Racism or Business Decision?

The LPGA is one of the most racially diverse organizations in all sports as there are currently 121 international players from 26 countries on the LPGA Tour. 11 of the last 13 tour events have been won by international players and of the top 20 money earners more than half are international players. With all these international players on tour it would seem odd that Tour officials would want to do anything to upset them. None the less this is exactly what they did however.

Earlier in the week the LPGA passed a new policy that will require players to speak English starting in 2009, with players who have been LPGA members for two years facing suspension if they can't pass an oral evaluation of English skills. The rule is effective immediately for new players.

People everywhere are outraged at this decision because they feel that it is racist and unfair to force people to learn a language. I couldn't disagree more. The LPGA is a business whether these players like it or not. The tour is there to make money and is trying to provide a product to sell to everyone. Most of the fans of the LPGA are North Americans who speak English as well as most of the sponsors are American companies. I think it is only right that after a golfer wins an event they can take a microphone and thank the fans for their support and thank their sponsors.

The LPGA has come under heavy fire for their decision and have been forced to try and justify their actions. "Why now? Athletes now have more responsibilities and we want to help their professional development," deputy commissioner Libba Galloway told The Associated Press. "There are more fans, more media and more sponsors. We want to help our athletes as best we can succeed off the golf course as well as on it."

Besides just fans and sponsors there are people to pay top dollar to play in Pro-Ams with these women. Imagine spending $10,000 to play one round of golf with your favorite golfer on the LPGA and not even being able to ask them how it is going? These players have a responsibility to make themselves accessible to the public and if that means learning to speak English than I think its justified.

Some golfers who have won tournaments before can't even give an interview after their round. Imagine if Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson couldn't speak English? The PGA would be ruined because so much of their business comes from sponsors and selling these players as a commodity.

I think what a lot of people are not seeing are the opportunities that learning English will provide to some of these young golfers. If they learn to speak English now than they could get a new sponsor and do TV commercials and gain exposure and earn more money. Its not as if the LPGA is attempting to assimilate them into Western culture they simply want to try and enhance their business.

The players themselves are already starting to get with the program and seem to have accepted the decision without much of an issue. Angela Park, born in Brazil of South Korean heritage and raised in the United States, said the policy is fair and good for the tour and its international players. Seon-Hwa Lee, the only Asian with multiple victories this year, said she works with an English tutor in the winter. Her ability to answer questions without the help of a translator has improved in her short time on tour.

All in all I think that the decision is a fair one and from a business standpoint makes perfect sense. If only everyone would stop being so sensitive and see that in the end sports is a business and needs to put profit ahead of some peoples hurt feelings.

Repeat Not Looking So Good

The odds of repeating as Superbowl champions are never very good. The odds of repeating without your best player on defensive are almost impossible. These are the odds that the New York Giants are going to have to beat this year as in their last pre-season game against the New York Jets defensive end Osi Umenyiora went down with a season ending injury.

Now Head Coach Tom Coughlin and the rest of the Giants franchise are in panic mode trying to find a replacement for Umenyiora. Luckily for the Giants they have a future Hall of Famer on speed dial who is very loyal to the team, Michael Strahan. The problem? Strahan is retired and has spent his entire off-season visiting NFL training camps preparing for his transition into broadcasting.

"We are going to go forward with the players that we have," Coughlin said. "And we are always looking for and searching for people who can help our team. And nothing is going to change with regard to that."

Now the Giants are acting very calm and collected about the whole situation because they claim that they have an insurance policy for such an occasion. An insurance policy named Mathias Kiwanuka. Kiwanuka is a former 1^st round draft pick and is a true defensive end who was drafted to eventually replace Strahan.

"I was told all along that if something were to happen that this is a position I could find myself in," Kiwanuka said. "I am ready to step in there and hopefully there won't be a letdown at all."

Moving Kiwanuka to defensive end would leave a hole at linebacker where Kiwanuka has been playing since being drafted back in 2006. Kiwanuka started nine games at defensive end as a rookie and had four sacks so we know that he can play end but that still doesn’t address the linebacker problem. They do have some options but none that can match the talent of Kiwanuka.

As for Strahan he is currently on vacation in Greece but it has been reported that he has been in contact with the team. However Strahan’s former teammates don’t that he will be coming back anytime soon.

"As I know it, he is probably on a beach somewhere sipping on some pina coladas, so I doubt football is the first thing on his mind today," said Justin Tuck, who replaced Strahan at left end.

As for the Giants it seems that things are going to be more difficult for them than they imagined this year as so far this off-season they have lost Strahan (retired), Umenyiora (injury) and Pro Bowl tight end Jeremy Shockey (trade). These three players were team leaders and will be sorely missed on the field. At least they still have a Manning at quarterback which is always a step in the right direction.

Dream Team vs. Redeem Team

After yesterdays win all any basketball fan wants to talk about is how great the US Mens basketball team is. Some people are saying that they are the greatest team of all time and they are better than the Dream Team from '92. To those people I say put down whatever you are smoking and come back down to reality.

I don't want to take anything away from the '08 team because they came together and played hard and beat some excellent competition but a comparison to the Dream Team is just not fair. Before we start the comparison just know that it is strictly about basketball and basketball only. The rosters alone speak volumes but I will go a bit more in-depth.

Dream Team vs. Redeem Team

Pos.	Player	Pos.	Player
G	Magic Johnson	G	Jason Kidd
G	Michael Jordan	G	Kobe Bryant
G	John Stockton	G	Chris Paul
G	Clyde Drexler	G	Dwyane Wade
G/F	Scottie Pippen	G	Deron Williams
F	Larry Bird	G	Michael Redd
F	Charles Barkley	F	LeBron James
F	Karl Malone	F	Carlos Boozer
F	Chris Mullin	F	Carmelo Anthony
F	C. Laettner	F	Tayshaun Prince
C	Patrick Ewing	C	Dwight Howard
C	David Robinson	C/F	Chris Bosh

Margin of Victory

This is usually the best way to compare teams and in this particular instance it is not even close. The Dream Team won by an average of 43.8 points per game while the Redeem Teams margin of victory was only 27.9. This clearly shows that the Dream Team was far more dominant and absolutely destroyed their opponents. Now I know that the level of competition is higher these days as basketball is more of a global game and foreign countries produce much better players but the stats cannot be ignored.

