World Of Sports Info

Most amateur golfers underestimate the power and advantage of a proper golf swing.  In truth, a well tailored golf swing can add significant velocity and distance to any ball that is struck.  You might add more than a hundred feet to the standard ‘baseball’ swing that amateur golfers often start out using.  There are dozens of ways to improve your golf swing that are practical and will show results.  You might consider golf swing videos, hiring a trainer, or using a training aid.  But nothing compares to practice, so after you find out how to improve your swing, make sure to put it into practice and perfect it. 

The professional golfers have all spent years tightening their swings and perfecting them for the maximum distance and control.  In time, any golfer can develop their swing to a level that maximizes their potential.  Just remember, practice makes it perfect!  If you don’t use your swing all that often chances are you’ll be out of practice when it’s needed.

There’s nothing like a rousing football season of highly competitive teams, and on face, 2009 appears to be just that.  Last year there was fierce competition in the east, and the Patriots, who won 11 games, didn’t even make it into the playoffs.  In addition, the number one ranked Titans were knocked off in the early rounds of the playoffs.  With the return of Tom Brady to the Patriots, it will be even more competitive in the east.  In addition, the west, which has been weak in recent years, now has several promising teams including the Arizona Cardinals, who made a trip to the Super Bowl last year, and the rejuvenated Seattle Seahawks lead by an uninjured Matt Hasselbeck and several new offensive weapons.  

Expect sales of football team jerseys to spike in September as the United States prepares for another great year of football.  With the draft fast approaching, even now is an exciting time to see who picks who and who looks best going into the 2009 season.  But just like the Arizona Cardinals last year, we’re probably in for more than a few surprises.

After several upsets in the first round, the 2009 NCAA Basketball Tournament has returned to what appears to be a more normal tournament.  Out of the 16 teams remaining, only 2 teams were seeded below No. 4 when the tournament began, No 12 Arizona and No. 5 Purdue.

The following teams have advanced to the Sweet Sixteen:

East Regional:

(1) Pittsburg

(2) Duke

(3) Villanova

(4) Xavier

South Regional:

(1) North Carolina

(2) Oklahoma

(3) Syracuse

(4) Gonzaga

Midwest Regional:

(1) Louisville

(2) Michigan State

(3) Kansas

(12) Arizona

West Regional:

(1) Connecticutt

(2) Memphis

(3) Missouri

(5) Purdue

Although there were no major upsets in the second round of this basketball tournament, there were some very close calls.  Three of the No. 2 seeds had to struggle to pull out victories in their games.  Oklahoma (2) had all they could handle from Michigan (10) for most of the game before pulling away for a 10 point victory.  Duke (2) also had a fight to the finish with Texas (2), but was able to secure a 5 point victory.  The same can be said for Michigan State (2) against USC (10), with Michigan State also holding on for a 5 point victory.  Memphis (2) was the only No. 2 seed to have a relatively easy game defeating Maryland (10) by 19 points.

Three of the 4 No. 3 seeds had relatively easy times getting to the Sweet Sixteen with Syracuse (3) defeating Arizona State (6) by 11 points, Villanova (3) defeating UCLA (6) by 20 points, and Kansas (3) defeating Dayton(11) by 17 points.  The only No. 3 seed that had to work extremely hard for their victory was Missouri (3) who was able to pull out a 4 point victory against Marquette (6).  Missouri had a 16 point lead with just over 2 minutes remaining in the first half only to see the lead gone and the game tied with just over 6 minutes left in the game.  With just under 2 minutes remaining, Missouri found themselves trailing by 4 points.  They managed to get the game tied and, with 5.5 seconds left on the clock, J.T. Tiller for Missouri was fouled while driving to the basket.  Tiller was injured on the play and Missouri had to bring in a substitute, freshman Kim English, to shoot the free throws.  English was able to make both free throws to give Missouri a 2 point lead 81-79.  On the ensuing play Marquette’s Lazar Hayward stepped on the baseline while attempting to inbound the ball, turning the ball over to Missouri.  On Missouri’s inbound pass, Marquette was forced to foul Leo Lyons giving him 2 free throws.  Lyons put the game out of reach when he made both free throws, giving Missouri the win at 83-79.

Three of the No. 1 seeds also had to fight harder than they had hoped for to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.  North Carolina (1) was involved in a very tight game until the last few minutes when they were able to pull away from LSU (8) for a 14 point win.  Even though Pittsburg (1) defeated Oklahoma State (8) by 8 points, the game was much closer with Pittsburg pulling away in the last couple of minutes.  The biggest near upset in the second round came when Louisville (1) took on Siena (9).  Siena had a 4 point lead late in the game at 63 - 59 before Louisville went on a 9 point run to take the lead for good.

