SPORTS

Back in April, Tiger Woods played Oakmont Country Club, site of this week's U.S. Open, for the first time. Based on his experience, it sounds like we're in for a doozie! According to the world's #1, "Overall, I'd say it's a lot harder than Augusta National...The greens were running about 10 ½ on the Stimpmeter, and they were plugged last week. I don't think they were designed for that kind of speed, so it should be interesting."

But what I found the most interesting was reading about the par-3 8th hole. From the tips, it plays to 288 yards! It will be the longest par-3 in major championship history. Are we going to be seeing players hit driver on this hole? Most of the field will let the big dog eat, but not Tiger Woods! During his practice round, he hit 3-wood and managed to reach the middle of the green.

"I refuse to hit driver," Woods said, smiling. "It's against my religion."

If that's the case, forgive me Father, for I have sinned! I have hit driver on par-3s several times, but all on one course. Ironically, it is the site of next year's U.S. Open, Torrey Pines South Course. On the back nine, there are two monster par-3s: the 221-yd. 11th and the 227-yd. 16th. While not as daunting yardage-wise compared to Oakmont's 8th, both of the tee shots on these holes face directly towards the ocean. As most of us know, ocean breezes can have a adverse affect on golf balls. The first time that I played Torrey Pines, a storm played with me. The blustery conditions forced me to hit driver on both of these hellish par-3s but it still wasn't enough! The gale force winds spade and neutered my normally 250-ish yd. drives to mere hacker-like 200 yd. drives. I guess it was the Golf Gods' punishment for my sins!

Not satisfied with the increasing professionalism of collegiate sports, America's marketers have set their sights on high school athletics. This article from today's New York Times does a nice job of introducing us to the increasing presence of advertisers in high school sports our high schools generally. Of course, the marketers all claim to be ever vigilant against "corrupting" the kids, but we all know that their definition of corruption and yours might well be miles apart. In any event, the article is well worth the read. Did you know there were over 7 million high school kids playing varsity sports?

Real Madrid has found a new principal sponsor to replace the bankrupt German phone company BenQ Mobile. Now gaining the coveted spot on the white jersey will be the Austrian online gaming company Bwin Interactive. The club will get about $21 million a year; the length of the deal has not been announced. Bwin had previously been in negotiations with Real's arch-rival FC Barcelona, but Barca opted for a unique deal with UNICEF, which found the club actually paying the charity to put its name on the jersey rather than being paid for the privilege as is the norm.

In other news from La Liga, Real Madrid is in position to win the league if it wins its next two games. The club had made inquiries about keeping David Beckham now that Becks has regained his stature with the club and with England, but the star and the Los Angeles Galaxy have rebuffed the effort and Becks and Posh will be moving to SoCal as planned come July.

Congratulations to the University of Louisville Cardinals baseball team on their first ever trip to the College World Series. The Cards won their Super Regional rubber match today at Jim Patterson Stadium in Louisville whacking Oklahoma State 20-2. OSU stayed alive yesterday, squeezing out a 3-2 win in 12 innings after suffering an uncharacteristic 9-0 shutout in the first game on Friday. The Cowboys entered the Super Regional as the leading hitting team in the tournament, but were handcuffed throughout by the Cardinal pitchers. It was an all-around effort by the Cardinals as the Cardinals teed off on Cowboy pitching throughout the lineup, with every starter collecting at least one hit, getting 21 in all. The Cards task only gets harder as they draw number one seed Rice in the opening round of the CWS in Omaha, but the Cardinals have thrived on a lack of respect all season, so this should be nothing new.

In reaching the CWS, the Cardinals become only the second school to reach the Final Four, a BCS game and the CWS in the last three seasons. The only other school to do it? Florida, which of course, rules the NCAA universe, for now.

Get your Louisville Fathead here.

This is not exactly sports but since it concerns the Big Ten, I guess it qualifies. In its academic guise as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation, the Big Ten has agreed to join Google's effort to digitize the world's libraries. The CIC represents all 11 Big Ten universities plus former athletic but still academic member, the University of Chicago. The Google Book Project has signed up several other major universities, including Harvard and the University of California, but has run into trouble with the book publishers who claim that it will be violating copyright laws. Google and the CIC said that books will be scanned in a manner consistent with copyright law. This agreement provides a major boost to the Google effort with Northwestern, Chicago and Michigan's libraries, in particular, coming online.

Finally, here they are ( with thanks to my friends at The Big Lead).

Sorry for the light posting this past week. My mother-in-law passed away last weekend and I have been tied up with family all week and frankly haven't felt much like posting or being online much. It's been at time for reflection and sharing with family and friends and much of that has been surprisingly positive energy, given the circumstances. I suppose having a 6 week old baby in the family, in the form of my grand niece, helps as she can't do anything but bring smiles to people's lips, no matter their mood. I know she's been good for my wife, who has enjoyed babysitting. I should be back to a more regular posting schedule soon.