US Open Preview and Picks

If you didn't know, the US Open starts tomorrow and I for one will be watching intently Thursday through Sunday. And while I'm sure that all of you out there know quite a bit about golf, I figured I would give my thoughts on the tournament and provide my picks for the fantasy game I'm involved in on espn.com.

This year's Open is being held at the most renowned and tough public golf course in the United States, Bethpage Black in New York. As soon as one steps foot on the premises, he is greeted by this sign:

A tad intimidating huh? A golf course with a warning sign! Who knew? And if that doesn't intimidate you, maybe this will:

Still not intimidated? Imagine being at the top of the 15th green putting straight downhill on a green that registers 13 or 14 on the Stimpmeter (basically putting on glass).

If you still aren't intimidated, you are lying or you are Tiger Woods. With that being said, this US Open features a course oozing with trouble off the tee, around the green, and on the green. The US Open tries to be the toughest test in golf and there's no doubt that this year will feature that. The last time the Open was at Bethpage, one player broke par. That player was Tiger Woods. Only one other player stayed at par and that was Phil Mickelson. As you can see, the best players in the world rise to the top of the leaderboard here.

So with that in mind, who do I believe will do well this week? To win a US Open, you need to hit it long but more importantly in the fairway. And when you hit it in the fairway, you need to hit the greens. You also need to have a great short game. Basically, you need four rounds of playing great golf. And who is capable of that? Only the best in the sport. Espn.com has a fantasy game where you pick 4 golfers under a salary cap of $50. So without further ado, here is Team Shankopotamus

Golfer 1: Mike Weir: The straight hitting Canadian can keep it in the fairway and putt with the best of them. That's why I like him.

Golfer 2: Ian Poulter: He's got a great game, and ESPN's expert picked him. Plus he's very fashionable.

Golfer 3: Geoff Ogilvy: Arguably the third best golfer in the game behind Tiger and Phil. He always brings his 'A' game to the majors and I expect no less this weekend.

Golfer 4: Bubba Watson: Dude drives it a mile but might be 30 yards off the fairway and in some big trouble. This is my risk reward pick with a risk reward golfer.

Enjoy the Open and if you ever want to head to New York and play the Black with me give me a ring. Just make sure you are highly skilled.

Stanley Cup

The Pittsburgh Penguins overcame a shaky first period and a devasting hit to Sid "the Kid" Crosby to secure Lord Stanley's Cup. It was a great ending to a very exciting playoffs that I can say drew me into hockey. The action in the playoffs was great and I was thoroughly pleased with each game I saw.

The Penguins proved they were the best team in the league by handing the Red Wings a loss at home in Game 7 and that without the services of Sidney Crosby for one and a half periods. Maxime Talbot and Flower Fleury stepped up their games to provide the Penguins with the Cup.

These playoffs had great play and great matchups, unfortunately games were really only on Versus. The NHL is close to becoming a force as a popular sport and only needs some bigger attention on the tube to achieve that. I hope that it happens because these Stanley Cup playoffs were great and would love to see more and have others see it as well.

A Sunday Two-Play

This Sunday myself and quite a few others made a trek to the Starlite Drive-In. And while this was no Reo Drive-In, it was a pretty good trip to the drive-in. The two movies showing were Night At The Museum 2 and Star Trek.

Now I had seen the first Night At The Museum and was not too impressed to be honest. Ben Stiller wa

s good but overall it just wasn't that great. The second edition however was much, much better. A better cast and storyline made this movie an overall good view. I won't spoil the movie sinc

e it came out recently and maybe someone reading thi

s will see the movie. I would recommend it if you were going to the drive-in, a toss-up in theater, and a definite rent when out.

The other movie was Star Trek. By no means would I consider myself a Trekkie. In fact, I've never seen any of the previous movies or shows. And I'm not a huge sci-fi guy in general. I was lost for a good bit of the movie. That did change towards the end where a lot of things were explained, other things continued to fly over my head however. Baylor did his best to inform us what was going on but to be honest our cuddle group was a little more concerned about being warm as it had gotten quite cold outside. With cuddling aside, the movie was excellent in special effects and I have no doubt that Star Trek fans were happy with the result. I however found it to be just another action movie that was sci-fi which isn't my forte. So I would recommend this movie to Star Trek fans and anyone else who enjoys a good action flick. I would definitely not recommend this to anyone who likes to know what is going on during a movie because you will end up being obnoxious and trying to figure out what's going on.

So there's my best Ebert and Roeper attempt. Take it and leave it as you please. The only thing I think you should do: see a movie at a drive-in. It's the best.