Six players to watch at Bethpage Black not named Tiger Woods

I’ve meant to write a preview of the U.S. Open this week as it returns to Bethpage Black in New York for the first time since 2002 but lately have just been too busy to find the time to sit down and organize my thoughts on it.

So I guess the rain during Thursday’s opening round was good for something, eh? Not that any of you other golf enthusiasts who sought to watch the full day’s worth of coverage can do anything with that… nor can I.

Alas, play was suspended shortly after it began and it has therefore allowed me to step in and finish my preview before much golf has been played.

Entering this year’s Open, the 109th of its kind, all the talk is about the World’s No. 1 Tiger Woods. Whether it be his defending champion status after his unbelievable performance last year at Torrey or his win two weeks ago at the Memorial (or just his overall popularity) we are all once again subjected to the Woods media love fest.

Well as much as I am a fan of His Royalty, someone has to be the voice of reason. So that’s why I’m giving you six players to watch, six players who will win this championship — and yes, none of them are named Eldrick “Tiger” Woods.

1. Henrik Stenson — Played brilliantly in his win at the Player’s Championship and is clearly at the height of his game. Has the length, ball flight, putting and mental fortitude to get it done.

2.Geoff Ogilvy — Not only has he won a U.S. Open before, he’s won one in the state of New York (Shinnecock). Combine the previous experience with a player currently ranked 5th in the World, one who has two wins already this year on tour and 2nd in FedEx Cup points and you have a pretty good contender. To top it off he’s 32 years old, exactly the average age of the tournament’s champions over the last quarter century.

3. Ian Poulter – After he famously proclaimed himself as the only rival for Tiger Woods on the tour’s current landscape, Poulter has yet to claim a title on U.S. soil. On the positive side, he is still rather young being in his mid-30’s and has been knocking on the door. Finishing 2nd at last year’s Open Championship and another top five this year at the Player’s shows he has the game for the major championships. His attitude about playing when the pressure is at its highest shows he has the mental toughness to get it done. Watch out.

4. Sergio Garcia — Probably playing the worst out of anybody on this list but also the guy with the most talent. After a great year last year in which he won the Player’s and had three runner up finishes down the stretch including at the PGA Championship — Garcia rose to No. 2 ranking in the World.

Well, he hasn’t been able to continue his ‘08 momentum — yet. Garcia points to personal life issues distracting him from his career and after hearing him talk at the press conferences entering the tournament this week, he seems more mentally prepared for any tournament this year.

At 29, nearing 30, Garcia is still without his first major but it’s certainly not for a lack of trying. He now has two second place finishes to Padraig Harrington and with each has improved his mental toughness as seen in his performance at Oakland Hills last year where he overcame a rain delay and three shot lead to surge ahead and take hold of the lead outright. He fell to a superb back nine performance by the aforementioned Harrington.

Despite his current poor play in the ‘09 season, there are many reasons to like Garcia this week. First is the course. Back in 2002, Garcia came very close to winning at Bethpage, ultimately finishing 4th to Woods. That was at the tender age of 22. The course will play extremely long this week so as perhaps the best striker from tee to green in the game, Garcia fits it well.

Then there’s the whole weather scenario. Garcia’s best major has always been the British, well what’s more British than rain, wind, big bunkers and fescue?

Finally, the fact that he has absolutely no one picking him and therefore no pressure, I think he’s an excellent sleeper choice to get it done this week.

5. Lee Westwood — Yes, another European and another sleeper pick. Westwood has a game that suits the U.S. Open very well — par golf. He drives the ball extremely consistently and because of his length and ability to hit fairways he’s not going to penalize himself.

He’s also been there before. Let’s not forget he was leading down the stretch last year at Torrey before faltering late and had he made a putt on the 72nd hole last year we would’ve had a three way playoff on Monday. He didn’t but I still believe he’s a great choice for winning this week.

6. Camillo Villegas — Another young, talented player perhaps hitting his stride. He’s made significant strides over the last 18 months as he’s moved into the top-10 World Golf rankings. Also has the type of game that will succeed at a long course like Bethpage.

