Highs and Lows (8/21/06)
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by user Ross K.
Stick those toothpicks in your eyelids, folks, Monday morning has arrived. That means it's time to check in with:
Highs and Lows in College and Pros
PGA Tour - Split - Tiger takes PGA by five
Sure, Tiger Woods writes a good story... for Tiger Woods. However it's not good for the PGA when Tiger starts winning everything. There was a bunch of talk about "stiffer competition" going into this weekend and Tiger proved it a hoax. There's too much lack of drama in the game of golf itself. A PGA blowout makes it worse.
AL East Race - Low - Why such a short hook?"
So far in the five game set the New York Yankees have taken four straight from the Boston Red Sox. This has caused Red Sox Nation to quickly revert back to their pre-2004 "Whoa-is me, we're doomed forever" attitude. I don't understand why. There's still well over a month to go and the Sox are only out 5.5 games. The Yankees have a slightly harder schedule and there's still another three game series to be played in the Bronx, well after the Sox have had time to get used to their new Varitek-free team. I know I'm not ready to give up on the Yankees missing the playoffs and I certainly don't want to start hearing about the Curse of the Johnny.
World Basketball Championship - High - USA cleaning up
The US hasn't found much competition in the WBC so far. I doubt anyone's really surprised. When the US actually puts its best on the floor, they're the best. Period. In their two games they've scored a total of 232 and their opponent 190. This, like the Tiger Woods situation, will probably get old after awhile, which is one of the reasons they gave up on the Dream Team concept awhile back. I guess it's the circle of international basketball. Of course, they also haven't played anyone of real consequence yet, so things may change.
AP Poll - High - This one got it right
Most polls this preseason were released too early, even for preseason polls. This led to several dumb mistakes, most notably, Oklahoma. The AP Poll has a better idea of how things will probably work out. The Buckeyes took number one in this poll (as well as the USA Today and ArmchairGM polls, even though some "aspiring journalsists" just can't understand why. Louisville incidentally, came in at #13.
American League MVP - High - Pronk changed my mind
I've said several times that I don't believe that Travis Hafner or Grady Sizemore are potential MVP candidates because of the Cleveland Indians being in fourth place. However just about every single time the Indians do win, Pronk was a big part of it. He's pulling away with 2nd place in the HR and RBI race and could realistically catch David Ortiz. I've decided Hafner shouldn't only be a candidate; he should be a legitimate contender.
I'm on vacation next week, see you in September.
Date
Mon 08/21/06, 5:40 am EST
My front runners are Manny Ramirez and Derek Jeter.
Good work on the story.