The guys are good as gold! Thought you knew this already!

The Ladies were no slouch either…you best recognize!

Greetings from the Hoodwood, where the locals are gearing up for not only football, but new and exciting YouTube broadcasts (more on that later)

Olympic Final: The US Gold Rush in London

The games of the 30^th Olympiad are now history. Many critics were heaping abuse on NBC for its lackluster and sporadic coverage of the games. Maybe it was me but did it seem like that when the games were going on in Beijing Sydney and Barcelona despite the time difference there was always something good showing. I counted four channels that the Olympics were showing and it seemed that all they did was show repeated events. It just didn’t seem like you could ever find the big events. NBC held much of the good stuff back for its primetime package. But it felt like it was already known by the time it was shown. Example, my mom and her boyfriend were watching the 200 meter final. I already knew that Usain Bolt had won convincingly, but they were watching with baited breath. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the final had already been run and that Bolt dominated as expected. I thought the coverage was seriously lacking. The US made off with 104 total medals, 48 of them Gold easily besting China who came in 2^nd in the medal count. The Chinese were openly talking of dominating the games and avenging what they felt was an embarrassingly short total in their backyard in 2008,but the Americans upped their total and stole the show again. The countdown now starts for the first Olympic games in South America as the games will be in Rio in 2016…it will be an interesting mix of the Latin flavor and the Olympic stodginess.

The US basketball teams were hardly headed in their quest for Gold, the Women looked almost bored as they smashed one outclassed team after another in rolling to the Gold, the US squad hasn’t lost an Olympic game in 20 years…41 straight wins and teams were getting housed with frightening regularity. The French team that they faced seemed just happy to get that far and the Australian team once again found their best team blocked by the Americans and this time in the semis. They gave the US a go for a half then cracked under the steady withering pressure of the US. The French team had a “We’re just happy to be here” look about them as the US finished a perfect 8-0 with an 86-50 beatdown that could have been a lot worse. The mafia Don Geno Auriemma might have cracked a smile in the closing seconds as the Women won their 5^th consecutive gold medal and 7^th in the last 8 Olympiads, find me a squad that has been that dominant for that long…

The Men sleptwalked through beating after beating, pulling away late from one opponent after another before getting into a real tussle with Spain, but had it not been for a tense taut five point thriller the US had with Lithuania the Yanks might have not known how to handle a tight one, but they were able to counterpunch with the wily Spainards and though officiating seemed as if they were trying desperately to handicap the Americans to keep it even the US got clutch shots from LeBron James and Chris Paul to pull away with a 107-100 win to clinch a second straight Gold medal and further bury the awful memory of the failure in Athens. It was great to see the supposed jaded pro athletes celebrate their Gold Medal victory, like a national title or NBA title. Coach K jumping for joy when Chris Paul beat the clock with a twisting driving layup late in the 4^th to seal the game was as about a classic scene as Ive ever witnessed. Anthony Davis and LeBron James are two that can claim two titles in the same calendar year. Davis joins Christian Laettner and Patrick Ewing of players that won titles in college and a gold medal in the same year. The US took Spain’s best shot and still came out on top. The rest of the world has stepped up their game and the US is still the team everyone wants to beat, but there still is the gap of talent and when the money is on the line, Im still going with the homeboys for the win. Bravo to the men and ladies basketball teams on jobs well done!

NFL: Chad’s dilemma

It seems that Chad Johnson is in a bit of a quandary, the loquacious receiver is trying to catch on with the Miami Dolphins after a bad season in New England. Rookie coach Joe Philbin has already butted heads with Johnson, no longer going by Ochocinco after he recently wed. This past weekend Johnson was arrested on charges of domestic battery and the Dolphins wasted no time in cutting Johnson, a move I think was Philbin’s purposeful move to shock and scare the team into line/. Though Philbin flatly denies it, I pull out my bullshit card here on that call. I mean, what better move by a coach that wants to get his teams attention than to run an established player like Johnson out of town? I personally think it was bush league. Johnson who has never been in any kind of trouble with the law in his time in the NFL has charged with domestic battery after he allegedly head butted his wife. Johnson claims that she head butted him while they were arguing. Now, I am a big advocate against abuse, any male that hits a woman is no man in my eyes, but this just comes off as suspicious. Im not going to rush to judgment. If Johnson is proved to have done what he has been accused of, I will be the first to lay a literal head slap on someone that I have been a fan of for a while. But I will give him the benefit of the doubt. Im sorry, anyone that is on the show basketball wifes already has a cloud of suspicion of being overly dramatic and I think is trying to get her name more in the papers at the expense of her “husband” Now Chad has to try to latch on to a team, hes still got talent and if TO can get a job, you think he should be able to. But then again Plax Burress is still looking for work...

MLB: Is Strasburg getting the shaft?

