(Wait for the replay...)
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Friday, September 25, 2009
O'Hair Fires Disappointing Second-Round 81
After opening with a 66 and storming into the lead at the TOUR Championship yesterday, Sean O'Hair followed-up with a disappointing 81 today at East Lake Golf Club outside of Atlanta, Georgia.O'Hair inexplicably failed to get up-and-down a single time today, depite narrowly missing the green at numbers 2, 7, 11, 13 and 18. With only 26 putts on the round, O'Hair's stellar run with the flatstick continued after being spotted taking some pre-round putting advice from world number one Tiger Woods yesterday. However, it was not enough to overcome his short game woes, as he continually overshot greens with short pitches.
"I just could not not find the green with a chip all day long," O'Hair said, "My hands felt fidgety on the club and I couldn't get comfortable over the ball on my bump-and-run shots."
The scene on the 11th green epitomized O'Hair's afternoon. He stubbed two pitches with a sand-wedge before switching to a 9-iron and sending his ball cascading through the green and into the gallery. He took an 11 on the hole, effectively ending his chances at the title and its potential accompanying $10 million prize.
"I have no idea what got into me. I had a great practice session before the round and even had time to go over some short game game ideas with Phil [Mickelson] before I teed off," O'Hair said, in reference to a conversation he had with Mickelson beside East Lake's practice green shortly before his 12:00 tee time.
Mickelson, himself, shot 68 on the day, overcoming yesterday's lackluster 73, which was highlighted by several shanks and flubs on number 8, leading to an unpleasant score of 8.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Just a thought...
By now you've surely seen the newest Nike football commercial featuring Adrian Peterson. You know, the one where he runs around the field, baffling the opposition and perplexing its coaching staff, in the driving sleet, in black and white, before retiring into the locker room to undress and display his hexagon-scaled skin, all in an effort to promote the Nike Pro Combat line of compression-wear football equipment that features strategic hexagonal padding??
You've seen it, it's highly theatric, in keeping with Nike's recent marketing practices, which makes me wonder if that is actually Peterson hurdling, sidestepping and causing oxygen deficiency in defenders, or if a stuntman is filling in and we are deceived by some professional camera work.
Think about it. That field is sloppy (presumably to demonstrate the Nike frontman's capacity to endure the elements and succeed, while his inferiorly-clad opponents resign to sit on their helmets and suck oxygen from O2 tanks). But would the Vikings, who are investing $2.85 million a year (plus massive incentives) into their workhorse, allow Peterson to trot around, even making pre-conceived cuts on that playing surface, among twenty-one other padded actors, all of whom could potentially take a mis-step and roll up on his leg? Doesn't seem very likely.
So that begs the question... what are we seeing in the commercial? Is it a stunt-Peterson? Or is the director exploiting slow-motion technology that somehow lets Adrian Peterson run in complete safety? Or is it some other Hollywood movie trick? I guess none of it really matters, because he came away healthy, but the commercial does make you wonder how much control teams have over their players, especially face-of-the-franchise type guys like A.P.
(Take a look at the video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xQF2XDsswg)
You've seen it, it's highly theatric, in keeping with Nike's recent marketing practices, which makes me wonder if that is actually Peterson hurdling, sidestepping and causing oxygen deficiency in defenders, or if a stuntman is filling in and we are deceived by some professional camera work.
Think about it. That field is sloppy (presumably to demonstrate the Nike frontman's capacity to endure the elements and succeed, while his inferiorly-clad opponents resign to sit on their helmets and suck oxygen from O2 tanks). But would the Vikings, who are investing $2.85 million a year (plus massive incentives) into their workhorse, allow Peterson to trot around, even making pre-conceived cuts on that playing surface, among twenty-one other padded actors, all of whom could potentially take a mis-step and roll up on his leg? Doesn't seem very likely.
So that begs the question... what are we seeing in the commercial? Is it a stunt-Peterson? Or is the director exploiting slow-motion technology that somehow lets Adrian Peterson run in complete safety? Or is it some other Hollywood movie trick? I guess none of it really matters, because he came away healthy, but the commercial does make you wonder how much control teams have over their players, especially face-of-the-franchise type guys like A.P.
(Take a look at the video on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xQF2XDsswg)
The ACC and the Summer of '04
The ACC logged its biggest win of the young season when Florida State knocked off seventh-ranked BYU in Provo, Utah this Saturday. Think about that… FSU defeating a Mountain West team today is seen as an impressive feat. It’s a fact that demonstrates the sad state of the Atlantic Coast Conference in its current form, a far cry from the mega-conference the ACC felt it was becoming in the summer of 2004.
