THE MAGAZINE EDITOR'S BLOG: BOW TO SARAH TURCOTTE!

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In awe of Mag college basketball editor, and one heck of a golfer, Sarah Turcotte.

Interesting week. First I flew to Detroit, to co-host a panel discussion with one of ESPN's baseball broadcast crews: Orel Hershiser, Steve Phillips and Dan Shulman. The audience was comprised of execs from the local advertising community, and they seemed to have a great time. I know I did. All three panelists were candid, funny and smart. Then a whole bunch of us caught the Tigers-Red Sox game that night. Hard to imagine any job I could want more right now than the one I have, except maybe commissioner of the BSL (Binocular Soccer League; see below). Later in the week, I flew to Williamsburg, Virginia, to catch the LPGA's Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill. As you've probably seen online or read in The Magazine, one of our staffers—college hoops editor Sarah Turcotte—was offered the chance to earn a sponsor's exemption (thanks, Anheuser-Busch) if she could get her handicap down to a 2. She did, and what I saw in Virginia was one of the most impressive athletic performances by anyone I know personally. You can read about it soon in the next issue of The Mag, and see it on espnthemag.com, but trust me when I tell you it will be worth your time.

Now on to my list of THE 27 BEST SPORTS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, ACCORDING TO ME. It's a nifty ranking, though much less important than another list I keep: OTHER OLYMPICS (Top 4: Beer Olympics, International Math Olympics, Chap Olympics, Connecticut Police K-9 Olympics). Anyway, here's this week's update, for Ham:

THE 27 BEST SPORTS IN THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, ACCORDING TO ME:

1. Binocular soccer¹
2. MLB (National League)²
3. NBA
4. NHL
5. MLB (American League)³
6. NASCAR (Sprint Cup)⁴
7. Golf (LPGA)⁵
8. Cricket
9. Paddleball
10. Wheelchair softball
11. Arena Football
12. Tennis (Women's)
13. Badminton
14. Rowing (eights)
15. Squash
16. College Football
17. Ultimate Frisbee
18. Water Polo
19. Cowboy Action Shooting⁶
20. Surfing
21. Golf (PGA, sans Tiger)
22. Tennis (Men's)
23. Foosball
24. Poker⁷
25. Yoga
26. Soccer
27. WNBA

1. I don't think it will stay on for long, but, right now, if I had to pay money to watch a game in person, this would be it. Maybe everyone else knows about this, but this is one I'll file under "Wish I Had Thought Of It."

2. I've decided to split MLB into two parts, NL and AL, so that I can put the sport atop my list should it merit such treatment. (i.e., If the Cardinals continue their magical, pundit-defying run for just a little longer.)

3. DH or not, you can't watch Tigers baseball (even disappointing Tigers baseball) and not enjoy yourself.

4. Marty Smith wrote a great story about Junior in the current issue, the cover. NASCAR may be the one sport I like reading about almost as much, if not more, than I like watching.

5. If shooting in the 120s (on courses with regular set-ups) means you're really, really bad; and shooting in the 110s means you're really bad; and shooting in the 100s means you're just bad; and shooting in the 90s means you're okay; and shooting in the 80s means you're good; and shooting in the high 70s means you're really good; and shooting in the low 70s means you're really, really good; then Sarah is really, really good. And what's amazing is that really, really good isn't good enough for the LPGA (or PGA). Which I guess I knew, but when you see it in person it's still extraordinary.

6. Because guns don't kill people—people who don't use guns solely for sport kill people.

7. Um, I don't care if you don't think it's a sport. Well, I care, but not that much.

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