Hey, did you see that sunrise?

HEY, DID YOU SEE THAT SUNRISE this (August 11th) morning? Sort of made me feel alive. It’s the kind of morning that gets a person moving. Especially when it’s a Monday morning.

TALK ABOUT SEEING something… did you watch the windup of the 96th PGA Championship Sunday afternoon. Well, because of a two-hour rain delay, the wrap-up was played in almost semi-darkness. And Rory McIlroy, the big favorite at the beginning of the four day event, was coming on like a runaway train. The kid (hey, he’s only 25 years old) brushed aside all obstacles – inlcuding the play of both Americans (ancient Phil – he’s 44 – Mickelson and hotshot Rickie Fowler) and Henrik ranked No. 4 in the world Stenson – to post a one-stroke victory at  the Valhalla Gold Club in Louisville. You had to hold your breath as all four of these guys made impossible putts, then also blew usually makeable short ones. It was easily the most excitable PGA Championship I’ve ever viewed. I admit I was pulling for Mickelson to win the blasted thing (us old guys have to stick together)… but when, after his putt on No. 15 (I think it was that hole) rolled over the hole instead of falling in, I switched my allegiance to McIllroy. But give Mickelson a ton of credit. This guy, with a number of physical ailments, had not finished in the top ten of any tournaments this year. His 66 in the final round was good enough for second place in the event and a paycheck reading $1,080,000. McIllroy, of course, took home the biggest payday at $1,800,000 while Fowler and Stenson cleared $580,000 for their third place tie. Money winnings aside, the tourney was one of the best shown this year. I’m thrilled that I got to see a good portion of it.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT… there were two 19-inning games on successive days in the major leagues last week. On Sunday the Toronto Blue Jays, after trailing 0-5, came alive and beat the Detroit Tigers 6-5 in 19 frames… the day before the Los Angeles Dodgers nipped the Boston Red Sox in 19 innings 5-4. The longest game I’ve ever covered in my almost 44 years as a sports writer with the Erie Times-News was only 14 innings long… and I don’t remember the date. Typical…

I HAVE TO ADMIT, I don’t know what to say about the racing accident of Tony Stewart’s car killing Kevin Ward, Jr., on Saturday night at the Canandaigua Motorsports Park in New York. The Ontario County Sheriff Department is conducting an investigation to see if any criminal charges should be filed. First of all, Ward should never have left his car to argue with Steward about getting spun during the race. But, people are also looking at Stewart’s past history in which the driver’s temper got the best of him. Stewart is “a 43 year old multimillionaire and a national racing icon” while Ward is a 20 year old who is “relatively unknown” according to USA Today. The publication also states, “the circumstances surrounding Ward’s death are highly unusual, as drivers are rarely killed on the track while outside the cockpit.” Apparently, we will all simply have to wait to see what happens.

I HOPE YOU KNOW that the Erie Seawolves’ hopes of making the post season playoffs are over. The Howlers made sure of that with successive losses over the past weekend to New Britian to fall further behind in the chase for extra playing action. The pitching is not up to the task of over-hauling anyone and the hitting is a bit worse than that. Oh well, let’s just enjoy the final three weeks of play – then put Uht Park up for the off-season… and concentrate on other sports. After all – football and basketball (both scholastic and collegiate and, yeah, the NFL) are fast coming along.

THE PITTSBURGH PIRATES, teasing their fans with the hope of a possible playoff berth, continue to pull in their rooters. Saturday night, a 2-1 loss to San Diego, saw an overflow crowd of 38,614 on hand (PNC Park officially holds 38,362) while there were 38,030 on hand to view Sunday’s 8-2 setback to the Padres. The Bucs need some trade help. Are they going to get it??? Who knows. But, without it, there will be no post season playoff.

