The Awesomest Name in Sports

Lodewicus Theodorus Oosthuizen - or Louis for short. Or his nickname 'Shrek' due to his gap-tooth smile. I popped into work on Thursday, and being the resident golf expert at the station, I was asked how to pronounce his name.

So I says to Kristi I says, "Oh him. I have no idea - never seen him before. But he wont be around for long, so I wouldn't worry about it." There's always those unknown guys in the US Open and Open Championship that shoot incredible first day rounds, and then fade off into obscurity after collapsing due to the pressure. How was I to know this would be any different?

Remember when Mike Weir was tied with Tiger for the lead on the final day at the '99 PGA Championship? He ballooned to an 80 on that day. Sure he won the Masters a few years later, but he just wasn't ready to win a major yet. Better yet, Dustin Johnson earlier this year at Pebble Beach during the US Open - ouch. So I wasn't alone in thinking it was pointless to have to learn Louis' name either.

But did he put on a clinic or what? Jeebus. St. Andrews is the home of golf for a reason, and Louis looked at home all week. The guy was unflappable. On what is one of the biggest stages in golf, he shone bright when others flickered and faltered - it was a treat to watch an 'unknown' bring it! He even gave a pre-round interview on Sunday, which is something I always cringe at when I see. But he just stayed in his comfort zone, drove the ball like a champ all week, and wasn't a disaster on the greens*.

*see: Tiger Woods

I hope Louis is one of those players that is a steady fixture during major championships, there'll be a contest for best smile on tour between him and Padraig Harrington 4 times a year.

This is what I do when I get a new club - let alone the Claret Jug. Good on ya Shrek!

World Cup Goals

There's been some sub-par games, and some that have exceeded expectations so far in this year's World Cup - but it seems like the best goals have been saved for the Round of 16.

Yesterday's game between Uruguay and South Korea was one of the more exciting games I've seen so far, mostly due to the fact that neither team played much defense. Luis Suarez's goal in the 80th minute was an absolute stunner, and after the game the announcer said that Korea shouldn't hang their heads, as they got beat by the goal of the tournament - and he was bang on. An unreal goal in the rain to push Uruguay through to the final 8.

Another fantastic goal came in yesterday's Ghana/United States game - in the first game that's gone to an extra 30 minutes so far, Ghana's Asamoah Gyan scored a beauty after a long run to lift the sole remaining African nation.

A great goal, a heartbreaking loss for the Americans, but I'll be honest, I cheer for anyone but the States, so good on Ghana.


Perhaps the goal of the group stages belongs to Spain's David Villa, the footwork, the control, and the finish he showed in scoring that goal against Honduras - absolutely brilliant. Spain still look like one of the teams to beat, even though they had that - let's call it a hiccup - against Switzerland.




Right at the moment I'm watching the shootout against Germany and England. It's been a run-and-gun affair so far, and it should be tied at 2, but due to the lack of video replay (or people paying attention), it's 2-1 Germany. Bad break for the English, but I'm confident the boys in their stellar reds can make it back and take down ze Germans.

Although I do find it interesting that in this day and age of technology and cameras, they don't have the ability to overturn missed goals in the biggest of stages like the World Cup. A bit of a head-scratcher there.

Speaking of Motivational Posters...

I sure hope this picture the Chicago Tribune whipped up isn't a case of providing someone with the motivation to come back and destroy you.

Go Hawks.

World Cup

The World Cup is coming up in 2 weeks, and it's gonna be suh-weet! Truth be told, I never really care about football much until something like the European Championships or World Cup comes up, but for the few weeks that they are on, it's pretty freakin' awesome.

And ESPN just did something really cool.

They put out a series of murals depicting each of the 32 teams involved this year, and some of them are awesome.


I picked out a few of my faves :

But the best one? That's easy...

It's gonna be a fun few weeks of football!
The rest of the murals can be seen right over here!

Oh, and my pick to win? England!

Well then...

Since I'm worse than Nick Kypreos at knowing who's going to win a playoff series (or anything about hockey in general), I let my copy of NHL10 for Xbox 360 decide.

Chicago wins the cup in a decisive 5 game series.

Although it would be fun if they lost due to the Hossa curse.

Round 3!

I'm not gonna lie, that was an embarrassing round of predictions.

Go Habs! What an unreal run so far, may it continue!

West Final :
SJ in 6

East Final :
Montreal in 5

2nd Round!

Touche Habs. Touche.

So, 4/4 in the West (on who would win, granted i botched the game totals), and 0/4 in the East.
Yeah 50%. At this rate I'm more qualified than everyone on the Sportnet Hockey panel - so I've got that going for me.

On to 2nd round predictions!

West!

(1) San Jose vs (5) Detroit
There's a mysterious ailment going around the San Jose dressing room - team doctors are puzzled by it, and can only describe it as an 'upper body injury'. What else can you call it when your top players have no heart? Detroit will steamroll them on the road to start the series, and it'll go 6 with the Red Wings prevailing.

(2) Chicago vs (3) Vancouver
This is gonna be a great series. Three years ago, Ottawa beat Pittsburgh in the first round of the playoffs. Two years ago, Pittsburgh mailed in their last game of the season so they could take on the Senators in the first round of the playoffs. They did this so they could finally get over that hump, and know they're capable of making a cup run. Vancouver's in the same situation. All year they've said they wanted to face Chicago again in the playoffs, and they've got their wish. The Canucks will rise up and vanquish the demons from their past - Van in 6.

East!

(4) Pittsburgh vs (8) Montreal
No one saw that upset of the Capitals coming - full marks to Montreal. But the dream run in the post-season ends here.... or does it? Yes. It does. Pittsburgh's a much better team (I stress the word team) than Washington, and that'll show in spades against the Habs. Or at least I think it will. Halak has been unreal, but I dont see him being able to do it 4 games against Pitt. Maybe once or twice. Pittsburgh in 6.

(6) Boston vs (7) Philadelphia
It wasn't so much that Philly looked great against NJ, but that the Devils looked horrible in that first round loss to the Flyers. This will be a much better series - but I give the nod to Boston on this one. Brian Boucher? Really? It cant possibly continue into the second round, based solely on the fact that Boston will actually work hard. Boston in 7.

I had wings last night while watching the Habs upset, so maybe I'll go with pizza to the start of round 2!