Smoltz, though is not the only one to look back to the NL for some career resuscitation. Red Sox cast-off Julio Lugo has been lighting it up in the Cards batting order in the twenty games he has played for them since being traded. This is a guy who has hitting o.k. for the Sox but nowhere near where he is right now. He is currently batting .348 for the redbirds, with one homer and six rbi’s. That is not to bad when you compare the awful numbers he hit for with the Sox over the course of the last three years. His average playing in the AL for Boston was in the .250′s in the combined years. Or maybe it was the factor of playing in a large

Lugo or Lu-gone

market that just overwhelmed. After all, he had performed admirably in Tampa Bay, but then again no one until the past year cared about the Rays. It could also be that the pitching like many people say, is just not as good in the NL, players have a easier time hitting in there then they do when they come over to the AL. Case in point, Matt Holliday.

Holliday, for the last few years has been one of the most hyped hitters in the game. Yes, he did play in Coors Field, which strews numbers, but he had power, and was hitting for average. Then, this past offseason Moneyball master Billy Beane brought him to Oakland in a trade. People were interested to see in how he would make the transition to the AL. Soon enough, the critics of the NL were hooting and hollering about Holliday’s play. His average was way below his time in Colorado, dabbling in the .240′s for a while. And that is not to mention the fact that it took him until April 30, to hit his FIRST homer of the season. This coming from a guy who had 126 homers his first five years in Colorado. Beane’s move for the slugger was looking more and more like a poor decision. To make matters worse, through June 30, he had only increased that amount to three dingers. Some utility players had more than that. Beane was finally able to rid himself of the promising Holliday, sending him to St. Louis, (see a common theme here, it must be the water there). Since he came back to the NL, he is hitting a ridiculous .449, going 40 for 89 in his first 22 games with the team. To go along with that he is getting his power, smacking five home runs and driving in 22, much better than his production for Oakland.

So, maybe it is true once an NL player, always an NL player, except for those oh-so-rare cases, where a guy shows production, ala Pedro Martinez coming to Boston in ’98. Only time will tell if an NL big bat can make the transition to the AL, and until the theory may be true.

If we look back at the Jets last season, it could be said that Favre was the reason that Eric Mangini lost his job. He was not a team player in the least bit, and even went as far as to dress in a different room as the rest of the team. If you are the Vikings, is that the kind of clubhouse presence that you want? Favre has also said that he does not feel the need to show up to training camp,and train by himself, according to reports. This deal just really sounds like the kiss of death for head coach Brad Childress in Minnesota, especially when he is already on the hot seat.

The deal also leaves Vikes fans wondering what could have been. Michael Vick, and Adrian Peterson in the same backfield. . . . defensive coordinators would have heart attacks over trying to prepare a game plan against those two. It could have been one heck of a wildcat offense huh? Instead fans of the purple will get to see an aging, immobile Brett Favre heave up to passes into the upper echelons of the Metrodome, praying that someone not on the opposing team comes down with the ball.

Finally, what about Packers fans? They were already disheartened when their star went to the Jets to play QB a year ago, after saying he was retiring. It was bad enough that he continued to play in the league after leaving the place where he was beloved for so many years. Now he goes to ANOTHER team in the NFC North! Total lack of any loyalty on his part. It seems like what they say about professional athletes is sad but true, it’s not about loyalty anymore, its about where the money is. Really, how can Packers fans like this man any longer? He has to come back to Lambeau the first Sunday in November, you think he is really going to get a warm welcome coming back? probably not.

Brett, it was time to hang up to hang up your boots two years ago, now two teams later, you are just making a mockery out of yourself, and tarnishing the legacy that was so immaculate when you left Green Bay. Let’s just hope he does not ruin the Vikings season with his erratic play.

They managed to jump out to a 1-0 lead early when Charlie Davies struck home a beautiful goal, past the outstretched arms of loudmouth goalie Guillermo Ochoa. Unfortunately, that is where the magic ended for the US. From there on out it frustration compounded on top of frustration. Just ten minutes later midfielder Ivan Castro, who was left unmarked was fed the ball by Cuathemoc Blanco, and Castro fired home a rocket past Tim Howard to level the score.

Gio "The Flop" Dos Santos

Then, shortly there after Oguchi Onyewu was given a yellow card, on what the ref called an intentional handball, but in reality he was playing through the man, and instead caught the ball with is arm. With that card, he has accumulated enough to miss the next qualifier against El Salvador. Just minutes later then Jay DeMerit was also shown the yellow when he went in for a hard tackle on Gio Dos Santos, whose play is very reminiscent of an Argentine, he has a high tendency to flop and try to get the foul. Maybe that is why people foul him so often because he is a crybaby, but he apparently doesn’t get the clue.

