The Morning After

Rays 7 Phillies 1: A pitchers duel through 7+ innings, the Rays opened the game up when Jimmy Rollins made a rare defensive mistake missing trying for a tough force out at second when Pat Burrell was running to first. Joe Blanton pitched very well only to be outdueled by Matt Garza. Pat Burrell had 3 RBI's including a 2-run homer, only his second as a Ray. Jimmy Rollins has zero base hits since Thursday. It is time for Chalie to send him a message. The NL East is tightening as the Mets and Marlins both won.

LSU 11 Texas 4: LSU wins the 2009 CWS! It is their 6th National Title, tied with Texas for second most of all-time. LSU took a 4 run lead with the help of Jared Mitchell's 3 run home run but Texas quickley tied it up. LSU scored 5 in the sixth to wrap it up. Mitchell, the CWS MOP and a first round pick of the Chi Sox, adds to his 2007 NCAA Football title. Congratulations to LSU!

U.S. 2 Spain 0: The US advance to its first men's FIFA Final since starting play in 1916. Spain, a -1100 favorite (cough...whatever that means..cough), was the European champion and had won 15 straight international games, the most since Brazil won 35 straight betwenn '93 and '96 (was that the Baggio days?). Spain had not lost since November '06. Jozy Altidore scored the first goal in the 27th minute and Clint Dempsey put it away in the 74th. Hopefully we have soccer readers that can comment on this game because I am not doing the win justice.

NFL: Julius Peppers signed a 1 yr, $16.7 million tender with the Carolina Panthers.5 months ago Peppers made it clear that he would not sign a long term deal with Carolina but after he signed a 1 yr deal which will give him over 1 million per GAME, he seems willing to sign long term.

Flyers: Sources say that the Flyers will accept an invitation to play the Boston Bruins on New Years day at Fenway Park. Very cool, though I would still like to see a Flyers v Penguins game at State College.

Wimbledon: 2004 Champ Maria Sharapova loses 6-2,3-6,6-4, to Gisela Dulko in the second round. Damn it!

NBA: The Cavs acquired Shaq O'Neal from the Suns for a couple of expensive basketballs and a late draft pick. Read More

Weekend Recap

Here are some notes on a very good sports weekend:

MEMORIAL: Tiger Woods won the Memorial on Sunday with a 7 under 65 after trailing by 4 going into the day. Woods iced it on 18 with a 183 foot 7 iron that he put a foot from the hole. I guess there are some who would be happy with that shot. This is the 4th time he has won the Memorial at Muirfield Village. The US Open is in 2 weeks at Bethpage Black where Woods will look to defend his title. If Tiger plays anywhere near what he played today, you might as well wrap it up.

STANLEY CUP: The Detroit Red Wings are 1 win away from their 5th Stanley Cup in the past 12 years. Red Wings star Pavel Datsyuk returned for game 5 and made his presence known right away, leveling Evgeni Malkin early in the 1st period and assisting on the first (soft) goal of the game. Detroit outclassed Pittsburgh in the 5-0 W. Its too bad people just don't care about hockey. Its amazing how Detroit has stayed dominant through the years. After the strike, there was a salary cap implemented and the game completely changed on the ice, yet the Wings keep winning as if they have Yzerman, Fedorov, Dino Ciccarelli, Paul Coffey and Nicklaus Lindstom...Ok maybe I still play NHL '94 a little too much... I take that back, no such thing as too much

BELMONT: Summer Bird knocked off favorite Mine that Bird and held off Dunkirk to win the Belmont on Saturday afternoon. Larry Bird and former Phil, Paul Byrd failed to make it out of the gate. Big Bird and Tweety Bird could not be reached for comment. A $2 trifecta paid out $295

NBA FINALS: The Orlando Magic had their chance to knock off the Lakers on Sunday night after Courtney Lee beat Kobe on a back screen but he cheesed a last second alley oop layup at the end of regulation. DirtyWudders enemy JJ Redick hit a big 3 to tie up the game late in the 4th. The Lakers won the OT 13-8 to take a commanding 2 games to nothing lead as the series shifts to Orlando.

FRENCH OPEN: Roger Federer defeated Robin Soderling on Sunday to capture his first French Open Title and 14th major title. The French Open completes the Career Grand Slam for Federer.

PHILS: The 2 best teams in baseball collided in L.A. this weekend and ended up with a 2/2 split. The Phils had their chances but 2 blown saves by Brad Lidge cost them 2 W's. The Phillies defense has been one of the tops in baseball this season but a couple of gaffes by Bruntlett and Feliz hurt them on Friday night (Saturday am), and I don't know if its just me but I think Jayson Werth could have had that shot by Furcal on Saturday. Regardless, something has to give with Lidge. It looked like he was starting to come around a little bit until these most recent BS's. Read More