THE MAJOR TALK in Cleveland has little or nothing to do with the Indians. Nope, instead, 99.9 percent of the fan jabbering is about the Browns and who will be starting at quarterback when they open the regular campaign against the Pittsburgh Steelers…. in the Black and Gold’s stadium. There was a ton of comment and evaluation after the first exhibition game – a 13-12 loss to the Detriot Lions last Saturday. Well folks, the powers-that-be in Cleveland are doggone sure they are going to milke this situation until the opening whistle sounds. Then, in my estimation only, the Browns will open the campaign with Brian Hoyer as the signal-called. That will chance sometime in the third canto of the contest when the brass sends Johnny Football (err… Johnny Manziel) into the francas. And, he’ll be there the rest of the way. Barring injury, of course brought one national football publication stated the obvious… “Johnny Manziel has brought electricity to Browns football. He has awakened a loyal, though slumbering, fan base before throwing his first snap.” Let’s hope that Manziel can keep that “electricity” humming throughout the entire 16-game season – all of which begins September 7th. Then, not only will Manziel be on the spot… but so will first year coach Mike Pettine. Pettine was the defensive coordinator of the Buffalo Bills last season and before  that spent four years with the New York Jets in that same category. He is considered as a “hard-nosed coach” (whatever THAT means). Maybe we’ll all find out… sooner or later.

THE PITTSBURGH STEELERS are expected to use the “no huddle offense” more than ever this coming season. The main reason??? It allows quarterback Ben Roethlisberger more time to throw and to get away from onrushing linemen. Now, the Steelers have the eighth easiest schedule (this based on 2013 won-lost records) which should mean something. The only thing is both Cincinnati and Cleveland (division opponents) have easier ones. There is no doubt the Steelers are getting old. Roethlisberger is 32, receiver Heath Miller is also 32, defensive whiz Troy Polamalu is 33, defensive back Ike Taylor is 34… and so on. It could be a third straight difficult season for the Black and Gold. Then again, maybe the “old Steeler spirit” will return. Personally, I think the Steelers will be the same as last season… an 8-8 team.

MY CHOICE FOR an outstanding rookie quarterback in the NFL is Blake Bortles of the Jacksonville Jaquars. Except for his receivers dropping the ball (I still think this should be in the game stats), Bortles showed poise, command, mobility and mechanics in the pre season 16-10 win over Tampa Bay. I think Bortles will be a starter from the beginning… and I think that he’ll outdo Johnny Manziel.

AND A FINAL NOTE… People are simply nuts over the NFL. A crowd of 74,611 showed up at Metlife Field to watch the New York Giants top the Steelers 2-16 in a practice game. Good heavens!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

-Jack Polancy

In other words… forget it…

AHH… ANOTHER MONDAY. So, what was your most exciting sports moment over the past weekend? Oh, I know the answer to that one. It was the start of the NFL practice sessions. Yeah, yeah – I know. Only two teams actually began any kind of workouts, that being the Buffalo Bills and the New York Giants. And why only these two? That’s because they face each other in the first pre-season game… which would be the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio on August 3rd. Hey, that’s only two weeks away!!! Isn’t it a sad situation when pre-season football practice sessions dominate the conversation as well as the written word? I think so. But, that’s the way things are going at this moment. And, who am I to even attempt to change them? But, we’ll give it a shot.

I DID WATCH a big chunk of the British Open golf championship on the tube. Rory McIlroy’s win was quite impressive. Even when the 25-year-old – one of the youngest golfers to ever claim this title – faltered a bit on the back nine Sunday with a couple of bogies, he regained his stride and almost waltzed to his two-stroke triumph over America’s Rickie Fowler and Sergio Garcia (who remains winless in major golf events despite finishing in the top ten 19 times in 64 shots). McIlroy’s win (his third major verdict) earned him $1,666,275 in prize money and now second place in the world golf rankings. I’m not a gigantic golf nut, but I do like to watch the four major tournaments. Each has it’s own charm… but each also produces tremendous golf. This one was no different with eagles being scored by a healthy number. The main drawback was Tiger Woods finish at 294… a whopping six strokes over par (as compared to McIlroy’s 17-under-par 271). He was 69th of the 72 finalists. The Tiger, trying to overcome March 31st back surgery as well as a number of other problems, started fairly well with a 69 on opening day – but went downhill from there with 77, 73 and a finishing 75. It’s obvious that he needs a lot more work to get his game back to where it is competitive. The next major event is scheduled for August 7-10 when the PGA Championship will be staged at the Valhalla Golf Club in Louisville. You can bet that I’ll be watching.

