Suck It Up, Sergio

Recently Sergio Garcia blamed his current slump in play on the breakup with his girlfriend, Greg Norman's daughter, Morgan Leigh. Said Sergio: “"I haven't been hitting the ball well. I think it's been a mix of probably being a little bit down and not really feeling like playing much. Obviously your head is not in the right place and you're not thinking the right things, and that affects your game because your mentality is not where it should be."

REACT: Loser. This is why the guy is never going to win a major. NEVER. If he's not mentally tough enough to get over dumping a chick who's not even that hot, then he's got real issues. Plus, isn't it typical Sergio, to blame his bad play on someone, or something, other than the guy holding the club?

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Dan Marino must really want to get rid of his awesome Ft. Lauderdale crib. This Wall Street Journal article says dapper Dan is throwing in furniture and – ONE - signed football to close the deal in these difficult real estate times. I'd be willing to throw in a bid, if only he would include the resignation pen he used to quit his job as GM of the Fish after like, what, 2 weeks of hard golfing... er... office work.

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Mike Tyson didn't let a little life nuisance like a “treadmill-icide” of his toddler daughter get in the way of moving forward. So he got married for the 3rd time this week in Vegas. Attaboy, Mike! And if you are his new bride, don't you just feel like the next bull rider trying to stay on this marriage for the requisite 8 seconds so you can advance to the money round? Or maybe, she's in love. You can never really tell with kids today. Mazel, mazel, Mikey! TMZ has the details.

TMZ obtained a copy of Tyson's State of Nevada Marriage Certificate -- which made the intimate ceremony at the Las Vegas Hilton official. Tyson and Lahika Spicer tied the knot without the presence of invited guests. Sources close to the situation tell TMZ the wedding was exceptionally emotional. However, we're told the mourning couple decided not to bring up the death of their 4-year-old daughter during the 15 minute ceremony.

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Heath Shuler once authored a 5 INT game with the Redskins as a rookie. He allegedly had one of the lowest Wonderlic scores for a QB in draft history. Nice fella. Dumb as a Tennessee hound dog. Now, he's found his niche. Politics. Land of the hopelessly stupid, crooked, and vain. Not to mention ugly. But whoa, check this out! Maybe Heath ain't so dumb after all! He's figured out that as a member of Congress, he can use his leverage for all kinds of sweetheart deals. Yay, corruption!

He Is Who We Thought He Was

For a brief moment, I was happy for him.

A genuine, warm, happy, "you deserve this" moment.

College wonder-boy J.J. Redick had just hit a three to tie the game late on Sunday against the Lakers.

For all the crap he's taken, some of it from me, I was glad to see him do something at the pro level that he was devastatingly effective doing in college.

Then, the good feeling vanished.

Playing extended minutes for the first time in weeks, Stan Van's hunch resumed clanging shots off the iron, and throwing away passes for crucial turnovers.

Which, is exactly what many basketball fans had figured for Dick Vitale's golden boy as a pro. A role player, at best.

This is not to bash Redick. His college career was great. Not spectacular. But as a pure dead-eye jump shooter, there have been few like him.

The hype though, was absurd. Which is why I want Dick Vitale abducted like the boss in Christmas Vacation, and strapped into a TV chair to update his opinion of Redick as a pro.

Back in college, Vitale just kept screaming "he's a winner, baybee! He'll find a way to play at the next level! Heeeeeyyyyyyy!!!!"

Truth however, is that the NBA is a league of extraordinary freaks of nature. You can't just be a nice shooting, moderately athletic 6-2 guard like Redick and survive. The telling play was when he drove down the lane late against the Lakers, threw a little shoulder fake and the promptly passed the ball right to Trevor Ariza for a turnover.

Jeff Van Gundy pointed out, that you can't make that play in this league, when you are not a credible threat to take the ball all the way to the rack and finish.

All of this isn't to say Redick can't become a useful NBA gadget player. Like a one-trick Fred Hoiberg-esque pony.

But he is, who we thought he was. Somebody call Vitale for a comment.

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And while I was Google-searching for Redick pics, I came across this one. Uh huh. That's a giant W-T-F. Put your Army toys away, J.J.

Like Flying Into Dikembe Mutumbo In The Paint

While the NBA Finals are providing entertaining fodder for why it's a bad idea to "throw things on the wall" like Stan Van Gundy is doing with his lineup, I can't help but follow with a macabre fascination the details of Air France Flight 447.

As I have said before, I can't get enough of documentaries on doomed airline accidents. I'm not sure why. But the combination of science, aviation, and the constant stalking by the grim reaper is a potent combination.

Some people dig horror movies. I'm into plane crashes. Just so long as I'm not in one, or anybody I know and care about.

That being said, most of the mainstream media coverage of the crash is overly simple, not technically oriented, and a constant re-hash of known events and news.

If you want a good jumping off point for more interesting technical issues that might fascinate you, read this Miles O'Brien post on True/Slant.com that gets into the nitty gritty of what had to be a horrific final 14 minutes of modern air travel.

Not only did those pilots end up trying to thread a thunderstorm needle, they were also trying to thread an airspeed "needle" too...

Excerpt #1

So you see the squeeze play as a plane flies toward the Coffin Corner: the margin between the between the high and low speed limits gets thinner and thinner (along with the air).

Matter of fact, given its estimated weight, altitude and the outside air temperature (which also affects air density), AF 447 was flying through the eye of a speed needle only about 25 knots (28 mph) wide.

So should you feel better or worse about flying "across the pond" in a big, modern, technology laden airliner? Well...

Excerpt #2

Precisely because big thunderstorms are common there, airliners are constantly threading their way through the nastiest cells – deviating at the pilot’s discretion. But no professional pilot would knowingly auger into the heart of a thunderstorm this potent. A pro knows no airplane is designed to survive those conditions - no matter how advanced it is technologically and structurally.

Hard to believe in this day and age, but when you are flying over the pond, you are pretty much on your own. You are not talking to air traffic controllers or being painted by their radar - and of course there are no weather reporting stations beneath you. By definition, thunderstorms are unstable, dynamic and fast-moving. So by the time they reached the storms – more than four hours into the flight - what they learned in the pre-flight briefing was yesterday’s news.

Again, this is not to trivialize the human tragedy of the event, but the overall complexity and miracle of air travel continues to blow my mind.