When you look at the brackets for the Sweet Sixteen, you’ll notice that the East Regional and the South Regional each have their top 4 seeds remaining.  The West Regional has its top 3 seeds and the No. 5 seed left, and the Midwest Regional has its top 3 seeds and the No. 12 seed remaining.  I’m sure it has happended several times before, but I don’t remember when 14 of the top 16 teams made it to the Sweet Sixteen.  With so many of the top teams still in the tournament, the next round should provide some very good basketball games.  I know I’m looking forward to it.

The NCAA Basketball Tournament, better known as March Madness, started off just like the regular season ended, with upset after upset.  There were 32 games in the first round of the tournament, with 10 lower seeded teams winning against higher seeded teams.  There were 2 No. 9 seeds, 3 No. 10 seeds, 1 No. 11 seed, 3 No. 12 seeds, and 1 No. 13 seed that upset higher seeded teams in the first round of this years tournament.  I don’t consider it much of an upset when a No. 9 wins against a No. 8 or a No. 10 wins against a No.7.  The teams that received a No. 7 to a No. 10 seed are often quite close in talent.

Although it seems to be a big upset, it shouldn’t really surprise anyone when a No. 12 seed wins against a No. 5 seed, since this has happened at least once in 8 out of the last 9 years, but it is definitely an upset when a No. 13 upset a No. 4.

This year it was not good to be a No. 5 seed or a No. 7 seed, since 3 out of the 4 teams that were seeded No. 5 lost their first round game.  The same can be said about the No. 7 seeds, 3 out of the 4 lost in the opening round.

Along with these upsets there were also a few close calls.  Memphis (2) trailed in the second half of their game against CS Northridge (15) before escaping with an 11 point victory.  Louisville (1) held a 2 point lead at halftime against Morehead State (16), but was able to pull away for a 20 point victory.  East Tennessee State (16) was tied with Pittsburg (1) late in the game, but couldn’t pull off the upset, eventually losing by 10 points.

With so many upsets, the second round has brought us one game that has 2 lower seeded teams playing against one another, No. 12 Arizona and No. 13 Cleveland State.  You would think, because of playing a tougher schedule and having more experience, that Arizona would have an advantage in this game, but I wouldn’t be so sure.  Cleveland State not only won against fourth seeded Wake Forest in the first round, they won by 15 points, which shows they aren’t going to be intimidated by anyone.  They are playing with a lot of confidence and I look for this to be a very good basketball game.

I’m not going to make any predictions for the second round, because once you get past the first round of the tournament, anyone can win, but I would be surprised to see any of the No. 1 seeds fall in the second round.  I don’t expect to see any of the No. 2 seeds having too much trouble in the second round either, except, I think Memphis had better play well, because Maryland is a team that can play with anybody.  Earlier in the year they upset North Carolina.  Even though Maryland could give Memphis a good game, I look for the close call Memphis had in the first round to be their “wake up call”, and I expect them to come out and play the way they are capable of.

This should be an interesting second round of this years NCAA basketball tournament, and I’m looking forward to see where the next big upset wll come, because you know it’s going to happen.  I’ll be back to recap the second round in a couple of days.

Tiger Woods made his first start in a stroke play golf tournament since he won the U.S. Open in June of 2008, but Phil Michelson stole the headlines.  Although he was dehydrated and had very little to eat for 3 days, Phil was able to hold his golf game together long enough to pull out a 1 stroke victory over Nick Watney, giving Michelson his first WGC championship.

Michelson and Watney had started the final round tied at 16 under par, but Michelson was able to pull ahead of Watney shooting a 69 on Sunday while Watney could only manage to shoot 70.  Watney’s birdie putt on the 72nd hole, which would have put him in a tie with Michelson, came up a couple of inches short, leaving Phil to only need a two put from just off the back edge of the green to secure the victory.

With this victory, Phil jumped to No. 2 on the World Golf Rankings with a points average of 8.62, falling just short of Tiger’s points average of 9.14.  When asked about closing in on Tiger for the No. 1 ranking, Phil didn’t really want to discuss it and was quick to point out two things: Tiger is the best that has ever played the game, and Tiger has not played in nearly 10 months.  At the end of this season, if Phil is able to stay close to Tiger, then it will be a topic worthy of discussion.

