What a week.

A full seven days of baseball is in the books, the NCAA crowned a men’s college basketball champion (even if the game was a snooze fest), the World Series favorites haven’t won a game and don’t appear as if they ever may, the Orioles started their season 5-1, the Masters is underway and of course, the NFL owners and players are still fighting.

I can’t believe I’ve got to cut all of this week’s news down into one post, but I’ll try to do my best.

Let’s line up for the kick.

Derrick Mason calls Roger Goodell “a joke”

Every day that passes, the NFL labor dispute gets messier and messier. The very vocal Ravens wide receiver Derrick Mason proved that point in a Wednesday interview with 105.7 The Fan’s Norris and Davis. The veteran Mason called Roger Goodell “a joke” in response to Goodell’s new stance on HGH testing in football.

Goodell had expressed his hopes for tougher testing for human growth hormones in the new collective bargaining agreement and when asked to comment Mason went off. “He’s been on this crusade about HGH, but he needs to be on a crusade about getting these owners together and trying to work out a deal,” Mason said. “To me, he’s a joke, because every time I look, he’s talking about performance enhancements instead of talking about trying to figure out a way to make sure football is played in August.”

That’s harsh.

Even though Derrick has a history of running his mouth at inopportune times, I think he’s actually right about this. Hearing Roger Goodell preaching about new regulations in football is meaningless if there is no football in 2011. Harsh? Yes. Disrespectfully? Probably. True? You bet. This time I’m siding with Derrick.

The Red Sox refuse to lose win

Charlie Sheen’s Indians just swept the Red Sox.  WINNING…  The Sox have lost six in a row now. Things aren’t looking good for the World Series favorites. It’s their worst start since 1945 and panels of experts are trying to figure out what in the hell is going on in Boston.

Big League Stew put together a good run down following their fifth lost. Here are a few of my favorites.

  • Peter Abraham of the Boston Globe: “I wrote yesterday that it’s silly to talk about 0-4 teams not going to the World Series because most 0-4 teams were lousy to begin with. The Red Sox are not a lousy team. But they’re playing like one right now.”
  • John Tomase of the Boston Herald: “There’s a scene in pretty much every horror movie when a hot chick alone in the woods yells it’s not funny anymore and says she’s scared. Her boyfriend doesn’t answer. Things will not end well for her. Red Sox fans are that girl right now, and the macabre joke that is the start to the 2011 season continues.”
  • Sully of Sully Baseball: “I am having an allergy attack. My head is stuffed up. I feel like the guy whose head was in a vice in Casino. I can barely breathe. And yet I still feel healthier than the Red Sox.”

As a side note, the Rays also found themselves at 0-6. The fans have already booed Manny Ramirez, and he likes it.

Quick look at the Masters

I can’t say I watch a ton of golf, but the bigger tournaments and later rounds definitely suck me in from time to time. 21 year old Rory McIlroy is tied with Alvaro Quiros after the first round. Both golfers find themselves at seven under par (65). McIlroy is the Masters’ youngest first round leader ever and has become a fan favorite now that no one seems to be rooting for Tiger Woods.

Surely you’re wondering where Woods is now that I brought him up. Tiger is tied for 24th after the first round at one under par.

Woods struggled on the back nine with back to back bogeys and only one birdie on the par 5’s at Augusta.