Why two losses aren't the same

Today on Mike & Mike in the Morning, Mike Greenberg and Chris Carter debated what Tom Watson should be feeling after finishing second in The British Open. Greenberg took the side of the non-jock -- saying Watson should simply be happy that his 59-year old body held up for four days and allowed him to be within eight feet of his ninth major. Carter, on the other hand, wasn't as optimistic. As a former athlete, Carter said if he was in Watson's shoes, he would feel zero satisfaction. The fact is, he didn't win, which means he isn't a champion.

I've heard this topic debated between the two before and Carter is all about winning, no matter the circumstance. I agree with the former Minnesota Viking that there is no moral victory by finishing second, or third, or fourth. However, I lean toward Greenberg's perspective on certain occasions.

There are moments in sports when the probability of something happening is so slim that if it does happen, it seems almost sureal. I'm not talking about the Arizona Cardinals surprising some people and making it all the way to the Super Bowl. If I'm Larry Fitzgerald, there isn't an ounce of me that is satisfied with merely exceeding expectations. Arizona could of, and some would say, should have, won the Super Bowl. If you make the playoffs in the NFL, anything short of the Super Bowl is unacceptable.

But every once in a while there comes a moment when not finishing on top shouldn't elicit the same feeling of failure as what the Cardinals felt. For instance, when George Mason made its Cinderella run to the Final Four, it was absolutely ridiculous. No one thought the No. 11 seed would upset No. 6 Michigan State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. And when they topped No. 1 seed Connecticut in overtime to reach the Final Four, everyone adopted the Patriots as their team. At this point, they could lose by 100 to Florida and it wouldn't matter -- they had more than exceeded expectations, they had done the impossible and silenced every critic. When George Mason returned home and reflected on their season, they didn't feel the same as the Cardinals. There was massive disappointment, of course, but that disappointment was outweighed by the amazing run. The Patriots could take solace for knowing they forever put George Mason on the map and changed the school forever. It's the same feeling Tom Watson had yesterday. Of course he's furious he missed a short putt to win his first major in 26 years, but he also know the odds of him getting to that point were astronomical. I doubt he'll feel the same anger a week from now as he would have 30 years ago.

There are different degrees or losing, and although Watson and the Patriots are all as competitive as they come, their loses are more than just loses.

Ladies and Gentlemen...Brandon Inge!

A few notes from tonight:

Poor Brandon Inge. Really. I feel for him.

I'm pretty sure I found my calling tonight -- be the guy whose primary job is to wipe the sweat off of Albert Pujols' head after he swings. If I can't get that spot, I'll be the kid that gets to stand behind the wall in center field and catch homeruns.

You could tell Pujols was pissed. After his second round swings, he didn't even say anything to the little kids handing him his fresh Gatorade! You can't blame the guy, he's the best thing St. Louis has had Mark McGwire -- who wasn't in the pregame slideshow of Cardinal great (like he said, "I'm not here to talk about the past").

I expect to never hear anything positive about Nelson Cruz again.

In the past month, Pujols' legacy has skyrocketed. ESPN's Tim Kurkjian surveyed 10 current major leaguers and one former about the best batter-pitcher matchups, and every player picked Pujols. Then he became the first player to hit 30 homeruns in his first nine seasons. Kurkjian also wrote another article titled "The Perfect Player." Add in the All-Star Game being player in St. Louis, and Pujols has become the ultimate savior to the game of baseball. Poor A-Rod.

So I took a break from Arrested Development...

Update: Timberwolves GM David Kahn will likely get off the hook. He'll end up trading Rubio for some good players and have a starting point guard to show from the draft. But could it be that Kahn is actually smart? So smart that he saw all this coming -- Rubio not signing, teams lining up for him -- and now knows he can get a good deal for Rubio? I doubt it, but who knows?