Let Tiger get his game back and get into the rhythm of tournament golf again, and then we’ll see if he will pull away from everyone again, or if Phil will be able to step his game up and be able to hang with Tiger.  I’m a huge Michelson fan and would love nothing more than to see him and Tiger get involved in some epic battles similar to the ones we saw Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson have in the late 70’s and early 80’s.  I think next month would be a good time for the true rivalry between Tiger and Phil to begin, at the Masters.

How many people do you think would watch the final round of the Masters if Tiger and Phil were tied heading to the back nine.  Remember, the old saying, the tournament doesn’t really start until the back nine on Sunday.  Does anybody remember the back nine that Jack Nicklaus had on Sunday in 1986?  It was one of the best finishes I have ever seen in golf, under the circumstances.  Jack carded a 30 on the back nine to win the tournament by 1 stroke over Greg Norman.

Tiger has had a couple of real battles to win majors, but in most of his major championships there hasn’t been that “nail-biting” suspense that makes golf really interesting.  When Tiger won the 1999 PGA Championship, he had to fight off a young Sergio Garcia to pull out a 1 stroke victory.  It happened again in the 2000 PGA Championship when Bob May and Tiger played a spectacular back nine to finish tied at the end of regulation.  They went to a 3-hole playoff, where Tiger was able to secure a 1 stroke victory.

Hopefully, if not Phil, someone can step up and become a rival for Tiger that will make the game much more interesting to watch.  It would be good for the viewers, and more importantly, it would be good for the game of golf.

When the Baylor basketball team took the floor against Missouri in the championship game of the Big 12 tournament, you had to wonder how much energy they had left.  They had already played games on 3 consecutive days, with the last 2 games being extremely physical and emotional.  Their first game was a relatively easy win against Nebraska.  Game 2 was against Kansas, where Baylor built up a 17 point lead only to see Kansas come back to tie the game, before Baylor was able to pull away to a 7 point victory.  Game 3 was against Texas, a team they had lost to in their last 24 meetings.  This was a very close game all the way and Baylor didn’t seal up the victory until sometime in the last minute of the game.

For the No. 9 seed to upset the No. 1 seed, it takes a lot of energy, both physically and emotionally.  Then to follow that game up be defeating a team that you have not beaten in your last 24 attempts, also takes a lot of energy, both physically and emotionally.  When you add the fact that Missouri plays a very up-tempo game, you had to wonder if Baylor would have the legs left to stay with them.

As you might expect, in the first half of the game, Baylor not only stayed with Missouri, but at one time they had a 7 point lead.  Missouri then went on a 15-1 run to take the lead at 27-20.  Even though Baylor was able to keep it close for a while, by the time it was mid-way through the second half, it looked they were running out of gas and  Missouri’s relentless pressure finally started taking its toll.  Missouri would pull away to a 73-60 victory.

The Baylor basketball team and all of the Baylor fans should be proud of the effort that was put forth in this tournament.  Their coach did a great job of coaching and their players performed admirably.  It’s hard to say whether they would have beaten Missouri if they had been more rested, but the way it was, they gave Missouri all they could handle.

Congratulations to the Missouri Tigers.  This is their first Big 12 tournament championship, although, when they were in the Big 8, they won 6 tournament championships.  It has been a great year for them and hopefully they can carry their good play into the NCAA tournament and represent the Big 12 well.

There were a lot of firsts in this basketball tournament, such as: the first time 3 of the top 4 seeds lost their first game, the first time a No. 1 seed lost its first game, and the first time a No. 9 seed made it to the championship game. The one thing that didn’t change: no team outside the top 3 seeds has ever won the Big 12 tournament championship.

This was a great basketball tournament, but the fun is just getting started.  In less than a week the NCAA basketball championship will get under way.  Later today the NCAA tournament committee will make their selections and put out the tournament brackets.  It’s always interesting to see who made it in, who was left out, and who are the No. 1 seeds.

Once the brackets are published, I will be back to make my first round predictions.  I hope they are better than my Big 12 predictions were.  The one thing that seems to happen every year is that a No. 12 seed will upset a No. 5 seed.  Will it happen again this year and, if so, which No. 12 seed will it be?

I am really looking forward to this years NCAA basketball tournament.  I think it may possibly be one of the most memorable in recent history.  There have been so many great games this year with so many upsets, and I look for it to continue in the tournament.

I’ll see you in a few days.

