Tiger Woods

Good morning -- Tiger Woods -- A 68 in Dubai? Your sand wedge must have been working.

It would be foolish to look back on 2007 and remind you of every story we've covered. But here are some events that reporters remember from the year. Some they covered and some they just enjoyed as fans. We hope you appreciate them as much as they did. Turning back the clock I've covered just about every Ravens game since they began play in Baltimore for the start of the 1996 season. I've always enjoyed watching middle linebacker Ray Lewis play because he is such a fierce competitor. But during the past three years, I've seen a gradual decline in skills, which is natural for a man who has played for 12 seasons, and with such recklessness.

As Tiger Woods embarked on winning a fifth green jacket at this year's Masters, he took a moment to reflect on another athlete, someone nearly 10,000 miles away whose athletic uniform wouldn't come close to satisfying the dress code at Augusta National. "Anyone who is a sports fanatic, you are always going to be intrigued by other sportsmen, and what they are able to accomplish. What he's done, truly remarkable," Woods says. "Not only is he winning, but he's also setting records, world records.

OAKMONT, Pa. -- Unless the big names are up there, few pay much attention to the top of the leader board early in a major tournament. Instead, fans scan down to see where the stars are positioned. Yesterday, there was Tiger Woods, sitting three shots back after a 71 in the first round of the U.S. Open. He's in good shape. Diamondbacks@O's Tonight, 7:05, MASN, 105.7 FM Starters: Micah Owings (4-1, 3.76) vs. Erik Bedard (4-4, 3.72)

Good morning -- Tiger Woods -- Never let them see you sweat? That wasn't an option yesterday.

OAKMONT, Pa.-- --Earl Woods wasn't with his son at Pebble Beach in 2000. By then, Tiger Woods' father already had significantly scaled back his travel schedule. "It's Father's Day, and I can't tell you enough about what my dad meant to my golf," Tiger Woods said on the day he won his first U.S. Open, after posting one of the most impressive performances anyone had ever seen in a major. "I can't thank him enough. ... And to have my dad still alive while I won this championship on Father's Day, it's very important to me."

If you could be another athlete, who would you be?Grant Hill, forward, Detroit Pistons: I would be my dad, Calvin Hill. He was an NFL running back from 1969 to 1981. He excelled on and off the field.Tino Martinez, first baseman, New York Yankees: Michael Jordan. He does things on the court no one else can do.Brooke Bennett, Olympic gold-medal swimmer: Tiger Woods. Golf looks a lot less strenuous than swimming.ON YOUR MARKATHLETES vs. ANIMALSTrack superstar Marion Jones of the U.S. ran the 200-meter sprint in 21.62 seconds.

BROOKLINE, Mass. -- Ben Crenshaw had been saying all week that it would be difficult to sit anybody on the U.S. team in the first day's matches in the 33rd Ryder Cup, because most of his players were adapting so well to the course at The Country Club.Actually, it wasn't that tough, especially after Crenshaw found his team trailing by a point going into yesterday afternoon's four-ball matches. Crenshaw left Mark O'Meara and Steve Pate out of the lineup."It's always frustrating when you can't get out there, but that's the captain's decision," said O'Meara, who came into the competition in the midst of a slump.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- There are two ways of looking at the surprising news that Greg Norman is close enough to the lead to touch it after two rounds of the Masters.One is that he is a glutton for punishment; given his history of spectacular crashes at Augusta National, he's probably just setting himself up for more frustration.On the other hand, you have to give him credit. Seldom has any athlete had more and better reasons to pack it in, disappear and forget about contending for titles. Norman, 44, has navigated a long course of discouraging turns.

CHICAGO -- Michael Jordan was the overwhelming choice of business and advertising executives asked to name the top sports endorser of the 20th century.Jordan received four times as many votes as golfer Tiger Woods, the runner-up, in a poll asking executives to name the sports celebrity from the 1900s that they'd want most to pitch their products. Chicago-based Burns Sports Inc., which hires sports figures as endorsers, conducted the survey.Golfer Arnold Palmer finished third.Even though Jordan retired before last season, the five-time National Basketball Association most valuable player is earning $69 million annually from endorsements with companies such as Nike Inc. and McDonald's Corp.

News item: The Orioles could close out the regular season Sunday with the second-biggest loss total in the history of the Baltimore franchise. My take: I know you're all discouraged, but it could be worse. That could be Arrowhead Stadium on the other side of the parking lot. News item: The Ravens are looking to improve their record to 4-0 Sunday when they take on the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium. My take: The oddsmakers have posted the Pats as a slight favorite and - to be honest - I have to agree, but that'll be some very tasty crow if I'm wrong.

