Tiger Woods Wins the British Open: Where does he now stand in History?

Today on ABC, the world witnessed Tiger Woods win the British Open for his 11th major in his profesional career. That ties him for second on the all time list, now just 7 majors back of the "Golden Bear" Jack Nicholas. Jack Nicholas retired with 18 majors during his great career, and many wondered and still wonder if that record will ever be beat.

Well, I'm here to tell you it will be surpassed by Tiger Woods. Tiger at times has appeared to be unstopable, and appeared to be the greatest golfer in the world. At other times, he has appeared to be a little out of touch, a little out of rythym, or a little bit shaky. But I'm here to tell you, that Tiger Woods day in day out is the most competitive golfer on the PGA Tour, and nobody works harder than him. He's been challenged by the field so many times, and almost always overcomes them. Tiger shot a remarkable -18 under par, two strokes ahead of Chris Dimarco, who also played pheonominal Golf. There has always been the guy that is supposed to challenge Tiger.

There has been Phil Mickelson, Sergio Garcia, Ernie Els, Vijay Singh, to name a few. But none of these guys, or any other golfer in world has been able to beat Tiger when Tiger is Tiger. There is no doubt, that when Tiger is up in a major, with two days or especially one day to go, nobody can catch him. He's now 7-0 when leading after the first two rounds of a major. Each round, Tiger seems to get better, more focused, and thus harder to defeat. He's only missed the cut of a major once in his career, and that was in the last U.S. Open, after his father had died, and after his most beloved member of his family had gone on. Yet, despite the death of his father, and the fact that he was coming off of the most dismal finish he'd ever had in a Major, Tiger came out in this year's British Open, and won. He had the best score of any player to ever play in this tournament, and utterly dominated the course, thanks to pheonominal playing, and great weather.

Yet, after seeing this victory from Tiger, one can't help but wonder, will we see another major victory from Tiger this year in the PGA Championship? The answer is yes. Tiger is on his "A-game" again, and nobody else out there seems to be able to truly deserve the right to be considered "favored".

Phil Mickelson shot an abismal round of golf on the last two holes in the U.S. Open, thus making him remind us of the old Phil Mickelson that had choked for years. In his most recent outing in a major, which obviously was this years British Open, Phil shot a respectable -5 under par, despite missing the top ten. Yet despite all the talk of Phil's struggles in majors, it is imperative to recognize the fact that Phil has cracked the code in winning majors, since he does have 3 majors under his belt. Plus, he's never played well at the British Open. He's only had one top ten finish during his career over there, so Phil's lack of production over in Britain is not a surprise to many. Ernie Els played well overall, despite folding like a cheap tent at the end of the tournament. Ernie shot -13 under par, which is a very good showing.

Sergio Garcia was in it until today, when he finished -11 under par, shooting 1+ par for the day. Sergio never seems to challenge when he really needs to, and he's always really close for a while, and then he just suddenly fades away. Collin Montgomery chokes, and never seems to come through in the clutch, and Vijay Singh, who is among the most constintently competitive players on the PGA Tour suddenly seized up like a bad piston, and missed the cut (however, Tiger missed the cut at the U.S. Open, and he went on to win this years British Open).

So, other than Tiger who has a chance? Is it once again Tiger vs. the field? Or is it Tiger vs. Tiger? The answer is it is both of the above. The only guy who can beat Tiger is Tiger, and he seems to not let himself get in the way of anything at this point, and so I can't imagine that Tiger will ever self-destruct at an Open like he did in the U.S. Open. Plus, when Tiger is in the zone, nobody beats him. He's like this great impending force of doom to all players on the tour who try to beat him. They try to pass him, and he only gets stronger.

Tiger is once again facing the field, because you just don't know who could come out of the blue and take it. Tiger has a 75% chance of winning the PGA Tour Championship, and the field has only 25 %. I will however say that the most prominent and biggest threat to Tiger in this years PGA Championship is and will be Phil Mickelson. Phil knows how to win majors, he's been playing poorly (by his standards and expectations) over the last two majors, and he's hungry to finish the year on top. A PGA Championship would mean so much to Phil, and it would erase the other two crappy majors in a hurry. They'd be forgotten. As far as the rest of the field, I don't see anybody else winning. Maybe Dimarco, but he seemed to have his chance here at the British Open, and he just barely missed the window.

