Is Tiger Back?

                After an impetuous downfall of a career, Tiger Woods is executing one of the biggest comebacks of all time.  Yes even bigger then Michael Jordan’s and Michael Vick’s. (Well maybe just as big)

                Nearly one and a half years after Tiger’s abrupt downfall in the golfing world, due to a huge sex scandal, Tiger is regaining his poise as an elite golfer.  On December 11, 2009 Woods took an indefinite leave of absence to focus on rebuilding his marriage.  His multiple infidelities were revealed by over a dozen women, through many worldwide media sources.  Many thought this scandal to be the end of Tigers career, but lo and behold he made his way back to the game. 

                With a 20 week break under his belt, Woods returned to competition for the 2010 Masters.  The field was packed full of young talent, and Tiger was looking to make a statement among the young and old.  With a 4^th place finish in the tournament life was looking up for Tiger, but it was a long spiral down from there.  On October 31, 2010, Tiger lost his #1 world ranking to Lee Westwood after holding it for 623 straight weeks (the most all time).  The game of golf was changing and this change was not good for the fan base of golf.  

                I have never been superb at golf, but I love to play a round every chance I get, but I cannot watch golf as much as I do other sports.  When you get down to it though, no one really enjoys watching much golf.  I personally don’t watch unless Tiger is playing to win.  He changed the way the game was played, and is fun to watch at that.  He drives the ball with ease, use his irons with consistency, and putts spectacularly (especially under pressure) which is possibly his biggest asset in the game.  These came from having excellent swinging coaches and a great caddy (Steve Williams), who can be credited with helping him with key shots and putts, and spending hours perfecting his game on his days off.   

                The talent of Tiger was thought to be lost until this April in the 75^th round of the Masters.  Tiger played a sloppy first round, supreme second round, even third, and ended with a run for the jacket coming up 4 strokes short in the final round, but showed he had what it takes once again.  Yes, he only came in 4^th place, but I saw a side of Tiger I hadn’t seen in probably 2 years.  The 75^th “Green Jacket” may have gone to Charl Schwartzel (well deserving with his excellent play in the final round) but confidence was won by Tiger, and that can be lethal in the tournaments to come.   In just 5 tournaments played this year, Tiger has had two top 10 finishes, and I dare say that is not the end.  He is fighting to regain power as #1 in the world.  So watch out Kaymer, Westwood, Donald, and Mickelson; Tiger is on the hunt and he is looking to be #1 once more. 

                I look forward to watching golf again as Tiger hits the links and triumphs as a true contender.  Hopefully ending the season with wins in the remaining Majors, and other tournaments around the world, Tiger will show he is back to play.  So watch out world, Tiger is coming, and I am here cheering him on no matter what others think of him!!!!!!!

                

Bye Bye Manny

19 seasons, 12 All-star appearances, 9 Silver Slugger awards, and 2 World Series (MVP in 2004), that is one hell of a career to end.  Manny Ramirez was one of the best designated hitters (DH) to play the game.

As the baseball world sees his career end on a bad note of suspension in view, Manny decides to retire and not come back.  He already served a 50 game suspension with the LA Dodgers back in 2009 and does not want to deal with it anymore.  The prolific hitter had stints with 5 MLB clubs.  The most memorable team he played for would have to be the Boston Red Sox.  The Red Sox had been under the curse of the great Bambino until the year 2004 when the Boston Red Sox broke the curse by winning the Yankees 7 games after falling behind 3 games to known early. The offensive power of Manny helped the Red Sox overcome the Yankees and win the World Series, and he was named the MVP of the series.

Yes Manny is leaving as the only player to be caught twice using performance enhancing drugs, but he will be forever remembered as one of the best players in the game.

Many will question whether or not Manny is worthy of being elected in to the Hall of Fame after all that has happened lately.  I believe it will happen, but it will take many years for that to come forth.  The election committee is going to need time to get over the fact that he did what he did and give him that honor as a Hall of Fame player.

He was a great teammate in every club house, and will be greatly missed.  As a teammate he was a friend and loved playing the game.  The hard work he put into the game wasn't visible to the public because we all saw him as a big kid, but many of his teammates saw the side of him as a hard worker.