One of these six players will be hosting the silver trophy on Monday (or maybe even Tuesday with the current weather forecast), I guarantee it.

Magic beat Cavs to reach NBA Finals

All I have to say is something to all those who are either Cleveland Cavaliers fans or the vast majority of people out there that blindly picked them to dominate the Eastern Conference en route to the NBA Finals against the Lakers:

Suck it.

I alone stood by the Orlando Magic when 80% of the nation (ESPN.com poll) picked the Cavs to reach the finals before the playoffs even started. I alone called the Magic in 6 when they beat the Celtics and moved on to face an undefeated Cavs team in the conference finals.

Now I alone get to bask in the glory. So again, suck it.

Brandon Morrow is a starter

If it wasn’t evident before, it should be plain as day to everyone watching the Mariners now, Brandon Morrow is a starting pitcher, not a reliever.

Relievers are asked to get three guys out. Go in for an inning, throw strikes and retire your three batters and hit the showers. That’s it. That’s all they ever have to be concerned with, their three batters. The rest of the game is completely removed from their consciousness. It has to be.

Well Morrow doesn’t work that way. It takes Brandon 2-3 innings to get a feel for his pitches, for how he’s working hitters just like it does for your average starter. Morrow is best suited for working multiple innings, not coming off the pine cold to face three hitters in the ninth with the game on the line.

He’s best going through a routine every fifth day, preparing for a lineup, warming up for an hour and then pitching 6-8 innings of baseball using every last one of his 4-5 pitches that he has in his arsenal.

There should be no denying this after watching the way he pitched for two innings against the Angels last night. Six batters up, six batters down. Brandon was given the freedom to use his offspeed pitches because the game wasn’t necessarily on the line when he came in. Sure you want to keep the score frozen at where it was (2-0) but his team was already down and there was still time (6th, 7th innings) to come back and win. When Morrow has that luxury, that freedom to throw his other pitches without worrying about keeping runners to a minimum, he’s at his most effective.

Two innings, 35 pitches, six batters, three strikeouts, zero hits. And one nasty split finger to go with a 97, 98 mph fastball.

After his work Thursday night how can you not see that Brandon Morrow is a starting pitcher?

Memo to Zduriencik: Morrow needs to move back to starting rotation

EVERYBODY LISTEN UP. Wakamatsu, Zduriencik, and all of the fans listen to this because here’s what’s the problem with Morrow and what needs to happen with him, plain and simple. Morrow is NOT a closer. As a closer all he throws is a straight 4-seam fastball which doesn’t cut it against the Rangers and the majority of the league. Does he have other pitches? Yes! And that’s the issue here. He has the pitches to be a solid No. 2 or 3 starter in this league (look at start against Yankees last year for proof or ask Bill Krueger) but when he comes in for one inning with one to three runs to work with he doesn’t have the freedom to sit there and get a feel for his curveball and changeup. So instead he’s sitting there throwing his 4-seamer all day and he gets lit up. Send him down to AAA, get him stretched out and convert back to a starter for his own good and for the team’s own good. Aardsma can be the closer in the mean time. Please, please do this and stop wasting stellar starts from Felix and the rest of our pitching staff.

Now, my next gripe is with Wakamatsu and him pulling our starters in favor of the bullpen in the latter innings. Felix could have pitched a complete game today, I don’t care how many pitches he had thrown (110 btw). Was he walking people? No. Was he starting to lose his command? No. In fact he was starting to mix in his slider in the 7th inning after refraining from using it all game because why? It was his third time through the lineup. Felix had a masterful approach to today’s game against the Rangers and should have been left out there until he faltered. I’m sorry but as soon as he was lifted for two fastball throwing pitchers, I knew we were going to lose.

Stenson’s spectacular final round earns comeback win at the Player’s Championship

Henrik Stenson shot a bogey-free final round 66 to win Sunday’s Player’s Championship and tie the tournament record for largest deficit (five shots) overcome in the final round.