Three minutes later he commits a studs up tackle on Steve Cherundolo and does not get a card for the play, which was absolutely absurd, considering the soft cards Roberto Salazar had given to the US. Despite some decent chances the US could not muster anything the rest of the half, except for Carlos Bocanegra picking up a yellow for another foul on the flopper, who seems to be having his way when it comes to calls by the ref.

The craziness only ensued in the second half, when prior to kickoff, the Mexican team showed more of their great “sportsmanship”, when they made the US wait on the field to start the second half. How there is no delay foul or card given is beyond me, but everything Salazar did was ridiculous. With El Tri mounting the assault, Howard made save after save, keeping the US in the game, it was a good thing the Everton keeper was in net for the US, otherwise the score could have looked much like the Gold Cup final.

In the 71st Nery Castillo came on for Mexico, and the game got much uglier, (no pun intended), as the dirty fouls began to mount up. Just a few minutes later, Mexico was awarded a free kick, and Dos Santos stepped up to the ball taking the kick, that appeared to hit a Mexican arm, but no call was made. Charlie Davies was hurt on the play and down on the ground, when a throng of El Tri players tried to get him to get off the ground, he pushed one away, as they touched his face, and Benny Feilhaber stepped into the fray to defend his teammate, and all hell broke loose. Feilhaber soon was being choked by Mexican captain Gerrardo Torrado, who was only issued a yellow card for the offense, in what was most assuredly a red card offense. This was where Salazar should have been replaced and forced to ref U-14 games the rest of his life, because he was so atrocious at controlling the situation at hand. He had no control the rest of the game, and thankfully no one was seriously injured, because he was not carding any Mexican player for any offense. Davies was then taken off the field on a stretcher and replaced by Jozy Altidore.

Ten minutes later Castillo began to lose his cool, by attempting to rip the ball away from Onyewu’s arms. Not a mismatch at all, when Gooch could have flicked Castillo away like the annoying mosquito he is if he wanted to. One minute later, the magic point slipped out of the US’s hands when Miguel Sabah, who had just entered the game, scored putting Mexico up 2-1 with minutes left, and victory pretty much guaranteed for the home squad.

In the 85th, Dos Santos finally got his due when Salazar booked him for time wasting. It was a long time coming, and should have been his second card of the game, if the ref had opened his eyes, and actually called a foul on Mexico.

With the final whistle, the US trudged out of Azteca with the loss, and now has Mexico right behind them in the qualifying standings. The US however should have no problem defeating El Salvador, and winning the remaining games to qualify for South Africa.

It’s just a shame that Mexico can never show any class when they play the US, they trash talk constantly, and then play dirty the entire game, it’s no wonder no one shows them any respect, because they are last ones to give it out to any team.

It would be very interesting to see just how many runs and losses were cause by his fielding mishaps, because in my head I can count at least five runs this year in the few games he has played.

For some reason after he was DFA, St. Louis agreed to take him in a trade that sent Chris Duncan to Fenway. It is no blockbuster by any means, Duncan is only .227 this year, but at least it rids the Sox of some money to get rid of that man who was taking up a valuable roster spot.

The Sox were also able to pick up a left handed bat when they acquired Adam LaRoche from the Pittsburgh Pirates. He was only hitting .247 so far this year, but he has notoriously been a second half hitter, and is good against right handed pitching, something the Sox desperately need right about now. Also, if Mike Lowell has any more injury scares, the Sox can shift Youk to third and plug LaRoche in at first. Not exactly a bad situation.

This week it was Tom Watson again making an inspired run at the Claret Jug, before thousands of adoring fans. Whoever thought that a 59 year-old fading star, could make such an improbable run at history? Wasn’t this supposed to be just another notch in the belt of Tiger Woods in his quest to break the record of 18 majors held by Nickaus? Fortunately, for the avid golf fan it was anything but that.

For weeks Turnberry had been lambasted by writers all over the world for being an easy course, that players would rack up record scores for the Open, after all, it was merely a resort course right? Day one seemed to give away that feeling, with many projecting the cut the next day to be at One-under par, with the ease that players were getting around the course. However, on Friday the Irish Sea reared its head, and out of the lion’s mouth came the weather that makes Turnberry such a difficult course to play. It was like the Ailsa Craig out in the distance had reached to the gods in hopes of bringing the nasty weather many were used to. And nasty it was. Fairly calm in the morning, the winds rustled up in the afternoon bringing with it the sideways rain, nature’s true defense of the course. 

When all was said and done, mighty Turnberry had taken many of it foes, and sent them packing. Among them, golf’s greatest player Mr. Woods, who would do well to take a course in golf etiquette soon, after watching his childish club throwing antics, and swearing on camera. 

