Hi all,
It’s the calm before the summer. The last two weekends have been slow with sports. Don’t get me wrong; the NBA and NHL playoffs are in full swing. I just have not gotten into them. This weekend starts the great month of May with the first leg in horse racing are Triple Crown: The Kentucky Derby. The hype starts at 4 P.M. on the first Saturday in May. Listen for the playing of “My Old Kentucky Home” around 5:30 P.M. and the “Run For The Roses” gets under way at 6 P.M. The Derby is one of the toughest things to pick in all of sports because, all the horses are three years old and this is the first time in their life their running a mile and ¼.
Congratulation to Danica Patrick and Ashley Force for being the first women to win in their respective motor racing series. Danica won two weeks ago in an Indy Car Race in Japan. It was here first win in 52 career starts in the Indy Car Series. Way to good Danica, now go out and win at Indy next. Ashley Force is the first woman to win a NHRA Funny Car National Event. In the final of the Southern National in Georgia over the weekend she beat her father John Force a 14-time series champion. John was going for his 1,000th round win. Ashley is also the first woman to lead the Funny Car points at any time in the NHRA’s 33-year history. Way to go ladies.
This past weekend was the NFL Draft. I have written before about how I don’t like the draft and the fact that it’s a crapshoot. One of the other reasons I don’t like it is all the so-called “Draft Experts” that make mock-drafts and try to predict the first round. I did find evidence on just how bad their so-called experts are. The guys over at Cold Hard Football Facts.com have tracked the records of four experts for first round picks over the past three years. Lets just say the “experts” nail, on average, about 4 percent of the 220-plus players selected in the NFL draft. I don’t see how these people like Mel Kiper Jr. keep their job. Mel is the worst of the lot.
Finally, some sad news to report on the passing of Don Gillis, a longtime Boston sportscaster. I will remember Don as the host of Boston’s Channel 5 Candlepin Bowling program on Saturday mornings. I miss Candlepin Bowling, it was part of my childhood and I remember watching Candlepin Bowling, Candlepin Doubles, The Pro Bowlers Tour, and ABC’s Wide World of Sports. Candlepin Bowling ended on January 27, 1996. I miss those good old days.
I hope to be back with another post this week with my picks for the
Kentucky Derby.
That’s my take: I would like to hear yours
Jamie Lazaroff
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
This week in sports
Another Masters’ week has come and gone. Trevor Inmelman is your new champion. Tiger Woods could not sink any puts all week. Some times I think Tiger over analyze things. It’s just remarkable to think that Tiger played his B game this week and was still the runner-up. ESPN in its first year of coverage of the first two rounds did a great job. This was because it was out of their hands. CBS produced the telecast and their announcers did the broadcast. ESPN only had to supply the host for the show. As the host Mike Tirico did a good job of setting the stage and providing the context and history of the Masters’. CBS also did a great job as usually. They have broadcast the Masters’ since 1956; it is the second longest relationship in sports TV; ABC has coved the Indy 500 one year longer. Jim Nantz, of CBS has been the host of both March Madness and The Masters’, for at least the past dozen years, is better suited for Golf than Basketball in my opinion. His does a better job of setting the scene in golf and his down home style fits golf better. But, saying that, you know it’s a big event when he says “Hello again friends.”
The big event this coming weekend is the 112th Boston Marathon on Monday. The Marathon is a great community event in that most of the 20,000 runners are running to raise money for a variety of charities. The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest marathon. One of the facts about the marathon that you might not know is; the runners have first qualify by running in an IAAF sanctioned marathon within a regulated time frame for their age group. Besides the Olympic trials and the Olympic marathons, Boston is the only major American marathon that requires a qualifying time. Thus for many marathoners to qualify for Boston is a goal and achievement in itself, making it a "people's Olympic event." One of the great traditions of Boston is the wheelchair division. Boston was the frist Marathon to have a wheelchair division and it started in 1975. Now, most of the world’s major Marathons have a wheelchair division.
Talk to you next week as the NBA Playoffs begin.
That’s my take: I would like to hear your’s.