Best All-Around Player

The best overall player on the Redeem Team was LeBron James (in the '08 NBA season it was Kobe Bryant). The best overall player on the Dream Team was Michael Jordan who is much better than Kobe and LeBron at both offense and defense. The reason I bring this up is because when times are tough teams draw strength from their best player and when your best player is Michael Jordan you are going to draw a lot of strength.

Interior Players

If these two teams played each other the game would be won and lost in the paint. Dwight Howard would foul out in the first half trying to stop the likes of Patrick Ewing and David Robinson. Also Charles Barkley and Karl Malone would have no issues imposing their will on Chris Bosh and Carlos Boozer. The Dream Team brought true centers who could dominate inside and win games single handily if the guards were having an off game, which they never did. Howard was a force in Beijing but his skills would look amateur compared to some of the greatest big men of all time.

The Point

Here is where the debate will get interesting because many people love the point guards on the Redeem Team and with good reason. Jason Kidd, Chris Paul and Deron Williams are amazing point guards and can run the offense with 0 issues. However the Dream Team had Magic Johnson and John Stockton who are two of the best point guards ever. The Dream Team also had players like MJ and Scottie Pippen who could easily run an offense that was more versatile than the Redeem Team.

Defense

The '08 team played very hard on defense (though it had few answers for Spain in the final), but the Dream Team was better at that end of the court. If you saw Jordan shut down Lithuania's Sarunas Marciulionis or Pippen put the clamps on Croatia's Toni Kukoc -- both of the international players were world-class at the time -- you would have to give the advantage to the '92 team in a close game. And that's not even to bring up how Robinson and Ewing would protect the paint.

Once again this is not intended to bash the Redeem Team who played amazing and were a great team. In this day and age its hard to bring massive egos together and make them work as a unit. It is merely to say that it would not beat the once and future kings who set a standard that will probably never be matched.

The Passing of a Legend

On Wednesday night NFL Players Union boss Gene Upshaw passed away at the age of 63. He died due to pancreatic cancer, a disease he only learned that he had on Sunday. He is survived by his wife Terri and his sons Eugene III, Justin, and Daniel.

Upshaw played guard for the Oakland Raiders for all 15 years of his playing career and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1987. Upshaw was the only player in Pro Football history to play in three Super Bowls with the same team in three different decades and was a 7 time Pro Bowl selection and was named to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time team.

"The Raider organization, the National Football League, and the world have lost a great man," Raiders founder Al Davis said. "He is as prominent a sportsman as the world has known."

Despite his excellent playing career Gene Upshaw will always be remembered as the executive director of the National Football League Players' Association (NFLPA). Upshaw brought unimaginable wealth to all players of the NFL as he introduced free agency and a salary cap to the league allowing players to earn more money.

"If you look at the history of the NFL you're going to find out that he was one of the most influential people that the league has known. He did so much, not only for the players, but also for the owners, the teams, and the game of pro football," John Madden, who coached Upshaw when Oakland won its first Super Bowl, said in a statement.

Upshaw's influence on the game will be felt forever as with his actions ushered in a new age of prosperity where both players and owners benefited tremendously. However he was criticized heavily by his stance towards retired players. When former players who felt their pensions were insufficient attempted to have the league and the Association consider their plight, Upshaw responded: "I don't work for them. They are not union members and they have no vote." It was even suggested that a campaign was being led by Ravens kicker Matt Stover to oust Gene Upshaw as head of the NFLPA.

Even though he wasn't loved by everyone he was certainly respected by all as he was always trying to do what was best for the players of the NFL. Even the men that he had to sit across from at negotiations had respect for Upshaw.

"Gene Upshaw did everything with great dignity, pride, and conviction," Roger Goodell, Commissioner of the NFL said. "He was the rare individual who earned his place in the Pro Football Hall of Fame both for his accomplishments on the field and for his leadership of the players off the field. He fought hard for the players and always kept his focus on what was best for the game. His leadership played a crucial role in taking the NFL and its players to new heights."

Many of the younger players today know Upshaw only for his role with the NFLPA and had no idea that he was such a great player. Brandon Moore, the New York Jets player representative was 2 years old when Upshaw retired and said simply: "From what I hear, he was a pretty good player."

Upshaw will clearly be missed by everyone. His effect on the game will still be felt years from now and every player in the NFL right now that has a mansion and 5 cars should thank Upshaw because he made that all possible. He is a true legend of the game both on and off the field and someone that the NFL will sorely miss.

Replay is In

How many times have you been watching a baseball game and saw a terrible call made by an umpire that changed the game or cost your team the game? I know that there is nothing more annoying then when a player gets called out who was clearly safe or an umpire blows a call and claims no home run when it clearly hit the top of the fence. Well worry no more because this problem may be resolved by the end of the summer.

Baseball umpires and management signed an agreement on Wednesday that will allow the sport to start using instant replay to help determine calls on the field. Major League Baseball still hasn't determined when the use of replay will start but installation of equipment has been going on at almost every ballpark in the MLB. MLB officials have said they hoped to start using replay in August and have been testing the technology at the Little League World Series.

Replays will be limited to boundary calls, such as determining whether fly balls were fair or foul, or whether they went over fences but not to argue balls and strikes.

One of the main reasons that replay hasn't been implemented yet is because some umpires feel that it is an insult to their judgement. John Hirschbeck, World Umpires Association president, tried to explain how replay is a positive thing for the game. "I told our members that it's just another tool that we can use to get the play right, not to look at it as a negative, but a positive,"Hirschbeck said. "As hard as you try, as much as you hustle, sometimes with just the landscape of the ballparks nowadays, it's hard to tell. So if we can get it right, you know what, let's use it as a tool to get it right."

Another roadblock to replay being instituted was Bud Selig who felt that implementing replay would simply slow the game down. Selig has always tried to make the games go by faster by making mound meetings shorter and not giving batters as much time between pitches to stand out of the box. Eventually Selig caved however as too many calls were being made incorrectly that were heavily affecting the outcome of games.

I think putting in replay is a great idea because although it may slow down the game a bit at least the right call is being made. Also replay in baseball will be much quicker than in football as in baseball things are often more cut and dry than football. For example when the refs review whether a catch was made or not they often have to look at the feet, see if the receiver had control, and then where the spot was. This is a lengthy process and also takes personal judgement into account. In baseball if an umpire reviews if a ball went over the fence it either did or it didn't so the replay should take only seconds.

Umpire crew chiefs will determine when replay will be used and will make the final decisions on calls. Up to three umpires will be able to look at the replays, which will be provided from a "war room" at Major League Baseball Advanced Media in New York. It's possible as many as five umps could review the replays during postseason.

