As Phil Mickelson crouched over his suddenly meaningless putt on the 18th hole at Winged Foot Sunday, one couldn't help but cringe at the entire scene. The driver in the trees, the three iron off a tree, the plugged lie in the sand, the Phil-bashing that would surely follow, the second and third guessing, and on and on.

Johnny Miller said it was "one of the biggest collapses in U.S. Open history." Ouch. I wouldn't go that far, though. If Phil had blown a four shot lead in two holes, or took and eight when a seven would win, then, yes. But par was a tough score on that or any other hole, save maybe a couple, at Winged Foot. Colin Montgomerie made double bogey after hitting his drive in the middle of the fairway. Don't forget that the winner of the tournament did finish five over par, and this was the sight of a 'Massacre' in 1974, when Hale Irwin won with a score of seven over par. Par therefore actually was a very good score. Although I can understand Mickelson's reasoning for hitting driver, (i.e. if you're going to be in the rough, hit it long and in the rough), a long iron or the four wood he was carrying certainly would have been the more prudent play, with it being the final hole. That aside, I don't know how much he can be faulted for trying his second shot, a three iron around a tree from 210 yards off a decent lie, especially having just witnessed his five iron on 17 in 'rough'ly the same situation. He made the green there, and two putted for par. Watching him address his second shot on 18, I actually expected him to wind up on the green or very near it, and make par to win. I think most golf fans did. That's what he had been doing all day after missing fairways. Perhaps luck just ran out on him, having hit only two fairways all day, which would make the case for hitting a different club off the tee that much stronger. Mickelson's a smart guy, and we say he should have known better. He's also Phil Mickelson, and if any of us were in his shoes with that kind of talent, the chances are pretty good we would have done the same thing, because we've done it before and would bet that we can do it again. In fact, didn't a lot of us expect him to chip in from the rough to make bogey and force a Monday playoff?

The beauty of golf is simple, yet complex, and sometimes very hard to explain or comprehend. There are no bad calls. Usually there are no calls at all. There are no teammates to rely on, nor to blame. No timeouts when you get in trouble. No silly stats like fourth quarter comebacks or quality starts. No player strikes or owner lockouts (yet). Just the player versus the course and the field. The results a player gets are almost always what the player deserves. Your soul is bared to the world when you fail, and you are the sole recipient of the accolades when you win. It, perhaps more than any other sport, is a game based solely on the current status of your ability.

I've wondered many times since Sunday's conclusion what would have happened had Mickelson played more conservatively and hit an iron off the tee. (Can you imagine the outcry had he played it safe and still lost? "What the heck is he doing? That's not Phil! He never plays like that and he picks NOW to do it?!" That certainly would have been an interesting discussion, as well.) There is no guarantee he would have made par even then, though chances are he would have made no worse than bogey. But then the chances were he makes no worse than bogey with driver in his hand, either. (If I'm working at Titleist, I'm proposing a new driver to Lefty. The Callaway just doesn't seem to be 'cutting' it these days).

Arnold Palmer led Billy Casper by seven shots at the turn in the '61 U.S. Open. Palmer decided to go for the record score. His over-agressiveness not only squandered the seven shot lead, but he also lost a playoff the next day, and never won another U.S. Open, though he had already won that tournament in the past. Phil's fall at Winged Foot could very well result in the same fate, leaving him only with a handful of second-place finishes. Only time will tell. We may never know exactly what Phil was thinking on the last hole, but I have a feeling it was something along the lines of "win it here and now. Forget the playoff."

It needs to be noted that Geoff Ogilvy hit two great shots the last two holes to remain at five over--the chip in at 17 and the chip onto the green at 18. The U.S. Open is a war of attrition, and Ogilvy was the last man standing. He deserves 'major' credit for this, and this could catapult him to the next level. That would be bad news for the rest of the tour, since he's proven over the last few seasons that he has the game to compete with just about anybody. And now he has shown he has the mental moxie as well.

