Tiger Woods Winning is What Golf Has Been Waiting For

Golf has been waiting for the old Tiger Woods to come back, and it looks like he has arrived. Woods won the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Monday, which catapulted him back to his perch as the number one golfer in the world.

Woods seems to have found his swing and gained his confidence back, after winning on Monday he now has three wins so far in the short season. After his accident and scandal in 2009, Woods took some time away from the game. Then he came back and won only periodically, never regaining what he once had when people believed he was going to pass Jack Nicklaus in Major victories. Now that is looking less and less likely with every year that passes.

With the win Monday, Woods becomes the favorite for the first major of the year, the Masters; A tournament Woods hasn't won since his scandal. Since Woods' absence golf has been looking for the next player to carry the torch. They never really found that player despite Phil Mickelson, Bubba Watson, and Rory Mcilroy's efforts, but haven't had the impact that Woods has. 

I still believe that Woods will catch Nicklaus while also catching Sam Snead as the all-time wins leader. He has found is stroke along with his confidence which is a dangerous combination. Woods has that fire back in his eyes that fellow golfers hate to see. 

The PGA tour should be ecstatic that Woods is winning because with that comes ratings and publicity.  Already at three wins, Woods should end up with five or more for the season with at least one Major. If not the year will be a disappointment for Woods.

Woods still has his haters, but he has done all the right things since 2009 and should be gaining back some of those lost fans. I never wavered from Woods, so it is great to see one of the all-time greatest playing up to his potential. 

Why Jackie Bradley Jr. Should be on the Red Sox Opening Day Roster

The best hitter for the Red Sox this spring training wasn't Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury or David Ortiz it was the 22-year-old Jackie Bradley Jr.

He obviously has the talent to be on a major league roster, but do the Red Sox want him? Bradley has been the hot topic this whole spring training. Mostly everyone agrees he should be with the Sox'  on April 1. But, do the Red Sox want to mess with his service time.

As most fans remember last year Angels outfielder Mike Trout wasn't called up until May, so the Angels could get another year of arbitration with the phenom. It certainly helps out the team long term to keep Bradley in the minors, but this Red Sox team needs his bat in the lineup now.

After back-to-back disappointing season the fans need to see a great product on the field early in the season, and that product has to be the best the organization has. Bradley gives the fans something to look forward too, along with hope.

If David Ortiz was healthy or the team had more talent then I would be all for keeping Bradley in the minors for a little while. As he has yet to play above Double A. But, Ortiz looks like he will start the season on the disabled list with a sore heel, which makes this lineup even thinner.

After the top four batters the lineup drops off. With Ortiz out you can move Johnny Gomes to the DH spot and Bradley to left field, which isn't his natural position, but he can be above average. Not much should get in between Bradley and Ellsbury in center and left field.

Bradley provides an element of speed also that this team lacks, where he stole 48 bases in 2012.

Red Sox manager John Farrell needs to think out of the box, give this team a spark early. This is the lineup I would like to see rolled out April 1 aganist the Yankees:

Jackie Bradley LF
Jacoby Ellsbury CF
Dusin Pedroia 2B
Mike Napoli 1B
Will Middlebrooks 3B
Jarrod Saltalamacchia C
Johnny Gomes DH
Stephen Drew SS
Shane Victorino RF

Victorino is a proven commodity and can be an excellent second lead-off man in the bottom of the order. The middle of the order has some good pop. With speed and good contact hitters up top and the pop in the middle, a lot of runs should be scored.

This isn't the best lineup in Red Sox history, but it should get the job done, and provide some excitement for a starved Red Sox Nation.

Welcome Jackie Bradley Jr. to the show.

