What a weekend of sports..

Hello sports fans my name is Richard Harris and boy did we have a huge weekend of outstanding sports.   Upsets in Tennis, college football, boxing, NFL, and the Nascar sprint cup has its eligible driversfor the cup.  When Roger Federer loses before the semi finals of a grand slam tournament something must be in the air.  Tomas Berdych can really hit the ball hard and he over powered Federer.  Andy Murray had an out of body experience in winning tournament.  He outlasted Novak Djokovic in five grinding sets.  Serena went from dominating to survival mode in oreder to steal the title from Azarenka. Azarenka had a 5-3 lead in the third set and could not put Serena away. Serena is still the gold standard no matter if she is not ranked number 1 or not. 
Some more stories.. Arkansas showed that as great as the SEC conference is, you still need your quarterback to win games.  Louisiana Monroe pulled off the first shocker of the season by physically beating up Arkansas' offensive line and then knocking out Tyler Wilson. UCLA, a home underdog, showed Nebraska that the Pac 12 can play physical football as well. The Pac 12 had two other impressive wins.  Oregon St. shut down Wisconsin 10-7 and the Arizona schools had good out of conference wins as well. The Pac 12 may have the best conference before the season is over. USC and Stanford Saturday. Savannah St. beat the spread because game was called due to weather. 55-0 would have been 110-0 if they played it out.
The NFL continues to show why they are the kings of sports.  A few shocking results as Washington stunned the Saints. Rg3 played like a seasoned pro and guided the Redskin offense to a 40-32 win.  He had no turnovers and managed the game like he had done it before.  Andrew Luck had to play the Bears defense and found his debut a bit more challenging.  All of the rookie qbs except Griffin lost and threw some bad picks. Weeden, Tanneyhill and Luck threw multiple picks that really hurt their team.  It is only week one so there will be greater days ahead for all of them. 
Peyton Manning looked sharp in his return to the NFL. He few hits but when the Broncos went to a hurry up offense they changed the complexion of the game.  Manning got into a groove and they handled the vaunted Steeler defense.  The Jets shocked the world by scoring 48 points and looked like a completely different team than we saw in pre-season.  Baltimore look stellar getting points from defense and Joe Flacco continuing to show why he is an elite qb. Ugly wins from Philadelphia and Detroit. A win is a win right? The Niners have that look in their eye that they have a special season brewing if they stay healthy.  They play amazing defense and have balance on offense.  Randy Moss scored a touchdown and they just don't miss field goals. A 63 yard field goal from 85 year old Fred Akers is still jaw dropping.  They confused the Packers who have no running game.  The game of the year could be New England and San Fransisco later on this year. My super bowl pick the Houston Texans looked sharp in destroying Miami.   Cannot wait for week 2..
Chad dawson went down in weight to fight Ward and got slapped around. He was knocked down 3 times and looked sluggish. He is a champion?  Not impressed at all by him.
Rory Mcilroy won for the fourth time this year.  He held off Tiger, Phil, and Lee Westwood.  He is peaking at the right time.  The Tour championship and Ryder cup are upon us over the next few weeks. The only reason why I am not gushing about this is that Vijay Singh did the same thing a few years ago and Tiger the next year regained his throne and place in the game. I expect next year he will do the same thing.
Congrats to Jeff Gordon for qualifying for the Sprint cup. Go get em boys..

My favorite month of the year is September..

