The SoapBoxers

Editor’s note: Johnny does get the predictions to me on Thursday, but I like to run this column on Fridays, because of the increased attention to football on Fridays.  Thus, you will see predictions of Thursday night games that have already occurred.

The NFL gets started this week with a battle on Thursday night.

Last week:

Straight Up – 11-4

Against the Spread 10-5

College

Georgia Tech (-5) vs Clemson – The Ramblin Wreck is a team I like this year … Swiney is in over his head this early. Georgia Tech 35- Clemson 14

East Carolina @ West Virginia (-6.5) National talk like a Pirate day is right around the corner. East Carolina 27- WV 24

Iowa (-6.5) @ Iowa State – Hawks escaped last week. This one will be close again – Iowa 24- ISU 21

Fresno State @ Wisconsin (-8) Badgers win, but I think it will be close Wisc 28 – Fresno St 24

USC (-6.5) @ Ohio St – The Buckeyes did not look sharp last week. USC did. OSU never shows up in big games with the vest at the helm. USC 31- OSU 20

Arkansas St @ Nebraska (-24.5) Ark State put up a 62 spot last week. They won’t this week but it will be closer than expected. Neb 38 – Ark State 21

Texas (-33.5) @ Wyoming- This one could get ugly … and should. Texas 56 – Wyoming 10

Syracuse @ Penn State (-28.5) No chance for last minute magic this week for the orange. PSU – 49 – Syracuse – 10

NFL

Tennessee @ Pittsburgh – (-6) A dogfight to start off the year. The Steelers win but in a slugfest. Pitt 14- Tenn 13

Miami @ Atlanta (-4) Sophomore jinx for Matt Ryan? We say … no but Miami 24 – ATL 21

Minnesota (-4) @ CLEVELAND – Welcome back for a third time Bret Favre. Minnesota 31- Cleveland 10

Jacksonville @ INDIANAPOLIS (-7) The Jags always seem to give the Colts fits, and Bob Sanders is out. Colts 20- Jacksonville 17

Detroit @ NEW ORLEANS (-13) I hate taking double digit favorites in the NFL … so I won’t New Orleans 35- Detroit 24

Washington @ NY GIANTS (-6½) Giants need to figure out their passing game. Washington’s defense is improved. NYG – 28 – Washington 20

Chicago @ GREEN BAY (-3½) The NFC Norris Division gets off to one of the best rivalries in the league. Green Bay 24- Chicago 21

Buffalo @ NEW ENGLAND (-10½) Buffalo runs no huddle…T.O. doesn’t like it, they fired their offensive coordinator..and they start against the hoodie. NE 42- Buffalo – 10

San Diego (-9½) @ OAKLAND The Superchargers make a statement early in the season. SD 31- Oak 10

Patrick Sullivan basked in the warmth of the afternoon sun as he prepared for his race.  He performed his typical stretches, preparing for this as if it were just another race.  However, much was at stake in the final race of Patrick’s stellar high school career.  It was true that Patrick’s trophy case was filled with mementos of his accomplishments.  It was, however, missing the crown jewel – a state championship.  Three times he had faced his bitter rival on the brightest stage, and three times Philip Webb had emerged victorious.  Over the course of their careers, Patrick had won a majority of their head-to-head meetings, and he held the state record for the mile.  Head-to-head meetings are quickly forgotten, and records are broken.  A championship is eternal.

The milers gathered near the start line in anticipation of instructions from the official.  At his word, the runners reported to their lanes and readied themselves for the start.

Patrick reacted instantaneously to the sound of the starter’s pistol.  Within 50 meters, he had already made up the stagger on one runner.  He raced around the corner of the track, emerged onto the straightaway as the leader, and was able to cut across to the inside lane easily.  He felt the presence of Webb fall in behind him, content to let Patrick set the pace.

Patrick continued to lead the race until the 400 meter mark, when a cocky young freshman bolted ahead of him and surged into the lead.  Patrick refused to take the bait, and continued his pace.  The younger running built an impressive lead by the time they finished the second lap.  Patrick knew that the kid was setting a pace that could not possibly be sustained, and the rabbit began to show signs of fading as they reached the 1000 meter mark.  By the time the bell rang to signify the final lap, Patrick, Philip, and two other runners had caught the front runner, and observers knew that the rabbit had run out of gas and would end up at the tail end of the pack.

