You got me.
American sportswriters find the World Cup soccer tournament boring but a five-hour round of golf featuring “athletes” who get winded walking from the 18th hole to the bar fascinating.
Be that as it may, the U.S. Open, one of the classic sporting events in America, kicks off today at one of the classic courses, Winged Foot Golf Club, where the term “mulligan” was invented (8 a.m., ESPN, and 1 p.m., KUSA-Channel 9).
The big news, of course, is the rivalry between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and that Woods is back after a nine-week layoff following his father’s death.
In a press conference in Mamaroneck, N.Y., Woods told reporters, “I think one of the hardest things for me, in all honesty, was to get back to the game of golf, because a lot of memories, great memories, that I have with my dad are at the golf course.”
I don’t know much about golf – OK, I know how to sit in a golf cart and drink beer – but Woods’ layoff means nothing. Pick him to win when the tournament ends, on Father’s Day.
If I need a nap, I’ll tune in.
Going Italian
Humiliated in its first outing in the FIFA World Cup, the U.S. soccer team tries to make things right with a match against Italy (12:30 p.m. Saturday, KMGH- Channel 7).
Soccer analyst Max Bretos got it right on the “Best Damn Sports Show Period”: “It was a disaster. There’s nothing positive to pull out of this. It was that bad.”
Once the finger-pointing dies down between his players and coach Bruce Arena over the 3-0 loss to the Czech Republic, the Americans need to beat the Italians or face an “exhibition” match against Ghana next Thursday.
Irv and Joe return
Good to see that Irv Brown and Joe Williams wintered OK.
The chatty talk-radio boys who give sports TV a new dimension are back on Altitude. They’re in the key time slot of 11 p.m. Mondays, opposite “Animal Cops Houston” and “Charlie Rose.”
Around the dial
Most entertaining on-air duo at the World Cup is Adrian Healey and Tommy Smyth, buried by ABC to cover one of the least-interesting groupings … Except for a monumental collapse in Tuesday’s game, the Dallas Mavericks could be up 3-0 instead of 2-1 in their NBA finals series against Miami. They meet again tonight in Miami (7 o’clock, KMGH-Channel 7) … The Antonio Tarver-Bernard Hopkins light heavyweight title bout from last Saturday airs again. I won’t ruin it by telling who won, but it was a doozy (7:30 p.m. Saturday, HBO) … The career of boxing legend Rocky Marciano gets examined minutely on a six-hour “Classic Ringside” (10 p.m. Saturday, ESPN Classic) … Quotable: “Anyone who likes golf would enjoy watching the grass grow on the greens.” Andy Rooney
Dick Kreck’s column appears Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. He may be reached at 303-820-1456 or dkreck@denverpost.com.
