One of the underreported curiosities about the decisions to rid the Olympics of baseball and softball in favor of rugby and golf is that a golf course is a good bit harder to build than a softball diamond.
So if you’d like to give Rio a hand …
Olympic Design “Contest” Announced… – GeoffShackelford.com, With GolfDigest.com -.
A message came in over Twitter from a private feed (I’ll identify him if he likes), asking a good question: “Why on earth do you engage with complete morons?”
This was in response to last night’s Twitter fight, in which I was arguing with two guys with a combined Twitter followership of less than 50 people about the incident at yesterday’s Masters in which Bergen Record columnist Tara Sullivan was denied entry into the locker room.
No one credible is jumping to say Sullivan shouldn’t have been in the locker room. Her male colleagues rallied to share quotes with her. Augusta National very quickly apologized and pinned the blame on a misinformed security guard.
Don’t confuse the Sullivan case with the question of whether the locker room should be open in the first place. That’s a legitimate question, raised recently by Toronto FC’s Aron Winter. The norm in other countries and many smaller-scale U.S. leagues (including Women’s Professional Soccer) is to keep the locker room closed but make athletes available for interviews in a timely fashion. Some sports handle it better than others, of course. But if the powers that be have decided that the most expedient way to handle interviews is to open the locker room, then barring women at the door is an impediment to their jobs.
As my buddy hoover_dam said: “Either you let everyone in or you do a mixed zone where you let nobody in. Get with it, ya jerks.”
I have survived Double Deadline Day. I survived the sauna that passes for RFK Stadium’s press box. I survived the long Metro ride home, which ended with a ranting woman accusing me of using my Blackberry to transmit shortwave signals into her head to make her hair fall out. (Among other problems corroborating such an accusation: She had a very healthy head of hair.)
So what will I be watching now that all of this is done? There’s the British Open, which some will watch for Tiger drama but I enjoy for the spectacle of seeing pro golfers deal with bunkers that look like they’re hiding the Millennium Falcon. The Tour de France has a good two-man race between defending champ Alberto Contador and youngster Andy Schleck. And there’s soccer, soccer and more soccer.
FRIDAY
7 p.m.: Soccer, Manchester United-Celtic. Euro friendlies have always struck me as something I’d much rather watch in person than on TV, but plenty of people would disagree with me on that. Must be a considerable number disagreeing with me, as this game is taking up an ESPN network’s air time rather than filling summer time slots on FSC. ESPN2
9 p.m.: Boxing, Zab Judah-Jose Armando Santa Cruz. Unusual to see a name like Judah’s on the Friday Night Fights card. ESPN2
SATURDAY
3:35 a.m.: Rugby, Tri-Nations, New Zealand-South Africa. See Travis’ preview.
5 a.m.: Golf, British Open coverage starts with multiple angles/holes online, then on TV at 7 a.m. ESPN/ESPN3.com
8:30 a.m.: Cycling, Tour de France, Stage 13. Versus
Noon: Soccer, USA-Switzerland, U-20 Women’s World Cup. Fresh from a stunning 1-1 draw with Ghana, which would apparently frustrate the USA in every sport ever invented, the young Americans try to regroup against the Swiss. Good news for the Swiss: They have Atlanta Beat prodigy Ramona Bachmann. Bad news: They lost their opener 4-0 to South Korea. ESPNU/ESPN3.com
4 p.m.: Soccer, San Jose-Tottenham. Really? This friendly is on TV while Philly-Toronto (3:30), Columbus-New York (7:30), Dallas-Salt Lake (8:30) and Colorado-Kansas City (9) are on Direct Kick and online? OK, then. Columbus-New York won’t feature Thierry Henry’s debut, but the Red Bulls could leap over the Crew into first in the East. ESPN/ESPN Deportes
7:30 p.m.: Soccer, USA-Sweden women. Tale of two halves when these teams met earlier in the week. The USA dominated the first half and finally got a goal. Early in the second, Amy Rodriguez hit the crossbar, and Sweden scored on a counter. It finished 1-1, with Sweden looking better the rest of the way. That’s not normal for a home game and speaks to a possible depth problem. Fox Soccer Channel
SUNDAY
6 a.m.: Golf, British Open. All feeds live at the same time. ESPN/ESPN3.com
7:30 a.m.: Cycling, Tour de France, Stage 14. Versus
3 p.m.: Soccer, Seattle-Celtic. Again, huge game if you’re within driving/train-riding distance of Qwest Field. Or if you have a fierce Celtic tie. ESPN/ESPN Deportes
5 p.m.: Soccer, WPS, Boston-Washington. The Breakers are making a charge with two straight wins, while the goals have dried up for the Freedom. FSC
7:30 p.m.: Soccer, MLS, D.C. United-Los Angeles. Both teams looking to rebound from a loss. There, the similarities end. It’s worst vs. first at RFK. (Technically, D.C. is a point ahead of Philly, but the Union have three games in hand.) FSC
MORE MYRIAD
When Phil Mickelson is asked what to serve at the Champions Dinner at next year’s Masters, he should ask if everyone has had enough Tiger barbecue.