As always, Patrick was beginning to feel a bit of fatigue as they began the last lap.  1200 meters were complete, and the runners needed to reach deep inside them to race the fastest 400 meters of their careers.  In past years, Patrick had tried to lead the entire final lap, only to be out-kicked by Webb down the stretch.  This time, he allowed Webb to pull ahead of him and settled into right behind him, allowing Patrick to take advantage of the lower wind resistance as he drafted behind Webb.

The other runners were unaware that this was a two man duel.  With 250 meters to go, Patrick was still right on Webb’s footsteps, but he felt himself boxed in by the other runners.  He had nowhere to go.  At that point, his familiarity with Webb’s style paid off.  He knew the exact moment when Webb would turn on the afterburners and begin his final kick.  Patrick planned to surge forward and then cut to the right at the precise moment that Webb would begin his kick.  If Patrick surged too early, he would run up Webb’s back and take them both out of the race.

Four years of racing against Philip Webb had trained him for this moment, and he timed it perfectly.  Webb bolted forward with Patrick on his heels, separating slightly from the other two runners.  Patrick veered sharply to the right and accelerated until he was dead even with Webb.

The two runners approached the finish line side by side, achieving maximum velocity as they strode for the tape.  The naked eye would deem it a tie, and the cameras would be hard pressed to pick the winner.  Patrick Sullivan felt the slight bit of resistance as his body broke through the tape.

As we stand on the cusp of the Iowa State – Iowa football game this Saturday, I am once again reminded of my unintentionally contrarian nature. During my childhood, I was a fan of the Iowa Hawkeyes, the university that is by far the most popular in the state. When I was 17, I made the decision to attend the rival university in Ames – a decision that was based solely on academic reputation.

At that point, I also switched sports allegiances, and now cheer for Iowa State. After a 15 year losing streak to the Hawkeyes, the Cyclones have held their own in recent years, winning six of the last ten games in the series (and putting up serious fights in some of the losses), including the only regular season blemish on the record of the 2002 Hawkeyes (hah!). A win this Saturday will be great, but no longer is a win against Iowa a season defining moment – instead, it is one more entry in the W column as we march toward bowl eligibility under new coach Paul Rhoads. Quite honestly, a win against Nebraska is twice as important – because it is a conference game.

Staying on the topic of sports, my choice of baseball teams is a bit unusual as well. I’m an Iowa native. The state doesn’t have a major league team, but the Cubs have a substantial following in the state. The Cardinals and White Sox also have large fan bases, followed by a smattering of Twins and Royals fans. The Rockies have, by my count, five fans in the entire state.

For that matter, my sports preferences are also a bit atypical. In an era where the NFL and NASCAR reign supreme, my favorite sports are baseball, luge, and track. At one point, I followed the NBA, mostly because of a player with the initials MJ who wore the numbers 2 and 3 on his jersey. Yep – the “other” MJ – #32, Magic Johnson.

It’s probably a good thing that I wasn’t a fan of Jordan. Otherwise, it might be difficult to explain why I dislike Nikes, and swear by Adidas shoes instead.

My contrarian instincts follow me outside the world of sports as well. In a world dominated by Windows, I have used Apple computers for a quarter century. I happily use a wide variety of web browsers – as long as they are not produced by Microsoft.

Surely food is a sacred area? Nope. I am one of seven people in the entire country who do not consider McDonald’s fries to be “the greatest thing since sliced bread”. I prefer Hardees curly fries, or even Burger King onion rings. In fact, my choice of Hardees as my favorite burger joint is a bit unusual. Of course, until it left town a few years ago, B-Bops was at the top of my list.

It doesn’t get any less contrarian if I eat at home. While I often drink Pepsi due to availability, my favorite soft drink is RC. If I’m going to have a frozen pizza, I will eschew popular brands such as Tombstone and Red Baron for my favorite – Totino’s. Not only is Totino’s one of the few brands that doesn’t trigger my acid reflux, but it has a nice crispy crust – because, of course, I dislike thick crust.

But at least I’m conventional in my choice of salty snacks. Pringles are pretty popular.

Of course, I push aside the regular Pringles in favor of the reduced fat. Is this a health-based decision? Of course not. I actually prefer the flavor …

Ahhhhh Yes …. College Football Season has FINALLY arrived. A great opening week of College football, which as usual, created a lot of excitement, water cooler talk, and for some…a lot of disappointment.

I was totally wrong my apologies go out to Columbia:

Missouri was a little bit impressive to me this past week. The Tigers “system” offense looked sharp while carving up the Illini. Early games are a bit tough to tell, is Mizzou that good, or is Illinois that bad … Still an impressive win for the Tigers who made a statement.

Statement game:

Oklahoma State has been riding the hype wagon and there has been a lot of debate on how coach Gundy has handled the pressure of his team being a novel pick in the Big XII South. They played well in beating a solid opponent in Georgia. A nice early win for the Cowboys.

I told you all so ….

Baylor wins at Wake Forest. The main thing in this game was not just the play of Robert Griffith, but the Bears looked faster than the Deamon Deacons in all aspects of the game. Conference foes better watch out.

Uh Oh … it is worse than we thought!:

Oklahoma showed how much they rely on Heisman trophy winner Sam Bradford, but more discouraging for Sooner fans is the inability to move the football on the ground, even with Bradford out. This looks like a talented team that needs an offensive line to come together, and quickly, or it could be big trouble in Norman this year.

We were looking ahead award:

Dual winners this week are Ohio State who eeked out a win against the Midshipmen of the Naval academy. They need to be a lot better next week against the Trojans in a top 10 match up.

The Iowa Hawkeyes have used up two of their nine lives this year. Looking ahead to Iowa State? I say yes as the Clones have had the better of the match up recently considering that annually the Hawks bring in a much better quality of football team.

Pardon me Seymour …

Richard Seymor, a fixture of the defense that helped the New England Patriots win multiple Super Bowl titles has been traded to the Oakland Raiders. “Sources” indicate that he might not show up in Oakland and is less than amused about being traded. Typically the only ones who want to get traded to the Raiders these days are veterans who are looking for a big payday, folks past their prime, or someone looking for a second chance in a new environment. I don’t think Richard fits any of these descriptions.

Lastly …

This week, the US Open Tennis Tournament continues, with a lot of exciting action. The biggest story without a doubt is the pilgrimage of 17 year old Melanie Oudin’s trip through her side of the draw. The high schooler is the 70th-ranked player which is impressive in its own right. This tournament she has had a slew of wins, all comebacks, against a variety of big names of the sport. No. 4 Elena Dementieva and No. 29 Maria Sharapova as well as No. 13 Nadia Petrova. Can the miracle run continue?

Goodman the Great gives his analysis of this week’s NCAA football games.

Editor’s note: For those who may not be familiar with point spreads, having a negative number next to your team is a good thing. For example, South Carolina @ North Carolina State (-3.5) means that North Carolina State is favored by 3.5 points.

South Carolina @ North Carolina State – (-3.5) The Ol ball coach gets it done in this heated rivalry opener. SC 24, NC St 14

North Dakota State @ Iowa State – (-8.5) The Clones are under a new regime, but they are still a Big XII school. ISU 28, NDSU -10

Oregon @ Boise State (-4.5) Two words…..smurf turf. Boise State 42, Oregon 35

Navy @ THE Ohio State (-22.5) The buckeyes get it rolling early and often on the overmatched Middies – OSU 42,  Navy 17

Georgia @ Oklahoma State (-4.5) I picked the Cowboys as my early surprise of the Big XII…we will see if I am right. OSU 35, Georgia 16

Nevada @ Notre Dame (-17.5) The Golden Domers win, but Nevada covers – ND 35, Nevada 21

Baylor @ Wake Forest (-5.5) A lot of Hype for Robert Griffith. This will determine if it is hype or hoax. Baylor 28, WF 27

Missouri @ Illinois (-5.5) Gone is Maclin, Daniel, Coffman … and the chance to beat Illinois this year. ILL 35,  Mizzou – 21

BYU @ Oklahoma (-21.5) Gresham will miss time, the Cougars are overmatched, but I think it will be closer than you think. OU 42,  BYU 24

Florida Atlantic @ Nebraska (-17.5) The Corn is golden in home openers. Neb 42,FAU 14

LSU (-14.5) @ Washington – Could be a surprise game. High expectations in Baton Rouge … but this is being played elsewhere. LSU 28, Wash 20

Ole Miss (-17.5) @ Memphis – Jevan Snead’s Heisman run begins on Saturday – Ole Miss 42, Memphis 10

Colorado State @ Colorado (-13.5) – Fierce rivalry. Hawkins is on the hot seat, but they get by this week. COL 31, COL St 28

Miami @ Florida State (-4.5) Remember when this was a big game, now it just pads Bobby Bowden’s win totals. FL St, 31 Miami 17

Western Michigan @ Michigan (-11.5) Rich Rodriguez needs a win, and some calmness in the program…I guess they are ready since all the guys have been practicing 80 hours a week. Mich  28, WMU 17

With Johnny Goodman out on assignment, I’m jumping in to bounce around the world of sports.

September Callup Time

Today marks the day when Major League Baseball teams can expand their rosters from 25 players to 40. Not all teams will call up an extra 15 players, though. Calling a player up to the major league starts his service time “clock”, which affects when they will become a free agent. Thus, the short term benefit of having the players in the major leagues for one month can be outweighed by the long term financial benefit of keeping him away from free agency for a full extra year.

However, September typically features the debut of a lot of players who are expected to contribute the following year. The teams get to see how the players adjust to playing major league competition, and the players get to play though a bit of the rookie “yips” in games that often don’t count for a whole lot.

For teams that are in playoff contention, the situation is much different. The expansion of rosters allows teams to add extra hitters to their bench and extra arms to the bullpen – making it possible for the bullpen to pitch more innings than normal in the throes of a pennant race.

On a related note, players acquired before midnight last night are eligible for postseason rosters.  (Confused about the fact that the trade deadline was a month ago?  Players acquired after July 31 must clear waivers first; players acquired earlier do not need to clear waivers.)  The NL West leading Dodgers acquired slugger Jim Thome from the White Sox and starting pitcher John Garland from the Snakes.  The Rockies countered by picking up pitcher Jose Contreras from the White Sox in exchange for prospect Brandon Hynick (a casual Facebook friend of mine).  Advantage to the Dodgers.

Rockies Update

My beloved Rockies just finished what I considered to be a critically important stretch that included seven games against the Giants and three against the division leading Giants. After taking three of four against the Giants, the Rockies took the first game from the Dodgers – pulling to within two games of the division lead in the process. Unfortunately, they lost the final two games of that series before being swept against the Giants in a series in the bay. The Rockies have fallen into a wild card tie with the Giants, setting up the potential for a great September race.

As for my favorite player, Troy Tulowitzki pushed his OPS (on-base-plus-slugging) over 1.000 for August on the strength of a homer and double in his August finale. After a dreadful start to the year, Tulo has record three straight months with a 1.000+ OPS.

Former Rockie Matt Holliday (now with the Cardinals) finished August with “only” a .963 OPS for the month, on the heels of a 1.150 OPS in July. Hidden by the arbitrary nature of the months of the calendar is a 24 game stretch beginning July 20 and ending August 15 in which Holliday posted a 1.355 OPS. While Holliday did manage to hit 7 homers during that stretch, it was the .474 batting average that was a major factor. The tricky thing for the Cardinals is whether or not they will be able to hammer out a new deal with Holliday’s agent, Scott Boras – or whether Holliday will test the free agent waters with a strong non-Coors season under his belt.

NFL

Fantasy Draft season is in full swing. This is a good sign that the NFL season in just around the corner.

On the positive side, we face a year without the “insight” of John Madden.

On the down side, my Minnesota Vikings gave $25 million to sign Brett Favre for two years. I’ve never been a fan of Favre, and his recent off-field antics have served to sour me on him even more. My plan is simply to ignore the NFL until it has been purged of Favre. I have really been focusing on baseball 365 days a year in recently years, anyway, so this should not be a major sacrifice.

College Football

College football also kicks off this weekend, highlighted by Iowa State’s Thursday night game against North Dakota State. I’m hopefully that Thursday’s game will be but the first step in a season that will end with a BCS Championship for my Cyclones.

Or maybe just a bowl.

The University of Michigan is making news for possible NCAA violations. Anonymous current and former players allege that the amount of time Wolverine players spent on football activities exceeded the limits set down by the NCAA. Michigan suffered their first losing season in more than 40 years in 2008, and this news can only be a distraction as they get ready to face Western Michigan in their maiden 2009 contest.

An exciting week in sports this week. I am still resting up from my trip to the Solheim Cup, and I am sure you are all ready to read something other than another golf article, so I will just touch on some golf briefly and move on.

Golf

A real win for the LPGA this week with a win for the United States Team in the Solheim Cup. It might have well spelled a coming out party for Michelle Wie, who along with Paula Creamer were clearly the stars of the US team. Wie went an impressive 3-0-1 in her four matches played. It is too easy to forget she is still very young has it seems like she has already been playing forever.

Sergio Garcia sees another opportunity slip by as he extinguishes a late lead on Sunday in yet another tournament. And what is up with the rugged bearded look Sergio? Go back to the clean shaven Michelob Poster Boy look, it is much better for you and I am sure your many sponsors would agree with that assessment.

Baseball

C.C. Sabathia became the majors first 15 game winner of 2009 as the Yankees continued to dominate over the Boston Red Sox. No love in Beantown right now as the Yanks have built an impressive lead and seem to be firing on all cylinders. The Yankees now have a huge 7 ½ game in the division … just a few months ago it seemed like this was totally out of the question for this year.

Today marks the 20th anniversary of Pete Rose’s lifetime ban from baseball. What I have always found fascinating about the Rose lifetime ban is that very few people are on the fence with an opinion. You either think Pete Rose should or should not be in the Hall of Fame. Even current Hall members are on different sides of the issue. There is no disputing however that the all time hit leader has some statistical support in many categories that warrant a spot in Cooperstown, only time will tell if the decision of Bart Giamatti is ever overturned.

Football

Brett Favre is back …. again …. I think I would un-retire for a cool twenty five million dollars over two years. The Vikings have the running game, they have the defense, I am not sure they have the receivers. All the Vikings really need to do is to manage the game offensively. This could be a huge year for Adrian Peterson if he stays healthy.

Latest line from Vegas….over/under for number of times the new “JerryTron” 60 yard long High Definition Jumbo screen gets hit by punts at the new Dallas Cowboy stadium this year….14 ½.

And finally …

The crazy comment of the week:

Lou Holtz makes a bold post season prediction for the BCS Title game. “ I personally believe, if you ask me, ‘Who’s going to play in the national championship game?’ I’d say it’s going to be Florida and the University of Notre Dame. They return 11 starters on offense. They return all three running backs, the two best wide receivers, they have a great defense coming back.”

And to think …. ESPN pays this guy …. wow.

Until next week … Good Luck with your last minute Fantasy Football drafts!

On Thursday, My wife and I attended the final practice round of the Solheim Cup being played at the fantastic Rich Harvest Farms golf course in Sugar Grove Illinois.

This article will rate the various experiences we had throughout the day. The LPGA is floundering a bit, losing a number of tournament sponsors, and recently the commissioner, Carolyn Bivens, stepped down. Women’s golf this week takes center stage and needs to score big, both on TV and with the fan base and nothing gets this to happen like a good ol fashioned continental rivalry.

We arrived at the course right as the gates were opening for practice round action. The weather was a little bit like it has been in the midwest most of the summer – windy, a bit rainy and unseasonably cool.

Play was delayed slightly because of the weather, so the spouse and I took up residence near the practice green area to watch some of the United States and European teams finest women golfers warm up for their rounds.

My wife has never attended a major golf event before this week. She was anxious to see many of the LPGA players as well as the greats of the Ladies European Tour (LET). She was also eager to get some autographs and multiple photo opportunities of the players and the course itself.

Our first stop was to hit the merchandise tent. Unfortunately, the Solheim Cup folks had failed to order in enough stock of many items. The tents were already out of pin flags (a popular item for autograph hounds) as well as a number of shirts were limited to just one size and a number of other items were “temporarily out of stock”.  We were informed they had actually run out of many of these items on Wednesday. Score – BOGEY – out of too many items on Wednesday is unacceptable, and as usual many things were way too overpriced.

Rich Harvest Farms is a wonderful golf course. It is not, however, fan friendly to walk. The course is very spread out over a huge amount of land, but the actual golf holes themselves are epic for a match play format. This is a tough golf course with superior bunkering and green complexes. Score – EAGLE

The players were out today completing their final practice round. The course is a long walk, so they took it a bit easy today I am sure to conserve energy for actual play. Mrs. Goodman took the time to rate the best … and worst of each team based strictly on their fan friendliness to the galleries. It is important to note that these opinions in many cases are only based on a thirty second contact, but as well all know, the first impression is the strongest.

