Lucas Glover is the national champion.  A most improbable U.S. Open wrapped up with a most improbable winner.  Patience was needed in a major billed as golf's toughest test.  With rain cutting through half the tournament, the U.S. Open was extended an extra day but it was worth the wait.

Usually, the USGA goes out of its way to make the U.S. Open as difficult as possible, meaning the final round is about surviving the day rather than seizing the moment.  But with the rain that fell, the greens at New York's Bethpage Black were firm and inviting, opening the door for scoring opportunities.  As such player after player made a charge at the leaderboard, starting with the ever-present Tiger Woods.

However, this was not a typical U.S. Open and it wasn't just because of the weather.  This required some imagination.  Imagine Tiger's frustration when he did all he could possibly do but the putts just weren't dropping for him.  Had Woods played in the sun instead of the rain early on he might've retained his crown.  But Woods dug himself a hole and sometimes the breaks don't go you're way, even if you're the world's best.

Imagine what was going through the mind of Ricky Barnes after throwing up the lowest 36 hole score in Open history.  Imagine having to wait for what seemed like forever to get the final round underway, only to stumble through two holes, then go home Sunday night to sleep on the fact that he squandered his lead.  Not surprising, Barnes finished the final round with a +6 76.

Imagine the emotion Phil Mickleson is feeling.  Lefty was the gallery favorite this week and like Woods he made a back nine charge thanks to an eagle on the 12th.  But again it wasn't in the cards as Mickleson missed two key putts down the stretch to finish runner-up yet again.  But this all serves as child's play for Mickleson after the announcement that his wife has breast cancer.  It would've been a great ending for Phil, but this was not typical major.

How un-typical?  Imagine David Duval's mindset.  At one point Duval was on his way to being Tiger's counterpart but instead he spent most of the decade as a running joke.  It's as if you'd expect Duval's face to be on a milk carton under the caption "have you seen this boy?"  But there he was, churning out birdies on the back nine and making the charge he should've made a long time ago.  However, like Mickleson, his putter failed him down the stretch.

So for all the heavyweights it was Glover doing what U.S. Open winners do in the final round...don't get cute, grind out pars and when the opportunity comes along, grab it by the horns.  So when Glover drained a birdie putt on 16 to give him some breathing room, there was no doubt.  It was the usual way to win a most unusual major.

I need to make my annual mid-June disclaimer: I do not hate Tiger Woods.  I'm not a Tiger Hater, I'm a Tiger Realist.  Without ever having to watch a final round of any PGA tournament, I can tell exactly how it ended based on the number of text messages I receive.  If it's none, that means Tiger lost.  If my BlackBerry blows up like it did yesterday, it means Tiger did something amazing.  Yet I'm the one labeled as a hater.

Tiger is the best on tour, no doubt about it.  Once again Woods left a memorable impression and all anyone can say today (other than contributing to the next chapter of the never-ending Favre drama) is how Tiger looks unstoppable heading into next week's U.S. Open.  Yep, he's got that killer instinct back.  He's unbeatable.  The U.S. Open is really about who's playing for second.

But you're about to read something you won't read anywhere else: that's exactly what everyone said after the Arnold Palmer Invitational back in March.  Everyone said the knee injury was behind him and he's rounding into perfect form just in time for the Masters.  How did he do?  Did he win?  Let me check my text history for the number of messages I received that day.

The point is: let's just wait and see.  If Tiger wins it, he'll deserve it, but let's not be so quick to just hand it to him.  It's still the U.S. Open and it's one of the hardest challenges in all of sports.  To win it, you need to be accurate off the tee and sharp on the greens, two things Woods has struggled at throughout his career.

So let's just wait and see.  As he proved over the weekend, he tends to win tournaments played at courses suited to his game and Tiger won the U.S. Open when it was last held at Bethpage back in 2002.  He's the favorite but that doesn't guarantee anything.  That's not hating, that's just keeping it real.

It is fitting that the Brewers turned in a classic four hour 26-run slugfest in Cleveland tonight.  Milwaukee's last year in the AL was 1997 and that year Cleveland was the site of both the All-Star game and the World Series.  Yes, National League ball is pure and strategic while the AL is contrived and barbaric.  Nevertheless, watching the game made me nostalgic for the good ol' days and it made me think of all the things I miss from the American League:

The Evil Empire that was the Oakland A's

Powder blue road uniforms

Quality shortstops

The California Angels

Red Sox-Yankees not being that big of a deal

Speaking of Angels & Red Sox, whatever happened to Dave Henderson?  He hit two of the most famous postseason home runs in '86 but has been all but forgotten

Boston finding a way to choke in October

The Twins never losing at home in the World Series

The Twins never winning on the road in the World Series

Heck, the Twins in the World Series period

Detroit's record after 40 games in 1984: 35-5...pretty much could've ended the season right there

Texas bringing up some young, can't-miss prospect who would sure enough would miss (Pete Incaviglia, anyone?)