Stenson began the final round at 6-under just like Tiger Woods — and four others including Ian Poulter who finished in second — who was in the final pairing on Sunday in the “fifth major”.

And perhaps the most surprising story on Sunday was not Stenson’s come from behind win or Alex Cejka’s choke job, but how Woods failed to even matter on a Sunday when he was in the final pairing. Constanly acclaimed for his propensity to excel in such situations, this time around Woods was just as unimpressive as he’s been impressive countless times before.

And while we in the media never stop applauding him for how great he is those times, it seems like moments like these go unnoticed. Moments in which another great player like Stenson goes out and shoots an incredible round of 66 on a Sunday to win a major tournament like the Player’s in very Tiger-esque fashion and yet gets a fraction of the attention that Woods would get in the same situation.

It’s a shame and that’s why I’m here to give notice to a player that has proven to be one of the top six or seven golfers in the World, and certainly one of the least thought of in that group.

He’s right up there with Woods, Mickelson, Garcia, Ogilvy, Harrington and I’d say Camillo Villegas right now.

Don’t sleep on Henrik Stenson. He’s the real deal and at 33-years-0ld he’s not going anywhere. Congrats Henrik.

Sergio just needs to get his mind right

Another poor outing on the PGA Tour, this time at the Players Championship on a course and tournament that he absolutely loves, and Sergio Garcia as well as his fans were left wondering what is going on with the World’s No. 3.

Expectations are high as well they should be for a player that walked onto the TPC Sawgrass this year as the defending champ and as a golfer with as much talent as anyone in the game. They were high entering the ‘09 season as Garcia was playing perhaps his best golf of his career. Finishing second at the PGA Championship in August and then losing to Vijay Singh in a playoff in the Wachovia Championship on the first leg of the FedEx Cup before finishing third overall behind Singh and Villegas. Garcia also went on to win the ‘08 award for scoring average on Tour which is certainly no small feat.

All of that though, makes his start to the ‘09 season that much more disappointing — and perplexing — to his fans like myself as well as I’m sure to Sergio himself. He admitted as much to the media during the week, stating he’s not playing 100% and is disappointed with it. But that doesn’t seem to be all that is bothering Garcia.

PGATour.com writer Brian Wacker alluded to some personal problems being an issue in Garcia’s life currently in his “Defending champ looks gassed on and off the course” article. If that be the case then for himself and for his fans, Sergio needs to get his head straight off the course in the next few weeks to straighten out his play on the course heading into the U.S. Open in mid-June.

Garcia needs to sometimes be reminded that he has all the talent and ability in the world to be a multiple major winner and the best golfer in the world. His only problem is the mental side of the game. That’s the part that makes Tiger Woods, well Tiger Woods. Nothing fazes him. Even having no game at all on Sunday in the final pairing at the Player’s, Woods shoots a 73 in absolutely tough conditions. That’s impressive. To Garcia’s credit he has taken huge steps in recent years to improving in that facet and crossing that seemingly impenetrable threshold of winning a first major.

His run at Carnoustie in ‘07 and last year’s PGA at Oakland Hills showed Garcia that he has the game to get it done and each time he’s gotten closer and closer. All that’s left is to break through that door.

And he can. But to do so Sergio is going to need to get his mind right quickly because the next three majors are his best ones and each course — Bethpage Black (U.S. Open), Turnberry (British Open) and Hazeltine (PGA) — are ones he’s excelled at in the past.

Hopefully Sunday’s 69 was a start in that direction. I’ll be the first one rooting for him that’s for sure.

About to get real late real early for the Mariners

The Seattle Mariners could use Yogi Berra right about now. A five game losing streak has dropped the Mariners to .500 at 15-15 and second place in the division behind Texas. The facets of the game they were excelling at to propel their good start, really good pitching and timely hitting, have now all but disappeared.

In the last three games (a 2-game sweep at the hands of the Royals and a loss to the Twins) the M’s have been outscored 23-2. The offense has been that anemic and the pitching led by Carlos Silva and Chris Jakubauskas has been downright terrible.

