Happy Father's Day

As a sports fan, it’s hard to watch your team lose. It’s even harder to watch your team come in second place. Coming so close to winning and still losing is hard to swallow knowing that almost doesn’t count. This story has been Groundhog Day for Phil Mickelson and fans at the U.S. Open.

“It’s got the makings to be something special, but I still have to go out and perform and play some of the best golf I’ve ever played,’’ Mickelson said.

Mickelson was the fan favorite in the gallery in Philly and on Sunday, the final day of play for the U.S. Open fans used every opportunity to sing and chat “Happy Birthday” as the 43 year old warmed up and walked down the greens on Father’s Day.

The Lefty played without a driver and chose five wedges instead. Mickelson’s choke started with double-bogeys on holes three and five. Fans were not giving up on the comeback and then came the miracle eagle on the 10^th hole to follow with a birdie putt on the 12^th that he just couldn’t get in. He pulled the wrong wedge and bogeyed on the 13^th, 15^th and 18^th hole. Something special became another heartbreaker for Mickelson.

Merion Golf Course is known as the course with wicker basket-topped flagsticks and had a different story to tell. Justin Rose was playing on Fathers Day for his father, Ken, who died in 2002 of leukemia. The rain came in but with Mickelson still two holes to play the clouds parted and Rose looked up to the sky. He looked up to his father, the man who taught him how to play golf. With his eyes swelling with tears he wished him a Happy Father’s Day. It was ironic and yet a natural moment where Rose felt his father about to wish him a Happy Father’s Day.

Justin Rose an Englishman became the first Briton to win the U.S. Open in more than 40 years and took home a purse of $1.44 million.

Sunday’s U.S. Open became the sixth time Mickelson has finished as the runner up in the tournament and the eighth time he has finished second at a major. (Jack Nicklaus has 19 runner ups in Major tournaments; seven at the U.S. Open. Arnold Palmer has 10 second place finishes in Major tournaments.)

Don’t feel too bad for Mickelson, he did win close to $700,000 in prize money. 

Heartbreaker

It was one hell of a season for the Lady Vol softball team.

Champions make it look easy and it was a smooth sailing through the regionals and the super regionals. The Women’s College World Series started with an impressive 9-2 win over Florida and the Lady Vols showed Texas who the real UT is by winning 2-1.

The Oklahoma Sooners were a number one seed while the Lady Vols were a number seven seed in OKC. It’s not easy to be the underdog on the road.

My girl, Ellen Renfroe is an ace. She has swagger with her confidence that is all tied into the perfect bow in her ponytail. The spin she puts on the ball is so sick and she rose to the occasion starting game one of the Championship game. She was fearless in the circle, fighting to keep the Vols alive for 12 intense innings of some damn good softball.

And if my neighbors didn’t hate me already, they officially want to evict me now after my loud cheering and clapping all night.

Game one of the National Championship series will be in the history books forever as the longest game ever played. (UT vs. Arizona in 2005 went 10 innings and held the record before.) The Sooner’s got to Ivy Renfroe early in game two with a 3-0 lead in the third and their fans packed Hall of Fame Stadium. But the sports gods were not wearing orange and Sooner’s took home the National Championship.

As coach Karen Weekly said “Any other year this Tennessee team wins the National Championship”.

It was a heartbreaker for sure. Tennessee fans felt the emotions of those ladies who played one hell of a season and deserved to be in the National Championship game. Fans on social media showed their love and support, but most of all how proud we are of our Lady Vols!

Congratulations to Ellen Renfroe, Madison Shipman, and senior Lauren Gibson who all were named to the WCWS team.

We will miss our seniors Raven Chavanne, Lauren Gibson, Melissa Brown, Ivy Renfroe, Whitney Hammond, and Kat Dotson. Thank you for being a VFL!

Rise Ball

Recently I had a great conversation with one of the best broadcasters in college sports, Mike Patrick, about one of the best games that sports fans are not watching; College Softball! Dismiss any stereotypes that come to mind when you hear the word “softball’. This is a fun, fun game to watch and these women are beautiful athletes who can play ball!

