As much as I can't help but look forward to vacation at the end of next week, there's still a bountiful list of sporting activities going on which merit attention.
While I'm looking forward to the start of Friday's Mid-Ohio Valley Junior Golf Association tour opener at Arrowhead Pines, there's a lot of things taking place today in the world of sports as well.
First and foremost it's finally the last day of the National Basketball Association's season.
It's Game 7 time now for the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics. When I was a kid I used to love the old-school Lakers.
Lately, or pretty much since the divorce of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant, watching the NBA has been kind of a passing the time thing for me.
However, it's still Game 7 tonight and despite the finale being in L.A., anything can happen and that's why fans watch. Surely the Lakers, or as I tend to call them the Fakers, have this crown for head man Phil Jackson wrapped up.
Forget the fact the Celtics have won all four previous Game 7 finals when they reached this point against the Lakers because this is Jackson's first Game 7 finals with L.A.
Personally, I'd still like to see the Lakers win but in reality it doesn't make any difference.
I did find it interesting that one poll I ran across on Wednesday asked if the NBA Finals were rigged. Roughly three-fourths of the approximate 70,000 voters said yes.
Even though today marks the opening round, I'm sure there's going to be a lot of high drama between the first and last tee shot at this week's 110th U.S. Open at the famed Pebble Beach course.
Sure, Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods are the favorites to win this tournament, but how Tiger can even concentrate on golf is beyond me.
Reports came out Wednesday about him having a second child, a son, which has been kept quiet. Then there's the release of a supposed documentary coming out today called "Tiger Woods: The Rise and Fall" which deals with him fathering a daughter in 2003.
Talk about as the sporting world turns.
Additionally, there's the continued play of the FIFA World Cup, which has more twists and turns than a roller coaster at Cedar Point.
Thus far the World Cup, known as the most widely viewed sporting event in the world, has brought us several controversies. There's been arguments about the special ball each match must use as well as that pleasant sound coming from the vuvuzelas.
However, my favorite one has to be from Monday's Netherlands and Denmark match where 30-plus women came in as Denmark fans and then shed their colors to reveal blazing orange minidresses to attract attention to themselves.
The problem was the ladies wearing the outfits happened to be promoting the Dutch beer company Bavaria because of logos on the dresses.
FIFA deemed the action as illegal "ambush marketing" and Budweiser is the official sponsor of the World Cup.
Who knows what's coming next.
Contact Jay Bennett at jbennett@newsandsentinel.com
