Roddick done, Football beginning

Andy Roddick Retiring

- Andy Roddick, arguably the best American tennis player since Andre Agassi, has announced that he will retire from the game after this year’s U.S. Open (currently taking place in New York). Roddick, a prodigious talent that had the bad luck of playing in the era of Federer, Nadal and Djokovic, won the 2003 US Open for his only major victory.
- Roddick will retire ranked 20th in the world, and with 32 career titles (assuming he does not win the U.S. Open). Roddick’s success on the court is only matched by his success off the court; marrying Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Brooklyn Decker.
- He was ranked #1 in the world at 21 in 2003 after his victory at the U.S. Open but lost the ranking to Roger Federer after Federer won the 2004 Australian Open. Roddick will be remembered for a rocket serve (regularly clocked around 150 MPH), and for a memorable 2009 Wimbledon final against Roger Federer. Federer eventually defeated Roddick, but not before playing an exhausting 30 games in the 5th and final set.
- In addition to Roddick, popular women's player Kim Clijsters is also retiring after this year's U.S. Open, leaving tennis without two of the game's most engaging stars.


College football begins

- The NCAA Football season begins in full force this weekend with ranked teams playing every day from last night until Monday.  South Carolina vs. Vanderbilt was the featured matchup last night and the Gamecocks survived a close call from the Commodores to win 17-13. 
- There are only two games featuring multiple ranked teams this week, Boise State against Michigan State in a matchup of teams who saw superstar quarterbacks (Kirk Cousins and Kellen Moore) graduate last year and Michigan vs. Alabama in a matchup of top 8 teams.
- The AP Top 25 has USC on top of its initial poll followed by Alabama, LSU, Oklahoma and Oregon to round out the top 5.  Here are the complete set of rankings.  Kent State is not ranked this year and perhaps this is one reason why.

Big deals abound in MLB

Major Move in Baseball

• A massive trade hit the wires over the weekend, with the L.A. Dodgers doubling down on this season as well as the next few and the Boston Red Sox looking like they are giving up on being competitive for the forseeable future.
• The Red Sox sent stud first baseman Adrian Gonzalez to the Dodgers only a season and a half after getting him from the San Diego Padres for their stud prospect Anthony Rizzo (who has since been acquired by the Cubs). In addition to Gonzalez, the Sox sent Nick Punto, Carl Crawford (and his insane contract) and Josh Beckett (who has not pitched up to his contract for a long time now).
• In return, the Dodgers sent the Red Sox a package of players largely based around a couple of minor league pitching prospects. The star of the returning players is Rubby De La Rosa. A pitching prospect coming off of Tommy John’s surgery. He should be ready to pitch in 2013, and had been clocked throwing 100 mph prior to his surgery. The other prospect that could make noise with the Red Sox is Allen Webster, who is a developmental project for the Sox.
• The Dodgers, who are now owned by a group fronted by Magic Johnson among others, have not been shy about spending money, extending outfielder Andre Ethier to a multi-year deal, acquiring former Rookie of the Year Hanley Ramirez, and now adding the Boston stars as well.

Lance out, Colon is too

Lance banned for life

- Lance Armstrong dropped his attempt to question the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s allegations of doping during his incredible and unprecedented 7 Tour de France titles. As part of his decision to not fight the ban any farther, Armstrong will accept a lifetime ban from competitive cycling and will possibly lose his 7 titles and/or his bronze medal from the 2000 Olympics.
- Armstrong, who still maintains that he is and always was clean, basically decided to stop fighting. He said, "I know who won those seven Tours, my teammates know who won those seven Tours, and everyone I competed against knows who won those seven Tours."  The 4-time AP Male Athlete of the Year also said that he decided that the stress of the "witch hunt" against him was too much for his family and that he was simply at a point in his life where he no longer wanted to expend the effort fighting the claims against him. 
- Armstrong will still be held in high regard for what he has done to fight cancer even if his legacy as a cyclist in in question. His foundation and iconic yellow wristbands are his legacy.


