Daily Zoot - 7/15/09 -

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-The appeal of the four major golf championships is very similar to that of the major tennis tournaments, they are played on completely different surfaces. The Masters is all about beauty; that is until you have to putt. The Us Open is playing with a tennis ball on a course made of velcro. The Open Championship (British) plays similarly to its tennis counterpart (Wimbledon) in that it plays low and fast. The Open isn't always played on a links style course, but this year it returns to arguably the most beautiful one in the world, Turnberry. Links golf is how the game was originally played; on flat ground, with indiscernible hole boundaries, a tree every 12 holes (if that), and more sand than Father Time's hourglass. 

Tiger Woods comes to Turnberry never having played the course before. You might think that would be a disadvantage, but you might think wrong. The last time he came to a course under those circumstances he walked away from Royal Liverpool with his 3rd Open Title back in 2006, so there goes that school of thought. Tiger has the most wins on tour this year, and oddsmakers have made him the heavy favorite. Add in some extra motivation (this is the first time Tiger has not held at least one of the four major trophies since 2004) and I tend to agree with the oddsmakers. 

Sergio Garcia has the second best odds to win the tournament, which is a bit of a surprise considering that he has yet to win a major title. But his style of play is suited for a links course. He is an exceptional ball-striker, but his putting and driving accuracy occasionally leave something to be desired. Those negatives can be neutralized (at least partially) on a course that is set up like Turnberry is. 

But again, I'm still taking tiger, because there really is no way anyone can convince me that anyone has a better chance than him. He might not be a lock, but if everyone has only got a chance to win, I'm taking the guy with the biggest slice of the pie. 

Daily Zoot - 7/13/09 - Slam Shots and Long Balls

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-Tonight is the MLB Home Run Derby, featuring St. Louis' Albert Pujols and 7 other players vying for 2nd place. There's no doubt (at least in my mind) that Pujols is going to win the contest tonight; and I'll go even further, if he doesn't win than the contest should be eliminated all together. What's the point of giving out a trophy for hitting a ball far if you're not going to give it to the guy who hits it the furthest the most frequently? 

The Home Run Derby features 4 players from each league, and the real story from this years contest is how pathetic the AL representatives are. The 4 NL players - Pujols, San Diego's Adrian Gonzalez, Philladelphia's Ryan Howard, and Milwaukee's Prince Fielder - have combined for an extremely convenient 100 hr's this season. The 4 Al players - Texas' Nelson Cruz (Who?) Detroit's Brandon Inge (A defensive specialist) Carlos Pena (batting a robust .228 this season) and Joe Mauer (hits for average more so than power, although in my opinion he has the best chance of any of the 4) - have combined for 82. They are four very good ballplayers, but the NL was able to send its best hitters, while the best hitters in the AL (see: Hamilton, Josh - Morneau, Justin - Texeira, Mark - Bay, Jason) decided to pass. 

Albert Pujols is attempting to win the triple crown, he would be the first to do it in over 30 years. He will be slugging tonight in front of his home-crowd, after receiving the second most all-star votes ever. Tonight should be more of a coronation than a contest. 

Daily Zoot - 7/10/09 - Tour de Zoot

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-Am I the only one who feels pretty badly about the feel good story of the summer? Lance Armstrong has returned to the Tour de France after taking 3 years off. Prior to that hiatus, Lance had won an amazing 7 straight tours. But somewhere in those three years he went from national hero, to kind of a deusche (at least in my eyes).

-Let me first show the other side of the coin. Lance became a hero because he overcame testicular cancer and was still able to dominate one of the most grueling competitions in the world for nearly a decade. He deserves and justly receives my respect for his ability to do that. His Livestrong campaign has generated a ton of money for his charity, and he made yellow, and bracelets ok things for men to wear; no easy feat. Its the things he has done off the bike that bothers me. There's no single thing that he does wrong, but everything he does just seems to rub a little bit of the luster off the reputation he worked so hard to build. 

-First came the doping allegations. Its important to note that he hasn't ever tested positive, but the allegations alone are enough to taint his legacy somewhat (not sure if thats fair, but thats the way it goes). Doping in Cycling is as common as using yeast to bake, but it doesn't make it any worse. 

-He goes through women like I go through ice cubes. The ink was still drying on his divorce papers when he started dating Sheryl Crow in 2003. Since then he has dated a handful of celebutants, including Kate Hudson and a rumored Ashley Olsen (I understand Ashley Olsen is hot, but can you really hook up with somebody who you met first as a baby on Full House? Lance: Would you like to go out to dinner? Ashley: You got it Dude)

-He started hanging out shirtless with Mathew Mcconaughey and Jake Gyllenhaal (both hard names to spell mind you); and not just while exercising, the man was topless 75% of the time. Anybody who hangs out topless just for the sake of it isn't a friend of mine. 

