Positive

It hasn't been the best week for American Olympic sports. First Floyd Landis and now Justin Gatlin have both tested positive for performance-enducing enhancements. After winning Stage 17, Landis's A sample revealed an "abnormal" testosterone ratio. He will have his B sample tested in the next couple of weeks. There are a lot of questions to be asked about Landis's positive:

• Though we shouldn't be surprised, but why was this leaked by the French, again? The dopee is supposed to remain anonymous until both samples are tested. I bet you if Laurent Jalabert, Richard Virenque, or even Bernard Hinault had a positive A sample, it wouldn't have been leaked.
• Was the positive test a cause of other things? Landis has been taking cortisone shots for his hip which would affect the ratio, as well as the beer and whiskey he supposedly drank after stage 16. The test reportedly revealed that Landis's testosterone levels were normal, but his epitestosterone levels were low.
• Why didn't his other tests come up positive? When you use the patch or get injected with testosterone, it stays in your system for several weeks. Landis took drug tests the days he was in the yellow jersey before stage 17, why weren't they positive? The designer of the test said this was an unusual positive since testosterone stays in your system.

Gatlin tested positive for the use of testosterone or its precursors, or anabolic steroids. His coach now claims that it was a conspiracy, that it was someone they fired, then rehired that sabotaged Gatlin. Gatlin's coach though has been linked with other athletes that are linked to the BALCO case. If the US Anti-Doping Agency confirms the result, Gatlin faces a lifetime ban because he has already been suspended for using Adderall to help with his attention deficit disorder, but Adderall is on the banned substance list.

Not good, not good.

Oh, what else is there:

• Once again, I'm sick of hearing about T.O. in the end of July. I swear the sports world has revolved around the Yankees (specifically A-Rod), Red Sox, and the Cowboys. These really are the dog days of summer sports-wise.
• 2nd round, Wednesday night, Tennis Masters Toronto tournament, the family and I will be there.
• Two friends came up for the Muse concert in the old State Theater in downtown Detroit. Believe it or not, this was my first live rock show and it was amazing. Muse is British, so when they finished their set, it turned into a mini-soccer game with the British and English flags waving and the chants of "Ole, Ole" getting the band to come back out and play a little more. The lead singer/guitar player can also play the piano very well, which added to the quality of the show. Sometimes it was hard to concentrate on the music with the crowd-surfing and people running into each other (is there a term for that?) on the floor. We were in the lower balcony, so we didn't have to mess with it.
• Last night I got to spend with a special friend in Ann Arbor. I was pleasantly surprised with how nice UM campus is. For a big campus, it doesn't have that commuter school feel like so many of the bigger ones do (sorry OSU). We ate at Cottage Inn, great lasagna, and had milkshakes at Pizza Bob's. It was a great evening.

That's it for tonight, have a good one.

End of July?

I can't believe July is almost over, it feels like summer just began. I know technically it's only been summer for a little more than a month, but I've always associated the beginning of summer with Memorial Day, if not a little sooner. But it seems like fall is just around the corner with football just a month away and the Tour finishing up last weekend. The family and I are going to Canada in a week or so for family vacation (Toronto and Montreal), which I'm looking forward to.

So Brad and Michelle got married, and it was wonderful meeting all of high school friends, whom in fact may actually read this. Ladies and gentlemen, you are fabulous people and it was a pleasure meeting all of you, I had a great time. I wish the happy couple nothing but the best, I loved seeing them so happy.

A lot to catch up on:

