Reunion

This past weekend, I met with up my dad's side of the family again for a family reunion in Cleveland. Cleveland is actually closer than Dayton, and believe it or not, it was my 1st time on the Ohio Turnpike. With that, I am very close to have been on every mile of Ohio interstate highway. I haven't been on the Turnpike west of Toledo, I-90 west of Cleveland, and most of I-77. Maybe one day, I'll decide to travel those stretches just to say I've done it. Anyway, the reunion was fun, the suburbs of Cleveland have really grown.

Well, a lot has taken place in sports, let's see if I can cover it all:

• I'm just getting over the shock of what happened in the last 30 minutes of the US Open. It looked like the Mickelslam would be 3/4 complete with Phil 2 up with 3 to play. But Phil's wayward driver caught up with him, and a short time later, he was tied for the lead with Colin Montgomerie, who made a birdie bomb on 17. With Phil leaking some oil, and Monty finding the 18th fairway, it became Monty's tournament to lose. Well, he lost it. After waiting for 10 minutes to hit his approach, Monty at the last minute changed clubs and left his approach short and right in the deep rough. A double bogey took him out of it, leaving Geoff Ogilvie and Phil. Ogilvie, after chipping in for a miraculous par on 17 to stay one behind, found the 18th fairway, but his ball rolled into a sand-filled divot, basically leaving him with a 160 yard bunker shot. He left it short, but got up and down with a great chip and 5-foot putt for par. Phil just needed to find the 18th fairway, but instead of playing it safe with his 4-wood or 3 iron, Phil hit his driver again, and found the souvenir tent/kitchen on the left. Then, he tried to play a miraculous slice 3 iron on the green when he could've chipped back in the fairway and played for a Monday playoff. His shot hit a tree, and the ball only went 25 yards. Still in trouble, he went for it again, hitting an iron up and over the trees, but into the left greenside bunker, plugging in the sand. With a plugged lie, the only way Phil could get his bunker shot to stay on the green was to somehow hit the hole. He didn't, and his ball rolled into the rough. He failed to chip in, and settled for a double, giving the championship to Ogilvie. Ogilvie will now be mentioned in the same breath as '99 British Open Champ Paul Lawrie, who was the beneficiary of some crazy Frenchman named Jean Van de Velde (Remember him?). All that was missing from this championship, was a creek and Phil taking his shoes off and getting in to try and hit some incredible shot.
• Because of the reunion, I missed the US/Italy soccer game. Now I have to figure out how I'm going to watch the US/Ghana match, which starts at 10am Thurs. A US win and an Italy win over the Czechs puts the US in the 2nd round, a great achievement in such a tough group, and especially after they played against the Czechs last week.
• No real comment on the NBA Finals, they start too late for me. I'm in bed by halftime, I just can't stay up that late.
• The Tigers are battling the Brewers tonight, and are still in 1st place with the best overall record in baseball. People here are starting to get excited.
• It looks like the Steelers may have made a mistake in drafting Santonio Holmes. First he was arrested in South Beach for misconduct, now he's been arrested in Columbus for domestic violence. Someone said a great line, "Once a Buckeye, always a Buckeye, on and off the field haha."
• I can't argue with the Top 10 Most Inspiring Movies, although I think Hoosiers could've been in there.
• Le Tour begins in a couple of weeks, and the title might stay in the USA. Levi Leipheimer won the Dauphine, which goes over the high Alps. This is the race Lance used to get ready, it appears Levi is ready to follow in his former teammate's footsteps. Ivan Basso has to be the favorite after winning the Tour of Italy, he was very strong in that race.

I better get my laundry folded. Wednesday, a special birthday edition, my silver birthday, #25, can you believe it?!?!?