So what can be done to turn this team around before it gets real late real early as they Yankee Hall-of-Famer would say?

Well it starts with the rotation. The first move that Don Wakamatsu and GM Jack Zdurencik need to make is to remove Carlos Silva from the starting rotation and insert the 4-year, $48 million disaster (who has 2 3/4 yrs and $30-something million remaining) into the bullpen to “get his mind right.” With that move, the M’s also need to send Jakubauskas to the pen and insert Garrett Olsen and current closer Brandon Morrow (when he gets off the DL) into the rotation.

With Morrow back in the rotation the M’s can move David Aardsma temporarily into the closer role with Miguel Batista as a backup option until last year’s No. 1 pick Josh Fields is ready to step in.

Then with the rotation fixed the M’s can get to work on an everyday lineup that will start producing daily. Some things can be fixed right away, like making Wladimir Balentien your everyday left fielder in place of Endy Chavez while hitting sixth in the lineup. Balentien has shown that he’s more than capable defensively making every play plus two outfield assists. Offensively he’s maintaining a .350 average with a very solid OPS. I believe if given the opportunity, Balentien will prove to be the LF of the future for this team and let’s face it, this team should be all about the future right now.

Some of the other “right away” changes are moving Adrian Beltre down to the No. 7 spot, keeping Jose Lopez in the three hole and moving Franklin Gutierrez to the second spot vacated by Chavez. Sooner or later Beltre and Lopez will find themselves so you just have to keep plugging away. It’s still a little too early to absolutely kick Kenji Johjima out of the starting catching job but if he goes back to his ‘08 form soon then he needs to be left in the backup role and either Rob Johnson or Jeff Clement (AAA call-up) should be made the starter.

Long-term changes i.e. July 31st trade deadline should focus around the trade of Ichiro. The M’s are stocked with promising young stud outfielders in their minor league system and it’s high time they brought them in to replace a guy that is increasingly becoming one of the worst leadoff hitters in all of baseball. The common defense of Ichiro up here in the Northwest is he gets 200 hits every year and he’s a gold glove outfielder. Well great, with upwards of 700 AB’s a year he better get 200 hits and his recent gold gloves are based on name recognition rather than being deserving. Look at the outfielders in the AL: Grady Sizemore, Torii Hunter, B.J. Upton, Curtis Granderson, the M’s own Gutierrez deserve that award above Ichiro right now, they’re all better outfielders.

So deal him while his value his still high. Zduriencik should be able to find a deal that nets about four minor leaguers in reture, two of them being top notch prospects. Then bring up OF Michael Saunders and OF Greg Halman while designating Endy Chavez for assignment. With those two and Gutierrez and Balentien, the M’s can platoon the four of them through the outfield and occasionally the DH spot every day.

Also at the trade deadline, the M’s should do what they can to deal Jarrod Washburn, Beltre and Batista for prospects while shopping around Erik Bedard but ultimately keeping him (to re-sign at the end of the year) if the deal isn’t right.

With those moves, all you can do is go out and play the games and see what happens. Unless the deals net you players that are ready to play right away, there isn’t much else that can be done for this year. All that the Mariners can do right now is set themselves up well for 2010 and hope that while playing for the future, the team wins in the present.

If they don’t do that, it could be real late real early for the M’s.

Lions, #1 pick Matthew Stafford reach record deal

After finishing 0-16 last season, the Detroit Lions rightfully earned themselves the No. 1 pick in today’s draft. Ever since their season ended on January 4th, the Lions have effectively been on the clock. Well after reaching agreement with former Georgia quarterback Matthew Stafford they are effectively off the clock.

Detroit signed Stafford to a six-year deal that includes $41.7 million in guaranteed money and potentially worth $78 million. No those figures are not typos and yes the almost $42 million in guarantees is a record. Previously the most money given to a draft pick was $32 million guaranteed to QB JaMarcus Russell out of LSU and now of the Oakland Raiders in 2007.

