It Ain't Easy Being the Best

Jordan Spieth's truly historic 2015 has golf experts and sports analyst alike seeing him as the next dominant golfer.

Golf is not an exciting sport. Most casual golf fans have a questionable knowledge of the sport outside of Tiger Woods. The absence of glamour and elation in golf is why the demographic of avid golf fans largely consist of senior citizens.

People want a polarizing figure. An alpha male to dominate the rest of the field or simply a group of golfers who consistently are seen competing for all of golf's major titles. Woods dominated golf for over a decade and was able to draw an astronomical amount of attention to golf thus increasing the fan base as a result. Golf was huge as long as Woods was dominate.

Woods no longer dominates golf any more. He has missed the cut in events he has played in a career-high four times. Rory McIlroy has played well but does not garner the same amount of attention as Woods or Phil Mickelson and has not been dominate.

Augusta National would be the stage to change the fortune of golf, The 2015 Masters paved way for a new star: Jordan Spieth. Spieth tied the 72 hole record at the Masters and became the first golfer since Tiger Woods in 2002 to win the first two majors of the calendar year.

Spieth has dominated at majors this year. He has finished in the top 4 of all of this year's major championships including winning the Masters and the U.S Open. Spieth also has set the record for the lowest score in majors during the calendar year with a combined score of 54-under in majors this year. He also has captured the No. 1 world ranking in golf.

Spieth has done this all in less than a year. Although, Spieth choked on the final 2 holes at The Open preventing him from getting the win or a shot to play in the playoff in order to win the major. Spieth still has 4 of his 5 career PGA Tour victories during this year and already has about half as many wins as Rory McIlroy.

Spieth's mental toughness and his excellent play in majors has shown he will be around for a long time. He has a ridiculous lead in the race for the FedEx Cup and probably will be voted PGA Tour Player of the Year.

Zach Johnson won The Open but failed to make the cut during the PGA Tour Championship. Jason Day was finally able to win a major when he captured the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits this weekend after constantly finishing in the top 10 in majors without getting the win. Although, Spieth did not complete the calendar grand slam or even the "Tiger Slam" is not a story nor does this diminish the excellence he's exhibited this year. Spieth is only 22 years-old and has a chance to dominate golf for years to come.

Spieth is already a 5-1 favorite to win the 2016 Masters and considering a competitive field consisting of: Jason Day, Adam Scott, Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson and a plethora of talented young golfers likely will be competing says a lot about how he's dominated for most of 2015.

Will Spieth win 12 more majors to tie Woods for amount of major titles? Maybe not and his ability to produce several more years of dominance in majors shall deem whether this is possible. However,one can safely assume Spieth is truly elite and has the chance to continue to be the best golfer in the game for years to come.

Flip Saunders is diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Flip Saunders earlier today announced he was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma disease.

Cancer is a crippling disease which has killed millions with only a fortunate few who have survived. Several iconic sports figures have suffered from this debilitating disease from George Karl to Curt Schilling. Iconic ESPN anchor Stuart Scott who received the Jimmy V Perseverance Award at the ESPYs last year also battled cancer until he pasted away on January 4th, 2015.

Some people are able to deal with the array of chemotherapy treatments and beat cancer. Hall of Fame pitcher and Baseball Tonight analyst Curt Schilling and former NBA Coach of the Year George Karl survived but not too many people outside of Schilling and Karl have been fortunate enough to be diagnosed with cancer and live to tell the tell.

Flip Saunders is currently the coach, team president and part owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves. Saunders has been a coach for 17 seasons in the NBA and has made the playoffs 11 of the 14 full seasons he has coached including four Conference Finals appearances.

Saunders has built a legacy with Minnesota from his four years playing at the University of Minnesota to coaching 10 straight seasons with the Timberwolves during the Kevin Garnett era. He also seems to be the man capable of pulling Minnesota out of a 10-year playoff drought. This is also the last time Saunders coached the Timberwolves.

