Scott Van Pelt in Cardboard Form

Tiger Woods will not SVP be in the game but his voice is.

The Might Pens

The longest playoffs in all of sports are all over, the Pittsburgh Penguins are the Stanley Cup champions. The Pens wrapped up the Cup with a dramatic 2-1 win over the Red Wings in game 7 last night. Here is how newspapers in Detroit and Pittsburgh covered he event.

Pittsburgh Post Gazette

The Detroit News

Detroit Free Press

Saying Good Bye in video form

Saying good bye to Ronnie, with great video from Country Football.

The King of All Newspapers

Only one soccer player can turn the front pages of papers around Europe into his own personal playground, Ronnie. His move from United to Real Madrid dominates the front pages of newspapers in England, Portugal and Spain.

The Guardian (England)

El Mundo (Spain)

Journal de Noticias (Portugal)

AS (Spanish Sports Daily)

Marca (Spanish Sports Daily)

Bye Bye Ronnie and Thank You

The hair gel, the step overs, the temper tantrums, and the goals it has been a remarkable run at Manchester United for Ronaldo and that run now appears to be over. Real Madrid have made an offer of 80 million pounds for the Portuguese winger and United have accepted so all that has to be done is personal terms between Ronnie and Real, which will happen really soon. So this is the end.

Some people will say good riddance, but I can not. All I can say is thank you Ronnie. You always said Real Madrid was your dream move now you will be able to live out that dream, and good luck.

During the last six years there have been so many moments of magic from the goal in the championship league final against Chelski, to the goal at Porto in this years Champions League, to the come back against Spurs and Aston Villa, and the thropies. Oh yes the thropies. Premier League Trophies, an FA Cup, League Cups, World Club Cup, Community Shields and Mr. Big Ears it has been a great six years and now we go our separate ways.

But in two decades when people list the best players to ever wear the number 7 at United you are at the top of the list. I have faith that United are not done, but rather this is just the next great team that Sir Alex is building. It was fun while it lasted and again good luck at Madrid.

OTWT Scouting Department Draft Views

For the last year, Nationals fans have been billed yesterday as the day that turned around the franchise. On Tuesday all Nats fans rejoiced as they selected San Diego State righthander Steven Strasburgh, hopefully this will be the moment the franchise turns around.

Here are some other views on the draft:

• MLB Network coverage is not bad, it was pretty good for their first, but there is so much room for improvement. The room makes it looks really cheap, but you have to remember the first time that ESPN did the NFL Draft it was in hotel ball room and look what that has turned into.
• Enjoyed the fact that MLB Network brought in Jim Callis from Baseball America he has always been a favorite, he could become their Mel Kiper Jr.
• I don't understand why the Pirates did what the did. Ok so Sanchez could be a good player but not the outstanding player that could have gotten. Rule one of drafting that high is never draft a guy with a questionable bat.
• I know that there are issues with North Carolina pitcher Alex White, but how can the Braves take Vandy's Mike Minor. Watch the two of them and tell me who is the better pitcher.
• When people thing about baseball in the SEC they think of Florida, Ole Miss, Georgia; but few programs have produced the number of the first round picks over the last couple of years that Vanderbilt has. Price, Alvarez, Weathers, and now Minor.
• Over the last couple of years the Rockies have played it conservatively when it came to the draft but this year they did not by drafting left handed pitchers Tyler Matzek and Rex Brothers. Sure Matzek will take a ton of money to show, but in the end it could be the best pick of the draft.
• The Detroit Tigers never shys away from players with signability issues. In 2006 it was Andrew Miller, in 2007 it was Rick Porecello and this year it was Missouri High School righthander Jacob Turner. Turner has the best arm of any of the high school righthanders.
• According to Baseball American, the Texas Rangers have the number one farm system in baseball and during the draft might have added two of the best arms in Matthew Purke and Tanner Scheppers to an already stocked system. Its only a matter of the time before the Rangers return to the playoffs.
• Keep an eye on South Carolina pitcher Sam Dyson, who was drafted by Oakland, and Clemson pitcher Christopher Dwyer, who was drafted by Kansas City. Have seen both on TV and both have a ton of talent and power arms. They could be two steals in this draft.
• The best name drafted was when Atlanta drafted Riaan Spanjer-Furstenburg, a first baseman from Nova Southeastern, 478 overall and the Braves thought that Saltalamaccchia was tough to put on the back of a jersey.
• Love the fact that Mike Trout was at the show, it would be great if MLB Network could get more of the players to the draft it would make it more fun and would add a nice touch.
• Now that the 2009 draft is over its time to look ahead to the 2010 draft with a name: North Carolina pitcher Matt Harvey.

Professional Tailgating: A Waste of Money, So Far

After the 2007 Major League Baseball Draft, I sang the praises of the Washington Nationals for shelling out $1.8 million signing bonus for Massachusetts high school lefthander Jack McGeary (above). Last night I got a first hand view of the kid, that I thought would be one of the foundations of the franchise for years to come and boy do we need a new foundation.

McGeary pitched against the Lakewood BlueClaws last night and struggles, just like he has been doing all season. Last night McGeary went four and a third innings giving up six hits, three earned runs and walking two batters, while only striking out one.

The numbers seemed ok for a young pitcher who is just getting back to being a full time player, but the one thing that really bothered me is that he did not seem to have that electric stuff that everyone raved about when he was coming out of high school.

His curve ball was when he could locate it, which was an issue all night. His fastball did not go above 90 mph, which is also concerning. His command was not great at all. Watching him last night you never felt like he was in control of any of his pitches. It's still early in his career and there is still time to improve, so as a Nationals fan all I can do is stay patient.

Pure Class

OTWT never touches on tennis but today is a different day. This morning I sat in the home office and watch Roger Federer complete the career grand slam. For the last five year the French Open has caused Federer all kinds of heart break but today was different. During every stoppage the crowd was chanting his name, they knew that they were going to see history and they wanted to will him to do it.


After dispatching his foe Federer fell to the grown and started to cry. For man who has won so much, it looked like the weight of the world had been taken off his shoulder. Before the tournament began Federer had won 13 grand slam title, now he is on 14 equaling Peter Sampras. I know its only one title but to Federer it means that he can now be considered one of the greatest all around players.

I said this earlier and I will say it again, Federer is pure class. After winning, to show his respect, Federer gave part of his speech in French. It was a small thing but it shows the type of person he is.