Yet, out of the dust came a wily veteran Tom Watson, a Turnberry hero to lead the way going into Saturday. He was closely followed on the leaderboard by England’s great hopes, Lee Westwood, and Ross Fisher, and the man they called the Mechanic, Miguel Angel Jimenez; a man who seems to be always atop the leaderboard when playing in the spotlight. To the joy of the crowds, Watson continued his success, playing the course in such a methodical manner that it was easy to overlook his no-nonsense way of playing, and unflashy shot style. Your heart raced every time you watched him strike the ball, praying that he hit the shot right on target, that the golfing gods would be watching over him, making sure he played well. 

And play well he did, coming in Saturday sporting a four-under to put him atop the leaderboard, and a date with Aussie Matthew Goggin, and perhaps history on Sunday. 

By the time he had teed off Ross Fisher had moved to the top of the leaderboard at five-under, an inspiring run by the Englishman. But that was soon to falter as a quadruple-bogey at the fifth hole killed any chance he had at raising the jug. Watson struggled off the bat, with two bogeys in his first three holes, but he was able to right the ship quickly, moving to two under going into the home stretch. 

He was able to par the 15th and 16th, and then he made his way to the 17th, a reachable par 5. On his second shot he sent a screamer of a wood onto the green, only for it to roll off the back. But he was able to make an up and down, and going to 18, he was in sole possession of the lead at three under par. 

With the crowd on its feet, and cheering him the whole way down the hole, Watson made his way to his second shot, which had landed just in between cuts behind the green, a rather unfortunate lie. He was able to get the ball out, but it whizzed past the hole, setting him up with a long par putt. This is where the nervousness kicked in. He hit the putt, or better yet stabbed at it, and the ball rolled just to the left of the pin. The crowd let out a groan, and Watson put the bogey putt in to fall into a playoff with Stewart Cink. 

This was the beginning of the end for Watson, as the fatigue kicked into his 59 year-old body. For the four playoff holes, he played a poor four-over par, giving Cink the Claret Jug, in what may have been the quietest winning celebration, in the history of victory celebrations. Aside from a few claps here and there, most everyone was silent and heartbroken, their hero of 1977 had lost in his bid to win the Open, and no one was cheering for the victor. 

However, this week at Turnberry should not be looked at as a disappointment, but rather as a fantastic display of golf. It allowed a generation gap to connect as young and old rooted for the old guy to win, a true warrior of the links, walking off into the sunset, it was a feel good story all week, and one that will soon not be forgotten.

The Fenway faithful will be sure to give him a resounding standing ovation, much like what happened a few weeks ago with the return of Derek Lowe. Despite the poor relationship he had with the media, he was adored by Red Sox fans. After all, he was the man who won the AL Batting title twice when he was here, was a rookie of the year in ’98, almost was an MVP, and was a perennial all-star.

When he was traded, it looked like the Sox were losing a true superstar of the game. However, almost the opposite is what happened. In a year and a half with the Cubbies, he had 13 homers and all of 50 rbi’s; far from the totals he had in Boston. He slightly resurrected his career in 2006 with the Dodgers, when he hit 20 dingers, and knocked in 93, but that was the best year he has had since. he has been plagued by injuries for the past few years, and this year with Oakland is batting a un-Nomaresque .257, with just 10 rbi’s.

Yet, despite the lack in production, he will be greeted with a warm welcome by the fans, who will always remember him for what he did here in Boston, rather than what he has done since then.

Obviously Beckett was not happy with the performance, as he said afterwards, “That was a good character win for us, I wish I could say I had a lot to do with it.”

Unfortunately for O’s starter Brad Bergesen, the Baltimore bullpen looked like the Sox ‘pen from the night before, and struggled mightily when Bergesen departed after eight. With Jim Johnson on the mound and no one out, Kevin Youkilis hit a two run homer, his 14th of the year, to put the the Sox back in the game at 5-3. 

Johnson was quickly removed for closer George Sherrill, who managed to load the bases, and with two outs local boy Rocco Baldelli came to the plate, and drove the ball to center for a huge two-run single that tied up the game at five apiece. “There’s nothing better than getting inserted into the game with the bases loaded” said Baldelli, “You can’t ask for more than that.”

Then heading into the 11th, Julio Lugo, the shortstop everyone loves to hate delivered by singling to left, and Jacoby Ellsbury scored easily to put the Sox up for good 6-5.

Jonathan Papelbon came on to close out the 11th, and was able to shut the door on the Birds. For Pap, it was his 20th save of the season, and also the 133rd save of his Sox career, making him the all-time leader in saves for the Sox.