Those hideous Chicago uniforms with "SOX" plastered in the middle...so ugly, yet I couldn't look away

The NBC Game of the Week, I didn't grow up in a big league city, so it was a treat getting a random Orioles-Royals game on a Saturday afternoon

Three titans that defined Seattle in the mid-90's: Chris Cornell, Windows 95 and Edgar Martinez

1999 Pedro Martinez: 23-4, 2.07 ERA, 313 Ks in only 29 starts (I know it was after the Brewers left but just look at those numbers.)  Vintage.

And yes, four hour baseball games

What's that?  You say you're a dedicated Favre fan, huh?  Okay, you bought two game-worn jock straps on eBay and haven't been to work since he announced his retirement.  Child's play.  You've still got nothing on young David Witthoft, who finally took off his favreite jersey for the first time since getting it as a Christmas gift...in 2003.

That's 1,581 consecutive days and, presumably, at least that many cans of Axe body spray.

It's easy to take shots at the kid for his lack of a wardrobe, but I for one admire his dedication.  If Favre could play in 275 consecutive games, the least David could do is wear his #4 jersey for 4 consecutive years, right?

For a 12 year-old, you've got great perspective David: fair weather fans change shirts, but real fans don't, no matter how stinky, ripped, or out of style they may get.  Or how ticked off your girlfriend may get.  No, real fans keep those tattered rags on and they keep rooting for their teams, no matter how battered they may be.

You listening to me, Ned Yost bashers?  You listening to me, Bucks fans?

Wisconsin is a sports state that values loyalty, from its athletes and fans alike.  Favre.  Yount.  And now you, David.  I'll be sending you an Aaron Rodgers that I expect you to wear for the next decade.   

Now that was a Game Seven.  Interesting stat going into the finale of the Stanley Cup: the Detroit Red Wings were making their fifth Cup appearance since 1997 and prior to tonight the Wings were 11-2 at home in the finals.  So it was quite a surprise when after a first period of nip-and-tuck hockey, Pittsburgh's Max Talbot stole the puck in front of Detroit's net and sliced one past Chris Osgood.  Talbot added another goal later in the second and suddenly the mighty Wings were looking flat.

The story of the night was Pittsburgh goalie Marc-Andre Fleury.  The Red Wings were in control early but Fleury settled in and didn't allow Detroit to score until there was six minutes left.  Fleury, like the rest of the Penguins, showed a bit of maturity that was missing from last year's team which fell to the very same Red Wings.  Of course, when Fleury made one big mistake but was bailed out by the crossbar, it was clear the Penguins would win.  You knew Detroit would make one final push and when Fleury went sideways with two seconds left the maturation process was complete.

If listening to Mike Emrick wasn't motivation enough to watch the game, at the very least you need to check out the last six seconds.  A faceoff deep in Pittsburgh's zone.  Detroit with an empty net to get the extra skater.  One goal game and it comes down to a faceoff and one last chance for Detroit.  It simply doesn't get any better than that.  For Pittsburgh, it won't get much better than exacting revenge by beating Detroit in a nearly unbeatable arena.

I'm going to get my NBA Finals prediction out of the way early: Lakers in five.  It seems like everyone is saying it'll go six or seven games.  Six is always a safe bet.  Four is too bold.  Seven is too sappy.  So I'm saying LA in five.  Right away we can eliminate the goofy "Orlando swept the season series" talk.  The Magic had a healthy Jameer Nelson rounding into midseason form when Orlando won those two games.  Nelson will be active tonight but he's sure to be rusty and I can't imagine he'll be able to put up the same numbers he did during the regular season meetings.

Obviously there will be a lot of attention paid to Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, but how this series will be won or lost (or as the NBA would put it, where amazing needs to happen for either team to win) will come down to the role players.  The Kobe-LeBron thing would've been nice but the Magic have more balance and that opens up a lot more strategy.  The Lakers have solid depth and they made need it if Andrew Bynum gets into foul trouble defending Howard.  Which Lamar Odom will show up?  How will Orlando's sharpshooters fare?  Will Nelson even be effective?  These are questions that wouldn't be asked if Cleveland won the East.  All anyone would be focusing on would be Kobe and LeBron.  But in this series, Los Angeles is too potent outside of Kobe.  I haven't even mentioned Pau Gasol.  If Orlando doesn't contain him this series will be over quickly.