European Team

Hole In One – Janice Moody. Actually she DID have a hole in one during Wednesday’s practice round. Janice took time to talk to the gallery, especially young kids and asked them questions. She was outstanding with autograph requests as well as photos.

Birdie – Catriona Matthew. The Women’s Open Championship winner this year was very polite and autographed the ball she was using during the round today and gave it to my wife. That extra bonus definitely moves her up the leaderboard here.

Bogey – Helen Alfredson – Stymied the crowds multiple times and even left her own teammates behind after 9 holes. They went back to the clubhouse, she wanted to play a few more … definitely had her game face on today and nothing else seemed to matter.

Double Bogey – Anna Nordqvist – Was a “No Show” on the course today and when asked by a few folks after the opening ceremonies about getting a photo or autograph, she looked exceedingly un-impressed.

Team USA

Eagle – Brittany Lang seemed to genuinely interact with the people and took a LOT of time signing autographs along the way.

Tap In Birdie – Angela Stanford – again was interacting with everyone along the way and after the opening ceremonies, she waited off to the side and took pictures with ANYONE who wanted one.

Birdie – Kristy Mc Pherson– The former Big Break star is still trying to make an impression with the fans, and succeeding.

Bogey – Paula Creamer – The Pinkster is no doubt one of the fan favorites. She is also one of the most saught after of the United States Players. She was the only person on the course my wife did not get an autograph from today, and sadly my wife wasn’t the only person that could say that. Paula did her best, but when others are taking all the time needed at every stop, and you are a player who is not, it stands out.

Triple Bogey – Natalie Gulbis. A fan favorite for some folks the REAL fan favorite was totally incognito today except for the opening ceremony. Cmon Natalie, you left too many guys disappointed.

And to end the day, the X on the scorecard goes to the parking at the Solheim Cup. We left immediately after the opening ceremonies took place and it took us almost 90 minutes just to get out of the parking lot. REALLY – take a lesson from other major tournaments with much larger crowds. There is no excuse for that type of delay.

Overall, it was an incredible experience and I cannot wait to see the real action on Friday.

As Y.E. Yang hoisted the Wannamaker Trophy with his named newly engraved as the winner of the 91st PGA Championship, the ink had not even dried on the headlines.

“After Fading in the PGA Championship, Tiger Woods’ Slump is Official

” Tiger Woods’ PGA Championship collapse sets up pivotal 2010

“ Tiger Woods Loses PGA Championship to South Korea’s Y.E. Yang

Too many of the fish wrappers state the obvious train wreck type of headline. Don’t bother giving any credit to Mr. Yang. After all, he was a golfer who had to go through qualifying school this year. He formerly was ranked 110th in the world rankings. He had only one PGA Tour golf tournament victory to his credit.

Was, Formerly, Had … all those are way in the past tense now.

Yang becomes arguably the biggest upset winner since Buster Douglas knocked out Mike Tyson. Douglas was the only guy in the place that night that seemed like he didn’t know he was supposed to go home on the wrong end of the stick. He was the guy that was going to get knocked out … not the guy DOING the knocking out.

This has to be one of the biggest sports stories in the history of South Korea. Yang will and should be lauded as a national sports hero. Heck he has won just two less major golf championships that all of the European golfers over the last 10 years combined.

Tiger Was 14-0 in Majors when holding at least a share of the 54 hole lead. Formerly he had played aggressive in many of those rounds, setting scoring records that may never be broken. He Had been untouchable in Majors when entering the final round. It was pretty much like bringing in Goose Gossage to face your kid’s little league team.

Was, Formerly, Had … in Tigers case these are being used in the present tense

And as many will celebrate the demise of the golf demi-god known as Tiger Woods, we get to see that at least on this weekend he was a mortal human … Not just a robotic, cannot be beat, machine like terminator that goes into the final round with the lead and says … I must break you.

The man Tiger is chasing, Jack Nicklaus, won 18 Professional Golf Majors (British Open, Masters, PGA Championship, US Open) in his career. Maybe more astounding than the 18 wins he that he finished second place in those same majors a remarkable 19 times. That means 19 times he was very, very close. Formerly, Jack was considered to be the best golfer of all time. Now many think it is Tiger Woods. Just think if maybe he had just one or two less lucky shots by an opponent, or avoided a bad break or slight miscue to hurt his chances, he might have 25 even 30 majors to his credit.

Was, Formerly, Had … I don’t think Jack dwells on this too much these days.