It is nice to see baseball joining the 21st century and adding this new technology and as far as Bud Selig is concerned, baseball is a slow game no matter what you do about it. Adding replay isn't going to ruin your game it will only make it fairer for everyone playing it.

Hits and Misses

Hits

AJ Burnett - The Blue Jays right hander has had a great second half and is having the best season of his career setting a new high in wins and is on pace to lead the league in strikeouts. He currently sits at 178 strikeouts and is leading the AL in that category. Over his last ten games Burnett has gone 8-2 and has lowered his ERA from 5.23 to 4.51. He has finally turned into the #2 pitcher that the Blue Jays thought he would be when they signed him as a free agent in the 2005 off-season. Unfortunately Burnett is probably going to walk this year as he is now showing that he can be consistent. Either way its nice to see the Jays getting everything that they can out of him before he goes.

The Redeem Team - The US Men's basketball team has been dominating everyone so far these Olympic games and look poised to win the gold. They still have to beat Spain and Lithuania but judging by their performances so far this shouldn't be an issue. I was watching some of their game against Australia this morning and they looked real good. Chris Bosh was playing like a beast and LeBron James was jumping for every rebound. They still aren't shooting a high percentage from beyond the arc but they should be ok.

Team Canada - It took almost 8 days but Canada finally got a medal. Wrestler Carol Huynh of Hazelton, B.C. won Canada's first medal at the 2008 Olympic games and got the ball rolling nicely. Since then Canada has won 12 more medals and has gone from 57th to 15th in a small period of time. More medals are still to come as well as the rowing and kayaking teams still have to compete and are heavy favorites. Hopefully we can keep this success going and maybe end up with 20 medals overall. That would help everyone forget the embarrassment of the beginning of the games. Let's go Canada!

Misses

Ghosts From the Past - Steve Moore just will not leave Todd Bertuzzi alone. Moore may not be attacking Bertuzzi directly anymore but the incident is still a relevant news story in the NHL. It was recently determined that former coach Marc Crawford told everyone not to touch Moore during the game and that Bertuzzi stayed out on the ice and then attacked Moore. I am a Canucks fan and I think that Steve Moore getting his neck broken was his own fault. Earlier in the year he cheap shots then captain Markus Naslund and after the game simply says, "that's hockey." Then when the teams play each other next he refuses to fight Bertuzzi and opts simply to run away. Well when you run from a fight and get beat up anyway 'that's hockey pal. Also his coach should have known something was going to happen and shouldn't have had him in the line up in the first place.

YAZ - Carl Yastrzemski, or Yaz, is one of the greatest RedSox players in history. He played left field and no one could play the wall better than Yaz. He is also the last player in MLB history to hit for the triple crown and spent his entire career with the RedSox where he was an 18-time All-Star. Unfortunately Yaz had to be taken to hospital this week and underwent triple bypass surgery. It is being reported that the operation was a complete success and that Yastrzemski is resting comfortably. A speedy recovery is wished to you Yaz.

Robbery in Beijing - I don't care what anyone says Michael Phelps did not win that race by 0.01. Take a look at this photo and tell me how it is physically possible that he won.

Also in the official rule book it states that both hands must be touching in order for a swimmer to officially be done. Looking at this next photo it shows that Phelps's hands clearly weren't both touching.

Milorad Cavic was robbed and it is truly a shame. If you want to look further into this the site http://100thofasecond.com/ has tonnes of information and is very insightful.

Making it Look Easy

It is now official that Usain Bolt is the fastest man in the entire world. Bolt broke the world record for the 100m dash by posting a time of 9.69 and did so while coasting for the last 20 meters or so. At 21, is the youngest man to break the 100 record and at 6'5 is also the tallest man to hold the record.

Bolt looked to be in a class all his own as throughout his semi-final heats he was letting up after 60 meters and simply coasting to victory over his fellow competitors. He took this same mentality to the finals where he dominated the competition and put his name in the record books forever.

Many people after the race wondered why Bolt didn't go hard all the way until the end and so far there have been many theories. One theory is that he let up for financial reasons. Every time you break a world record you get a cash bonus, sometimes up to $1,000,000, so some people felt Bolt just wants to keep breaking the record by a bit so maximize cash value.

A second theory is that Bolt simply knew he was going to win and break a record and wanted to celebrate the moment. When you are that fast you know you're the best so Bolt simply showboated for the crowd and really enjoyed himself during the race.

Whatever theory you believe in you can't take anything away from Bolt who not only wowed fans but also some former competitors as well. “It’s amazing, and I’m not sure I’ve wrapped my mind around it yet,” said Ato Boldon, a four-time Olympic medalist turned television commentator.

One thing to take into account with track and field is the wind assistance. The consensus is that every meter per second of following wind subtracts approximately five one-hundredths of a second from a sprinter’s time. “You put the wind he had in New York behind the 9.69 here, and O.K., now we could be down in the 9.5s except that he shut down with 20 meters to go,” Boldon said. “So now, I’m like, O.K., is that in the 9.4s? It’s mind-boggling.”

What makes Bolt's accomplishment even more amazing is that he only recently started running the 100m. He is a 200m sprinter who felt that he could compete in the 100m and decided to try both. He has only been running the 100m for four months and managed to qualify for the Olympics and break the world record twice in that time frame.

Some people have questioned the validity of the race and think that Bolt must be taking something. This is not too far of a reach however as within the last decade both Tim Montgomery and Justin Gatlin have been suspended and stripped of the record. However Bolt has never failed a drug test and has been smashing records his entire life. He is the the youngest male world junior champion ever in the 200 as he won the event at the age of 15.

The comparisons will now begin between Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt and people will start to argue who's achievement is more impressive. Phelps will win more medals but Bolt simply dominated while holding back a little. I don't want to take anything away from Bolt but I think the nod clearly goes to Phelps who had more races and is competing in a much more competitive field. Ato Boldon tends to disagree with me however.

“Swimming has their LZR suits and their deeper pools,” Boldon said. “We have a 6-foot-5-inch guy that’s running 9.6s and beating the rest of the Olympic field by two tenths of a second. He’s our new technology.”

Which ever achievement you believe to be better there is no denying that what Usain Bolt did was truly incredible and he deserves nothing but the highest praises. I only hope that he continues to push himself and maybe go a whole 100m running full speed.