So, all in all, Tiger Woods has undoubtedly regained his place as the world's best golfer, and that nobody else deserves that title (If Phil wins the PGA Championship, there could be some debate). He is favored to win the PGA Championship in my mind, and he's focused to do so. He's definantly the greatest golfer of our generation, and I think that in 20 years, we'll look back and say that Tiger Woods was undoubtedly the greatest golfer ever. Heck, in 20 years, he'll still be winning majors (If he wants to).

2006 (along with many years to come): Year of the Tiger!

Why junk food must not be sold at America's Ball Parks and Arenas

Ok America, I am really ticked off at the way America's Ball Parks sell junk food to the fans. It encourages fans to eat like crap. Here we are at an "Athletic Event" and the customers are eating funnel cakes, ice cream, and all sorts of disgusting candies. I think that fans that eat that crap are ruining sports. How can you sell this junk at arenas? Nachos are utterly the worst food at arenas. Think about it, all that goopy "cheese" that you dump on your Nachos. It's disgusting. Here we have a father teaching his son the game of baseball (or some other productive sport), encouraging him to be "active", and at the same time, chugging down artery clogging cheese and chips down his throat with a 32 oz jug of beer to wash it down. How do the kids do the math? Do they think to themselves "Well, real athletes work out, play the game, and then go home to eat junk food"? I never did, and that is partly because my dad never ate that crap (at least not in front of me). He always brought salads, fat free milk, V8 juice, and bananas to the games. Ok, not really. He too chugs down a 44 oz. soda, grabs a hot dog, and "chills". Why not? What's stopping him? He's not in bad shape (he actually runs ultra-marathons), he's in better shape than 80 percent of the fans. Why can't he eat a little junk food? Every other fan is doing it, and in the process killing themselves. The point is, no matter who you are, when at a ball game, you eat the crappiest plate of food you can eat. Why? Because it's there. It's everywhere. It's all around the stadiums. What I suggest is to have some healthier foods at the games. You can still have the junk food, but come one, give a fan an option. What if your an athlete? Are you really excited about the two hot dog-two giant soda packages? I am, but why should you be? You can do better than me. If you want to dodge the cholesteral train, you should be able to. You should not be forced to ride the damn train. If you don't want to ride it, and yet still eat, you should be able to. They should have more salad bars, kill a few burger joints, and add a Subway (another kind of train) type place. Believe me, if you put out some healthier foods at stadiums, you'll set a better example for the kids, show them what "real athletes" eat, and get them hooked on healthy food. Believe me, people will buy the healthy foods. They will. They'll say hey, "I'm sick of the Charles Barkley diet", how about some healthier food. So, in closing, I hope that somebody out there will change the ways arenas think of food, and hopefully the next time I'm at a ballgame, I'll be able to have my V8 juice, with a market fresh sandwich. Even though I'll still go for the two hot dog-two soda package deluxe specialty deal (while I still can).

Major League Baseball Power Rankings

Ok America, listen up, I Ben Parker, will rank all 30 teams in Major League Baseball from #1 all the way down to lowly #30. I will start doing this every week on Saturdays or Sundays. I did not do this for the first half of the season, but now that things are really getting fired up, I'd better rank these teams. (note: team record is in parentheses)


#1. Detroit Tigers (64-31): These guys are just plain scary. They seem to be playing on a whole other level right now. Justin Verlander (10-4) is pitching like crazy, and
Kenny Rogers (11-3) just keeps on winning. Oh, I thought you'd like to know that the Tigers have hit 119 Homeruns this season. That's 1.32 Homeruns per game. That's pretty good.

#2. Chicago White Sox (58-36): Once again, right out of the A.L. Central! These guys are the defending world champs, and they're putting forward a great bunch of guys to repeat as champions. They have great pitching from Mark Buehrle, Jose Contreras, Freddy Garcia, Jon Garland, and Javier Vazquez in terms of wins (The average win per pitcher is exactly 9 wins). But the ERA could be better (average ERA is at 4.625). That's decent, but not as good as Detroits top 8 pitchers, who are: Jeremy Bonderman, Kenny Rogers, Nate Robertson, Justin Verlander, Mike Maroth, Joel Zumaya, Zach Miner, and Fernando Rodne. These guys are pitching with an average ERA of 3.3! Get this, only one of these guys (Kenny Rogers with a 4.10 ERA) has an ERA higher than 4.0! That's stunning! Two of Chicago's top 5 pitchers has an ERA over 5! The point is Chicago's pitching needs to get better if they want to catch up with Detroit and take the division.

