When you bet World Cup games you try to put your money on the teams that seem focused and ready to compete. When you bet on sports like football, you try to narrow it down to teams that have strong and focused leadership. Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo has been in the news lately, but not for football. Romo has been trying to qualify for the US Open Championship of golf, but his dreams were squashed when a rain delay pushed his second qualifying round over into a practice day for the Cowboys.

It is admirable that Romo dropped out of  qualifying for golf’s US Open because of his commitment to football, but this has been an ongoing problem with Romo for a couple of years now. The NFL betting will not soon forget the Las Vegas vacation Romo took two years ago in between playoff rounds, or his habit of choosing time with his girlfriend of the moment over working with his offensive line. Romo is easily distracted and that is not going to help the Cowboys in their quest for a Super Bowl win.

Wide receiver Patrick Crayton announced, through his agent Fred Lyles, that he will participate in the teams tenth and final OTA session this week. Crayton is still not happy about the uncertainty of his role with the Cowboys, but he claims he is excited to get on the field and compete for a starting job. The public display that Crayton has made to this point could make this last OTA session too little, too late if he plans on patching things up with the Cowboys. Jerry Jones has indicated that he has no plans on releasing or trading Crayton.

Right now the Dallas Cowboys are scheduled to split training camp between San Antonio, Texas and Oxnard, California. While it may seem inconvenient to break up camp between two states, Jerry Jones likes the set-up and is in negotiations with the facility in San Antonio to extend the Cowboys’ contract for several more years.

Just like Celtics Lakers betting, there is another part to the Dallas Cowboys’ wide receiver saga. That part is Sam Hurd. Hurd recently recovered from thumb surgery and was able to join OTAs in the middle of last week. Hurd indicates that he is only interested in contributing to the team in whatever way they need him, and he has not mentioned at all how he feels Dez Bryant could impact the wide receiver position for the Cowboys.

The Cowboys are still pondering the question of who their feature running back will be when the season opens. Marion Barber was given the job in 2009, but he proved to be injury-prone and possibly not durable enough to be a feature back. Felix Jones seemed to excel at being the main back, but he too was injured towards the end of the season. The knee injury for Jones eventually cleared up and he went on to average 5.9 yards a carry for a total of 685 yards in 2009. Barber averaged 4.4 yard a carry and finished the 2009 season with 932 yards.

Barber had almost 100 more carries in 2009 than Jones, but Jones’ average per carry is impressive. The Cowboys may have to consider moving Barber back to being the third down and short yardage back, while making Jones the feature back for the 2010 season.

2010 Invitational at Colonial Spectator Information

Colonial Dates: Thursday, May 27 thru Sunday, May 30.
Colonial Tee Times: 7:30AM-8:00AM each day
Colonial Tickets: Colonial Tickets on StubHub.com!

2010 Invitational at Colonial TV Information
• Colonial Thursday TV Time: 1:00PM – 5:00PM
  Colonial Thursday TV Channel: Golf Channel
• Colonial Friday TV Time: 1:00PM – 5:00PM
  Colonial Friday TV Channel: Golf Channel
• Colonial Saturday TV Time: 12:00PM – 1:30PM
  Colonial Saturday TV Channel: Golf Channel
  Colonial Saturday TV Time: 2:00PM – 5:00PM
  Colonial Saturday TV Channel: CBS
• Colonial Sunday TV Time: 12:00PM – 1:30PM
  Colonial Sunday TV Channel: Golf Channel
  Colonial Sunday TV Time: 2:00PM – 5:00PM
  Colonial Sunday TV Channel: CBS

2010 Invitational at Colonial Betting Odds Information – Party Bets
Colonial Betting: Phil Mickelson 7/1
Colonial Betting: Jim Furyk 16/1
Colonial Betting: Tim Clark 22/1
Colonial Betting: Paul Casey 25/1
Colonial Betting: Steve Stricker 25/1

I think the safest bet out of the top 5 betting odds for the Colonial Invitational would be on Steve Stricker because of his consistent play. The one person I wouldn’t bet on is Tim Clark, because his odds are inflated due to his recent win, and he has a history of letting the win slip away.

