Armchair Weekend in Review (July 6-8, 2007)
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by user JB82
As a heat wave gets ready to settle in here at AWIR World Headquarters, we've got a near ton of highlights from the weekend that was. So let's get to it!
Diamond notes
- If he hadn't been the Grant Hill of Major League Baseball, Ken Griffey, Jr. probably would have been at or over 600 home runs already. The Cincinnati Reds slugger hit the 586th of his career Friday night in an 8-1 whipping of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Griff passed Frank Robinson for sixth on MLB's all-time home run list in the process.
- It was the best of times, it was the worst of times for the New York Yankees in the last two days against the Los Angeles Angels. Saturday saw both starting pitchers (John Lackey and Roger Clemens) go very deep into the game despite a 1-1 tie, only to have the Yankees defense make the Keystone Kops look graceful. If the Yanks' five errors were sped up, there probably would've been the Benny Hill music playing in the background (RIP Boots Randolph, 1927-2007). Long story short, Yanks lose 2-1 in 13 innings.
- Sunday, however, was the polar opposite, as the Yanks' bats came alive in a 12-0 shutout rout that saw Alex Rodriguez club his 30th home run of the season. Bag on him all you want, but A-Rod is primed for an amazing sason, regardless of whether or not the Bronx Bombers make the postseason.
- If you are a high-scoring cuckoo, Friday in Chicago was a dream come true. In a doubleheader, both the Minnesota Twins combined for an astounding 32 runs – 32 RUNS, JERRY!! – beating the Chicago White Sox 20-14 in the first game (Adrian Peterson finds the end zone late, perhaps?) and 12-0 in the nightcap. The Twins had almost as many runs in both games as both teams had in the first game alone, as you can see...
- But, this reporter gives his Armchair Excellence Award to Baltimore Orioles pitcher Erik Bedard, who fanned 15 Texas Rangers on Saturday night in a 3-0 shutout. Bedard also gave up only two hits on the night.
Wimbledon finals
- It was a long, soggy tournament at Wimbledon, but there was nice weather for a change at the All-England Club as it played host to two finals matches.
- On Saturday, Venus Williams faced a "Who Dat?" in the Ladies' final, and quickly disposed of her in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1. The "Who Dat?" was Frenchwoman Marianne Bartoli, the 18th seed in the Ladies' tournament.
- The following day, the sun shone bright on the grass court as two titans went to battle for the Gentlemens' title. Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal squared off yet again, and even though the Spaniard took him seemingly to the brink, the Swiss held on in five sets, 7-6(7), 4-7, 7-6(3), 2-6, 6-2 to win his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. Oddly enough, the man whos record he tied, Björn Borg, was in attendance for the final.
One wild night
- Three big matches were the highlight of UFC 73 in Sacramento, California Saturday night:
- Tito Ortiz is one of the toughest guys in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and his performance at ARCO Arena against Rashad Evans provided further edification. Ortiz grabbed the chain-link fence in the final round of their light heavyweight match to avoid a takedown despite getting warned by the referee twice not to do it. Ortiz may have won the match hadn't it been for the one-point penalty for breaking the ref's orders. Thus, the result was declared a draw.
- Brazilian Hermes Franca defeated American Sean Sherk to defend his lightweight belt, while Nathan Marquardt also fared well in defending his middleweight title, defeating Anderson Silva by TKO six seconds before the end of the first round.
- There was some controversy surrounding the outcome of the heavyweight match between Heath Herring and Brazilian Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. There were some that thought Herring should have won it after he gave him a devastating head kick as the first round came to an end. Noguiera lay unconscious for a bit, but he eventually carried on to win the match by unanimous decision.
- Some AWIR Kudos to Yahoo! Sports for giving MMA a section on their website, even though they're sharing the space with boxing...
Take off (to the Great White North, that is)
- Edmonton Eskimos quarterback Ricky Ray may have won CFL Player of the Week honors for his big performance in a 39-39 tie against Winnipeg last week, but he looked halfway close to Superman on Friday. Ray threw for 284 yards and completed 25 out of 35 passes, but got picked off three times as the British Columbia Lions ran roughshod over the Eskies, 29-9. Bummer, eh?
- On the other hand, Toronto Argonauts signal caller Michael Bishop fared well, going 17-31 with 247 yards passing and three touchdowns as the Argos won the Battle of Ontario against the hapless Hamilton Tiger Cats, 30-5.
Fast Track
- The Pepsi 400 saw some last-lap excitement, as Jamie McMurray barely beat out Kurt Busch for the win in a race ended under caution. McMurray's win was the first in 166 races.
- INTERESTING SIDENOTE: This reporter remembers watching McMurray as he won his first NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race in October 2002. Filling in for an injured Sterling Marlin, McMurray held off Bobby Labonte to win a delayed UAW-GM 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway.
- A rather surreal incident at Watkins Glen, New York (a few hours from my neck of the woods). All was well with the IRL IndyCar Series after Scott Dixon took the checkered flag in the Camping World Watkins Glen Grand Prix. However, there was trickery afoot with Tony Kanaan and Sam Hornish, Jr. After some colliding and jostling and exchanging of certain four-letter words, the two drivers got so heated at each other that they did their own reenactment of the Ortiz-Evans UFC fight. There was a shot of Marco Andretti preventing his dad (Michael) from getting into this melee, BTW.
- Across the border for the ChampCar World Series, which invaded Toronto for the Molson Indy. Will Power (there's a heck of a name for ya) got his second win of the year in this race.
- Across the Pond for Formula 1 action in the UK. Briton Lewis Hamilton was the top draw, and did the home faithful proud by scoring a podium in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone. While Hamilton savored the third-place finish, the spoils went to the Kimi Raikkonen, making it two in a row for the Flying Finn.
Bicycle, bicycle, bicycle (I want to ride my bicycle)
The 2007 Tour de France cycing race kicked off in London, with Italian Fabian Cancellara taking the prologue. The next day, the real action began as the first stage from London to Canterbury saw Australian Robbie McEwen come from the back of the pack (or peloton) to take the win. Cancellara is still the keeper of the maillot jaune by thirteen seconds over German Andreas Klöden.
All that traveling's made me a tired YKW
That'll put the wraps on the AWIR for this week. Until next time, as always, let's all be good sports...