• Congratulations to Floyd Landis, continuing the American dominance of the Tour de France. Landis took 3rd in Saturday's time trial, giving him a 57 second overall advantage over Oscar Periero. Give credit to Periero for fighting his tail off in the time trial, something he isn't known for, he had to make Landis work for it. Let's hope his hip surgery is successful and he can come back and validate his title next year. This wasn't Lance-like in terms of winning the Tour, but his single-day performance to Morzine was as good as anyone's done in any sport on any given day.
• Congratulations to Tiger Woods for winning his 3rd British Open (1st other than St. Andrews) and his 11th major overall. Tiger had to work for this one, shooting 67 in the final round to hold off a charging and determined Chris DiMarco, who was also playing for a loved one (his mom died a couple of weeks ago). While Ernie Els and Sergio Garcia went away as they usually do when trying to beat Tiger on Sunday, DiMarco started making putts from everywhere, including a bomb for par on 14 that kept him within a shot of the lead and seemingly put fate on his side. But as the great ones do, Tiger rose up, birdieing 14, 15, and 16 to give him the cushion he needed. As he walked up the 18th, you could see the emotion was coming, the question was how much. The answer was a lot, which was touching to see. Tiger isn't a robot, he's a man. He isn't obsessed with winning, he loves winning and competing.
• Congratulations to Miami University, my alma mater if you forgot already haha. Miami signed a 1-for-1 with Colorado football. Miami will travel to Boulder next year; the Buffs will come to Oxford in 2009 with both games scheduled to be part of the ABC/ESPN package. Another great job by athletic director Brad Bates for getting another BCS opponent to travel to Oxford.
• I like what I'm reading from Team USA basketball training camp. Coach K and the coaching staff have put their imprint on the team. It will be the uptempo offense of the Phoenix Suns (thanks to USA assistant Mike D'Antoni, the Suns coach) combined with in your face man defense of Duke. All of the guys will play substantial minutes, and it appears there really will be no I in this TEAM. I can't wait to see them in action, I have a good feeling about this.
• I like the fact Andy Roddick has taken on Jimmy Connors as his coach. Connors has the intangibles that Roddick needs to get to #1. I never saw Connors in his prime, but I do remember watching his incredible US Open run in 1991. At the age of 39, Connors made it all the way to the semifinals on pure guts, which is what Roddick doesn't have currently. This is the smartest move Roddick's made in awhile, I hope he sticks with Connors and doesn't dump him like he did with Brad Gilbert.

I promised myself I'd get to bed early tonight, so that's it. I hope I satisfied your hunger.

Brutal, but Hilarious

Brutal, but hilarious refers to thatgirlemily.blogspot.com. I won't say anymore because you need to go there and read this blog, it's that good.

Have a bunch to catch up on:

• For the first 2 weeks as expected, it was a so-so, unpredictable tour. Who would be the last man standing was the question. But now, it's who's going to win it. This was Floyd Landis's Tour, especially the way he rode up Alpe D'Huez. But he bonked, cracked, ran out of gas, whatever, he hit the wall Wednesday, falling 8 minutes behind. When you're a Tour contender, you don't come back from that deficit and win the tour, much less do it the day after you cracked. No one told Landis that. The peloton let him go and they paid for it. Landis rode like a man possessed, refusing to let the heat get to him Thursday (he went through 70 water bottles!). Lance Armstrong dominated Tours, but he never did a ride like Landis did. Staying away over all the climbs, including arguably the toughest of the Tour, the Jeux-Plane, and losing little of his maximum advantage was incredible. Going into tomorrow's time trial, he only trails the lead by 30 seconds. Even if the two men ahead of him, Oscar Periero and Carlos Sastre ride the best time trial they're capable of, if Landis rides his best time trial, he will win the Tour. All with a bad hip.
• Tiger Woods leads Ernie Els by 1 halfway through the British Open. Chris DiMarco is 3 behind, Retief Goosen 4 behind, Phil Mickelson 8 behind. Tiger added to his list of great shots with his eagle from the 14th fairway with a 4-iron, 205 yards away. It's crazy how dried out the course is and how hot it is over there. Definitely to Tiger's advantage to not have to hit driver and the need to shape shots into the greens to keep the ball close to the hole.
• I'd love to be in the gym watching Coach K direct training camp for Team USA in preparation for the World Championships. I'm anxious to see how things go next month, if it's a more athletic, bigger version of the Duke we see during the year. I expect to see in your face man-to-man defense, a fast tempo, and a lot of intensity.
• Our family vacation looks like it will go through Toronto and Montreal, and we've made tentative plans to see Andre Agassi play in the Canadian Open in Toronto in the early rounds. I hope we're able to see one of the great athletes and humanitarians play before he retires, it's not often you get to see one of your childhood heroes compete.

Brad is getting married tomorrow, congratulations to him, I wish him nothing but the best. I'll be at the wedding, it should be a great time, I can't wait!

Scorching Hot

The last 2 days, temperatures have hit the mid-90s here, with another one on tap for tomorrow. When I got in my car this afternoon, I instantly started sweating it was that hot. I had a great workout in the heat yesterday and today I got to have dinner with a very close friend of mine whom I hadn't seen in almost 2 years. So it was a very good weekend, too bad it's over already.