Michael Phelps – The Greatest Olympian

On Sunday August 17, 2008 a 23 year-old swam his way into the record books and into immortality. Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals in a single Olympics and set 7 world records in the process. Phelps mastered 8 different events and made it known he was the best in the world at all of them. He now holds the record for most gold medals in a single Olympics (8) and most gold medals won in an Olympic career (14) and he is only 23 years old.

Michael Phelps may be the most discussed name in the entire world right now as his attempt at 8 gold medals in a single Olympics has been all everyone is talking about. People who know nothing about swimming or even watch the Olympics know what Phelps was trying to do and now know what he has accomplished.

In the summer of 2004 Phelps attempted to break the Olympic record for most gold medals won in a single Olympics (7 by US swimmer Mark Spitz in 1972). Phelps came up short in 2004 however winning 6 golds and 2 bronzes. This “failure” as Phelps called it urged him on as he vowed he would attempt greatness again in 2008.

Phelps came into the 2008 Olympics in Beijing highly publicized about what he was planning on doing and that anything less than 8 golds would be considered a monumental failure. He had 17 swims in 9 days and very few people believed that he would be able to do it as they believed everything would have to go right for Phelps and luckily for him it did.

There were numerous close calls however as every gold didn’t come quite as easily as Phelps would have liked. In the first relay event it took a miracle swim by Jason Lezak to ensure that Phelps would not fail early. In the 200m Butterfly Phelps looked sluggish and barely managed to win as he claimed afterwards that his goggles filled up with water. However the closest call was in the 100m Butterfly where going into the final 5 meters Phelps was behind and managed to barely win by just 0.01 seconds.

The magnitude of the accomplishment was not lost on some of Phelps’s competitors. "I just don't think there is a perspective for him," said Simon Burnett, British anchor of the 4x100 medley relay freestyle, when asked to put Phelps in perspective. "He's beyond everything we know. In Athens when he was going for eight golds, I said it would never happen -- not in this day and age with semifinal swims and the competition level. Phelps has taken every expectation and broken it. He seems to be the only guy who sees the impossible as possible, and that's what makes him the best. Once he crosses the threshold, other people are able to foresee it happening. If he can do it, we can do it. But he's always one step ahead of us."

Phelps now has the honor of being called the greatest Olympian of all time a title and maybe even the best athlete of all time. His 14 career gold medals absolutely shatter the old standard which was 9 and in 2012 at the Olympics in London England he could add to that total. But for now Phelps claims that he is just looking forward to going back home to Baltimore and relaxing.

Michael Phelps was able to achieve what some people thought to be impossible. He broke world records and set new standards of excellence for all athletes. He did it with pure talent, some help from his teammates, and a little luck but he managed to accomplish what he set out to do.

Phelps can now let the spotlight shine on someone else for a change as he sits back and reflects on one of the greatest achievements in sports history.

Bonehead Move

This is the team photo of the Spanish Mens Basketball team that is currently competing at the Olympics in Beijing. The photo was taken to be used in a promotion for a courier company that sponsors the Spanish Basketball Federation and was used in a full page ad of the popular sports daily newspaper Marca.

Jose Calderon, a member of the team, said that the sponsor asked the team "to pose with a 'wink' to our participation in Beijing" and that "we made an Oriental expression with our eye." Calderon also said, "I want to say that we have a great respect for the Orient and their peoples. Some of my best friends in Toronto are of Chinese origin." I personally like Jose Calderon and I feel that he is telling the truth when he says that the photo was not meant to be racist.

The Spanish team have said that this photo was not meant to be offensive but clearly it has offended some people. Asian rights groups in the United States, China, and all over the world are very upset about the photo and it has been called "disturbing" and "divisive."

The trouble that I have with the photo is whether it was meant to be innocent or not the players and team officials should know that in this day and age people are easily offended and that "jokes" like this are always misinterpreted. Plus what kind of a joke is making a simple wink? No one looked at this photo and thought 'oh hey they are winking that is funny'. Everyone assumed that they were making a racist gesture and that is why the photo is so offensive.

Pau Gasol, the team captain, made a public apology to the media on behalf of the team the other and said, "If anyone feels offended by it, we totally apologise for it." While I feel this is a decent enough apology many people feel it was half hearted and that Gasol missed the real issue. He never said that he was sorry for doing it only that he was sorry if he offended anyone. People are getting stuck on the details and are asking for a more sincere apology that I can promise you will not be coming anytime soon.

To make matters even worse Spain is currently in the process of making a bid for the 2016 Olympics games and do not need this kind of negative publicity. This incident added to other numerous incidents of late are not casting a positive light on Spain. Spanish sport has been placed under severe scrutiny for a number of recent incidents, including the monkey chants aimed at England's black football players by football fans at a November 2004 friendly in Madrid.

The controversy has not affected the team on the court however as so far they are undefeated in the tournament with big wins coming over Germany and China. Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.

Harden Vs. Sabathia Revisited

In the weeks before the MLB trade deadline the Milwaukee Brewers made a big splash by trading for CC Sabathia in the hopes that the addition of Sabathia would be enough to get them into the playoffs. Not to be outdone the Chicago Cubs followed suit by trading for oft-injured Rich Harden hoping to keep the Brewers at bay. After both trades occurred I wrote an article, http://thesportsinformer.blogspot.com/2008/07/mlb-harden-or-sabathia.html, where I broke down the trade and claimed that the Brewers got the better deal.

Now almost one month later I have decided to come back and see if my analysis was correct of the deals. So lets look at these two aces side by side and see who most teams would rather have and see who came out on top.

Sabathia: Since being traded to the Brewers Sabathia is pitching like a man possessed. He is currently in his contract year and has claimed that the wants "Santana money" in the off-season. Before the deal people scoffed at this and said CC was worn out but he has turned heads since going to Milwaukee. He is 7-0 since the trade and has given up only 15 ER in 80 Innings. He has also pitched 4 complete games since being there, 3 in a row at one point, and has 81 Ks to only 17 BBs. He has brought his ERA down from the mid 5 range to 3.04 and is sporting a WHIP of 1.14. Not only are his numbers great but the team definitely plays well behind Sabathia and he has really kept them afloat during this pennant race.

Sabathia's teammate Corey Hart had this to say of CC after his most recent win. ''He's been everything we thought he'd be,'' Hart said. ''When he's out there, we feel like we don't have to score a lot because he's not going to give up a lot. When he's out there, there's a good chance we'll win.''

It looks like CC Sabathia was the perfect fit for the Brewers and may have found a new home in Milwaukee if they can show him the money at the end of the season.

Harden: The big question that everyone had coming out of the Harden deal was can he stay healthy? So far Harden has managed to stay off of the DL and has pitched pretty well for the Cubs. He is 3-2 for the Cubs and has given up only 12 ER in his first 10 games. He has also been striking out hitters all over the place as he has 74 Ks in just over 57 Innings including a streak of 3 games with at least 10 Ks. Harden has not gotten the run support however as in 2 of his losses the other team only score 2 runs. Harden has been what everyone expected him to be however and the Cubs haven't lost any ground since acquiring him so it looks to be a good deal for them.

Comparison: 7-0 compared to 3-2 is a huge stat in favor of Sabathia. Sabathia has also thrown 23 more innings than Harden in the same amount of games which means he is putting less stress on the bullpen. Sabathia has pitched at least 8 innings 7 of his last 10 games where has Harden has only gone past the 7th inning once. The Cubs may be wanting to save Harden's arm for the post-season but all of that extra bullpen work is not a good thing.

Winner: The Brewers. Sabathia has been better and is pitching better than Harden. They did have to give up top prospect Matt LaPorta for him but if they can resign Sabathia in the off-season or at least end their playoff drought then it will all have been worth it.

Olympic Report

Michael Phelps

It is now official that Michael Phelps is the most successful Olympian in history. Yesterday Phelps earned 2 more gold medals to push his career total to 11 golds surpassing Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz, Paavo Nurmi, and Larysa Latynina.

"I'm almost at a loss for words," Phelps said. "Growing up I always wanted to be an Olympian. Now to be the most decorated Olympian of all time, it just sounds weird saying. It started setting in a little bit after the butterfly. I was just trying to focus on my next race, but I just kept thinking, `Wow, greatest Olympian of all time.' It's a pretty cool title. I'm definitely honored."

Not only has Phelps dominated these races by winning gold but he has also broken a world record in every race as well. Yesterday as part of the 800m US Freestyle Relay team Phelps beat the old world record by just over 5 seconds, which is an eternity in swimming. Phelps is now over the halfway point on his quest to earn 8 gold medals in a single Olympics (the current record is 7 by Mark Spitz). Phelps attempted to do this four years ago but came up short only winning 6 gold and 2 bronze.

Phelps has just 3 races left and they are all events that he won gold at in 2004 while in Athens so things look good for the American. The events are 200 individual medley, 100 fly and 400 medley relay.

Faking

It was recently discovered that China used digital technology to enhance the fireworks display from the opening ceremonies. CGI was used to add more fireworks for televisions and make the ceremony seem more impressive than it really was. This is probably the dumbest thing to do ever as it makes your country look so bad that you are so desperate to look impressive that you basically lie to everyone around the world. Not a good way to start off the games there in China.

To add to the whole mess it was also reported that the little girl who sang the Chinese national anthem wasn't actually singing. The girl who actually sang the song was deemed not cute enough for television and so she was replaced by a better looking girl who was then forced to lip sync. This fake singer went on numerous talk shows afterwards and went along with the whole thing until everyone found out she wasn't any good. China was are you doing? This is worse than Brittany Spears and Ashley Simpson combined.

ID Please

I don't care what anybody says those female Chinese gymnasts are not more than 10 years old. Li Shanshan (16) is 4-foot-9, 79 pounds. Yang Yilin (15) is 4-foot-11, 77 pounds. He Kexin (16) is 4-foot-8, 73 pounds. Jiang Yuyuan (16) is 4-foot-7, 71 pounds. But the prize goes to Deng Linlin (16), who's listed at 4-foot-6 and a strapping 68 pounds. No 16 year old in the world is 68 pounds. Who does China think that they are fooling with this stuff? Its sad that a country is this desperate to win that they lie to the whole world and cheat to try and come out ahead.

Canada

Canada still does not have 1 medal to its name. To make matters worse 17 Canadian records have been broken in the pool so far these Olympics and yet there are 0 medals to show for it. That means that these athletes have swam faster than any other Canadian ever has and it still isn't good enough.

Here is a Day 6 recap of how Canada did:

ARCHERY
Jason Lyon, advanced to the round of 16. The other two Canadians were eliminated after first-round losses.

BASEBALL
Men - Scott Thorman hit a three-run home run and Mike Saunders added a solo homer as Canada opened its preliminary round with a 10-0 rout of host China.

CANOE/KAYAK
Women's singles kayak - Sarah Boudens, Pembroke failed to advance after placing 19th in qualifying.

CYCLING
Men's individual time trial - Svein Tuft placed seventh in the 47.3-kilometre event; Ryder Hesjedal was 16th.

Women's individual time trial - Alexandra Wrubleski completed the 23.5-kilometre course in 39 minutes 15.42 seconds to finish 24th.

DIVING
Men's synchronized three-metre springboard - Alexandre Despatie and Arturo Miranda placed fifth in the competition with a score of 409.29.

FENCING
Men's individual foil - Joshua McGuire went to overtime in his opening match to defeat Tomer Or, Israel (11-10), then was eliminated with a loss in the round of 16 to Salvatore Sanzo of Italy (15-3).

ROWING
Women's eights - Canada earned a berth in the final by winning their repechage race.

SHOOTING
Women's 25-metre sport pistol - 41. Avianna Chao scored 558.0 points to finish 41st in qualifying and did not advance.

SHOOTING
Women's 25-metre sport pistol - 41. Avianna Chao scored 558.0 points to finish 41st in qualifying and did not advance.

SOFTBALL
Melanie Matthews and Jennifer Yee each drove in three runs as Canada improved to 2-0 after a 9-2 win over the Netherlands.

SWIMMING
Men's 100 freestyle - Brent Hayden finished sixth in his semifinal and did not advance.

Men's 200 backstroke - Keith Beavers and Tobias Oriwol both earned semifinal berths after finishing 15th and 16th repectively in qualifying.
Men's 200 breaststroke - Mike Brown clinched a berth in the final after winning his semifinal (2:08.84).

Men's 200 individual medley - Keith Beavers tied for eighth in qualifying and will race in the semifinals; Brian Johns was 18th did not advance.

Men's 4x200 freestyle relay - Canada set a Canadian record but finished fifth in the final.

Women's 200 butterfly - Audrey Lacroix placed sixth in her semifinal and did not advance.

Women's 200 individual medley - Julia Wilkinson placed seventh in the final.

