Chris Leak might finally get his shot at professional football.
Leak, 24, recently signed with the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian league. He's on the team's injured list, fighting a sore throwing shoulder.
The former Independence High quarterback led Florida to the 2007 National Championship but wasn't selected in the 2007 NFL draft. He signed with Chicago as a free agent but was released before the season began. Earlier this spring, he was invited to work out for the Kansas City Chiefs.
In Montreal, which plays an exhibition against Toronto on Thursday, Leak will join a powerhouse franchise that has played in five of the past seven Grey Cups, the CFL version of the Super Bowl. Montreal GM Jim Popp was born in Elkin and owns a home in Mooresville.
Popp is familiar with Leak's ability and if Leak can make the permanent roster and get some meaningful playing time, I think he can be an effective pro.
Michelle Wie qualified for this month's U.S. Women's Open Tuesday. So did 16-year-old Sarah Almond of Albemarle.
Almond, who played in the 2006 U.S. Girls Junior, shot her career round of 4-under 68 at Forest Creek Golf Club Tuesday to make it.
“It's still sinking in right now,”
Almond said.
She's a rising junior at Gray Stone Day, a private high school located on the campus of Pfeiffer University in Misenheimer. She played for the boys' golf team this year and won the conference tournament by three shots. She tied for first place in the Stanly County tournament, again with the boys, but lost in a playoff.
But none of those guys will get to play with Annika Sorenstam later this month.
“I'm just so excited,”
Almond said. “I'd like to play a practice round with a lot of different people. And I'd really like to get Lorena Ochoa's autograph.”
Next time the Missus bugs you about playing golf all the time, tell her you're playing to stay healthy.
According to a study of more than 500,000 golfers from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, playing golf – walking and not riding – can add five years to your life.
Somebody get us a tee time.
Glad to see “Inside The NFL”
returning to TV on Showtime. CBS Sports and NFL Films will produce the weekly highlights show, which had run on HBO for three decades.
Look for tennis player Serena Williams, in a tight blue swimsuit, on the July cover of Ebony Magazine.
In the interview, she talks about her diet, her Olympic tennis gold medal hopes and her rumored boyfriend, rapper Common.
TiVo alert: Sunday at 2 p.m., NBC will air a special where 10-handicap golfer Joe John Atkinson tries to break 100 at Torrey Pines, site of the U.S. Open.