#3. New York Mets (57-38): These guys are playing great baseball right now, Tom Glavine is pitching like a beast right now with an 11-3 record and a 3.52 ERA. Pedro Martinez with a 7-4 record is pitching great as well. Not to mention great hitting from Carlos Delgado (23 HR), David Wright (21 HR) and Carlos Beltran (27 HR). These guys are on pace to win the N.L.C.S.

#4. Boston Red Sox (58-36): David Ortiz has 32 Homers and Manny Ramirez has 25 Homers. Curt Schilling is 12-3 and Josh Beckett is 12-5. What more do you want? A better bullpen. The rest of the pitching is a little weak, but I still think that Boston has a chance at another world championship.

#5. St. Louis Cardinals (53-41): All I have to say is this, If Albert Pujols is healthy, watch out for these guys. If he's hurt down the stretch, there's gonna be trouble in St.Louis.

#6. New York Yankees (55-37): Mike Mussina (11-3) and Chien-Ming Wang (10-4) are pitching well. Randy Johnson also has 10 wins, but 8 losses. The pitching needs to get better. As far as the whole "A-Rod" stinks campaign goes, I love to see it only because it brings chaos to the team. In all seriousness, criticizing the guy who is second on the team with 20 Homeruns in the HR department is stupid. I hate these guys!

#7. Minnesota Twins (54-40:) Too Bad they have the Chi. White Sox and Detroit Tigers in their division, because these guys are actually pretty damn good.

#8. Toronto Blue Jays (52-42): These guys are a good solid team with Roy Halladay pitching with a 12-2 record. Plus, Troy Glaus has 24 Homeruns and Vernon Wells has 23 Homeruns. What's holding these guys back from making the playoffs is simple. They are weak on the road. Their record is 20-22. If they want to be a great baseball team instead of just good and "solid", they have to win on the road.

#9. Oakland A's (50-45): Let's see if Barry Zito and Frank Thomas is enough to win the division. The division is tight, I just don't know if they'll hang on. But, I do think that they will.

#10. San Diego Padres (50-44): A good team, but being on top of the N.L. West doesn't do shit for me.

#11. Cincinatti Reds (50-46): Isn't it great to see Ken Griffey Jr. playing well again?

#12. Texas Rangers ( 49-47): 25-25 at home does not cut it. On the road they are better! (By one game).

#13. San Francisco Giants (48-47): Now that Bonds is not going to jail, lets see the Giants play ball. Come on! Excuse is over! Stop depending on Bonds alone!

#14. L.A. Angels (48-46): Other than Vladamire Guerro and Pitcher Ervin Santana, who do they have? Tell me!

#15. L.A. Dodgers (47-48): Nomar needs help.

#16. Arizona Diamondbacks (47-47): Other than Pitcher Brandon Webb (10-3; 2.52 ERA), nobody is pitching well.

#17. Houston Astros (46-50): I'm sorry to say this, but Roger Clemens just isn't going to save this team.

#18. Seattle Mariners (45-50): Only Gil Meche (9-4) can pitch. Everybody else is struggling to crack the .500 barrier.

#19. Colorado Rockies (45-49): Bringing up the rear in baseball's weakest division shows signs of crappy play.

#20. Milwaukee Brewers (46-50): Only Chris Capuano (10-5; 3.46 ERA) can pitch on this team. They do however have a few decent sluggers in Carlos Lee (27 HR), Prince Fielder (17 HR), and Bill Hall (19 HR).

#21 Atlanta Braves (45-50): Looks like their years as N.L. East Champions will finally end. Now it's up to the wild card to decide their grim fate.

#22. Philadelphia Phillies (43-50): Props up to Ryan Howard with his 31 Homeruns. But other than that, this team sucks.

#23. Clevland Indians (42-52): So much hype, and so much letdown.

#24. Florida Marlins (42-51): Once again, a potentially dominant Marlins team slips away into a crappy season. Oh by the way, where is Dontrell Willis?

#25. Baltimore Orioles (44-53): 17-28 on the road is appalling!

#26. Washington Nationals (40-56): Holy shit! They cracked the 40 win barrier! Look, these guys aren't going anywhere.

#27. Tampa Bay Devil Rays (39-57): 10 years of stinking up fields around the country. Thank you so much.

#28. Chicago Cubs (37-57): Giving up two grand slams in the 6th inning to the New York Mets was hideous. With the White Sox in town, I'm surprised anybody goes to their games.

#29. Kansas City Royals (32-62): 2-8 in their last 10 games and 13-39 on the road. These boys suck.

#30. Pittsburgh Pirates (34-62): They are the worst team in MLB! Is that a dubious honor or what?