Hopefully Canada can get a few medals out of our rowing team and maybe women's softball as well but with countries like Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Azerbaijan beating us things are starting to get ugly.

Rap Video Controversy

Going into the 2008 NCAA Football season the Oklahoma Sooners had secured themselves an excellent crop of rookies with their best recruit being Josh Jarboe. Jarboe is 6-3 195lbs and was ranked as the 10th best receiver recruit in the entire nation. However Jarboe came with some serious baggage as in his senior year of High School he was arrested on weapons charges when he brought a gun to school.

Now when they recruited him Oklahoma and Head Coach Bob Stoops were well aware of these charges and they made a commitment to the young man that they were going to look past this incident and allow him to come play. However 2 weeks ago a Youtube video was released that showed Jarboe rapping in a “derogatory manner” and Jarboe was subsequently kicked off of the team.

"We are disappointed in this outcome, but our complete review and this final decision is in the best interest of our program," Stoops said in a statement. "We outlined for Josh the expectations we had for and, unfortunately, those expectations have not been met. Josh needs to learn from this experience. We hope he can move forward in a positive manner."

I think this is a complete cop out by Stoops and Oklahoma. Rap is just music. Just because in his freestyle he said the word “gun” doesn’t mean that he is going to shoot somebody or have another gun related incident. People have been rapping about violence for decades now and how many rappers actually shoot people? It is an expressive art form that often gets taken out of context by people who aren’t familiar with it.

To make matters worse only days earlier Notre Dame freshman quarterback Jimmy Clausen was photographed drinking at a party. Notre Dame took no disciplinary action on Clausen and people have already forgotten about it. Now to me this is a more severe offense as by drinking that beer Clausen was breaking the law by drinking under age. All Jarboe did was rap and he gets kicked out of school. Maybe it is a racial thing but I highly doubt it. I think that Clausen being a quarterback at a powerhouse school like Notre Dame means he can get away with more than a receiver at Oklahoma. However it just shows how unfairly Jarboe was treated.

I also feel that Oklahoma has let this kid down in a way. What if instead of just kicking him off the team and giving up on him the coaches at the school and his new teammates tried to help him change his life for the better. Maybe if they sat down with him and explained that this sort of behavior, while innocent to Jarboe, reflects badly on him and the school he would realize he needs to be more conscience of what he does. I can think of numerous stories of players who had rough pasts and corrected their lives through sports.

Look at Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers. Only 12 months ago Hamilton was in rehab and was addicted to drugs and alcohol. Now he is clean and sober and is having an MVP type season. Imagine they had just kicked him out of baseball and everyone had given up on him? Jarboe is getting a raw deal from Oklahoma and I think that he should have been allowed to stay on the team.

I think that a bigger moral of this story though is that in this day and age athletes and celebrities need to understand that there are so many people out there with cameras on their cell phones and anyone can use Youtube that they need to always be conscience of what they are doing. People are always going to try and invade your privacy and these athletes, like Josh Jarboe, need to understand that their actions have consequences.

Hopefully Josh Jarboe lands on his feet and plays football somewhere this upcoming year or at least goes to school. I think that he deserves another chance and that his coaches and teammates should stand behind him and say that this was just a simple mistake and that it wasn’t anything major. The kid is only 18 years old he is going to do some immature things throughout his life but a positive influence like sports can keep him occupied and away from the negative aspects of life.

Weekend Recap

Golf - Over the weekend Irishman Padraig Harrington won the 90th PGA Championship on Sunday by finishing with a final round 66 good enough for -3 and the victory. Sergio Garcia was in the lead for most of the tournament but fell apart on Sunday leaving the door open for Harrington. Garcia will have to remain the best player on tour to have never won a major. This victory also marks the first time a European player has won the event since Tommy Armour won in 1930.

Olympics - The 2008 Summer Olympics kicked off this weekend and so far I have yet to watch 1 single minute of it. I was away all weekend and unfortunately missed all of the Olympics so far except the 20 seconds of the USA-China basketball game. I do know that Michael Phelps is 2 for 2 so far in his quest for 8 medals and that his 2 current medals outnumber Canada who is currently sporting the goose egg.

1. China 14 (9 Gold)
2. United States 12 (3 Gold)
3. Korea 8 (4 Gold)

UFC - I did watch UFC 87 over the weekend however and saw Brock Lesnar get his first win inside the Octagon by absolutely dominating Heath Herring and earning a decision victory. George St. Pierre also won by pounding John Fitch and scoring a decision to complete his first successful title defense. In what was probably fight of the night Kenny Florian beat Roger Huerta via decision and has now put himself in contention for a title shot. This was probably the best overall pay per view the UFC has ever put on as every fight was entertaining and worth the price of the event.

Baseball - Both Cy Young favorites had great weekends as NL favorite Brandon Webb earned his league leading 17th victory yesterday and AL favorite Cliff Lee earned his 16th victory with an 8 inning shutout of the Blue Jays. The Tampa Bay Rays broke their single season record by winning their 71st game of the season yesterday. With tonnes of baseball left to be played the Rays are on pace to shatter that record. The Blue Jays were swept by the AL basement dweller Indians and the Yankees were swept by the Angels.

Favre Soap Opera is Over

The back and forth nonsense between Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers is finally over as yesterday Favre was traded to the New York Jets for a conditional draft pick. The pick is conditional on the amount of games Favre plays and how well the team does overall. For instance if the team makes it to the AFC Championship game then the pick becomes a 1st rounder but if they miss the playoffs its a 4th rounder. It was believed that Favre would be going to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but that deal fell through at the last minute when the Jets came in with a better offer.

So what does this mean for the teams involved?

Green Bay Packers - Now the Packers can get down to business without the distraction of Brett Favre's massive ego hanging around camp. Unfortunately the franchise had to trade away by far its best player ever and a future 1st ballot Hall of Famer. The Pack got their wish and traded him out of the division and out of the conference. The only issue now is whether Aaron Rodgers can produce on the field. If the Packers have a terrible season then fans will surely be blaming the lack of Favre. The only good that came out of this whole mess was that now the Packers know the 100% wrong way to deal with this sort of situation and they are no longer forced to cater to the needs of Favre. I think that the Pack will be ok and that Rodgers will do a great job but can anyone ever really replace #4?

