Big win for Pittsburgh over Detroit last night.  Sergei Gonchar wears the hero costume for a day.  Here are some stories from other great sites…

• Was a softball coach from Maine fired because she is a lesbian or because she made her team walk through sheep feces, submitted by Sports Rubbish.
• Major League Jerk takes a look at this years worst MLB uniforms.
• PSAMP salutes Max Talbot, another Pittsburgh Penguins hero of Game 3.
• The Zoner poses the age old question of whether or not it is ok to boo and to what extent.
• Steady Burn posted a neat piece.  Danica Patrick, in a recent SI interview, said using performance enhancing drugs is only cheating if you get caught.
• Fansided takes a good hard look at how to get involved in sports blogging, and the time it takes daily for anyone wanting to start blogging.
• Sharapova’s Thigh analyzes Maria Sharapova’s run at Roland Garros and eventual exit from the French Open.
• Fanhouse posted today that Tony LaRussa is suing Twitter over a Tony LaRussa wannabe imposter.
• My Sports Rumors tells you that Mickael Pietrus is worried about which shoes to wear in the NBA Finals, Kobes or Jordans.
• Hoop Doctors give the three keys for Orlando to win the NBA Finals.
• FOX Sports reports that NBA Commish David Stern is going to meet with Lebron James about his post-game snubs and show of sportsmanship.
• Heels On Hardwood lists 10 paperbacks to help NBA fans get through the end of the season withdrawls.

Admittedly, I suck at golf.  I am one of those guys who for the past ten years played about once a week and could never get better.  I always had a few shots that would give me the false sense that I was getting better, making me want to go back for more the next week.  By the time the next week was over, I might have gotten lucky enough to par a hole, and couldn’t wait to come back the next week. 

What I was overlooking in this pattern was that if I did par or birdie a hole and still shot 54 for nine holes, how bad was I botching the other eight holes?  54 for nine holes is not a good score, but it was a decent round for me.  It really gets bad when you are in a foursome and Dan scores 38, Glenn scores 42, and Buddy shoots 44.  You are automatically the weak link, the person everyone is supposed to beat.

I don’t understand why I’m so bad.  Both of my parents have had a  hole-in-one, so it is in my blood somewhat.  My mother still plays three days a week and shoots low-to-mid 40’s.

I have not played golf this year thanks in part to a hip surgery which has limited my physical abilities in the bending department.  Over these first two months people have been playing golf, I have made several observations about why playing golf annoys the hell out of me.

1. Everyone else scores lower than I do in my circle of friends.  If I were to resume playing golf next Spring, I would have to find a couple of 92 year-old men to beat every time out.  This might boost my confidence.
2. You have to play at least three times a week to get better at it.  I can’t see myself obeying that demanding of a schedule from week-to-week unless the Golf Fairy blessed me with an abundance of natural talent overnight, which is highly unlikely.
3. I am left-handed at most everything, but I swing the clubs right-handed.  The only other thing I do right-handed is write, and my writing is sloppier than my 7 year-old Nephew Dante’s.  Maybe Mrs. Drummond shouldn’t have slapped me with that ruler for trying to write left-handed in second grade.
4. It gets expensive when you suck.  You don’t lose many balls when you don’t hit them good.  I would say 80% of my long tee drive attempts hooked right and were gone.  The expenses add up just to play.  $30.00 out of my pocket could be spent in more constructive ways.  Not to mention, almost every group I have ever played with does a sidegame with at least skins and greenies.  Usually at least $10 to add to the total.
5. One really bad shot causes so many more.  Once I took a rip at a ball and topped it watching it bounce 20 feet in the air off of the ground and stopping about 30 feet from where I hit it, I was doomed.  It subconsciously lives everytime you hit the next shot. 
6. But I putt good.  So I am resigned to the fact that I should probably stick to putt-putt.  That only costs $7 to play and everyone has a chance to win. 
7. Clubs do not matter.  Most of my buddies who golf go spend $300 a year on a new driver.  I fell into this trap a couple of years ago and spent $240 for a new Calloway driver.  I could have swung a rake and hit the ball better and further than most of my drives with the awesome new club.
8. Aim for trees.  If you suck like me, outsmart yourself.  Instead of trying to avoid the big elm tree 100 yards in front of the green, aim for it.  You wont hit it because you are aiming for it.  If you do hit it, than you are improving and better start playing more.

