March 5th Update

Monster day for East PG's

• Deron Williams set an all-time New Jersey Nets record on Sunday, scoring 57 points in a surprisingly close 104-101 win over the hapless Charlotte Bobcats. Williams, who also had 6 rebounds and 7 assists to go with his scoring outburst, shot a perfect 21-21 from the free throw line, missing the all-time NBA record for free throws made without missing one by 2. (23 by Dominique Wilkins in 1992). The Nets were actually losing for a good portion of the game but when Williams realized no one else was going to win the game for them, he decided to do it himself. Charlotte is now an abysmal 4-31.
• While Williams led his team to victory by scoring, Boston Celtics PG Rajon Rondo had one of the most impressive triple doubles of all-time, putting up a mind-boggling line of 18 points, 17 rebounds and 20 assists in a 115-111 win over the New York Knicks. The 17 rebounds were a career high and Rondo became just the third person ever to record more than 15/15/20 (PTS/REB/ASSTS) with the other two being Oscar Robertson and Wilt Chamberlain back in the 1960's.
• By comparison, Ty Lawson's near triple double (22 points, 9 rebounds and 11 assists), Derrick Rose's 35 points and 8 assists and Chris Paul's 28 points and 10 assists are not even in the same neighborhood but they do deserve an honorable mention as solid performances, all in winning efforts.


Rory proving he belongs

• Rory McIlroy held off a charging Tiger Woods to win the Honda Classic. Woods, who finished tied for second, shot a 62 which was the lowest final round score in his career, but it wasn’t enough. McIlroy, knowing Woods was closing in on him, was able to eek out a number of clutch shots to give himself a two stroke victory.
• McIlroy’s victory catapults him passed Luke Donald to become #1 in the world. He is the second youngest person in the world to be #1 (behind Woods). McIlroy's ascension seems like the next logical thing as the young Irishman has taken the world by storm since winning the US Open last year.


ACC’s big 2 get a new competitor

• For years UNC and Duke have passed the ACC crown between one another. This year has been partially the same, as UNC finished the regular season #1 and Duke #2, except it seems like there is a newcomer who can play. Florida State defeated UNC by a boatload at home, and then beat Duke on a last second shot a few days later. All this being said, UNC and Duke (both top 10 teams) are still the class of the ACC and represent the conference’s best chance of winning a National Championship.
• Duke (ranked #4 last week) has been playing very well this year. Lead by a trio of NBA progeny (Austin Rivers, Seth Curry and Andre Dawkins) as well as a trio of brothers (Miles, Mason and Marshal Plumlee), the Blue Devils were 26-4 and 13-3 in the ACC coming into this weekend including a last second victory over the Tar Heels in February.
• UNC, lead by Forwards Tyler Zeller, John Henson and Harrison Barnes, (ranked 7 in the country last week) came into the weekend 26-4 and 14-2 in the ACC including the last second loss to the Blue Devils and the beat down to FSU. This weekend, however, the Tar Heels went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and destroyed the Blue Devils. An 18-point beat down avenged the heart breaking loss and gave them the regular season ACC Championship.

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.

June 20th update

Rory McIlroy: New King of the Golf World?

22 year old Rory McIlroy’s shattered records left and right at the US Open and became the second youngest player to win one of Golf’s four majors (along with the Masters, PGA Tournament, and British Open) since World War II.
- McIlroy suffered a major blow to his psyche after blowing up at the Masters a few months ago, eventually finishing in 15th place in that tournament, after having a dominant lead ¾ of the way through. He was able to hold onto a large lead this time, at the Congressional Golf Course in Maryland for his first major title.
- McIlroy broke the records for the biggest win and best score in the history of this 112 year old tournament. He also becomes the second Irishman in as many years to win the US Open.
- The success of this universally well-liked player is a boon for fans of golf who want the sport to recover from the hit in popularity that has accompanied the fall from grace, both on and off the course, of Tiger Woods.


125th Wimbledon begins Monday with epic rematch

A year after playing the longest match in the history of professional tennis, John Isner and Nicolas Mahut are at it again, matched up to play in the first round of Wimbledon. Isner won the first round matchup that took over 11 hours during parts of 3 different days. In the 5th set, alone they played 138 games.
- Serena Williams also makes her reappearance onto the big stage, playing in only her second tournament since last year's Wimbledon because of a cut on her right foot and a pulmonary embolism. Tournaments are not required to seed by ranking so even though Serena is ranked 26th, she is seeded 7th due in part to her strong performance on the big stage in past years.
- Rafael Nadal is seeded #1 for the men while Caroline Wozniacki was awarded the top spot for the women.
- Second-ranked Kim Clijsters had to withdraw from the tournament due to a right foot injury, and one of the top Americans on the men's side, Sam Querrey, had to drop out due to injury as well.