HP Byron Nelson Championship Tournament Information
Byron Nelson Location: TPC Four Seasons Resort Las Colinas – Irving, TX
Byron Nelson Dates: Thursday, May 20 2010 – Sunday, May 23 2010
Byron Nelson Events: Saturday, May 15 2010 – Sunday, May 23 2010
Byron Nelson Players: Player Commitment List
Byron Neslon Tickets: Byron Nelson Tickets on StubHub.com!

Byron Nelson Golf Tournament TV Information
Thursday – May 20 2010
· The Golf Channel | 2-5pm CDT
Friday – May 21 2010
· The Golf Channel | 2-5pm CDT
Saturday – May 22 2010
· CBS | 2-5pm CDT
Sunday – May 23 2010
· CBS | 2-5pm CDT

HP Byron Nelson Championship Tournament Schedule of Events
Source: PGA Tour
Saturday, May 15
· Gold Pro-Am Draw for Gold Pro-Am participants
Sunday, May 16
· Classic Pro-Am
Monday, May 17
· Practice Round for Pro Golfers – FREE
· Champions Pro-Am
· Celebrity-Am at Vaquero Club
Tuesday, May 18
· Practice Round for Pro Golfers – FREE
· Opening Ceremony (12:00)
· Youth Golf Clinic at TPC Practice Area (5:00) – FREE
Wednesday, May 19
· Gold Pro-Am
Thursday, May 20
· First Round – HP Byron Nelson Championship
· Live Entertainment – Pavilion
Byron Nelson – Friday, May 21
· Second Round – HP Byron Nelson Championship
· Live Entertainment – Pavilion
Byron Nelson – Saturday, May 22
· Third Round – HP Byron Nelson Championship
· Live Entertainment – Pavilion
Byron Nelson – Sunday, May 23
· Final Round – HP Byron Nelson Championship
· Closing Ceremony on TPC 18 After Play

After such a lively discussion of the best sports video games, I think it might be time to move to a different discussion – and a different screen.

Today we examine the big screen and some of its most enjoyable representations of sports.

There are many factors that contribute to what makes the best sports movie – a good underdog story, hilarious characters, accidental comedy – all contributed to where these movies rank on this list.

Just as before, I encourage you to post your own picks for best sports movies in the comments, as I’m sure there will be a bunch of disagreements on this subject.

So here’s a group that didn’t quite make the ten best – think of them as “The third hand.”

Best Sports Movie – Honorable Mention

Remember the Titans – A very solid football movie. Good underdog concept, based on a true story from Virginia in the heart of the Civil Rights struggle. Pretty believable football scenes, but the problem with them is what kept this movie out of the top ten: they’re shot strangely. Namely, they are just way too tight. Wide shots, please! I would kind of like to be able to see more than two players on the field at one time. Decent performances here and a pretty solid cast. Good, but not quite worthy of “Save until I delete” status on your TiVo.

Varsity Blues – An awesomely goofy sports movie. Set in Texas (a plus!), James Van Der Beek (a minus? debatable) plays Mox, a backup QB with the over-the-top dad. Jon Voight is the revered coach who’s actually a horrible person and Amy Smart plays Mox’s steady girlfriend. So when the starter goes down, Mox goes in and starts to lead the team to glory. Very solid movie, though. Funny and absolutely rewatchable – a big criteria on this list.

The Karate Kid – Just off the list. A good movie with good scenes and a good underdog story. Probably should be higher, but maybe I have some irrational personal bias against it. I’m not sure. It’s not that I don’t like it, it’s just that I don’t like it as much as these others. Oh well. Sorry Daniel-san.

Best Sports Movie – The List

10th Best Sports Movie

The Bad News Bears (original) – There are those out there who believe the remake of this movie is better than the original. I vehemently disagree with this belief and always will. Maybe this movie’s lost some of its luster because of Jackie Earle Haley and Tatum O’Neal, but there are so many great things about this movie, many of which cannot be reprinted here or anywhere. Let’s just say that Tanner is easily my favorite character in this movie and one of the best characters in any sports movie I’ve ever seen.

