American Tennis

This year at the French Open has been quite embarrassing for US tennis. After just the first two rounds, Serena Williams, Venus Williams, and Andy Roddick have already lost. Here is a look into how all three stars exited so early this year.

Serena Williams:


Serena has dominated women's tennis for the past decade. She has won twelve majors in singles and a bunch more in doubles. Coming into the French Open, she was on a high after winning a few weeks ago on the blue clay in Madrid. Serena was one of the favorites to win this years French Open but that all came to a halt two days ago when she lost in the first round to the 111th ranked female, Virginie Razzano. Before entering this week, Serena was undefeated in the first round of majors (46-0). She struggled all match ending up with 30 unforced errors. Enough cannot be Razzano though. He 32 year old coach died a few months ago due to a brain tumor so she was wearing a black ribbon on her shirt. She is also French so she had the whole crowd rallying around her. All in all, it was a major disappointment for Serena and it showed as she was in tears during the post game interview.

Andy Roddick:


Approaching 30 years old, Andy appears to be slowing down on the tennis court. His shots have a lack of movement and his serve isn't as strong as it use to be. He was easily beaten by Frenchman Nicolas Mahut and people are starting to wonder when Andy will hang up the shoes and retire. It tough because he was the face of US mens tennis not to long ago but he is just not the same player anymore.

Venus Williams:


Venus wasn't even ranked for this years French Open. Due to numerous injuries, she has not been able to play in recent tournaments. Just like Roddick, she is appearing to slow down as she was demolished in the  second round today. She lost 6-2 6-3 to the #3 seed Radwanska. Just like her sister, she did not expect to exit the French Open so early but now she needs to get healthy so she can try to get back to the level she was once at.

Quarter Awards

Already a quarter of the season has passed by in the 2012 MLB season. Here are the awards so far.

NL MVP
David Wright: 4 HR/25 RBI/.415 BA

Earlier in the year this award would have gone to Matt Kemp but due to his hammy injury, I think David Wright deserves it. The once all star has had a few off years due to injury so it is nice to see him return to form.

AL MVP

Josh Hamilton: 18HR/47 RBI/.379 BA
This man has been out of this world as he has dominated the AL pitching day in and day out. This astonishing numbers have not been seen this early since Micky Mantle. If he can keep it up, he will arguably have the best season anyone has ever had before.

NL CY YOUNG
Brandon Beachy: (5-2) 1.77 ERA
The Braves have been delighted to see this young pitcher produce and help lead the Braves to the top of the NL East. This was a tough decision due to so many pitchers doing so well in the NL such as Strasburg, Cueto, and others.

AL CY YOUNG
Justin Verlander: (5-1) 2.22 ERA
The way he pitches is just unfair to opposing hitters. His fastball can get to 100 MPH and his wicked curveball keeps batters unbalanced throughout the game. He got close to getting his 4th career no hitter against the Pirates but lost it with two outs left in the game. If he keeps it up, he will definitely have more chances to snatch his 4th.

MANAGERS OF THE YEAR
AL: Buck Showalter (Baltimore Orioles)    
NL: Don Mattingly (LA Dodgers

Players Suspended

Last week, the league game down hard on the Saints again as the suspended four current/ex defensive players of the team for participating in the bounty program. Here is a look at all four players and what they are being accused of.

(Jonathan Vilma)
Saints Defensive Captain
Suspension: 16 games

The Pro Bowl, Middle Linebacker has been accused
of being the ring leader of the bounty program. He
will appeal his season long suspension to the commissioner,
Rodger Goddell.

(Anthony Hargrove)
Suspension: 8 games

The Defensive End currently with the Packers
has been suspended due in part because he
actively obstructed the league's 2010 investigation
into the program by being untruthful to investigators.

(Will Smith)
Saints leading pass rusher
Suspension: 4 games

The Saints Defensive End has been suspended
4 games because he supposedly added money
to the bounty pool and intended to hurt players
in games such as Kurt Warner and Brett Favre.

(Scott Fujita)
Suspension: 4 games

Currently with the Browns, Fujita has been
suspended four games due to his involvement
 in paying Saints defensive
players to hurt opponents during games.

NFL Draft

The much anticipated NFL draft finally occurred this past weekend. Here is a look at the top five picks and a brief analysis of each player.

1. Indianapolis Colts: Andrew Luck QB- No surprise here for the Colts as this was expected since Peyton Manning left for the Broncos. Luck has big shoes to fill but hopefully he can turn a franchise that won two games last season into Super Bowl contenders.

2. Washington Redskins: Robert Griffin III QB- RG3 comes into an organization that has been trying to find their franchise quarterback for over a decade. The Redskins gave up numerous picks for RG3 so they are hoping he is not a bust. The Heisman Trophy winner will try and lead the Redskins to their first winning season in four years.

3. Cleveland Browns: Trent Richardson RB- The Browns traded up for by far the most talented running back in this class. After the Browns finished last in almost every offensive category last season, they knew they needed to draft a playmaker and Richardson will be stepping into that role instantly. Hopefully he can perform and I am sure he will after how successful he was at Alabama.

4. Minnesota Vikings: Matt Kalil OT- The Vikings moved back one spot and still obtained the best offensive lineman in the draft. Christian Ponder, the Vikings rookie quarterback last year, was sacked quite a bit as the offensive line struggled throughout the season. Kalil will be hoping to add some stability to the offensive line and help the young Ponder stay on his feet.

5. Jacksonville Jaguars: Justin Blackmon WR- Shockingly, not a single Jaguars wide receiver caught over 100 passes last season as the offense was ranked near to last in every single offensive category. Blackmon was a complete monster in college and will try to bring some energy and talent to such a dreadful offense. Young quarterback Blaine Gabbert will finally have a legitimate player to throw to and his stats will definitely improve.

Rest of the first round picks: