Monday Morning Thoughts – July 20

Going to try to get back in to the habit of writing these daily posts. After the weekend we just witnessed, it was hard to restrict every opinion to just 140 characters.

THE OPEN
I never thought I would ever open a multi sport post, with golf. But The British Open has been pretty compelling over the last four days. Especially if you’re an fan of wild weather captured on camera. Encouraged by the R&A there will be plenty of people who have called in sick to work today to enjoy what should be a ridiculous final round.

If 22-year-old Irishman Paul Dunne does pull off the miracle and win, as an amateur, he wouldn’t actually receive ANY of the $1.8 million purse. Because, amateurs don’t get paid. That would re-define the word ridiculous.

And here’s something that won’t surprise anyone that has ever been to a sporting event in Toronto. A ticket to the Pan Am Golf Medal Session will cost you $75. A ticket to today’s final round at The Open? $20.24.

BASEBALL
You can watch this game for 100 years and not see a championship deciding game end like the Pan Am gold medal game in Ajax last night.

If you didn’t see it, with Canada trailing 6-5 in the bottom of the 10th inning and two runners on, American lefty David Huff‘s horrendous pickoff attempt at first base allowed Canada to plate a pair and walk off to claim back-to-back baseball gold medals. The U.S. haven’t won since 1967. Insert Leafs cracks below.

How amazing was it to see Marco Estrada “Chris Archer” the Rays? All the hype around Archer, fully deserved I may add, but everyone forgot Estrada nearly perfect game’d Tampa last month. Great momentum to take out west on their 6 game road trip. Starts in Oakland tomorrow.

For you doomsday preppers, you may want to get ready. It hadn’t rained in California since 2007. But, yesterday the Padres AND the Angels were rained out, marking the first time 2 Major League games were rained out in California on the same day since Sep. 24, 1986. Pretty sure I saw moths fly out of the tarp at Petco when they rolled it out…

Can someone please find the kid in suburban Detroit, maybe he’s even in Windsor, Ontario, that’s pitching as well as Justin Verlander used to? JV must’ve been Space Jam’d. How else can you explain how bad he’s been this season? At some point he’s got to show the Tigers a glimpse of what’s left. If he’s done, so are the Tigers in the Central. For a while.

Just give Dallas Keuchel the A.L. Cy Young award already. I don’t know if I’m more surprised to see the Astros still contending in the West, or that his beard hasn’t become an athletic disadvantage. At some point his hipster circle is going to turn on him… As long as he’s throwing career high lines like he did yesterday against the Rangers, 7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 13 Ks, it doesn’t matter who’s in his social circle. Though if I were management, I’d be concerned if he started dating Rihanna.

The second the Reds signed Aroldis Chapman, I was jealous he wasn’t pitching for my team. Yesterday with only 292 Major League innings pitched, the Cuban became the fastest player in MLB history to reach 500 strikeouts. Slow clap for ya, bro.

SOCCER
Full credit to the Canadian Womens Pan Am team for holding their own against Brasil‘s World Cup squad (minus only Marta). A 2-0 loss is nothing to shake your head at. But there’s something odd about a tourney, where a team with just 1 win and 1 loss can enter their final preliminary match knowing that anything better than a 4-0 loss would still see them through to the semis. But hey, won’t find a person in this country complaining. Good luck against Colombia on Wednesday.

And how does (assistant) referee Eric Boria give that penalty in the final minute of extra time? Costa Rica deserved to try their hand in a penalty shoot-out after Mexico wasted chance after chance in over two hours. I know everyone loves to see Miguel Herrera celebrate, but c’mon man!

Happy Monday everybody. May you go the entire day without being subjected to the song Steph Curry‘s daughter is dancing to.

Silly Season Sizzles Out

Monday you woke up to headlines like “striker having medical at training ground this afternoon.”

How many times since have you read, “star striker linked with January move”?

The hype and speculation every transfer window is ridiculous. But God is it ever entertaining. I’ve broken down my reaction into three categories.

