July 29th update

NFL Kicks Off-Season in Overdrive

• After Monday's vote to end the NFL lockout the off-season started with a flurry... ok, a blizzard of activity. Big name Free Agents like Deangelo Williams, Santonio Holmes and Charles Johnson all inked long term deals to stay with the teams that they played for last year. Players like Johnathan Joseph(Texans), Sidney Rice (Seahawks), Quintin Mikell(Rams) and Jason Babin(Eagles) all decided that the grass was greener on the other side and subsequently relocated.
• Big name Free Agents Nnamdi Asomugha and Cullen Jenkins have yet to make up their minds.
• The trading wire was also active, with the cream of the crop, QB Kevin Kolb, being traded from Philadelphia to Arizona. The Washington Redskins took care of a lot of their locker-room issues by trading Donovan McNabb to Minnesota and Albert Haynesworth to the New England Patriots, who acquired Chad Ochocinco from the Bengals as well. The firesale prices of these moves only highlighted that the Redskins are in full-on rebuilding mode at this point.


Santana no-hits Indians

• On Wednesday, LA Angels pitcher Ervin Santana threw the third no-hitter in the MLB this season, as the Angels defeated the Indians 3-1. If it seems unusual that an opposing team would score a run without getting a hit, you'd be correct.
• The run scored after a player reached on an error, then advanced on a stolen base, fielder's choice and then came home on a wild pitch. Only one other Indians player reached base, on a walk in the 8th inning.
• No team has scored a run without getting a hit since September 8th, 1993 when the late Darryl Kile of the Houston Astros threw a no-no against the Mets but allowed a run.
• The Angels hadn't thrown a no-hitter since 1990 when Mark Langston threw the first 7 innings and Mike Witt finished the last 2 in a 1-0 victory against the Mariners. The time before that was in 1984 when Witt started as well as finished another 1-0 game, this time against the Rangers.


Tar Heels Athletic Department Hits the Fan

• University of North Carolina chancellor Holden Thorp took to the podium in Chapel Hill on Thursday to announce that he had begun the process of firing the Tarheels' head football coach Butch Davis. Athletic Director Dick Baddour (who was going to retire at the end of the year either way) handed in his resignation.
• This all came on the "heels" of an increased NCAA investigation of the football team for players getting paid during their time on the team. The all encompassing nature of the violations left little to doubt that Coach Davis had an idea of the violations. Despite excellent recruits and solid in-game performance, the violations were just too much for a university that consistently strives to maintain its reputation.
• Thorp announced that former defensive coordinator Everett Withers would take over for the year while he searches for a new Athletic Director who would then find a permanent head coach.

July 27th update

Wednesday spotlight: Nnamdi Asomugha

• He's got a tough name to spell but the toughest thing about the top free agent in the NFL is completing a pass to someone he's guarding. In fact, he's so good that teams have almost stopped passing to his side of the field.
• Born in Louisiana in 1981 but raised in Los Angeles, Asomugha has been in California ever since, playing college ball for California and until now, has been under contract with Oakland Raiders.
• But the Raiders, who have become a joke of a franchise over the past decade, messed up his 3 year $45.3 million deal in 2009, allowing him to become a free agent a year early and preventing them from using the franchise tag, a tool NFL teams have to keep one free agent per year.
• The Texans, Ravens, Jets and 49ers are considered the favorites to throw a record amount of money at Asomugha. It's doubtful that he'll eclipse the $100 million deal Albert Haynesworth inked in 2009 but only because the trigger-happy Redskins are unlikely to join the bidding for Nnamdi.


The Losses Just Keep Coming

• Less than a month ago the Seattle Mariners were in third place in their division, only 2.5 games behind the division leaders. Since July 5th, the Mariners have lost 17 games in a row (and counting). This streak is reaching historic proportions; since 1903, only 11 times has a losing streak gone past 17 games (the longest being the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies who lost 23 games in a row).
• The Mariners have played poorly, but have also gotten unlucky in the process. They have been scoring less during this streak than throughout the season (scoring 2.6 runs a game, as opposed to the 3.4 they were scoring prior) and also pitching and playing defense poorly (allowing 6 runs a game, as opposed to the 3.4 they had allowed prior).
• The Mariners do not see relief in sight. They continue a long road trip (all but 4 of these losses have been on the road) and last night faced one of the best pitchers in baseball (CC Sabathia of the New York Yankees) and were held largely in check managing only one hit, and one run.