9th Best Sports Movie

The Natural – Really only on here for one scene: The last one. There are plenty of other good ones, but if this movie is on near the end, I will always turn it on. When ESPN was doing its countdown of the best sports movies of the last 25 years in 2004, something Keith Jackson said about this movie has stuck with me: “Inside every little boy’s head, there exists that kind of a dream.” I guess that’s why I like it so much. I know I had that kind of dream.

8th Best Sports Movie

Slap Shot – Paul Newman’s virtuoso performance as Reg Dunlop is up there with some of the best sports movie characters in history. Ty Webb? Definitely. Crash Davis? Absolutely? Norman Dale? Yep. All three are iconic characters, and Dunlop is just as good as any of them. Plus, how can you go wrong with the greatness of the Hanson brothers? Answer: You can’t.

7th Best Sports Movie

The Longest Yard (original) – I really wish I didn’t have to make that distinction, as the more recent Longest Yard with Adam Sandler is almost unredeemable. Chris Rock saves the movie from being an unmitigated disaster. The original Longest Yard, though, featured Burt Reynolds in his heyday and a bunch of other football players creating some absolutely great football scenes. The problem? Not quite enough football, plus it’s not about a team, just a bunch of guys who happened to play football in prison.

6th Best Sports Movie

Rocky – While the original is a little dated now, it needs to be appreciated for what it was when it came out: a great boxing movie that won “Best Picture.” Really. Inspired just about everybody who watched it to run up those steps in Philly (along with inspiring people to do other things). Influenced the sports movie genre in many ways as not just a great underdog story, but the great underdog story. Got knocked down a little because of all of the sequels and how dated it is now. Still, though, always worth the time.

5th Best Sports Movie

Caddyshack – This may seem hard to believe, but there are many ways this movie could have been even better. Why did we need the gopher? Did we really need that much time with Danny and Maggie? Still, though, Caddyshack is a stop-down, start to finish laugh riot that is always funny no matter how many times you’ve seen it. So many layers to the movie and so many great scenes. Shame that there are a couple of clunkers. It’s in the hole!

4th Best Sports Movie

Bull Durham – Getting into the heavy hitters now. Caddyshack is impeccably written from a comedic standpoint, but Bull Durham is also written superbly, more from an overall motion picture standpoint. There are some simply outstanding scenes in this movie with fantastic dialogue. Just about every scene involving Crash, Nuke and Annie is near All-Star quality. Plus, some of the advice Crash gives Nuke is some of the best out there (with a little cleaning up of the language). Gets docked because Tim Robbins is nowhere close to realistic as a pitcher.

3rd Best Sports Movie

Hoosiers – A lot of people have this movie as their best sports movie and one of their favorite movies overall. I don’t have any problem with those people, as I agree that the difference between Hoosiers and the best sports movies ever, if there even is one, is razor-thin. My choice of slotting Hoosiers third is simple: I’m not as big a basketball fan as baseball fan. There’s no portion or segment of Hoosiers that I can complain about – I always stop down to watch it if it’s on, but I would just choose either of the following two before it because of my love for baseball.

2nd Best Sports Movie

Major League – The perfect blend of comedy and an underdog story. I will always watch this movie if I find it on TV – it always leaves me feeling pretty good inside. Cerrano, Willie Mays Hayes and Ricky Vaughn? I’m not sure if you could beat those three (Wesley Snipes’ best role in my opinion). Plus, how could we forget the greatness of Lou Brown? There’s two or three potential All-Stars. Awesome. A little hokey with the love story between Jake and Lynn, but they did end up beating the Yankees, so that’s a plus.

Best Sports Movie

Field of Dreams – Simply amazing. A great story with good performances and spectacular characters. Even gets a little comedy in there now and then. Not really all that much about baseball, but it doesn’t matter. James Earl Jones with the big speech at the end, the headlights of the cars as the screen fades out, plus the added fun of ghosts coming out of a cornfield. I mean, how great is that? Only drawback is that Ray Liotta is right handed as Joe Jackson. Inexcusable.

There have been good sports movies recently (Friday Night Lights), but not many. Hopefully we get another really good one soon.

