Double Drivel

Mike’s Commentary:  The Ryder Cup provided many great moments, especially for the European squad. The Americans put on a late charge, but the Europeans took back the title with a 14 1/2 – 13 1/2 victory. Colin Montgomerie was one of the best golfers in the world for many years, but he is best known for his failure to win a major tournament. He did get some redemption, though, as he captained the team from across the pond to victory. Tiger Woods has been rather mediocre in his past Ryder Cup appearances.

Dick’s Thoughts- At first I thought it was a misprint, and then I realized it was dealing with the Pirates.  The Bucs had a press release out last week saying they had won the number 1 draft pick in next year’s draft.  I can’t think many teams would be excited about finishing dead last, but it was the Pirates and what else could we expect.

Dick’s Thoughts- Before the Pitt football season began their television push to sell tickets showed the Panthers running through the city.  After 3 games Pitt might want to do a remake of the commercial using the same theme but the players doing a few things differently.  Some of the players could be chased by the police as getting in trouble has become alarmingly common, some of the players could be on crutches as quarter by quarter the injury list gets longer, some of the players could just be walking as it appears a few like to take plays off now and then, and a few of th

Mike’s Commentary: I hope the Steelers games get more exciting than their Week 1 contest against the Atlanta Falcons. Looking at the score, 9 to 9 at the end of regulation, one would think that this was a defensive-minded ballgame, but, I think it was just a struggle between two mediocre offenses. Hopefully, the Steelers can hang in there for a few more weeks until their offense gets a boost with the return of Ben Roethlisberger.
—Franklin HS and Pitt graduate, Nate Byham, caught one pass for 5 yards in his NFL debut with the San Francisco 49ers.

Mike’s Commentary: The A-C Valley Falcon football team kicked off their 2010 campaign last Friday night against the C-L Lions. The Falcons jumped out quickly to post leads of 13-0 and 19-6. But, after an early high, the mood changed quickly as there was something eerie going on that night. There was a partial blackout and then the fog rolled in. The game was delayed just before halftime. After a prolonged respite, the action resumed and it didn’t take long to realize that the momentum had changed. It soon became clear that the Falcons were not going to be the victors.

The Pirates in their continuing search for talent, may just have came up with an answer to one of their problems.  Denny Hickman of Emlenton pictured with Bill Mazeroski may be getting a September call-up. Denny attended his second Pirate Fantasy Camp this past spring and undoubtedly left an impression. If Charlie Morton can stay on the roster, anything is possible.

Mike’s Commentary:  Let’s imagine for a minute that we were all inventors. We invented a product that had no practical use and quite honestly was pretty shoddily put together. However, for some strange reason, enough people bought this product to make us millionaires many times over. And because we belonged to this inventors club, that organization gave us funding every year that added to our windfall. That is sort of like the Pittsburgh Pirates organization.

Mike’s Commentary: In my opinion, it’s official. Tiger Woods’ career has hit rock bottom. Woods has played in 9 tournaments this year and has only finished in the top 10 twice. He hasn’t had a top 10 finish since the US Open two months ago. The poor guy has only won $850,000 in prize money during the 2010 season. What’s he going to do?

Mike’s Commentary:  Baseball has always been my favorite sport and is still the sport, when given the choice, that I would most like to watch. But, I don’t like watching just any baseball. I choose to watch “good” baseball, baseball played the way it is supposed to be played. That’s why I choose to watch the New York Yankees anytime they are on and why I so rarely watch the Pittsburgh Pirates anymore. Last Saturday night I attended the Pirates game against the Colorado Rockies with my wife and daughter. It was the first game I had been to in two years.

Mike’s Commentary:  One positive has come out of the Big Ben incident from this year, he is much more fan friendly and accessible. Who knows, it may be an act. But, those visiting training camp and looking for an autograph have had a much better success rate this year than in year’s past. We will see how long it lasts.
—Major League Baseball’s elite teams loaded up on extra talent before the recent trade deadline. The Buccos did nothing to improve their team. After 108 games, the Pirates are on pace to end the season with a 57-105 record.