September 1st is New Years day to me.  I feel like the fall months of the calendar year is a time for rejuvenation and rebirth.  Enough of that nonsense, the reason why I love September is that College football and pro football commence, MLB pennant races heat up, U.S. Open tennis, and usually there is a great fight to watch.  The Nascar season winds down as the NHL gets started.  I cannot get enough of sports as you all know and if I had multiple televisons where i stay I would have a game on every channel. This September is no exception.  The college football season got off to a crazy start with blowouts, shocking results and Alabama showing us what a defending champ is supposed to do ona neutral field.  USC won as well and they really need to get to the title game and save college football.  We cannot have a seventh year in a row with a champion coming from the same conference..  It hurts college football because there is no growth in the game.  USC plays a completely different style of football than most of the SEC teams and their style of football translates better at the professional level.  Every year we keep hearing about pro teams wanting quarterbacks who can run and throw but at the end of each season, the Super bowl champ has quarterback that is pocket passer who can read coverages and pick defenses apart.  In fact only Steve Young and Aaron Rodgers who could also pocket pass well, have won super bowls.  Both of those qb's run well and could move out of the pocket.  Big Ben moves well in the pocket but he is not considered a running quarterback.  If you look at SEC football most of the teams run a a form of the Florida Gator offense from the shotgun and depend on their quarterbacks to either run or pass.  Geogia and Alabama this year have gone back to a little more traditional offense so they may be the exception.  Most of the nation runs that Florida offense.  The big difference between the SEC and the rest of the nation is the physical play on the defensive line.  When you dont have a fullback to help you block because you are in the shotgun single back set, your plays get blown up in the backfield.  Michigan could not get out of the backfield. Alabama and LSU make you play physical football and most schools do not have the schemes to handle these behemoths one on one.  So I am rooting harder than i ever to try to get a USC vs. SEC champ title game. Oklahoma showed me nothing on Saturday against UTEP.
The NFL starts with the Cowboys and Giants on Wedsnesday and the Cowboys are banged up and really don't know what to expect.  This season will either be a coming out party for new eleite teams or the same stuff different day.  I like Houston alot.  They have a soft schedule and a team that has a lot build on.  Foster, Johnson, Schaub,Daniels have to stay healthy on offense.  Wade Phillips has a fast defense who are hungry for a title.  The Patriots have the easiest schedule and would crave another shot at the Giants to give Brady his 4th ring.  The NFC is loaded.  At least 6 teams have the ability to win the title.  Packers, Giants, Niners, Saints, Eagles, Falcons, Bears, Lions, Cowboys can win in anyone's stadiums at any time if healthy. Should a wacky season.
The pennant chase in baseball has just gotten interesting. The Yankees are bailing water off of their ship.  They are so beat up and hope that returning star players like Arod and Andy Pettite will give them the boost to rejuvenate their season.  The Orioles are for real and the Rays have the best pitching. The Angels spent alot of money to get to the post season and succeed.  This series with Oakland will is important because they must take care of head to head games in order to gain ground.  The Tigers and White Sox just played an epic series where the Tigers earned a sweep.  Detroit has the veteran players to get this done based on pitching.  The White sox can hit homeruns but can they play to outscore their opponents or out pitch them?  The National League the intrigue is just as high.  The Dodgers created a Yankee style payroll  to win now.  They lose to too many bad teams though and I dont think they can get it done.  Billingsley was their hottest pitcher and he may be shelved for the season if shot in the arm does not work. Kemp needs to find April's magic and lead this team to the promise land.  Nationals are shutting down Strasburg and seemed poised to stay at top of N.L. east.  Chipper Jones final month as a Brave will make it interesting as the Braves don't want him to go out a loser.  After what happened last year, the Braves are going to make every team earn 27 outs.  The Reds are the real deal and if the game goes to bullpen, the game is over. Chapman is a beast.  Can you imagine facing a guy who throws 105 miles an hour in cold weather? Ouch babe..
U.S. open tennis is in its final week and Serena and Maria are on a collision course. So are Federer and Djokovic. Andy Roddicks surprise retirement announcement has buoyed ratings but tonight could be his demise.  DelPotro hits a big ball and can overpower most opponents.  Andy must serve well and steal a few concentration lapse games from Del Potro in order to advance.  I will blog about Roddick later this week.  Tennis lost Kim Clijsters last week as the young Brit robson showed some flashes of brilliance.  Robson also defeated Li Na.  Also there are two italian women playing in the quarters for the first time at the U.S. open.  Serena is lurking in their quarter if she beat Ivanovic and after winnin 6-0 6-0, in her last match she is driven to reclaim America's prize.
Chad Dawson wants to be a star in boxing, but his fights leave you not wanting to see him fight anymore.  He beat Hopkins in an unspired performance but Hopkins is like 50.  Sergio Martinez and Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. are about to get it on soon as well and we shall see who is the pound for pound best middleweight is.  Martinez is the gold standard but Chavez, Jr. is unbeaten and has grown up right in front of out eyes.  Also Jones and Machida will be explosive in MMA. I know everyone wanted Jones to fight Sonnen but this fight will have some great moments.
Denny Hamlins win last week gave him four for the season and he wants this title real bad.  The story is whether or not Jeff Gordon or Kyle Busch qualify for the playoffs.  This weekend in Texas will be exciting.  Gordon had the car last week to win but could not catch Hamlin on the last lap after the restart. Busch has had a quiet season. Normally right now he has had a few wins and has ticked off some other drivers.
Did I mention Golf?  The Ryder Cup is in America this time around and Hunter Nahan wants revenge.  Mcilroy is number 1 in the world but Tiger is starting to re discover his form on the weekends.  Yesterdays perfomance on the final will give him a ton to build on as the season ends.  Both are now vying for player of the year honors.  Two events left for the Fedex cup.
I COULD TALK ABOUT MORE..
HOCKEY WILL DIE if THEY LOCKOUT THE PLAYERS...
NOW YOU KNOW WHY I lOVE September?