First an foremost, despite the loss, the USMNT showed the world that they can play with the big boys, and not just be competitive, but also almost win. The win against Spain will go down as one of the greats of all time for the men’s team, can you just imagine what a win against Brazil would have done? The US won the first half of the game, but then again there is a reason that they play two halves. Dunga must have really lit a spark under his team at half-time, because they played like a team possessed. Luis Fabiano was particularly impressive with his goal-scoring exploits, and was the most dangerous player on the field for the selecao. 

But if the US puts up one or two more good chances in the second half, there was a high likelihood that they could have pulled off the upset, and skyrocketed the team to the international spotlight, as if they were not there before. 

Individually, there were a number of outstanding performances. Let’s start from the back line on this one. TIm Howard again showed why he is one of the top keepers in the EPL, because he really kept the game in check for the US, as he was barraged by shots throughout the game. And in all honesty, those three goals were not his fault, his defense did not help him out with their shoddy play on the goals. 

Jonathan Spector was just as impressive. Although he seemed to tire late in the game, (his fatigue leading to the second goal), he has to be credited for keeping two of the world’s best players in Kaka, and Robinho in check the majority of the game. They continuously drifted out to his wing, but he was up for the challenge, using excellent tackles to break up the moves and pace of the two Brazilians. Not only that, but it was his brilliant ball into the box that Clint Dempsey got a hold of, to give the US the incredible 1-0 lead early in the game. 

However, the rest of the back line also played well, other than a couple of bad moments that Brazil capitalized on. Jay DeMerit, Oguchi Onyewu, and Carlos Bocanegra, all were very solid in defense for the US.

The midfield played very well as well, and seemed to pull a 180 in terms of how they approached the game from the two team’s first meeting in the group stage of the tournament. Ricardo Clark played an excellent game as the holding mid, stopping the Brazilian’s attack, but his distribution left something to be desired at times. His holding mid companion Benny Feilhaber had the same issues, and was reckless in his tackles at times, not something you want to do against Brazil. 

The attacking middies had quite a good game. Landon Donovan again showed why he is the creative force behind the US attack, making run after run at the Brazilian D, which looked slow to react a number of times, especially Andre Santos at fullback, who should’ve been sent off for reckless challenges. Lando pierced the Brazilian D time and time again, and making great passes to his fellow attackers, to put the pressure on Julio Cesar to make a number of saves. He scored on a gorgeous ball in the 27th minute to give the US the 2-0 lead going into half. His only downfall was that he time and time again let Maicon fly down the wing and send in dangerous crosses, and just gain a major influence in the attacking third. 

Clint Dempsey as was previously mentioned played an outstanding game as well, harassing the D from the flank and scoring in the 10th to put the US, as he was on the tail end of Spector’s cross. With goals in three straight tourney matches, he was one shy of the US record for most consecutive goals scored in a single tourney. 

Up top, Charlie Davies the local kid who played at BC, and now at Hammarby in Sweden, may have been the most impressive US player on the field. Why Bob Bradley does not play him more is mind-boggling. His amazing pace, and skill kept the Brazilians on their heels on the whole game, and he was continuously in position to score, were it not for three Brazilians collapsing in on him to stop him. 

The same could not be said for Jozy Altidore who looked disinterested the whole game, and really made zero impact. Granted he is still young at 19, but compared to his performance against Spain, he was just not there for the US.

Overall though, the US played a very good game, and showed the world that they need to be taken seriously, and that they are coming to play in the World Cup next year.

But no matter what tonight will surely be a night to remember for Sox fans young and old.

So, when team USA came onto the field in Blomfontein, South Africa this afternoon, no one, and I mean NO ONE with the exception of the team expected a W from this contest. But US fans would be elated at the end of 90 minutes. 

To begin things, youngster Jozy Altidore showed his coaches at Villareal, that he should be playing in La Liga, when he outmuscled star teammate Joan Capdevila to get to a ball, and beat Casillas, putting the ball in the back of the net in the 27th minute. That goal gave the US a 1-0 lead, and would be the go-ahead goal.

It was not like the US dominated however. They were outshot by the Spanish attack by a margin of 29-9. But goalie Tim Howard put up one of the most sensational performances of his career, (of which there have been plenty at Man U. and Everton) stopping anything and everything that came his way.

Despite the ridiculous shot margin, the US was able to capitalize on another Spanish blunder late in the second half. US star Landon Donovan sent a beautiful cross into the box, that just got by defender Sergio Ramos, and Clint Dempsey, the pride of Nacogdoches, Texas, and former Revolution star was there to slot it home to give the underdogs a 2-0 lead. 

The only blemish on the game for the US was holding midfielder Michael Bradley, who has been the most consistent player for the US, drew a red card in the 87th minute for a hard tackle.

Otherwise it was a great game for the National squad, and Tim Howard summed it up best saying, “I can’t explain it any more than you can. Sports is funny sometimes, but when you put your mind to something, you can achieve it.”