely ranked in the top 3 for me as far as ESPN tandem's right behind Neil Everett & Stan Verrett and Scott Van Pelt & Ryen Russillo.  But now that Beadle is leaving what is ESPN is going to do with the SportsNation program?  More importantly, what are they going to do to replace the ever-so-beautiful Beadle?

Ship Him Out Of Boston

Robert Valentine, also known as Bobby V is the manager for the ailing Boston Red Sox.  Sox Nation (Boston accent) can't be too pleased with the state of their ballclub or their new skipper.  I'm not even a Sox fan and I cringe every time I turn on SportsCenter to see them getting waxed by an inferior opponent. I mean at this point I guess you can't exactly call them inferior opponents but it is what it is.  And right now, Red Sox players and fans are fatigued.  By fatigued, I mean exasperated mentally, physically, and emotionally with Bobby Valentine. Yeah, I'll cut him some slack and point out that they are missing some key players due to serious injury, but my God get control of your clubhouse Valentine.

Valentine came into Boston with a chip on his shoulder.  He took over for Terry Francona who I happen to like now that he is a frequent contributor for ESPN.  Ironically enough, Valentine was an ESPN analyst after coaching overseas in Japan.  So, essentially Francona and Valentine swapped places and boy-oh-boy ESPN loves it and the Red Sox hate it.

Things are definitely NOT okay in Boston

Valentine is more concerned with calling out players than getting his unit solidified on the diamond.  By the way, the guy he called out was Derek Jeter.  Probably the last person you want to call out for a variety of reasons.  First off, he plays for the team that basically pushes you around in what Boston calls a rivalry.  He's a 12-time All-Star having won five world championships.  And lastly, he's 37-years-old playing like he's 27 with a .388 BA 5 HR and 15 RBI.  Meanwhile, the Sox are 12-18 and in last place in the vaunted AL East.
 

Welcome To The Bigs Kid

Last night on ESPN's Sunday Night Baseball the Philadelphia Phillies visited the Washington Nationals.  Being that this was the "game of the week" there was a lot of hype surrounding 19 year-old phenom Bryce Harper.  Harper, according to scouts and analysts has everything it takes to be a premier player in the league for a long time drawing comparisons to Ken Griffey Jr. and Chipper Jones in their prime.


Having said all that, Cole Hamels could care less.  The Phillies starting pitcher plunked Harper in his first at-bat of the game with a 94 MPH fastball.  After the game Hamels admitted to hitting Harper on purpose saying, "I was trying to hit him, I'm not going to deny it."  Hamels went on explaining in more depth as to why he decided to hit the 19 year-old rookie.