Baseball Bonus!!!
• The Braves defeated the Pirates 4-3 in 19 innings in a game that stretched into Wednesday morning, and it took one of the worst calls in recent memory to even end it there. (I'm not exaggerating and I'm not alone in this opinion.)
• On a ground ball hit to third base with 1 out, the throw came home and beat Julio Lugo by at least 5 feet. Here's another picture.
• So the guy's out, what's the hold up you ask? Well Jerry Meals, the home plate umpire claimed that he thought the catcher "oled him" (believed to be the first bullfighting reference ever made by a baseball umpire) and thus called him safe. And maybe that's what it was going to take to finally end this fantastic game.


Swimming World Championships: 2012 Olympics Preview?

• The Swimming World Championships in Shanghai offered an interesting look into things to come next year in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. 14-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps finished second to his teammate and friend Ryan Lochte in the 200-meter freestyle.
• Lochte was second to Phelps coming into the final leg of the race but managed to beat his highly decorated teammate by .35 seconds (although if you think that's a small margin, remember that he won a gold medal in 2008 by .o1 seconds). Phelps was quick to say he would be back in time for the Olympics, and given his insane workout plans from last summer we do not have room to doubt him.
• Lochte should provide a good foil for the super-Phelps stories that came out of the ’08 Beijing Olympics, making the build up to the 2012 Olympics all the more interesting.

July 25th update

Cadel Evans pedals his way into history

• Cadel Evans became the first Australian to win the Tour de France this weekend. He conquered the grueling bike race and became the oldest rider since World War II (at age 34), and only the third non-European to win the race.
• The second place finisher, Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, racked up his third straight second place finish in bicycling's premier annual event. His older brother Frank finished right behind him in third place.
• In a sport that has a persistent cloud of steroids over it, Evans and his coach are known for being very anti-doping. Many people believe Evans could have been a better rider with the help of artificial enhancement, but he has never been linked to anything. We can only hope that he stays clean as every one of the last 10 winners has had a question of the cleanliness of their win.


Alomar and Blyleven get calls from Cooperstown

• Sunday saw the induction of two new MLB Hall of Famers as Roberto Alomar and Bert Blyleven were added to the ranks. Alomar, a second basemen and Blyleven a starting pitcher took very different amounts of time to be inducted as Alomar was only in his second year of eligibility while Blyleven was in his 14th.
• Born in the Netherlands, Blyleven moved to California at 5 and grew up idolizing Sandy Koufax.
• Known for a nasty curveball, no nonsense attitude and incredible longevity, Blyleven is the first dutch born player inducted into the Hall. He is 5th in MLB history with 3'701 strikeouts and 9th with 60 shutouts.
• Alomar, whose father actually played with Blyleven is considered by many to be the greatest second basemen of all time. He won 2 World Series Titles and had 2'724 hits, 10 Gold Gloves (given to the best defensive player in each league) and was an all-star every year from 1990 to 2001.
• The one big knock one Alomar's candidacy was that he once spit in the face of an umpire during a heated in-game argument in 1996. Some people have speculated that this is why Alomar wasn't given the honor of induction in his first year of eligibility.

July 22nd update

Are you ready for some football??

• As previously reported on Sportico the NFL has been locking out their players for much of the past 4 months. Now, after a few weeks of rumors it looks like the lockout could be over by the end of the week. The Owners have voted for an agreement 31-0 (with one owner abstaining from the vote). The deal is now in the players hands to vote on.
• The Players Union, in a negotiating ploy, decertified in March (basically breaking up their union). Now in order to agree to a collective bargaining agreement, the union must recertify and vote in favor of the deal. The head of the technically defunct union has said that there is no agreement yet. Other players in leadership positions have stated that they think this vote is just a PR move on the part of the owners to force the players hand and that the players still feel that the deal is tilted in the owners' favors.
• Sportico will not delve into the details of the agreement at this point but it's definitely looking like the sides are at least moving forwards and even though the players are less optimistic, the lockout may end sometime in the next few days. The annual Hall-of-Fame game, the first preseason game that signifies the start of the NFL season, has already been cancelled. While this will only effect two teams, the longer it takes to get the season started the more likely we are to be missing football, and no matter whose side you may be on (players or owners) we can all agree this is a bad thing.

