Golf's New Star Rises To The Top

There was Tiger Woods, then there was Rory McIlroy and now it’s time for Jordan Spieth to be the face of Golf. In a sport lacking a true super star and needing diversification badly, 21 year old Spieth might be the best thing that has happened to Golf in the past decade.

Entering the 79^th Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia Golf was not in the best position. Its biggest draw in Tiger Woods had hardly played a full tournament all year. McIlroy had been more in the news for what has happened with his ex-girlfriend Caroline Wozniacki than for his play on the course and ESPN couldn't find anything to muster up a dramatic story line for the weekend. All that changed when Spieth just went off on Thursday and Friday. The Texas native managed to finish Saturday setting a 54 hole record at 16 under par, leading the pack by 4 shots.

Spieth slowed down on Saturday and wasn't as sharp, yet his scintillating performance over the course of the first 36 holes allowed him some wiggle room. The dream of putting the green jersey on is that much closer and whatever happens on Sunday afternoon, one thing is for certain, Spieth is here to stay and Golf now has a big ticket player who can garnish attention to a sport that has been on the downfall over the past years. 

The Magic Number is 5

Real Madrid have been struggling for the past few weeks and after their defeat to Barcelona in the league last time out, manager Carlo Ancelotti’s job seemed to be up in the air as well. Thus, what took place on Sunday wasn't surprising yet it was some extraordinary. Madrid hosted bottom club Granada on Sunday hoping to bounce back, and did they ever. What ensued was 90 minutes that will go down in history books, Granada received a 9-1 drubbing and would have thrown in the towel by halftime if they had the option.

World footballer of the year Cristiano Ronaldo did something on Sunday that was out of this world even by his ridiculous standards. Ronaldo scored a hat-trick in an 8 minutes span in the first half, and went on to have 5 goals in the match by himself.  As Frank Isola of New York Times put it, the performance compares to Lebron James putting up 60 or Mike trout blasting 5 Home Runs on a given night. Even though Real have been slipping up lately, Ronaldo has been the one consistent performer for the 10 times European Champions. Ronaldo’s incredible performance took his tally to 36 for the year in La Liga. Ronaldo now has more goals than 53 of the 98 teams in Europe’s top five leagues this season.

Ancelotti was full of praise for his superstar after the game adding “What more can I say. It is the first time he has scored five Madrid, which is good for everyone, for him and for the team in next games. Madrid’s day didn't end perfectly however as Barcelona squeaked out a 1-0 win over Celta Vigo to stay 4 points clear of Real in first place.  

The Team Theo built

The 2015 Major League Baseball season is upon us and what better way to kick start the campaign than a Cubs-Cardinals match up. The perennial powerhouse that is St. Louis seems to somehow be there when it counts every year (super annoying) and for the first time in half a decade, the Cubs won’t be staring down 90 losses. The  Cubbies are supposed to be contending this year, a real dark horse picked by many ( just not any Cubs fans) to at least reach the playoffs and it’s easy to see why.

The Cubs ended last year with 89 losses, but the font office continued to work hard behind the scenes. The mastermind that is Theo Epstein has had his Sam Hinkie (76ers GM) cap on since he took over in 2011. To say the Cubs have been awful on the field is an understatement. They lost 101 games in 2012 and 96 in 2013. While the team was struggling to come up with the goods on the field, Epstein and GM Jed Hoyer went to work of the field. They managed to get rid of deadwood such as Alfonso Soriano, stacked the minor league affiliates like nobody else could and along the way got draft picks that would pay off down the road. Epstein also made some amazing trades to add talent to the organization and slowly rebuilt a franchise that would be consistently good for a decade. While the cornerstone of the franchise was slowly being built, Epstein signed Jon Lester to a 6year/$155 million contract and also grabbed the game’s best manager Joe Madden from the Rays after their GM Andrew Friedman decided to move to the Dodgers Organization.

The Cubs weren't supposed to be good this year, nope they were supposed to lose 80 games instead of 90. The additions of Lester and Madden completely changed the game however. The Cubs then went on and signed Catcher Miguel Montero from the D-Backs. They traded for Dexter Fowler and suddenly the team looked all set to contend. With All-stars in Anthony Rizzo and Starlin Castro, the Cubs were now ready to compete. Don’t forget that Cubs also have the number 1, 3 and 12 best prospects according to baseball America in Kris Bryant, Addison Russell and Jorge Soler respectively. Add the fact that all the aforementioned players are under contract until 2020 and you see why everyone is going crazy about the Chicago Cubs.

Chicago is so stacked and has so much cap room that they could be big time buyers in the market without giving up any of their top rated prospects. The likes of C.J Edwards, Gleyber Torres, Albert Almora, and Jen-Ho Tseng could be used as bargaining chips to bring in a top rated free agent. Sunday night might be start of a special season for Chicago and history could well be in the making, whether or not the Cubs will win the elusive World Series Championship is a topic of its own, one thing we do know is that they are built to be great for the next decade. 

You come at the King, You best not miss

While many predicted Kentucky would stroll through to the final four without a hiccup, they knew Notre Dame would prove a worthy challenger. Still double digit underdogs, the Irish came into the game with nothing to lose and everything to gain riding a perfect Cinderella, feel good story. After all, coach Mike Brey’s mother had passed away earlier and this had all the potential to be a historic win for the Irish.