Note: Standings are as accurate as the date of July 20, 2006.

Major League Baseball All-Star Break report

Tomorrow, the Major League Baseball All-Star game will be held, and at this point, MLB is about half-way through the regular season. There have been some surprises, disapointments, and "What the Hell" moments that must be addressed. I will give you the scoop on who's looking good, who's looking bad, and my predictions for the second-half of the season. Are you ready? Well, here it comes.

The first division I will address is the A.L. East. The Boston Red Sox currently posess a 3 game lead over the evil New York Yankees. The Toronto Blue Jays are close behind, sitting just 5 games back of Boston. The concern in Boston right now, is their bullpen. It seems to me, that only Curt Schilling who has a 3.60 ERA and a record of 10-3, along with Josh Becket, who also has double-digit victories with an 11-4 record are the two pitchers really pulling the plow for Boston. Everybody else kind of seems marginal. Tim Wakefield is just 7-8, and posseses a 4.05 ERA (better than Becket's 4.75 ERA) . But Wakefield, needs to produce more wins. I think that if Boston wants to fend off the Yankees, and the Blue Jays, they will need to get better pitching. The Yankees, have pitching woes with Randy Johnson, but Mike Mussina, and Chien-Ming Wang, have really stepped it up. The only problem is, I don't expect this Chien-Ming "Who" character to keep pitching well. At the end of the day, "not-so-dandy Randy" will cost them a playoff spot, and the Yankees will be watching the playoffs from their sofas this season while Boston, and their great hitting lineup lead by Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz will be taking the Red Sox to the A.L.C.S., where the puzzling Detriot Tigers will put the wood to them in six games. Randy Johnson will be infuriated with this, embarrassed by his lack of production, and Alex Rodriguez will be living in fear, as his reputation in New York will proceed to get progressively worse. The Blue Jays will just fade off, capturing around 85 wins, short of Bostons 93 win mark.

The A.L. Central is even more close than the A.L. East because of the two teams that are on top of the Division. The Detroit Tigers who are known for their losing tendencies are currently enjoying a 2 game lead over the Chicago White Sox with an impressive 59-29 record. Chicago is 57-31 right now, two games back of Detroit. Nobody else in that divison is going to make a run at it. The Minnesota Twins are 11 games back of Detroit, making their odds of taking the division or of winning the wild card highly unlikely. Paul Konerko, Jim Thome, and Jermaine Dye are hitting the ball extremely well. All three of them have hit over 20 homers this year. Thome has actually hit 30 homers. So, they have a good strong offensive core, along with good pitching from Mark Bueherly, Freddy Garcia, Jose Contreras, Jon Garland, and Javier Vazquez. All 5 of these starters are having fabulous seasons.

But, Detroit also has a great team. Magglio Ordonez, Chris Shelton, Brandon Inge, Marcus Thames, Craig Monroe, Carlos Guillen, and Curtis Granderson all have 10 or more homers this season so far. None have more than 20, which means that Chicago's hitting is a little better (yet Chicago has only 6 hitting with 10+ homers, so you could argue Detroit has a little more depth, but if you think that, you are a retard). Jeremy Bonderman, Nate Roberston, Kenny Rogers, and Justin Verlander all have 10+ wins. So, as you can see, they have great pitching. Now, at the end of the day, the Tigers in my mind will win this Division, and Chicago will take the wild card. In essence, I firmly believe that the wild card is coming out of the Central Division. It's the best Division in baseball, despite having the bullshit Royals farting up fields accross the country. At the end of the day, The Tigers will win the ALCS as well. Why not, I don't see Chicago repeating their success from last year even though they are very capable of doing so. I don't pick repeats, and so the best non-repeat eligble team in the AL right now is Detroit. They'll win the ALCS in six games over the Boston Red Sox.

The A.L. West is very tight and very shitty. All 4 teams in that division (Oakland A's, Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, and Anaheim Angels) are within 2.5 games of each other. Oakland and Texas are currently tied for the division lead, with Anaheim at 2 games back, and Seattle just 2.5 games back. Who wins this close Division? Well, Oakland has only one starter (Barry Zito with a winning record as a pitcher at (8-6). So Oakland's Pitching is pretty weak. The Hitting in Oakland is decent. Nick Swisher (20 HR), Frank Thomas (19 HR), and Eric Chavez (14 HR), are the best hitters in the east bay, but the rest is not too good. However, the rest of the division is also shit.

The Texas Rangers are also weak in the hitting department. Hank Blalock (12 HR), Gary Matthews (10 HR), Kevin Mench (11 HR), and Brad Wilkerson (13 HR) lead an ok hitting unit. The pitching is also just ok. A little better than Oakland, since Kevin Millwood, Vincente Padilla, and John Koronka all have winning records. But by only 1 or two games each of them. So the pitching is not much more impressive.

The Anaheim Angles are weaker still. Vladamir Guerrerro is the only good hitter for the Angles with 18 Homers. The pitching is pretty weak outside of Ervin Santana who has a solid 10-3 record. They have weaker hitting and pitching than both Texas and Oakland. So, count them out.

In Seattle, only Raul Ibanez (20 HR), and Richie Sexon (16 HR) are hitting well. Nobody else impresses me. Ichiro Suzuki is doing his thing, and he plays good defense, but his hitting is not as good as those guys are. He's a contact hitter with a decent batting average, but I guess his Sushi diet is holding back those long balls since he only has 6 Homeruns. The Pitching is horrid. Only Gil Meche has a winning record among starters, and he has the best combo of wins and ERA on the team. So, you know that can't be good.

Overall my prediction goes like this. Oakland will win the division because they have the best hitting-pitching combo of any team in the division. Texas won't win the divsion because they lack the explosive hitting abilities that Oakland has. Plus, I hate Texas. As far as the Angels go, the pitching is crap, the hitting is weak, and the "Rally Monkey" just pisses me off. The Mariners are not any better. Their best pitcher is named after the organ of a fish, and the two best hitters have ugly names, so I that leaves Oakland to take the division. A.L. West Champs: Oakland A's.



N.L. East: This division is horrible. The only good team in this division is the New York Mets. They'll take the divsion hands down. No more questions. However, the real question is can they win the World Series? Well, they can. The 53-36 Mets have a great team. Carlos Beltran (25 HR), Carlos Delgado (22 HR), and David Wright (20 HR) leads a pretty impressive hitting squad. The pitching is also good with Tom Glavine, Pedro Martinez, and Steve Traschel kicking ass. This is a good team, who will win the N.L.C.S. and contend for the World Series Title.

N.L. Central: Slightly better divison than the N.L. East, but still not to strong. The St.Louis Cardinals (48-39) have a 4 game lead over the Cincinnati Reds, a 5.5 game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers, and a 6 game lead over the Houston Astros. Who will win the division? The answer is not simple but I will break down the teams and give you my analysis. Albert Pujols has 29 Homeruns and is clearly their best hitter. A couple other players like David Eckstein, Juan Encarnacion, and Scott Rolen are also hitting well, but it's really only Pujols who possesses the big numbers. Jason Marquis (11-4) and Chris Carpenter(7-4) are pitching well for them but nobody else really is eye-popping.

The Reds are also good. Austin Kerns (16 HR), Adam Dunn (28 HR), and Ken Griffey Jr (18 HR) are the three best hitters on this team. The Reds overall have better hitting than St. Louis. Their pitching is not as good. Only Bronson Arroyo (9-6 with a 3.12 ERA) and Aaron Harang (9-6 with a 3.70 ERA) can pitch. Everybody else is weak. The lack of pitching is not good.
As far as Milwaukee and Houston. They have moderate chances of catching up with St.Louis, but they have their work cut out for them. Houston can't score, and the Brewers are still young.
The Division Champs will once again be the St. Louis Cardinals.

N.L. West: This division is horrible, yet competitive. The San Diego Padres (48-40) have a 2 game lead over the L.A. Dodgers. 3.5 game lead over the Colorado Rockies and the San Francisco Giants. The Arizona Diamondbacks are 5 games back.
For San Diego, only Khalil Greene (12 HR) and Adrian Gonzolez (13 HR) can hit. So as you can see, that sucks. Only Chris Young (8-4) and Chan Ho Park (6-4) are pitching well. Jake Peavy (4-8) is in a slump, and if they want to get better, Peavy better step up. Otherwise he'll just "Peeve" them.

The Dogdgers only have Nomar Garciaparra and J.D. Drew for Hitting. Other than that, nothing. The Pitching is ok. Brad Penny (10-2) leads the way. He has been pitching well. Derek Lowe is (7-5 with a 3.88 ERA). But Penny's 2.91 ERA is just scary. Otherthan that, the pitching is not much better.

The Rockies will fade away as the season goes on, The Diamondbacks have to many problems, and the Giants will hang in their and perhaps make a run, but at the end of the day. San Diego will win this crappy Division, and then lose in the NLDS.

So, Who wins the NLCS? Easy, the Mets. Who wins the ALCS? The Tigers. Who wins the World Series? The Mets. Despite losing Homefield advantage in the All-Star Game, the Mets will beat Detroit with experience, better hitting, and luck. Yes America, I said it. The Mets in 2006! That is right. It's crazy, outlandish, and ridiculous. But I think that the Mets will win the World Series since they have the easiest route to the World Series of any team, and the experience to do it.

Roger Federer: Now that he won Wimbledon, is he a lock to win the U.S. Open?

Yesterday, on July 9, 2006, Roger Federer just captured his fourth consecutive Wimbledon title, and 8th overall Grand Slam for his career. He beat Rafael Nadal, a Spaniard who just beat him on Clay in the French Open. Nadal hoping to this time beat Federer on Federer's surface got schooled by the Swiss 0-6, 6-7, 7-6, 3-6. Federer won the match in four sets in a very decisive way, thus asking the question "Is Roger Federer unbeatable on grass?" "Is he undoubtedly the greatest player in the world, with nobody else out there even in his sight?" The answer is yes, except for one player. That player is Rafael Nadal. People were very skeptical of Nadal's chances in this Wimbledon tournament. "Can Nadal win on the grass?" People asked. "Is he just another one-dimensional clay guy, who can only compete competitively on clay, or will Nadal be able to branch out his game and win on other surfaces (namely hard court and grass)?"


The answer to that very long question is simple. Yes. Rafael Nadal will win Grand Slams on surfaces other than Clay. He's only 19 years old, and he's got plenty of time to develop his game. Not only that, but he reached the Wimbledon Final. He should be very encouraged, and feel like he's got a good chance to go in and take the U.S. Open this year. However, I still pick Roger Federer to win the U.S. Open this year. No doubt. Federer is favored to win. If you are favoring Nadal, you are betting on at least one of three things to happen in Nadals favor. (A) Federer gets a tough draw (which he did here in Wimbledon and um... Look what happened, he won). (B) Nadal picks up the pieces, and suddenly figures out how to beat Federer on Hard Court. (C) Nadal outplays Federer.

The first choice is highly unlikely. No draw is too tough for Roger Federer. He beats everybody on every surface except for Nadal on Clay.

The second choice, is not likely, because the U.S. Open is only 2.5 months away or whatever (It's held in September, so mark your calendars). Nadal does not have that much time to figure out how to beat him on hardcourt (I'm not saying he can't or won't do it, I'm just saying Nadal's game is not going to change much is 2.5 months).

The third choice is most likely. Nadal outplaying Federer is the only way Nadal will win. He'll just have to play insane tennis which he is capable of, it's just that Roger Federer is feeling very confident right now and he too plays insane tennis. But the good news for Nadal is that the U.S. Open is on hardcourt, not grass, making the odds of Federer winning not as high. However, the other four Grand Slams Federer won have all been hard court. So, he still kicks ass on the hardcourt. Still, you've got to think that Nadal has respectable chances in the U.S. Open.

I think that the odds of Roger Federer Winning are at 60%. Rafael Nadal is at a cool 30%. Finally, the rest of the field, click....click....click....click...is at 10%. So, As you can see I'm figuring the odds of Federer or Nadal winning is around 90%. With the odds of both making the final, around 65%. (Nadal has a solid chance of getting knocked out in the quarterfinals or semis).

So, it seems to all of you that I have just ridden off 126 players in this next U.S. Open to win the Men's Championship. That should not seem true. There are other players out there who could win the U.S. Open besides Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Those players are Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake, Marcos Baghdatis (who recently lost to Federer in the Australian Open Final), Juan Carlos Ferrerro, David Nalbandian, Ivan Ljubicic, Andre Agassi (I have to throw him into the pile), Mario Ancic, and finally Andy Murray from England. These are just some of the players who could "conceiveably" win the U.S. Open. There's a lot of them isn't there? You see, that is the problem, none of these guys can be mentioned by themselves, they all have to be grouped together into the small 10% group. But, let me say, that these players I just mentioned are killer tennis players and any one of these guys, could come out of the sky, to take the U.S. Open title. It certainly is possible, just not likely to happen.

Well, that's all for now, don't despair if you think that is all I'll be writing about the U.S. Open. I'll write later on the Women's tournament, go more into depth on the other male contenders on the U.S. Open, in my offical U.S. Open preview, which I expect to write in two to three weeks. Until then, see y'all later.