Colon suspended

- Keeping with the theme of the day (and the past week or so in baseball) longtime starting pitcher Bartolo Colon, currently with the Oakland Athletics, was suspended for 50 games Wednesday for testing positive for a high level of synthetic testosterone.  Colon will miss the rest of the season and at least the first series of the playoffs (if the A's make it) or the beginning of the 2013 season to finish out the suspension.
- After going nearly a full season without any tests after Ryan Braun was initially suspended but then had his ban lifted, there have now been two players (All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera being the other) test positive in the last week, both from the Bay Area in California.  While Colon was not having the extreme breakout year that Cabrera was, he was nonetheless a solid starter for an A's team that is on the fringe of the playoffs this year.  Colon had a 10-9 record with a 3.43 ERA, very respectable numbers.
- Colon was supposed to start Thursday night against the Rays but his replacement didn't fair as well as the A's lost 5-0 to the surging Tampa Bay squad, who is now only 2 1/2 games behind the Yankees, putting New York's seemingly insurmountable lead into question.

Clemens in? Jones-Drew out?

Jones-Drew to be traded?

- Last year's NFL rushing leader, Maurice Jones-Drew has been mired in a contract dispute for some time now with the Jacksonville Jaguars but now it's beginning to get ugly.  Jones-Drew has two years left on a 30 million, 5 year contract that is well below the market value for a player of Jones-Drew's caliber and has been holding out until the team agrees to restructure his contract.  Because NFL contracts are not guaranteed and players can immediately be released (fired) when they underachieve, holding out is a common technique used by players to ensure that they are paid fair market value when they overachieve.
- Brand new Jaguars owner Shad Khan (who's better at growing a mustache then dealing with player hold outs) vented some frustration at having to deal with his best player not actively participate with his team by saying Jones-Drew's absence "doesn't even move the needle" in terms of stress. Khan reiterated his stance Tuesday by saying, "This is not a team about one person."  Later in the interview he sent a message through the media to Jones-Drew saying: "Train's leaving the station. Run, get on it."
- Now Jones-Drew has publicly said that he would be fine with being traded, something that nearly every team in the NFL has to have some interest in.  Teams like the Steelers, Patriots and Bengals have needs at running back and have shown willingness to make trades if the price is right while the Jets and Redskins might have even bigger needs at the position and will basically trade anyone at any time at the drop of a hat.  So needless to say if the Jaguars do decide to deal their best player, there will definitely be a taker.


Clemens returning?

- A few months after being acquitted of perjury regarding his testimony in front of a federal grand jury, Roger Clemens is starting again to do what knows best, throw baseballs. He is part of an over-50 softball league, which he claims is just for fun and exercise, but Clemens is set to pitch in a minor league game on Saturday as a member of the Sugar Land Skeeters in Texas.
- At 50, Clemens will be one of the oldest players to ever pitch in any level of professional competition, (here are a few other athletes who missed the memo on retirement) but claims that rumors that this is the first step towards a comeback to the major leagues are vastly over-reported. Clemens claims he just wants to go out and compete a bit to get the juices flowing again. The 7-time Cy Young winner has recently been reported to be hitting 87 MPH on a speed gun, a speed that is definitely respectable for the independent Atlantic League that the Skeeters play in.

19 inning marathon, managerial issues

Pirates win longest game of year

- You may remember last year when The Pittsburgh Pirates lost a game in the 19th inning due to one of the most egregious calls you'll ever see (the ump was either hallucinating or just so desperate to end the game and go home that he didn't care who he robbed).  Sunday, they played another 19 inning marathon, but had better results, defeating division rival, Wild Card competitor and defending World Series champion St. Louis by a score of 6-3. 
- The win perhaps symbolizes that Pittsburgh is mature enough to make the playoffs this year after a twenty year cold streak that last saw them in the postseason when Barry Bonds still wore a Pirates uniform.  Now the team is led by Andrew McCutcheon, a much different player than Bonds who leads to NL in batting average by a fairly comfortable margin.
- Pedro Alvarez hit a solo home run and then McCutcheon drove in two of the three runs in the 19th, which are the most runs the Pirates have scored in the 19th inning of a baseball game in exactly 100 years.