Let me take you back, back to July 2004. George W. Bush boasts a 51% approval rating and seeks a second term of office. The Nelly song, “Over and Over Again” with Tim McGraw is getting considerable radio airtime, Facebook is four months old and the ACC is a respectable athletic conference best known for its sterling academic reputation.
In July of ’04 ACC Commissioner John Swafford organizes efforts to entice perennial Big East juggernaut Miami and burgeoning, defensive-minded Virginia Tech to ally with the conference and elevate the ACC into a venerated regional power poised to challenge the SEC, Big 10 and Big 12.
It was an impressive move. And you were hard pressed to find a critic who felt the annexation did anything but make the ACC an immediate BCS power broker. Va. Tech was building an impressive resume, with four recent BCS bowl invites and a national title game appearance. Miami added five national title claims to the conference coffers and an instantaneous rivalry with Miami, certain to curb national attention. The addition of the two new schools gave the ACC a total of twelve, the magic number needed to institute a conference championship game, and an automatic media spotlight. How could the conference go anywhere but up?
Back to the current day, a Wake Forest ACC championship and two Boston College runners-up later, and the conference has become a yearly disappointment. Florida State and Miami, the conference’s cornerstones, have fallen from influence. The ACC title game has been dismally attended and the venue shifted. We are still waiting for the conference’s pre-ordained resurgence. Where’s the yearly national title contender? Where are the prime time rivalry games and new, intriguing matchups brought on by the addition? Raycom Sports, that’s where. The SEC and Big 12 have clearly stepped up as the game’s top conferences. The Big 10 has put two Ohio State teams into the BCS title game since. And the Pac 10 can at least boast USC, its ’04 title and ’06 appearance.
And what does the ACC have to show for its machinations? The Big East is eviscerated. Talking heads are calling for its BCS tie-in to be revoked. And at what cost? The damage done to the Big East certainly isn’t justified by what the new ACC has accomplished, not by a long shot. And since these two BCS conferences cannot hold their own, we must suffer the constant boo-hooing of mid-majors purporting a claim to the national championship every season.
The damage is done, and there’s no going back. While the Big East has improved somewhat this season, its BCS privileges will continually be challenged. The ACC may not be far off from meeting the expectations of 2004, with Miami and FSU showing signs of revival, but the unavoidable truth remains that the annexations of ’04 have so far been a supreme disappointment.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Strasburg's Signing and Its Impact on Global Terrorism
The Nationals miraculously managed to come to terms with Steven Strasburg and mega-agent Scott Boras, the most accomplished negotiator this side of William Shatner, before last night's midnight deadline.
While the details of the deal have been released, as we all know, the numbers we see in the news do not encapture all the conditions of the agreement.
Take, for example, the ninety-some-odd million dollars on Eli Manning's recent contract. They represent the potential amount he can earn, but the majority of his compensation is incentives-based. What you see in print in most cases is not what the player actually gets.
Michael Vick was awarded the most lucrative contract in NFL history before an ill-advised business manuever landed him in a Virginia prison, and when he did not fulfill the incentives written into his contract, he didn't earn close to the amount shown on paper.
While MLB contracts typically represent the entire sum a player can expect to take home for the duration of the agreement, Stephen Strasburg's package contains more than meets the eye.
Strasburg's original list of demands, as interpreted by Scott Boras, consisted of nearly 100 million U.S. dollars. When the Nationals refused to comply with their requests, Strasburg and Boras did what all great movie hostage takers do when their ransom goes unpaid. They threatened and made further demands.
It just so happens that Strasburg is a loyal Soviet nationalist furious that his Mother Russia has been upstaged as the world's pariah state par-excellence by petty former U.S.S.R. parcels like Afghanistan. While the Nats could not raise enough money to satisfy his original cash demands, their key positioning in our nation's capital made the team an able but unlikely broker for goods of a more volatile nature... Soviet terrorists held over as enemies-of-state from the Cold War.
In accordance with Strasburg's second list of demands, which were relayed to him over the phone by Scott Boras through a voice distorter like the one in the Scream films, Nationals owner Mark Lerner immediately contacted the Pentagon to negotiate for the release of seven Soviet terrorists retained in the military prison at Guantanimo Bay, Cuba. Although Lerner had to give up season tickets to the Kennedy Center and was forced to fix the outcome of several of the Nats' now famous 6th inning President Runs, the Pentagon complied, satisfying the most stringent of Strasburg's demands.
