08/02/08

Leading Off
Who is the only golfer in PGA Tour history to make a hole-in-one on a Par 4?


Free Throws
NHL
-Scotty Bowman is making waves and he hasn’t even jumped in the pool…yet. Bowman, was without question the greatest coach to ever step behind a bench in the NHL. He never played in the NHL because a head injury ended his career in junior. But the injury sure didn’t affect his coaching as he put together 16 straight winning seasons before going 18-18 with the sabres in 1986. Bowman has been involved in the Red Wings organization in some capacity for the past 15 years, but is now gone, as he heads for the Windy city. Bowman elected to become the Blackhawks “Senior Advisor”, an unnecessary position to say the least, now intensifying the rivalry between the Hawks and Wings. Just think of Don Cherry going to TSN. Yeah, that’s about what it feels like to be a Red Wings fan right now. You’re left with the awkward situation of having Ron MacLean and Kelly Hrudey do behind the mask every Saturday night. The real reason who Bowman is joining the Blackhawks is to work with his son Stan, who is director of hockey operations (as opposed to football operations?) for the Blackhawks. As far as I know the Red Wings aren’t bitter about the transfer. In fact, I don’t think there is any controversy in this story at all. Then why am I talking about it? Moving on!

NFL
-Lots of controversy in this story. The latest episode of As the Favre Turns, shows the Packers dishing out a $20M, 10-year contract to Brett Favre. Sounds kind of low, doesn’t it? That’s because they’re paying him not to play. That’s right, the Green Bay Packers are willing to pay a Hall of Fame Quarterback more than I’ll ever make in my lifetime, to stay away from the football field. Heck, I’ll stay away from the football field for 20 bucks. Favre was apparently considering the offer, but we’ll likely have to wait until Monday to get an answer, because that’s when Roger Goodell is expected to reinstate Favre. After that happens, the Packers are on the clock with 24 hours to sign him, release him, trade him, hide him in a big block of cheese or send him to the CFL, the official garbage disposal of the National Football League since 1958.

-Now The Sports Epidemic performs: Another Day at Panthers training camp, starring Steve Smith and Ken Lucas.
Steve Smith: I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t grab me while I’m running my route.
Ken Lucas: You had a bug on your jersey. It could have been carrying Malaria, you should be thanking me.
SMACK!
Ken Lucas: What was that for?
Steve Smith: You had a bug on your face.
Okay, so maybe that’s not exactly what happened, but who’s counting anyways. That’s basically the way I see it. Receiver with anger issues angry with too much grabbing. DB defends himself. Receiver hulks up. DB gets thumped. Anyway you look at it, Steve Smith is out of the Panthers training camp for a while, with an almost definite suspension and fine. This is the 3rd such incident with Smith, the last of which, required anger management. Apparently Lucas suffered a black ey…THIS JUST IN: Brett Favre supports Snappers. Not the Fish silly, the lawn mowers.

SAL
-Fight! Fight! Fight! It’s not too often I mention the ole South Atlantic League, but when there’s a brawl like this one, I tend to stand up and take notice. There’s nothing wrong with a bench-clearing brawl, especially when tempers were as high as they were last night, but when you bring fans, no, paying customers, into to the fight with you, you’ve crossed the line. Julio Castillo was caught on video, throwing a baseball into the crowd (he was aiming at the dugout…poor aim). The baseball hit a fan in the forehead and sent him to the hospital. Fortunately Castillo was treated accordingly, being suspended for 60 games and charged with felonious assault. Fourteen other players and both managers were suspended. Which brings up one important question: Who’s going to play the next game? By the way , you can check out the video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZHYk5NxYek). You can see Castillo throwing the ball at 0:13.

ATP
-One question: How does it feel to be #1, Nadal?


Daily Dose
Victoria Azarenka Vs. Dinara Safina (Hey, it’s what I’m watching right now.)