I really was pulling for Big Brown to clinch the Triple Crown on Saturday. There was no clear reason to bet against the favorite, seeing as how Brown had left every other horse in his collective dust up until post time at the Belmont
As I watched Big Brown in the opening moments of the race, it looked like protocol. Stay back, let the other horses ride — then explode. I waited… and waited… and waited some more. The explosion never came.
Big Brown’s failure will go down as one of those fabled mysteries in sport, where conventional wisdom has no shot in explaining what we all just witnessed.
There’s also no explaining how my record keeps inching closer and closer into the abyss: 15-21.
Whattya have on draft?
Three Georgia Southern Eagles were drafted this past week in the MLB draft, which is good news for GSU fans. Two of those draftees were juniors — Chris Shehan and Blake Nation — so preliminary hopes are that the Eagles won’t be missing too much come 2009.
It was interesting to see Shehan, a league candidate for Player of the Year and one of the nation’s top hitters, fall so far in the draft (Round 30, pick 910, Atlanta Braves). That should tell you one of two things: scouts have picked up some major holes in the outfielder’s swing, or he’s grossly underrated.
At this point, it’ll be up to Shehan to come back for his senior season, improve his stock and put up some major numbers. Or he can throw himself into the fire, starting at low A- ball and work his way up.
As for GSU’s lone senior to be picked up — Jeremy Beckham — the Tampa Bay No-More-Devil Rays scooped him up in the 17th round. How does a middle-infielder with little-to-no fanfare go 13 rounds earlier than a teammate who garnered all the attention? Blood.
The Rays probably figure that if Jeremy mentored his younger brother Tim — who the Rays took at No. 1 overall — he can probably do the same in the minors. Not saying Jeremy was a charity pick, the Rays will get a solid infielder who can hit for average, but having you’re No. 1 pick alongside his brother straight out of high school into the mystical world or Minor League Baseball isn’t such a bad idea.
U.S. Open
They’ll be plenty of talk about Tiger Woods this week. I can promise you they’ll be no talk of him by the end of the week.
Woods will make his return to golf at the U.S. Open on Thursday after recovering from knee surgery, but I can’t imagine it’ll be a successful one. Tiger is the greatest golfer of our era — maybe ever — but it will be nothing short of miraculous if he can come off the bench of pull off a win this week at Torrey Pines.
French Open
In case you missed it — and I know I did — the French Open crowned winners this past weekend.
On the women’s side, someone named Ana Ivanovic beat someone named Dinara Safina, while Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer on the men’s side.
Does anyone care in this country anymore? Besides the small groups of suburban tennis nuts outside major metropolitan cities, when’s the last time you watched a tennis match?
I used to all the time growing up, what with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi usually providing more than enough reason to sit in front of the TV. But now, there are two young women I’ve never heard of screaming wildly after every hit — or Nadal vs. Federer.
I’ve seen this tournament before, and until some Yank works his way to respectability, the future of popular tennis in this country looks bleak.
As I watched Big Brown in the opening moments of the race, it looked like protocol. Stay back, let the other horses ride — then explode. I waited… and waited… and waited some more. The explosion never came.
Big Brown’s failure will go down as one of those fabled mysteries in sport, where conventional wisdom has no shot in explaining what we all just witnessed.
There’s also no explaining how my record keeps inching closer and closer into the abyss: 15-21.
Whattya have on draft?
Three Georgia Southern Eagles were drafted this past week in the MLB draft, which is good news for GSU fans. Two of those draftees were juniors — Chris Shehan and Blake Nation — so preliminary hopes are that the Eagles won’t be missing too much come 2009.
It was interesting to see Shehan, a league candidate for Player of the Year and one of the nation’s top hitters, fall so far in the draft (Round 30, pick 910, Atlanta Braves). That should tell you one of two things: scouts have picked up some major holes in the outfielder’s swing, or he’s grossly underrated.
At this point, it’ll be up to Shehan to come back for his senior season, improve his stock and put up some major numbers. Or he can throw himself into the fire, starting at low A- ball and work his way up.
As for GSU’s lone senior to be picked up — Jeremy Beckham — the Tampa Bay No-More-Devil Rays scooped him up in the 17th round. How does a middle-infielder with little-to-no fanfare go 13 rounds earlier than a teammate who garnered all the attention? Blood.
The Rays probably figure that if Jeremy mentored his younger brother Tim — who the Rays took at No. 1 overall — he can probably do the same in the minors. Not saying Jeremy was a charity pick, the Rays will get a solid infielder who can hit for average, but having you’re No. 1 pick alongside his brother straight out of high school into the mystical world or Minor League Baseball isn’t such a bad idea.
U.S. Open
They’ll be plenty of talk about Tiger Woods this week. I can promise you they’ll be no talk of him by the end of the week.
Woods will make his return to golf at the U.S. Open on Thursday after recovering from knee surgery, but I can’t imagine it’ll be a successful one. Tiger is the greatest golfer of our era — maybe ever — but it will be nothing short of miraculous if he can come off the bench of pull off a win this week at Torrey Pines.
French Open
In case you missed it — and I know I did — the French Open crowned winners this past weekend.
On the women’s side, someone named Ana Ivanovic beat someone named Dinara Safina, while Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer on the men’s side.
Does anyone care in this country anymore? Besides the small groups of suburban tennis nuts outside major metropolitan cities, when’s the last time you watched a tennis match?
I used to all the time growing up, what with Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi usually providing more than enough reason to sit in front of the TV. But now, there are two young women I’ve never heard of screaming wildly after every hit — or Nadal vs. Federer.
I’ve seen this tournament before, and until some Yank works his way to respectability, the future of popular tennis in this country looks bleak.
