Hello sports teaser fans, June is upon us and it’s almost summertime. Well the temperature tells you that it is but we’ve got a couple more weeks!
Let’s get to it…
It’s been about a month and a half but I’m ready to get on my soapbox and preach about the Masters. Man that was one of the most exciting Sundays
in a long, long time. The roars, unlike any other, were flowing through the pines as Tiger Woods won his first Masters in 14 years. Very few thought he
would ever end up in the winner’s circle at another major and now a lot of folks think he has a chance to break Jack Nicklaus’s record of 18. Only time
will tell but it seems like 1997 all over again when he won the first of his 5 green jackets. A lot of people have a lot of different opinions about the guy
but he forged ahead and got it done. Hats off to you Tiger. The upcoming US Open at Pebble Beach this month should be a great one as Tiger has won
on that course many times.
Baseball has been underway for about two months now and our Braves are plodding along around .500 as of this writing. As I suspected, pitching
would be questionable, mostly in the bullpen. A lot of people are waiting on June 1 when they can possibly sign Craig Kimbrel and not have to give up a
draft pick. He would be a great closer but unfortunately, he can’t pitch every day nor can he pitch the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th innings! They have to get that
pen straightened out or it may be a long summer. Philadelphia seems to be the team to beat in the NL East and they can’t afford to get too far behind. As
I said before, I do continue to believe that it will be a competitive division and it should be a pretty interesting summer. It looks like the Dodgers will be
the cream of the crop of the National League. It is still to be determined in the American League but the Yankees are coming around and Houston looks
formidable again. Locally, don’t forget that our Savannah Bananas start the season this month at Historic Grayson Stadium. If you haven’t attended a
game, you should... and tickets do go fast!
I’m hardly ever right but I was in the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs. I didn’t think Tampa Bay would win it all but I didn’t think they would lose in the first
round in a sweep by Columbus. Wow. Some new faces have made it deep into the playoffs this year and I’ll have to go with a San Jose – Boston matchup.
Basketball is trying to get to the conference finals as of this writing and it looks like Golden State will take it all again, no real shocker there. Let’s just
hope for some good games. I might be right on this one as well.
And what about the Kentucky Derby? While you were sipping on your mint julep in your floppy hat and enjoying your derby party, the biggest
controversy in the over 100 year history of the event broke out. After a 20 minute review after the race, the horse that won and crossed the finish line
1st was disqualified and the second place horse was crowned the winner! And then those two horses didn’t run in the Preakness! Say what? All I know
is that I drew Country House in a blind draw to win so I’m all for fouls and disqualifications! Ha...
Well, that’s all for June folks! Happy Sporting!
TYBEE BEACHCOMBER | JUNE 2019 39
SPORTS TEASER By George Hassell