Author: bsd987

I have written for SportsColumn.com since 2004 and was named a featured writer in 2006. I have been Co-Editor of the site since January 1, 2009. I also write for BleacherReport.com where I am a founding member of the Tennis Roundtable and one of the chief contributors to both the Tennis and Horse Racing sections.

I am "Stat Boy" for Sportscolumn.com's weekly podcast, Poor Man's PTI.

I am currently a Junior at Rice University majoring in History and Medieval Studies. My senior thesis will focus on the desegregation of football in Texas and its affect of racial relations.

Please direct all inquiries to [email protected].

Thanks,
Burton DeWitt
Co-Editor of Sportscolumn.com

Categories
MLB

Secluded Scout Who Found Ryan, Sutton, Pujols Dead at 86

You probably don’t know the story of Edgar Willard, not unless you knew the man. He did not want you to know him; he did not want you to know his story. Sure, people tried. What a funny word, tried. Could you really have tried when the odds of success going in were zero?

Yet, I knew Edgar Willard, lived next door to him for eight years. Shot hoops in the backyard and when I missed, the ball would roll into his yard. He’d pick it up and toss it back. Not a word.

One day I asked him why he kept silent, why he had no visitors, why he was so aloof, and he told me. He told me everything.

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Categories
Golf

Tiger!

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Categories
Horse Racing

Print Media to Blame for Horse Racing’s Irrelevance

Everyone has his theory as to why horse racing has become irrelevant: it does not transplant well to television; it’s a sport for degenerates; it’s too dangerous; the tracks are poorly managed.

And you know what, each theory has a bit of truth.

But it is not the real problem.

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Categories
Other College Sports

Root for a One-Legged Wrestler? Not Over My Boy

Great stories are great. Great stories are fun. Unless they have to go through your team.

Arizona State wrestler Anthony Robles was born without right hip bone, meaning he also was born without a right leg.

Maybe you have heard the story? It was reported all around the country: ESPN, Fox Sports, even Gregg Doyel of CBSSports.com wrote about him. I almost did myself, but his loss at the 2008 NCAA Wrestling Tournament one match shy of being an All-American left me too disappointed. He deserved his story to wait.

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Categories
College Football

Second Chances, Forgiveness, Not Applicable for Everyone

This is good news. Well, it’s bad news, but for me it’s good news.

I’ve never believed in second chances, at least not when you do something this unethical. Now I have a second story to back me up.

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Categories
Soccer

Middlesbrough’s Relegation Battle on Verge of Failure

It’s been more than half a year since Middlesbrough went to Anfield and almost secured the biggest shocker of the season. Sure, it was only the second match of the campaign, but Boro never wins the crucial match.

Manager Gareth Southgate predicted a trip to Europe before the season. After an opening victory at the Riverside against Tottenham Hotspur, fans of the northwest club sensed maybe this could be their year.

The first 85 minutes at Liverpool were nothing short of brilliant.

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Categories
College Football

All You Need to Know About National Signing Day

And the future stars of college football are….

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Categories
Tennis

Safin-Federer a Tale of Two Matches

There were two tennis matches played late Friday night in Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne, and I’m not including Jelena Dokic’s three-set thriller over Caroline Wozniaki.

The marquee match, the rematch, whatever you want to call it, between former world number one Roger Federer and former world number one Marat Safin was both matches: the awful first two sets and the remarkable third one. In the first set, Federer played sloppy-but-consistent while Safin was erratic on nearly ever other point, missing wildly on his serve, backhand, and especially forehand. But the third set was a different breed: a showcase of two of the most talented players of all time playing the type of tennis that at one point rose both to the top.

And if we really want to know all that Friday’s match was about, we need to ignore the first two sets.

Federer jumped out to a quick, devastating two set lead, converting three of his four break chance opportunities and only twice falling behind 15-30 or worse on his serve. Safin never had a break point.

He closed out the first set with a break at love followed by hold at love. He was nearly as dominant in the second set, breaking Safin in Safin’s last two service games.

Those two sets took merely 59 minutes.

And then Safin turned it on.

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Categories
Tennis

Tennis Power Rankings – Week 2

Each week, I will rank the top 15 male singles tennis players as I currently see them and give a sentence or two about him. I will also select two players not currently in the top 50 of the ATP Rankings who have the talent to move up and two players in the top 25 of the ATP Rankings that are dropping and dropping fast.

The first week of official ATP events resulted in a few stunning upsets, as Gael Monfils defeated Rafael Nadal in Doha, Qatar, and Ernests Gulbis knocked reigning Australian Open champion and world number three Novak Djokovic in Brisbane, Australia.

Andy Murray beat Roger Federer, again, dropping the first set in a tie-breaker before controlling the final two sets, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, on his way to the championship at Qatar. It’s reached the point now that if Federer beats Murray on a hard court, I’d consider that an upset.

Two-time NCAA Champion Somdev Devvarman returned to his birth country and made a stunning run to the finals at Chennai. He’ll meet Marin Cilic in Sunday’s final.

The Brisbane final features Radek Stepanek and Fernando Verdasco. Stepanek upset Robin Soderling and Richard Gasquet in three sets each on the way to his first final since last February. It is the first hard court final on the ATP Tour for Verdasco.

And in the star-filled tournament in Qatar, Andy Murray defeated Andy Roddick in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2, for his ninth career ATP Tour title. It was his eighth title in past 23 months.

That said, let’s take a look at Sportscolumn.com’s inaugural tennis power rankings.

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Categories
College Football

Fox Coverage Makes Move to ESPN Make Sense

The only thing more disastrous than Bob Stoops’s red-zone offensive playcalling Thursday night was Fox’s coverage of the Bowl Championship Series. And it was disastrous.

Starting with the obvious, Thom Brennaman proved that he makes Al Michaels and John Madden appear intelligent.

Take, for instance, in the pregame show, when he introduced us to “Dolphins Stadium,” even though there’s no such place as “Dolphins Stadium.” For those who care for accuracy, the game was played in “Dolphin Stadium.”

Or, in the first quarter, when Brennaman said the Gators had third down and 10, even though it was only second down. Of course, he would later top this gaffe when he would mess up the down six times in one series.

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