Jamie Lazaroff
The big event this coming weekend is the 112th Boston Marathon on Monday. The Marathon is a great community event in that most of the 20,000 runners are running to raise money for a variety of charities. The Boston Marathon is the world’s oldest marathon. One of the facts about the marathon that you might not know is; the runners have first qualify by running in an IAAF sanctioned marathon within a regulated time frame for their age group. Besides the Olympic trials and the Olympic marathons, Boston is the only major American marathon that requires a qualifying time. Thus for many marathoners to qualify for Boston is a goal and achievement in itself, making it a "people's Olympic event." One of the great traditions of Boston is the wheelchair division. Boston was the frist Marathon to have a wheelchair division and it started in 1975. Now, most of the world’s major Marathons have a wheelchair division.
Talk to you next week as the NBA Playoffs begin.
That’s my take: I would like to hear your’s.
Jamie Lazaroff
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Weekly update
Last night was the start of the best week in sports. After two weeks of ho hum NCAA tournament games, the two best teams in the country played in the best championship final in history. The game went into overtime on a Mario Chalmers three pointer with 2-seconds left in the game. The game had a back and fourth flow to it and the biggest lead by any team was nine points by Memphis. Below is the CBS’s annual montage of highlights of the NCAA tourment being played to the song "One Shining Moment" sung by Luther Vandross; by the way this song was the last song Luther recorded before he died. Enjoy, it makes grown men cry.
I said this is the start of the best week in sports and it is. Today is the Red Sox home opener at Fenway. Before the game is their celebration of last year’s world championship with the raising of the World Series banner and the handing out of their championship rings. It’s good to have the Red Sox home, now it feels like baseball season has begun.
This weekend is the first major championship in golf, The Masters. You know it’s a sign of spring when you see the Azaleas in bloom at Augusta National Golf Club. It is truly a tradition unlike any other with its Green Jacket to the winner and the caddies all dressed in white. For the first time ever ESPN will be televising the Par 3 contest on Wednesday. The Par 3 event is a warm up to the main event that starts on Thursday. From what I hear the Par 3 tournament is a fun family event with the kids of the players serving as their father's caddies. Check it out Thursday and Friday on ESPN and on the weekend on CBS. The old saying is, the Masters doesn't begin until the back 9 on Sunday, but it’s not true, any one can win at any time.
See you after the Masters!!
I said this is the start of the best week in sports and it is. Today is the Red Sox home opener at Fenway. Before the game is their celebration of last year’s world championship with the raising of the World Series banner and the handing out of their championship rings. It’s good to have the Red Sox home, now it feels like baseball season has begun.
This weekend is the first major championship in golf, The Masters. You know it’s a sign of spring when you see the Azaleas in bloom at Augusta National Golf Club. It is truly a tradition unlike any other with its Green Jacket to the winner and the caddies all dressed in white. For the first time ever ESPN will be televising the Par 3 contest on Wednesday. The Par 3 event is a warm up to the main event that starts on Thursday. From what I hear the Par 3 tournament is a fun family event with the kids of the players serving as their father's caddies. Check it out Thursday and Friday on ESPN and on the weekend on CBS. The old saying is, the Masters doesn't begin until the back 9 on Sunday, but it’s not true, any one can win at any time.
See you after the Masters!!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
This week in sports
I love March madness. This is the best month of the year. It is the month of the NCAA Tournament and all the conference tournaments. The NCAA Tournament is the greatest sports event known to man. The conference tournaments are important because the winner of all 30 tournaments get an automatic bid to the field of 65. Only the Ivy League awards its regular season champion the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The rest of the field is the 34 best at-large teams sectioned by the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. Just to let you know that there are 341 Division I schools for the committee to chose from. The very best thing about the NCAA tournament is the upsets and close games that can and do happen. Anything can happen, anyone can win on any given day, and it’s one game not a best-of-three or best-of-seven series. As Dick Vitale says it’s “survive and advance”. There is nothing like it in the world.
I know I’ve said I don’t like the Yankees and I don’t, but in the last few weeks they have done two things that have given me a new respect for them. On March 13th Actor/Director Billy Crystal played in a spring training game for his 60th birthday on March 14th. Some people have criticized this move, but Billy Crystal is a life long fan that was born in Manhattan and made a movie about the Yankees. He was the lead off batter for one at-bat and that was it. The next time his spot in the batting order came up Johnny Damon replaced him in the line-up. He managed to make contact, fouling a fastball up the first base line. He did struck-out but he struck-out swinging. Get off his back, at least he tried.