New York Jets - The Jets now have their most famous player ever since Joe Namath was on the team and are getting a true veteran who should bring stability to the weakest part of the Jets game. I am a huge Jets fan and could not be happier that Brett Favre is coming to the Meadowlands because now Chad Pennington is gone for good. Favre should also be able to teach young quarterback Kellen Clemens a few things as well which should help the team for the future. The best part of the deal though was that the Jets didn't have to give up very much to get Favre as the pick is conditional on the teams success. If the team makes it to the AFC Championship I'm fine with giving up a 4th round pick.

Minnesota Vikings - The Vikings are the team who did the worst out of this whole ordeal. They were accused of tampering which is a blemish on the team and they also showed 0 confidence in young quarterback Tarvaris Jackson. Jackson was apparently having a tremendous off season and was showing great signs of progression and yet the Vikes tried everything to get Favre which has to make the young QB feel unwanted. If the Vikes had only stepped up and said we think Jackson is better than Favre for this team then they would have no issues. The Vikings got nothing out of the deals and are left with only problems now.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers - The Bucs should consider themselves lucky that they didn't get Favre as I think that Jeff Garcia is a much better quarterback for that particular team. The Bucs, who already have like 20 quarterbacks, didn't really need Favre as last year Garcia guided the team to an NFC South title and made the Pro Bowl. Garcia is a good QB and the Bucs are lucky that they have him. Favre would not have fit in very well and would probably not be used to playing in all of that hot weather they have there in Tampa Bay.

Brett Favre handled this situation extremely poorly and has lost quite a few fans because of it as he is normally viewed as a team first guy who just loves football. After this whole debacle however he looks like very other athlete out there who is only out for #1. I just hope now that I can go back to hearing about other sports stories on ESPN rather than just the latest chapter in the Favre saga.

Jays In Serious Trouble

With their walk off win last night the Toronto Blue Jays have moved 1 game over .500 and currently posses a record of 57-56. While the Jays have won 2 in a row it is not nearly enough to get them back into the post-season race as they are currently 10.5 games back of the division leading Tamba Bay Rays and 7.5 games back of the wildcard. This season has been another disappointment in a streak of mediocrity in which the Jays have failed the make the post-season and have failed to make their team any better.

Conversations have turned from trying to make a playoff push this year to retooling for next year and trying to make the team better. Many fans think that this process can occur over night but when you really look at this team its going to be much harder than anyone really understands.

First let's look at who the Jays should keep on the team and then we will move to who should leave.

The most important player to keep is obviously Roy Halladay. Halladay is the ace of the staff and is by far the most consistent player on the team. Everyone tries harder when he is on the mound and he is a true workhorse as he already has 7 complete games this season.

Jesse Carlson and Scott Downs are two young arms that the Jays have to hold on to. Carlson has been lights out this season and appears to be the closer of the future. Downs is a solid lefty that can be a long reliever or a set up man so his versatility is useful.

As far as the bats go only Alex Rios, Adam Lind, and Joe Inglett are worth keeping around. Rios is having an off year but he is still the most consistent Jay and has shown flashes of brilliance both at the plate and in the field. Both Lind and Inglett are young guys who have shown an ability to hit at the major league level and both play decent defense as well. I would also keep John McDonald for his defensive abilities and how cheap his contract is.

Everybody else can get out of town and as soon as possible please. BJ Ryan is a terrible closer who is losing velocity and has fallen in love with a less than average slider instead of throwing the heat. Vernon Wells can't stay healthy and has a massive contract that he does not even come close to deserving. Kevin Mench, Brad Wilkerson, David Eckstien, Scott Rolen, Marco Scutaro, Gregg Zaun, Rod Barajas, Lyle Overbay, and Matt Stairs are all second rate players and most would not start for half the teams in the league.

As far as the young pitchers on the staff go the Jays have had somereal bad luck this season. Dustin McGowan was pitching very well but then had to undergo season ending surgery and won't be back until mid-season next year. He may not come back as his former self and this injury may well end his career. Shaun Marcum spent some time on the DL this season and since coming back can't get anybody out. He has given up 16 runs in just 14.1 innings since coming back and has seen his ERA go from 2.65 to 3.57. Jesse Litsch was obviously a fluke to start off the year and has shown his true colors of late and was sent back down to the minors.

Now that we have addressed the issue of who needs to go and who needs to stay the real problem presents itself. What would you get in return for all of these players? If you were to trade any of these three young pitchers you wouldn't get anything for them. Their stock has plummeted of late as compared to earlier in the season where they could have been traded for multiple prospects. So really the Jays are forced to hold on to them and just hope that they can turn it around and return to their form of earlier in the season.

As for the bats I can't think of any of those players that would fetch a good return from any team in MLB except for Vernon Wells. The rest of the team is either too old or not good enough to garner much interest from around the league as shown by the lack of movement on trade deadline day. If the Jays had only traded Wells two years ago instead of dumping money on him then they could have avoided some of this mess.

Now after I have gone through all of this gloom there is a small ray of hope for the Jays. They have got some quality prospects coming up like Travis Snyder and David Cooper and their pitching is still better than most teams. However they need to address the serious issue of lack of power and overall hitting production. The Jays have tonnes of money and have shown a willingness to spend so hopefully a couple quality free agents, not Lyle Overbay and Bengie Molina, can help give the team a quick makeover.

Lastly I think that signing Barry Bonds would be a smart move. Bonds would bring fans to the ballpark, whether they are there to cheer him or boo him is irrelevant, and would provide other incentives as well. Bonds is the all time home run king and whether that is on steroids or not he still knows how to hit the ball a mile. He would be a valuable resource in teaching some of the other guys on the team a bit more about hitting. He would be able to DH so would not be a liability in the outfield and has offered to work for the league minimum and donate it all to charity. Sounds like a win-win situation to me.

So while the Jays clearly have got some serious issues to address all hope is not lost. What I really want to see changed the most however is the attitude of the team and the fans. Every year the Jays don't do well people always start saying, "it's because were in the same division as the Red Sox and the Yankees." Just remember that during the early and mid 90's the Yankees and Red Sox used to say, "damn were in the same division as the Blue Jays." A more positive attitude can go a long way and help return this great franchise back to its glory days.