There are 64 teams in the NCAA softball tournament bracket.  The Southeastern Conference sent 11 teams. Six SEC teams have advanced to the NCAA Super Regional (sweet 16). The defending National Champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide is the only SEC team to win the Women’s College World Series. The PAC-12 owned the WCWS from 2006-2011. But the sport is changing as a new conference dynasty begins. With the strength of these SEC teams, the SEC is looking for their second WCWS Championship.

Of course I’m rooting for the University of Tennessee Lady Vols to dominate in Oklahoma!

The Lady Vols had been ranked No. 2 before losing to Missouri in the SEC tournament.  The No. 7 seed Lady Vols host the best out of 3 against Alabama on Friday on ESPN2 and again Saturday on ESPN! Prime Time on ESPN!

Since 2004 UT coaches Bo and Karen Weekly have made the Lady Vols a powerhouse in the sport and have reached the NCAA tournament every year and the WCWS 5 times. This could be one of the all around best UT softball teams the Weekly’s have coached. Second-basemen Lauren Gibson was named SEC Player of the Year and Raven Chavanne led all hitters in the SEC with .391 in conference batting average (.439 for all games) and 2^nd in stolen bases. The Renfroe sisters are fierce in the circle with a combined 36-8 win-loss record. Senior Ivy has an amazing 0.88 WHIP (walks and hits allowed per innings pitched) and a 0.91 ERA (2.02 career ERA). Junior Ellen is a pushing sibling rivalry with a 0.80 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 52.1 innings pitched. The youngest Renfroe, Anna, is a freshman infielder, has only played in three games and earned an .333 on-base percentage.

Even if you never played fast-pitch softball you should give the Riseball another look. It’s basically an upside down curve ball thrown overhand. It’s not an easy pitch and it’s more difficult to hit (the ball rises as its thrown to the batter from the backspin and pitching technique). Watch one game, root for the Lady Vols, and you’ll become a college softball fan.

-Enjoy the College World Series Mr. Patrick! And if I see Angle Hernandez, I’ll be sure to send him a drink with your best regards. :)

Now Yuuuu Know!

Incase you didn’t hear, Jason Collins is gay, Forbes says Tim Tebow is the most influential athlete in 2013 (seriously?), and someone is offended by the name Redskins.

Blah, blah, blah.

I’m more shocked that in 2013 we have our first gay athlete come out. My gut reaction was this being a marketing stunt to appeal to the large gay community in DC to sell more game tickets for the Wizards- but Collins is a free agent. Congratulations Jason! I wish you the best and commend you for being you, but how is this JUST now happening, it’s 2013! Honestly, I don’t care if athletes are gay; I care about if they are great athletes.

Clearly, Forbes doesn’t mean “most influential athlete on the field” when naming Tim Tebow as the most influential athlete of 2013. He was a back up QB who scored zero TD’s on a Jets team who won six games last year. He was so influential that the Jets released him. I know, he’s a good kid, but he hasn’t been very good on the field.

The Washington Redskins will ALWAYS be the Washington REDSKINS. Councilman David Grosso, let-it-go.

Here’s what should be making news headlines.

Generation K

In 28 consecutive starts Texas Ranger starting pitcher, Yu Darvish had not allowed more than one home run making it the longest streak in major league baseball. The streak ended on Sunday against the Red Sox. In seven innings, the right-hander struck out 14 in the Red Sox lineup and lowering Darvish’s ERA to 2.56. With 74 K’s this season he is averaging 14.3 per nine innings with a 40% strikeout rate! Darvish struck out 14 in his season opener and was one away from a perfect game against the Astros in April. Roy Halladay in 2011 was the last starter to throw two games with 14K’s in one season. Talk about swing-and-miss- Darvish leads the league with a 41% swing-and-miss rate. Last year he led all pitchers with a 29% rate. The baseball gods have sent us a piece of baseball history developing right before our eyes. He is magical on the mound and Yuuuu is truly something special. (Whoever puts his pants in the dryer, thank you!)

