Sorts of Sports

A story on golf not involving Tiger Woods? And it has the sports' world buzzing? In a sport where fans can call in rules violations and there are only out of bounds if you can't hit your ball, the rules have come into play in this past weekend's PGA Championship. Dustin Johnson hit his first shot far right into the crowd and approached the ball. Set his club, took a practice swing, and then eventually hit the ball. PGA ruled it a 2-stroke violation, thus costing him a chance at the championship.

Happy Fourth of July. A yearly reminder of how truly lucky we are to live in the greatest country in the world. And while hopefully you all spend your days outside, at the beach or by the pool, enjoying barbeque, and playing lawn games; let us never forget the men and women protecting our Freedom at home and abroad. One of the many great freedoms that we observe, as a country, is sports. Let us look back at a few, of the many, of the highlights in American sports since last Independence Day. Bring on the fireworks!

Editor's Note: Introducing Chris Evans to the team.

Carl Pavano will always hold a dear place in the hearts of Boston fans. He was the centerpiece in the deal that brought Pedro to town in 1998 and then he wasted about 40 million of Mr. Steinbrenner’s dollars in the mid 2000s. Pavano has gone the distance in his last two starts, allowing only one run, while besting Roy Halladay and Johan Santana. Maybe he is finally healthy. Maybe the smaller market of Minnesota has allowed him to relax. Or maybe his recent success can be credited to the amazing mustache he has been rocking recently. In honor of Carl’s resurgence let’s check out other great mustaches in pro sports.

Am I the only one who enjoys this sport? It's the only sport where nonathletic people, unlike myself, fail to do the simple things, such as jumping higher than 1 foot, or landing on a big red ball. Look, it is not that hard. This seems a lot like any other game show, where they only pick the suckers and clowns who can't do elementary math and lose to 5th graders.

Ok, I am sticking to my guns and making this a blog about sports and this is no exception. There is a Helicopter, which can be used in snowboarding, and there is a baseball field, which is self explanatory.

This past weekend I made the trek from New England to Baltimore for the Preakness Horse Race and it was worth every stinky toilet flush that the RV had to offer. It was a large enough RV for the seven of us traveling down south to pay homage to the acres of plush green grass, littered with skimpy outfits, tents, red mugs, and 30,000+ party goers completely oblivious to the race circling them.

What amazes me is running a mile in under 10 minutes. I don't run a lot so accomplishing such a feat is a rare occurrence. What leaves me speechless is running a mile in under 5 minutes, 4:48 to be exact. And I can't really even fathom running that 4:48 mile 26.2 times. That's what just happened yesterday as Cheruiyot won the Boston Marathon in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 52 seconds.

That means that some miles were 4:30 and his slow miles drudged along at 5:00. That is 13 mph. I don't even think that the treadmill at the gym goes that fast. That means going that fast on heartbreak hill. I don't know if my 10-speed bike goes that fast. In order to feel like I am not wasting my life, I put together a list of things I can do in 2 hours.

I'm not the biggest golf fan. I'll watch it occasionally, but I am more apt to watch it if Tiger is playing. Why else would I be writing about golf right now if it were not for Tiger? Just look at the numbers, I wasn't the only one rooting for him, although I may be one of the few willing to admit it.

Final round coverage of the Masters was up 36% compared to last year's. Sure, it is the Tiger factor in which no matter what event it is, if Tiger is close, more people will watch. Ok great, but it was the 3rd highest overnight rating in golf history. Again, maybe it was because it was the Masters and people were eager to see Phil win?