WINNERS
1) Arsenal had to pay that English premium but signing Danny Welbeck was good business by Arsene Wenger. Sure in recent years he’s under-delivered. Look no further than his record of just 29 goals in 142 United games to prove that point. But I think that says a lot more about United relying on him when he was not ready, then it does about him.

Welbeck left a big impression on veteran England players, as I know you’ve read about elsewhere. That says more about his character than his struggle for minutes. Arsenal need guys with character and Welbeck needs a change of scenery. With Giroud out, he’ll relish the chance to actually be the main man. And oddly enough, it will probably be less pressure for him.

2) While Javier Hernandez finds himself in the same situation, on a much better team, I think it carries far more positives than negatives.

Chicharito has proven how lethal he can be as a super sub and what Real Madrid have already proven this season is that they lack the ability to explode with creativity late in matches. He can be a game changer and could be the difference between Real dropping points at Almeria and Granada, and contending for a league title come May.

3) Aston Villa. For the sole reason that they didn’t pay £8 million for Tom Cleverley. Overrated yes, but he’ll be the best player in that midfield every Saturday and Villa’s young guns can learn from his wealth of experience. All while United foot the bill.

LOSERS
1) Sorry Ibra, but Radamel Falcao was the biggest star missing from this summer’s World Cup. He is one of the most prolific strikers of his generation. But he is not what Manchester United needed, and I don’t think any player is worth a £20 million rental fee.

2) Manchester City regularly have the once rare problem of being “too deep in quality.” Skilled players have been tossed aside in the past but I think the Citizens will truly miss Alvaro Negredo. Yes his form dipped last season after a fantastic start but I don’t think they can get 38 games out of Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko. Valencia have a star on their frontline that should carry them back to the Champions League.

3) Hull City did a hell of a lot of good business on Monday. They’re not in this section for dropping £10 million on Abel Hernandez. He is. I don’t think the Uruguayan knows what he’s signed himself up for.

It’s easy to pick on the Tigers for not playing in a sexy part of England, or for having Steve Bruce as a manager, or for continually featuring in the least attractive game of the weekend. But if Hull was really Hernandez’s best option this summer, he should think about getting a new agent.

He’s got quality and was great to watch in the Serie A, but I fear he’s going to struggle to adapt in England playing on a side that is unlikely to be able to adapt to his style.

INTERESTED TO SEE
1) How Jermain Defoe gets on at Toronto FC. I can only assume that he turned down ‘Arry’s pursuit because he had committed to a project in Toronto and doesn’t want to be remembered as the guy that turned his back on the club that treated him like the world’s best striker, something he never got in England.

But unless the club provide him with an incredible supporting cast, I don’t think there’s any doubt that he leaves in January. Long as someone is willing to throw him £80k a week, of course.

2) How Wayne Rooney adopts the number 10 role. That’s clearly the only place LVG can use him now.

Rooney has lost the pace that made him so lethal for years, but he has world class vision and can read a game better than most of the opposition that will be marking him this season. RVP & Rooney couldn’t provide a 50 goal campaign, but with his service Falcao & RVP just might.

3) If Micah Richards has still got it. Seriously, when was the last time you even heard his name? United sent Anderson out to Fiorentina last season and he made very little impact. Seven years ago Richards was a player you would have loved to have had on your squad. But it might take him a minute to shake off the rust.

Landscape Changers

No matter where you are in the world this morning, guaranteed the papers are jampacked with pages upon pages dedicated to yesterday’s big move.

The rumors have been there for a while but only yesterday could it really sink in. And for many, it still hasn’t.

On both sides of the Atlantic they’ll call him a glory hunter, criticize him for leaving unfinished business behind, and while some will be excited to see how he gets on this season, with all that money involved, there will be haters aplenty.

Really the only thing those papers won’t be talking about, is the same person.

It’s kind of ironic that both LeBron James and Luis Suarez make their career altering moves on the same day.

Both are at the top of their game and have traded in their comfortable surroundings for the pursuit of winning titles.