Don’t get me wrong.  I am not downgrading the sport of golf.  Most guys that have the time and the money to play often usually improve over time.  It is a great sport, I just suck at it.

Paul Maholm took another one on the chin Sunday.  He pitches well enough to win almost every time he takes the mound.  Unfortunately for Paul, he is a Pittsburgh Pirate.  Being a Pirate pitcher means that if you give up a run in the first five innings, there is a good chance you will take the loss in the end.  Simply put, the Pirate offense cannot generate any run support, especially when Maholm is pitching.

Sunday vs Houston, Maholm pitched seven strong innings, scattering eight hits, walking two and giving up only one earned run in losing to Houston, 2-1.  The guy has a 3.82 ERA and a 3-2 record.  Can you imagine what kind of numbers he could put up with a good offense? 

This whole scenario didn’t just creep up this year either.  In 2008, he went 9-9, but his ERA was still under 4 runs per game, and he had 13 no decisions. 

To give you an idea of just how bad the Pirate offense really is, they got their 29th quality start this season when Maholm was tagged with the loss on Sunday.  In those 29 quality starts, the Pirates only have 23 wins.

If ever there was a gem in the rough, it is Paul Maholm and the undeserved mediocrity he receives thanks to a shaky set of batters on his team.

• Blake Powers broke his left collarbone and is out indefinitely.  In AF2, a player put on the disabled list must be inactive for at least four weeks.  Unfortunately for Powers, collarbones usually take six to eight weeks to mend.
• Davon Vinson has been named the starting quarterback.  “I have all the faith in the world in Davon, he is having a great week of practice “, said new Coach Chris MacKeown.
• Chris Schubert, Joe Kleinsmith, and Derrell Carlton were released by the Thunder.
• Jermaine Moye and Jon Loyte have been brought in.  Loyte is a lineman who played at Boston College, and Moye is a DB from U of Cal. in PA.  Loye will double up as the teams backup quarterback for now.

Unique in comparison to any other personality to ever play the game of football.  That would be my way of describibg the great Jack Lambert.  Lambert, at last report, was a Pennsylvania game warden sitting in trees, waiting for the hunter who cheated.  Here are some great stories from other sites.

• John Salley is a PETA hypocrite.  The sworn vegetarian eats a rats tail on reality television as caught by Hugging Harold Reynolds.
• Brady Anderson is pissed at Sports Illustrated for naming Peter Angelos the worst owner in MLB as found by Steady Burn.
• NESW Sports presents the first installment of this weeks Interweb.  This weeks interweb features some pretty cool clicks such as Lebron not being the only player to avoid shaking hands, a Beatles Rock Band Trailer, as well as much more great stuff.
• Total Pro Sports provides footage of the great catch turned in by Joba Chamberlain in last nights Indians vs Yankees game.
• In a related story, Detroit4lyfe shows how Joba fought off insect attack #2 in his second consecutive Cleveland appearance to pitch the longest outting in his career.
• Ben Roethlisberger is not as popular as Lebron James and must accept his defeat as presented by PSAMP.
• Sports Rubbish found some internationally disturbing footage of a boxing match from Finland where one of the boxers fathers attacks the referee!
• Major League Jerk has the proof in a great article about Arizon’a Chris Young being the worst hitter in baseball.
• Pacman Jonesin’ takes a hilarious poke at Tom Brady’s knee, calling it the best knee of all times and even suggesting Lebron wanting the knee to sign with the Cavs.
• Remember when the Cubs gave up on Rich Hill last year?  The Orioles seem to have figured out what it was troubling him that the Cubs could not, from Josh Q. Public.
• My Sports Rumors dives way into the future to take some shots at the 2010 NFL draft.
• The Fifth Corner, omniscient of all activity involving current, former, and even future Tar Heels tells us why Ty Lawson’s stock is dropping.
• The World of Isaac takes a shot at Pittsburgh’s media calling them “whiny” and saying he knows now where Crosby gets it.

