Wow, is the weather ever ugly at the British Open. If I showed up at a course and the sky looked like that I would turn around and go home. A links-style course does nothing to make the day look any nicer, either.
Phil Mickelson finished the first round at nine over. Way to grab an opportunity with the absence of Tiger and run with it. Seeing Phil choke is an all too common occurrence. On the plus side, I guess, he is a stroke ahead of Ernie Els and Vijay Singh.
As I write this, Greg Norman is one stroke off the pace through eight holes. Imagine the story if he could keep that pace up. He’s also tied with Anthony Kim. That guy is on fire.
Adam Scott is the first player to be under par at the turn. It’s way too early, obviously, but I like his chances on Sunday. He was and is a bargain at 25/1.
James Posey left the Celtics to sign for four years and $25 million with the Hornets. This is a bit odd. The Celtics were very vocal about how key he was to their success, and he was willing to stay, but he wanted four years and they would only offer him three. The money was essentially the same – Boston was offering the full mid-level exemption – so the fact that they wouldn’t go for one year seems like a bad one. Either that or they were overstating Posey’s impact.
Now the Packers are accusing the Vikings of tampering with Favre. This whole story is never, ever going to go away. I don’t have kids, but I know that my grandkids will still be hearing about this attention whore and his latest flirtation with a comeback.
Riccardo Ricco won two stages if the Tour de France this year. And now he got busted for doping – EPO. What a shock.
Magglio Ordonez has been activated and will rejoin the Tigers. That should be a huge boost for a team that I still like to win the AL Central.
Yao Ming returned to action in an exhibition game China played against Serbia. It was his first time in a game in six months. I bet that the Rockets wish that there was some way that they could keep their giant out of Olympic action.
The more I think about it, the more I think that there might be some value in taking the Raiders over 6.5 regular season wins given that it is at +147 at Pinnacle. I may be spending too much time in the sun without a hat.
Casino Drive, the intriguing Japanese star who missed the Belmont with a bruised foot, is in quarantine in Japan preparing for a return to the U.S. It appears that he will run a prep race in California, perhaps the Goodwood, en route to the Breeders’ Cup Classic. This horse is such a strange situation – he hasn’t raced since the Peter Pan in May. He’s just so darned talented, though, that you can’t entirely discounted. I have Breeders’ Cup tickets for Santa Anita this year, so I really hope he makes it.
