June 15 - Open Predictions and Powell's 9.77

I am not going to spend a great deal of time previewing the US Open but here are some predictions: David Duval will not be playing on Saturday - NBC will have prepared a five minute montage memorializing Payne Stewart and his victory at the last Open played at Pinehurst - John Daly won't take an 11 this year like he did in 1999 but he will take an eight - A couple of Europeans will complain about the heat - The best Thursday/Friday grouping includes Scott, Cink and Mickelson - Jeff Maggert will sniff the lead on Sunday but will be stricken down by bad luck one again - Tiger will make a slight charge and as per usual we will see every shot he hits, but he will fade and finish 8th - Mickelson will play in one of the final three groups on Sunday - Johnny will mention his win at Oakmont at least three times on Sunday - The course will play a bit easier then in 1999, especially on Saturday, so I say 276 will win and 146 will make the cut - Someone at NBC will mention that Davis Love played his college golf just up the road - Here my top eight: 8) Woods 7) Cink 6) Garcia 5) Els 4) Maggert 3) Mickelson 2) Scott 1) THE GOOSE

Congratulations go out this morning to Asafa Powell who yesterday broke Tim Montgomery’s three year old world record in the 100 Meters. This is not only a great day for Powell, who now wears the title as the fastest man in history, but it is a great day for track and field. I say this because it cleanses the record book of a mark that is clearly tainted by the evils of performance enhancing drugs. Montgomery was clearly juiced when he ran his 9.78 in 2002. That is a fact. If you want to debate the issue, explain to me why he hasn’t been able to crack 10.2 since the drug doping regulators started watching him closely. In fact, he ran a 10.4 the other day, which is just a bit quicker then Flo Jo’s women’s world record. Such results don’t merely call his record into question. They expose it as a complete fraud. With that said, I believe it is a nice development that his mark is no longer the standard to measure others. Getting that mark off the books is analogous to what happened this summer in Athens when the U.S. Women’s 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay took out an East German World Record that was set before the wall came crumbling down. I applauded that performance last August just like I am applauding this performance today. These drug enhanced efforts have no business residing in our record books. They were achieved illegally and deserve no positive recognition. Thankfully, drug testing in amateur sports has improved and these tainted marks are being gradually weaned from the record books. This whole rant is of course predicated on the assumption that Asafa’s piss will clear waivers.

Staying with Powell - it seems we have the makings of a great rivalry shaping up between the twenty-two year old Powell and American Justin Gaitlin, the gold medalist from last Summer’s Athens Olympics..These kids are young, super fast and should be battling each other all the way to Bejing. This may be Carl and Ben all over again. This may be Coe and Ovett all over again. This may be Mary and Zola all over again. Check that - Mary and Zola was a fraud. Nonetheless, we now have a good old rivalry, made all the sweeter by the fact that these two sprinters are not from the same country. I, for one, will be watching when these two hook up at this summer’s World Championships. If the Kentucky Derby is the most exciting two minutes in sports then this Summer’s WC 100 meters will certainly be the most exciting 9.7 or 9.8 seconds in sports.

Quick Hits - Shaq’s most recent comments on Kobe Bryant are some of the funniest offered in the history of sports. When asked about Kobe, Shaq said: "I’m sorry, I don’t know who that is" Priceless! Baylor killer Carlton Dotson got 35 years for killing his teammate. How come Dave Bliss didn’t get anything? John Madden is going to work for NBC. He has now worked for ABC, Fox, NBC and CBS. What is next, hosting a late night talk show on the WB? Bill Laimbeer is interviewing to coach the Knicks. Isn’t that a demotion from coaching the Detroit Shock of the WNBA? Jason Sobel of ESPN just wrote that Tom Lehman lost a playoff to Ernie at the 1997 US Open at Congressional. Is Jason pretending that Tom never cooked that seven iron on 17 which ended up costing him a place in a playoff?

Baseball Bytes: I am not sure there is a more surprising story this year then the emergence of Bruce Chen as a solid hurler for the Birds. Chen won his sixth game last night and is now just a victory short of matching his career high. Chen showed some of this last year - his first in Baltimore - but nobody chose to pay attention. Just in case you care, over the past two years, Chen’s OPS against is roughly 100 points lower then his career average. That is pretty startling when you consider that Chen throws half his games at the Inner Harbor Launching Pad. Is it just me of does it seem like Miggy has two knocks and couple of RBI every night. David Wells was simply awesome last night, spotting his pitches with sniper-like precision. He has actually pitched well of late, with four solid outings since he switched numbers from 3 to 16. Manny belted another long ball last night and that makes it three in three games. There has been much talk in Boston of Manny’s woes, but he is on pace to jack 35 and drive in 127. Here is a message for Reds GM Dan O’Brian - you can’t keep both Willy Mo and Adam Dunn. That is just too many whiffs for one lineup to absorb, especially one in the NL. The Stanks got a much needed win over the Bucs last night as Moose delivered a gem. That is the third good start in a row for the Yanks and you get the feel that they may be able to do some damage on this homestand. Such talk may be premature since the pinstripes have Downtown Kevin Brown tossing tonight. Did Hideki Matsushi actually go long last night? More importantly, did Giambolic actually get that ball to the warning track last night?