Regardless, what happens now will be interesting with Tiger. Many times in his career he seems to make it a point to do the unthinkable just to prove the naysayers wrong. After all, two of the traveling championships are at two of his favorite venues, the Old Course at St Andrews, and Pebble Beach.

Or, maybe he is getting a bit older. Maybe he has lost a bit. Maybe the rest of the field is getting better.

I did see one thing on Sunday’s final round that led me to believe he would not win the tournament. On the 7th hole when faced with a long approach 2nd shot on a reachable par 5, Woods chose to hit a bunt wedge to layup range. That was an unspectacular and non-heroic shot to be sure. Formerly a younger Tiger would never had made such a “safe” play. He would have ripped a 3 wood into the green and taken his chances. Was that a sign of older wisdom on the golf course, or a sign that the nerves are present to the guy who never seems to get nervous?

Was, Formerly, Had.

I am sure he is already thinking about Augusta next year.

Monday was a national holiday of sorts. It was the signing deadline for most of the players selected in this June’s Major League draft. College seniors (as well as Aaron Crow and Tanner Scheppers, who skipped their senior seasons to play in the independent leagues) were not bound by this deadline, but everyone else was.

My focus on this glorious day was on two pitchers – a righty and a lefty. The righty was top overall pick Stephen Strasburg and the lefty was Tyler Matzek, the #11 overall pick.

Stephen Strasburg

Strasburg has been the subject of much media attention over the last year or so. He has been an absurdly dominant college pitcher, throwing a fastball clocked as high as 103 mph. Superlatives were hurled at him by the bushel. Was he the best college pitcher ever? Surely the best in a decade? Many scouts deemed him to be the best player they had ever seen. To make things even sweeter, Strasburg’s coach at San Diego State – Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn – had made a concerted effort to avoid heaping abuse on Strasburg by avoiding monstrously high pitch counts in games. Many top college pitchers are overused by coaches eager to pad their own resumes with wins, at the expense of the health of their pitchers.

After the Washington National signed him, they bumped into the sticky subject of money. There were initial indications that Strasburg’s agent, Scott Boras, was looking for a deal around $50 million! Many thought that it was a slam dunk that he would hold out for $30 million.

There was a strong possibility that the Nationals would not be able to sign Strasburg, and he would re-enter the draft next year. The Nationals would be compensated with the #2 pick in the 2010 draft (an “n+1” formula is used to compensate teams that are unable to sign picks in the first two rounds, so the #1 overall pick in 2009 would yield a #2 in 2010). The Nationals are also likely to hold the #1 pick in next year’s draft by “virtue” of having the worst record this year. However, they would be unable to draft Strasburg a second time without his consent.

So, what happened? Negotiating went deep into the night, and the sides emerged with a deal that will pay Strasburg a reported $15.067 million and keep him under control of the Nationals for four seasons – at which point he will go into the arbitration system. This sounds like a ton of money (and it is) but I score this as a win for the Nationals. If they can lose enough games to land the #1 pick next year, they could add catcher Bryce Harper to the mix, and have a couple of very nice players for the long haul.

For more on Stephen Strasburg, read my fake interview from a few months ago.

Tyler Matzek

Rockies draftee Tyler Matzek garned a bit less attention than Strasburg. The Matzek selection was noteworthy for Rockies Nation, however. The small market Rockies have typically drafted players who were considered to be “signable” (a baseball euphemism for “cheap”) while eschewing players whose upsides were perceived to be higher.

Matzek, however, did not fit this description. Widely considered to be one of the top pitchers in the draft, high schooler Matzek slid down to #11 due to signability concerns (i.e. he wanted a lot of money), where the Rockies picked him. This move was the complete opposite of how the Rockies have historically drafted. Some observers felt that this was a strategic move by the Rockies. The thought was that they really didn’t want to pony up the money to pay a top pick this year, and would prefer to just take the compensatory pick next year.

For his part, Matzek talked a good game, talking about the opportunity to pitch and play first base for the University of Oregon.

Matzek arrived in Eugene, Oregon on Sunday night, which was not a good sign. However, when reports surfaced that Matzek had not attended Monday classes at the University of Oregon, my spirits soared. This was an indication that he might indeed sign with the Rockies.

In the end, Matzek left behind the world of co-eds and spring break for a reported $3.9 million bonus.

If you wonder what my initial response to the draft was, read the draftermath from June.