Tiger fires longtime caddy

• Tiger Woods, in the midst of the longest slump of his career (we're talking about his golf results people!) fired longtime caddy Steve Williams. The move instantly created controversy as Williams was thought of by many to be Woods closest friend and confidant and the one person who stood by him through the turbulent past 18 months.
• Williams additionally acted as a bouncer of sorts, providing the rough edge and speaking his mind when Tiger (who actually has a yacht named Privacy) was too unwilling to do so for fear that it might tarnish his reputation which was always squeaky clean. Some of speculated that Tiger doesn't need to insulate himself from this sort of behavior any more since his reputation is shot, however it's also quite possible that Tiger simply thought a new perspective could help him turn his struggling golf game around.
• Williams seemed stunned, as the move was a bit abrupt. He fired back saying: "After 13 years of loyal service needless to say this came as a shock. Given the circumstances of the past 18 months working through Tiger’s scandal, a new coach and with it a major swing change and Tiger battling through injuries I am very disappointed to end our very successful partnership at this time."

July 20th update

Best Driver Ever?

• Like all professional race car drivers, Jimmie Johnson drives really fast for a living. But the difference between Johnson and every other driver is that Johnson drives so well and so fast that he has won NASCAR’s championship a record breaking 5-times in a row (and is currently off to a good start for #6). Born in El Cajon California, Johnson got his start by racing motorcycles in high school. In 2002, he began racing in the Winston Cup Series (since changed in name to the Nextel Cup and then Sprint Cup) for the Hendricks Motorsport team.
• In 2006 Johnson won his first Nascar championship. He also became the first driver in Nascar history to win at least 3 races in each of his first 5 years. But did he stop there? No, in fact you have to go back to the previous year, 2005, to find the last time he didn't win Nascar's points championship. In 2008 he became only the second driver (after racing legend Cale Yarborough) to win 3 consecutive championships.
• Johnson is not a one-trick pony. Along with racing in the Sprint Car series, he also races in the Nationwide series (seemingly unfair to those drivers as the Nationwide series is intended to be a proving ground for inexperienced drivers), and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series where he races muscled up pickup trucks instead of stock cars.


1st Amendment Issues Complicate NFL Lockout

• Do companies have the right to fire sponsors based on comments they make in the media, either traditional or social? That's the issue that Pittsburgh Steelers running back Rashard Mendenhall is asking after he lost a major apparel sponsorship and is suing Champion, claiming they violated his rights to express his opinion
• The opinions he expressed were very controversial tweets after the killing of Osama Bin Laden. We at Sportico will not take a side on Mendenhall’s right to say what he did, but it caused a major firestorm with the Steelers franchise openly admonishing Mendenhall.
• The suit, filed in a North Carolina court, seems to be a lost cause as Champion’s contract included a “Morals Clause” that basically gives them an out if Mendenhall were to do something they judged as harmful to the brand. The case is likely to act as a precedent for many future cases as social media becomes more and more of an integral part of our society.

July 18th update

Defensive Lapses Lead to World Cup Disaster

• The U.S. Women’s Soccer team could not continue their fairytale run in the 2011 World Cup finals, falling to Japan in penalty kicks. Japan never lead the game, countering two US goals, the second one with only 3 minutes left in extra time.
• The U.S. team looked completely dominant throughout the game, with multiple scoring chances just barely missing. 22 year-old Alex Morgan (who should be the face of the national team for more than one reason) scored the first goal in the game in the 69th minute on a breakaway, but Aya Miyama countered for the Japanese side in the 80th minute after a poor defensive effort by the U.S. side. This pushed the game to extra time where U.S. Star Abby Wambach scored 14 minutes in on a headed ball (50 of her 122 career international goals have been via header, maybe she needs a helmet). But as the U.S. team sat back, seemingly waiting for the clock to expire, Homare Sawa tied the game in the 117th minute.
• Going to penalty kicks, it almost seemed like the American women were throttled by their late collapse, an eerie parallel to the goal they scored against Brazil in the quarterfinals. The first three U.S. kickers could not find the back of the net, while one of them missed the goal completely. Goaltender Hope Solo made one stop, but could not make up for her teammates' inaccuracies. The Japanese made 3 of their first 4 penalty kicks, and did not need to even take the 5th as the US could not make up the difference.


Irishman not named McIlroy wins Open Championship

• Darren Clarke won this weekend’s British Open after finishing Sunday’s final round 5 shots under par, beating a second place duo of Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson who were 3 shots behind.
• Driving rain and wind (or as the British call it “a lovely summers day”) caused many play disruptions. But while most Americans were busy watching spectacled wizards defeat the one who shall not be named, Clarke defeated a hard charging American duo of Johnson and Mickelson who started the day hot and eventually cooled down and dropped their challenge.
• After waiting 63 years from 1947 – 2010 to win a major championship, Northern Ireland has won three of the past six majors.

