Tiger, Federer & Sharapova at U.S. Open, football, baseball and golf weekend in review

Did anyone get anything productive done this weekend? Besides taking down your previous record of buffalo wings and Miller Lite consumed in a 48-hour span?

The NFL season opened, college football had a #1 vs. #2 matchup, Tennis’ U.S. Open was filled with storylines and the MLB’s pennnant and wild card races continued to heat up (thanks to my Tigers doing what Detroit sports have been doing best lately: choking in crunch time after league-leading regular seasons).

And with Michelle Wie ducking out of the Omega early, we didn’t have to waste our time tracking her over the weekend; instead we could follow some more legitimate sporting headlines on this monster weekend.

Sports weekend in review

Wie leaves early, so does media: Did someone end up winning the Omega Masters or did everyone just go home once Wie left? As much as she’s become a mere publicity stunt entering men’s events, the coverage certainly lays up the moment she exits.

Teen makes Nationwide cut: After dropping out of school for incessant name-calling, Gipper Finau became the youngest to ever make a Nationwide Tour cut. This occured on the same weekend fellow teenager Michelle Wie missed the cut in Switzerland, which means a serious question must be raised: Do any high school teachers take attendance anymore???

Bush in 06: If Reggie Bush’s first game is any indication, he’s headed to a Rookie of the Year season (and Pro Bowl) and Mario Williams (taken in the draft before Bush) is headed toward “Sam Bowie” status (three tackles in his team’s loss, Bush’s Saints won). Bush is the next Marshall Faulk, he can do it all, and is going to ressurect the New Orleans franchise, and possibly end the poverty and dissention in the Big Easy (with help…).

Sharapova is pretty: I love hating on Nike, those conglomerate, sweatshop-loving fatcats, turning teenagers into $$-signs and breeding diva-like athletes who feel they must market themselves beyond simply playing their guts out on the field.

I’d hate on ‘em more if their ads weren’t so damn awesome. Nice timing on this Maria Sharapova commercial that debuted at the U.S. Open, which she won – her second major since winning Wimbledon two years ago and silencing all Anna Kournikova comparisons.

We all have dream jobs (Chris Baldwin is hoping to work on E! some day so he can chase celebs full-time and discuss Paris Hilton’s DUI with the kind of scrutiny that should be reserved for Halliburton or the defecit). For me, seeing how these Nike creatives score hit-after-hit would be fascinating.

Tiger sides with Federer, not fellow countryman: It’s the U.S. Open, two weeks before the Ryder Cup, and Tiger Woods is getting chummy with the Swiss champ Roger Federer in New York before the U.S. Open final featuring American Andy Roddick.

Woods has a history of being tight with the great - not good - ones. But maybe he could have chosen a little better timing than Sunday afternoon to root against a fellow American. If that’s not foreshadowing to an ugly U.S.A. K Club beatdown I don’t know what is.

College football rankings: Ohio State is #1 and Notre Dame is #2. If Michigan State was #3, my hometown of Ann Arbor would likely combust. Michigan plays at Notre Dame and Ohio State this season. If they lose to both teams again, heads are likely to roll, starting with coach Lloyd Carr’s. Letting these hated rivals bask in the glory while Michigan tries to regain powerhouse status is unacceptable in Maize ‘n Blue country.

Also, after beating Miami last week, did anyone notice Florida State’s come-from-behind W at home vs. Troy? Not the empire backed by half of mythology, the tiny school in Alabama.

(Lack of) Rooting for the underdog: There’s no better story in baseball right now than the success of the Florida Marlins, a bunch of rookies making dirt who continue to climb the National League and are just outside the playoffs looking in. The Marlins are last in the majors with a salary of $14 million (Tampa Bay is 2nd to last with $35 million). It’s too bad the people of Miami could seemingly care less. The Marlins struggle to fill their stadium half way. You wouldn’t think that’d be the case with a large Cuban population who not only adore baseball but you think would relate to the underdog status. But apparently you can’t talk anyone off South Beach unless you’ve got big stars like Shaq and Wade. What a crummy sports town.

Gipper Finau: Ms. Grady didn’t give a pop quiz Friday, did she?