General

Weekend Wake Up: OU (And Bradford) Upended, U.S. Open’s Bright Youth, Crazy Night in CONCACAF, Greinke the Great

Sep 6, 2009, 2:00 PM UTC

Bust for Sooners. Even with their Heisman winner downed, a neutral crowd muted, and their offense stifled, Oklahoma had a chance late in the fourth quarter to beat BYU on Saturday. It hinged on the foot of freshman punter Tress Way, who could have given OU a 16-14 lead with a 54-yard field goal. His kick was short.â†µâ†µOU came up short all night, in a number of ways, as BYU’s defense harassed the Sooners’ once-prolific offense and hurt Sam Bradford, while quarterback Max Hall made up for the absence of his injured starting tailback Harvey Unga with 329 yards passing and two touchdowns, leading the Cougars to a 14-13 win that is college football’s first seismic shift of the year. More on this later, but, for now: Matt Hayes is calling OU losing again this year.â†µ

â†µâ†µStars Born, Tarnished in Flushing Meadows. New York’s mythmaking powers are legendary. (Check this Jay-Z song, lyrics dirty, if you would disagree, and note that even a passing mention of New York City lends an air of grandeur.) Melanie Oudin might not need them at all.â†µ

â†µ

â†µOudin dispatched a sloppy Maria Sharapova, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday, outworking her just two days after ousting Elena Dementieva. Add those triumphs to the upset of Jelena Jankovic at Wimbledon, and the 17-year-old from Marietta, Georgia with "Believe" on her colorful Nikes seems to have sprung fully formed from a Sunday columnist's pen.â†µâ†µ

â†µ

â†µFor John Isner, the towering American who walloped 38 aces to beat Andy Roddick in five sets, New York's spotlights may highlight his emergence; for Roddick, they will wash out some of the brilliance of his resurgence. And for Dinara Safina, the women's No. 1, they proved beguiling as ever: Her third-round loss to Petra Kvitova featured three wasted match points and adds to a long list of disappointments in majors.â†µ

â†µâ†µCONCACAF Chaos. The U.S. entered Saturday night’s qualifier with El Salvador needing a win to keep the heat on Costa Rica; with a 2-1 victory, they did what they could.â†µ

â†µâ†µThen Mexico charged into the Saprissa in Costa Rica, where the Ticos had allowed one goal in three qualifier wins, and blanked them, 3-0, to continue their late surge.â†µ

â†µâ†µNow the table has Honduras on top, tied with the U.S. on points and ahead on goal differential, but only a point clear of Costa Rica and Mexico. In their own house, Costa Rica went from the penthouse to the outhouse, falling from first to fourth in one night. They almost assuredly must get a result on the road in upcoming matches, either in El Salvador or the States, to earn an automatic World Cup bid. â†µ

â†µâ†µDents, Truth, Greinke. The only thing the Royals will not be able to lose for Zack Greinke is his probable Cy Young. They scratched out just seven hits over 11 innings while Greinke was holding baseball’s best offense in check allowing just eight hits and one unearned run in seven innings. â†µ

â†µâ†µAsk a Royals fan: The blessing of having Greinke in Kansas City is just a continuation of some curse, the eventual 2-1 loss just a bizarre cosmic punishment. The AL leader in ERA, ERA+, hits per nine, complete games, shutouts, and WHIP, Greinke sports a unspectacular 13-8 record. If you ask me, that’s an indication that, just maybe, wins aren’t everything in baseball. (Worth reading: Joe Posnanski calling Greinke’s year “a season for the ages.“)â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

See More: