What a Weekend in Sports

Issue: Uh, dude, it's Wednesday...are you talking about this past weekend or this coming weekend?

Short Answer: Sorry, my days run together...this past weekend was phenomenal.

Reasoning: Sports is my life and always has been.  I even love the sports I stink at.  And, for all you ladies out there, sports is the best reality television available.  There are no scripts (unless we are talking about boxing), no cuts, no second takes, and drama is always abound.  "It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings," was coined by the great Yogi Berra, and, it applied in his day, applies in ours now, and will apply in the future as well.  This weekend was full of happenings which demonstrate the greatness of sport and why I love them, all of them, so much.  Let's take a look at what I'm talking about:

• Steve Stricker is the man.  Steve Stricker is an old man competing in a young man's game.  Tiger Woods is aging, and we have seen his health deteriorate, his game deteriorate, and, yes, his marriage deteriorate (I couldn't resist).  Yet, Stricker seems to be flourishing at a time when most men his age are trying to hold on for dear life.  Stricker is 44 years old, which is not old by any means, but most of the guys he is competing against are in their 20's (re: Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Martin Kaymer, Charl Schwartzal, etc.).  At last week's John Deere Classic, Stricker showed us again that age isn't anything but a number.  Stricker entered Sunday's final round at -20, three shots clear of the field.  Most everyone thought "steady" Steve would run away with the tourney.  However, some bad play by him and a string of 5 birdies on 6 holes by Kyle Stanley had the two tied with four holes to play.  Stricker then did exactly the opposite of what everyone thought he would do...bogey 15 and 16.  Now two shots down with two to play, Stricker needed a miracle.  He drained a 20-foot birdie on 17 to pull within one.  Stanely bogied the 18th with a missed 10-footer, and the players were tied.  However, Stricker had the most unfortunate of lies on his approach to the 18th green.  Take a look at what he did:

No lay-up.  No safe play.  He attacked that shot with one goal in mind...winning the tournament.  And he did.  Kudos Steve, kudos.  Oh, by the way, it was the third consecutive year he has won the John Deere Classic.

• Mark Montgomery's unbelievable pitching line.  (Thanks to my man Tim for finding this one)  I've been around the game of baseball long enough to think I've seen everything.  Yet, every single time I go to the park, I see something I have never seen before.  That is what makes the game so fun to watch.  And, along those lines, here is something I have never seen before, and will probably never see again: Mark Montgomery, RHP, 1 IP, 2H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0BB, 5 K, 2 WP.  Let me explain for those of you who don't follow - Montgomery struck out 5 hitters in one inning!!!  Two of them happened to reach on wild pitches (drop third strike rule), so either this dude has some unreal stuff, or Charleston needs to start looking for a new catcher.  I am willing to bet this is the first occurrence of 5 strikeouts in one inning, ever, above the Little League level.  Truly unbelievable.
• The hapless San Diego Padres at it again.  As a franchise, the Padres have NEVER thrown a no-hitter.  They are obviously not easy, but you would think someone, sometime, would have thrown one, but, since the Padres usually stink, it's not that far-fetched.  Saturday looked like the day Padre history would change (notice I said "looked").  Aaron Harang was making his first start off the disabled list on Sunday (thankfully it wasn't for the Reds this time, but the Padres).  Usually when a pitcher comes off the DL a strict pitch count is enforced by the team.  So, when Harang had thrown 95 pitches after the 6th inning, the Padres pulled him.  What makes this a bit odd is the fact that Harang had not allowed a single hit in those six innings.  Problem is, the Padres only managed one hit in those six innings, and the score was knotted at zero.  Josh Spence, a left-handed reliever, replaced Harang in the 7th and he struck out Andre Ethier.  Chad Qualls then replaced Spence.  An error, a walk, a pop-out, and a ground out later, and the Padres had no-hit the Dodgers through seven.  Mike Adams replaced Qualls at the beginning of the 8th inning.  It was an eventful inning, but Adams made it through without giving up a hit.  The Padres went in order in the top of the 9th, so the game went to the bottom of the 9th tied at zero, and there had been exactly ONE HIT in the entire game (by the Padres Cameron Maybin, if you were wondering).  Luke Gregerson replaced Adams in the 9th and he struck out Matt Kemp and forced James Loney to ground out to 1st base.  That's right, 8 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball...you know what's coming, don't you?  Gregerson promptly gave up a double to Juan Uribe, and the no-hitter ended.  But it gets better.  The very next batter, Dioner Navarro, singled to center field, and the game was over.  The Padres had been one out from their first ever franchise no-hitter, and they lost the game 1-0.  From no-hitter to walk-off loss.  Ouch.
• Derek-freakin'-Jeter.  If he weren't a Yankee, he would probably be my favorite player of all time.  He plays the game right.  He plays the game hard.  He is a smart player, and you can tell just by watching him play the game.  He is a first ballot Hall-of-Famer.  And, he has a flair for the dramatic.  Going into Saturday's game against the Tampa Bay Rays, Jeter needed 2 hits to reach the magical mark of 3,000.  George Brett had already publicly said that 3,000 is the hardest hit to get because of the constant media attention.  Jeter himself had admitted he was going up to the plate with the approach that he was swinging at everything, no matter what.  Some people, I'm sure, were ready for Jeter to take quite a bit of time to reach the magical number.  But, we are talking about Derek Jeter here.  He singled in his first at-bat for his 2,999th career hit.  Then, in the bottom of the 3rd, he did this (I put the Spanish version in here for two reasons: 1) it was the shortest version; 2) I love Spanish baseball announcers (hit numero tres mil!):

