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By SportsLover, November 9, 2009 1:38 pm

The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. Built Ford Tough World Finals came to a close yesterday night with an unsurprising end. Befor the finasl, J.B. Mauney, a contender for the title, lead the brackets in winnings. Pointwise however, the quiet Kody Lostroh was the favorite.

Lostroh has been number one in the standings all season, and was unaware upon entering the Built Ford Tough Championship Round that he had already earned the gold buckle. The 24-year old Colorado cowboy is quiet and media-shy, but his riding (called “flawless” by rodeo great, Ty Murray) allows him to walk the walk without having to talk himself into his Champion status.

Battling a torn tendon in his elbow and the doctors who wanted to operate on it, Lostroh “put [his injury] in God’s hands and went on with [riding].” That was last April. Today, after winning the World Finals, he’s allowing the operation to go forward– now that it can’t interfere with his riding.

For the win in the Finals, Lostroh finished the season with 16,640 points, 594 ahead of Mauney, who finished second for the second consecutive year. According to PBR rules, even in a worst-case scenario, meaning Mauney received the maximum points possible and Lostroh the fewest possible, Lostroh would have won by 88 points.

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By SportsLover, November 4, 2009 11:32 am

As I went cast my vote in my local community I couldn’t help thinking about the 2009 Heisman Trophy race that has a myriad of players contenting for one of the most coveted awards in college football.  Unlike political candidates, the Heisman contenders don’t need tacky lawn signs and bad advertisements to gain recognition.  No, they sell themselves by doing what they do best: scoring touchdowns, making awe inspiring plays, and by winning.

Picking a political candidate is seemingly easy compared to the difficult task of eliminating nine of the true contenders for the Heisman Trophy.  Just like in politics there is a specific agenda that must be met in order for the candidates to qualify…but what is the Heisman agenda?  Historically, it seems to differ from year to year and a lot of it depends on who the media frames as the most powerful and dominant player.  Do you have to play for a traditional powerhouse?  Not historically, but doesn’t hurt.  Keep in mind, however, that BYU’s Ty Detmer was the last non-BCS Heisman winner in 1990.  In a powerhouse conference? Again, Ty Detmer played in the WAC.  Winning Team? Not always, but doesn’t hurt.  National Championship contender? Not always, but again it doesn’t hurt.  Record Stats? No, but brings attention that definitely helps.  So…according to the criteria listed above who is a true contender for in the “Heisman Election”?

According to the Espn Experts’ Poll sophomore running back Mark Ingram leads the pack with 56 points,  2008′s Heisman winner Tim Tebow follows close behind with 47 points, and Notre Dame’s junior quarterback Jimmy Clausen trails in third place with 35 points.  In contrast, the CBS Expert’s poll has Tebow in 4th place, Clausen in 3rd place, underdog Case Keenum in 2nd place, and Mark Ingram in 1st place.  So who is the most deserving?  Cast your vote at http://espn.go.com/college-football/heisman09/index.  Who do I think should win?  I don’t claim to be an expert, but I would like to see Keenum win the race.  Tebow has his trophy.  Ingram always has next year or even the year after and probably hasn’t hit his peak.  Clausen is great, but I like  a well rounded QB.  And then there was Keenum.  Despite being in a small conference, Keenum has his team in the top 15 and his stats are great.  The five interceptions aren’t amazing…but not too bad either.  It could be worse.  There’s no telling what methodology will be used in picking a winner and no matter who wins critics are going to go wild.  The fact of the matter is that all of the contestants are unbelievable athletes that play out of their heads week after week.

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By SportsLover, October 28, 2009 11:47 am

A post-retirement confession, Andre Agassi‘s new book, “Open,” is fraught with shocking details of  of his past life as a tennis great.

Unlike most mid-life autobiographies, “Open” is not supposed to be a list of awards and display of accreditation. With Pulitzer Prize winner J.R. Moehringer as his co-writer, Agassi lays his intimate secrets (some of them past lies) for all to examine.

In addition to addressing the unfortunate mullet Mohawk toupee he sported in the early part of his professional tennis career (a hairpiece that once came apart in the shower before the French Open and had to be reconstructed using bobby pins), Agassi discusses his tennis beginnings and a stint with crystal meth in 1997.

His father, a former Olymic Boxer, insisted even from early childhood that Agassi pursue a militant tennis career. The son hated tennis and his father for most of the brilliant career that did follow.

One of only six men to have won all four Grand Slam events– Wimbledon, the French Open, US Open and Australian Open– and former husband to Brooke Shields, Agassi has since married female tennis star, Steffi Graf, and retired in 2006 from tennis.

Confession is better late than never, but perhaps not lying to the  in the first place about his crystal meth use would have been the better option. Instead, his year-long recreational drug use was called ignorant and blamed on a former assistant, “Slim.” The three month probation that followed probably would have been better than nine years of guilt for lying to the ATP.

All in all, “Open” presents a very straightforward and honest view of Andre Agassi, the guy under the Mohawk hairpiece that turned out to have some serious talent.