LeBron isn’t as close to that this year, but longterm the Cavaliers have much better odds of being title contenders than Miami. That was a driving factor in his choice to return to a city where good things rarely happen. If the Cavaliers were in the same spot as they were when he was drafted 11 years ago, he doesn’t go back.

But, he has. And this makes a lot of sense to me.

LeBron’s essay gifted to SI.com and the timely manner in which the news broke, demonstrates that he is a different guy. There is a maturation that happened over his four years in Miami.

He’s learned through experiences that he never would have had if he had re-signed in Cleveland in the summer of 2010.

Most importantly, he has learned how to win at the top level. And now he is going to bring that to his hometown team that has loads of potential to win, a lot, over the next decade.

Heat fans cannot be upset with this. Sure they will be disappointed and feel like Miami were still close to being a championship team, again. But LeBron gave it his all and got them to a Finals appearance every year he was down there.

I have never been one to quote Stephen A. Smith, but he made a brilliant point on SportsCenter last night: LeBron played all but 17 games in four years with the Heat. Dwyane Wade missed nearly 30 last season alone.

LeBron James is all about business. He did his in Miami, and one of his many ventures did some pretty damn good business yesterday as well.

Three years ago LeBron was given a minority stake in Liverpool, a clause he and manager Maverick Carter were wise to include when Fenway Sports Group became the sole global marketer of his rights.

Seeing as LeBron made $30 million out of Apple’s acquisition of Beats Electronics, I would not be surprised if he also earned himself a piece of Luis Suarez’s £75 million transfer fee.

And I cannot help but wonder, would that fee have been even higher if Suarez did not return to his biting ways on sport’s biggest stage?

Liverpool will still be a top four contender this season without him. , Though I expect them to struggle in the Champions League, and battling on multiple fronts may prove to be too big a task.

I’m also kinda sad the SAS partnership has come to an end. I was quite excited to see what Suarez and Sturridge would be able to do in Europe.

Desperate to return to their winning ways, Barcelona showed little hesitation in shelling out big bucks for one of the best goalscorers alive right now.

Despite his addiction to biting grown men, there is no doubting the impact he will have on the pitch. After scoring a Premier League best 31 goals last season, you’d expect that number to be even higher, given a suspension free season in La Liga. But of course, he’s unlikely to have one, even if he stays there for all five years.

But, the bigger question is – are there really enough goals to go around at that club?

Luis Enrique’s first season in charge at Camp Nou will be a trying one. How does one get the most out of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez when they have to share the ball with each other?

It is one of many questions that there simply is no answer for at this point. But my God I cannot wait for a new NBA and soccer season to get underway.

“Arsenal linked with… your 10 year old sister”

Let me start by answering a question you didn’t know that I knew you were asking. Yes, it is impossible to keep up with all the transfer rumours that come out while the World Cup is going on.

That headline wasn’t to pick on Arsenal. Every club with needs to address this summer seems to be linked with everybody that is looking for greener pastures.

Mario Balotelli is rumoured to be “unsettled in Milan.” Really? How does anyone know that? The latest buzz is that Arsenal are ready to offer him a comfortable wage package of over €11 million a year. That would be such a coup for Wenger, but it certainly won’t come cheap.

Sergio Agüero has been pretty vocal about staying with Man City, which means he’s headed south to either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Thomas Vermaelen looks set to trade The Emirates for Old Trafford, and get paid a cool £100,000-a-week for his efforts.

The UK papers are raving about Alexander Büttner’s realisation that Louis Van Gaal’s arrival spells the end for him at Old Trafford. Must be a really slow week…

How many phone calls do you think the agent of Mexico keeper Guillermo Ochoa has taken over the last 48 hours? The dude makes one of the greatest saves in World Cup history, while drawing the tournament favourites on their home soil just weeks after being relegated and out of contract with Ajaccio? Talk about impeccable timing.

And West Brom are close to signing Joleon Lescott from the sounds of things… HEY! Please keep reading this blog!

It’s a part of the game that will just never go away. And even though all the nonsensical speculation can be annoying as Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, it’s never going to leave the game because it will always get people talking about soccer. And you know what, I’m alright with that part.