On March 18th the Yankees played a spring trainning game at Virginia Tech. Last year on April 16th, Virginia Tech was the scene of the worst campus shooting in US history. The Yankees not only played a game there but also donated $1 million dollars to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. The Yankees players visited the April 16th memorial and not only singed autographs for the fans but also the Virginia Tech players. One of the greatest stories I saw was the Yankees spent a inning in the Virginia Tech dougout with the players. Must have been a great day.
The Boston Red Sox started the 2008 baseball season last week in Japan. I don’t mind playing regular season games overseas, what I have a problem with is us playing games in a market that has professional baseball. You see, baseball has been played in Japan since 1872. They have had a professional league in Japan since 1920. You need to be playing games in Europe and in places like China that are new martkets to baseball.
Thanks my take: I would like to hear yours
Jamie Lazaroff
I know I’ve said I don’t like the Yankees and I don’t, but in the last few weeks they have done two things that have given me a new respect for them. On March 13th Actor/Director Billy Crystal played in a spring training game for his 60th birthday on March 14th. Some people have criticized this move, but Billy Crystal is a life long fan that was born in Manhattan and made a movie about the Yankees. He was the lead off batter for one at-bat and that was it. The next time his spot in the batting order came up Johnny Damon replaced him in the line-up. He managed to make contact, fouling a fastball up the first base line. He did struck-out but he struck-out swinging. Get off his back, at least he tried.
On March 18th the Yankees played a spring trainning game at Virginia Tech. Last year on April 16th, Virginia Tech was the scene of the worst campus shooting in US history. The Yankees not only played a game there but also donated $1 million dollars to the Hokie Spirit Memorial Fund. The Yankees players visited the April 16th memorial and not only singed autographs for the fans but also the Virginia Tech players. One of the greatest stories I saw was the Yankees spent a inning in the Virginia Tech dougout with the players. Must have been a great day.
The Boston Red Sox started the 2008 baseball season last week in Japan. I don’t mind playing regular season games overseas, what I have a problem with is us playing games in a market that has professional baseball. You see, baseball has been played in Japan since 1872. They have had a professional league in Japan since 1920. You need to be playing games in Europe and in places like China that are new martkets to baseball.
Thanks my take: I would like to hear yours
Jamie Lazaroff
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Recapping the Madness
Wooooooooooooooo! I hope you saw some of the MADNESS this past weekend. It was sure MADNESS! If you did not see or follow the games this past weekend, I’m here with an exciting recap.
Day one (Thursday) there were no major upsets, Duke had a scare with a one point win over Belmont. This was a sign of things to come.
My upset pick, Georgia, went out to Xavier in round one; this is why I did not make any more picks.
On day two (Friday) the MADNESS was in full force. Tampa was ground zero for the upsets; this was the first time since 1973 (first time the tournament was seeded) all four double-digit seeds won at the same site. To top it all off two of the four games went into overtime. This included UCONN being eliminated by San Diego. At this point my bracket was intact.
Day three (Saturday) started with number two seed Duke losing to West Virginia in the second round. My bracket was in the trash can. That was the upset of the day but there were a lot of close games and that is what makes the tournament great. As Bob Wenzel, one of the CBS’ announcers said, “No one what’s to go home from the NCAA tournament”. This day included one overtime-game with Stanford beating Marquette by one point.
Day four (Sunday) included number two seed Georgetown going down to another double-digit seed, Davidson. At the same time this upset was going on, Tennessee a two seed was in overtime with Butler. Tennessee did survive and advance. Forty-eight games in four days, now you know why they call it MARCH MADNESS.
This coming weekend is the regional semi-finals and regional finals, with a berth in the Final Four if you win these two games.
Enjoy the regional games; I will talk to you next week with a report and my own personal critique on the announcers.
Day one (Thursday) there were no major upsets, Duke had a scare with a one point win over Belmont. This was a sign of things to come.
My upset pick, Georgia, went out to Xavier in round one; this is why I did not make any more picks.
