There have been many intriguing stories during this year’s World Baseball Classic. The Dominican Republic being eliminated in the first round.

The United States going after revenge from 2006 and then getting ‘mercy ruled’.

One of the most intriguing stories is of the veterans using the World Baseball Classic as auditions for Major League ball clubs.

What do I mean by auditions? Many players in the WBC are unsigned free-agents heading into the upcoming 2009 MLB season and still want to play. The list includes: Pedro Martinez, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Sidney Ponson, and Bernie Williams, to name a few. Bernie Williams seems to have moved on from baseball to start a music career, unlike the rest of the veterans who still want to play.

Before the WBC, teams apparently did not feel like these players were worth the risk of signing to long-term contracts. But now as these players perform and show that they have the heart to play, offers may come their way.

On ESPN.com, baseball analyst Steve Phillips questioned whether older free-agents like Pudge and Pedro are “signable”. Phillips believed that Pedro was finished last season, but after seeing him in the WBC, he stated that “his shoulder is healthy”. Pedro showed in his WBC outings that he still has a little fight left in that right arm of his and can bring something good to a pitching rotation at the Major League level. Nice work Pedro.

Also important to note, Pedro’s smile was back, something we didn’t see much of the past few seasons in New York. Pedro, when playing well and contributing,  is like Manny Ramirez, he can give the clubhouse a very obvious and beneficial boost. ESPN  also recently noted that the Los Angeles Dodgers were “curious” about Pedro after his WBC performance.

Players like Pedro, Bernie Williams, Ponson (whose Netherlands upset DR with Ponson starting) and Pudge are showing that just because you don’t currently have the role or position you want, there are still and will be more opportunities to show your abilities. So keep working, keep training, and be ready when that next opportunity presents itself.  Veteran players in this years World Baseball Classic highlight the importance of being ready for opportunities.

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The 2009 World Baseball Classic began earlier this week. In the inaugural WBC in 2006, Japan took home the title. The heavily favored Japanese team kicked off this year’s tournament with games against China and South Korea in the Tokyo Dome. The Japanese — led by Ichiro and Daisuke — look as good as expected. The sport of baseball was introduced to Japan in 1872. The first Japanese baseball team was established in 1878, and has been a very popular sport ever since.

This year’s Classic is expected to be a good one. Every pool of the tournament has strong teams that are likely to clash with each other at some point. The WBC features the same 16 teams as 3 years ago, but with some added rules and some different players on each team. The tournament will run until March 23, when the championship game will be held at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Cuba is the favorite to make it out of Pool B, while the United States and Venezuela are the top two teams in Pool C. Finally, the Dominican Republic team, which may have to play without Alex Rodriguez, is the powerhouse in Pool D. The United States has revenge on its mind from the previous WBC, where they didn’t make it past the second round. Look for an All-Star filled game between them and Venezuela this Sunday if they both win their first games.

The WBC is not the only exciting baseball news this week. This past Tuesday, March 3rd, new baseball games came out for video game consoles. 2KSports’ MLB 2K9 is out and has last year’s NL CY Young winner Tim Lincecum on the cover. The other game, MLB 09 The Show, is only offered for Playstation 3, and features reigning AL MVP Dustin Pedroia on the cover.

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This weekend in Las Vegas Matt Kenseth can make history. If he wins the Shelby 427 Sprint Cup Race, Kenseth would be the first driver in NASCAR history to win the first three races of the season. This feat that was chased by Jeff Gordon in 1997, but he finished fourth in the third race. Best finish by a driver trying to win the first three races of the season was by Marvin Panch, who finished third back in 1957 — over 50 years ago!

Kenseth has been red-hot since winning a rain shortened Daytona 500 two weeks ago. Will his hot streak continue? Kenseth had been successful in Las Vegas in the past. He won the race in back to back years in 2003 and 2004, so he knows the track pretty well. Even though he hasn’t returned to victory lane since 2004, Kenseth’s numbers show that he drives well in Vegas.

So if you ever needed a reason to watch a NASCAR event, let it be this weekend to witness possible history in the making; keep your eye on Kensith’s #17 Ford as the best drivers in the world compete at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway - the race is on Fox on Sunday at 3:30 pm EST.

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This week Tiger Woods makes his return after an 8 month hiatus. Last summer, after winning the US Open in a dramatic playoff against Rocco Mediate, Woods underwent knee surgery. That match was incredible and left all of us wanting more Tiger.

Tiger was busy as he became a father for the second time while tasked with rehabbing his knee. In his absence, there have been many other tournament winners. Padrig Harrington was named Player of the Year in 2008 because he won two majors, the British Open and the PGA Championship. The U.S team also beat the European team in the Ryder Cup without Woods playing in the event. This year, Phil Mickelson has won two tournaments in a row leading up to this week’s WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. Mickelson won the Northern Trust Open last week for the 2nd year in a row.

Woods has won this tournament three times, including last year. He beat Australian Brendan Jones in the first round of the tournament and he says he feels great. Have fun watching Tiger’s return this week. It is sure to be exciting.

One of the reasons Tiger is so loved is because he has always been a leader. In 1996 he launched the Tiger Woods Foundation to help inspire the youth of America to dream big and achieve those dreams. They do great work and have some fun events coming up.

Also, for those of you interested in playing some gold, here’s a link to the American Junior Golf Association with information on programs and tournaments.

Don’t forget to sign up for notifications on our upcoming free fantasy leagues. Have fun with your friends and family and get a shot at winning money for college. Read about all of our 2008 winners.

Simply put, the NBA All Star game was Shaq-tastic! Shaquille O’Neal seemed to be the center of attention all weekend in Phoenix. Maybe it had something to do with him playing for the Phoenix Suns, or maybe it had something to do with his always fun personality and antics.

Shaq grabbed the attention of the broadcast team at All-Star Saturday Night with what he called a “cactus green” colored suit. Then he proceeded to impress the crowd Sunday night with his dance moves while performing with the Jabbawockeez before they announced the starting line-ups for the game. Shaq said after the game that he and his kids loved the Jabbawockeez. (click the Shaq image to watch his dance with them)

However, Shaq did not stop there. Along with his former running mate, Kobe Bryant (and onetime rival?) the two Western Conference All Stars put on an amazing performance. For many fans and reporters, it was like watching old ‘home movies ‘from when Shaq and Kobe were winning NBA titles in Los Angeles. They went on to share the All-Star game MVP award because of their great performances.

It also sparked another one of those eternal questions for basketball fans and reporters. How many more championships could the Lakers have won if Shaq had never been traded? We will never know the answer to this question, but we do know that 15 time All-Star Shaq gave a great performance on, and off, the court in Phoenix last weekend and Kobe did as well. Nice jobs guys.

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