5 Things That I Am Following This Week

1.  The debate about slavery that has popped up this past week.  Sprinter Michael Johnson says that descendants of slaves have a superior athletic gene that lets them be great athletes.  Chris Rock saying that the 4th of July is basically a white man's holiday because when the Declaration of Independence was signed, it didn't affect the black man and his fortunes.  And this is a conversation that is worth having.  Racism is still alive in America and it is alive in sports.  This conversation is needed in the entire context of America and why our history is sometimes glossed over in sports.  However, I am troubled about the way race is portrayed sometimes in the sports world.

2.   Wimbledon 2012.  In the Women's finals, you have a resurgent Serena Williams playing a Polish player in Agnieszka Radwanska who has a severe respiratory illness that has made it nearly impossible for her to speak.  Radwanska is the 1st Polish player since 1939 to make a Grand Slam Final.  Over in the Men's draw, it looks like Andy Murray might make the finals.  He plays Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in one semifinal while Federer-Djokovic match in the other semifinal is being looked at as the true title match.  There is lots of drama here and it comes to a head this weekend.

3.  The Doping Case Against Lance Armstrong.  Armstrong is using the vendetta defense against the U.S. Anti-Doping agency.  He is alleging that the anti-doping agency has caught others doping and is giving them leniency in exchange for false testimony against Lance to catch the big white whale in cycling.  Reports have 5 former teammates, 2 former team managers, and a fromer trainer willing to testify against Armstrong in exchange for 6 month suspensions for the people involved.  Without their testimony, they could be banned from the sport of cycling or face at least a year long expulsion from the sport.

4.  Formula One - Another week, more chaos.  Bernie Ecclestone has proposed a London Grand Prix.  The German banker convicted of bribery is appealing his conviction, he was involved with Ecclestone.  Marussia F1 test driver Maria De Villota lost her right eye after the race car she was driving crashed into the team hauler.  She was in surgery for approximately 18 hours according to reports.  She underwent procedures from nuerologists and plastic surgeons during her time in surgery.  Her head took much of the brunt from the accident.  An investigation is taking place because apparently De Villota was slowing down at the end of her run when the car suddenly accelerated and hit the team hauler.  All of that doesn't overshadow the British Grand Prix going on in Silverstone, England this weekend.  Fernando Alonso leads the points by 20 and Sebastian Vettel, a favorite to win the championship at the beginning of the season, is trying to turn qualifying performances into race results after June failed to produce a podium finish despite 3 poles.

5.  Golf and Tiger.  Tiger Woods has won 3 tournaments this year, although none of them a major title.  He isn't as consistant as he was when he was the undisputable #1 player in the world and has shown that he can crumble in a tightly contested tournament.  However, the biggest thing for the PGA is that Tiger still has the ability to pull in eyeballs.  Tiger is 8 wins behind Sam Snead for all time wins on the PGA tour.  Snead won an amazing 82 PGA tournaments.  Tiger is four major tiles behind Jack Nicklaus with 14 major titles.  Jack won an outstanding 18.  I think that he makes the Snead record, but narrowly misses the major tourney title.  I am sure that is OK with the PGA though.  What a storyline 4 times a year, with Tiger chasing Jack for the most major tournament titles. Even if tiger doesn't reach 18 major titles, golf's popularity will be increase.  Why?  Because America is a sucker for trying to see if history is achieved.  And if Tiger is on the verge of making history, then it should be where America and it's eyeballs watch to see if Tiger can pull it off, especially if Tiger is in that final pairing on Sunday.

5 Things That I Am Following This Week

1.  Wimbledon.  Although I am not an avid Tennis fan, during the majors I do peek in and see what is going on.  Roger Federer had to come back from two sets down to continue in the tournament.  Rafael Nadal went out in the 2nd Round.  Some are saying that is the biggest upset in the history of tennis.  They might be right.  We have players saying that the officials are favoring the British players.  (No proof of that yet).  All in all, it is starting to become more unpredictable than in years past.

2.  Free Agency in the NHL.  Martin Brodeur could possibly move from New Jersey.  Alexander Semin will be moving from Washington.  Look for some signings that seem counter intuitive.  (The Maple Leafs are sure to do one of those deals).  And watch for some trades to happen because of the free agents selecting a team and not another.  There aren't the big fish free agents out there for the most part, but it is those players on the 3rd and 4th lines that cause teams to win championships.   And there are lots of those players out there.

3.  NFL Relocation - Roger Goodell sent out a mome to all 32 NFL teams reminding them that the League office, not the individual teams have the right to move teams to Los Angeles, London or any other location and that to move teams to L.A. in 2013, that relocation drafts and plans need to be submitted to the league office between Jan 1 and March 15, 2013.  Hello to the Los Angeles Rams again?  Maybe the Los Angeles Raiders?  How about the Los Angeles Chargers?  Maybe to the Los Angeles Jaguars?  Personally, I would like to see the Los Angeles Bengals.

4.  EURO 2012 - The finals of this tournament is Sunday.  The defending Champions from Spain against the Giant Killers from Italy.  The Spanish team are the favorites in this match, but the Italian side look to have sky-high confidence.  The nice thing is that we won't have hooligans from England, Poland, Germany, or Russia doing their thing there.  The Spanish team has been fined during this tournament because of their fans, so I expect them to behave half way decent.  The Italian fans are just happy that their team didn't withdraw from the tourney.  Spain wins 3-1.

5.  The Playoff In NCAA Football - everybody in college football is hailing this as a great thing and what the public wants.  I am on the other side of the fence.  I don't want this bastardized version of the BCS.  I will have a separate post about this later on in the week, but needless to say that the more that is known about how this is going to come about, the less and less I like it.