Stephen Curry

Kobe who? Stephen Curry is the king on the west coast. In 2008 he put Davidson on the map and he has been one of my favorite players to watch. He is so smooth with so much control when he plays and one of the purest shooters I’ve ever seen in my sports lifetime. Curry is lighting up the league as the breakout guard for the Golden State Warriors. He’s not your average tattooed, big NBA player and when most people forget about him, get your popcorn ready, watch him sneak up on you and then the Stephen Curry show begins. Nicknamed the “Baby-faced assassin” he became the only player in the NBA to score 22-points in the 3^rd quarter of a playoff game twice in the past 8 postseasons. He leads the NBA playoffs in steals, assist per game, free-throw percentage, three points made, and three point attempts. The best shooter ranked 16^th on the NBA player ratings. He’s still young, but as long as Curry stays healthy he will continue to be the baby-faced assassin. 

The 78th Annual NFL Draft

This time last year I was getting the itinerary to fly on Dan Snyder’s private jet and attend the NFL draft live in Radio City Music Hall. (One of the coolest experiences of my life!) This year the NFL draft wont be as exciting watching from my couch and waiting until Friday for the 51^st pick for the Redskins to be on the clock.

The mock drafts have the Skins filling the safety position first. Even with salary caps the one thing Redskins fans can always count on is never knowing what Snyder will pull out of his bag of tricks. So until Snyder’s magic show begins, I’ll be rooting for the VOLS.

The University of Tennessee has several prospects that defined a season full of making great plays and a season full of dropping routine passes. Untimely, WR Cordarrell Patterson will be a first rounder (or he is projected to be) and the VOLS should see other alum drafted as well.

The controversy over Cordarrelle Patterson is that he only spent one year of playing at the college level for the University of Tennessee under Dooley’s debacle of a program. The lack of having a real coach or even a full SEC college football experience has left CP’s raw talent still untapped making him a risk and steepens the margin for being a draft hit or miss. Personally, I hope CP turns out to be a stud (just as long as he doesn’t end up in a Eagles jersey). He is an electric player to watch. He’s still a kid, he needs a solid foundation to mature and ripen, but when and if that happens- he’ll have a winning career in the NFL.

OT Dallas Thomas is projected to be a second rounder along with wide receiver Justin Hunter. WR Zach Rogers is also expected to have his name called.

The one player I was excited to announce that he was forgoing his senior year of eligibility was QB Tyler Bray. Don’t get me wrong, the kid has a cannon and he can hit his targets. But he’s not a mobile QB and with the new hire of Butch Jones’s spread offence it was a win for both Bray and UT. The issue with Bray is that he is a gun-slinging gambler with no protection plan. He called his own shots in the huddle and while he made great plays, he couldn’t win in the SEC and VOLS fans will always remember that he never beat Florida. Great players preform at crunch time and Bray gambled more than he played smart. With the right mentor and someone to beat the cocky-ness out of him, he might be more humble and learn to play with his head and his arm. Bray doesn’t have the Brett Favre charm to pull off being so cocky. The smartest sentence Bray has ever said was acknowledging during Gruden’s QB camp was that Tennessee football was a religion in Tennessee and I’ll support anyone who worships the same sports gods as I do.

I was in Atlanta last weekend and happened to be at the same bar/restaurant as Georgia OLB and first round draft prospect, Jarvis Jones. The server told me he didn’t drink so I sent him a Shirley Temple. To my surprise, he found my joke as funny as I did and even posed for a picture with a VOLS fan. He’s in the SEC family so naturally I respect him and I’m rooting for the coolest dawg I know to hear his name called on Thursday night.

But where will Manti To’e fall into the draft? AJ McCarron’s girlfriend had more airtime during the National Championship game than Notre Dame had possession of the ball. To’s individual performance was a reflection of being exposed by the SEC. To’e was invited to attend the draft, but he declined. I guess he wanted to stay at home and watch the draft with his girlfriend…

Plan B

Louisville vs Michigan; Kevin Ware vs. the Fab Five- so many reasons to watch the NCAA National Championship game.

Even if your bracket is busted, the story lines leading up the NCAA Championship game made it a game worth watching. And what a game it was. This was definitely one of the best National Championship games I’ve ever seen.   