Needless to say, this deal marks a very disturbing point in the NFL. One where a rookie is making top-end money that only the very best playing his position make. It’s just simply not right that someone who has yet to even step on a professional field, let alone play a down in the NFL, will be paid that type of money.

In just two years, the guaranteed money for the No. 1 overall pick has increased $10 million, that’s out of control. By 2020 we could be looking at $100 million guaranteed for a player that has never played a down of pro football.

It has to change and it has to change now. It is time for the league and the player’s association to sit down and come to an agreement on a more structured, realistic rookie contract formula.

The current CBA (collective bargaining agreement which governs operations in the NFL) expires in two years and there is already a lot of talk of this issue being addressed but it really needs to be addressed now. It’s just way out of control and all it does is hurt the NFL.

The draft is such a crap shoot that for teams to pay the type of money they are paying to No. 1 picks, for them to fail would absolutely cripple the franchise for several years. It is devastating. It costs coaches, general managers, even presidents their jobs all because of one pick, one player. It gives fans a complex for perhaps decades. It’s true!

So for heaven sakes, let’s get back to reality here NFL and fix the pay scale for rookie players. Please? I don’t want anymore complexes.

Anderson Silva a victim of his own greatness

So it comes to this — two straight fights without knocking your opponent out and people question your heart and fighting ability. At UFC 97: Redemption Anderson Silva defended his UFC Middleweight strap against Brazilian challenger Thales Leites with many casual fans clamoring for a more exciting performance. What those same fans got instead was Silva setting UFC records for most consecutive wins (9 and counting) and title defenses (5 and counting) with a five round unanimous decision win over Leites. The usually prodding, methodical Silva was his prodding, methodical self throughout the fight as he waited for his challenger to engage and when it rarely came through the first two rounds, Silva took it upon himself to engage in the third round. However, his attempts were made futile as it seemed every time Silva looked to engage, Leites collapsed to the ground unwilling to strike with the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world. It is evident now that “The Spider” is really his own worst enemy when it comes to entertainment in that he’s so good in the striking game that 95 % of his challengers aren’t willing to stand with him yet still are unable to take the fight to the ground and keep it there. Thus we get performances like those most recent against Patrick Cote and Leites where our champion is left frustrated. If Silva doesn’t face someone who is willing to stand and trade with him, someone who will aggressively take the fight to the champion, then Silva is just going to be his patient, dominating self and those casual fans who don’t appreciate tactical MMA will go home whining. Boo-hoo. Styles make fights and until Joe Silva, Dana White and company present Silva with actual challenges in the form of opponents who are willing to take the fight to him, Silva will continue to cruise. Whether you believe it or not there are plenty of challenges for Silva. At 185 there are guys like Dan Henderson, Nate Marquardt and Wanderlei Silva who would certainly be willing to stand with the champion and take the fight to him. Then there’s 205 where any number of guys would be willing to fight with the 185 lb champ. And let’s not forget perhaps potentially the greatest fight in the history of MMA in a matchup with Georges St-Pierre at 185 or a catchweight of 178 or so. Regardless of what happens Silva remains the most technical and gifted fighter there is in the world and he simply isn’t going to give in to his opponent just so some knuckleheads will stop booing. If you didn’t already know, a win is a win is a win. And that’s all Silva continues to do.

UFC 97: Redemption, a preview

This Saturday night, the UFC debuts their 97th pay-per-view fight event with Redemption, live from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Featured on the dynamic, exciting card are some of the top fighters of the organization including Anderson Silva and future hall-of-famer Chuck Liddell.

Silva, widely considered the No. 1 pound-for-pound mixed martial arts fighter in the world, will defend his middleweight championship against fellow Brazilian and 185 lb challenger Thales Leites. Meanwhile in the co-main event of the evening Liddell looks to rebound and subsequently redeem himself (hence the title of the show) when he faces off against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in a 205 lb bout that has divisional ramifications.