The Legend of Roger Federer

On Friday Rafael Nadal beat Nicolas Lapentti 7-6 (3), 6-1 for his 32nd straight win. This win will now make Rafael Nadal the #1 men's tennis player in the world and will end the 235 consecutive week streak of Roger Federer. With the end of the streak comes an end to the Federer dominance of men's tennis and the passing of the torch to the 22 year old Spaniard. Nadal is having one of the best seasons in tennis history having won Wimbledon and the French Open already and looking like a lock to win the US Open. With the end of the streak I feel it merits a look back at the Legend that was Roger Federer

Federer's streak began on January 26th 2004 after Federer won the Australian Open and passed Andy Roddick as the new #1. Federer would go on to win 10 more Grand Slams through the duration of the streak and would put himself in the record books multiple times. He would also enter the discussion of who is the best tennis player of all time.

To truly understand how impressive this streak is here are some facts about just how long 235 weeks truly is. The last time someone other than Roger Federer was #1:

- The #1 movie at the box office was Shrek 2
- The #1 album in the world was Confessions by Usher
- Martha Stewart was found guilty of stock tampering
- The Boston Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years
- Survivor was in its 8th season (It is now in its 19th season)
- There was a lockout in the NHL
- Shows such as LOST, The Apprentice, and CSI: New York were making their premiers
- Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 were not for sale
- Pluto was still a planet

By looking at these facts you can start to understand how truly impressive the streak truly was. To put it into perspective the old record was 160 weeks held by Jimmy Connor for men and 186 weeks held by Steffi Graf for women. Federer was the most dominant athlete of his time in a sport where one mistake can cost you everything.

So much has happened in the world since January 26th 2004. Things change everyday but there was one thing that never changed, Roger Federer being #1. It is an end that came seemingly out of nowhere but one that eventually had to happen.

Team USA Drops the Ball

The 2008 Summer Olympics are already marked with controversy as ever since Beijing received the news that they would be hosting the Olympics there has been public outrage on a global scale. The outrage is over China’s recent track record when it comes to human rights. Not only has China been heavily criticized for its role in Tibet but also for aiding the Sudanese government with weapons and financial aid in its military actions in Darfur.

With all of this political controversy the games have so far had a very negative shadow cast over them as people have taken it upon themselves to try and shed light on the political situation. Numerous times during the running of the Olympic torch protestors attempted to try and stop the torch and several times riots were close to breaking out. Some athletes have claimed that they will not be attending the Olympics in a show of support for Tibet and the people of Darfur.

However many of these athletes are unknown and do not possess the star power to make a real difference in the awareness level of the average viewer. This is where Team USA Basketball comes into the picture.

In both the Summer and Winter Olympics there is no team or group if people who get more publicity and are more well known on a global scale than the US Men’s Basketball team. People everywhere in the world known who Kobe Bryant and LeBron James are and the basketball tournament regularly gets more ratings than any other event during the duration of the Olympics. These players have the best chance out of anyone to speak up about any issue and more people will listen. But what do they do with their opportunity to make a difference in this world? Nothing.

In March of this year Kobe Bryant took part in a PSA (Public Service Announcement) that made clear what his feelings about Darfur were. Bryant, like many other celebrities, condemned what was happening in the Sudan and urged everyone to do everything that they could to try and help the cause. In an interview just months before the Olympics LeBron James spoke on how the injustices in Tibet and Darfur should not be allowed to continue and this was all after he refused to sign an open letter written by Cleveland Cavaliers teammate Ira Newble condemning China for its actions.

Team USA have decided that their stance on the Tibet and Darfur issues is that they’re their simply to play sports and not to be politicians. I personally feel that this is a cowardly stance and that these players have a responsibility to speak out on these pressing issues. The only reason that they don’t is for fear of losing fans and losing endorsement deals. I’m pretty sure that even if LeBron spoke out against Darfur Nike would give him his money. I don’t want to come off as saying that every player should speak out but if you are doing PSA commercials like Kobe than here is a golden opportunity to do more.

Dwayne Wade is another player who is keeping his mouth shut when it comes to the whole political aspect of the Olympics. Wade told reporters that, "We are going into uncharted waters. It's not our home. We are going to go over there and respect China. This is a business trip for us. We'll let the politics take care of itself. That's not for us to worry about. There might be some people that get into it, but that's not my focus. I'm focusing on basketball."

Wade could not be more wrong. When you go to another country and take part in a global competition it’s not a “business trip.” You are there to represent your country and not simply to be a gracious guest. However in times such as these you are not simply representing the USA but representing the human race. These athletes have a chance to change the course of history if they would only stand up for what they claim to believe in. These basketball players need to stop thinking of their money and themselves and need to start thinking about how they can help others.

Favorite Team Part 5

Today's installment of the Favorite Team series will cover one of the less popular sports in North America but one of my personal favorites, soccer/football. When the World Cup was in the United Sates in 1994 I went to a few of the games with my cousins and uncle and had an amazing time. From then on I became a soccer fan. It was not until recently however that I really began to follow soccer at the club level.

Upon starting to follow soccer I realised that I needed to pick a favorite team. This was an awesome experience because rarely ever do you get to sit down and just pick a favorite. Usually a scenario comes along and the team sort of picks you or you can be a sheep and simply follow the team closest to you geographically. Either way I needed to pick a team and I feel that I chose the best team around, West Ham United.

West Ham is a team in the EPL or English Premiership League, which is the best league in soccer in my opinion, that was established in 1895. What first brought my attention to West Ham was the movie Green Street Hooligans which documents the life of soccer hooligans who cheer for West Ham. The movie was amazing and made we want to know more about the club.

What I quickly learned was that this club was perfect for me. They are not the best team in the league but they are always competitive. I didn't want to simply choose Arsenal or Manchester United because what's the fun in that? West Ham also has the greatest cheer in sports which is called 'Forever Blowing Bubbles'. When chanted by all of the fans at the games it is truly amazing and is well recognized by fans of all English teams to be the best cheer in the sport.

I'm forever blowing bubbles,
Pretty bubbles in the air.
They fly so high,
nearly reach the sky,
And like my dreams they fade and die.
Fortune's always hiding,
I've looked everywhere...
I'm forever blowing bubbles,
pretty bubbles in the air.

This year was not a particularly good year for West Ham even though they finished 10th out of 20 teams which is an improvement from last year. They got a new manager named Alan Curbishley who prefers a defensive style of soccer and makes terrible decisions behind the bench. The team however usually has to play from behind which makes it exciting to cheer for them. Also in the past two years they have beaten Manchester United 3 out of 4 times which has just been great.

For all of these reasons and more West Ham United is my favorite soccer club and I look forward to seeing one of their games when I go to Europe in the summer and can hopefully join in some singing of Bubbles.

Runner Up: No one