The Washington Nationals are the best team in MLB right now. That’s not hype at 71-44 the Nats have the best record in baseball as of Monday evening, 2 games ahead of the Central leading Reds, and 3 games better than the AL West leaders in Texas who have the AL’s best record by ½ game over the Yankees with one 1 fewer loss. The Nats have never been this good in the 7 years previous that they have occupied the Nations Capital. Heck they havent even broken .500, doing that only once in their 1st year in DC.  The last time that this perpetually sad sack franchise has been this good was the star crossed 1994 Montreal Expos team that had its dreams of a magical season snuffed out by the players strike. That team was 74-40 leading the NL East by 6.5 games and was the best squad in the game that year. Led by Ken Hill and a young Pedro Martinez the Expos had a 1-2 punch from their starters. With solid hitters like Cliff Floyd, Marquis Grissom, Moises Alou and the heavy hitting Larry Walker the Expos had a tough lineup to face. Managed by the laconic yet effective hand of Moises’ dad Felipe, the Expos were poised to do big thing but they needed the team to go deep into the postseason to attract the normally reserved Montrealites who seemed to always reserve their passion for the Habs Hockey team, but that year they were drawing and looked as if they were going to places. The strike shut the season down and when baseball returned that next spring, the Expos were being dismantled again as most of their star players were too expensive to keep. The team dropped back into irrelevancy and moved to Washington in 2005 where they have been more a less a mediocre team. This year has been different, led by veteran manager Davey Johnson (someone who has won everywhere he has went) the Nats are a blend of veteran talent with players like Rick Ankiel, Ryan Zimmerman and Jayson Werth and precocious phenoms in hard hitting Bryce Harper and stud pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Harper has been destined from greatness for seemingly a long time yet hes all of 19. Strasburg has been the pitcher who just seems to mow down batters every start. The Nats have no fears of a labor dispute this time around, they look to make the franchise first postseason appearance in over 30 years. The ’81 Expos took advantage of a split season to claim a postseason berth and beat the Phillies in the NLDS (then called the mini-playoffs) before falling to the Dodgers in a tight best of 5 NLCS. But with all signs pointing to the Nats playing playoff baseball for the first time since FDR was just getting settled at the White House nearly 80 years ago, all should be hunky-dory right? Nope, the Nats continue to be adamant that Strasburg their bona fide ace will be shut down after he reaches a set point. Strasburg who is almost 2 years out from Tommy John surgery which ended his 2010 season and limited his 2011 season to 5 starts is being guarded very carefully. The Nats do not want to run the risk of overuse and despite the Nats looking like they are a contender to get deep in the playoffs will shut Strasburg down no matter what their situation is. If the Nats get into the playoffs and Strasburg is over his limit, he wont pitch. Many are critical of this move saying that they may not get another chance and that you use the weapons you have. Others are applauding it saying that it’s the right move and overuse could do larger harm down the road. It’s a gamble, but the Nats need to use Strasburg judiciously. Have him skip a start or two coming down the stretch. The Nats will need him in the postseason. When there are aces like Johnny Cueto of the Reds, Matt Cain of the Giants, Clayton Kershaw of the Dodgers and AJ Burnett of the Pirates at the top of the contenders pitching staffs, you need a hammer of your own. The Nats need not blow out their ace, but they shouldn’t baby him.

PGA: Rory wins but why all the Tiger talk?

Rory McIlroy simply put smoked em. His -13 score at the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island in South Carolina was a work of art. He was around the greens all weekend and his putting was flawless. His 9 stroke win was a PGA Championship record. The 23 year old has notched his 2^nd major win and is younger than Tiger Woods was when he won his 2^nd major.

So why is all the talk still on Tiger? I know, Tiger didn’t win a major this year and still has yet to win one since his dramatic win at Torrey Pines in 2008, but he has won on tour 3 times this year in the process tying then passing his golf idol Jack Nicklaus for third on the PGA titles list. But he hasn’t won a major and the talk is that he isn’t dominant. The media used to complain that courses needed to be Tiger proofed to keep it from being a battle for 2^nd every week and that Tiger being dominant was boring. Well now, since Eldrick has shown his mortal side, the same media wonks are coming out of the woodwork to bash him for not being dominant. It makes no sense and the talk takes away from a sterling performance by a good young golfer who will continue to make his mark for the next decade.

Phat Dap/Head Slap

Phat Dap

Give the dap to the US Olympic team, I know I raved about the basketball teams. But from the continued dominance of Michael Phelps to the classy Gabby Douglas to the dominance of the Womens swimmers Melissa Franklin, Dana Vollmer. Rachel Bootsma, Allison Schmidt, Rebecca Soni, Breeja Larson Claire Donahue and Jessica Hardy who set Olympic and World Records in the 4x100 medley relay to Claressa Shields who brought home the only boxing medal for the US since the men were stunningly shut out of any medal. Cant forget the womens soccer team that won a thriller over Japan for Gold. I could go on and on, since that is just a few of those that medaled in this Olympiad and those that did were all fighting back (sometimes losing) tears as they watched Old Glory being raised and the Star Spangled Banner being played. To all of the 46 gold medalists and the 104 that brought home medals. Hoodwood salutes and is so very proud of you! Mad dap!

Head Slap

This one is too easy. Tyronn Mathieu has the world on a string. A feared cover corner who was a Heisman Finalist last year for the National Runner Up LSU Tigers, lovingly called the “Honey Badger” Mathieu looked to be the cornerstone of an LSU team that many picked to be a preseason #1. Mathieu threw it all away when he was kicked off the team for marijuana use. A violation that has tripped him up before. Mathieu now is looking at other schools to transfer to. If he goes an FCS school he can play right away but if he transfers to another FBS D-1 school (if they would take him) he would have to sit out a year. Mathieu has thrown away any Heisman chance he had along with decreasing his exposure with him leaving a powerhouse SEC school like LSU. Mathieu will be playing on Sundays that is a given but he has hurt his chances to really cash in for wanting a quick high… And he has stated that he would like to try to re-enroll at LSU sit out the year and come back for the 2013 season. Since he has 2 years of eligibility left and three years to use them, Mathieu could realistically come back. I hope Les Miles tell Mathieu to kick rocks, I understand and am all about giving 2^nd chances but he has them and blew it. Just because he has immense talent doesn’t mean he can break the rules repeatedly and willingly just to figure he can get another chance because of that talent.

The Man Cave is almost ready, and I may show it off next week. But for those that like You Tube I will be doing another musings that will post on You Tube on Wednesday, some of the stuff I write here and other stuff as well. Yougabsports gets the first shot at everything of course but Im experimenting some. Come check it out and actually see what I look and sound like...

Until Next Post Fellow Sports Fans!