PICS:

Caddyshack: http://www.thisweekontheinternet.com/2009/06/22/best-golf-movies-us-open/

The Natural: http://media.photobucket.com/image/the%20natural/askwhy3/The_Natural.jpg

Rocky: http://www.plu.edu/~allenca/

Major League: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/blog/major-league.jpg

Hazeltine has hosted big championships before, with the 1970 and 1991 U.S. Opens both being held there along with the 2002 PGA Championship.

Padraig Harrington is trying to defend his title in the 2009 PGA Championship, but has struggled with swing changes this year and that was evident at the British Open, opening at -1 but finishing at +12.

Here are some other past winners for the PGA Championship, hoping to add their name to the trophy again in 2009:

PGA Championship Past Winners

While the PGA Championship doesn’t have quite the prestige of the other majors, the tournament is still typically competitive and has produced quite a few memorable moments over the last ten years or so.

Tiger’s been involved in a couple of duels, including his win over Sergio in 1999 and his loss to Rich Beem in 2002 – the only other time the PGA Championship has been played at Hazeltine.

Vijay Singh had a nice showing in the British Open, and has won the PGA twice. Look for Singh to perhaps come out on top.

The Wanamaker trophy has also been the career highlight for players such as Beem, Shaun Micheel and David Toms. Could this be another year where an unheralded player comes out of the woodworks to win?

To see all the action from Hazeltine, just check out the TV schedule for the 2009 PGA Championship right here:

2009 PGA Championship TV Schedule

There should be a large field of contenders, similar to those at the British Open. Boo Weekley and J.B. Holmes had decent finishes at the British Open; depending on how they play in the next couple of weeks, either of them could make some noise in Minnesota at the PGA Championship.

Phil Mickelson probably will not be playing as his wife Amy continues to fight breast cancer, but he has yet to make an official announcement about his status for the tournament.

Maybe Stewart Cink will build off the confidence of winning his first major and win his second straight at the 2009 PGA Championship. Hey, he’s been close before – maybe he just needed that breakthrough win.

Lucas Glover hasn’t made much noise after his U.S. Open win (and yes, I did have to look that up. I mean, really? Lucas Glover?)

Hard to tell what will happen in Minnesota in August, but the drama of the final round of a major championship cannot be topped.

Hopefully the 2009 PGA Championship provides more drama to another drama-filled year on the PGA Tour.

Tiger pic: http://golf.about.com/od/tigerwoods/ss/tigerpga_2.htm

Phil Mickelson will not be competing in the 2009 British Open, deciding instead to stay home with his wife Amy, who is battling breast cancer. The last few years have been nothing short of outstanding, even including Harrington’s four shot win last year. That may seem like a huge margin on the surface, but the tournament was quite intriguing with Greg Norman making a bid for his third major championship. Who will surprise at the 2009 British Open? Here’s the TV schedule for you to see for yourself.

2009 PGA Championship TV Schedule

Tiger Woods will be gunning for his fourth British Open title in 2009, and first since 2006. Woods and Harrington have won the last four British Open titles, each winning two in a row. Last man to win it before them? Dallas’ own Todd Hamilton. But despite the absence of Mickelson, there are plenty of other players that should be able to challenge Tiger for the 2009 British Open title, a few of which actually come from the Metroplex.

A couple of relatively recent past British Open winners include Hamilton and 1997 champ Justin Leonard. Leonard, 37th on the World Golf Ranking list, missed the cut at the first two majors this year, but has also placed fifth at three other tournaments.

Colleyville’s Hunter Mahan also could be a threat – he’s finished in the top ten in his last three starts and hasn’t missed a cut since last year, including a sixth place finish at the U.S. Open. For what it’s worth, the Dallas Morning News’ great golf writer Bill Nichols picked Mahan to win the Claret Jug in this weekend’s British Open.

Dallas’ own Anthony Kim also could be in the running after going toe-to-toe with Tiger Woods at the AT&T National earlier this year.

There are some other challengers as well, including tour veterans Kenny Perry and Jim Furyk. Perry has three top-11 finishes at the British Open in his career, while Furyk has finished 11th or better in his last eight starts.

Whoever ends up challenging for the title should be able to make the tournament interesting, as the last three British Opens have all featured close finishes and the 2009 British Open shouldn’t be any different.