Chris Carpenter threw one of the six shutouts that were banged out last night. Jesus, you take away the juice and no one can hit anymore. Carpenter’s one hit gem lifted his record to 9-4 and was supported for four Cardinal long balls. While Carp was feeling it, Jake Peavy was only a bit better then ordinary. He did strike out ten, but five runs were scored on his watch. Jake’s internals are great but he has to start picking up some wins at some point. He currently projects out to just 12-5. The Tribe blasted Colorado phenom Jeff Francis who for some reason can keep guys in check at Coors but gets lit on the road. Francis is going to be the only guy ever who Colorado can’t trade because he can’t pitch outside the friendly confines of Coors Field. Tomo Ohka got run out of Washington by crotchety old Frank Robinson - so what does he do in his first start for the Brew Crew? Well, he goes out and throws a complete game shutout over Lou’s Losers. Ohka is having a career year as evidenced by the fact that his batting average against (BAA) right now is 50 points lower then his career average. With Jorge Cantu hitting third for the Devil Rays, how long will it be before we see Delmon Young called up? The Drays supposedly don’t want to prematurely trigger his MLB service clock, but at some point, they have to put their best cards on the table. Does anyone have worse luck then Devil Ray Rocco Baldelli? First he tears up his knee playing with some kid in the off-season. Now, while on the cusp of coming back, Rocco blew out his elbow and will need major surgery.

Its been a rough couple starts for former Cuban Yankees in Chicago. First, Jose Contreras gets lit up and last night El Duque puked up a lung against the Dbacks. I wouldn’t be surprised to see both these Cubans collapse over the next month. Here is a potential pitfall for the White Sox - What happens if Fidel Castro dies this summer and both their Cubans split for home? That Nats have some exposure to that as well. How can Scott Posednik be fast enough to steal 32 yet only amass nine doubles? Does Scott ever hit the ball out of the infield? Just hours after I pronounced Atlanta dead, they went out and spanked the Rangers. The Brave hurler last night was Jorge Sosa who somehow is 3-0 with a low ERA even though he gives up tons of hits and walks. This guy must lead the league in getting guys to ground into double plays, When the Rangers released Ryan Drese, how come they didn’t also cut their ties to Pedro Astacio? I loved the tiff that came up last night between Frank Robinson and Mike Sciossca. Robby may be able to intimidate some, but Mike isn’t one of them. I would actually like to see these two go at it on the undercard of the next Tyson fight.

Hee Sop Choi hit another friggin bomb last night. That makes it seven in four games. J.D. Drew is having a monster June for the Dodgers. The virgin is hitting over .400 and slugging over .800 this month and has quieted some of those who felt that Dodgers lost their mind when they gave this kid $55 million. When the Twins and Giants go extra innings, is there any doubt whose bullpen will prevail? Johan Santana actually walked a couple of guys last night on his way to a no decision. The Cubs, led by Derrick Lee, absolutely pounded the Fish, whose starter, Josh Beckett, continues to be average on the road. His ERA is 2.5 in Miami and over four on the road. If you want to know why the Fish are having trouble, look no further then the top of their lineup. The only guy in Florida who is having a worse year then Juan Pierre is that Florida State quarterback who was pepper sprayed and taken into custody this week after he claimed he was the son of god. By the way, who are we mortals to say that kid isn’t the Son of God? Just cause he can’t beat Florida or throw more TDs then pics doesn’t mean his dad isn’t the big guy. The Mets spit the bit last night as Joe Blanton completely shut them down. The pressure is starting to build on Carlos Beltran and for good reason. His excuses are getting old. Jon Lieber was a tough luck loser for the Phils who were also saddened to hear that Randy Wolf will be lost for the year. With Wolf shelved, the pressure is on Vincente Paadilla to get his act together. Eddie Guardado is having a real nice year for Seattle and it makes you wonder why the Ms don’t trade him before he inevitably starts complaining about having a tired arm.