Florida Sentinel Bulletin

It’s officially a career year for Serena Williams.

The dominant American collected her eighth title of the 2013 WTA Tour on Sunday afternoon in the Rogers Cup final, matching her career high for tournament victories in a single season.

Williams overwhelmed 23-year-old Romanian Sorana Cirstea, 6-2, 6-0, in Toronto to win her third Rogers Cup title and cap off a dominant run north of the border. It’s the 54th WTA title of her career, breaking a ninth-place tie with Monica Seles on the all-time wins list.

Cirstea, who owns just one career WTA title, enjoyed a tremendous tournament but she was simply outmatched. Williams won the last nine games of the match.

By Kristopher Colley, II

As the money and gigantic contracts flow in Major League Baseball, it is easy to predict that teams that cannot afford the price tags of certain players will get left in the dust. This has not been the case for the Tampa Bay Rays in recent years. Year in and year out since a World Series run in 2008, the Rays under Manager Joe Maddon have been a perennial American League playoff contender.

Their 2013 campaign has been no different so far; the Rays boast a 66-48 record and are in great shape to make another postseason run. Since the Rays do not have the enormous payroll of other competitors, they are forced to win games with quality young prospects, great production and execution, and splendid pitching.

They have a team Earned Run Average (ERA) of 3.82 and a Batting Average Against (BAA) of .238, which is second best in the AL. Their pitching staff has stars: ace David Price (6-5, 93 strikeouts), Matt Moore (14-3, 115 strikeouts), Jeremy Hellickson (10-5 107 strikeouts), and emerging star Chris Archer. Archer has been sensational this season winning 6 games and posting a 2.71 ERA, all while showing flashes of a future ace in the making.

The offseason move to acquire Wil Myers from the Kansas City Royals’ farm system is arguably the best move the Rays have made in years. Myers brings a dangerous and consistent bat to a lineup that has been known to go dormant at critical moments. Since Myers was called-up on June 18^th, the Rays have posted a 31-14 record including winning 16 of 18 in a stretch in July.

Maddon somehow consistently gets his team to perform and to compete at a high level even when they are supposedly the underdogs. They have the third lowest payroll in the majors, but the fifth best record this season. Needless to say, the remaining month and a half of the regular season will be an intense and entertaining one, but the Rays are poised and are ready to make a run. If their bats continue to stay warm and their staff keeps dealing, the sky is the limit for the 2013 Tampa Bay Rays.

Kristopher Colley, II is an aspiring sports writer and reporter. He is a junior at Morehouse College.

Tiger Woods is tired of talking about it, and you can hardly blame him.

Five victories this year, the latest a seven-stroke win last Sunday at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational, and practically all he hears is, “When are you going to win your next major title?” Granted, Tiger has been stuck on 14 — second only to Jack Nicklaus’ 18 major titles — for five years. But it’s not like he hasn’t given himself chances. Woods has posted nine top-10 finishes in the 17 majors he has played in since capturing the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines in 2008.

For various reasons, some of it bad luck, Tiger just hasn’t gotten the job done on the weekend. He has yet to record a score in the 60s in any weekend round at a major the last two years. “I’ve certainly had my chances to win,” Woods said Tuesday at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., the site of the 95th PGA Championship.

“I’ve had my opportunities there on the back nine, probably half of those Sundays for the last five years where I‘ve had a chance, and just haven’t won it. But the key is to keep giving myself chances, and eventually I’ll start getting them.”

Remember when Michael Beasley was getting mad buckets at Kansas State? Yeah, that was a while ago.

The 24-year-old Phoenix Suns forward was arrested early Tuesday morning for marijuana possession.

Beasley just finished the first year of a three year, $18 million dollar contract with the Phoenix Suns.

Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Greg Jennings hasn’t been shy about trashing the Green Bay Packers since making the jump from Lambeau Field to Mall of America Field this offseason, but his most recent accusation may be the most noteworthy of all.

Jennings claimed in an interview with Paul Allen and Ben Leber of KFAN radio that the Packers organization “brainwashed” him and others into thinking that they were part of the NFL’s model franchise: When I came over here, I was kind of brainwashed. There’s no “kind of” to it. Being over in Green Bay, you’re brainwashed to think anyone in the division is tiers below. And so coming over here I meet the people within the organization and I’m like, “Wow, these are really great people.”

The allegations surrounding Johnny Manziel—that he brokered a deal to sign autographs for pay—have set off a chain reaction throughout college football, forcing schools across the national landscape to investigate similar instances on their own teams.

South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney is, perhaps, the second-biggest star in college football, so it only made sense that the Gamecocks would do their due diligence. But after looking into some of Clowney’s signed memorabilia on eBay, the school found no violations. “We have investigated things that have been on eBay with him and student-athletes before.

In the situations I can say we looked into, there was no further for us to go, and we determined there was no violation,” USC associate athletic director Chris Rogers said.

CANTON, Ohio  — Those Super Bowl rings had a blinding shine to them at Saturday night’s Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions.

From a championship coach to linemen on both sides of the ball, the 2013 class features an enviable resume of success.

There’s Bill Parcells, winner of two NFL titles as a coach and master of the franchise turnaround. Jonathan Ogden, one of the premier offensive tackles of his time and owner of a Super Bowl ring. Larry Allen, to whom the same accolades can be applied, and a 1995 champion.

Warren Sapp, an outstanding defensive tackle with a personality as big as any football stadium — and a 2002 champ.

Dave Robinson, a major cog in Green Bay’s championship machine under Vince Lombardi, winning the first two Super Bowls. Curley Culp, one of the original pass-rushing demons at defensive tackle who got his ring with the 1969 Chiefs.

Indeed, only wide receiver Cris Carter, merely No. 4 in career receptions and TD catches, is the only member of this year’s class who never won a title.

Quite a group for the Hall’s 50th anniversary celebration, which began last Friday with a record 120 hall members attended the ceremonies.

Tiger Woods cruised to a seven-stroke victory Sunday in the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio. He closed with an even-par 70 to finish at 15-under 265.

Keegan Bradley and Henrik Stenson shared second at 272.

With his fifth PGA Tour win of the year, Tiger has now won the Bridgestone Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational eight times. The win marked the 18th WGC triumph in 42 starts for Tiger, who has also posted 33 top-10 finishes.

Tiger extended his lead in the FedExCup point standings and money list as well.

Woods collected his 79th win in 290 career starts on the PGA Tour, second only to Sam Snead, who has 82. Tiger improved to 53-4 when tied or leading after 54 holes. Woods has now captured five or more tournaments in a season 10 times, a PGA Tour record.

New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, 38, has missed the entire 2013 season thus far with a hip injury.

It remains to be seen if his potential involvement with performance-enhancing drugs will cause Major League Baseball to block his comeback attempt.