This Week in Sports: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Tiger giving the haters something to hate.

The Good

Tiger Woods wins The Players Championship:

PGA living legend Tiger Woods has his share of haters. In fact, he’s got a lot of people’s share of haters—which is why he’s been topping lists of the most hated athletes in sports for years. People tend to love him or hate him.

And that kind of passion, no matter which side of the fence you stand on, is great for golf.

Woods won The Players Championship on Sunday, his fourth title of the year. The final round of TPC was intensely competitive, with Woods tied for the lead with Sergio Garcia with two holes to play. Woods made two pars to finish at -13, while Garcia had a quadruple-bogey-double-bogey, knocking him back to a tie for eighth place at -7.

Tiger kept his cool playing with the lead for most of the day. He rebounded beautifully from a double-bogey on the 14th hole that could have cost him a win, considering seven other players were within two strokes of him at the time.

It was one great day of golf.

NBA and NHL epic playoff parity: 

While there have been a few lopsided series through the NBA and NHL playoffs thus far, the Lakers phoned in loss and the Canucks’ metaphorical gutterball both come to mind, these playoffs have been as riveting and competitive as either league has seen in recent years.

In Round 1 of the NBA Playoffs, the Celtics managed to make their series against the Knicks competitive and the Bulls knocked off the Nets in seven games. In Round 2 the Bulls stole a game from the Heat at home, the Grizzlies could very well upset the No. 1 seeded Thunder, and the Knicks are down one game to the Pacers—to date.

And the series between the Warriors and Spurs? Unbelievable so far at 2-2.

The first round of the NHL Playoffs has been a thriller as well. The Bruins-Leafs, Ducks-Red Wings, and Capitals-Rangers series will all be decided within hours—all in pulse-pounding Game 7 fashion. The Islanders made the No. 1 seeded Penguins sweat it out through six games and the Kings upended the Blues in six too.

The Ravens stunned with their unlikely Super Bowl run in early 2013 and it seems that trend may continue straight through till summer.

This trajectory is not promising.

The Bad

NFL free agent Titus Young arrested three times:

When free agent wide receiver Titus Young was arrested twice within 15 hours earlier this week, he became a national laughing stock. The incidents came months after he was cut from both the Lions and Rams within days of each other in early February.

Being nabbed for DUI is one thing, but getting busted for felony burglary within hours of being release is something else altogether. Young was booked, cited, and released on the misdemeanor DUI and hours later was arrested for trying to steal his own car back from an impound lot.

Unfortunately the joke had lost most of its humor by the time Young was arrested again on Friday, the third time in under a week. He was busted breaking into a California home and charged with burglary and assaulting a police officer.

Young is being held on $75,000 bail. And he really needs some help.

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder digs in his heels on name change:

This week Daniel Snyder, the billionaire bonehead owner of the Redskins, declared definitively that the team will never change its name. Actually, according to USA Today, Snyder said NEVER—which he emphasized should be spelled out in all caps.

A recent poll suggesting nearly 80 percent of the country are fine with the name is probably what emboldened his stance, which had already been well established. Snyder has previously cited high schools with the same mascot to support his argument—if they don’t have to change, why should he!

So much for the NFL setting an example, huh?

The fact that the public supports something doesn’t make it right—and it should be noted that support for the name has dropped 10 percent nationally since the last national poll was conducted in 1992. Not everything should be left to a majority vote.

Many supporters of the ‘Skins keeping their name argue that it’s a tribute to Native American warriors. Yet Native Americans consider it a slur. Suppose they probably feel it’s a fitting tribute from 80 percent of a country that treated them to 400 years of genocide.

Joakim Noah sure knows how to rankle the opposition, even in defeat.

The Ugly

Crazy Heat Fan manages to upstage Miami’s blowout of the Bulls:

After the Bulls stunned the Heat at home in Game 1 of their playoff series, it’s no wonder that tensions were running high in Miami for Game 2. Although it wasn’t the Heat players getting all hot and bothered—they won the game easily 115-78.

Chicago’s Joakim Noah definitely lost his cool when he was given his second technical foul of the game and ejected after arguing a call from the bench in the fourth quarter. Not that it mattered to the Bulls, as the game was well out of reach by then.

One person it did matter to was Heat fan Filomena Tobias, who was seen flashing Noah the most emphatic middle finger you’ve ever seen in your life as he exited the court. It sure seemed a little excessive at the time, but apparently things could’ve been much worse.

Tobias is the widow of the late CNBC commentator Seth Tobias, who drowned in 2007. She is suspected of drugging him and luring him to his watery grave. And according a 2008 piece in The New York Times, that’s just the tip of the iceberg for the widow Tobias.

Natties slugger Bryce Harper’s tweets a nasty pic of his gnarly toe:

The Nationals’ young star Bryce Harper has been out of the lineup for the last few days due to an ingrown toenail. Not exactly a broken leg, but surely the public was willing to take his word for it.

Unfortunately, Harper decided he needed to expound upon the injury photographically via Twitter, the home over gross mass over-sharing. Tweeted BH: “Since everybody wanted to see it! Here it is! hah #Toe #SICK #Graphic”

Well, you can’t say he didn’t warn you.

Caution: You can look, but you better not touch.

And The Awesome!

Ronda Rousey takes it all off for Maxim:

UFC’s reigning bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey is a star on the rise. After winning a bronze medal in judo at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, she transitioned into a career in MMA.

Rousey’s breakout year came after defeating Miesha Tate in a Strikeforce fight in early 2012. She was later profiled on an episode of Showtime Sports All Access and appeared in ESPN The Magazine’s Annual Body Issue.

In November she became the first female fighter to be signed by the UFC and defeated Liz Carmouche in her first headlining match in February 2013. She’s since been named to Maxim’s annual “Hot 100” list, taking the 29th spot.

And, as you can clearly see, Rousey sure wasn’t shy about showing off…uh…the ol’ resume…for the magazine. For that, we thank her.

Also not shy? Me…about you…following me on Twitter. Just give it a chance: Follow @blamberr