The Weekend Run Down June 20, 2011

Summertime is in the air (I just heard Will Smith's Summertime song, so that makes it official in my book) as the temperature rises, the summer sports such as baseball, tennis, and golf take hold of the sports universe. The big news this weekend was the dominance of Rory McIlroy in the U.S open. The 22-year old Northern Irishman lapped the field and put on a performance not seen since the glory days of Tiger Woods. The College World Series is also underway as local favorite Vanderbilt, as far fetched as it sounds, made their first appearance in college's baseball's championship. In MLB news, St. Louis slugger Albert Pujols was injured making a catch at first base and appears to be in line to miss some time. Just another injury to add to the list for the Cardinals.




Now without further ado I present to you the weekend rundown:

Rory makes it looks easy at the Congressional: That Masters collapse was so yesterdays news eh Rory? McIlroy was brilliant breaking multiple records (12 in all) including lowest round scores in every round. The Irishman shot of the gates with an opening round of 65 and never looked back. The players themselves were in aw of McIlroy's greatness as multiple players heaped praise on him left and right. Said Jason Day who finished 2nd at – 8: “It’s just phenomenal golf,” Day said. “He lapped the field, and for such a young age, how mature he is. Golf right now is in a really, really good spot where Rory McIlroy is right now.” McIlroy made everybody else play for 2nd place as the he really was never challenged. The pulse of golf maybe changing as McIlroy's humble demeanor and cheerful Irishman accent is in stark contrast from the fiery Tiger Woods and his private and steely eyed approach to the game. My one warning for everyone is not to expect so much from the young man so fast. This is his first major, although he has been in the mix for the last 3 or 4 majors. He is going to be great as evident by his performance this past weekend but we as writers and fans need to allow him to come into his own. The British open is next for the McIlroy and he will have the home crowd behind him to see if he can continue his hot streak on golf's grandest stage.

Pujols sprains wrist and possibly injures shoulder: Albert Pujols smashed his 17th home run of the season in one inning and hurt his gold glove wrist in the next. In what has been a trying year to say the least for the Cardinals MVP slugger, now has become even worse as he is expected to have a MRI and further tests today to determine the damage. The play happened as Kansas City's Wilson Betemit hit a chopper up the middle. Cardinals second baseman Pete Kozma made an awkward throw to Pujols which led him off the bag and as he tried to apply the tag, Betemit ran into him, colliding with his glove hand that sent the burly first baseman to the ground in obvious pain. Said long time St.Louis skipper Tony La Russa: “It scared the hell out of all of us,” La Russa said. “It smoked him pretty good. The doctor said he has good strength so that makes us kind of optimistic. First indications are that we caught a break. La Russa had good reason to be scared. Pujols has played at least 143 games in each of his first 10 MLB seasons. He is as durable as they come and it takes a lot for him to go down. The Cardinals were just getting healthy again as their other slugger, Matt Holliday was back playing and the Cards were expecting more reinforcements to come off the DL. Lets hope Pujols isn't out to long as he was just getting into his MVP groove.

Vanderbilt wins its first ever College World Series Game: The Commodores waited a long time for this and finally got their due. Vanderbilt has been playing baseball since 1886 and this marks their 1st appearance in Omaha. Now that they are here , they didn't wait long to pounce on the North Carolina Tar Heels and defeated them 7-3. Even former President George W. Bush was on hand to see Vandy exercise some demons over the Tar Heels. Tony Kemp led the Commodes with 3 hits including making history on multiple occasions by having the first hit ever in the new TD Ameritrade Park and also the first stolen base. Conrad Harrell broke the game open as he hit the first CWS home in the new park in the sixth-inning to break the tie. Vandy starter Sonny Gray only went 4 2/3 innings ( His shortest outing in 18 starts since going 4 1/3 in the season opener.)

and was relieved by Corey Williams who worked 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. Jason Esposito made a Sportsenter top 10 highlight play at 3rd as he made a great stop on a hard hit grounder by of all people J. Stallings-- son of Vanderbilt basketball team coach Kevin Stallings, and threw a laser to first base for the out. So far so good for the Commodores. They take on Florida today in the winners bracket , make sure to tune in to ESPN to support the Dores.



Alright, that is it for the weekend rundown. Make sure to check back this week as I have multiple posts in the works and some big news later this week.