GOLF

We finally got a weekend where Tiger Woods was in contention to win a major tournament.  This time it was at the gorgeous Pebble Beach course at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.  Woods was playing pretty well in the opening rounds, and found himself in the final day in a showdown with Charlie Wi, and rival Phil Mickelson.  Could Tiger pull it out?  Unfortunately, Woods had 5 bogeys in the final round, and slowly watched the tournament slip away.  Meanwhile, Mickelson played masterful golf, and held on to win the whole tournament.  Good Ol “Lefty”.  This marks somewhat of a comeback for Tiger, but until he starts getting wins under his belt (and this was the type of tournament he used to dominate), he’s still slumping.  Congrats to Mickelson.

BASKETBALL

In the NBA, after getting slammed by Knicks who are enjoying their Jeremy “LIN”sanity, the Lakers were looking for answers.  They are slumping this season, and definitely aren’t mirroring the excitement of the ‘now-good’, Chris Paul-led Los Angeles Clippers.  Kobe Bryant and the Lakers seriously needed to get back on track, and they were looking to put the train in the right direction when they took on the Toronto Raptors in Toronto.  The Raptors have been better as of late, with Jose Calderon emerging as a solid player (finishing the game with 30 points).  The Raptors kept it close the whole way, but, in the end, it was Kobe-time, and he hit a beautiful, off-balance jumper from 3-point land to give the Lakers a late lead.  The Raptors had one last shot, but couldn’t get it done, and the Lakers got out of there with a win.  The Lakers needed the win, but they have a lot more to do if they expect to be competitive this post-season.  LA Lakers 94, Toronto 92.

FOOTBALL

Finally, in the NFL, it looks like the end of an era.  Of all the major sports, the NFL provides the most consistency, meaning that every fall when we return to the gridiron, there are certain players we expect to see in certain uniforms.  The league is light on trades, and guys tend to stay loyal to teams if possible, as opposed to arbitrarily switching teams.  After all, in the NFL, players have to memorize complex playbooks, and staying with what works is helpful for the guys to hit their certain statistical benchmarks in order to get paid more money. But, reports out of Pittsburgh are saying that a familiar veteran may not be in a Steelers jersey next season.  That’s right, Hines Ward may be cut shortly by the Steelers.  Ward is always that guy who pops up in fantasy drafts that you never want to take, but winds up performing well.  Since the Steelers now have star receivers Mike Wallace and Antonio Brown, the oft-injured Ward becomes expendable.  Most likely he will go to a division foe (like the Bengals or Ravens), if for nothing else then the intel he could provide.  But the Steeler-faithful will miss him.