Tiger Woods=Sore Loser

There is no doubt that Tiger Woods is the greatest golfer of our time maybe of all time. But i don't think I'm the only one that thinks he was being a little bit of a sore loser when he failed to make the cut in the Open Championship this past weekend. We saw images of him dropping his club in disgust and even some instances of him hitting his golf bag with his club. Now i don't play golf so i can say how frustrating it is but i can see how it can be. Also take into consideration that the course they are playing is one of the toughest in the world. I know your Tiger Woods but even the best of all time have bad tournaments, and this is only the second time he has missed the cut in his career. Another reason i say he is a sore loser is that for the most part you don't see the other golfers acting like that when they have a bad day or weekend. The game of golf is to difficult to assume your going to go out there and dominate every single weekend even though for the most part Tiger does, which is also why i say he is a sore loser. Tiger has won so many championships and majors one bad weekend isn't going to kill him I'm sure he will bounce back just fine. Now there is a fine line between competitive and sore loser. Some might view his antics and say that he is so competitive that one bad hit upsets him that much and that's fine but i just view it differently. Look i got no problem with Tiger he is the greatest golfer in the world i just think he could handle his failures a little better considering he is the face of his sport.

Beckham Returns

On July 16th David Beckham made his return to the MLS, and most could argue that nobody cared. When Beckham came to the MLS a couple years back some thought this would make soccer relevant in the United States, i would bet a paycheck that nearly half of the sports fans in America dont even know the MLS exists, and if the do i know they cant name every team. The only reason Beckham's name is even in the news has nothing to do with his on field play. A new book is coming out called The Beckham Experiment. In that book Landon Donovan made some less than flattering comments about the Galaxy captain. Donovan called Beckham a bad captain and teammate. Whether or not you agree with the way Donovan did it you cant really argue his point. Since being with the team the Galaxy have played just over .500 without Beckham, with him just 9 wins in 32 games. Donovan should have been more of a man but Beckham has a lot to do to be a better captain and teammate. But honestly Beckham could lead the Galaxy to 5 straight MLS Championships and still soccer would not be a mainstream sport. And this is not just a soccer bashing article I'm just telling the truth soccer will never be a top sport in this country. Now like every other sport soccer does have its rabid fans but the casual fans aren't drawn in as much as the other sports draw in the casual fans. Soccer has a long way to go (at least in this country) before it will become a major sport, if it can become one i just don't believe it can.

MLB Mid Season Awards

Since we are at the unofficial midway point of the baseball season its time to look at who i think are the first half award winners. First the American League.

AL MVP--Joe Mauer, Minnesota Twins, .373 15 HR 49 RBI
Mauer has turned into not only the best hitting catchers in the game but maybe the best hitter in all the majors. Even with missing the First month of the season he has the best average in the American League, Mauer might be the best chance besides Ichiro to hit .400 in a season.

Notable Mention: Ichrio, Jason Bay

AL Cy Young--Zach Greinke, Kansas City Royals, 10-5 2.12 ERA 129 SO
From the start of the season Greinke has been lights out, and he is having a breakout year. And though the Royals are being the normal Royals you can't deny the success of Greinke, will he keep it up time will tell.

Notable Mention: Josh Beckett, Roy Halladay

AL Rookie of the Year--Brad Bergesen, Baltimore Orioles 6-3 3.54 ERA 53 SO
Im sure some of you are saying who? But for a guys who wasn't even invited to spring training he has quickly become the ace of the Orioles. 7 of his last 9 starts have been quality starts with 5 wins.

Notable Mention: Nolan Reimold, David Price

NL MVP--Albert Pujols, St. Louis Cardinals .332 32 HR 87 RBI
I'd like to say this a hard decision but not really, He is First in Home runs, first in RBIs and fourth in average. Albert Pujols may be the very best player right now in the Major League.

Notable Mention: David Wright, Raul Ibanez

NL Cy Young--Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants 10-2 2.33 ERA 149 SO
This is another one where it didn't take much thought. The nickname of Lincecum is the freak and its a good one because of his freakishly good skills. Also he has helped the resurgence of the Giants putting them back in the playoff hunt.