Skipper troubles

- Houston has a new manager while the drama in Boston continues. Brad Mills was relieved of duties on Saturday as the manager of the Houston Astros while Triple-A manager Tony DeFrancesco was called up to be the interim manager of the team. The Astros, who have the youngest lineup in the majors, have struggled this year, recently completing a stretch where they lost a mind-boggling 34 out of 38 games. In addition to being the youngest, they have one of the lowest payrolls in baseball with only 3 current players making more than $750k a year (and two of those players are currently on the disabled list).
- Meanwhile, in Boston, manager Bobby Valentine is under a fresh round of scrutiny after a text message from one of his players to management was uncovered, questioning him as a manager. While General Manager Larry Luchino has said that Valentine will at least finish the season, his status with the team is questionable past October. The Red Sox are currently struggling, at more than 10 games out of the AL East, and currently sporting a worse record than the perpetually bad Baltimore Orioles despite a payroll of more than $173 million, third highest in baseball.
- Valentine has shouldered a lot of blame for the poor play of the Red Sox this season, even though injuries and an old team are at least partially to blame.

James/Pistorius, Melky, King Felix

Best story of the 2012 Olympics

- Now that a few days have passed to let everything sink in, we feel like we can accurately crown the single best story of the 2012 Olympics.  South Africa's Oscar Pistorius (pictured right) was possibly the most significant competitor in this year's games before he even stepped on the track.  Pistorius was born with a genetic defect in his legs and had them both amputated when he was less than a year old.  However, he started wearing a type of leg brace called "cheetah blades" at a young age that he put on basically the same way his brother put on shoes. 
- Fast forward to 2012 when, after much debate over whether his legs constituted an unfair advantage, he was finally allowed to participate in the Olympics.  Just showing up and competing would have been enough, but Pistorius did not come just to race, lose and wave to the crowd.  He finished second in his first race, the 400 meters, and his team finished second in their first round race for the 400 meter relay. 
- The semifinal of the 400 meter dash brought even more intrigue, and a new entry into the saga in the form on a 19 year old from the tiny country of Grenada, Kirani James (pictured left).  After winning the 400 meter semifinal and eliminating Pistorius, James recognized Pistorius by asking him to exchange their official entry tags as a sign of respect.  In the finals, James then went on to win the 400 meters, becoming the first athlete from Grenada to gain a medal of any kind in any event. 
- To further illustrate what kind of person James is, after he was documented by NBC's camera crews for a couple days in advance of the Olympics, a camerawoman asked if he could sign something for her daughter.  Without thinking, the 19 year old James addressed the article to the girl and added the note, "Your mother is very proud of you."  That may be true, but I doubt it's the same level of pride that James feels from Grenada after bringing home his country's first ever medal, gold or otherwise.


King Felix is Perfect

- Felix Hernandez had the biggest day of his professional life on Wednesday when he threw a perfect game against the Tampa Bay Rays. It's only the 23rd perfect game ever to be thrown in Major League History yet somehow, it's the third thrown against the Rays in the last few years, the third no-hitter thrown in Seattle this season and the third perfect game thrown this season.  Phil Humber of the White Sox and Matt Cain of the Giants were the other perfectionists of 2012 (so far).
- Since 2009, of the 15 no-hitters thrown in Major League baseball, the Rays have been no-hit four times, which wouldn't be so shocking until you realize that the Rays have been one of the best teams in baseball since 2008 when the franchise made the World Series and started a run of 3 playoff appearance in 4 years.  Even more surprising is the fact that they have won 8 of their last 9 games, with the only loss being this game, the most embarrassing kind possible for the hitters.




Melky Cabrera Suspended

- Melky Cabrera, the MVP of this year’s All-Star game, was suspended on Wednesday for 50-games after testing positive for performances enhancing drugs. The San Francisco Giants outfielder is the first player this year to test positive.
- Cabrera accepted the suspension that will have him out for the rest of the regular season and for 5 games after that, either in the playoffs or the beginning of next season. Cabrera was hitting .346, a career high.