I DID GET a pretty good look at some baseball over the past weekend. I enjoyed the Pittsburgh Pirates three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies as well as Cleveland’s three-of-four victories over the division-leading Detroit Tigers. But, what was most interesting was the National League battle between the Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers, with baseball’s highest payroll at $241 million came in at 54-45 while the Cardinals – owners of two of the last three NL Championship Series – were at 54-44. Naturally, these two SHOULD meet in the NL Finals again this year. However, Sunday had the Dodgers flouting southpaw Clayton Kershaw (twice the winner of the Cy Young Award) on the hill while the Cards countered with Carlos Martinez, a 22-year-old flame thrower. Martinez, however, has a hard time controlling his fast ball… owning a 2-4 mark. The kid reached 97-98 miles-per-hour relarly and at times zipped to a 100. The dodger batters had difficulty staying outside the range of some of those pitches. In the third inning of a 1-1 game, Martinez walked opposing pitcher Kershaw (a big no-no in any NL game). He then hit the next batter with a 100-MPH delivery… and the next two Dodgers – taking full advantage of Martinez’ struggles – lined run-scoring singles for a 3-1 lead. This lasted until the seventh when some St. Louis journeyman (with only two HRs to his credit this season) blasted a two-run bomber off the offering of Kershaw (very unexpected) for a tie. That the Dodgers won the game in the top of the ninth with a single run is almost incidental. What was most impressive was the speed of Martinez and the resiliency of the Cardinal hitters. I expect to see both of these teams again in October.

I WAS SADDENED over the weekend due to the passing of James Garner. Garner, who was 86, was one of my favorite actors. He also drove the Indy 500 pace car in 1975, 1977 and 1985. He was a big fan of auto racing.

BEING A CLOSET FAN of the New York Yankees, I am not usually surprised with their somewhat lack-luster play this year. Therefore, I am surprised when they come up with unexpected wins. That’s what happened this past weekend. The Yankees, with no experienced hurling left on the roster (due to injuries to all five previous starters) had to entertain the surging Cincinnati Reds in a three-game set. Well, guess what? The Yankees won all three. The last one, a 3-2 decision Sunday, came about when three Cincinati fielders couldn’t come up with Brian McCann’s bloop RBI-single (he’s hitting a disappointing .244). See, sometimes good things do happen!!!

AS WAS MENTIONED earlier in this space… The NFL camps will all open sometime this week. And, believe it or not, most of the fans that I communicate with are interested in others teams as well as “our three” – meaning the Steelers, Browns, and Bills (in that order). The team I get the most questions about are the New England Patriots followed by the Dallas Cowboys and then the Denver Broncos and the Green Bay Packers. There are a smattering of inquiries concerning the Philadelphia Eagles, Chicago Bears and Indianapolis Colts. The rest are almost a forgotten group. But, the minute the pre-season (the REAL name is PRACTICE GAMES) starts, people will be asking about most all of the 32 teams involved. Well, in seven weeks the “real” games will begin… six weeks for the colleges. I’m getting the faver…

AND A FINAL NOTE… The current baseball odds have the Oakland Athletics a 9-2 favorite to win the World Series with the Los Angeles Dodgers second at 5-1 and the Detroit Tigers at 6-1. The Cleveland Indians are 75-1, the Pittsburgh Pirates 40-1. By the way, this same group had Tiger Woods tied for an 18-1 choice in the British Open. In other words… forget it…

-Jack Polancy