Next, Lerner was forced to arrange a fuelled 747 to be prepped on the tarmac of the Havana airport to facilitate the transportation of the Soviet loyalists, along with a squadron of accompanying FA/18 Hornets to function as a protective envoy for the expatriates.
Once Lerner orchestrated the fireballing Strasburg's requests, he agreed to ink a nominal $15 million deal to help the Nats save face. Strasburg, content and optimistic that the terrorists will effectively be able to incite a second Cold War, reported to Rookie Ball in Des Moines this morning.
On a more serious note...
Here's an issue I take very seriously and some thoughts I have tried to instill in a few of my more hot-headed teammates. (I won't name any names, but I'm thinking of an individual whose surname rhymes with Shmarshletski.) Please take a look at Tom Verducci's intelligent write-up, MLB Needs to Curb Macho Culture, on the ludicrous game of bean-ball recounted seemingly every evening on Baseball Tonight. Now is a better time than ever to examine the current state of affairs, with the recent flash flood of cranial blunt-force trauma wounds inflicted on the diamond. Take a look at what Verducci has to say, and then, if you have absolutely nothing better to do, consider my analysis of the situation and suggestions for its correction, in the form of a response I just shot off to Mr. Verducci...
Excellent piece (MLB Needs to Curb Macho Culture). I can't think of anything less masculine than hurling a projectile at another man. And hitters only appear more ridiculous when they charge the mound in a fit of machismo, only to fling a batting helmet as a weapon, like Kevin Youkilis recently. I don’t know what initiated the present era of puffed up braggadocio, but with each MLB bullpen today carrying several pitchers capable of hitting the upper-90’s on the gun, a potentially tragic system of reciprocation and revenge has suddenly taken hold as the unavoidable status quo.
What will it take to bring an end to this cycle? It looks like all-star and franchise player David Wright may miss the remainder of the ’09 season. I can only hope he will recover the composure required to step back into the box and compete at his former level.
I used to think hockey’s ritual of condoned pugilism cheapened the game, but now I can see that it effectively provides forum for players to release frustration and settle disputes man-to-man, without access to weapons, and referees positioned to call off the fight when it has run its course.
A 95 MPH fastball is a weapon (see Julio Castillo, the minor leaguer who struck a fan in the head last year with a ball intended for the opposing bench in a dugout-clearing brawl and his since been charged with felony assault). This game of strutting around “protecting players” could very well result in the death or serious maiming of a party with no stake in the quarrel apart from the misfortune of sharing a uniform with a bone-headed vigilante reliever. What we see played out on a near-nightly basis is nothing more than schoolyard posturing with the unfortunate availability of deadly weapons.
It is widely acknowledged that we expect too much from our athletes. But they must be made to understand the magnitude of their actions. There is a time and place for the bean ball. But as every pitching coach worth his salt has taught, it belongs on the hitter’s back, never at his head. Until pitchers have demonstrated the capacity to make the ball go where they want it, they should not be permitted to take another individual’s life in their hands.
Umpires should not be charged with interpreting intent. They have their hands full on the field as it is. Perhaps a disciplinary panel consisting of former players should be established to rule on these incidents. And punishments should equal those in place for steroid use. Both infractions can potentially lead to severe physical harm and set a poor example for young fans of the game. The current culture is breeding youths who believe what they see on television is the big league way to play. The cycle must be broken before a new generation of head hunters ascends and the sport is ruined for good.
Excellent piece (MLB Needs to Curb Macho Culture). I can't think of anything less masculine than hurling a projectile at another man. And hitters only appear more ridiculous when they charge the mound in a fit of machismo, only to fling a batting helmet as a weapon, like Kevin Youkilis recently. I don’t know what initiated the present era of puffed up braggadocio, but with each MLB bullpen today carrying several pitchers capable of hitting the upper-90’s on the gun, a potentially tragic system of reciprocation and revenge has suddenly taken hold as the unavoidable status quo.
What will it take to bring an end to this cycle? It looks like all-star and franchise player David Wright may miss the remainder of the ’09 season. I can only hope he will recover the composure required to step back into the box and compete at his former level.
I used to think hockey’s ritual of condoned pugilism cheapened the game, but now I can see that it effectively provides forum for players to release frustration and settle disputes man-to-man, without access to weapons, and referees positioned to call off the fight when it has run its course.