Just another tidbit for Derek Jeter's Hall-of-Fame plaque.  Oh, by the way, the fact that he is the first player to ever do this as a Yankee (all 3,000 as a Yankee that is) means absolutely nothing.  The Yankees have historically been a buy and sell team, even when it comes to superstars.  Jeter is just the one guy who the Steinbrenner's never felt like trading, so he had his 1st and his 3,000th hit as a Yankee.  Too bad, it would have been way cooler had he had all 3,000 hits as a Cincinnati Red.

• U.S. Women's soccer beats Brazil in the World Cup Quarterfinals.  I saved this for last because I thought it was the coolest, most dramatic, and possibly, most important sporting event of the weekend.  I realize that some may be surprised by that, given that baseball and golf are my passions, but, I watched this game from start to finish, and it was breathtaking.  The U.S. jumped out to a 1-0 lead on an own goal by a Brazilian chick who's name I can't pronounce or spell.  Then the U.S. got screwed royally.  A penalty kick save by Hope Solo was nullified, and the second chance was all Marta (the best women's soccer player in the world) needed.  She buried the PK to tie the score at 1-1.  She then had a goal that I'm still not sure how it went in (and I'm still not sure how the lineswoman missed the offsides on the play) to put Brazil up 2-1.  In the 122nd minute (the game only lasted that long because of a Brazilian player obviously faking an injury) the U.S. women pulled this off:

If you don't have chills, you aren't alive.  Go see a doctor.  This was one of the greatest games I have seen in any sport, at any time, any place, period.  This game had everything: the ups (U.S. taking an early lead), the downs (U.S. falling behind 2-1), the villains (Marta, the Australian referee), and the heroes (Rapinoe, Wambach).  In a game, men's or women's, that is what is needed for a game to be great, and this one was just that.  However, I'm not completely sold on this being one of the most dramatic moments in sports history.  Let's save those for Super Bowls, World Series, and NBA Finals.  Let us take a step back and remember, this is still women's soccer, and in the U.S., it doesn't matter much.  The only reason we (we being those of us who don't particularly care for soccer in the first place, and, for the record, I am not one of these people) cared about this game in the first place is because these women are wearing USA across their chests.  Take away that, and you have another game that no one really cares about.  This game happened on the biggest stage in women's soccer (not sure how big that really is), it involved the U.S., and it happened in front of the world, and that is why we care.  The game of women's soccer will grow because of this, but that won't make people in the States care about it anymore than they do now.  That is, until the World Cup of 2015 comes around, the ladies put on their USA jerseys again, and we cheer for our country once again.  I'd cheer for a women's cricket team if they had USA on their shirts.  Oh yeah, Hope Solo is hot.