The Tour is into its final week, which begins Tuesday with the climb up Alpe D'Huez. I don't like Floyd Landis's decision to give up the yellow jersey, it's dangerous giving up the jersey this late in the race. This tells me his team is tired and they don't have much left. Oscar Pereiro has the ability to climb, can he do it for 3 straight days, then ride the time trial of his life?

Surprisingly, gas prices didn't go up further this weekend with the continued fighting between Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. So gas prices are where they should be, which doesn't make me feel any better since the price is $3/gallon. This week's economic reports will tell us more if the economy continued its slow down last month. The probability of a recession happening in the next year has jumped to 36%. Let's just hope this hurricane season is a quiet one.

I guess everyone's trying to copy Gwen Stefani. First Paris Hilton, now Jessica Simpson. I heard her new single and could've easily mixed her up with Gwen Stefani. Needless to say, the song didn't rock my world.

I thought I'd have much more to say, but I guess not.

No Excuses

So it came out today that Italian defender Marco Materazzi verbally insulted Zinedane Zidane, which led to the infamous headbutting incident. Why this guy would come out and admit this I have no idea, but in my opinion, this doesn't excuse Zidane from what he did. Rule #1 as an athlete: Keep your composure, no matter what happens, especially when you're the captain. When you have that title, you not only represent your team, but also the people you represent. I learned this the hard way. There were a few instances, especially during tennis matches where I was prone to losing it and embarassing myself. As I matured, I got over it. In fact, I made my opponents lose their composure many times because no matter what, bad shots, good shots, I'd keep the same facial expression (Pete Sampras was the best at this, which is why he's one of the greatest athletes of all time). Losing your composure is the ultimate sign of weakness and insecurity. When you lose your composure, it tells me you don't have the confidence in yourself to win. Zidane should've known better, not only for himself, but for the people he represented.

But I'm not done with Marco. "I did insult him, it's true," Materazzi said in Tuesday's Gazzetta dello Sport. "But I categorically did not call him a terrorist. I'm not cultured and I don't even know what an Islamic terrorist is." Maybe he didn't call him a terrorist, but the last part is ridiculous. I like watching soccer, especially the World Cup, the Beautiful Game. But I'm afraid this edition will be remembered, ironically, for the ugliness that seemed to dominate the event. From the poor officiating to the flopping to the fighting to the headbutting, the beautiful game was not always that.

In more World Cup news, German coach Jurgen Klinsman will not remain as coach of the German team. US Soccer Federation: Go get him!!! This guy is charismatic, his team scored a lot of goals and were fun to watch, and he's got that foreign pedigree which I think the US needs in their game. He took a team that wasn't supposed to do much to a 3rd place finish.

And the English are now blaming their poor performance on the shopping and drinking sprees by the players' wives and girlfriends?!?!?! I've heard some in my relatively short lifetime, but COME ON!!!!

First mountain stage of the Tour tomorrow, but not a mountaintop finish. But, that doesn't mean there'll be some excitement. The body can react strangely on the 1st day in the high mountains, which is why Lance Armstrong always liked to attack on those days. There may not be major time gaps tomorrow, but we'll see who's got the best climbing legs.

Danica, what are you doing?!

When I saw this story this morning, I wasn't surprised, but I was dumbfounded. It appears Danica Patrick is looking to join the NASCAR circuit, beginning next year. Her contract with the IRL Rahal/Letterman team expires at the end of the year and Danica's daddy has reportedly been talking with some NASCAR teams. The first thought that comes to mind: What is she thinking??? Besides finishing 4th at last year's Indy 500, she's done NOTHING! She has actually regressed in her performance. One thing that worked in her favor last year is that her team was one of the few teams that used a Honda engine. Now, every team uses the fast Honda engine, negating the advantage the Rahal/Letterman team had. I mean, she hasn't even been close to contending for a victory since last year's Indy 500. What makes her and her dad think they're going to compete and win at NASCAR?

The real reason for this decision: $$$$$$$$$. There's much more exposure in NASCAR, and she'd become a bigger attraction, but she's going to quickly turn into the Anna Kournikova of racing unless she shows some improvement. I'll also admit I'm not going to read the autobiography she's already written? What makes her any different from Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James, and Sarah Fisher? One top 5 finish in a watered down Indy 500 field which somehow led the usually smart people at Sports Illustrated to have a braincramp and put her on the cover? Talk about the ultimate SI jynx. If she would've raced at Indy 15 years ago when the Indy 500 and not the Daytona 500 was the premiere racing event, she wouldn't have finished in the top half. Danica, I hope you prove me wrong, but I don't like the looks of this.