Notable Mention: Dan Haren, Josh Johnson

NL Rookie of the Year--Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants .333 15 HR 55 RBI
Sandoval is another reason the Giants are playing well having a fantastic rookie campaign. Also his play behind the plate has been good only committing 4 errors.

Notable Mention: Colby Rasmus, Tommy Hanson

How Big can the UFC Get?

Saturday night was the much anticipated UFC 100 Pay Per View event, and i would like to raise the question of how big can this sport really get? If you ask Dana White (Owner of UFC) the UFC could be the biggest sport in the world. I wouldn't go that far but its not out of the question for it to be one of the big 4, joining Baseball, Football and Basketball. The one major thing its got is it appeals to young people, but is it too violent for mainstream. Personally i don't have a problem with the violence and there is more sport to it than people give it credit for. For all the UFC haters out there it is nothing more than a human cockfight. But there is submission moves and different styles of fighting. And now it seems that the UFC has a villain, after his successful Heavyweight Title defense Brock Lesnar show boated and rubbed his victory in the face of Frank Mir, The crowd booed Lesnar and he flipped them off. Hate him if you must but Lesnar's game has improved since losing his first fight to Frank Mir a year and a half ago. Personally Lesnar's antics doesn't bother me that much, the great thing about this sport if someone doesn't like it get in the cage and knock him out the greatest way to shut someone up. Maybe part of the reason for the sports popularity is because mainstream America doesn't approve, UFC is like the rebel of sports and to most that is appealing. Only time will tell if UFC grows to the height of a top 4 sport in the U.S. but if they continue to produce events like UFC 100 it wont take as long as you think.

Home Run Derby Turning into Slam Dunk Contest

As we approach the Annual Mid-Summer Classic one of the most fun things to watch in Major League Baseball is the Home Run Derby. The only problem with this years derby is we have more guys who don't want to do it than do. The National League participants are Albert Pujols, Ryan Howard, Prince Fielder and Adrian Gonzalez so far for the American League Brandon Inge, Joe Mauer and Nelson Cruz. Numerous of the games best home run hitters have said no thanks, that list includes Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and last years Champ Justin Morneau. Over the last couple years it seems like the slots have been harder and harder to fill and most of the Superstars would rather not do it. I compare it to the Slam Dunk contest because how many years have NBA fans wanted to see Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Dwayne Wade in the contest and yet they continue to wait. Same goes for the derby imagine a final with A-Rod vs. Pujols, well keep dreaming. One of the biggest arguments for not being in the derby is that it affects your swing, and honestly i cant disagree. Case in point look at Josh Hamilton last year, Before The All Star Break: .310 Avg 21 HR 95 RBI; After the All Star Break: .296 Avg 11 HR 35 RBI. Average didn't drop much but the power numbers went way down. As much as i do love the derby it is almost getting to the point that if the biggest stars don't compete whats the point. In what used to be the most exciting thing during the All Star Break could turn into the biggest yawn.

McNair's Death still tough to Swallow

As most of you already know Steve McNair was found murdered in Nashville on the 4th of July. The news brought shock to all of the NFL community. McNair was always seen as a warrior on the football field, suffering numerous injuries and playing through them all. McNair was also always seen as a model citizen never getting into any off field troubles and donating to numerous charities. Which makes the last events of his life all that harder to comprehend. McNair who had a wife and four sons, was seen as a family man but the woman who was also found dead in the condo was reportedly McNair's girlfriend. Unfortunately because of these infidelity accusations questions about McNair's character have been raised. I don't agree with his relationship with the 20 year old but it is not my or anybody Else's place to judge him. All the relationship proves is that he is human just like everybody else, we all looked at McNair like he was a super hero but even super heroes make mistakes. I will remember Steve McNair for all of his on field success. The major one is the incredible Super Bowl performance, the season when he didn't practice but played every Sunday and played well, even in his short stint in Baltimore he created several memorable moments. McNair's lasting legacy should be what he did on the field and all of his charity work off of it, we lost a good person, R.I.P. Steve McNair (1973-2009)