Coach Brennan Booth loves the game of football.  He has A1 league coaching experience but someday would like to head back to coaching high school ball.  If the opportunity presents itself, Booth, like many Thunder players, has expressed an interest to jump to A1 Arena League if and when the opportunity may present itself.

The Thunder named Booth interim Head Coach when the fired Mike Hold four weeks ago.  Unfortunately, Booth couldn’t create enough magic in that short of a time to retain the Head Coaching duties and Chris MacKeown was brought on to replace Booth as a permanent move.  Booth made enough of a positive impression with management to retain a coaching spot as Thunder Defensive Coordinator.  Former Tennessee QB Andy Kelly, who served as Offensive Coordinator under Booth was the odd man out and released by Thunder management.

Coach Booth keeps busy saying,  “I like to get a good workout in.  It’s a good way to rid aggression between practice and films “.  Booth also said he catches episodes of Rescue Me and The First 48 when he has a chance.  He has a special way with the players, and more importantly, their respect. 

Coach Booth roots for teams all over the place because he has been so many different places.  He said he is a huge Phillies fan and was proud when they won the World Series last year.  He also roots for the Atlanta Hawks, as he call Duluth, Georgia home for now.

I liked the way Coach Booth presented himself to the public.  He gave me his cell number and told me if there was ever a question or something I needed to call him, and he meant it.  After my initial meeting, I figured I would have to reintroduce myself several times, but the second time I met the guy, he walked up to me, shook my hand, and asked me how the website was going.

Class act, hope he stays with the Thunder at any capacity.

The New York Yankees got past Cleveland, 5-2, on a good pitching performance from Joba Chamberlain.  The sluggish Indians offense could only muster four hits against Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera, who pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save.

Half of Cleveland’s runs were scored on a Victor Martinez homer.  Martinez was doubtful to even play as he has a bruised right knee and sat yesterday.  He managed to DH and zinged Chamberlain’s only big mistake out of the park.

This is the last game between the two teams for this regular season.  The Yankees set a record for going 18 straight games without an error.  An unnanounced promotion, Alfred Hitchcock night, took place in right field as birds flooded Progressive Field.  Oddly enough, two years ago in the AL playoffs, you might recall Chamberlain being swarmed by bugs.  Joba sure knows how to cater to the Cleveland wildlife.

The Yankees got a two-RBI double from Nick Swisher and A-Rod had an RBI single.  Cleveland pitching gave up 11 walks, so the Yankees always had runners on throughout the game. 

For Cleveland, Shin Soo Choo stole a couple of bases.  Rafael Betancout joins Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner on the DL.  The Indians also released Davis Dellucci before the game. 

Cleveland failed to advance to the NBA Finals, losing to Orlando, 4-2.  The Magic, on paper, have a stronger team.  If you lined up all the players for The Cavs and Magic up at a playground and had Van Gundy and Brown pick teams for a game, the results would prove which team had superior talent.  Obviously Mike Brown would pick Lebron first.  Van Gundy would probably take Dwight Howard second.  The next three picks would all be Magic players too. 

Lebron James tried to be a one man gang when he had to.  Unfortunately for Cavs fans, Delonte West couldn’t hit an outside shot the whole series.  Mo Williams wasn’t the guy Cavs fans fell in love with this year.  Zydrunas Ilgauskas looked tired and old.  Anderson Varajeo and Ben Wallace should never be looked at as offensive threats. 

All during the regular season, teams would do their best to take the lane away from Lebron forcing him to kick the ball out to a wide open Williams or West who made teams pay.  The single biggest malfunction in the Orlando series was that nobody was able to shoot from the outside with wide open, or at least, great looks.  These are shots your perimeter players have to make, and no one stepped up.  Not Wally, not Sasha, not Delonte and not Mo.

With that being said, the Cavs could only take away the three-pointer to leave Dwight Howard open, or doubleteam Howard and get their eyes knocked out from three.  Let Rafer Alston shoot the threes.  Rafer Alston owned us and outplayed anyone in Cleveland’s backcourt every game.