A 95 MPH fastball is a weapon (see Julio Castillo, the minor leaguer who struck a fan in the head last year with a ball intended for the opposing bench in a dugout-clearing brawl and his since been charged with felony assault). This game of strutting around “protecting players” could very well result in the death or serious maiming of a party with no stake in the quarrel apart from the misfortune of sharing a uniform with a bone-headed vigilante reliever. What we see played out on a near-nightly basis is nothing more than schoolyard posturing with the unfortunate availability of deadly weapons.
It is widely acknowledged that we expect too much from our athletes. But they must be made to understand the magnitude of their actions. There is a time and place for the bean ball. But as every pitching coach worth his salt has taught, it belongs on the hitter’s back, never at his head. Until pitchers have demonstrated the capacity to make the ball go where they want it, they should not be permitted to take another individual’s life in their hands.
Umpires should not be charged with interpreting intent. They have their hands full on the field as it is. Perhaps a disciplinary panel consisting of former players should be established to rule on these incidents. And punishments should equal those in place for steroid use. Both infractions can potentially lead to severe physical harm and set a poor example for young fans of the game. The current culture is breeding youths who believe what they see on television is the big league way to play. The cycle must be broken before a new generation of head hunters ascends and the sport is ruined for good.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Bulldogs in Forbes
Forbes recently released this examination into which college football games will demand the highest ticket prices this season.
First on the list, no surprise, is USC at Notre Dame (10/17). Notre Dame has the nation's largest fanbase, most likely because the Catholic church frowns upon the use of contraception, and USC has the most popular college football team in the country's most populous state.
However, number two may raise some eyebrows.
Forbes reveals that ticket prices at every single University of Georgia game played at the team's home of Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia will eclipse the asking price of tickets for any other game in the 2009 season.
Which means the November 7th game against Tennessee Tech, even if the Dawgs limp in with three losses and no remaining BCS hopes, will demand a heftier sum than "The Red River Shootout," featuring two National Championship-caliber teams and a Heisman favorite in Colt McCoy. More than the heralded LSU-Florida matchup at Death Valley.
What conclusions can we draw from this revelation? Certainly that the level of enthusiasm for Georgia football surmounts that of any other team in the country, even in spite of the team's lackluster pre-season ranking (15th by Sports Illustrated).
And don't go looking at stadium capacity figures to argue that ticket scarcity could be an explanation for the exceptionally high ticket prices asked for Georgia games.
Sanford Stadium holds upwards of 92,000 people. The Cotton Bowl (site of OU-Texas) holds roughly the same amount (92,200) and Death Valley fills up to a similar 92,400.
I'm just presenting the facts as illuminated by Forbes. Don't let my UGA-bias sway you. Take a look at the numbers and draw conclusions for yourself. However, it sure is hard to argue that passion for Georgia football may very well be the most fervent in the nation.
First on the list, no surprise, is USC at Notre Dame (10/17). Notre Dame has the nation's largest fanbase, most likely because the Catholic church frowns upon the use of contraception, and USC has the most popular college football team in the country's most populous state.
However, number two may raise some eyebrows.
Forbes reveals that ticket prices at every single University of Georgia game played at the team's home of Sanford Stadium in Athens, Georgia will eclipse the asking price of tickets for any other game in the 2009 season.
Which means the November 7th game against Tennessee Tech, even if the Dawgs limp in with three losses and no remaining BCS hopes, will demand a heftier sum than "The Red River Shootout," featuring two National Championship-caliber teams and a Heisman favorite in Colt McCoy. More than the heralded LSU-Florida matchup at Death Valley.
What conclusions can we draw from this revelation? Certainly that the level of enthusiasm for Georgia football surmounts that of any other team in the country, even in spite of the team's lackluster pre-season ranking (15th by Sports Illustrated).
And don't go looking at stadium capacity figures to argue that ticket scarcity could be an explanation for the exceptionally high ticket prices asked for Georgia games.
Sanford Stadium holds upwards of 92,000 people. The Cotton Bowl (site of OU-Texas) holds roughly the same amount (92,200) and Death Valley fills up to a similar 92,400.
I'm just presenting the facts as illuminated by Forbes. Don't let my UGA-bias sway you. Take a look at the numbers and draw conclusions for yourself. However, it sure is hard to argue that passion for Georgia football may very well be the most fervent in the nation.
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