This note’s for you, Tiger. …
And now for one Jack Nicklaus record that Tiger Woods won’t break: 19 runner-up finishes in majors. The British Open was Tiger’s 35th major as a pro. Nicklaus at that point had eight major victories and seven second-place finishes. Tiger? He has 10 victories and two seconds. Moral to the story: Nicklaus had to work harder for his. Tiger is making it look easy. …
Can Tiger come from behind to win a major? Strange as it seems to say, we don’t know. Nicklaus used to charge on Sundays. Tiger coasts. …
Just the fax: The Rockies’ 5-4 win Monday night at Washington makes them 32-59, meaning they will have to finish 36-35 in their final 71 games to cover the Las Vegas over/under of 67 1/2. …
Broncos D-lineman Gerard Warren, on his lengthy list of critics in Cleveland: “I don’t care about the critics, man. I don’t get any satisfaction when they hype me up or when they try to tear me down. My satisfaction is in winning. I haven’t won in a long time.” …
The Nuggets continue to shop for a No. 2 guard, but, for all we know, their best option could be waiting for Michael Finley to be cut loose by the Mavs. A few words of caution before going head over heels over Finley: He’s 32, and his scoring averages the past six seasons have gone from 22.6 to 21.5 to 20.6 to 19.3 to 18.6 to 15.7. …
Given the uncertain health status of Marcus Camby and Kenyon Martin, Kiki Vandeweghe has been steadfast in his refusal to include Nene in a deal for a No. 2 guard. Makes sense, I suppose.
Question is, what happens next summer when Nene is a free agent? What, you think he won’t get some lucrative offers? Assuming Yao Ming, Ben Wallace and Amare Stoudemire re-up with their teams, the biggest names available figure to be the immortal Lorenzen Wright, the incomparable Michael Olowokandi and the one and only Nazr Mohammed. …
ESPN.com’s Skip Bayless, making his point that Rafael Palmeiro, for all his gaudy numbers, shouldn’t be a first-ballot Hall of Famer: “Has Palmeiro ever been called Mr. October? Mr. Anything? OK, Mr. Viagra.” …
Your leading candidate for the National League Cy Young Award? Hint: It’s not Dontrelle Willis. Dude is 8-12 career after the all-star break. …
Jeff Gordon‘s brakes went out at Sunday’s New England 300, leaving him with his ninth finish of 25th place or worse in 19 races. Here’s hoping he turns it around because, after hearing Gordon sing at Wrigley Field, we know he doesn’t dare give up his day job. …
Purdue, which lost quarterback Kyle Orton and record-setting wideout Taylor Stubblefield to graduation, is the trendy darkhorse pick to play in the Rose Bowl. How’s that? The Boilermakers lost five games last season – two by two points, two others by three and another by four. …
Bowling Green quarterback Omar Jacobs threw 41 touchdown passes and four interceptions last season. So why mention it in July in Denver? Because Jacobs’ position coach is former Mullen High School head coach Mick McCall. …
Angels pitcher Brendan Donnelly, on accepting his suspension after umpires found pine tar in his glove: “My hands are tied.” Responded Scott Ostler of the San Francisco Chronicle: “Hey, Brendan, maybe they’re just stuck together.” …
Who says former Air Force players don’t make a name for themselves in pro basketball? WNBA megastar Lisa Leslie is marrying former Air Force hoopster Michael Lockwood, now a pilot for UPS. …
Meanwhile, police in Pittsburgh have charged a man with harassing two women he was dating while pretending to be Steelers quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Brian St. Pierre. One of the women reportedly became suspicious when the man claimed to be Roethlisberger but couldn’t spell his own name.
Catch Jim Armstrong from 6-9 a.m. during “The Press Box” on ESPN 560 AM, and tonight on Fox Sports Net’s “Insider Edition.” He can be reached at 303-820-5452 or jmarmstrong@denverpost.com.