Mickelson handled his crushing disappointment with class, as he always does. That is why he has so many fans. He is famous as much for who he is as what he is. He is one of the most prolific autograph signers on the PGA tour, and the masses love him for it. One can only hope he'll be back in major contention, and soon. He said during the Open that he likes the tournament because it's a severe test and it shows him where his game is at. He got an answer he wasn't prepared for at Winged Foot. Where his game goes from here is how he'll be judged in the future. Here's hope that he returns to the top of it.

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The gritty little team from Phoenix finally ran out of gas versus the more talented, deeper Mavericks last night in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. What they accomplished was actually giving their fans hope that maybe it was finally their time, although preseason predictions for this team ranged from sub-.500 to barely squeaking into the playoffs before making a quick exit. These outlooks were based on their roster turnover and a significant injury, things that I and others have already gotten into and brought up numerous times so I won't bother doing it again. The negative feeling after seeing the Suns fall stems from the old debate concerning which is worse-getting to the doorstep and narrowly missing or getting blown out. Most of the time, getting blown is easier to deal with because you accept it early. Getting so close and then losing only makes one think about all the little things that could have gone the other way and changed the outcome. It also allows one to feel that a title is almost in your grasp, so having it slip away hurts even more. Very few fans left Game 6 early, staying to pay their respects and show their gratitude as the season wound to a close.

At any rate, the Phoenix Suns overcame a lot of odds and unfortuante events to show that, at least in effort and heart, they belonged with the league's elite. I believe they also showed that their style is conducive to winning a championship. Their style is not the reason they lost. Their lack of depth and minutes played by their main cogs ultimately led to their demise. Certainly their backup point guard situation will be addressed in the coming months, along with a few players whose contracts need attention. Some will be back, some won't. But for now, I would just like to commend the organization, especially the players and coaching staff, for giving us Suns fans one hell of a ride, one way more exciting than I dreamed it would be. Yes, I know, if the seeding process was different regarding best records, division winners, etc., the Suns may not have had the same path of opponents in the playoffs. The fact that they didn't is not their fault. That's something that the NBA will have to address, and probably will in the off-season. It's something that's happened many times before, and not just in the NBA but other sports as well. That is a discussion for another time.

Well done, Suns. Best of luck to Mavs in Finals. I'd rather lose to the eventual champs if it has to come to that. And now, as Mike D'Antoni said when getting choked up and abruptly ending his post game news conference after the reality of his season being over set in, "Okay, we're done."

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The preseason prognostications for this team hovered around .500. With three starters from last year's 62-20 team that advanced to the Western Conference Finals gone, and roughly half their roster changed, the Phoenix Suns appeared headed for a low playoff seed at best. Lottery-ville was certainly a possibility. But head coach Mike D'Antoni boldly, perhaps defiantly, predicted his team would win 50 games. Little did we know he was establishing the mentality of his team by saying that.

A Pacific Division title and two playoff series victories later, the Suns took an early upper hand Wednesday night in Dallas. Late in the fourth quarter, with Shawn Marion hobbling on a re-injured left ankle and Raja Bell having been carted off with a leg injury, the Suns found themselves trailing the Mavs by nine points and on the ropes. And I allowed the thought to creep into my mind. The one that said the Suns had achieved far more than anyone thought they would this season. And I was okay with that. I'm a realist. They have had a great ride and it was a pleasure to watch. Bell's injury looked serious, Marion's looked like it would hinder him until he could get a week or so off, which woudn't be any time soon. Kurt Thomas was back in uniform, (he didn't play), but it appeared that would be too little, too late to help the Suns.