He worked hard to perfect his swing and worked hard to become a better defensive player all the time and it will be tough to see this great hitter go down on such a sour note.  The game is always changing with players coming and going, but some players have a bigger impact in the league and replacing them is one hard job.

I will remember Manny for his hard work ethic, child like antics, and great swing as I hope he enters the Hall of Fame in the years a head.

A “Nugget” of Hope in Denver

The history of this successful team dates back to the days of the ABA.  They were called the Denver Larks for a couple years.  They were then sold and called the Denver Rockets.  They spent 9 seasons on the ABA until the NBA-ABA merger in 1976.  In preparation of joining the NBA they changed their name is the Denver Nuggets because the name “Rockets” was taken by Houston.  Denver started there NBA franchise with head coach Larry Brown.  They were very successful in their division winning the division their first 2 seasons in the NBA. 

            The 1980s brought great success to the Nugget franchise.  They brought in a new head coach, Doug Moe, who brought with him a “motion offense” philosophy.  The Nuggets set many scoring records during the 80’s which they still hold today.  They averaged 126.5 point per game in the 1981-82 season, and on December 13, 1983 they combined for an amazing 370 points in a triple overtime game with the Detroit Pistons.  They were a power hungry offense and had Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe at the two forward spots.  They were true scoring machines in the paint and with the jump shot respectively.  

            The 90’s brought along a painful couple seasons, but then success, and pain again.  They were able to become a greater threat on the court with picking up great players such as Dikembe Mutombo, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf (who changed his name from Chris Jackson prior to the 1993-94 season), Jalen Rose, and Antonio McDyess.  The talent seemed to be there for some season in the 90’s but they still flirted with the worst record in NBA history for a couple of seasons.            

            The 21^st century then brought on a new era of Nuggets all together.

The Denver franchise went through 3 head coaches.  First there was Jeff Bzdelik who was fired during the 04’-05’ season and replaced by interim head coach Michael Cooper.  Cooper finished out the season and then the Nuggets hired head coach George Karl.  George has been an amazing coach for a team with many egotistical and cocky players. Coach Karl dealing with his cancer can’t possibly make it any easier for him to run a team. 

            This was the era of Carmelo Anthony(2003-2011), Allen Iverson(2006-2008), and Chauncy Billups(2008-2011).  Anthony was drafted as the third overall pick in the 2003 draft, which was one of the most talent packed drafts of all time (The 2003 three draft also brought in LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Chris Kaman, David West, and Mo Williams.).   Anthony took his talent on the court, and helped turn around the Nugget team as they began to win more games.  Carmelo was then able to join forces with an aging Allen Iverson.  The years played together by these two where somewhat over rated.  Carmelo and Allen where the two top scorers in the league which lead to lots of chemistry problems and lots of first round knock outs in the playoffs.  The nuggets then traded Iverson for Chauncy Billups in 2008.  This would prove to be a better teammate for Anthony.  The duo was able to put together a 54-28 record, which matched the most wins Denver has ever had in a season.  The duo of Anthony and Billups seemed to be working out really well for the team.  But it soon came to a screeching halt when they were both traded to the New York Knicks during 2011 season.  

            After the mess of rumors that floated around Carmelo all year had finally been vindicated by his trade to New York, many people, including myself, thought it was the end of the season, and the Nuggets would just give up and try for a good rebuilding season in the 2011-12 season.  I can’t imagine anyone saw them becoming a winning team and making the playoffs as a 5 seed or maybe even better.  Since the trade of Anthony and Billups the Nuggets have gone 13-4 with a perfect record on their home court.  Somehow the team chemistry has never been better even with the hot head of J.R. Smith, and crazy antics of Chris Anderson still on the team.  George Karl has taken the great talent he was given and understood perfectly how to mesh the team together. 

            The Denver Nuggets have proved to be one of the best teams in the league and will be a huge threat in the playoffs this year.  Any team playing the Nuggets will take them for granted and Denver is not a team to do that with these days.  I am not a Denver fan; I am a Utah Jazz fan through and through.  I won’t however be seeing my team in the playoffs this year and will be rooting for the underdog Nuggets to make a run.  Props to the Nuggets and the hard work they put into the game and never giving up.  If anyone should be scared it is the team the Nuggets will face in the first round of the playoffs.