Today was a rest day in Le Tour. The sprinters get one more opportunity tomorrow before the Pyrennes begin on Wednesday. Floyd Landis will undergo surgery on his hip after Le Tour. He says he'll be able to continue, it'll be interesting to see how it affects him in the mountains.

And Miami may have stolen a big-time recruit from the big boys. Today, wide receiver Chris Givens, touted by many as the #1 wide receiver in Ohio for the class of 2007, has given a verbal commitment to Miami. Recruits are rated by various services by the number of stars given to them on a scale of 1 to 5. The big-time schools get the 5-star recruits, a school like Miami is just happy to get a 3-star recruit. Currently, Givens is a 4-star recruit. I don't get too excited about recruiting, I want to see what happens on the field before getting excited about someone, but it was hard not to get excited, especially hearing that Ohio State was starting to pursue him.

That is all, g'night.

Italy

They're going crazy in Italy tonight as the Azzuri beat Les Bleus to win the World Cup. So the month long celebration that is the World Cup is over. Am I sad, not reallly. I enjoyed watching it, don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to miss all of the overreacting by countries' fans and all of the flopping done by the players. I'll be ready for it again in 4 years and I'll be excited. And just like this year, when that World Cup is over, I'll be ready to move on with my life. One thing to keep in mind, the US tied Italy while playing the whole 2nd half down a man (only 9 guys in all).

I can't say I'm not surprised at how the Americans (except Floyd Landis) fared in Saturday's time trial at Le Tour. It's one thing to be a team member or have top 10 ambitions. But to be "the guy" is a whole different thing. Just ask Scottie Pippen after MJ retired for the 1st time or Steve Young when he replaced Joe Montana, it's different having all of the attention focused on you. There's still time left for George Hincapie to contend, I'm afraid the same can't be said for Levi Leipheimer. 6+ minutes is too much. The race is still wide open as Seryei Honchar is not a good climber and will probably give up his lead in the Pyrennes in a couple of days.

Tiger Woods is back, finishing 2nd to Trevor Immelman in the Western Open, giving everyone some thrills with a back 9 charge. I've said it before, but there's no greater competitor in sports than Tiger right now. Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Roger Clemens, and Lance Armstrong have had this honor in my estimation, and now it's Tiger. Behind Tiger, I think I'd have to go with Dwayne Wade and Rafael Nadal.

What happened to Monica, the singer? She had those two big hits, "Angel of Mine" and "The Boy is Mine" with Brandy, and they were great songs.

Fast Food Nation

To show you how far behind I am in my reading, a couple of weeks ago I just started reading Fast Food Nation, which I've had for a couple of years. Repeatedly, everyone tells me, "Oh, you have to read it, it's a great book." And I respond, "I know, I know, but I'm like 10 books behind, I'll get to it eventually." Well, I'm almost finished and it is one of the best and most eye-opening books I've read. It goes into the history of fast-food restaurants, centering on McDonald's. Then it talks about how it got to be so big and how it became the model for all types of chain stores (the founders of Gap went to a McDonald's to see how they provided the same service at each store). Following that, they get into how the burgers and fries are made, which is downright scary. The poor people that live and work at the slaughterhouses, how unsanitary and dangerous it is there. It also goes into detail how E. coli came about, and how it's worse to have than AIDS in the most severe cases. I've cut back on my eating at fast food places, Friday nights I get pizza or eat at Panera. I do stop at McDonald's for a milkshake on the road, but from now on, I'm going to think twice about where I stop and eat on the road. Will I cut out McD's, Burger King, Taco Bell, etc. for good, probably not, but you will find me there less frequently. Anyway, great book, should definitely read it.

