10. Pittsburgh Pirates at Cleveland Indians
The Pirates won two of three in a battle of two teams that have been winning with smoke and mirrors. Cleveland is destined for some struggles with 17 of their next 20 games before the All-Star Break against winning teams. Pittsburgh is in much better shape schedule wise as they have a mixed bag heading into the Break. I can see them hanging around for a bit more especially if Pedro Alvarez (5/11 4 HR 9 RBI) has more series' like the one he just had against Cleveland.
9. Baltimore Orioles at Atlanta Braves
The Orioles took two of three in Atlanta behind dominant pitching performances by Jason Hammel and Wei-Yin Chen who both climbed to 7-2 on the season. Baltimore continues to amaze the baseball world as they stay right on the tail of the big bad Yankees in the brutal American League East. The Braves not only lost the series at home, but also lost their best starting pitcher, Brandon Beachy to injury and he has been placed on the Disabled List. With 9 of their next 12 games against the Yankees, Red Sox and Nationals, this could be a make or break stretch for this team facing some pretty good adversity at the moment.
8. Chicago White Sox at Los Angeles Dodgers
The Dodgers took the series by winning an extra inning game on Sunday. All three games were one run games and even though Friday nights' match up of Sale vs. Kershaw didn't develop into a pitchers duel, the series was one of the best of the weekend. Los Angeles still holds the best record in the Majors while Chicago is playing just well enough to stay ahead of a below average division. I still believe the Detroit Tigers will end up winning the American League Central by at least 5 games when all is said and done.
7. Euro Cup 2012 Sweden vs. England
This was by far the most dramatic and entertaining game to date of the Euro Cup. England struck first and led 1-0 at the half, but Sweden countered with two early goals in the second half. England got one back and then took a late lead that they wouldn't relinquish with a highlight reel goal by Danny Welbeck. It's usually stunning to see a team blow a lead and lose in soccer, but to have both teams blow a lead and the score to jump back and forth made for a great group stage match.
6. College World Series Friday
The shoe didn't fit for Cinderella Stony Brook as they were thumped by UCLA 9-1. The second game of the evening was much more competitive as Arizona and Florida St. went extras. After the game was tied at 3 after six innings, it wasn't until the 12th when Arizona finally broke through with a run and they hung on to beat Florida St. This probably means another year will go by without the ACC winning a National Championship in baseball. Wake Forest won the only one for the conference and that was way back in 1955.
5. College World Series Saturday
As what happened to Stony Brook, Kent St. got routed in their first ever appearance in Omaha. Arkansas did the job with an easy 8-1 victory. The other game between arguably the two best teams in the country went to South Carolina. They beat rival, #1 ranked Florida to extend their unfathomable NCAA Tournament win streak to 22. 22!!! They are the two time defending champions for a reason folks, but 22 wins in a row is ridiculous.
4. Euro Cup 2012 Sunday's Action
It was a pair of great games in a group that was still up for grabs. Germany and Denmark traded goals early on in a game that Denmark needed desperately to earn a draw in, if not win outright. They couldn't dent the twine in the second half and when Germany scored with just over 10 minutes left, the tournament was over for the Danes. The other game saw the Dutch take an early lead as they hoped to salvage some pride and even move on if they could win by 2+ goals, but Cristiano Ronaldo was having none of that. He scored a goal in both the first and second half to give Portugal a 2-1 victory and move them on to the quarterfinals. So far we have Germany facing Greece and Portugal going up against the Czech Republic in the quarters.
3. NBA Finals Game 3
By all accounts the game was close throughout. Yes, that means I didn't watch most of it. I was glued to the U.S. Open even without Tiger in contention. Luckily for me this game followed the pattern that NBA detractors clamor about on a nightly basis. The final two minutes proved to be the most important and nothing else mattered. Beat me up if you wish, but no lead is safe in the NBA, it is after all a game of runs. Oklahoma City looked to be making the final run to steal game 3, but they missed a couple shots down the stretched and had a costly turnover on an inbound play. Give credit to Miami for hitting almost 90% of their free throws.