This has been the most unusual Big 12 basketball tournament in history, with 3 of the top 4 seeds being eliminated in their first game.  No. 1 Kansas was upset by No. 9 Baylor, No. 5 Texas defeated No. 4 Kansas State, and No. 7 Oklahoma State was able to hold on for a 1 point victory over No. 3 Oklahoma.  I thought the Texas - Kansas State game would be a close one, so I don’t consider that an upset.  In fact, they were tied at 9-7 in the conference this year with the tie-breaker giving the No. 4 seed to Kansas State.  Oklahoma had defeated Oklahoma State twice already this year, but both games were by less than 10 points.  It’s hard to beat a good team 3 times in one year, so I don’t consider this one an upset either.  No. 3 Missouri was the only one of the top 4 seeds to be able to pull out a victory on their opening game, and they had to put on an 18-2 run in the second half to pull away from No. 11 Texas Tech.

The semi-finals have No. 5 Texas facing No. 9 Baylor and No. 3 Missouri going up against No. 7 Oklahoma State.  Texas had won 24 straight games against Baylor, so it looked like they had Baylor’s number, so to speak.  Missouri looked to have the better team, at least on paper, but Oklahoma State was playing a home game, more or less.  I really thought Texas would be able to win easily and I thought the home crowd would carry Oklahoma State to victory.  Well, I was wrong on both counts.

The Texas - Baylor game was a close, hard fought game, but Baylor was able to out play Texas in the last 2 minutes of the game to come away with a 76-70 victory.  This will be the first time in the history of the Big 12 basketball tournament that a No. 9 seed has made it to the championship game.  If they are able to win the championship game they will be the first team every to do so that was not one of the top 3 seeds.

When Missouri faced Oklahoma State on Friday in the semi-finals of the Big 12 championship you would think it would be a high scoring game, since both teams are among the nation’s highest-scoring offenses.  It didn’t turn out that way, since both teams were having trouble shooting the ball.  It’s not unusual to see teams start the game a little tight and not shoot well early in the game, but the shooting woes for both teams lasted well into the second half.  Oklahoma State started 0 for 17 from outside the 3-point line and ended up hitting just 4 of 24.  Missouri didn’t fair much better hitting 6 of 31 3-point attempts for the game.  Missouri was able to hit a couple of their 3-point shots late in the game that carried them past Oklahoma State by a score of 67-59.

No. 3 Missouri will now face No. 9 Baylor in the Big 12 championship game to be played Saturday March 14, 2009.  As I said earlier, this marks the first time a No. 9 seed has ever played for the Big 12 tournament championship.  The first year of the Big 12 tournament, Missouri made it to the championship game as a No. 10 seed, but were blown out by Kansas.  No other team has made it to the championship game that was lower than a No. 5 seed.

The way this tournament has gone so far, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Baylor win, although it would be a huge upset.  The one thing Baylor has going against them is the fact that they will be playing their 4th game in 4 days, while Missouri is only playing their 3rd game in 3 days.  It doesn’t sound like much of a difference, but it is.  It seems like your legs hold up for 3 games, but when you go into that 4th game, your legs are noticeably tired.  I look for Missouri to have more energy than Baylor, which could result in a lot of turnovers and when Missouri gets a lot of turnovers they are hard to beat.

My predictions, so far, in this basketball tournament have not been very good, I have gotten 5 right and 5 wrong, but with so many upsets, it’s hard to make good predictions.  Let’s see if Missouri can bring home the championship, or will there be one more first in a basketball tournament that has been full of firsts.

Well, my second round predictions were no better than my first round.  I didn’t figure on any major upsets in the second round but there were 3, Missouri being the only top seed to survive.  At halftime, I wasn’t sure about them.  This is the first time in the history of the Big 12 basketball tournament that 3 of the top 4 teams were knocked out in their first game.

Here’s a recap of the second round.

Game 5: Kansas vs Baylor

Kansas came back from 17 points down to tie the game, but Baylor was able to hold on to upset the No. 1 seed.  This the first time in Big 12 tournament history that the No. 1 team lost its first game.

My prediction: Kansas 72 - Nebraska 58 (I predicted Nebraska would beat Baylor)

Actual Score: Baylor 71 - Kansas 64

Game 6: Kansas State vs Texas

This was a very close game from the start to the finish, but Texas was able to squeak out a 3 point victory.  I think this game should show people that Kansas State is for real and I would like to see them get a chance to play in the NCAA, but I don’t know if the Selection Committee will give the Big 12 7 teams.