Last year president Saunders drafted athletic combo guard and 2015 Sprite Slam Dunk champ Zach LaVine out of UCLA and got rid of perennial All-Star Kevin Love but, picked up the 2014 NBA Draft's first overall pick and 2015 Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins. He followed up by drafting Karl Anthony-Towns from the University of Kentucky with the No. 1 overall pick and trading for 2015 Final Four Most Outstanding Player Tyus Jones out of Duke.

Saunders has stated he will undergo chemotherapy treatment soon and will still coach the Timberwolves this season. Although, Minnesota says the organization will work around his schedule as he deals with this dire situation.

Basketball aside cancer is not something to be taken lightly. The disease affects millions from the people who unfortunately acquire the disease to the loved ones of the patients who deal with cancer. Hopefully Saunders is able to defeat cancer and continue to live life to the fullest.

2015 Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins

The Race to the World Series Begins!

Cespedes (top left), Cueto (top right) and Price (bottom) are three All-Stars who were dealt at the deadline to help make a postseason push.

By: Lamar "L.A" Smith

The World Series is a stage MLB players dream about in bed as kids and constantly during a grueling 162 game season once in the majors. As the season progresses GMs move at a feverish pace to improve the rosters each team has in attempt to play in the Fall Classic. The trade deadline in baseball is more unique than any other in sports. Teams trade franchise players in return for young prospects, dump a variety of players to save money in salary and rent some of the best players in the game in an attempt to win a championship or retool a roster.

The Giants, Royals, Dodgers, Astros and Nationals are all championship contenders who made moves at the trade deadline. The Giants picked up starting pitcher Mike Leake (9-6, 3.52 ERA) from the Cincinnati Reds for a pair of  prospects. San Francisco gets a strong starter on a a low salary to strengthen the back end of the team's pitching rotation. The Royals who are the reigning AL champs acquired Johnny Cueto (7-6, 2.70 ERA), Kansas City is near the bottom or at the bottom of all major statistics for starting pitching staffs. Cueto was acquired to hopefully fulfill the role current San Diego Padres starting pitcher James Shields held for the Royals last October.

The Dodgers needed starting pitching depth after losing newly acquired Brandon McCarthy for the year who tore his UCL and have Hyun-Jin Ryu out as well. The team already has two aces in Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw who both have recently put up at least 37 scoreless inning streaks recently. Mat Latos (4-7, 4.29 ERA) traded from the Cincinnati Reds and Alex Wood (7-6, 3.54 ERA) traded from the Atlanta Braves look to give the Dodgers the starting  pitching depth the team needed. The Astros needed another ace pitcher and another bat so the team got Scott Kazmir (6-5, 2.10 ERA) and Carlos Gomez (8 HRs, 45 RBIs). 

The Nationals have been famous for squandering late leads in the team's last two postseason appearances, once against the St. Louis Cardinals and once again versus the World Series winning San Francisco Giants last year. Therefore getting 6-time All-Star closer Jonathan Papelbon (18 saves, 1.55 ERA) was a must. Papelbon is a World Series champ with a 1.00 ERA throughout his playoff career. In contrast to former closer Drew Storen (29 saves, 1.64 ERA) who has a 8.44 ERA in the postseason including a collapse in the 2012 NL Divisional Series in which he blew a save and cost the Nationals the deciding Game 5 at home.

The rest of the season should be interesting. The New York Mets acquired Yoenis Cespedes (18 HRs, 61 RBIs) in hopes of adding a strong hitter to help win the NL East division versus the reigning NL East champ the Washington Nationals. The Toronto Blue Jays who are six games behind the New York Yankees for the AL East division lead and one game behind the Minnesota Twins for the second wild card spot. Toronto picked up two All-Stars in shortstop Troy Tulowitski (13 HRs, 57 RBIs) and David Price (9-4, 2.53 ERA). Price is the most important pick up because he gives a weak starting pitching rotation a true ace to go along with the best offense in the majors (1st in runs scored).

The acquisition of Price should help Toronto end the longest playoff drought (21 years) in baseball. The Blue Jays last appearance in the playoffs saw Toronto win the World Series in 1993.

The winner at the deadline is something one can only answer once the season ends. Although, between Cueto and the Royals, Kazmir and the Astros, Cespedes and the Mets and Price and the Blue Jays the MLB trade deadline did not disappoint.