-This entire comeback just seems a little "I told you so." It seems like he is coming back to show us that he can and not for himself. That kind of chip on your shoulder can be a good source of motivation, but if you've already won 7 tours, there isn't really anything left to prove. We get it Lance, you can ride a bike real fast.

Now I will be happy when Lance wins (and he is probably going to win) because he represents our country, but I won't necessarily be happy that he won.

Daily Zoot - 7/9/09 - RaZoot Wallace!

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-By far the hardest part about writing this Zoot will be having to chose only one picture of Rasheed Wallace to include. Sheed is somebody who has never had a problem with showing his emotions on the court, and as a result there is no shortage of pictures of him with among the most ridiculous facial expressions you'll ever see; that one just happend to be my favorite (other examples 1, 2, 3, and 4). That emotion can also come out in less funny ways; ie technical fouls. Sheed has the most techs since he came into the league in 1995, and is one of the most hated players among officials and opposing fans.

Luckily for me, I am no longer one of those opposing fans. Rasheed Wallace officially signed with THE Boston Celtics Wednesday, and will be introduced to the media in his green #30 jersey later this afternoon. Sheed will bring his attitude (good and bad), his long-armed defense, and 3 point range to a team that is in need of all 3 categories. So Celtics fans should welcome Sheed, and in the mean time let me help you get to know the newest C:

-Sheed was the 92-93 High School Player of the year, leading his team to an undefeated season and a state title. He averaged 16 pts, 15 rebs, and 7 blocks a game which is astounding considering he only played 19 minutes a game. His coach was too nice of a guy to play him for any longer.

-(My Favorite tidbit) Sheed is the only player ever to be ejected from the McDonald's All-American Game, seriously.  And this totally captures the relative insanity of Rasheed Wallace. Should he have gotten kicked out of that game? No, its ultimately nothing more than a glorified all-star game. But at the same time, is it hurting anybody? Nobody is saying that Sheed will come to Boston and be Shenanigan-free, but as long as he keeps his antics to the good natured variety, I don't think anyone will complain.

-He is a 4 time all-star with career averages of  15 pts, 7 rebs, and nearly 2 assists. 

-He is a fantastic dancer, and please do follow this link to watch the rest of them, it will be very much worth your time..  

Daily Zoot - 6/24/09 - NBA Draft Prezoot

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-The NBA draft is coming and its among the most wonderful times of the year. Every team enters with a litany of gaping holes. And every team leaves with the belief that they have acquired the missing piece they need; when it turns out that only 1, maybe 2 if its a particularly good year, actually have. The draft can last anywhere from 3 hours to 3 weeks, but if you don't want to commit that much time and attention, here are the two best stories to keep an eye on.

-The man in Green above is Ricky Rubio. He's been playing professionally in Spain since he was 14, and has been on the international basketball radar seemingly since he was inutero. Scouts say he is the most gifted passer we've seen in the draft in about 15 years, with a chance to be the next Pistol Pete. Haters say he isn't strong enough or a good enough shooter to hang in the NBA, and that he looks too much like comedian Demetri Martin. He is still under contract with his Spanish team and the potential buyout, one that Rubio would have to pay himself, could be more than the salary he would command on his rookie contract. That and concerns over his willingness to play in Memphis and Oklahoma City (Do you blame him?) make him and what jersey he will wear next season the most compelling story of the entire draft. 

-The other guy in that picture is Brandon Jennings, you already know about him. He could go anywhere from 5/6 to the Wolves to falling out of the lottery all together. With Rubio, the story ends when he is drafted; With Jennings, his selection is just the beginning. Jennings was the first high profile player to skip college and play a year abroad before heading to the pros. While overseas he struggled to earn playing time, and struggled to adapt to living overseas. Where he gets picked, and his level of preparedness when he hits his first training camp will say a lot about how popular his career path ends up becoming.

Other than those two, its going to end up being straight forward. Maybe a surprise pick here and there (spoiler alert; those surprises will be coming from the Knicks) but the draft should be untraditionally chalk. Unless the Celtics end up trading Rajon Rondo, in which case everyone can enjoy the incredible hissy fit I will be throwing; but short of that, it will be a pretty tame evening. 

Daily Zoot - 6/22/09 - Major Dissapoint-zoot

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-Does anybody want to win the US Open? Anybody at all? Save for the charge that Phil Mickelson is currently making....and unmaking (more on that tomorrow) there hasn't been an ounce of movement on the leaderboard since it got put up on Thursday. It's not that the US Open isn't exciting, it just isn't anything at all. Now I'm a huge propenent of hype, I'm a near professional hype-man, but even I thought that there was too much heading into this tournament: 

-The Open was back at Bethpage Black, the first public course ever to host the Open would be hosting it for the second time. The fans there have a history of getting raucous (drunk) and the atmosphere is unlike any arena in golf. Its like a Rutgers Football Game let out directly into the Grandstands at 17. 