-- I'm not hear to whine about last year's Mark DeRosa trade. When Cubs GM Jim Hendry dealt the utility man last summer, it was to free up space for Milton Bradley. The deal has clearly not worked in the Cubs favor, but that's neither here nor there. I just find it funny that on the same weekend the Cardinals make a deal for DeRosa to add some sort of credibility to their lineup outside of "The Machine," the Cubs send Aaron Miles, who was supposed to be DeRosa's replacement, to the DL (which is code for "You're batting .203 and you suck"). Actually, this is what's code for "You Suck" -- when a google image search for your name, "Aaron Miles," first produces a picture of the former Kansas Jayhawks point guard.

-- Out of all the hoopla surrounding Michael Jackson's death, the one thing that sticks out to me is his legacy. For the past two decades, any mention of Jackson was almost always negative or was accompanied by a child molestation joke. But suddenly, every media outlet in the world praises him as a cultural icon, someone who changed the world of music and performance forever, etc, etc. All those things are mostly true, but it's like the past 20 years never happened.

-- Am I happy with who the Bulls drafted? It's another, "eh" draft. I don't hate either pick, but I don't like them. I don't get the feeling either player will make much of an impact in the league. Ideally, I didn't want the Bulls to draft anyone. It's just two more rookies that the Bulls will have to develop when they should be spending their energy trying to get further in the playoffs. The money used on those two contracts could have been spent this summer or next. And there had to be takers, I mean, the Timberwolves have spent the last week justifying their selection of two point guards, and it STILL makes no sense. Are James Johnson and Taj Gibson going to push the Bulls further in the playoffs? No. But Chris Bosh will.

-Pros

The fifth sport?

Behind the NFL, the NBA, MLB and the NHL, soccer has comfortably taken a hold on US's fifth biggest sport. Haha, not yet.

Soccer will be out of the mainstream media by Tuesday. But for the time being, today's Confederations Cup Final between Brazil and USA is the talk of the town.

I'm usually not one for moral victories. As an athlete, that's the last thing you want. I hate using this saying, but Herm Edwards was right -- "You play to win the game." But this is different.

It's been waaaaay too long since US Soccer was as strong a force in the media as it is today. Although the attention will be gone in 24 hours, Team USA did accomplish something. Their performance won't change the way US Soccer is viewed or anything drastic like that, but casual soccer fans, like me, were glued to the TV today. Ashton Kutcher and Bill Simmons among others were tweeting their way through the match, and ESPN Radio and SportsCenter were all over the game. Soccer will be out of sight, out of mind soon enough, but people will remember this past week when the World Cup roles around next year.

I'd like to think my interest in soccer is that of most sports fans. I could care less about it unless it's a big match/tournament. This past week, Team USA showed up in two huge matches, and I was totally into it. My brother and I were playing NBA Live 2009 this morning, and we ALWAYS look at the stats afterwards. But today, we bypassed that normal step to watch the game. We freaked out when Clint Dempsey redirected the first goal. I probably won't watch another US soccer match until the World Cup, but when the team goes back to South Africa next year, I'll remember this weekend and watch again.

On another, more important note, at what point does a soccer player become "great." Kaka has become "The Great Kaka" according to today's announcers. How does Bill Gates become "The Great Bill Gates?" How has Bill Gates not earned that name yet? Ah, soccer is so confusing!

-Pros

Why Zen works

Phil Jackson is dating Jeannie Buss, the 39-year old daughter of Lakers owner Jerry Buss.
He lives in Los Angeles.
He's coaching the second-best player in the NBA.
He's dating a 39-year old and he's, yes, 63. Somewhere Celine Dion is smiling and saying "I told you I wasn't weird!"

But Jackson is more than a stud, he's the greatest NBA coach -- ever. Those who disagree will say the late Red Auerbach, who coached the Boston Celtics to nine championships, was the best.

Red won eight titles in a row with Boston, a feat that will likely never be topped. (But let's not kid ourselves, Jackson would have won eight straight in Chicago had Jordan not gone and played that other sport.)