Olympic recap, Rory wins PGA

Americans Finish Olympics with Major Haul

• Both the Men’s and Women’s basketball team’s won gold in the last weekend of the 2012 London Olympics. Kevin Durant scored 30 points to put the men over the top against a very tough Spanish team. Candace Parker helped the women’s team win their 41st straight game in Olympic competition (dating back to 1992). The women’s team won their 5th straight gold, and continues their unparalleled dominance.
• American wrestlers Jake Varner and Jordan Burroughs won gold in the 96kg and 74kg weight levels respectively. On the track, the Women’s 4x 100 and 4x 400 relay teams both won gold. Alison Felix ran for both teams. Felix also won gold in the individual 200 meter race.
• Diver David Boudia, who barely made it through to the semifinals, seemingly found a new life and went on to win the 10 meter platform gold medal in a tremendously close final against British phenom Tom Daley and Chinese star Qiu Bo.  With one dive left the three were all within 0.15 points of each other (in a sport where 90-100 points are typically awarded for a good dive) but Boudia finished with the best dive, taking the gold.
• The last weekend was helped the U.S. put some distance between every other country in the medal count with 104 (more on that to come).


Rory crushes PGA championships

• While many people were watching the Olympics over the weekend Rory Mcilroy was doing what he does best, playing golf.  Mcilroy blistered the field, winning the PGA Tour, the final major of the PGA season, by a record 8 shots after shooting a final round 66.
• This dominant victory comes on the heels of last year's huge win at the U.S. Open (also by 8 shots) and people are starting to throw Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus comparisons out there.  While we think it may still be too early to put that label on McIlroy, he's definitely shown that when he plays his A game, he is much better than anyone else in the world and if he can continue to find that level and win tournaments, both major and minor, this comparison might have to be revisited in a few years.
• While he does only have the two major victories, it's worth noting that Mcilroy is only 23 years and 3 months old, younger than Tiger Woods was when he won his second major.


Overall Olympic Wrap-up

• The Americans, bolstered by a very strong last weekend, won the overall medal count with 104 medals, putting a lot of distance between them and their closest competition, China with 87. Russia, who will host the 2014 winter Olympics, finished 3rd with 82 medals and the host country Great Britain finished 4th with 65. The US also led the way in gold medals with 46, with China second at 38.
• This haul represents the biggest single medal count for the U.S. in any Olympic competition not held in America. In 1984, in the L.A. games boycotted by most of the Soviet countries, the U.S. won 83 golds, and 174 overall. In the 1904 St. Louis Olympics the U.S. won 78 golds and 239 overall. This year's medal count is nothing to smirk at with the rest of the world gaining on America's traditional dominance in many sports.
• This year’s Olympics were dominated by the women. Of the 46 golds won by the U.S., women won 29. 58 of the overall 104 medals were won by women, a solid 56%.

Howard to Lakers, U.S. Women golden

Howard traded to Lakers

- While Kobe Bryant is in London helping the U.S. beat down on the rest of the world, his G.M. is putting his NBA team in a position to crush teams all of next season.  Months after acquiring one of the best floor leaders in NBA history (Steve Nash), the Lakers orchestrated a massive, blockbuster 4 team trade with the Magic, Nuggets and 76ers to acquire Dwight Howard, easily the most dominant interior defender and rebounder in the NBA.
- Here's a breakdown of who ends up with what:

Lakers: Dwight Howard.  Enough said.  Howard will team with Bryant, Nash and Pau Gasol to be the odds on favorite to win the Western Conference, if not the NBA Title.

Nuggets: Andrew Iguodala.  Sneakily good pickup, Iguodala isn't a household name, but is probably the best perimeter defender in the NBA and fits in perfectly with what the Nuggets like to do, namely score quickly and then play lockdown defense on the other end.

76ers: Andrew Bynum, Jason Richardson.  The 76ers essentially dealt Iguodala for Bynum, which makes their team significantly better.  Not that Iguodala isn't a quality player, but the 76ers had a plethora of talent at his position, while their play at center left plenty to be desired.  Now they have a top 3 NBA center to go with young perimeter talent.  And even though Bynum has seemingly been around forever, he's still only 24.

Magic:  Aaron Afflalo, Al Harrington, Nikola Vucevic, Moe Harkless, 1st round pick from all 3 teams.  The Magic are starting over with a clean slate, and will have tons of draft picks from other teams as well as a very high one of their own (as they'll be close your eyes awful this coming season).  No worries though Magic fans, you still get to play the Bobcats four times this year!


