All Things By 4

British Open 2013 schedule: 142nd Open Championship begins Thursday

July 16, 2013 By R.George

By Mark Sandritter

When the first round of the British Open begins on Thursday, it will mark the 16th time Muirfield Golf Links has hosted the Open Championship. Live previous events, this year’s Open figures to test the field of 156 of the best players in the world. While the tournament doesn’t begin until Thursday, the golf world has already arrived at the legendary course.

Players began playing practice rounds on Sunday, and will continue to do so through Wednesday. Practice rounds are a way for players to get a feel for the course and how it’s playing, but they can also lead to some entertaining moments. During his practice round on Monday, Phil Mickelson practiced a backwards flop shot.

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The evolution of MLB’s July 4 caps

July 2, 2013 By R.George

By Paul Lukas

Thursday is Independence Day, which means MLB teams will once again be wearing stars-and-stripes caps. You can see this year’s crop of caps here.

The use of flag-based cap imagery on July 4 began during the 2002 season as a response to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Some fans view the caps as a worthy gesture of patriotism; others see them as just another way for MLB to sell more merchandise (although it’s worth noting that MLB has donated proceeds from the cap sales to Welcome Back Veterans since 2008).

Either way, the cap designs have steadily evolved over the past dozen years. Here’s a year-by-year look at that evolution:

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Better late than never: Duke logs first win at 44

June 24, 2013 By R.George

By Brian Murphy

They’re not booing at TPC River Highlands, where 44-year-old Ken Duke won his first-ever PGA Tour event. They’re saying “Duuuuuuke.” That is, when they’re not saying “Bubba: You mad, bro?”

Post-major Tour stops are generally snoozers; the equivalent of a hangover that requires a nap on the couch while the Sunday final round plays on your TV at a barely audible level, so that Verne Lundquist’s voice actually enters your subconscious and lulls you into blissful REM, purring phrases like “My gracious!” – which he did when Chris Stroud forced a playoff with a 72nd hole chip-in.

But the Travelers Championship in Connecticut kept you out of the Nap Zone. It was pyrotechnics and emotion. It was Ken Duke, the pride of Henderson State University in Arkansas, pumping his fist and hitting an absolute whopper of a game-winner for birdie, a sand wedge from 117 yards to inside a yard on the second playoff hole.

It was Stroud, removing his cap and whipping it over his head in the playoff, firing up a crowd that was into the proceedings.

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LeBron not backing down on vow for Game 4

June 13, 2013 By R.George

By TIM REYNOLDS

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A day later, LeBron James didn’t back down.

When the Miami Heat were embarrassed by 36 points in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, James took all the blame and even lauded his teammates for playing great. Shortly after that 113-77 debacle of a Spurs’ victory ended Tuesday night, James insisted that he would do enough to change the way the Heat compete in Game 4.

And Wednesday, James’ tune was the same.

“I’m putting all the pressure on my chest, on my shoulders to come through for our team,” James said, virtually echoing what he had vowed the previous night. “That’s the way it is.”

That’s not necessarily the same game plan that Heat coach Erik Spoelstra would prefer, but by now, it’s just become assumed that when the stakes are highest, it’s all going to be on James anyway, whether that’s the actual reality or not. If the Heat win Game 4, odds are James will be credited as the reason why. If they lose Game 4 and go one loss away from elimination, then it’ll be widely considered as James’ failure.

“Look, we have great confidence from our guys and their ability to bounce back and respond in a big way,” Spoelstra said. “And that’s all our focus is the next 24 hours — how do we prepare ourselves to play our best game of the series tomorrow night. That’s the only thing that matters. LJ has proven himself enough in this league and on the biggest stage. He is going to … he’ll be better.”

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So, Are You Buying PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One?

June 11, 2013 By R.George

By Connor Simpson

Now that we know all the specs about Microsoft and Sony’s new video-game-and-lots-of-other-stuff consoles, it’s time to settle this war before it gets any uglier: Which system is better when they’re put side-by-side in an early test of living-room supremacy? Let’s break it down, based on information gleaned from the many reactions that surfaced after the PlayStation 4 reveal last night at the E3 conference in Los Angeles.

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