People are pointing fingers at Mike Brown, the 2009 NBA Coach of The Year.  I don’t see how he can blamed for riding the horse that got him there.  The mismatches and lack of a second scorer killed the Cavs, and what could Brown do?  Too many weapons, too many ways, and not enough responses.

Was Lebron a bad sport?  Go through life winning everything everytime you play.  Have a season like Cleveland did, losing only 20 games all year, but six to Orlando.  The competitor in him hasn’t had much practice at losing when he was supposed to win, so he was ultra-frustrated and disappointed with the results.  He made good yesterday by talking to the media, congratulating Orlando, and wearing a Yankees hat, bringing me to the next item.

Is Lebron leaving?  No.  The Cavs are going to offer him an extension this summer which he will sign.  Before he signs, look for changes.  Remember, Lebron kind of handpicked Mike Brown, most of his teammates, and the city is in love with the guy.  The Cavs can also offer him an extra year that no one else can because he is currently plaing for them.

What needs to happen?  Nice knowing you Zydrunas and Ben, time to move on.  Ilgauskas drives me nuts.  When you are over 7′, hit the boards on offense instead of waiting outside the arc to shoot a three. Ben Wallace was the scrappiest rebounder in the league a few years ago and was never a threat to score anywhere he played.  However, he is not the same as he was when he played for Detroit.  He would get 20 rebounds in a big game, no questions asked.  Having both he and Anderson Varajeo on the court makes the Cavs better defensively, but cripples the offense.

The Cavs need to get that #2 guy, whoever he is.  Someone who can light it up on offense to take the burden away from Delonte and Mo.  Lebron’s gonna get his, no matter what.  I did a story about why the Cavs would do better against Boston than they would against Orlando, I feel vindicated for writing it, but wish I could tell you how wrong I was.

Mixed emotions in Cleveland and Pittsburgh sports this week.  The Pens have dug themselves a 2-0 hole against a strong Red Wings team.  The Cavs are out (more on that later).  The Pirates can’t score runs in close games.  The Indians, however, took 2 of 3 from the New York Yankees.  Carl Pavano has done well this season, maybe causing New York brass to scratch their heads and wonder why they didn’t keep him.  Here are some great stories from other sites.

• PSAMP looks closely at a questionable play involving Marian Hossa that may swing the series against the Pens and toward the Wings.
• Chicago’s MMA recently spoke with UFC great Rich Franklin on his thoughts of UFC 99 and his upcoming bout with Wanderlei Silva.
• Mike & Mike throw out the first pitch at the Indians game.  You will be suprised at who has a better arm according to NESW Sports.
• Fansided takes a humorous look at 100 things David Stern would rather be doing that watching the NBA Finals with no Lebron James.
• Sharapova’s Thigh goes deep inside the numbers of the 25-inning game between Texas and BC this past weekend.
• My Friend Mookie at A Stern Warning poses the question Is Lebron A Bad Sport? because of his early exit and lack of displayable sportsmanship.
• The Seminoles found the end zone 5 times and blew the Buckeyes out, in a baseball game… presented by The Legend of Cecilio Guante.
• Zoner Sports throws Hal McRae’s temper tantrum into the ongoing argument of the greatest managerial meltdowns.
• Josh Q. Public pays homage to Carl Crawford as he continues to tear up all pitching!
• The Viking Age found video footage of Brad Childress wearing a wig to lighten the mood at Viking practice.
• Sports Rubbish found a great story about how two Alabama golfers got holes-in-one out of order.  Great piece to read!
• The World of Isaac provides even more visual evidence of why we should all hate soccer here in the states.

Check out all of these great stories!

The Mahoning Valley Thunder showed heart and resiliancy in the second half of their game with the Kentucky Horsemen.  Ultimately, however, the Horsemen prevailed 61-39.  The Horsemen prevented new coach Chris MacKeown a victory in his debut and also sent Mahoning Valley away with their eighth consecutive loss.

