Armchair Weekend in Review (August 3-5, 2007)

So much to discuss, so let's get to it!

MLB's Weekend of Milestones

While Roger Clemens celebrated his 45th birthday on Saturday, it was Alex Rodriguez who got a big present. The New York Yankees third baseman hit his 500th career home run off the Kansas City Royals' newly-acquired pitcher Kyle Davies in the 1st inning of a 16-8 rout. A-Rod is the youngest player in MLB history to ever achieve the feat, and was also the 36th of the season. All this and Phillip Hughes...

Well, it had to happen, but it finally did. Barry Bonds hit his 755th homer, tying Hank Aaron's all-time record early in the San Francisco Giants' 3-2 loss against the San Diego Padres. While the packed PETCO Park crowed mostly cheered Bonds, MLB Commisioner Bud Selig didn't look interested.

New York Mets pitcher Tom Glavine may have had to wait some time for his 300th career win, but the man who may be the last to achieve this plateau did so in an 8-3 win over the Chicago Cubs.

Last week it was baseball; this weekend it was the Pro Football Hall of Fame's turn to welcome their newest class of indutees:

Thurman Thomas – Longtime Buffalo Bills running back integral part of team's Super Bowl appearances in early 1990s.

Michael Irvin – Dallas Cowboys wideout who beat the Bills in their two SB matchups. His induction speech was the emotional high point of the evening up to that point.

Gene Hickerson – offensive lineman with the early Cleveland Browns. Another emotional moment came when the Alzheimer's-ridden Hickerson lined up with fellow HOFer Jim Brown and Bobby Franklin for one last "block".

Jason Maas went 16-21 with 220 yards passing and three touchdowns as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats got their first win of the year, 43-22, over the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Milt Stegall also added on to his record, scoring his 140th career TD for the game's very first score. He may also get the CFL's yards receiving record, held by former Calgary Stampeder Allen Pitts before the year is out; Pitts amassed 14,891 yards receiving during his CFL career.

Speaking of the Stamps, they took the first installment of the 2007 Battle of Alberta, 34-32 against the Edmonton Eskimos. This game was played so tight, the only real show of muscle came when Calgary scored a field goal to the Esks' "rouge" (a drop kick into the end zone). Henry Burris outdueled Ricky Ray, throwing for 327 yards and two scores.

Starting in 2007, the folks at NASCAR decided to expand the field for the Chase for the NEXTEL Cup to twelve drivers. Kurt Busch apparently liked the idea, entering the field with a win at Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania. Busch knocked Dale Earnhardt, Jr., who finished second in the race, out of the race.

After finding success with trips to Mexico, the Busch Series suits decided to schedule a race north of the Border. Saturday marked the first time NASCAR held a points-paying race in Canada, doing so at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. Canadian Patrick Carpentier took the pole, while American Kevin Harvick won the race.
- However, this race will be remembered for Robby Gordon making the winning move past Marcos Ambrose near the end of the race. But, Ambrose spun him out, and a frustrated Gordon drew beads towards his car and got revenge. The NASCAR officials thought this was conduct unbecoming of a driver, and suspended Gordon for the following day's NEXTEL Cup race.

For Tony Kanaan, it was worth a long wait to take the checkered flag in the Firestone Indy 400 at Michigan. Also noteworthy was Marco Andretti coming in behind him in second place.

Lewis Hamilton returned to his winning ways, clinching the Hungarian Grand Prix and reclaiming the points lead in the process.

...to Lorena Ochoa, for clinching her first major championship at the first women's golf event ever held at the Royal & Ancient in St. Andrew's, Scotland.

...to Manchester United for getting the 2007-08 English football (soccer) season off on the right foot with a 3-0 penalty shootout of Chelsea in the FA Community Shield match.
- Speaking of ManU, WTFRX up with David Beckham? What happened to him, man?!

Kudos to Dara Torres, who became the oldest champion of any sport in US history. Torres, 40, clinched the 50 meters freestyle swimming event on Saturday at the U.S. Nationals.

...to Tiger Woods, for getting his streak of six PGA tournaments in seven weeks off to a great start by defending his title at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Next week, Tiger plays for the PGA Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

...to John Isner, an unheralded US tennis player, for making his way into the final of the Legg Mason Classic before losing to Andy Roddick. Isner, who was ranked 416th coming in, will enter the top 200 in the rankings.