Tom Brady and the Patriots

All good things come to an end. For Patriots fans, we've have it good for a long time now. The Patriots have been a dominant force in the NFL since I was 10 years old- all I have known as a dedicated football fan is that New England is going to be competitive year in and year out. With the combination of Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, and a shrewd front office, the Patriots have posted a decade-plus of success. Three Lombardi Trophies,  five AFC Championships, and the most Division titles in a ten year period- all of which will overshadow the countless records Tom and company racked up in the same period.

History will show how special this team has been. But what the Patriots have created is a fan base that expects to win the Super Bowl every single year. Though we have not seen a Lombardi Trophy in New England since the 2004 regular season team, the Patriots remain a feared franchise and are always a favorite to go far into the playoffs.

But regardless of how well a team performs, fans of any sport always become infatuated with certain players. The Patriots have seen there fair share of fan-favorites come and go: Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Willie McGinest, Richard Seymour, et al. But when a team is focused on winning, they fill their roster will players who can execute, not guys that are popular on twitter. Because of that, sometimes our favorites are traded or leave for our rivals. It hurts, it stings, and it becomes easy to feel betrayed.

For New England fans, we have experienced two constants: Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. And it does not appear that they will be going anywhere anytime soon, Brady just signed a very humble contract extension that will keep him in a Flying Elvis helmet until he's 40 years old- that's five more years for those who are counting. Besides these two stalwarts, the Patriots are a team of constant change.

This week, fans experienced a wrath of mixed emotions when we learned that Wes Welker, Brady's more consistent target, chose to leave for the Denver Broncos in free agency. Very quickly the blogosphere and twitter exploded in anger that the Kraft family couldn't muscle up a few more dollars to keep Welker. They are quick to forget the Patriots didn't just let Wes walk, they offered him a deal. Instead of taking the hometown discount like Brady, he simply chose to play for another deal for more money.

I'm not criticizing Welker, I love him and the way he plays. But before we jump to the blame game, we have to identify that is was his choice to leave. He gave New England fans the Johnny Damon treatment- leave your home team where you are loved and go play for a rival for more money. In the NFL today, I cannot blame a guy that gets the snot beat out of him every time he goes over the middle to go for the deal that offers the most coin. Welker only has so many seasons left in the tank, so if playing for Denver is what's best for him, God bless. Thanks for the memories.

A lot of fans were angry when Lawyer Milloy was let go. But a 17-1 run to another Super Bowl title helped us forget about him. But this is Belichick's style. The whole team is greater than the sum of its parts. When one star leaves, he can easily be replaced; welcome to New England Danny Amendola (a receiver, by the way, who has better stats pre-Patriots than Wes did with Miami). We cannot be sure how long this run will last. As long as this "Patriot Way" with Tom and Bill at the helm remain a constant, New England fans can remain hopeful for another Lombardi Trophy year in and year out.

NFL Offseason Provides Opportunity to Add Size to Defensive Backfields

Guest Post by Brian Cossette

Since 2004 when Bill Polian helped to emphasize the enforcement of the illegal contact rule, offenses in the NFL have become much more pass heavy and high powered. Defensive backs used to be given much more liberty in their contact of opposing receivers, but now are only given a 5 yard window to touch the receivers.

With the success of teams like Seattle and San Francisco, perhaps the league has found a blueprint to counter such pass heavy attacks- beat them up within that 5 yard window. One thing the Seahawks and 49ers certainly don’t lack is size in their secondary. Of the eight starting spots between the two teams’ defensive backfields four are over 6’2”. The Seahawks defense alone boasts 3 defensive backs over 6’3”.

One thing these teams like to do is use their cornerbacks at the line of scrimmage to press the opposing team’s receivers. Press coverage allows defenses to comply with the illegal contact rule while still altering receivers’ routes and imposing some physicality on modern receivers- who have benefited from several rule changes involving contact.

If this indeed is to be the next stop on the NFL’s train of evolution, this offseason certainly provides ample opportunity for teams to re-stock on defensive backs.