It takes a lot to make anyone feel sympathy for a serial adulterer, but the breathless Tiger coverage has done it. Over the weekend, Woods’ every word has been scrutinized as much as the Bill of Rights has in the last 220 1/2 years.
Indeed, the Masters weekend has shown us that media coverage tends to be consistent — within a finite period of time. Commentator A will usually agree with Commentator B, disagreeing only over to what degree they agree — in other words, who agrees the most.
But over a longer scope of time, media coverage is wildly inconsistent. Tom Hanks’ “Mr. Short-Term Memory” would’ve been a good pundit.
Consider Phil Mickelson, cast as “good” in this weekend’s “good vs. evil” morality play. That wasn’t always the case, of course. A couple of years ago, Mickelson was fair game for teasing such as this. And he hasn’t always been the friendliest guy with the media. Not sure anyone could blame him, given the way he was constantly criticized for being too aggressive on the golf course, always embracing a risk-reward shot no matter how great the risk.
It would take a brave or foolish pundit to go against the grain on Mickelson this weekend under any circumstances. His wife and mother were diagnosed with breast cancer within a few weeks of each other last year. And that swashbuckling form that many in the media hated had always earned him a cult following. (Disclosure: I always considered myself more aligned with the “cult following” than the “media,” though perhaps that’s because I almost always go against the mob mentality.)
This weekend, everyone’s applauding Phil’s daring shots and bemoaning Tiger’s intensity. Three years ago, you could’ve flipped that. Tiger’s profanity might get the same mild tut-tut that a wayward Mickelson shot would today.
That’s because Phil’s insane aggression and Tiger’s intense mindset are the same. And we like people doing whatever it takes to win … when they win.
Until, of course, you start winning too much, like Duke. Or Tiger. And then the underdogs get a free pass to hate.
Just like that musical about a guy who makes a deal with the devil to help his team beat some other team … what was it called? Oh yes …
Damn Yankees.
Better not repeat that show title out on the course, Tiger.
HEADLINES
- New FIFA rankings! Spain, Brazil, Netherlands unchanged in top three. Portugal leaps past Italy and Germany for fourth. Egypt surges to 14th.
But the big news is in CONCACAF: USA 16th, Mexico 17th.
Mixed bag for the USA’s World Cup opponents: England swapped places with France to take seventh. Slovenia slipped to 29th. Algeria is up five places to 27th. (FIFA)
- Big upset in Key Biscayne’s Sony Ericsson Open, one of tennis’ near-majors: Tomas Berdych ousted Roger Federer. Tennis writer Bonnie D. Ford says via Twitter that the match was long but far too sloppy to be an “epic.” (AP)
- Would North Korea really host a couple of World Cup games if South Korea lands the 2022 Cup? As rigid as North Korea has been, who knows what the geopolitical landscape will look like by then? (Reuters)
- LPGA players are just warming up this season, and yet they’re being thrown into a major already. (USA TODAY)
- Welcome to Philadelphia, David Myrie! We’re happy to have picked you up in the MLS expansion draft, and we’re planning to build a core of good young players moving forward. Take your spot in the starting lineup for the opener. … OK, never mind, you’re cut. (Philadelphia Union)
PROVOCATIVE READS
- A few years ago, Mike Penner became Christine Daniels. Now, friends of the LA Times sportswriter are mourning two people with only one physical death. (LA Times)
- Football, religion, Sabbath … OK, I didn’t get through all of this one. (Christianity Today)
- Random preview of the day: U.S. Chess Championship in May features new format. As long as Jen Shahade is doing commentary, it should be worth checking out. (USCF)
TODAY’S TV (times ET)
- 1 p.m./9 p.m.: Tennis, Sony Ericsson quarterfinals, check Fox Sports Net affiliates
- 2:30 p.m.: Soccer, Champions League, Arsenal-Barcelona, FSC (Inter Milan-CSKA Moscow follows on delay)
- 8 p.m.: MMA, UFC Fight Night, Spike. The main event is one of the most anticipated ever on a free-TV UFC card, with longtime UFC contender Kenny Florian taking on Takanori Gomi, a Japanese fighter who has dealt with a few personal demons since the dissolution of Japan’s once-dominant Pride promotion and has finally found his way to the USA. Also a good heavyweight matchup of big (Roy Nelson) and tall (Stefan Struve) fighters trying to climb the ladder. (Bloody Elbow)
- 9 p.m.: Soccer, USA-Mexico women, ESPN2
- 10 p.m.: MMA, The Ultimate Fighter season premiere, Spike. Recap will follow tonight right here at SportsMyriad, where I’ll hopefully have a logo and some design tweaks in place this evening.
