Last week was a very interesting week in sports. To start, Brett Favre began toying with our emotions again by leaking little pieces of information to lead us to speculate on his retirement. This is just his little game he plays leading up to the season to keep us interested in him and keep him in the headlines. I am 90% sure that Favre will play this season but he won’t announce his intentions to play until the last couple weeks leading up to the regular season. The man doesn’t want to participate in all of the practicing and training camps during preseason and so he will straddle the retirement line until all the preseason stuff is almost over.
In the middle of the week Alex Rodriguez finally hit his 600th homerun to become one of the few to ever do so. It is a major feat and should be respected but unfortunately the steroid issue with Alex will always tarnish his career, especially with homerun numbers. But still, hitting 600 baseballs out of the park is really cool. How many of us can say we’ve even hit one?
Then over the weekend Tiger Woods displayed the worst ever performance of his professional golfing career. It was ugly to watch but like a car wreck you just couldn’t stop watching. He couldn’t hit his shots if his life depended on it and he continued to slide into disappointment. It undoubtedly has to do with his current family situation and how his practice and work routine has been altered. He has a lot of work ahead of him to get his golf game back to where it was and he may never do it again but there is no way he is going to go out like this. Tiger will be back to his winning ways and performances like his last will stick with him until he erases it by completely smashing some sort of course record and proving to us again he is the best.
To top it all off the NFL Preaseason officially began with the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals playing in the annual Hall of Fame Game. The Bengals got to put Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco out on the field for the first time and the Cowboys got to take the first step towards their goal of playing in the Super Bowl in their home stadium. So let the Fantasy Football leagues begin their drafts and start to clear your Sunday schedules because professional football is coming and it’s bigger than ever before.
Top 3
1. Golf – PGA Championship – August 12-15
Normally this is where I would say you should watch just because Tiger Woods is involved and after last week’s career low performance I am even more adamant about watching because of him. How will he react after that disgraceful (for his standards) performance? Will he fall even lower or come back stronger than ever? Most likely he will play better but it will not be what it used to be because that will take time and a clear head. For now we should watch to see who will step up and win this major tournament and step into the limelight. Perhaps Phil Mickelson will finally be able to firmly grasp the top player in the world status without simply slipping into it because Tiger wasn’t winning. Come on Phil, step up and take what’s yours. So don’t count on a win from Tiger, but if he does win you better make sure you were watching.
2. MLB – Los Angeles Dodgers at Philadelphia Phillies – August 10-12
These teams have met for the last two National League Championship Series and now they are each fighting to just make it into the playoffs. Each team has been hit hard with injuries to their big power-hitters and position players and this has caused them to just not win the way their used to. The Dodgers are in a very good division this year that has the best team in the National League, the San Diego Padres, and they have not been able to get close to the top for a very long time. The Phillies are struggling in a division that has the second best team, the Atlanta Braves, who have shocked the league by being as good as they are. These teams each need wins (badly) and with the season winding down every game means a lot. They will treat these games like a playoff series and scrap for every run until only one team is left standing and a little bit closer to first place. Some serious baseball will be played.
3. NFL Preseason – New Orleasn Saints at New England Patriots – August 12 @ 7:30 pm
FOOTBALL IS FINALLY HERE!!!! It may just be the preseason but it will be the first time we get organized, uniformed teams playing against each other and deciding a winner. The big stars may only play for 10 minutes or so but finally we will get to see Drew Brees and Tom Brady sling the ball out for touchdowns. These games generally don’t mean much in the long run and the games are mainly for coaches to see how their bench players can hold up and decide any position changes that may still be up in the air. So don’t get too excited if your teams wins or losses and just enjoy the fact that grown men are running, jumping, catching footballs and hitting each other again. I’ll be completely honest, there won’t be very much memorable in this game except for the fact that it has been months since there has been any sort of football played. Watch the first 20 minutes and then take your kids outside and play actual football with your kids while the weather is still nice enough to.
Quick Picks
- With the baseball season coming to a close in the next few months, the remaining games are more important than ever. Check out the MLB schedule to see where your team is playing and when.
- The NFL regular season is almost here, until then you will need to make due with preseason football. Here is the schedule for all the games that happen before the real games begin.