Three of the top free agent cornerbacks on the market are over 6’1”. Aqib Talib, Sean Smith, and Dominique Rogers-Cromartie have all have been cited for their ability to press at the line of scrimmage and excel in man coverage. While they have their fair share of concerns, there is little doubt that those three players can make a major impact on the back end for any team needing cornerback help.

Help can be had on the safety market as well, where hard hitters such as Dashon Goldson, Laron Landry, and the versatile Glover Quin will also be out to command hefty contracts.

In the draft, there is a surplus of cornerbacks and safeties with excellent size. In addition to being over 6’ tall, cornerbacks Dee Millner, Xavier Rhodes, Jonathon Banks, Desmond Trufant, and Blidi Wreh-Wilson have all been projected to be selected as high as the first round by draft pundits. The safety class is considered to be the deepest it has been in years, with John Cyprien, Kenny Vaccaro, and Eric Reid all projected to be drafted in the first round as well.

Teams looking to upgrade their defensive backfield may have many choices given the current market, but that does not mean these players will come cheap. Teams will have to invest either with long term contracts or first round picks, but you can count on it happening one way or the other.

Tom Brady Signs a Contract Extension That Will Make Him a Patriots for Life

On Monday Tom Brady signed a contract extension that will make him a Patriot for life. He signed a three-year $27 million contract extension that will make him 40-years-old at the deals end.

The deal creates a serious amount of cap space for the Patriots over the next two seasons. It amounts to about $7 million per season. In an off-season where there are a lot of teams close to the cap, this may be an off-season unprecedented to Patriots fans.

Besides helping the Patriots, the 36-year-old Brady gave himself some security. Before signing the deal, Brady had two years and about $30 million left. Now he has $57 million that's fully guaranteed in case of injury.

Brady's salary got lowered from $9.7 million to $1 million and $2 million in 2013 and 2014 respectively. If Brady is on the roster after the last game of 2014 the money left on the deal is fully guaranteed.

Its a win--win for both sides, the Patriots get the cap space that they wanted, and Brady got some long term security. When you're getting into the latter point in your career, you never know what may happen, even though he is married to the multi millionaire supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

He did give the Patriots a little bit of a discount. As his salary is not even close to other top quarterbacks like Drew Brees and Peyton Manning for example, who all make close to $20 million annually.

Brady realizes his window is closing, so he wants to add to his already illustrious career. Clearing another $7 million in cap lets the patriots add a top tier free agent like Greg Jennings or Dwayne Bowe. Or they could keep their in house talent, which includes Brady's safety blanket, Wes Welker.

He already has enough money than he would ever ask for, so why not try and become the best quarterback to ever step foot on an NFL field?

The Patriots were so close last year to going to their third Super Bowl in six years. Their offense was one of the best in NFL history. I think they need to stay status quo on offense and use that $7 million on defense.

There is a lot of talent on the market this year like cornerback Brent Grimes, and there's not a lot of teams that can pay them big money. You might be able to get two aging, but productive stars at that. Add to this defense; give the already productive-but-young talent some veterans that you can depend on when its third down or in the playoffs.

Enjoy this while you can because you may never see this again: a top two player at his position taking a home town discount. As TB 12 said on his Facebook page yesterday, all that he wants to do is "Just Win."

What do NASCAR and the Boston Bruins Have in Common?

The Bruins are on the road to take on the Florida Panthers today while NASCAR Sprint Cup starts its season with the Daytona 500, but that's not all they have in common. As a sport, both markets have a long history in America. They are sports of grit and mental toughness and both enjoy a large and loyal fan base. So before I anger both hockey and NASCAR fans, I promise I have a point so stay with me.

NASCAR started with a foundation of a poor man's sport. Mechanics and factory workers would save up for weeks to able to afford tickets to their favorite track. Many of the drivers were greece monkeys themselves, working through the week to able to afford tires for the weekend race. Unlike many of the current athletes, fans found drivers they could relate too. The drivers understood what it meant to live pay check to pay check. Today, it is much more of a sophisticated sport. The engineering is better, the cars are faster, and the fan base is wider.