The Fab Five just can’t let go of that famous timeout that continues to haunt Chris Webber. ESPN Films story of the Fab Five was a great insight, history and understanding of how they changed the game. But the one element missing was Webber himself. Fab Five member Jalen Rose pleaded to get Webber in Atlanta with the rest of the crew to support the efforts to “free the fab five”, break the curse, and win a National Championship. As the starting line for up Michigan was being announced, in walked Webber. I wasn’t ready to see him in a UM hat rooting to break the curse- I personally love to hear Jalen Rose rant every year about Michigan winning the Championship. As he stood tall, clapping I knew this was going to be a battle.

But this game was all about Plan B.: Mr. Cool Hand Luke Hancock. Maybe he was playing the game as a backup for injured Ware, but he was playing to win in front of his ill father who made the trip from Roanoke, VA to see him be crowned as the Most Outstanding Player. As Louisville was down by 12 points in the first half Pitino sent in Hancock. He made two free throws and then boom, boom, boooom, BOOM! Four straight 3-pointers and 14 straight for Louisville on a 16-3 run gave the Cardinals a one-point lead. This wasn’t the first time the Cardinals came back from double digits to win in Atlanta. As Louisville’s best scorer, Russ Smith went 3-16 in the final and an ugly 9-33 in the Final Four, Pitino knew how to play his Cards right. Hancock ended the game with the team high 22-points and will be a legend in Louisville. Siva shined with 18 points and had enough energy to play another 40 minutes. Behanan also put 15 points on the board for the Cardinals.

This wasn’t the week to rain on Louisville Coach Pitino’s parade. The same day he was cutting down the nets he found out he would be a member of the Hall of Fame, became the first coach to win a National Championship with two schools, and his son was named the head coach at Minnesota.

Michigan was left feeling the blues as Webber is still settling his pay-to-play days from Michigan; Louisville used plan B to ri5e to the occasion and giving Kevin Ware the chance to cut down the nets was priceless.

Louisville girls play to the championship Tuesday night against UConn- and seriously, anybody but Geno! 

Play For Ware

With 6 minutes and 33 seconds left in the first half of Sundays Elite Eight game Louisville's Kevin Ware, a 6-foot-2 sophomore guard broke his right tibia bone in two places trying to defend a shot by Duke's Tyler Thornton. 

His leg was quickly covered. But the reaction from the team was as raw and real as the bone popping out of Ware's shin. Teammates Smith, Blackshear, and Behanan all fell on the court in the sight of the gruesome injury and the devastation of seeing their teammate in pain. The Louisville bench players jumped back and covered their faces. Behanan and Coach Pitino both had to wipe away tears as Ware was laying down crying. Before Ware was carried off on a stretcher he told his teammates to "win the game". 

CBS only showed the injury in slow-motion twice then focused the reaction on his teammates and those on the court. Sean McManus, CBS Sports Chairman said the decision was due to the graphic nature of the footage. The injury wasn't mentioned during the halftime  show either. 

The image of Ware's bone sticking out of this leg that was not shown looked like a scene from a horror movie. Because of the open fracture, Ware had surgery immediately to avoid the risk of an infection. 

#PlayForWare starated trending on twitter and condolences were sent all over from the sports and entertainment world. Former Redskins quarterback Joe Theismann may be the only other athlete to experience this kind of injury in the national spotlight. Theismann called Ware to let him know that he would be there for him, 'there are not a lot of us who have gone through this'. Theismann's career ended in 1985 after his injury. Theismann told Ware 'A year from now, you'll be the comeback player of the year' and Ware said 'I'm going to work for it'. Theismann said he'd be watching. We ALL will be watching and rooting for the comeback. 

The Cardinals led 21-17 when Ware went down. They came back after halftime with the mindset to win the game for Ware and they beat the Blue Devils 85-63. Behanan put on Ware's #5 jersey in the final seconds of the game in triumph, they won for Ware! 

Coach Pitino left the Midwest Regional Championship trophy with Ware in his hospital bed and if all goes as planned Ware will be back in Louisville in time to charter the team flight to his hometown, Atlanta, for the Final Four. 

I picked Louisville to win the NCAA Championship, but even those who didn't have Louisville in the center of their bracket are now rooting for Ware to hold up the NCAA Championship trophy on April 8th.