2010 – NCAA Lacrosse Championships enter Final Four

Up to this point, The Division 1 2010 c has been exciting. In round one, the field contained 16 teams, which began on May 15th.

Things went mostly as expected in the top half of the bracket, in round one. While all of the other top seeded teams also advanced, Virginia, the top seeded team, demolished Mr. St. Mary’s 18-4. In the bottom half of the bracket we saw a different story unfold.

In round one, there were a couple of upsets and a lot of close matches in this bottom half of the bracket. On Sunday May 16^th, Army and Syracuse played an amazing double overtime match. This match will go down as one of the most exciting matches in tournament history as the two teams went to double overtime before Army pulled off the major upset over the 2nd seeded Syracuse team. The match ended in favor of Army with a 9-8 score.

In an upset, Notre Dame, bet online star, also came out on top, as they took out Princeton, the number 6 seeded team in a game that ended with a score of 8-5. In round one, the excitement wasn’t over there. Cornell pulled off a squeaker of a win against Loyola in a triple overtime battle that ended with a score of 11-10.

For the 8 remaining teams, Round two continued to provide upset opportunities. As the top seed, Virginia managed to advance to the semifinals. Cornell also managed to advance, stopping Army from producing another upset with a convincing 14-5 victory. In an upset in round 2 by a score of 17-9, Duke hammered North Carolina. Notre Dame also managed to continue with the upset magic by taking out the third seeded Maryland team 7-5.

In the upper half of bracket, the remaining teams are Virginia and Duke. Cornell and Notre Dame remain in the bottom half of the bracket. The winner of each half of the bracket will square off for the championship on Monday May 31st.

U.S. Open Preview: Ernie Els

Ernie Els will be competing for his third US Open championship starting June 17 at Pebble Beach. As the seventh-ranked player in the world, he is a viable candidate to join an elite club of men who have won three US Opens.

Els made his mark early on the US Open. His first tournament came in 1993 and he finished in a tie for seventh. The following year, Els played the starring role in a dramatic US Open at Oakmount Country Club in Pennsylvania. After 72 holes, Els was tied for the lead with Loren Roberts and Colin Montgomerie for the lead. The subsequent 18-hole playoff ended in a tie between Roberts and Els with Montgomerie being eliminated. Els then defeated Roberts on the second sudden death hole, which was the 92nd hole of the tournament.

After missing the half-way cut in 1995, Els returned to the top five of the US Open in 1996 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Michigan. He finished at plus one and tied for fifth place with Jim Furyk. They were three strokes behind winner Steve Jones.

Els would capture his second US Open championship (and second major) the following year. The 1997 US Open was held at the Congressional Country Club in Bethesda, Maryland. After an opening-round score of 71, Els went on to post scores of 67, 69, and 69 in the final three rounds to put him at four under par for the tournament. Colin Montgomerie again finished right behind Els at three under par.

Since his 1997 win, Els has had moderate success at the US Open (2nd in 2000, 5th in 2003) but has yet to win another one. Whether the 40-year-old veteran can win another US Open 13 years removed from his last one will be an interesting subplot going into the 2010 US Open.

History of the Cincinnati Reds

In 1882, as a charter member of the American Association (AA), the Cincinnati Reds began play. Then they were known as the Cincinnati Red Stockings.

In 1866 as the first team fully encompassed of pros, the Red Stockings were formed.

To play in Cincinnati as the Red Stockings, the Cincinnati Reds as we know them now were the third team. In 1880, a second Red Stockings team was a charter member of the NL but was expelled. In the American Association, the third Cincinnati Red Stockings team played its first eight years.

In 1919, the Reds won their first NL pennant. In the now infamous 1919 World Series, they defeated the Chicago White Sox.

When it was revealed that the White Sox had purposely thrown the World Series in a gambling scheme, the excitement over the 1919 World Series was dulled to an extent.

It would be 21 years before they captured another World Series and 20 years before the Reds would capture another NL pennant. Cincinnati repeats as NL Champions in 1940.

Cincinnati adopted the nickname “Redlegs” in 1953 and remained the same until 1958 when they back to being the Reds.

The Reds, MLB lines star, would go on their longest World Series drought in franchise history (35 years), after winning the 1940 World Series.

During the 70s, The Cincinnati Reds best stretch came, when they were known as “The Big Red Machine.”

They won the NL Pennant again in 1972 but lost to the Oakland Athletics in an exciting seven-game series.

For the Big Red Machine, the years 1975 and 1976 were the best as they won back-to-back World Series.

The Boston Red Sox’s Carlton Fisk’s famous 12th inning shot which made the 1975 World Series memorable one as the 12th inning shot hit the foul pole that forced a game 7. In 1976, Cincinnati won on an RBI single by second baseman Joe Morgan in game 7.

Under new manager Lou Piniella in 1990, the unheralded Reds surprised the major leagues by leading the NL from wire-to-wire. The franchise got their fifth World Series b them.