These are a collection of thoughts I’ve had about the world of sports the past few days.  None of them really deserve a full length article, so they’re all just kinda thrown together here.

I’m not quite sure what the Dodgers are trying to do with their offer to Manny Ramirez.  It’s rumored to be two years for $45 million.  I understand the concept of low balling to start of negotiations, but I get the feeling that Scott Boras is going to do to that offer what manager Lou Brown did to Roger Dorn’s contract in Major League, that is, take a piss on it.

Major League Baseball should probably take away the San Diego Padres right to call themselves a major league organization.  The only players who matter in San Diego (Jake Peavy, Adrian Gonzalez, and Trevor Hoffman) have all indicated that they have at least some interest in playing elsewhere because the team apparently has no plans to try to win.

These reports that MLB would never let Mark Cuban buy the Cubs are somewhat troubling to me.  If he is the highest bidder (which is probably a safe bet) why not let him buy the team?  Apparently Bud Selig is afraid of having an owner who will have the guts to stand up and say how bad he sucks as a commissioner.

It’s probably a safe bet to say that if Nick Saban went to Washington he could make the Huskies a contender within 3 years, right?  It’s also probably safe to assume he isn’t going to stay at Alabama for too long, he doesn’t exactly strike me as the loyal type.

I’m wonder what sort of golf karma is going to hit this idiot.  Here’s a guy who has recorded five hole-in-one’s in one week, something bad has to happen to him on the course right?  He must have had the worst bounces ever seen to man for the past 10 years in order to deserve recording a hole in one five times in one week.

I’m not sure what’s more hilarious about Andrew Giuliani; his lawsuit against Duke for kicking him off the golf team or the actions that got him the boot in the first place.  Giuliani’s lawsuit entails that Duke recruited him to play golf for the school and then proceeded to take steps to ensure he’d be removed from the team.  His bounty on the lawsuit?  Free access to the Duke golf facilities for the rest of his life.

Hey Andruw, your pops can’t spot you some change for a few range balls down at the local range?  Maybe if you didn’t want to be kicked off the team you shouldn’t have whipped that apple core at your teammate’s face.  Or maybe you shouldn’t have gone Happy Gilmore on your team and thrown your putter.  Or maybe you shouldn’t have spun your wheels and revved your engine in the parking lot of the course, a real classy act at a fine establishment such as a country club.  But you’re right, Andrew.  They recruited you to play and gosh darnit, you should never be denied that right.  God forbid they decide to recruit more players than they can hold and have to cut a few players.  God forbid they let you go after acting like a complete elitist dick to your teammates.

This whole story, though it won’t make front page headlines, is absolutely hilarious.  I love when rich kids don’t get their way and then swing their parent’s name around to get what they want.  Get over yourself, Giuliani.

As a side note, Andrew Giuliani looks identical to my buddy and leader of Red Sox Nation, Paul Metzler.

When Torrey Pines was chosen as host of the 2008 U.S. Open, everyone and their mother safely assumed Tiger Woods would probably waltz right into the South Course and leave with another major. With 18 holes still to play, Tiger’s 14th major is close enough to smell. While that’s a ridiculous feat in itself, yesterday’s performance goes down in golf lore. Simple as that.

It’s downright silly. Nursing a knee injury that left him out of tournament golf for ten weeks, Tiger Woods has been able to tame a 7600 yard monster course, even though his knee buckled after every shot on yesterday’s historic backnine. Tiger knew he would cringe in pain after every shot late on Saturday. Didn’t matter, he hit great shot after great shot in one of the most tense atmospheres in sports: The weekend at the U.S. Open. That’s freakish, that’s mindboggling…that’s Tiger.

Once again, the storylines appear to be lining up for Eldrick. Today is Father’s Day, and we all know the impact Tiger’s dad had on his historic success. So, with that said, what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon? Call up pops, lay your ass on the couch, and watch the magic continue. Tiger tees off at 4:30 p.m. EST, 18 holes away from cementing his legacy even further.

Every year, we know Tiger Woods will be his dominant self, shattering records and making millions. But we can also safely assume that someone will chime in and compare themselves to Woods. Two years ago, Stephen Ames commented on Woods’ erratic play, only to lose 9&8 to him in match play. Last year, Rory Sabbatini said Woods is more beatable than ever, only to get dismantled on Sunday by Tiger. And now, it’s Ian Poulter’s turn to say something stupid.

“Don’t get me wrong, I really respect every professional golfer, but I know I haven’t played to my full potential and when that happens, it will be just me and Tiger.”

Let’s get one thing clear, here. Poulter isn’t a bad player at all. In fact, he’s ranked 22nd in the world and has nine professional wins to his name. But he’s also not the caliber of player that can make this statement and not get laughed at. For all his success, Poulter hasn’t won a damn thing on the PGA Tour, with all of his success coming overseas. Compare Poulter’s accomplishments to Woods’ 62 PGA Tour wins and 13 majors and it’s obvious they’re not on the same universe, even on Pouler’s best day.

Poulter then went on to guarantee a victory in June’s U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Yes, the same Torrey Pines that Woods dismantled this past weekend. Despite having a grand total of one top ten finish at a major, we’re now supposed to believe Poulter can hang with the best player ever. I have news for you, Ian. By the time you reach that potential, Tiger’s game will continue to improve enough to leave you in the dust…again.

Hosts: Sonny and Ryan

In our new segment called the Sportable Soapbox, Sonny and I bash The Golf Channel’s Kelly Tilghman for her terrible advice on how to deal with Tiger Woods. We also assess the NCAA Tournament hopes of five surprise teams: Dayton, Rhode Island, Arizona State, Ole Miss and Vanderbilt.

Disclaimer: Unlike the Sportable Spot, the Soapbox is slightly more off-beat. It’s rated PG-13 due to language.

Updates: We’ll be adding the Sportable podcasts to the iTunes podcast directory, as well as a few others so that you can enjoy us on the go. There will be more on that later in the week, so stay tuned.

Also, we realize the audio quality has been shaky, we’ve been experimenting with bitrates, but that should be fixed by the next episode.

 

 Sportable Soapbox Episode 1 [18:33m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The folks at Parlayer have posted one of the best YouTube clips I’ve seen in my entire life. A few kids somehow tipped a golf cart and, after fixing whatever was wrong with it, decided to tip it back over and continue play. I don’t think they expected one of their friends to get owned when they did it but regardless, the camera was rolling.