Tiger Woods went directly from Ohio, where he made the entire PGA his bitch yet again, to New York to play a practice round at Bethpage Black, the site of the U.S. Open in just under two weeks. This is seriously bad news for the rest of his opponents – it clearly shows that he is intensely focused ad ready to defend his title. Add in the fact that he’s obviously in top form, and you have the makings of a heavy favorite. There are few things better than watching him when he’s in the zone.

The Vikings want Brett Favre to decide this week whether he wants to quarterback the team this year. Favre is unsure what he wants to do. Pardon me while I go puke.

Josh Hamilton has an abdominal tear that requires surgery, and he’ll be out of action for at least four to six weeks. I say at least because this is the kind of injury that can cause serious woes for a hitter – Hamilton’s teammate Ian Kinsler missed three months last year with abdominal problems. This is fast looking like a wasted year for Hamilton. That’s a real shame. I saw him play a spring training game in Arizona this year, and his swing looked absolutely brilliant, so I had high hopes for him. The most amazing thing is how well the Rangers are doing this year without a significant contribution from their best pure hitter.

If you are a fan of European soccer then get ready to hear a whole lot more about Real Madrid. In a sign of their intended aggressiveness, the shattered the world record for a transfer fee when they anted up $94 million to sign Brazilian star and 2007 World player of the year Kaka. They already have a pretty god team, and it doesn’t seem like they are done, either. It will be very interesting to see how much money they throw around and who they go after next.

John Daly failed to qualify for the u.S. Open today. That’s disappointing – it’s always fun to watch a trainwreck.