As the game progressed through its course, it seemed as though Notre Dame had Kentucky right where they wanted them. They had made some key shots, Zach Auguste was getting whatever he wanted and role players such as Steve Vasturia were contributing big time. Tied at half time at 31 apiece, it was obvious Kentucky was in a fight. The drubbing they delivered to West Virginia wasn't going to be replicated on Saturday night. Then  came the second half, and Kentucky’s big men went to work. With Lebron James in attendance, Karl-Anthony Towns went to work, literally. Towns ended up with 25 points and simply couldn't be stopped and Kentucky’s defense came to the rescue. Unable to stop Notre Dame for much of the game, the Wildcats stopped the Irish three times in a row at the end to win 68-66 with Jerian grant’s desperation three to win the game catching nothing but air.

Saturday was perhaps more about Notre Dame than Kentucky, as Mike Brey put it, the Irish “emptied the tank” and gave it all they had but came agonizingly close to hamper Kentucky’s run to set the table. The Wildcats will now head to Indianapolis to face the Wisconsin Badgers who were able to knock out Arizona for a second consecutive year. Two wins away from achieving an unprecedented 40-0 record, the message to Kentucky’s opponents is a quote from The Wire “You come at the King, You best not miss.” 

New Zealand vs Australia: Cricket World Cup Final

As blog posts go, I try to write about different sport subjects every week. From the world of boxing to soccer, there is much more to the global sport spectrum than one sees on SportsCenter on nightly basis. So, it is only fitting that I dedicate a blog post to the world of cricket. On Saturday night, a new champion will be crowned and while a very few on this side of globe will care; the rest of the world turns its attention to Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG.)

The Cricket World Cup Final will be settled between co-hosts Australia and New Zealand. The 4-time champion Aussies were able to defeat defending champion India in the semi-final while the Kiwi’s got past South Africa in search of a maiden world cup championship. New Zealand comes into the match in-form and unbeaten throughout the tournament beating Australia in the group stages by one-wicket (similar to a walk-off home run in baseball), while the Aussies have the benefit of playing in front of their home crowd.

The final will be the pedigree of Australia and their hostile 100,000 crowd vs. a hungry New Zealand team that is ready to announce itself to the world. New Zealand Captain Brendon McCullum has gotten the best out of his side so far, and went all Ben-Hur on his pre match presser saying  “We'll play with the humility which we've played with throughout this campaign as well. And hopefully the big fella upstairs shines on us when the pressure situations come into play."

 While much of the global sporting world will pay close attention to the events taking place at MCG on Saturday night, and if New Zealand can overcome Australia for their first World Cup title, much of U.S will be focusing on the events of March Madness (which has been boring this year) and spring training baseball but then again, some sports aren't meant for everyone. 

Get Boring Out of Here

When I wrote last week about the ugly brand of basketball being played by much of the teams participating in the NCAA tournament and regular season games being very dull and boring to watch for casual fans, it wasn’t intended to one team or league. It was a sad truth concerning the college basketball landscape. The game has changed so much that now 90% of us only care about the name in the front and not in the back. All while, a decade ago it was the exact opposite. The likes of Kevin Durant, Chris Paul, Al Horford, and Derrick Rose were all recognizable within the landscape of the game but now the stars of the game are completely taken out due to the style of the game changing. 

The flag bearer for this style is none other than University of Virginia coach Tony Bennett who embodies the grind out, bite your nail, 44-40 victory. So when, UVA lost to Tom Izzo’s Michigan State for the second consecutive year, it was a reminder that the tedious, uninteresting, defensive minded Bennett needs to change his style if he has hopes of succeeding when it actually counts.

The problem with the style of play implemented by the likes of Bennett is that it brings a lot of wins to the table in the regular season because at the college level, scoring comes at a premium and being an excellent defensive team ensures that your team has a chance to win night in and night out. Come tournament time however, the scenario changes. Go up against a talented team such as Michigan State and you get toasted.

Hopefully other coaches will soon realize that in order to win when it counts, a grinded out, low scoring game is highly ineffective and talented individuals have the ability to send you home packing. College basketball needs to be more exciting and over-coaching simply needs to stop because it’s killing the game.  

This is What Rock Bottom Looks Like

When Roberto Mancini took over from Walter Mazzarri, the Inter faithful felt like a much needed change had taken place. The pragmatic Mazzarri and his persistence of 3-5-2 had finally given way to a man who was seen a hero to club’s fans. In 2004, Mancini brought Inter its first title since 1989. A changing of the guard was in place and many saw Inter as a legitimate contender for the Champions League. A strong backing from the management in the January transfer window combined with a string of good results had put Inter in the driver’s seat. Then, just as quickly as the situation seemed to be restored, Mancini’s Inter collapsed.

On Sunday, Inter traveled to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to face a spirited Sampdoria side that has overachieved this season. A wasteful Inter saw chances come and go, then a momen of magic from Sampdoria’s Eder changed the game. Midway through the second half, the Brazilian’s wonder striker

gave the home team a narrow 1-0 win and brought Inter, it’s 6^th consecutive defeat in all competition. The defeat meant Mancini’s team is out of contention for European places and has casted doubts over his reigns on the team next year.

An Inter team that once ruled Italian and European football is now in lowly 9^th place in standings, an incredible 30 points behind champions elect Juventus. In half a decade, the Nerazzurri went from winning every trophy possible to being limbo in Serie A. Who knows what holds for the team in the future, but it sure doesn't look pretty.