Sunday, April 10, 2011

04/10 (Rory Sunday) Quickie

It's fun to watch a national -- perhaps epic -- sports breakthrough in real-time.

The bandwagon for 21-year-old Masters leader Rory McIlroy is nearly at capacity -- and rightly so: He's young, confident, likeable and, through three rounds in Augusta, fearless.

Where Tiger -- and at this point, it's fashionable to say "35-year-old Tiger," unfairly, in the same kind of way people said "40-year-old Willie Mays" -- stumbled, Rory sizzled.

Barring an epic collapse that would define him just as much as (if not more) a Masters title would, Rory McIlroy is going to win the Masters at age 21 and become sports' Next Big Thing.

He seems to be deserving of both titles.

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Congrats to Minnesota-Duluth on their NCAA hockey title. I was at a bar with no TV when I saw on Twitter the game was headed to OT. I fired up my new "WatchESPN" app -- on a 3G network, not wi-fi, no less -- and tuned in just long enough to see the game-winning goal live. I kind of hate "game-changing" as an adjective, but in this case, it seems to fit.

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NBA Today: Heat-Celtics. Yes, there is a playoff home-court advantage seemingly on the line between Boston and Miami, but even if the two should/will meet in the Eastern Conference semifinals in a month and Miami has the home-court advantage, does anyone actually think that the Celtics are losing to the Heat?

It's easy to imagine Boston up 3-2 heading into a 6th game in Boston -- with the Heat folding. And even if Boston is down 3-2 heading into a 6th game in Boston, you can already feel the momentum-reversing rout coming, followed by a Celtics win in Miami in Game 7. So, really: What's the big deal about this game again?

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MLB: Has the Orioles rookie pitcher Zach Britton turned into the most must-see player in baseball?

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Fun day of sports today: Masters Sunday and the Rory story, plus Heat-Celtics (with Bulls-Magic as an appetizer, featuring presumptive NBA MVP Derrick Rose with one last chance in the regular season to dazzle MVP voters -- ironically, Dwight Howard might end up runner-up.)

Enjoy it, and please give Quickish a visit (or several) if you want to keep up with the best analysis of the big stories, plus get a bunch of recommendations to really good other things to read on a pleasant Sunday in April.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

What I find interesting, and funny, is how quickly everyone has joined on the bandwagon to rip down Tiger Woods. Anyone who claims to be a fan of golf, should still be thankful to him for elevating the game in a way that *no one* had before, and raising revenues for all of your favorites.

Yes, he's had a difficult last few years due to personal mistakes and injuries... but the glee with which people point at that and declare him done? Is utterly ridiculous.

The Golden Bear won three majors after he was *40*. Tiger is still only 35, and him being a multi-adulterer doesn't change that he's a great golfer.

Tiger fizzled? Tiger won't contend? Whether he wins or loses, that Tiger is making a charge shows he's not quite as dead as everyone would like him to be.