Armchair Weekend in Review (June 16-18, 2006)

by user JB82

Hope you all had a great Father's Day Weekend. Here's what happened in case you missed it.

The Mamaroneck Massacre

Two years ago, Phil Mickelson looked as though he would never win a major in his PGA career. Well, Lefty will go through the 2006 Tour season with at least one major championship title under his belt. It seemed as though he told Tiger Woods to hold his green jacket for a year. Anyone want to pencil in Mickelson - man-boobs and all - for a repeat in June at Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, NY? – The very first edition of the AWIR

Just think, Phil had the U.S. Golf Open championship within his grasp, but after bad breaks on the 18th hole, it was soon up for grabs. Colin Montgomerie and even Jim Furyk had chances to snatch the trophy, but they blew up as well. Everyone but Jean Van de Velde and Greg Norman got into the act as the 18th at Winged Foot proved to be most everyone's undoing – except for Aussie Geoff Ogilvie. The first Australian to win our national championship in 25 years registered the highest torunament score in 30+ years. For the rest, it was Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oy Yoy Vey.

You're with me, Aussie.

World Cup from the Armchair

Ogilvie's win in Westchester County proved some consolation for the Aussies, as their beloved Socceroos played Japan to a scoreless draw on Sunday. In other action during the day, Brazil got a late goal to defeat Croatia, 2-0 (no Ronaldo mo' problems IMO) and France and South Korea played to a 1-1 draw.

On June 10th, England defeated Paraguay 1-0 on an own goal headed by the captain of the Paraguayan side. Later that day, Trinidad and Tobago and Sweden played to a scoreless tie in what most considered an upset. Six days later, Serbia and Montenegro (Serbia nowadays) saw forward Mateja Kežman get the boot with a straight red card during the match against Argentina while striker Ognjen Koroman got his second of the tournament, which meant he was also suspended for their next match.

Mix all that and a bit of physicality and you have the essence of Team USA's match against Italy. Both sides saw one person get the gate via the red card – a mind-blowing two (Pablo Mastroeni and Eddie Pope) for the American side. By the way, U.S. and Italy tied 1-1, and the Amerks still have a slightly legit shot at advancing to the eliminations (Round of 16).

Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Armchair

As I write this column, Game 7 of the 2006 Stanley Cup Finals await. Game 6 on Saturday put the Edmonton Oilers back in front of their home faithful, and played the home-ice advantage to their advantage. In what has been "sorta" reminder of the Boston Red Sox' comeback in the 2004 ALCS, the Oilers blanked the Carolina Hurricanes Saturday night 4-0 and stand within a game of the Cup heading back to the Great White North.

NBA Finals

An equally thrilling finals in the NBA played its 5th game last night. Down in South Florida, Miami Heat guard Dwayne Wade lit up the Dallas Mavericks for 43 points in a 101-100 overtime win. You can also thank the Mavs' Josh Howard for calling timeout between Wade's free throws, thus preventing Dallas from trying to win the game and maybe the championship right there in Miami. Game 6 is slated for Tuesday night.

By the way, thank God this is the last weekend for the Finals. The late starts have prevented me from getting the last two columns out on Sunday night, instead releasing it on Monday evening, as you will see below on the time stamp. Some changes are needed concerning the tip-off time of these games; I won't go into any detail though.

MLB Weekend: Interleague Part Deux

While none of the weekend matchups were anything to write home about on paper, there sure was some excitement.

Saturday was a double blow for the New York teams. Baltimore Orioles pitcher Kris Benson hit a home run against the New York Mets and off his former teammate Pedro Martinez in the O's 4-2 win. Meanwhile, in D.C., the New York Yankees laid probably the biggest you-know-what this year as they managed to turn a seven-run lead against the Washington Nationals into a two-run loss. The Nats would go on to win two straight against the Bronx Bombers.

Odds and Sods

Kasey Kahne won a rain-shortened 3M Performance 400 at Michigan
The night before, in what would be the biggest upset in NASCAR Busch Series history, David Gilliland became the first non-"Busch-whacker" to win a race this year. GIlliland is a part-time driver in the Busch Series as well as a full-time driver in the Winston West series.
North of the Border, Ricky Williams rushed 18 times for 96 yards in his CFL debut. BTW, the Toronto Argonauts defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 27-17.
In Jerez, Valentino Rossi, won the SpanishMotoGP, his third win in a row. American Nicky Hayden leads the Championship. Other contendors crashed out on the first corner, causing a red flag.