21-year-old steals old man’s green jacket
A GRIP ON SPORTS • While running down sports links this morning I came upon this headline: 10 celebrities that are said to smell awful. Man, that was a tough link not to click. Who knew that our celebrities had such problems with their olfactory senses. Read on.
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• Then again, if the story is about celebrities having trouble smelling, wouldn’t "awfully" be the correct word to end the sentence? Anyway, it got me to thinking. What headlines could I employ that would make you click stories? I'm not very good at that type of hyperbole, but we'll try anyway.
• Tiger Woods injured wrist ends chance for another Masters' win: I've been told, repeatedly, that Woods is the only golfer in the world that really matters. So it seems appropriate to focus on him instead of Jordan Spieth, who was a bogey on 18 away from breaking Woods' Masters scoring record. As it was, the 21-year-old from Texas tied the mark and won a tournament that seemed to have more great Sunday rounds than ever before. One of them was not turned in by Tiger, who wasn't making a charge when he hit something on nine that had him shaking his wrist for the next couple holes. He may have another major in him, but with all the young talent on the Tour these days, it seems less and less likely Woods will set a record for most major wins.
• Cougars failing to improve: The link would take you to a story about Washington State's football team taking a Sunday in April off. But just the headline would be worth 5,000 page views.
• Leg injury forces Felix Hernandez out of Mariners' victory: This headline has the added attraction of being true. At least somewhat true. Felix did do something to his quad muscle while finishing a rare 2-1 double play yesterday and had to leave after five innings. He trailed 3-0 at the time. The M's rallied to win. But the better headline, or the more provocative headline, would be something like "Is age catching up with Felix?" That might get a lot of clicks, especially considering he's all of 29 years old.
• Fernando Rodney's arrow fails to launch: What is it about closers and non-save situations? I don't get it. A two-run lead, boom, three consecutive outs. A four-run lead? Call the paramedics.
• Have a look at Klay Thompson's new girlfriend: OK, this is an actual headline at an actual newspaper website. And I clicked it. Don't judge me. I was trying to see if it was worth passing along to you folks. You know, public service and all that. So what was the answer? You don't see a link, do you?
• Sportswriters retire to staid life of luxury: Click the link and you get a server-not-found message.
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• Gonzaga: Beating St. Mary's in anything is special for the Zags. Sweeping a three-game baseball series has to have a little extra-added meaning. ... You know the name on the basketball arena? The guys behind it were tested in their loyalties a bit this year – and almost faced a huge test. ... Kyle Wiltjer is already getting All-America nods for next season.
• Chiefs: Chris Derrick looked back at the Chiefs' season this weekend and posted more on the blog last night.
• Mariners: I'm not sure it matters all that much, but winning back-to-back extra-inning games in Oakland might just turn out to be the impetus to a great Seattle season. The M's seemed to be floundering a bit headed into the weekend, but off-season $48 million acquisition Nelson Cruz (pictured) helped power them to two wins, including yesterday's 8-7 10-inning one. Sunday's bomb paired nicely with Rickie Weeks' earlier three-run home run and helped the M's overcome a mediocre start from Felix and Rodney's awful ninth inning. ... Live streaming seems to be here to stay.
• Sounders: Sometimes you play poorly and win. Sometimes you play well and lose. The latter was the story yesterday as Seattle, by all accounts, played well against the LA Galaxy, losing 1-0 mainly due to a hot goalkeeper. At least that's how I read the comments coming out of the Sounders' locker room. ... Still, giving up an early goal and failing to capitalize on multiple chances isn't the best way to win a soccer match. ... There was a homecoming of sorts yesterday. ... Portland also lost yesterday.
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• Missed me on the radio? Me neither. But I'm back, joining those other voices of experience, Dennis Patchin and Rick Lukens, on 700 ESPN starting at 3 p.m. today. We go until 6. You can listen here if you want. I'll be on all week. Until then ...