-If the stands at Bethpage are filled with drunken jesters, and they are, then Phil Mickelson is their king. The last time the Open came to BPB (yeah, I'm doing that) 7 years ago, Phil came in with the title, "Best Player Never to Win A Major." The crowd tried to carry him to his first, but he couldn't quite make it. Shortly after that the fans at BPB legally adopted Phil as their child. Add in the the tragic diagnosis of Phil's wife Amy with Breast Cancer, and the support for Lefty is through the hypothetical roof (boy, don't they wish they had a real one). 

-Tiger was back, healthy, and had won as recently as two weeks prior. When he played the Master's everybody was unsure of how he would hold up in his first major in 8 months, knee-wise and mind-wise. Here, he was again the favorite. It was back to Tiger-or-the-field status.

I'll be the first to admit that the rain was probably the main reason the tournament failed to live up to expectations; I have enough trouble walking to the mailbox when its drizzling, let alone 18 holes when its pouring. But on Sunday, Father's Day, there were almost no moves made on the leaderboard, by anyone, in any direction. The leaders both shot 70, and the challengers shot no better than 69, and no worse than 71. It was good golf on a hard course, but it served to accomplish nothing. As I sit and watch Monday's final round, more of a decomposition actually, I am happy that anything is happenening. While it may not be the great golf I was hoping for, it is something, and thats always better than the alternative. 

Daily Zoot - 6/19/09 - The Blind Scales of Zoot

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-A few days ago, Cleveland Brown's WR Dante Stallworth reached a plea agreement in his DUI Manslaughter case. A few months ago he was driving down the Miami strip at 7 am and ran over a guy who was waiting for the bus on his home from (even worse) work. At the scene Stallworth blew a .12, well above the legal limit of .08 (like I need to remind you of that). His sentence? 30 days in prison, 2 years of house arrest, and 8 years probation. Mike Vick got almost 2 years for dog fighting, Dante only gets one for killing a human being. Yeah that sounds about right...yikes.

 Now I hate to get into this because god knows Peta is grasping at straws these days and will get up in arms about anything (really Peta? I know there's no such thing as bad publicity but I'd like to think that you would try and attract the good kind, even just once) but shouldn't the death of a person carry some more legal weight than that of a household pet? Why does he even look remotely upset in that picture? He came as close to getting away with murder as you realistically can. 

The story got a little deeper yesterday as Roger Goodell suspended Stallworth from the NFL indefinitely. Kudos to Goodell for punishing Stallworth for longer than our legal system. I've been trying to figure out how somebody can admit and take responsibility for taking another life and still only get 30 days in jail, then this came out. Ah, yes...mone; the cause of and solution to all of life's problems (simpsons). How many years in prison would any non-NFL player get for a fatal car accident comitted while being well above the legal limit? 

The chances that Stallworth makes it back to the NFL and does so with the support of both the league and the fans are minimal. Ray Lewis made it all the way back because he only suffered murder allegations (not that he didn't kill that guy, he probably did, they just couldn't prove it). Stallworth might be able to make a living playing football again, but he likely won't be able to make the same life he did before. 

Daily Zoot - 6/17/09 - The Prodigal Zoot

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-That gentleman, excuse me that boy, above is Bryce Harper. I call him a boy because he is only 16 years old. Bryce is the next "can't miss" prospect (can't is not totally accurate in this usage; Hideki Irabu, Michael Olowokandi, and Ryan Leaf say hello) . He is 6'3", plays catcher but sports a 96 mph fastball just for fun. That photo was taken at a homerun hitting showcase (I didn't know they had those either) in which he hit the longest homerun in the history of Tropicana Field the home field of the Tampa Bay Rays. Thats particularly impressive considering that the Trop is a place where grown men try to hit a ball as far as they can for a living-everyday. The ball went 502 feet, and would have gone further had it not hit the back wall of the stadium. 

Bryce was on the cover of Sports Illustrated a few weeks ago being touted as baseball's Lebron. At the time, everyone said, "well I hope this doesn't go to his head." Well it ended up going to his faster than anyone could have imagined. It went directly to his head, it didn't pass go, it didn't collect $200. This week, Bryce made the decision to drop out of high school (he just finished his sophomore year) and will take a GED program, in an attempt to make himself elligible for the 2010 draft, as opposed to the 2011 had he stayed in school. If he makes it, he will be picked by the National's (its not official yet because the season isn't over so its not definite that they will finish with the worst record, but they've been so bad this year they might get awarded the number one pick in the NFL draft as well)

We've seen this kind of thing before, but this is the first time with baseball. By all accounts, this isn't a need thing like it was with Brandon Jennings. Bryce has a 3.5 gpa, and even spends his free time doing community service (isn't that nauseating? not that community service is bad, I just don't think anyone should be so good at everything, its unfair to the rest of us) There aren't any rules against what Harper is doing, and on the surface it isn't a totally bad thing. He is going to get what amounts to a high school education. He will be able to make the pros, and that paper much faster than he would have had he stayed in school. But to me, like so many others who give their opinions unnecessarily, it just doesn't feel right.