On day two (Friday) the MADNESS was in full force. Tampa was ground zero for the upsets; this was the first time since 1973 (first time the tournament was seeded) all four double-digit seeds won at the same site. To top it all off two of the four games went into overtime. This included UCONN being eliminated by San Diego. At this point my bracket was intact.
Day three (Saturday) started with number two seed Duke losing to West Virginia in the second round. My bracket was in the trash can. That was the upset of the day but there were a lot of close games and that is what makes the tournament great. As Bob Wenzel, one of the CBS’ announcers said, “No one what’s to go home from the NCAA tournament”. This day included one overtime-game with Stanford beating Marquette by one point.
Day four (Sunday) included number two seed Georgetown going down to another double-digit seed, Davidson. At the same time this upset was going on, Tennessee a two seed was in overtime with Butler. Tennessee did survive and advance. Forty-eight games in four days, now you know why they call it MARCH MADNESS.
This coming weekend is the regional semi-finals and regional finals, with a berth in the Final Four if you win these two games.
Enjoy the regional games; I will talk to you next week with a report and my own personal critique on the announcers.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
I love the madness of March
I love March madness. This is the best month of the year. It is the month of the NCAA Tournament and all the conference tournaments. The NCAA Tournament is the greatest sports event known to man. The conference tournaments are important because the winner of all 30 tournaments get an automatic bid to the field of 65. Only the Ivy League awards its regular season champion the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The rest of the field is the 34 best at-large teams sectioned by the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Committee. Just to let you know that there are 341 Division I schools for the committee to chose from. The very best thing about the NCAA tournament is the upsets that can happen. Any thing can happen. Just think about George Mason getting to the Final Four in 2006. Any one can win on any given day. It’s one game not a best-of-three or best-of-seven series. As Dick Vitale says it’s “survive and advance”. There is nothing like it in the world. Also I like that the hype lasts only three days and Tuesday you get a taste of things to come with the Opening Round game between the two worst teams with. The winner of this game moving on to face number one seed overall North Carolina in the First Round. The main course starts at noon on Thursday and goes all night and we do it all over again on Friday. The second round on the weekend is the same thing.
This maybe the most balanced field in a long time. Any of about ten teams can win this tournament. I will not pick a winner because of all the variables I mentioned above and the fact that I’m not very good at that. One of my brackets is always a mess after this weekend. A few thoughts on this year’s tournament are: Why is Kentucky in the field of 65? They were 18-12 overall, 12-4 in the SEC, lost in the Quarterfinal to Georgia in the Conference tournament. One of their loses was to Gardner-Webb. I know this loss was early in the season but come on; I thought the committee looks at non-conference games a little more then this. This has to be one of the most interesting decisions in a while. I don’t see them getting past Marquette in the first round. The game in the Midwest regional between USC and Kansas State will feature two of the most talked about freshman in the country: O.J Mayo from USC and Michael Beasley from Kansas State. My sleeper pick for the whole tournament is Georiga. After winning the SEC tournament and playing four games in three days because of a tornado hitting Atlanta and postponing their Quarterfinal until Saturday, they had to play two games in one day; won them both and then won the final on Sunday to get in to the NCAA tournament. Just remarkable!
I will write on Monday a post first and second round review.
This maybe the most balanced field in a long time. Any of about ten teams can win this tournament. I will not pick a winner because of all the variables I mentioned above and the fact that I’m not very good at that. One of my brackets is always a mess after this weekend. A few thoughts on this year’s tournament are: Why is Kentucky in the field of 65? They were 18-12 overall, 12-4 in the SEC, lost in the Quarterfinal to Georgia in the Conference tournament. One of their loses was to Gardner-Webb. I know this loss was early in the season but come on; I thought the committee looks at non-conference games a little more then this. This has to be one of the most interesting decisions in a while. I don’t see them getting past Marquette in the first round. The game in the Midwest regional between USC and Kansas State will feature two of the most talked about freshman in the country: O.J Mayo from USC and Michael Beasley from Kansas State. My sleeper pick for the whole tournament is Georiga. After winning the SEC tournament and playing four games in three days because of a tornado hitting Atlanta and postponing their Quarterfinal until Saturday, they had to play two games in one day; won them both and then won the final on Sunday to get in to the NCAA tournament. Just remarkable!
I will write on Monday a post first and second round review.