SOURCE: http://www.pga.com/openchampionship/2009/

Woods photo: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/sports/thetoydepartment/TigerWoods.jpg

Baseball Time in Arlington’s Top 25 Prospect Rankings – (Baseball Time in Arlington)

Mike Hindman’s prospect rankings (split into three parts) – (InsideCorner)

B.J. Ryan’s job interview – (Food Court Lunch)

The Showdown: Whitlock vs. Bennett – (Deadspin)

A defense of the Mavs front office – (dallasbasketball.com)

Why the 2009 Dallas Cowboys feel different – (Blogging the Boys)

Last years winner Lefty Phil Mickelson will not participate in this years Colonial Tournament. Mickelson’s wife was diagnosed with breast cancer and Phil wants to be there to care for her and his kids. Lefty has suspended his 2009 schedule indefinitely.
Previous winners of the Colonial Tournament are:
2008 Phil Mickelson
2007 Rory Sabbatini
2006 Tim Herron
2005 Kenny Perry
2004 Steve Flesch
2003 Kenny Perry

Colonial Tournament Television Schedule:
Thursday 5/28 2:00pm-5:00pm Central Time | The Golf Channel
Friday 5/29 2:00pm-5:00pm Central Time | The Golf Channel
Saturday 5/30 2:00pm-5:00pm Central Time | CBS
Sunday 5/31 2:00pm-5:00pm Central Time | CBS

The Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Tournament Field is full of the PGA’s best except for the best two, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The Colonial Tournament should still be an exciting tournament with all of the players that did commit.

The Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial Tournament Top 15 Leaderboard (Last Update: Final)

• 1 – Steve Stricker
• T2- Tim Clark
• T2- Steve Marino
• 4 – Jason Day
• 5 – Paul Casey
• T6- Woody Austin
• T6- Vijay Singh
• 8 – Ian Poulter
• T9- Jim Furyk
• T9- Zach Johnson
• T9- Kevin Na
• T9- Kevin Sutherland

The Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas, which is located in Las Colinas, Texas will host the 2009 HP Byron Nelson Golf Championship. The Byron Nelson Golf Tournament was established in 1944 and is the 9th longest running US PGA Tour event. Byron Nelson won the 1944 Byron Nelson Golf Tournament, which was called The Texas Victory Open by 10 strokes. The Lakewood Country Club was the course for the first Byron Nelson Golf Tournament.

This year’s field is strong even though “Lefty” Phil Mickelson has decided not to participate due to his wife’s sudden diagnosis with breast cancer. Mickelson has suspended his tour schedule indefinitely to care for his wife and children.

Adam Scott won the 2008 Byron Nelson Golf Championship, but has struggled as of late missing cuts at his last 5 tournaments. Other Previous winners of the Byron Nelson Golf Championship that will be in this week’s field include Fred Couples, Shigeki Maruyama, Jesper Parnevik, Ted Purdy, Adam Scott, Vijay Singh, and Scott Verplank.

Other notable PGA Tour players at the 2009 Byron Nelson Golf Championship:
Stuart Appleby, Chad Campbell, Daniel Chopra, Dustin Johnson, Anthony Kim, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III, Hunter Mahan, Ian Poulter, Chez Reavie, Rory Sabbatini, Kevin Streelman, David Toms, D.J. Trahan, Scott Verplank, and Mike Weir.

2009 Byron Nelson Golf Championship Television Schedule:

Thursday May 21, 2009: 2:00pm-5:00pm Central Time | The Golf Channel
Friday May 22, 2009: 2:00pm-5:00pm Central Time | The Golf Channel
Saturday May 23, 2009: 2:00pm-5:00pm Central Time | CBS
Sunday May 24, 2009: 2:00pm-5:00pm Central Time | CBS

2009 Byron Nelson Golf Championship Leaders

• 1 Rory Sabbatini
• 2 Brian Davis
• 3 D.A. Points
• T4 Scott McCarron
• T4 Dustin Johnson
• 6 John Mallinger
• 7 John Senden
• T8 Fred Couples
• T8 Jeff Maggert
• T8 Marc Leishman
• T8 Briny Baird
• 12 James Nitties