Sports Shorts.

In a league championship game in Utah a little while back the team on the field had a one run lead in the last inning and the team hitting had a runner on third and their best hitter at the plate. The coach decided to have his pitcher intentionally walk the good hitter to face the team's weakest hitter who was up next. Did I mention that this was a 10 year old's league? And that the team's weakest hitter had his growth stunted by a malignant cranial tumor? The coach who ordered the intentional walk should be banned for life. And don't give me the "you play to win" speech. At that age you are there to teach sportsmanship most of all. You are also there to develop kids into better players. I played competitive baseball until I was 21 and at the age of 10 no one ever got intentionally walked. The point of pitching to the good hitters was so that the pitcher could get better, which is the second point of little league sports. This while episode is a sad disgrace.

I'm looking forward to the PGA Championship. I think it's extremely underrated, doesn't deserve to be referred to as "just the fourth major", and actually think it's a much better tournament than The Masters. The Masters is big because it is played in the spring and introduces the golf season to northern viewers, which is why the ratings are so high. It's also the weakest field of the majors and the easiest to win. The field is limited and you still have 60 year old former champions shooting 80-80 the first two days taking away spots from competitive players who would have a shot to win. The PGA chooses strong courses, sets them up fairly and has the strongest field of any event on tour. In other words if you win it you have beaten all the best players in the world. As a bonus for this year's tournament Phil and Tiger are paired together for the first two rounds. I expect both of them to play very well in each others presence and contend all week. However, I am going out on a limb and saying Jim Furyk will win it. He's not one of the big hitters but he keeps the ball on the fairway, has the short game, is very tough mentally and will be able to stand up to Tiger's inevitable Sunday charge.