Weekend Round-up Aug, 15 2011

Weekends like the one that just passed is what I live for as a Sportaholic, as it was great action across the board in various sports. I was able to have the high of seeing my beloved football this weekend, as the NFL finally got back on the field. I was also hit with a low as Dan Uggla’s 33-game hit streak came to an end after a great catch by Cubs 2nd baseman Darwin Barney made a spectacular catch to ice Dan’s historic steak. Serena Williams continued her path back to the top of women’s tennis as she won yet another tournament (The Rogers Cup) coming off of her injury and looks to be rounding into form just in time for the US open. And low and behold, Keegan Bradley, an American won the PGA championship tournament ending a major drought that hasn’t seen an American win a major since Phil Mickelson won the 2010 Masters championship. Even college football is making waves as conference realignment has reared its head again with Texas A&M supposedly headed to the SEC, only to have to pump the brakes and be on temporary hold until the most powerful college conference decides just how it this to shake out. .




A wild weekend of finishes, rumors and pressure filled tournaments to get me fired up and ready to go on this Monday, so lets jump right into things.

Dan Uggla streaking no more: The Atlanta Braves 2nd baseman finally had his 33-game streak snapped as he went 0-3 against the Cubs on Sunday. The streak which started way back on July 4th saw Uggla raise his average from .171 to .231 and he hit 15 home runs during that span as well. The steak may have very well have continued if it wasn’t for the web gem Darwin Barney made on Uggla’s third at bat. The Cubs 2nd basemen busted it over from his position on a sinking liner and made a leaping catch that most 2nd basemen including Uggla would not have made. Uggla said as much when interviewed on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight, “I wish I was playing 2nd on my hit, because I ain’t making that play/” joked the Braves 2nd basemen. As much as I hate to see his streak end, his team the Braves is in good position for the playoffs as they are leading the NL wildcard by 2 games over Arizona.

Serena wins the Rogers Cup: It has been a long winding road for Williams who has endeared a tough year to say the least. The former number 1 ranked Williams sister seems to have found her grove as she won her 2nd tournament of the year and is heating up right before the US open. She defeated Samantha Stosur 6-4 6-2 as she dominated the Australian in straight sets. Williams was sidelined just days after her Wimbledon victory last summer, first with a foot injury sustained when she stepped on a piece of glass in a restaurant in Germany, and then diagnosed with pulmonary embolism in her lungs late this summer. Said Williams: I consider myself a favorite to just do what I can do best, if that means winning the U.S. Open, obviously I want to,'' she said. "I went through a lot of things physically and mentally and emotionally, and going through so much, I'm just taking it one day at a time and just going with it.'' Williams will continue her comeback and with this win she put the women’s tennis world on notice that she is back.

Keegan Bradley wins the PGA Championship: It had been awhile since an American had won a prestigious major and the boys across the pond had no shame in telling us about it, until now. Bradley became the first major winner for the Americans in 5 majors as he captured a heart stopping and epic PGA Championship. On a week where Tiger Woods was no where to be found on the leader board, Bradley and fellow American Jason Dunfer staged a mano e mano battle for the championship. Bradley who is also a PGA rookie, hit an assortment of wild shots that got him into contention after Dunfer looked as if he would run away with the win. Dunfer squandered a 5-stroke lead and Bradley capitalized as he forced a playoff and would eventually win. It was great to see two contrasting personalities going all in as Bradley was the picture of exuberance and Dunfer had a cool and calm demeanor. The end result was that America rightfully owned a major and it came in dramatic fashion.

Texas A&M to the SEC? Not so fast: The SEC has rebuffed the Aggies for the time being it their bid to become the 13th SEC school. Per Florida president Bernie Machen: "The SEC Presidents and Chancellors met today and reaffirmed our satisfaction with the present 12 institutional alignment. We recognize, however, that future conditions may make it advantageous to expand the number of institutions in the league. We discussed criteria and process associated with expansion. No action was taken with respect to any institution including Texas A&M." Long story short, The SEC decided to let the process of adding another member play itself out. In the world we live in today its easy to get phony info and anything else off the internet but its hard to figure out the truth from the rumors. Texas A&M more than likely will eventually land in the SEC just not at this current moment. Plenty of legal play will be involved which means more time before this one comes to fruition. Hold your horses just a bit longer Aggies fans, but your day of SEC play should be on its way.

Tennessee Titans win their first pre-season game over the Minnesota Vikings: The Titans kicked off a new era, as this was the first official game under new Head Coach Mike Munchak. So it goes without saying that the Titans wanted to make sure to get the win for their newly minted coach. We all know it’s a preseason game but no matter what you do, you win it,” Munchak said. I personally wanted to see how Matt Hasselbeck would respond as it was reported that he was struggling in the new system of Chris Palmer and the Titans offense. Hasselbeck went 5-6 for 55 yards and even rookie Jake Locker got in on the action as he tossed a 45-yard bomb to Yamon Figurs on a busted play to begin with. Locker botched the snap, then picked the ball and delivered a perfect strike for the touchdown. “Crazy way to have your first touchdown pass, but again, that will be a great story for him to tell,” Hasselbeck said of Locker’s TD.Locker ended the game with an impressive 130.0 QB rating and was 7-10 for 89 yards. The Titans looked impressive on the defensive side of the ball as well as they held the Vikings to just 3 points for the whole game. The defense looked more disciplined as they forced two turnovers on Minnesota’s offense.

All in or in all a good start to the season for the Titans as they saw some things they can build off of going into the season. Both QBs looked sharp and look to get better with every snap under their belt. Even Stefon Johnson, the USC product who suffered a season ending ankle injury, got iinto the action and ran over a couple of Vikings in the process. The Titans next pre-season game is this Saturday against the St. Louis Rams as they try to improve as much as they can before their first regular season game.



Notes: Titans DE Derrick Morgan(notes) had a sack. The first-round draft pick a year ago, Morgan is coming back after tearing his left ACL in his fourth game. … Griffin is returning from knee surgery after tearing an ACL in October, and Shiancoe was out this week with a hamstring injury … Asher Allen(notes) started for Griffin, and Kleinsasser started for Shiancoe. … The Titans sat WR Kenny Britt(notes) and DT Sen’Derrick Marks(notes), and rookie Karl Klug(notes) started for Marks. Justin Gage(notes) started for Britt. The Titans also scratched S Robert Johnson(notes) (hamstring) and Nick Schommer(notes) (hamstring) and LS/LB John Stokes(notes) (shoulder).