Shaq Attacks and Tiger Vanishes

The Tiger was toothless at the 2001 US Open. Tiger Woods surprised everyone by disappearing with his tail between his legs for the first two rounds and finishing 7 shots behind the two leaders, Mark Brooks and Retief Goosen. Goosen not only has a funny name, he's a big choker. He missed a two-foot putt on the final hole which would have given him the title. Instead the South African had to play an 18-hole playoff round against Brooks. All choking stopped, though, when Goosen came through in the end and won the title.

Once again the Shaq Attack led the LA Lakers to the NBA title. The Lakers breezed by the Philadelphia 76ers who had more injuries than an episode of ER. Shaquille O'Neal was named the finals MVP by leading LA in points, rebounds and blocked shots. As long as Kobe and Shaq are together, expect the Lakers to be back in the finals for many years to come.

Ken Griffey Jr. made his return to the Cincinnati Reds on June 15th after missing most of the season with a leg injury. The result? Griffey went 4 for 12 in a series against the Rockies but the Reds lost all three games. Griffey's back - the Reds still suck. In the first Subway Series of the year, the Yankees took 2 out of 3 games from the Mets at Shea Stadium. No thanks to that weazel Roger Clemens. The Rocket didn't play against the rival Mets cuz he was afraid Mets' pitchers might try to get some payback for last year's bat incident against Mike Piazza.

Ricky Rudd won his first race in 88 tries by taking the checkered flag at NASCAR'S Pocono 500. Rudd edged out Jeff Gordon, who still leads the Winston Cup standings by 26 points over Dale Jarrett.

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