Jared Lorenzen gave the Thunder defense fits as he passed for 195 yards and four touchdowns and rushed for another three scores on his way to being named Russell Offensive Player of The Game.  The high-powered Kentucky offense uses a semi-platoon system at quarterback with Lorenzen yielding snaps to Justin Rascati who threw for one score and ran for another, he also caught a few balls lining up at receiver en route to winning the JLS Ironman Player of The Game Award. 

Lorenzen drove the Horsemen down the field as they scored in two plays to make it 7-0.  Quorey Payne, as I guaranteed in his feature piece, returned the next kickoff for a touchdown to make it 7-7.  The Horsemen again scored to post a 13-7 lead as the extra point kick was blocked. 

The Thunder offense finally hit the field 20 points later and quarterback-center exchange problems on their first two plays gave the Horsemen the ball deep in Thunder territory, where they would again capitalize to take a 21-7 lead.  The combination of Blake Powers to Payne, which clicked all night, put Mahoning Valley back in the game at 21-13.  Lorenzen mowed some bodies on a one-yard TD to put the Horsemen up 27-13.

As the Horsemen mounted their next drive, a roughing the passer call erased  a Thunder interception in the Horsemen end zone.  Kentucky would eventually turn the ball over on downs.  The first quarter finally ended with Mahoning Valley trailing Kentucky 27-13.

The only score of the second quarter came on a Lorenzen to John Cooper touchdown pass and the Horsemen took a 34-13 lead to the locker room.  Cooper finished the game with 8 catches for 88 yards and the touchdown.

Blake Powers threw a pick on the Thunder’s opening second half drive.  Lorenzen drove the Horsemen down the field and went in untouched on a keeper making it 41-13.  Powers responded on the next drive finding Chris Schubert for a score.  The Horsemen again scored to push their lead to 48-20. 

Powers again found Payne to cut the lead to 48-26.  The Thunder attempted an onside kick, but failed to convert the attempt.  A third Jared Lorenzen TD pass extended the Horsemen lead to 55-26 on the first play of the fourth quarter.  Powers marched Mahoning Valley down the field and capitalized with a run for a touchdown to cut the Kentucky lead to 55-33.  Another onside kick attempt failed and the Thunder defense flexed its muscle keeping Kentucky out of the end zone. 

On the ensuing possession, Blake Powers showed where his heart was as he scrambled for a touchdown taking a very nasty hit at the goal line.  Powers hurt his right shoulder on the touchdown and his status for next week is uncertain.  With that score, Mahoning Valley cut the lead to 55-39.  Again, the Thunder attempted an onside kick unsuccessfully.  With 20 seconds left Lorenzen was driving the Horsemen again when an errant snap was scooped up by Michael Alston for what appeared to be a Thunder TD, but the play was flagged as Alston kicked the ball about fifteen yards downfield before he scooped it cleanly.

Lorenzen closed out the scoring throwing his fourth touchdown on the last play of the game, making the final score 61-39.

Blake Powers finished the game 23-42 for 259 yards and 3 TD’s but was intercepted twice.  He also rushed for 26 yards and two more touchdowns.  Quorey Payne had an outstanding gamecatching 11 balls for 143 yards and two touchdowns.  His 58-yard first quarter kickoff return tied a Thunder record for longest return in franchise history.  The tandem of Powers and Payne will thrive under Coach MacKeown’s new system.

“We shot ourselves in the foot early and we are making too many mistakes.  Playing a high-powered offense like this, you can’t afford to give them easy scoring chances, which we did.  We adjusted and played a better second half.  I was proud of the heart and fight shown by this team tonight.  We will break down the film in the morning and do what we have to do to become a better team for next week”, said Coach MacKeown after the game.  I asked Coach Mackeown if there would be wholesale personnel changes to which he replied, “No wholesale changes, I saw positives we will build on.  I was happy with the play of the O-line and the defense at times.  There is potential to win with what is here and we will turn it around, I am very optimistic from things that I saw tonight”.

The Thunder play at Milwaukee Friday.  I will get to practice this week and better acquaint myself with Coach MacKeown and his goals.  Coach Brennan Booth and Coach MacKeown will be a dangerous tandem in AF2 for the rest of the year.