U.S. Women's Soccer takes home gold

- The U.S. Women avenged last summer's crushing defeat at the hands of Japan in the World Cup, beating the same squad 2-1 to win their 3rd straight gold medal and 4th in the last 5 Olympics.  
- The game, which was played before 80,203 fans at Wembley Stadium (a record for a women's soccer game) was action packed and featured tons of near goals on both sides.  The U.S. took a 2-0 lead on two goals by midfielder Carli Lloyd and Japan was unable to come back. 
- Canada, who lost to the U.S. in the semis despite a hat trick by their star, Christine Sinclair, took home the bronze medal by defeating France 1-0 after a late goal.


Overall Olympics update

- The top 3 medal winners are as follows:  Host nation Great Britain is a close 4th with 52 total medals.

United States		39	Gold 25 Silver	26 Bronze =	90 total
China		37	Gold 24 Silver	19 Bronze =	80 total
Russia		12	Gold 21 Silver	23 Bronze =	56 total

Look for an special Olympic review on Monday's Sportico with some of the best stories from this year's Olympics.
 

Olympics Days 10-11 Update

Aly Raisman wins two more medals

• US Gymnast Aly Raisman puts the capstone on the US women’s gymnastics team’s phenomenal performance in London. Just after Raisman, and the four other members of the team, won the team gymnastics’ all around event, and teammate Gabby Douglas won the individual all-around gold, Raisman won the Bronze medal in the balance beam and the gold medal in the floor event.
• Raisman’s, the team’s captain, medals gives the US medals in 5 of 6 possible events. Teammmates Douglas, Jordan Weiber also competed in the two events. Both Douglas and Weiber finished 7th out of 8, Douglas in the balance beam competition, and Weiber on the floor. The other medal was a silver by McKayla Maroney on the vault. Maroney should have won Gold, but fell off the vault on her final jump.
• This was an all-around disappointing Olympics for Weiber as she entered as one of the favorites in the world, and she will leave with only one medal, in the all-around. She failed to qualify for the individual all-around, even while finishing the qualifying round fourth, due to the fact that two of her teammates (Douglas and Raisman) finished ahead of her, and there are only two members from each team allowed in the finals.

Overall Olympics Update

• China has built a slight lead in the overall medal count with 73. The United States is close behind with 70. China also has more gold medals, 34-30. Both Great Britain and Russia are tied for third with 48 overall medals.
• There are 31 more Gold medals to be awarded on Wednesday with 34 more on Thursday, heading into the final weekend of the games.

Days 7-9 Olympic update

Bolt still king of the track

• 2008 Gold Medalist and Olympic record holder once again dominated a stacked field to win his second consecutive gold medal in the 100 meter dash, an event considered by many the most prestigious in track.  His countryman Yohan Blake finished second, giving Jamaica, the silver medal as well.  Blake has actually defeated Bolt a couple times at the World Championships a year ago, in both the 100 and 200 meter events.
• Bolt set the Olympic record, one which he previously owned, with a 9.63 second run.
• On the Women's side, Sanya Richard-Ross made up for her disappointing fade in 2008 by winning the 400 meter dash.  Richards-Ross, who is married to former New York Giants DB Aaron Ross, will now have to decide whether her gold medal or Aaron's two Super Bowl rings deserve preferential placement in the family trophy room.

Murray's Sweet Revenge

• Andy Murray got revenge over Roger Federer, in the gold medal match, for his loss during Wimbledon a few weeks prior. This was Federer’s fourth Olympics. The most decorated tennis player of all time has never won a gold medal in singles in any of those games.
• Murray’s straight set domination over Federer, on the same grounds Roger defeated him in June, was a coming out party of sorts for Murray. The British national was again playing in the finals of a major tournament in front of his home crowd. This time, Murray was ready for Federer winning 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
• Murray benefited from winning 9-straight games over the first and second set to ensure a large lead. He held a 5-2 lead in the third set before losing two straight games for Federer. He was able to, however, squelch the comeback attempt finishing the final game with an ace.
• Americans won gold in the women’s tournament (Serena Williams), the men’s doubles tournament (Mike and Bob Bryan) and the women’s double tournament (Serena and Venus Williams). Murray and his partner Laura Robson won silver in the mixed doubles tournament to Victoria Azarenka and Max Mirnyi of Belarus.  Serena Williams is on a dominant run at Wimbledon, having won the singles and doubles a few weeks ago as well as the singles and doubles here at the Olympics.  She had also won the doubles title in 2 of the 3 previous Olympics.


