Time out from all the problems at home with the Chargers and the Padres. Time in to talk about other storylines in sports.

If you love golf, you’ll feel for the guys on the PGA tour as they tee off in the 2nd round of the US Open at Chambers Bay, just outside Tacoma, Washington. Do a double take and you’ll think you are watching links golf, at its finest, and its hardest, somewhere just off the Irish Sea.

The greens and fairways look like your and my backyards. Burnt grass. The course has the five longest par 4s in the history of the Open, and that’s before you even get onto the rolling greens, the swales as they call them. And then there are the pin placements. By the time we were finished, Tiger Woods was 151st with an 80…some-15-strokes behind the leader.

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Dynasty is an oft-used word in the sports world, when a team repeats and does well. The Chicago Blackhawks don’t really fit that word, despite winning their third NHL Stanley Cup title in six years. When I think dynasty, I think Mike Bossy and Dennis Potvin and the NY Islanders. Or I think Gretzky-Messier-Lowe-Fuhr and so many others in the northlands of Edmonton. Or, for old time hockey fans, LeBleu-Blanc-Rouge, the dominant Montreal Canadiens.

Take nothing away from the Hawks, and what they have built, a big tough swarming defense, and wave after wave of goal scorers. The fact they they have done this in the NHL salary cap era, without making mistakes on players, is superb.

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You may have disliked him for the “Decision” years back in NBA free-agency, but I think you can respect him now. LeBron James ran out of gas, his Cleveland Cavaliers team ran out of players, and they eventually got run out of the playoffs by the Golden State Warriors. But King James earned his pay and then some. In the finals, he averaged 46-mintes per game, 34-points per nite, 14-rebounds and 9-assists a game, with everyone defending him, every trip down the floor. It was amazing, if not a rewarding series.

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They’re headed to the knockout round in the Women’s World Cup of soccer, being played in Canada. Team USA still has remnants of greatness, led by goalie Hope Solo and Amy Wambach and others. What’s surprising is the lack of crowd support. I thought there would have been sellouts, but some nights, they have drawn just 5,000 to games.

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I don’t know what’s more surprising on the Pro Tennis Tour, the continued dominance of Serena Williams, crossing the age 30-threshold, or the fact none of the international stars has been able to surpass her, or challenge her on a year to year basis. Not Carolina Wozniacki, not any of the Serbs, or anyone else. When you’ve won 20-Grand Slams, and three straight as she has, you’d think her name would be mentioned in the same sentence as Martina, Chris Evert, Billy Jean King. I just don’t hear that.

On the men’s side, it is indeed as laundry list of veteran stars, stay atop the money list, and winning tourneys week to week. Novak Djokvoc, Nada, Federer, and occasion flash from Andy Murray. That’s been pretty good dominance for a while.

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It’s been quite a first half of the season in NASCAR racing too, where Jimmie Johnson, the El Cajon legend, is the points leader, thanks to four wins this year. Chasing him is Kevin Harvick, who hasn’t take many checkered flags, but has 10-top-5 finishes this year. Finishing second may not count for much in other sports, but you do that in NASCAR Sprint Cup, you get a huge payday.

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NFL teams take a break from off season workouts, till the end of the July. Wish we could take a break from the off the field messes players have created for themselves, their clubs and the league. So here we are, headed towards the end of June into July, and we still have sanctions pending with appeals for Greg Hardy, Tom Brady, Adrian Peterson, and wondering if anyone will give Ray Rice a job offer before real camps open. The games will be coming, but the controversies won’t go away.

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You anxious for the All Star game? Baseball has a mess on its hands, with this electronic ballot box stuffing, via computer votes, going on right now. What will the Commissioner do? Kansas City, that bastion of great baseball, has had two nice seasons, after decades of losing, and now their fans are jamming computers to nominate starters for the AL squad. All eight of the points leaders by positions are Royals or ex-Royals. Of course we all want to see Omar Infante, hitting .204, start at 2nd base in place of say (338)-hitting Houston star Jose Altuve. And of course, not forgetting old friends, they have ex-Royal Nori Aoki as the starting leftfielder, so you won’t have to see Giancarlo Stanton and his mammoth home runs. Fix it-it is so fraudulent right now.

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Time’s up. We return you now to the Chargers-City-Stadium war and underachieving Padres baseball.

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