My prediction: Texas 79 - Kansas State 72

Actual Score: Texas 61 - Kansas State 58

Game 7: Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State

It is hard to beat a good team 3 times in one year, and now Oklahoma knows that all too well.  This was a close game all the way, with neither team ever having a double digit lead.  I did think it was unusual for the official to call a foul with less than 3 seconds left in the game when everyone was fighting for the ball.  Most of the time, late in the game, they will let a lot of that stuff go.  Of course, then you had the clock not start when Oklahoma threw the ball in on the last play of the game.  It was probably a good thing the Oklahoma player wasn’t able to tip in the ball after the Blake Griffin miss.  I don’t know how the officials would have been able to tell if he got the shot off before time ran out, since the clock didn’t start running until after he tipped the ball.  I’m sure that would have caused some controversy.

My prediction: Oklahoma 83 - Oklahoma State 76

Actual Score: Oklahoma State 71 - Oklahoma 70

Game 8: Missouri vs Texas A&M

You had to wonder, after their huge come from behind win against Texas A&M in the first round, if Texas Tech would be able to give Missouri much of a game in round 2.  If you only looked at the final score you may think they didn’t, but they were leading by 2 points early in the second half.  Then Missouri did what they have been doing a lot this year, they stepped up the pressure and started creating turn overs. At one point they went on an 18-2 run to open things up, and Texas Tech just couldn’t recover.  Missouri will need to play the whole game the way they played the second half in this one if they expect to defeat Oklahoma State in the third round.  Oklahoma State is playing very well right now, and this as close to a home game for them as you can get without playing on your own court.  I think Missouri has the better team, but it will be tough for them to win this one.

My prediction: Missouri 88 - Texas A&M 76 (I predicted Texas A&M would beat Texas Tech)

Actual Score: Missouri 81 - Texas Tech 60

My original predictions had Texas going against Oklahoma in the finals, but since Oklahoma is out, that game won’t take place.  Texas could have a time with Baylor, but I’m still going to pick them to be in the finals, but will it be against Missouri or Oklahoma.  No team has ever come from out of the top 4 to win the Big 12 tournament.  If Oklahoma State beats Missouri, we will have a No. 5 seed going against a No. 7 seed.

Even though I think Missouri should win, I’m going to pick Oklahoma State.  I think they will be pumped after beating Oklahoma, and with the crowd being so much behind them, I think it will carry them to victory.

If my memory serves me correctly, there is an interesting twist to this game.  Travis Ford, Oklahoma State’s head basketball coach, played for Missouri several years ago, before he transferred to Kentucky.

Well, I didn’t do so good in my first round predictions for the Big 12 basketball tournament.  I got 2 right and 2 wrong, although Texas Tech had to come from 21 points down in the second half to pull out the victory against Texas A&M.  That’s why they play 40 minutes, you never know what might happen.

Game 1: Nebraska vs Baylor

Originally, I said it was a toss-up between Baylor and Nebraska, but I gave the edge to Nebraska.  It turned out that Baylor played like they did early in the year and Nebraska had one of those poor shooting games they sometimes have.

My prediction: Nebraska 62 - Baylor 59

Actual score: Baylor 65 - Nebraska 49

Game 2: Texas vs Colorado

Even though Colorado took Texas to overtime in their only other meeting this year, I thought Texas would have a much easier time with Colorado this time, and they did. They didn’t run away with the game, but they had around a 10 point lead for most of the game.

My prediction: Texas 84 - Colorado 66

Actual score: Texas 67 - Colorado 56

Game 3: Oklahoma State vs Iowa State

Oklahoma State struggled in the first half of this basketball game, but only trailed by 3 points at halftime.  In the second half they came out and took over the game, winning by 14 points.

My prediction: Oklahoma State 84 - Iowa State 68

Actual score: Oklahoma State 81 - Iowa State 67

Game 4: Texas A&M vs Texas Tech

I was right when I said this would be a tough game.  Texas A&M went out to a 21 point lead early in the second half, only to see it evaporate into thin air before eventually losing to Texas Tech by 5 points.  Mike Singletary, almost single-handedly, brought Texas Tech back from this huge deficit.  He scored 43 points in the game with 35 of those points coming in the second half.  This the second consecutive game that Texas A&M has blown a big lead.  They built up a 26 point lead against Missouri in the last game of the regular season, only to have Missouri cut it to 7 points.  They held on to win against Missouri by 10 points.

My prediction: Texas A&M 81 - Texas Tech 73

Actual score: Texas A&M 83 - Texas Tech 88

We’ll have to see if my predictions for the second round go any better than they did for my first round.  There’s still a lot of basketball to be played and I’m really looking forward to the rest of the tournament.