Now for sports:

• Oscar Freire survived a crash-filled day as the Tour worked its way to the Normandy coast. Tom Boonen, deprived again of a stage win finishing 2nd, is the overall leader by 13 seconds. One of the few non-American threats to win the Tour still in the race is Iban Mayo. You may recall 3 years ago, Mayo won the Alpe D'Huez and looked to be the next revelation, but he's been a huge disappointment the last couple of years. His form is reportedly better and he didn't crash today, which was good news. The bad news, he had crashed the previous two days. Hey Iban, ride up front if you want to win, get a clue!
• It appears Phil has recovered from his US Open brain cramp. He's only one off the lead at the Western, shooting 67 where he almost made a double eagle at his last hole. The same can't be said for Tiger, who struggled to a 72.
• Tennis may have its next great rivalry as Rafael Nadal has appeared to learn how to play on grass. He is in the Wimbledon semis, one match away from playing Roger Federer for the title.

Oh, what else:

• Kim Jong-Il did go to college, he graduated from Kim Il Sung University. Kim Il Sung was his daddy. Talk about a scary guy. Dictator, who thinks he's a playboy, loves porn, and now is testing nuclear missiles whenever he pleases. My big question is: Will the UN actually confront them, or will they design another superb Oil for Food program so Kofi Annan's song can get some more kickbacks?
• Not that I'm complaining, but what happened to John Basedow?
• And what's up with Survivor winners. First Richard Hatch doesn't pay his taxes, then Brian, the used-car salesman, shoots a puppy with a bow and arrow? He claims he thought it was a coyote. Must've been one big puppy.

Well, I thought I had more, but I guess not. Have a good one.

Happy Birthday America!

I love seeing the red, white, and blue flags and hearing the patriotic music. I love the barbecues and the fireworks. The 4th of July is great. I watched the Capitol Fourth celebration (because the Boston Pops weren't on TV), and you gotta love Stevie Wonder. But what's Michael Bolton doing there singing Frank Sinatra songs??? And where is Ronan Tynan, the Irish tenor when you need him? I don't particularly like the Yankees, but one awesome thing they do is have him sing God Bless America during the 7th inning stretch. During the 2001 playoffs and World Series after 9/11, he sang it before the game if I'm not mistaken. He does such a great job.

Stage 3 of the Tour was a killer. 99 degree temperatures and 8 short but biting climbs in the last half of today's stage. Yesterday, Matthias Kessler tried to break from the field near the end, but was caught with about 100 meters left. Today, he tried again, getting away after the last climb with 2000 meters to go. This time, he was able to get the victory, sweet redemption from yesterday. Tom Boonen is the new race leader, leading Thor Hushovd by one second. But the big news is that Alejandro Valverde, one of the overall contenders, is out with a broken collarbone after crashing today. He, Freddy Rodriguez and Erik Dekker are all out. 3 very good bike riders they are and they will be missed.

Back to work tomorrow, kinda weird it being Wednesday already and I haven't been there in 4 days. Lovin the short week!

Glory Road

I finally got around to seeing the movie about Texas Western (UTEP) and their run to the 1966 National Championship, the first school to start 5 African-American players. Being a basketball nut, I was interested in learning more about the story and seeing how it developed. Well, the movie, thanks to Disney, was no help, I was a little disappointed. I know you have to change some stories around to make a good movie, but Disney changed too much with this.

For instance:

• Don Haskins began coaching at UTEP in 1961-62, not 1965-66. And from the start, he began recruiting whites and African-Americans, looking for the best players. UTEP made the NCAA Tourney in 1963 and 64, so they weren't totally unknown. They were big underdogs going into the game despite going 27-1. They didn't have many quality wins and certainly didn't play the schedule and have the history that Kentucky had.
• Haskins never had any political objectives during the season, he felt his best players were African-Americans. It wasn't until afterward the game really became significant from a historical perspective.
• Texas Western led for the last 30 minutes of the game, sparked by Bobby Joe Hill's back-to-back steals. UK did cut the lead to one early in the 2nd half, but UTEP responded and had a 6 to 8 point working margin for most of the 2nd half. What should've been shown was Adolph Rupp, UK's coach, telling his team to foul thinking African-Americans couldn't shoot free throws. UTEP was 28/34 from the line, sealing the deal.
• I know this was a Disney production, which is probably why they didn't step on anyone's toes and showed a "safe" version. But from the majority of things I've read, Adolph Rupp was racist. He refused to recruit African-Americans. He would call newspaper reporters when looking at high school game box scores, and ask if the high scoring players were white or black. He put a lot of pressure on his team to win and thought they would, he was very confident. Also, the crowd was mostly pro-UK, which the movie showed. But they were arguably the most hostile crowd UTEP played in front of all year. Another great shot would've been panning the crowd after the game, standing in silence, stunned by the loss.

