The Sports Review

The world’s oldest tennis tournament will be played June 21st - July 4th at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club just outside London. The 124th Wimbledon promises to be one of the most highly anticipated sporting events on the planet this summer. The game of tennis is fortunate to have a bevy of international stars playing in the game currently. The world’s will be at their best on the grass courts of the All England, as Wimbledon is often considered the grandest of all the grand slam titles. Participants dress in white as is tradition while spectators eat strawberries and cream or drinking Primm Spritzers.

The Williams sisters have dominated the tournament on the women’s side the past few years with Serena defeating Venus in 2009, Venus winning in 2008 and 2007, and the sisters claiming the doubles title as well in 2009. Roger Federer defeated England’s glory boy Andy Murray in last year’s Wimbledon final, but all eyes will be on the 22-year-old Scot tries to become the first British man to win a grand slam in more than seventy years. No matter who is victorious this summer, Wimbledon tickets will be some of the most wanted tickets in the world this summer.

With everyone and their Mother expecting a Kobe vs Lebron final, the Lakers’ assumed Western Conference Title might have to go through Salt Lake City. The Utah Jazz since January 9th are 17-2. They have maybe the best all-around power forward in the NBA in Carlos Boozer and one of the best point guards night-in and night-out in Deron Williams. The Jazz’s bench might be what sets them apart from a lot of the teams’ in the league with guys like Kyle Kover, Paul Milsap, and Wes Matthews flourishing in substitute roles. On Wednesday night Boozer scored 20 points in the second half to lead the Jazz over a scrappy Charlotte Bobcats team 102-93. The Jazz should be able to continue their success into the month of March where their schedule is very favorable with Boston, Phoenix, and Oklahoma City being the only tough teams they play. Look for hall of fame coach Jerry Sloan’s men to be in the thick of it once playoff time rolls around.

Male figure skating has surprised many pundits as the highlight thus far of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada thanks in part to the intriguing skaters Evan Lysacek, Evengi Plushenko, and Johnny Weir. Lysacek needed a flawless performance on Day 7 of the Olympics to take the Gold for the United States over Russia’s Plushenko in Men’s Figure Skating. Brian Botano last won gold for the United States at the 1988 Calgary Games. There was a controversy over the fact that Plushenko completed a quad jump in his routine and Lysacek didn’t even attempt one in his routine. Judges sided with giving Lysacek the Gold for his combination of execution and artistry. Plushenko said he may return to the ice at the age of 31 to recoup win back the Gold for Russia in 2014. Lysacek, a native of Naperville, IL, won the World Championships in 2009 and could also retun in 2014 considering he’s only 24-years-old.

“The Freak” has landed. After only making $650,000 in 2009 and winning the Cy Young Award for the second year in a row, the San Francisco Giants have agreed to pay Tim Lincecum $8 million this season and $13 million the following year. The 25-year-old has become one of the toughest pitchers to hit in the big leagues with a unique pitching motion batters can’t seem to figure out completely. In his three years playing professional ball, Lincecum has gone 40-17 with a 2.90 career ERA. The right hander from Bellevue, Washington was busted in October of 2009 for a marijuana possession while being pulled over for speeding. The deal is full of sweeteners should Lincecum continue his success with numerous bonus possibilities. Should the two-time All Star win the Cy Young Award again he’ll earn a hefty half million dollar bonus check. The Giants look to build on a strong 2009 season where the team went 88-74, but just missed out on the playoffs. Lincecum and the Giants will now head into spring training next week on the same page as they prepare for the 2010 season.

The question on everyone’s lips down in Miami for Super Bowl XLIV last week has been “Will Dwight Freeney play?”. The Indianapolis Colts pass rusher tore a ligament in his right ankle against the New York Jets in the AFC Championship Game and is unsure if he will be to play in the Super Bowl. Freeney laid out the possibility of playing simply during Super Bowl media day, “If I can run, I can play”. Head coach Jim Caldwell told the press on Friday that Freeney is making progress stating that Freeney was “trending in the right direction”. Many ex-pros have been saying all week that if Freeney can physically add anything to team then he’ll be out on the field on Sunday. The five-time Pro Bowler had 13.5 sacks this season and is key aspect of the Colts’ defense. If Saints’ quarterback Drew Brees is allowed time in the pocket it could be a long night for the Colts.

It has been reported that Detroit Tigers’ ace Justin Verlander is in talks with the club over a reported 5-year, $75 million deal that will keep the right hander in Motown. Verlander is coming off an All-Star season in which he won 19 games and ended the year with a 3.45 ERA. The 26-year-old is one of the most promising pitchers in the game with heat that breaks the 100 MPH mark. The current deal the Tigers have with Verlander expires after the 2011 season when if no deal is made the pitcher would be a free agent. In 2006 Verlander won the Rookie of the Year Award going 17-9 and became the only rookie pitcher to win 10 games before June in MLB history. Verlander has only one season with a losing record which was in 2008 when he went 11-17. The two sides appear to want to get this deal done before the 2010 season starts.

The New Orleans Saints will be hosting Brett Farve and the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday in the NFC Championship Game with the opportunity to go to the franchise’s first Super Bowl on the line. The Saints will have their hands full with the Vikings balanced offense of Farve airing it out and Adrian Peterson moving the chains between the tackles, however, when looking back at the Vikings’ last loss (against the Chicago Bears on December 28th) there are some lessons to be learned.

The Bears certainly didn’t shut down the Vikings as Farve forced overtime with a miraculous touchdown pass in the final moments of the fourth quarter only to be outdone by Jay Cutler connecting with Devin Aromashodu in OT. The biggest thing that allowed the Bears to defeat the Vikings was their offensive line’s ability to protect their quarterback. Left tackle Chis Williams surprised many in the way he handled Jared Allen (one of the NFL’s best pass rushers).

If the Saint’s offensive line led by Jonathan Stinchcomb and Jonathan Goodwin can protect Drew Brees then they should be able to put points on the board. That being said with the seasons these two teams had offensively look for Sunday’s contest to be a classic scorefest.

Gilbert Arenas did the silly thing of joking with a teammate about guns and then actually bringing a gun into the Verizon Center. The stadium is located in the District of Columbia, which has some very strict gun laws. Then he joked about it in public, with Twitter comments and goofy shooting motions at his teammates. This sealed his fate for the NBA for the moment, as he has been suspended indefinitely. Today he pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in the city, where he will end up with some impressive punishment. There is a possibility that he could be put in jail for a certain amount of time. But there is also the possibility that he will just get probation and something else. It doesn’t look like he will actually end up in jail for any length of time. But he will have to clean up his act a little bit if he wants to make a comeback of any kind.

Donovan McNabb struggled in the final weeks of this season. The biggest challenge for him was this weekend when he lost to the Cowboys for the second week in a row. It was particularly tough because they had already been shut out in their previous game. The Cowboys had their number, as they say, so they’re headed to the Divisional Round. Then the yearly question about whether Donovan McNabb is going to stay in Philly again this year or not. They are concerned about his record in the playoffs over the last years. Whether the team goes in as a Wild Card or as a division winner, they just don’t seem to be able to win it. They made it to the Super Bowl once, but they had a long series of simply losing in the NFC Championship. This weekend, losing in wild card might be embarassing, but they have a young team with some great talent. They shouldn’t dump McNabb just yet. It’s going to be a better year next year and hopefully continue that trend for several more years.

Kurt Warner has been in the league for only about a dozen years. But he’s 38 years old. Most quarterbacks don’t make it that long, and many never reach the level of play that Warner has been able to achieve for multiple years in a row. A long time ago, he was a Super Bowl champion. Then he was silent for nearly 4 years. I even didn’t realize that he was still a player in the league. Now he’s on his way back to the playoffs once again. Last year, he even led his team to a Super Bowl appearance. They didn’t quite win it, but they were awfully close. Will he be able to do it again? And what about next year? Is there another next year for Warner? Or has he been injured too many times to keep himself going much longer?