Perhaps the best part of the card is the overall strength of the undercard bouts featuring talented fighters like Cheick Kongo, Luis Cane, Antoni Hardonk, Denis Kang, Jason MacDonald, Nate Quarry, David Louiseau, Ed Herman and Steve Cantwell all in action.

But while that’s a quick synopsis of the event on Saturday, I’ll give you a more in depth preview of some of the main card fights that I’m really excited about. Let’s get to it.

Cheick Kongo vs. Antoni Hardonk — heavyweight

Along with a couple other fights that I’ll talk about later, has the potential to be the fight of the night. Two extremely BIG boys who are going to stand and bang with each other. This fight will quickly turn into a K-1 kickboxing match with Kongo getting the better of it with his reach advantage and greater athleticism. Look for the frenchman to punish Hardonk by the end of the first round and by mid second round have Hardonk visibly tired and worn down before finishing him off with some vicious ground n’ pound.

Kongo by 2nd rd TKO

Steve Cantwell vs. Luis Cane — 205 lbs

This match-up also has potential to be the fight of the night. Both fighters will bring their all and not only dish out a lot of punishment but take their fair share as well. Cane to me, has the more dynamic striking arsenal and certainly can roll with the best on the ground. Ever since Cane opened up my eyes to his game back at UFC 93 in January when he fought Sokoudjou I’ve thought that he was one of the top five or six talents in the talent rich light heavyweight division.

Cane by 2nd rd KO

Chuck Liddell vs. Shogun Rua — 205 lbs

Another fight of the night candidate and perhaps the betting favorite on that topic. Both fighters give the “Redemption” event moniker a reason for being used. Liddell has lost three of his last four fights with two — including his most recent — coming by brutal knockouts. UFC president Dana White has gone on record saying that Liddell needs not only to win but win impressively for him to let Liddell continue fighting.

Then there’s Shogun who is 1-1 in his two career UFC fights with his most recent fight and only victory coming in unspectacular fashion when he finished Mark Coleman via TKO late in the third round at UFC 93. Shogun was visibly out of condition in that fight and really took a lot of heat for it afterwards. Now, a lot of it can be explained away by the fact that he did endure two separate knee surgeries over the course of a nine month stretch which really did not enable him to train as he would have liked. However a lot of fans and analysts alike are going to be watching this fight closely to see whether those excuses are legit and whether Shogun regains his pre-UFC form.

I think he does. Shogun will show just why he was widely considered the top 205 lb prospect out there when he signed on with the UFC when he picks apart Liddell in the stand up game. His striking is just so dynamic which really makes him a lot like “The Spider” in that he’s just so hard to stop.

Shogun by 3rd rd TKO

Anderson Silva vs. Thales Leites — Middleweight Championship

The main event and the fight I am most looking forward to. Anderson Silva is looking for a chance to redeem himself after a performance against Patrick Cote back in October that nobody — neither he or his fans — were too pleased about. Thus “the Spider” will be on a mission when he enters the cage to prove all the naysayers wrong and get that bad taste out of his mouth so to speak.

Let’s not forget the opponent, though. Thales Leites is no joke. He has world class jui-jitsu, better even than Silva’s who has a black belt from the Noguiera’s. He also has an adept striking game with power in both hands and a solid chin that has enabled him to never be KO’d in a fight yet and he’s fought the likes of Nate Marquardt and Drew McFedries among others. Leites will be fine fighting wherever this fight goes but if it remains a primarily upright fight, look for Silva to impose his will.

That being said, Anderson Silva is a completely different animal than any guy that Leites has fought so far and completely different than anybody anyone else has fought at 185. He’s incredibly dynamic and elusive but not only that, he’s insanely precise with his strikes. Against Chris Leben, Silva threw a total of 14 strikes and landed every single one of them flush where he wanted to and put Leben away in less than a minute. He’s that dangerous. Seeking his ninth win in a row and fifth consecutive title defense (both UFC records), Silva will reach new heights with Saturday’s performance.

Silva by 2nd rd KO