2. New York Yankees at Washington Nationals
The veteran Yankees proved too much for the young Nationals this weekend in DC. They pitched better, they hit better and they fielded better and it added up to a three game sweep. The Yankees have now won 9 in a row, but because the American League East went 10-2 against the National League East the Yankees didn't extend their lead by too much and the Nationals lead held rather steady. Bryce Harper had a very eye opening game on Saturday in a bad way as he went 0-7 with 5 K's and was real close to getting ejected for his bad reactions at the plate.
1. U.S. Open
The weekend started out with all eyes on Tiger Woods, but that ended quickly on Saturday and into Sunday as he faded into oblivion with poor putting and even worse iron shots. After Woods dropped out, it was all about who could survive the tough Olympic Club course. American Jim Furyk was in the lead for most of the final round, but Graeme McDowell was on his tail looking to bring the championship back to Northern Ireland for the 3rd consecutive year (Rory McIlroy last year and McDowell in 2010). Ernie Els made a mid round charge in his attempt to win a 3rd U.S. Open and even first round leader Michael Thompson charged back into it with a 3 under final round. In the end, though, it was relative unknown American Webb Simpson who recovered from an early stumble to birdie four out of five holes mid round and play rock steady golf the rest of the way to take home the title. Both Furyk and McDowell struggled (McDowell early, Furyk late) in the final round combining to shoot 7 over par.
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Yet another Father's Day came and went and I saw all the tweets about brunch with Dad, gold with Dad and the stories about 'how my Dad made me who I am' and so on and so forth. I didn't do any of that with my Dad who lives only 20 miles away from me, not because I don't care, nor is he ignoring me, but because he is on the road Geocaching.
If you are not familiar with Geocaching you can visit the website and learn about it, but I'll give you a quick synopsis. You carry a GPS around that is loaded with locations of hidden objects that you need to find. Some are big like a large ammo can and some can be so small that they would fit in the palm of your hand. When you find said object, you note that you've found it on your GPS and sign the enclosed sheet of paper that is inside the hidden object. That's it. You move on to the next one and then the next after that.
Some are very simple to find, some are incredibly difficult. They are hidden in public places (and you are told to avoid the 'muggles' who are random people not looking for the Geocache) and in the middle of forests. Basically if you plan on going for a walk, you might as well take a GPS along and make a game of it. You will be surprised how many hidden objects are within 10 miles of where you live.
My parents have been into this for about two years now and when my Dad delves into a hobby he goes in full throttle. He was in a bowling league in the 80's, he took up golf in the 90's, fell hard in taking cruises in the 2000's and now is staying in shape by Geocaching around the United States. This weekend my parents recreated a two week family trip from the summer of 1995 by hitting the mid west. Their goal was to find a Cache in six states in one day...they did seven. As my Dad put it 'It gives me a reason to go back to states that I went to before.' They walk between 10-20 miles a day looking for these things. They see sights, they visit big cities and small towns. It keeps them young, but it also makes my sister and I worry. My mom will go out by herself and at times she thinks she's Bear Grylls. She'll wade through rivers, climb rocks and do all this just as the sun is rising or far past sunset. She's been bitten by spiders, bruised by falls and had brushes with poison ivy. My Dad stepped in a bees nest giving him a good dozen stings. He drove all the way home after that (not calling us at all) and while he was walking upstairs another bee got loose in his shorts and stung him again. This was nearly 20 minutes after the first sting!
We have forced them to carry whistles, first aid kits and to always have their phones on them. I fear that its only a matter of time until they break something, but for now they are having fun and traveling the countryside. I highly suggest that you take this hobby up. It is highly addictive if you don't mind the great outdoors and small (or large) insects you should have fun. I try and get out with them when I can and I have even dragged my wife around who is not a fan of heavily wooded areas. There are enough in residential neighborhoods to keep busy though.
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