Jackson has 10 titles in the salary cap/free agent era, where players constantly jump ship for money. Red coached essentially the same core group for most of the championships, Russell, K.C. Jones, Sam Jones, John Havlicek and Bob Cousy. Jackson has won titles with four different groups: the 1991-93 Bulls, the 1996-98 Bulls, the 2000-02 Lakers and the 2009 Lakers. Nothing against Red, but winning 10 titles in this era is significantly harder than it was in the '60s.

Everyone wants to say Jackson had all the talent. He had Jordan, Pippen, Shaq and Kobe on his side. But no one brings up the fact that when the NBA announced the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, FOUR were from Red's dynasty with the Celtics.

Red had Russell, who for all we know is pretty much the greatest teammate ever. Dealing with egos wasn't as difficult as it is nowadays, and when you have a guy like Russell on your team, it makes it that much easier. Look who Phil had to deal with. Jordan -- who wouldn't pass to his teammates at the end of a game (much like a certain #24 on the Lakers) until Phil got there. He somehow got Dennis Rodman to buy into his philosophy and help win three titles. He made sure Scottie Pippen, who would have put up far better numbers had he been the man (he set career highs in scoring and rebounding in 1994, when Jordan was playing baseball), never let the fact that he was Jordan's Robin effect the team. Then he somehow got Kobe and Shaq to coexist. Everyone knows the two didn't get along, but he got the two to play together.

Some believe that you can't argue which coach was better, I for one thought Phil was the best before this year. But now that he has 10, the fact remains that Phil has more titles than Red in a much harder environment.

Big gulps, eh?

Without any true connection to either the Red Wings or Penguins, my mind was free to wander after Game 7 on Friday. It was neat to see Sidney Crosby accept the Stanley Cup as the youngest captain in NHL history and to see Mario Lemieux hoist it above his head. But the multiple awkward moments truly made it a memorable experience.

To begin with, we have to watch Marian Hossa shake hands with the Penguins, the team he played with for four months last season. Next, NBC microphones pick up Red Wings coach Mike Babcock telling Crosby, "that's great leadership." Crosby says thanks, but doesn't really look Babcock in the eye. You almost feel bad for him, like he was trying to be nice and Crosby just didn't reciprocate.

A few minutes later, Evgeni Malkin, who had the highest playoff point total since the L.A. Kings' Wayne Gretzky in 1993, was presented with the Conn Smythe Award. So....Crosby....yeah. He's kind of the posterboy of the NHL, so was he really happy for his teammate? NBC did a good job of showing his reaction, and he looked pretty happy for him. But still, fun to ponder.

This part happens every year, but there are few things as uncomfortable to watch as when the Stanley Cup gets passed around. It starts with the captain, who usually passes it on to an elder teammate. Once the old guys have their chance, it starts to get interesting. The player looks at his group and thinks "Hmm...you weren't important, you were, you weren't, oh, ok, I'll give it to you."

When NBC's on-ice reporter interviewed Marc Andre Fleury it was like listening to Ozzy Osbourne during the seventh-inning stretch.

And who will ever forget poor old Gary Bettman. You knew he was the most disappointed person inside Joe Louis Arena when Pittsburgh won. He knew he'd get hear the boo birds, but presenting the Stanley Cup to the Penguins in Detroit? You know who else knew? The two guys who were smirking while carrying the Cup onto the ice..."Oh man, I can't wait to see that little guy behind the mic!" Bettman literally had to scream to be heard over the booing, and if that wasn't enough, his whole body shakes when he screams.

Love me some NHL.
-Pros

Anyone can jump out of a pool

We all know the Jarron Gilbert can jump out of a pool. Just in case you've never seen it, here it is.

When this video came out, it was one of the most impressive things I had ever seen.

A few days ago, this video surfaced of Washington Redskin wide receiver Keith Eloi. Sorry Gilbert, but you got owned.