Today's topic: What makes the US Open so great? 

The US open has long been regarded one of the greatest tournaments in sports. Besides some of the great memories it has given us: Hale Irwin winning at 45 years of age, John Daly reaching a 630 yd par 5 in two shots in 1993, Tom Watson's Chip-in on 17 in 1982 all but clinching his victory over Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer comes back from a 7-stroke deficit to win in 1960, and Tiger Woods winning by 15 strokes in 2000. However, aside from all of these great feats, the best part of the open is ... well it's open.

Ever since ESPN started airing the World Series of Poke, that "sport" has sky-rocketed in popularity. Why? If you listen to a lot of players at the big tournaments, and the celebrities who play in them, it is the only event where an amateur can compete with a pro/legend of the game. The US Open provides a similar situation.

In 2006 a 15 year old boy from Hawaii named Tadd qualified for the open. He missed the cut, but how fantastic is that. A 15 year old couldn't play against T.O., or dunk over Lebron James, and although the batting practice stories about Prince Fielder hitting dingers at Tiger Stadium at age 12 are legendary, he never laced 'em up for a game (Interesting note: Jason Kendall's father, Fred a coach for the Tigers at the time, was the one throwing the pitches to Prince. Afterwards he told his son Jason to watch out for that kid). This 15 year old boy tee-ed it up with the best of them, and although he didn't make the cut, what a thrill. 

For years I have always said the greatest tournament in the world is England's FA Cup. A soccer tournament that is an open cup for any soccer team within the FA (Football Association). Teams that are semi-pro get to play the likes of Manchester United, and once in a blue moon, the shocking happens. I watched a game where the goal scorer drove and Ice-Cream truck as his day job, and then practiced with the team at night. It was amazing. He was playing against guys who make millions playing the very same sport. To make an American analogy it would be like having a tourney where the Madison Mallards played the Brewers in baseball, or The Bone-Crushers got to play the Packers. There need to be more tourneys like this where amateurs have a chance to go head to head with their heroes. 

Back to the U.S. open, and why we love it. We love hearing that Tony Romo and Justin Timberlake, both scratch golfers, attempted to qualify. Even better we love seeing qualifying amateurs make the cut, and rub elbows with the big boys. It gives us all the feeling that "Maybe I could do that". Clearly if any of us possessed the skills to do that, we already would have. However, like in any sport, sometimes the stars align and you get hot. Imagine if by hitting 20 three-pointers in a row at the local YMCA you got to come off the bench in an NBA game. All it takes is a few remarkable qualifying rounds, and boom you get to hit balls with the greatest in the world. 

So, is the US Open the greatest tourney in the world? Who knows, but the idea behind the event, and knowing that anyone has a chance to play in it gives it a much greater appeal than a lot of other tourneys.