On another note, I bought the SNL Best of Belushi, Murphy, Sandler, Farley, and Ferrell for $45. What a deal!!!!

Robbie McEwen won the sprint in Stage 2 of the Tour. Thor Hushovd took back the yellow jersey, gaining 14 seconds in time bonuses throughout the day. George Hincapie & Co. were more than willing to give up the yellow, they'd just like it back later in the race.

Hopefully the weather holds up tomorrow, I'm heading to the golf course.

George, George, George of Discovery, Strong as he can be!

George Hincapie is your new Tour de France leader after Stage 1, taking a 2 second lead on Thor Hushovd. For those of you unfamiliar with the Tour, during some stages there are sprints within each stage where riders can earn bonus seconds. At the sprints, you get 6 seconds if you're 1st, 4 seconds for 2nd, and 2 for 3rd. At the finish, you get 20 seconds if you're 1st, 12 for 2nd, and 8 for 3rd. At the last sprint of the day, Hincapie broke from the pack and grabbed 3rd place to give himself the lead. When Hushovd and Tom Boonen failed to finish in the top 3, Hincapie had his yellow jersey. Hushovd though is questionable to start tomorrow. He bumped into something while sprinting along the crowd barrier that someone from the crowd was holding, which produced a massive cut on his right arm. It is up in the air as to whether or not he will be able to continue. In a very unorganized sprint, Jimmy Casper of France won the stage.

And there will be an 18 hole playoff tomorrow to decide the US Women's Open Champ. Pat Hurst and Annika Sorenstam finished at even par, two clear of a group that included Michelle Wie. Sorenstam birdied her first two holes and looked to be assuming control until she pulled her approach into the water on the 7th. 2 more bogeys on the next two holes put her behind Hurst. But 2 straight birdies on 15 and 16 gave Annika a 1 shot lead, which she gave back with a bogey on 17. Annika had a chance to win on 18, but her birdie try hit the right edge of the hole. Hurst made a 6 footer for par to force the playoff. I'm telling ya, women's golf is sitting on a gold mine. They had huge crowds this week, especially today where they even got a little rowdy.

I'm taking tomorrow off, haven't yet decided what I'm going to do with my day off, but it'll be good.

Happy Canada Day

Two positive things I'd like to say about Canada. First, I loved the fact the entire Edmonton crowd sang the national anthems during the Stanley Cup playoffs, both in fact. If that doesn't give you goosebumps, nothing will. Second, another advantage of living so close to Canada is being able to watch Canadian football!!! Hey, it's something, especially during the dog days of summer.

Now that the Tour has started, I'll probably update more regularly:

• Thor Hushovd, the Norwegian sprinter, is the leader after the Prologue. George Hincapie is a close 2nd, less than a second behind. Hincapie was the last man to start, a spot usually reserved to the defending champion. But, with no Lance, Lance's 1st Lieutenant got the call and he almost pulled it off. Floyd Landis missed his starting time due to a mechanical problem, but still finished 9th. Levi Leipheimer was disappointing today, finishing out of the top 30. The sprinters will have their day tomorrow as Stage 1 goes clockwise around Strasbourg, going into Germany for awhile before finishing back in the city.
• It wasn't a good day for the Americans at Wimbledon. Andre Agassi ended his Wimbledon career, losing in straight sets to Rafael Nadal. The 1st set was classic tennis, with Agassi up 5-2 in the 1st tiebreaker. But Andre missed a couple of forehands, letting Nadal back in the breaker, which spurred him on to win the match. Also, Venus Williams and Andy Roddick lost, Roddick losing in straight sets to Brit Andy Murray, who salvaged an otherwise horrible sports day for England.
• Speaking of England, they lost to Portugal in the World Cup quarters in penalty kicks. I think the English would play a lot better if their fans didn't put so much pressure on them. It's only a game people!!!!
• Annika Sorenstam is a co-leader after 36 holes at the US Women's Open. Michelle Wie is in a group 2 behind. Wie made an all-world par on the 7th hole, her 16th. She pulled her tee shot into an unplayable lie, took a drop, then played an incredible shot from a muddy lie that just cleared the water hazard in front of the green. The ball checked 12 feet from the hole, and she made the putt for par. Also, Paula Creamer is in a group 3 behind the leaders. They will all play 36 holes tomorrow.

Halfway through the year, it's been a good one so far.