Friday, March 7, 2008
This week in sports
Sorry I have not written in a while. Last week I was in not so sunny San Diego for a Special Olympics meeting. This past week the flu bug hit me. But now I’M back and better than ever.
Saturday February 16, 2008 was the re-air of the 2007 Ironman Triathlon World Championship from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. For those of you who do not know the Ironman consist of a 2.4-mile swim then a 112-mile bike ride and finally they finish off with a full 26.2-mile marathon run. The Ironman is the greatest test of an athlete, but the real story is the average Joe that comes from all walks for life to cross the finish line. You see, you have to get to the finish line before the course is closed at midnight to be an Ironman. This year the show focused on four remarkable stories, one person with Cystic fibrosis, a person who is blind, and a person that was born with no feet. The last person was a young man that was in a car accident and was on the brink of death to come back to become an Ironman. The Ironman is the best-written event all year and has won 14 sports Emmy awards over the years. As I said in this column before, I cry each year and it gives me more motivation than any other event watch each and every year.
The NBA slam-dunk contest is back! Dwight Howard and Gerald Green put on a show. Green’s birthday dunk were he put a cup cake with a lit candle on the back on the rim and then blew the candle out before doing a dunk was so creative. I though it was a 10! Howard is a man beast, the superman dunk was just so awesome that he did not even dunk the ball; he threw it in, he jumped so high. This was the best dunk contest in many years, you have to go back to the late ‘80’s with Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb for the glory years of the slam dunk contest at NBA all-star weekend. I hope these kids come back next year to put on an even better show.
Breaking News: Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers is retiring after 13 seasons and 3 MVP awards. Brett Favre is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Will have more on this later.
The question on ESPN last week was: If you were a NFL GM would you build your team through the draft or free agency? I would build through free agency because the draft is such a crapshoot. The NFL draft is the biggest unknown in sports. You can evaluate players all you want but no one knows how good a player will be as a pro. There are so many stories of first round draft busts that I would trade all my first day picks to get more on the second day. Remember, Tom Brady was a fifth round pick. On a side note here, good to see Randy Moss resign with the Pats. He and Brady have unfinished business. Like winning a championship.
Thats my take, I like to hear yours
Jamie Lazaroff
Saturday February 16, 2008 was the re-air of the 2007 Ironman Triathlon World Championship from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii. For those of you who do not know the Ironman consist of a 2.4-mile swim then a 112-mile bike ride and finally they finish off with a full 26.2-mile marathon run. The Ironman is the greatest test of an athlete, but the real story is the average Joe that comes from all walks for life to cross the finish line. You see, you have to get to the finish line before the course is closed at midnight to be an Ironman. This year the show focused on four remarkable stories, one person with Cystic fibrosis, a person who is blind, and a person that was born with no feet. The last person was a young man that was in a car accident and was on the brink of death to come back to become an Ironman. The Ironman is the best-written event all year and has won 14 sports Emmy awards over the years. As I said in this column before, I cry each year and it gives me more motivation than any other event watch each and every year.
The NBA slam-dunk contest is back! Dwight Howard and Gerald Green put on a show. Green’s birthday dunk were he put a cup cake with a lit candle on the back on the rim and then blew the candle out before doing a dunk was so creative. I though it was a 10! Howard is a man beast, the superman dunk was just so awesome that he did not even dunk the ball; he threw it in, he jumped so high. This was the best dunk contest in many years, you have to go back to the late ‘80’s with Michael Jordan, Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb for the glory years of the slam dunk contest at NBA all-star weekend. I hope these kids come back next year to put on an even better show.
Breaking News: Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers is retiring after 13 seasons and 3 MVP awards. Brett Favre is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Will have more on this later.
The question on ESPN last week was: If you were a NFL GM would you build your team through the draft or free agency? I would build through free agency because the draft is such a crapshoot. The NFL draft is the biggest unknown in sports. You can evaluate players all you want but no one knows how good a player will be as a pro. There are so many stories of first round draft busts that I would trade all my first day picks to get more on the second day. Remember, Tom Brady was a fifth round pick. On a side note here, good to see Randy Moss resign with the Pats. He and Brady have unfinished business. Like winning a championship.
Thats my take, I like to hear yours
Jamie Lazaroff
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