It's Monday. You know how we roll.
From the "Talks too much" studios, tick tock. It's getting close.
Weekend winners
Under Armour. Pretty good year for the sports gear company. If you had to have a short list of the male athlete of the year so far, Steph Curry, Tom Brady and Jordan Spieth would be on there. All three are UA spokesmen and will be in the upcoming commercials. The numbers in that story about UA's growth - five years ago, Nike did 19 times UA's business; this year, it's only eight times as much - is pretty impressive.
The Titans. This has nothing to do with the result of Sunday night's preseason game. This has more to do with the impressive play at quarterback - both Marcus Mariota and Zach Mettenberger as TFP ace columnist Mark Wiedmer details here - and general excitement. Also of note, Dorial Green-Beckham looked like the real deal last night.
Baseball. With roughly 40 games - the final quarter of the season - left, there are some compelling races in the works. Plus, there are some high-profile teams in the mix: both New York clubs, the Dodgers, the Cubs, the Cardinals and the Giants are all in the hunt.
The New York Mets. Speaking of baseball, the Mets and their awesome young pitching have won five in a row and they get their best hitter - David Wright - back today. Somewhere Jerry Seinfeld is smiling.
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Weekend losers
Steve Sarkisian. The USC coach got blitzed at a pep rally and dropped F-bombs and slurred his words. Hey, we're not preaching - who doesn't love a nice cold Co-Cola every now and then - but c'mon Coach. Add this to the mega-preseason hype and the seat temp for Sark just went from zero to hot pretty quickly, especially after getting pulled from the stage and a firm talking to from AD Pat Haden.
Cris Carter. The boisterous NFL Hall of Fame said some stupid things at the NFL rookie symposium last year. This came out after an ESPN story on Chris Borland recently. Carter told rookies to get a "fall guy" and have someone in their posse ready to go to jail. Again, not preaching - we try to be funny frequently and sometimes that comes across as a bad choice - but Carter, a recovering addict, should know better.
Packers fans. Green Bay is on the shortlist of teams that have legit Super Bowl aspirations. Preseason injuries - like the reported torn ACL this weekend to star wideout Jordy Nelson - stink.
Tim Tebow. He was awesome at Florida, but this weekend exposed his struggles. If he makes it with the Eagles, great.
Terrell Suggs. Dude went after Sam Bradford's knees. It was a dirty play. Period. Now it should not have been a penalty - Bradford was running the ball, so a roughing the passer call was silly - but it was dirty.
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Tiger
What do you make of Tiger Woods' Sunday spent in neutral?
It's a difficult question to ponder for sure.
First, a measure of perspective. This was a course that was gettable for the game's top-tier talent. This was not a field anyone would compare to a major. This was a chance to see Tiger in red and see if he remembered how to win.
He didn't, so he didn't.
He shot even par on a Greensboro course that was exploited for much of the weekend. He turned in an Uber Ugly triple-bogey 7 on No. 11 that included a full-blown skulled chip shot and a flubbed flop and three swings with his putter (one from off the green). Here's video of the worst meaningful chip Tiger's hit since he was a cub.
Let's not read too much into this one way or another.
If he had won the tournament, we would be cautioning everyone on the "Tiger's back" narrative. That he didn't win is the same thing on the other end.
Tiger finished tied for 10th, and it was his best showing of the worst year of his career.
It's a finish that proves that the reality for Tiger is working to be in a position to contend rather than positioning himself to work his control.
It's golf's new normal.
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This and that
- That said, congrats to David Love III for winning the Wyndham on Sunday and becoming the third oldest winner in the modern era of the PGA Tour. Love, 51, is now third on the list, behind Sam Snead and Art Wall.
- THE Ohio State was a unanimous AP No. 1 in the poll released Sunday. Here's a look and three SEC teams (Alabama at 3, Auburn at 6 and Georgia at 9) are in the top 10. Tennessee is ranked No. 25.
- How about that Jon Stewart? Dude had a role in Summer Slam this weekend and lived out a childhood dream of anyone who grew up watching pro wrestling - he got to hit a champ with a chair. Well played indeed WWE.
- Oh yeah, the Braves still stink. The Cubs swept Atlanta in a four-game series in Chicago and the Braves have now lost seven straight. Why are they not on the weekend losers, you ask? Fair question. The answer is simply (cue Dennis Green), "They are who we thought they are."
- Thoughts and prayers to Justin Wilson, the Indy Racing driver who is in coma after being hit in the head with crash debris. It's seriously time to re-evaluate whether going 200-plus miles per hour in a convertible is the safest approach.
- Speaking of safety changes, we had another fan getting hit in the head with a scorched foul ball. Is it going to take someone dying before the nets are extended? Yes, more times than not the folks are digging in their phone or not paying attention, but the one Saturday at Wrigley was a BB hit into the first-base stands.
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Today's question
Who won the weekend and who lost?
Thoughts on Tiger?
As for the next, well, today is Cal Ripken Jr.'s 55th birthday. SAL-loot.
What's our Rushmore of shortstops?