Overall Olympics Update

• China has the overall medal lead with 61, with the United States following close behind at 60. China also holds a small lead over the US in terms of gold medals, 30-28. After the US, Great Britain is third overall with 37 medals.
• There are 23 gold medals to be awarded on Monday. 18 more gold medals will be awarded on Tuesday.

More Gold for American Gymnasts

Douglas Doesn't Disappoint

• Only a couple days after leading Team U.S. to a gold medal in the women's team gymnastics final, Gabby Douglas was golden again, winning the all-around gold after surviving a late surge from Russia's Viktoria Kimova.
• Douglas outlasted teammate Aly Raisman and Russian Aliya Mustafina, but it was Mustafina's teammate Kimova, who nearly snatched gold from Douglas's hands after her spectacular floor routine to close the event.
• The "Flying Squrrel," as they call Douglas is deginitely on her way to stardom; only 3 previous women have won all-around gold medals and the last time the U.S. won the all-around team gold, she was less than a year old.

Badminton Players DQ'd

• Four female badminton doubles teams were disqualified from the Olympics for "throwing" their pool play matches in an effort to get a more favorable draw  in the subsequent rounds.
• These four teams, all from China, South Korea or Indonesia, were basically trying to avoid a Chinese powerhouse team that had lost, and therefor would be lower in the medal brackets than initially expected. These teams were losing on purpose for a chance to be seeded even lower and avoid playing the powerhouse team.
• The South Korean team has been sent home from the Olympics by their Olympic governing body. The other teams are allowed to stay, but can be sent home by their home country.

Overall Olympic Update

• The US has surged to the lead in the medal count with 37 medals, 18 of them gold. Largely on the back of strong swimming and gymnastic performances. China is second with 34 medals, 18 gold.
• There are 26 more medal events today, 29 more on Saturday and another 29 on Sunday.

Days 3-4 Olympic update

Phelps sets all-time record 


- Michael Phelps hasn't had the best Olympics so far this year, but after Tuesday night, he'll have his place in history secured.  Now officially the world's greatest Olympic champion, Phelps cruised through the anchor leg of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay to earn his record 19th career Olympic medal and 15th gold on Tuesday night.  He almost had another gold but was outreached at the very end in an earlier event by South African Chad Le Clos.
- Phelps still has 3 more events to go to put the record even further out of reach.  He says that 2012 will be his final Olympics.
- The previous record belonged to a Soviet gymnast from the 1960's, Larisa Latynina.



US Women Gymnastics win first Gold since 1996

- The US Women’s Gymnastics team won the gold medal in the all-around team contest on Tuesday in London. This was the team’s first gold in the event since 1996 in Atlanta. The 5-point destruction over the mistake-plagued Russian team left many comparing this team to the 1996 Dominique Moceanu/Shannon Miller team whose performance was capped by this timeless moment.
- With this year's team, led by Jordan Wieber, Gabby Douglas and McKayla Maroney on the vault, the US took an early lead.  The Russian team nearly evened the score on the uneven bars, when Aliya Mustafina and Viktoria Komova put on magificent performances to close the US lead to 0.4 points.
- However, near the end of the competition, Team USA was aided by major mistakes by Mustafina (who almost fell off the balance beam) and Anastasia Grishina (who didn’t land a tumble in the floor routine) and coasted through their final couple routines to easily win Gold.
- The Men's Gymnastics team competition was much more hotly contested.  Early favorite China, who stumbled in qualifying, recovered to take the gold.  Upstart Great Britain and Ukraine were originally given silver and bronze after Japanese star Kohei Uchimura was ruled to have fallen off the pommel horse without doing a handstand.  But after a lengthy review, Uchimara's score was raised, giving Japan the silver, Great Britain the bronze and Ukraine off the podium.



Overall Olympic Update

- Once again, the two biggest winners at the Olympics are China and the US who are tied with 23 medals each. China leads the gold medal count with 13, to the US’ 9.
- On Wednesday, 25 more medal events will culminate, with an additional 25 being awarded on Thursday.