Charl Schwartzel is the Master

This last weekend was arguably the most prestigious golf tournament of the year: the Masters at Augusta. The Tournament started and it looked like Rory McIlroy was an early favorite shooting a 65 on the first day. Tiger Woods then had a fine Friday getting a 66 making it look like he could make a run. However, when it was all said and done, it was Charl Schwartzel of South Africa that would claim the Green Jacket with the help of four birdies on the final 4 holes of the tournament. He finished with a 66 on the final day for a grand total of 274, 14 under par.

What a brilliant way to end the Masters as Charl Schwartzel gets his first Green Jacket and first Major victory with a purse of $1,440,000. As for the other significant golfers, Tiger would finish 10 under par and tied for 4th at 278 with Luke Donald and Geoff Ogilvy. Rory would actually finish tied for 15th with four others at 284. As for Phil Mickelson, he would only finish one under par at 287 tied for 27th with 7 other guys.

Still, congratulations to Charl Schwartzel. That jacket is almost as green as his paycheck.

P.S. 600 posts and still going strong.

Manny Retires? After Drug Test?

Well this is an interesting way to go out. Apparently, Manny Ramirez has tested positive for drugs once again. He was tested positive back in 2009 and served a 50 game suspension. Since the punishment for the violating the drug policy a 2nd time is a 100 game suspension, Manny just decided to retire instead. He just signed a one year deal with the Rays for $2 Million and is now done with the game of baseball.

Where to begin. Manny now has been caught twice using a PED and will be looked down on for it. I can't really think of anyone that has been caught twice using PED's and this just hurts the reputation of the Manny further. Perhaps it was better for Manny on a personal note to just walk away. He was 38 (soon to be 39) and has seemingly declined in the last couple of seasons.

That being said, this is a retirement and we must reflect on the career of Manny Ramirez. He will be remembered mainly for his time as a Indian and a Red Sox, especially being a key part of the 2004 and 2007 World Series Team. He leaves baseball with a .312 batting average, 555 home runs, and 1831 RBI's. He will certainly be looked upon as one of the best hitters of this generation.

Despite all his success, the drug use will cloud his legacy and hurt his Hall of Fame chances further. He will also be viewed as outspoken character with a laid back attitude. In other words, his career is simply Manny being Manny.

Sox Are Seeing Red

Expectations for the Red Sox going into the 2011 Season were very high. They were expected to be division favorites and even World Series favorites by many. While it is still way too early to determine anything at this point, the Red Sox seemed to have stumbled considerably out of the gate. Yesterday the team lost, 1-0, to the Indians and have been swept by them in a 3 game series in Cleveland. In fact, the Red Sox have been swept for a second straight time as they haven't won a game yet. They are currently 0-6.

It's still too early to panic but fans should at least be concerned over their team's performance. They get Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez in the off season and still haven't won a game? Terry Francona must be scratching his head over why his guys can't win a ball game. It doesn't get any easier for the Red Sox, either. True, they're going home for the first time this year but to face their arch rivals, the New York Yankees, who are 4-2. The Red Sox will have to play better than this last week if they want to get their first win of the season against the Yankees.

P.S. And what's with the 5-1 Orioles? Are they the new upstarts of the AL East?

Texas A&M Women Win 1st National Title

Last night featured the end of the dancing for the women's side. Texas A&M went into Indianapolis, beat Stanford, and now had to face Notre Dame for the National Title. They were down by two going into the half and it would stay close throughout. Danielle Adams, though, turned up the heat scoring 22 of her 30 points in the second half. The Aggies of Texas A&M would beat Notre Dame, 76-70, and win their first National Title. Gary Blair, their head coach, becomes the oldest coach to win the Women's Tournament at 65 years old.

Though maybe not the game everyone was expecting, it still turned out better than the UConn-Butler game. This is actually Texas A&M's first National Title for either the men or the women in Basketball. Congratulations to the Aggies. They made headways getting this title and they will remember this moment forever.

P.S. Don't forget to listen (and watch) the Sports Khan Radio Show every Thursday at 2 PM on KSUNradio.com... Pretty Good.

UConn is the Top Dog

The dance is finally over. The last two teams, Butler vs. UConn, played for the National Title and it was painful to watch. It was a very bad shooting game for both sides and it was just 22-19 at the half in favor of Butler. Butler didn't seem to shoot the ball better in the second half but UConn did. UConn started to get points in the paint while Butler could make a field goal of any kind for several minutes. The Huskies would pull away and keep their lead winning their 3rd ever National Title, 53-41. This was also Jim Calhoun's third title and he is the oldest coach to ever win the tournament at 68 years old.

What a disappointing performance for the Butler Bulldogs. Not that UConn shot that well either but Butler shot just 18.8% from the floor. This team was so good during the tournament and they just fell flat on their face. The guy that Zdeno Chara took out said "Ouch!!!" The girl who sang "Friday" watched this and felt good about herself. IT WAS THAT BAD!!! And this was their 2nd chance for a title in as many years too. Just embarrassing for that team.

Still, congratulations to UConn who win the tournament of bracket busters. A UConn basketball is on top of the college world for a third straight year (the last two belong to the women).

No Three-peat for UConn Women and More

The Women's Final Four was yesterday and it all the interest around the tournament may have gone away in one night. The 2 time defending champions, the UConn Huskies, went into the weekend with Geno Auriemma already telling the other teams off (so to speak). It was them, however, that would be silenced as the Women of Notre Dame upset UConn, 72-63. Maya Moore scored 36 points in her last game with the Huskies. The Queens has been dethroned with the Tiara up for grabs. Meanwhile, Texas A&M continues to shock their side of the brackett as they have now beaten Stanford, 63-62.

Texas A&M and Notre Dame will meet for the National Title of the Women's side on Tuesday.

Battle for the Glass Slipper and UConn Defeats Kentucky

The Final Four round was today and featured two great games. The First was Cinderella vs. Cinderella, otherwise known as VCU vs. Butler. A close game for the most part except for the final minutes. Butler would pull away from this year's Cinderella and win it, 70-62. Shelvin Mack scored 24 points and got 6 rebounds in the win. Butler now gets into their second straight National Title Game after losing to Duke last year. It's a pity that VCU's amazing run of 5 wins in the tournament is over but now Butler has a shot at redemption.

As for who they will face, Kentucky and UConn fought for that honor. UConn seemed to have control of this game for the most part as they had a 10 point lead at the half. Kentucky, though, didn't give up and fought to keep the game close in the 2nd half. Eventually, though, UConn prevailed. Shabazz Napier made his free throws with 2 seconds left and sealed the victory for UConn, 56-55 (Brandon Knight made a three that essentially meant nothing). UConn now contends for their first National Title since 2004.

Two teams out of 68 teams are still dancing: UConn and Butler. One traditional powerhouse craving a title and one Cinderella that gets a second chance. The Ball finally comes to an end on Monday night.