 Well, a funny thing happened on the way to what looked like a certain Mavs victory. Steve Nash hit a lay-up from what seemed like an impossible location, then drained two threes. Marion then took a perfect feed from Nash and jammed it home. But that's not the unusual part-the Suns played some timely defense, got the rebounds they needed, forced a couple turnovers, and went up by one on Boris Diaw's short jumper with less than a second to play. After another Dallas turnover and two Tim Thomas free throws, the Suns had game one of the series, 121-118. Diaw, a player the Hawks looked at as a throw-in in the Joe Johnson deal, but whom D'Antoni and then-Suns GM Brian Colangelo wanted, finished with 34 points and made 8 of 10 free throws. Marion, an electrifying lunch-pail guy if ever there was one, finished with 24 on 10-15 shooting and 13 rebounds. He was also 4-4 from the line. And Nash? 27 points and 16 assists, as well as the aforementioned three point daggers.

In the lone pre-series scouting report I read, the coaching edge went to Dallas. I guess we'll see now. Avery Johnson has a huge task ahead of him, with Phoenix snatching a perceived certain victory from the Mavericks. Admittedly, if Bell and Marion are less than full speed the rest of the way, D'Antoni will have his work cut for him as well. But he gets large kudos here. He has proven time and time again that his team will play their rears off for him, and that is certainly no small feat in today's NBA. This season, Johnson wrested coach of the year honors away from D'Antoni, last year's winner. I have a question regarding that-If the Suns win the series, will Scottie Pippen call for Johnson to give the award back?

I mentioned in an earlier story that the Suns were playing with house money, and realistically, they probably still are. But considering they were down 3-1 to the Lakers, were on the brink of being sent home by the Clippers on more than one occasion, and in the Western Conference Finals opener put a roadblock on Dallas' momentum in the fourth quarter to pull out a win, I won't admit that they're dead until '0:00' shows on the clock in an elimination game and the Suns have less points. Game one was an amazing finish by an amazing team, the amazing Suns.

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I know, I know, there are still a lot of fans out there who have the opinion that only losers cry about the officiating and that "the calls all even themselves out in the end." Not to mention a couple of my favorites: 1) At the end of the game, officials often "swallow the whistle" so they can "let the players decide the game." And 2) When discussing a star player getting favorable calls, it's always, "He's earned it," according to the announcers.

Let me address these points. First of all, it is true that the team or players usually criticizing the officials were on the losing end. But to dismiss this simply as sour grapes would be much too broad of a statement. If a game is well officiated, you very seldom hear the losing team mention the officials. Instead, they will say things like "We fought hard but just came up short. I'm proud of our guys . . ." etc. We've all seen games where a few bad calls have cost a team a game or a chance to win. As much as athletes like to complain, they usually do so post-game only after they felt they had a chance taken away from them. As for the calls evening themselves out, maybe they do, maybe they don't. There are countless calls in any game that could go either way; charge or block, who last touched the ball before it went out of bounds, was it goaltending or wasn't it. Officials are going to miss some of those. That's inevitable. It's the blatantly obvious ones where you see the call and wonder how they can possibly be watching the same game that really gets everyone riled up. And there are far too many of those that happen. As for letting the players decide the game, which you often hear after a no-call late in the game, does that mean we don't need officials at all? That would truly be letting the players decide the game, wouldn't it? Or does it imply that what was a foul or violation in the first half is no longer one in the fourth quarter? Is there a separate rule book for late in the game situations? Just curious. And as for a player "earning" the calls because he's a star player, I've never understood the logic in that one. A star player is usually more gifted athletically than his counterparts. I wouldn't think a player like that needs to also get the benefit of the doubt when it comes to officiating, yet we've all seen countless examples of a star player being guarded by a nobody and we all know who is going to get the calls nine times out of ten.

In my last blog, I mentioned Mark Cuban getting fined for his criticism of officials. I guess the fine was worth it. It sure seems to me that the Mavs have gotten the better treatment from the officials in Games 3 and 4 of that series. I would like to see some consistency, that's all. And no, consistently bad doesn't count. I've always thought it sort of funny that you can watch a full day of NCAA tournament action and see only a handful of obviously bad calls, yet it's hard to even watch a quarter of NBA games without seeing at least four or five.