News item: : The Ravens passed for more than 400 yards and crushed the Washington Redskins, 23-0, in the first preseason game of 2009 on Thursday night at M&T Bank Stadium. My take: : If you think that was a preview of the regular season, you're going to be disappointed, but I didn't hear any Ravens fans complaining that they didn't get their money's worth - even at regular-season prices. News item: : Michael Vick has signed a one-year contract (with an option for 2010) to play for the Philadelphia Eagles, and he told reporters Friday he's looking for a fresh start.

CHASKA, Minn. - - Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington had a good laugh on the 600-yard 11th hole when they noticed a ball from the group behind them had reached the front edge of the green. "I thought someone had chipped his third shot up there," Harrington recalled. Alvaro Quiros, the PGA European Tour's longest hitter, had hit his second shot within spitting distance of Woods' group. "That's just stupid long, isn't it?" Woods said. "To hit it that far into the wind is just phenomenal.

TURNBERRY, Scotland - -In a stunning development at the British Open, a 59-year-old man on the verge of 60 has revealed that he actually read a text message and then successfully completed a reply. This improbable scenario has helped illustrate the awesome span of the career of one Tom Watson, who has shot a glowing 65 at Turnberry while dredging mysticism from floating dirt in the prehistoric era of 1977, and has shot a glowing 65 at Turnberry while gaining "serenity" from a sitting message on a sleek gadget in the digital era of 2009.

At one point during the U.S. Open telecast Monday, NBC showed a series of pictures of Phil Mickelson hugging his wife, Amy, over the years. And then the network played the audio of Phil telling reporters earlier this week that, before the tournament, Amy had left him a series of notes mentioning that she hoped to have a big silver trophy next to her in the hospital when she goes in for breast cancer treatment early next month. I'd heard that clip a few times already, so it didn't really affect me, but my wife had not heard it. And so I wasn't surprised to look down toward the other end of the couch and see tears running down her face.

Sunday was a day for superstars - two athletes considered perhaps the greatest to play their sports. In golf, Tiger Woods charged from four shots back to take a one-shot victory in The Memorial, Jack Nicklaus' tournament in Dublin, Ohio. Woods birdied the last two holes en route to shooting a 65 to secure his 67th victory and serve notice that he's ready for the U.S. Open in less than two weeks at Bethpage State Park in Farmingdale, N.Y. In tennis, Roger Federer won his 14th career major title to tie Pete Sampras for most all time, and he secured the career Grand Slam with his first French Open title.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -On the eve of the 2007 Masters, Zach Johnson walked off the 18th green with one prevailing thought: "I haven't got a prayer." "It was playing so hard," Johnson recalled of that practice round. "It was so cold and windy. My preparation was good, but I just didn't feel like I had an opportunity to play well because it was so long." Trevor Immelman had a similar woe-is-my-game mind-set one year ago. He entered the tournament ranked 129th and less than four months removed from surgery to remove a benign, Titleist-size lesion on his diaphragm.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -As the Masters prepares to get under way, teenagers Rory McIlroy, Ryo Ishikawa and Danny Lee could do something the 20-something crowd has not - provide Tiger Woods with a meaningful, lasting rival. Maybe Sergio Garcia, Adam Scott and Camilo Villegas, who have zero major victories, will get lapped by the likes of McIlroy, 19, a native of Northern Ireland who is ranked 17th in the world and shot an opening-round 68 at the 2007 British Open at Carnoustie. "Rory must use Tiger as a role model and raise the bar," said Gary Player, who will be competing Thursday in his 52nd, and final, Masters.

1 First of two?: Don't look ahead, Terps, past this North Carolina State game (7 p.m., ESPN2), even though everyone is looking for two wins. 2 ACC-tion: All other ACC tournament games today are on Channel 54. In the noon game (Miami-Virginia Tech), the Terps need both to lose. Can that happen? 3 On the prowl: If you're not watching college basketball, Tiger Woods (left) is in his second tournament of the year, the CA Championship (2 p.m., Golf Channel). 4 Final foursomes: Comcast Center hosts the first day of high school boys basketball state semifinals, starting at 3 p.m. Meanwhile ... 5 Don't forget them: ... the girls basketball semifinals start at the same time at UMBC.

Accenture WGC Match Play 2 p.m. [Golf Channel] Yes, you're tuning in to watch Tiger Woods (left), but did you get a look at those overhead views of the course in Marana, Ariz.? All that green in the middle of all that desert - I just kept thinking of how much water they must use.