I can't imagine there's a more confident team than the Magic but confidence only goes so far.  At this level, experience is usually needed.  The Lakers have it.  They have the experience, the depth, and yes, even a bit of coaching (from a man who has yet to win a title without the services of Michael Jordan or Shaquille O'Neal).  That trumps any confidence the Magic have or any boost they might get from Nelson.

"One hit!?!?" whines Harry Doyle (Bob Uecker) after another pathetic performance by the fictional Cleveland Indians in Major League.  "One g*&%^$ed hit?!?!?"

The Brewers got more than one g*&%^$ed hit last night, but barely.  Sadly, these pathetic offensive performances aren't fictional, and unless things turn around quickly, there won't be a Hollywood ending this season.

The Brewers now have the fifth fewest hits (267) in the Majors, the fifth worst team batting average (.241), and are now on the verge of losing their fifth straight game.  Next stop; fifth in the division.

I'm hardly alone in my pessimism, when ESPN.com's Page 2 entitles a story "Woe is the Milwaukee Brewers," it's clear that the general consensus is that this brew is dangerously close to going flat. 

There are few things in sports as good as a Game Seven.  That winner-take-all, loser-goes-home is a rare event on the biggest stage and when it comes along it needs to be cherished.  But after the first two games of the Stanley Cup finals it looked like hockey fans would again be deprived of that alluring seventh game.

If you didn't watch much hockey throughout the season you still could've come to two logical conclusions after 120 minutes: the Pittsburgh Penguins really need Sid Crosby to score and the Detroit Red Wings are by far the best team in the postseason.  In Game Three Pittsburgh didn't get a goal from Crosby again (though he did have an assist) but they were able to do something  incredible: they capitalized on rare Detroit mistakes and turned them into goals.  The Penguins dominated the third period thanks to Sergei Gonchar's power play goal midway through the period.  The thing that makes Detroit so good is it seems like they never make mistakes.  The Red Wings win faceoffs and rarely get penalized (Detroit had only 9 penalty minutes in the first two games.)

Pittsburgh was more physical and more aggressive, so now we have a series.  Game Four is Thursday and I'm a bit perplexed by that.  First of all, Friday night is hockey night.  Second, the Stanley Cup goes up against Game One of the NBA Finals.  Hey the NBA playoffs have been great.  I was looking forward to a Cavs-Lakers series complete with $20 Chinese food but Orlando sure has been impressive.  To be honest, if forced to make a choice (and I won't have to thanks to picture-in-picture technology), I'd have to pick the Cup for one reason: Mike Emrick.  He is the NBC/Versus answer to WSW favorite Gus Johnson.  His calls are both enthusiastic and genuine and if you don't get a bit of a rush from his patented "Zetterberg with the DRIIIVE!!" call, well there's something wrong with you.  For now, Pittsburgh is back in it but if Sid the Kid doesn't get off the schnide, it'll be another Cup for Hockeytown.

I liked it when the Brewers signed Eric Gagné.  Clearly closer was a priority after Francisco Cordero bolted and Gagné proved in Texas that he was still capable of being an effective closer.  Sure, it was a bit of a risk.  For as good as he looked in the first half of '07 in Texas, Gagné suffered big time as Boston's setup guy in the second half.  Plus everyone knew he wasn't nearly as dominant as he was earlier in the decade.

I was front and center with Gagné two months ago.  Now, not so much.  Yesterday Gagné took his second loss and based on everything else that has happened so far this season it's pretty clear that it's time for a change.  We all know the numbers.  Yes Gagné has nine saves but you can't overlook his five blown saves.  Yesterday was not a save opportunity but the result was the same.  Gagné can't pitch a 1-2-3 inning anymore and that's exactly what you need from a closer.  He has given up 18 hits and 11 walks.  That's 27 baserunners in just 15.2 innings pitched.  His strikeout total is nice but again you have to take the bad with the good and the bad has far outweighed the good.

Ned Yost said yesterday that he won't make any rash decisions regarding Gagné.  That's fair but this is not a problem that developed overnight.  This is not like that two week stretch Derrick Turnbow had in July 2006 when his effectiveness headed south in a hurry.  Gagné's inconsistency has literally been a problem since day one.  As a point of comparison, Turnbow blew eight saves in 32 opportunities in 2006 and finished with an ERA of 6.87.  In just 14 opportunities, Gagné already has blown five and his ERA is 6.89.  Turnbow's rocky July prompted the Brewers to acquire Cordero.  Now that Gagné is putting up the same kind of numbers Turnbow did why not make a change?

For your reading enjoyment....