July 22, 2012

Another very hot weekend in Wisconsin comes to an end, as well as several other big events in the sports world.  The bigger one was Ernie Els making a big comeback to steal the British Open from a collapsing Adam Scott.  What's really sad is that Scott held a 4 shot lead with 4 holes to play, and coughed it away.  It really is a disappointment for a solid player looking for his first major win, only to choke it away.  The other was Bradley Wiggins of Great Britain winning the Tour de France, becoming the first Brit ever to do so.  His team, Sky Procycling of Britain also enjoyed great success during the tour, along with Wiggins winning, his teammate Christopher Froome took 2nd overall and Mark Cavendish was able to claim 3 stage wins.  The highest finishing American was Tejay Van Garderen placing 5th overall, an impressive finish for the young gun.  For his efforts he also claimed the white jersey, awarded to the highest placing young racer.

Jersey Winners

Yellow (Winner) - Bradley Wiggins, GBR
Green (Points) - Peter Sagan, Slovakia
Polka-Dot (Mountains) - Thomas Voeckler, France
White (Young Rider) - Tejay Van Garderen

Top 5

1.  Bradley Wiggins: 87 Hr, 34 Min, 47 Sec
2.  Christopher Froom: + 3' 21"
3.  Vincenzo Nibali: + 6' 19"
4.   Jurgen Van den Broeck: + 10' 15"
5.  Tejay Van Garderen: + 11' 04"

July 9, 2012

July 9, 2012

Here's my prediction for tonights MLB Home Run Derby!!!  Basically I believe the AL will trounce the NL.

July 5, 2012

The NBA offseason has been fast paced and exciting so far.  While no deals are made official until July 11, the trades and free agent acquisitions are essentially done.  One of the most interesting teams of the offseason has been the Houston Rockets, who aggressively traded during the draft to pick up three 1st rounders.  They've also become a revolving door at the point guard spot.  At the end of this past season it was apparent someone would have to be moved, as they had two very good guards in Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic.  In the end, both were moved, which I thought was surprising.  They picked up a future draft pick and sent Lowry to the Raptors where he'll team up with Jose Calderon to form a solid backcourt.  Dragic was sent to the Suns, where he'll immediately take over as the starting point guard in the wake of the Steve Nash to Lakers deal.  The addition of Michael Beasley and the potential signing of Eric Gordon make the Suns another team to watch this offseason.

Stat Line of the Day (7/4/12)

Cliff Lee's line vs the Mets

FINALLY!!!! Cliff Lee earned his first win of the season, and it astoundingly took him until July 4th.  Lee has pitched well all season, though a little worse than normally, but the Phillies have been unable to provide good support for their ace, and his 1-5 record shows that.  Hopefully this will jump start Cliff to a good second half and propel the Phillies back into the playoff race.  

July 4, 2012

Ahhh, happy birthday America!!!  I've been up at a friend's cottage for the past two days and am thoroughly sunburnt and satisfied.  There were also some interesting sports stories that caught my attention when I finally returned to the online world.  Probably the biggest is the Lakers acquisition of Steve Nash from the Phoenix Suns, which instantly puts them back in a title hunt.  Point guard was the only position that could really be considered lacking, other than maybe small forward, but this trade makes them once again a top-tier team.  Another big story was the Minnesota Wild's signing of free agent winger Zach Parise, a Minnesota native.  This is a huge deal for the Wild as it give them a top-flight scorer as well as a great person and someone who the fans will love.  The Wild have been looking for a turnaround from their past few seasons of disappointment, but things may finally be looking up in the State of Hockey.

July 2, 2012

Euro 2012: July 1

Finals:
Spain 4-0 Italy

And so after weeks of exciting matches and brilliant displays Spain has emerged as the European champion, their 2nd straight.  With a World Cup win sandwiched in between this Spanish team is making a case for one of the greatest teams of all time.  It will be interesting to see how teams adapt and if anyone can possibly challenge the mighty Spaniards.  I really enjoyed these championships, though they were quite disappointing for the Netherlands, I'm also interested to see how they bounce back.  Now the international soccer world quiets down for a while until World Cup qualifiers get back into action this fall.