July 15th update

Lewis takes advantage of good pairing at British Open

• The British Open (also called the Open Championship) began yesterday with amateur Tom Lewis sharing the early lead with Thomas Bjorn at -5. Lewis set the record for the lowest score ever by an amateur at the Open, edging out Tiger Woods among others.
• But here's where it really gets interesting. Lewis was paired with 61 year old Tom Watson, whom his father idolized when he played on the European Tour and is actually who Lewis was named after. So apparently having an inexperienced kid pair up with his namesake for a tournament yields some pretty good results. If this had been Day 4 and not Day 1, we might have the basis for a straight-to-Hallmark channel movie.
• Let's hope the kid continues his hot streak so we can look for Ryan Reynolds, Dennis Quaid and Sandra Bullock in the spring of 2013. Or let's at least hope he finds a way to get paired with Watson again.
• Rory McIlroy had a slow start, shooting +1.


Georgia Tech next in line to get smashed by NCAA

• The NCAA has officially put Georgia Tech on probation for the next 4 years, fined the school $100,000 and stripped its ACC title game victory from the 2009 football season.

• The allegations arose from WR Demaryius Thomas receiving barely more than $300 in clothing from an agent and unspecified benefits given to S Morgan Burnett, both of whom were drafted in the 2010 NFL draft. While the issues arose because of these infractions, the primary reason for such a harsh penalty is because Georgia Tech seems to have alerted the players that investigation was upcoming and given them instruction on how to answer questions.

• Recruiting violations have run rampant in the very strict NCAA and Southern California, North Carolina, Ohio State and others have all joined Georgia Tech in teams crushed by NCAA rules issues over the past year.

July 13th Update

Rangers fan’s life celebrated after tragic end

• Last Thursday afternoon Shannon Stone, a firefighter in the Dallas area, took his 6-year old son to enjoy America's past time, a major league baseball game. But unlike so many other father-son bonding moments, this was turned tragic in a bizarre twist of fate.
• During the second inning, a foul ball was hit towards left field where Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton scooped up the ball and tossed it into the stands, as many players do, to a fan (Stone) who had asked him for a souvenir earlier in the game. Hamilton’s toss was a bit short of the upper deck where Stone and his son sat in the front row. Stone, wanting to get his son a keepsake, leaned over the rail to grab the ball but somehow slipped and tumbled over, falling 20 feet.
• Stone was rushed to the hospital, but not before telling the emergency responders that his son was still at their seats. Sadly too much damage had been done in the fall and Stone passed away Thursday night. The Rangers have been very involved in Stone’s family since the tragedy, and Hamilton wants to take a big part in the life of Stone’s son, who idealized Hamilton.
• The Rangers are already known as a particularly caring franchise as in this summer's MLB amateur draft, they used a selection on a partially paralyzed player who may never walk again.

Peyton Manning: The JFK of the NFL

• Peyton Manning has been highly touted since he was a young boy growing up as the son of star QB Archie Manning. After leading his high school team to a 34-5 record in three years of football, he chose to attend the University of Tennessee breaking conference records in yards passing, touchdowns and wins as a quarterback. He graduated from UT in 1998 and was drafted number 1 overall in the 1998 draft by the Colts (at the time there was lots of debate as to whether Manning was good enough to select #1, which is hilarious to draft followers looking back... look at number 1 on this list.
• In the pros Manning has been named to 11 Pro Bowl (All-Star) teams, and been the Most Valuable Player 4 times. He lead the Colts to a Super Bowl victory in 2005 over the Chicago Bears and has led his Colts to an unheard of 9 straight 10-win seasons. His quick release and famous film-studying habits have lead him to a play in a record 208 (and counting) games to start a career (Yes, he has never missed a start in his 13 year career). Manning is famous for being a coach on the field, with many people joking the easiest job in the NFL is the Offensive Play-Caller of the Colts.
• Manning has also showed a great sense of humor. He has hosted SNL (leading to this hilarious spoof commercial), and has made a number of hilarious commercials for various different brands (please stick around for the last one, its probably the funniest)

National League wins All-Star Game 5-1

• Prince Fielder and home run derby runner-up Adrian Gonzalez both homered, but Fielder's shot came with 2 men on base and since his team won, Fielder was awarded the game's MVP honors.
  
• Probably the biggest story of this year’s MLB All-Star Game is the players NOT in the game. record number of players (16) decided to pull out of the game they were selected to due to injuries or fatigue. This list of players includes stars like Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez and Jose Reyes.
• The usually high scoring event, was held down for the second consecutive year. Across baseball in 2011, pitching has been fantastic and offense has been down. This pattern continued Tuesday nights with a relatively low total of 6 runs scored in the game.