Hail to the true victors of the olympics.. the women

I blogged a few weeks ago about how unenthusiastic i was about the Olympics games about to start.  I would like to apologize.  I watched more Olympic coverage this time around than iever had and I got to admit that I was enthralled.  I learned two things about the Olympics that I should have already known.  Number 1, the world really has some extraordinary athletes in all genres.  Even the person who came in last place has a story to tell and one would be foolish to ignore the sacrifices made by all to compete for their country. Number 2, Dont mess with Anerican Women in sports.  Our womens sports team and individual athletes are the story of this Olympics.  They not only won the majority of the medals for team USA, they had unprecedenting performances that should have them as the talk of the world instead Bolt, Phelps, and the "dream team". 
The U.S. womens Olympians won 58.5 of our 104 medals.  They won 29 gold. They were led by Missy Franklin who won 5 medals.  She is only 17. They had a 15 year old named Ladeckey who won a medal.  Serena won 2 golds. She absolutely crushed Sharapova and Azarenka en route to her Gold in singles Tennis.  Sharapova and Azarenka were ranked 1 and 2 in the world in tennis.  Serena then won the doubles with her sister Venus in impressive fashion.  The womens' soccer team avenged last years loss to Japan in a spectacular fashion by a 2-1 score.  Hope Solo made saves that erased all doubt that she is teh best goalie in the world, and remember the controversy when she whined after she was not in goal after an American team loss?  No one will ever talk smack about her again.  I have been in L.A. for 16 years and I have heard every story about Allyson Felix that one person can take.  She has been lauded, critcized, and scrutinized from every angle possible.  I did not realize how young/old she was until this olympic.  For her to win three gold medals in the 200, 100 relay,and 400 relay, that has to put her in some select company.  She wants to be an elementary school teacher.  I need to find out where so my daughter can be taught by her.  She is something special.  We had a 17 year old boxer win a gold who was female to Keri and Misty winning gold in beach Volleyball against another american team.  Rebecca Soni, Sonya Richard Ross, blazing on the track and in the pool. The exciting Carmelita Jeter winning multiple medals in track and field.  We had a woman win the long jump for the first time since Jackie Joyner Kersee.  We had a woman finish second in the high jump who just started competing on the collegiate scene.  Our volleyball team won silver.  One of our rowing teams won gold.  We have a medal in Judo. All of these achievements by women who are all soooo young.
The two biggest successes however were by the "Fab Five" womens gymnastic team and the "DreamTeam" womens basketball team.  I capitalize the womens'"DreamTeam" because they have won 5 consecutive gold medals.They have crushed every oponent in their way.  They dont have the fan fare that the mens team get but they are every bit as important as the men.  Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore can play with anyone.  The scary thing about our womens team is that they did not even have all of the best players on the team.  Brittany Griner will be on the team in Rio and wait to you see the scores of those games.  Candace Parker is still getting her game back after the birth of her kids.  They may never lose again in my lifetime.   The gymnastic story is even bigger.  Usually most Olympic teams bring back a player or athlete who has been there before and can show their teammates how to handle the pressure of the moments or events.  To come to this Olympiad with five new faces and win the team gold is insane.  To have the individual all around gold medalist is even crazier considering she is only 16 and wasn't the person anyone expected to medal.  I think that is the one thing I will take from the Olympics.  Gabby Douglass may not have won on the nights of the individual events, but she led this team to gold when she wasn't projected to be the one. 
I have to get a gig so I can work in Rio in 2016.  I need to be able to watch greatness up close and personal.  Our womens teams should all take a bow for they represented this country with class and dignity.  Yes i know about the Lolo Jones controversy and the hair comments about Gabby, but that wont overshadow anything that these ladies have accomplished.  I am happy to have a daughter who can look up to some of these ladies in the future. they made and make us all proud to be an American.  We may never see another Bolt or Phepls again, but our womens teams will keep raising the bar higher and higher for newer generations to keep the momentum we have created to go on for generation after generations.. A big shoutout to the coaches...