For the Bruins and the rest of the NHL, the history of the sport and team dedication has been passed down through generations. From the original six to the full 30 team league they have today, hockey has never been more popular. Though not America's most popular sport, our nation rallied around our 1980 Olympic team to beat the Soviets and go on to win the Gold Medal. It was a rare moment when sports brought an entire country together; it became something more than a hockey game, it was about beating our Cold War rival.

But what makes each sport special are its fans. Both are unique in their own right. It's not uncommon to have entire rooms in a fan's house dedicated to the team or driver they love. You get that with every sport, sure. But there are some events that show how dedicated these fans are.

In 2002, a 13 year old hockey fan was struck in the head by a hockey puck during a Blue Jackets-Calgary Flames game. She was taken to a nearby hospital where the young girl later died. For the players, league and fans nation wide, it was shocking how susceptible the stands can be.

Just yesterday, at the Nationwide Daytona 250, on the last lap of the race cars piled up racing for the win. As a result Kyle Larson's car ended up in the air and in the fence; his engine and tires landed in the stands. 28 fans were injured, 14 of which had to be taken to the hospital. At this point, it looks like everyone will fortunately survive.

It is remarkable that so much attention has been focused on keeping hockey players safe from concussions and drivers safe in the race car. When athletes get hurt, everyone chalks it up to "that's the risk you take." And that's okay. But when fans get hurt, it strikes everyone differently. After Tony Stewart won yesterday's race he climbed out of the car without any jubilant celebrations in Victory Lane, instead he was worried about the fans.

The amazing sensation about these fans? Even after a young girl dies or car parts fly into the stands, they still come back for more because they love their sport. That's dedication and that's what these two sports have in common. So much of sports today is focused on who has the biggest contract, or who earned the most fantasy points today. The media sometimes forgets about the fans, but without the fans the sports wouldn't exist.

I will be watching the Bruins in action at the BB&T Center today, as I will simulatneously watch the Daytona 500 on the TVs in the Duffy's Sky Box. Just another fan, watching some of his favorite sports.

Celtics Add Jordan Crawford to Thin Backcourt

Thursday the Celtics acquired sharpshooter Jordan Crawford from the Washington Wizards for injured Leandro Barbosa and Jason Collins.

Crawford has never seen a shot he didn't like as he adds an element of scoring that the C's didn't have heading into Thursday. He's an athletic two guard that can slash and shoot from well beyond the three point line. After losing starting point guard Rajon Rondo and Barbosa to injury, the backcourt was quite thin, so adding Crawford is just what the doctor ordered.

Averaging 13.1 points per game he can come off the bench for 26-30 minutes a game, and give the second unit a great one-two punch along with Jason Terry.

Most thought that Kevin Garnett and/or Paul Pierce could get dealt for draft picks or young assets, but general manager Danny Ainge couldn't find a deal he thought was suitable. Plus, Garnett went on the record, saying he would not waive his no-trade clause that was incorporated into a three-year $36 million deal he signed this summer.Which could end up hurting the Celtics in the long run, as Garnett may decide to retire at the end of the year and not receive any compensation for him.

Rumors were the Clippers offered DeAndre Jordan and Eric Bledsoe for Garnett. Which would have been an excellent deal in the long-term for the C's, but giving Garnett the no-trade clause hindered what Ainge could do.

Deciding to be buyers not sellers at the deadline means the Celtics are going for it all. Even though their record doesn't show it, they're the second best team in the east, only the Heat are head and shoulders above them.

With the emergence of Jeff Green, they have the chance to give Miami a competitive seven game series, if he can slow down LeBron James.

Overall it was a quiet deadline around the NBA, but the C's got Crawford for basically nothing. Let's hope that the older C's can get some lift knowing this may be there last opportunity to go win it all.