The SoapBoxers

The Open Championship originated in Scotland in 1860 at Prestwick Golf Club.  The first playing of the  tournament was restricted to professionals, (mainly who were caddies, greenskeepers, clubmakers or ballmakers by trade)  and attracted a field of eight who played three rounds of Prestwick’s twelve-hole course in a single day. The winning score of 174, was shot by Willie Park Sr. who beat Old Tom Morris by two strokes. The following year the tournament was opened to amateurs; eight of them joined ten professionals in the field to make a huge field of 18, and the Open Championship was on its way.

Prestwick Golf Club administered The British Open from 1860 to 1870. In 1871, it agreed to organize it jointly with The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews and Honourable Company of Edinbourough Golfers based out of Musselbourough – preclude to Muirfiled one of the best of all Scottish Courses. The event was lengthened to  72 holes, four rounds of what was by then the standard complement of 18 holes. In the same year the prize fund reached £100.

In 1894 the Open was the first one held outside Scotland, at the Royal St Georges Golf Club in England. Because of an increasing number of entrants, a cut was introduced after two rounds in 1898. In 1920 full responsibility for The Open Championship was handed over to The Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews.

The Open returns to Royal St Georges this year after a long layoff.  In today’s age of golf there are only a small number of courses that typically host the Open Championship on a rotation basis.  These courses do not change very often.  The tournament was last played here in 2003 when virtual unknown, Ben Curtis, took home the Claret Jug.

Fast forward to 2011.  Tiger Woods in sidelined with knee, ankle and some would argue, brain issues.  Phil Mickelson, one of the most gifted golfers of our time, and lock to be in the World Golf Hall of Fame has never really contended in an Open.

Rory McIlroy who has lead at the 54 hole point of each of the last majors blew chances last year at St Andrews, then in the PGA, earlier this year at Augusta, and now has a United States Open to his credit.  He is the overwhelming favorite at Ladbrokes – the prominent British Betting house as a Tigeresque 7-2 betting favorite.

The Open has a history of two things. 1) Great players across the history of golf usually have a win in this championship to their credit and  2) there are just as many if not more “one hit wonders”  golfers that win this major and really are never heard from again.

So this weekend, set your clocks early, tune into ESPN, and catch Renton Laidlaw announcing Match 42 on the tee in his high pitched voice that is often imitated, but never duplicated.

Watch quirky holes, bad bounces, lucky bounces, horrible lies, strong winds, maybe even rain, and weather that can change faster than it does where I live in Nebraska.

The Open is golf at its finest.  Golf as it was meant to be played – over sand dunes, humps and hollows -not on overwatered and perfectly manicured greens, fairways, bunkers and tee boxes.
My pick this week – Matt Kuchar…it is about time he won something big in terms of a tournament.

Until next time, enjoy your haggis, neeps and tots!

My favorite event of the Summer, the Annual Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Championship was held yesterday. Joey Chestnut made it 5 in a row downing 62 Hot Dogs and Buns in 10 minutes of time. His nearest competitor – Patrick Bertoletti – set a personal best with 53 dogs consumed. This event also was the first appearance by three competitors from China that were flown in to participate. (Nathan’s coincidentally is opening up a number of chain stores in China, so it strictly is a marketing ploy to be sure)

Meanwhile in the world of competitive eating, controversy still reigns supreme. Across town at another locale, 230 Fifth Avenue – namely a rooftop bar in mid-town Manhattan, six-time champ Takeru Kobayashi downed a record 69 hot dogs to become the unofficial winner of this year’s annual Nathan’s hot dog eating competition.

The establishment broadcasted the sanctioned Nathan’s Fourth of July Hot Dog Eating Competition in real-time on ESPN. Kobayashi went up against the competitors on the big screen in a sort of “simulcast eating event” and beat the competitors in the official competition by 7 dogs.

Questions immediately were raised. Are these the same size Hot Dogs at are at Nathan’s? Did the proximity to the boardwalk on Coney Island and the sheer volume of spectators make the conditions more hot and humid versus the high rise, breezier and cooler conditions in which Kobayshi quote “competed” ? Would Chestnut have kicked it into another gear had he had his sights on Kobayashi immediately to his left or right?

Last year in protest, Kobayashi was arrested at the Nathan’s event after he climbed over a barrier and stormed the stage of the Nathan’s contest. He was protesting the fact that he was unable to come to an agreement contractually with the powers that oversee the world of competitive eating. (Which by the way according to an ESPN poll is not a sport….80% of the voters indicated it is cool to watch but not considered a sport)

Catching wind that there may be a simultaneous off site event featuring Kobayashi, MLE (Major League Eating ) president Richard Shea said earlier this week that his organization wouldn’t recognize Kobayashi’s achievement if he wins. “It’s a farce,” said Shea. “He’s not banned, he’s just mad he lost three years in a row.”

Kobayashi claims he has no hard feelings for the MLE. He just doesn’t want to sign a contract that restricts him.

Steven Greenberg, the owner of the bar where Kobayashi “unofficially” broke the record indicated Kobayashi was paid for his hot dog eating appearance but said it wasn’t an endorsement or promotional fee and wouldn’t disclose the amount.

Will this ever be settled? Will cooler heads prevail and we get to see once again Kobayashi versus Chestnut? Perhaps at the Nebraska State Fair?

Maybe they could battle in some sort of neutral food other than hot dogs? A few ideas…Pickled Eggs, Chocolate Ice Cream, Funnel Cakes, or my personal favorite (and yes someone does have a world record for this) Mayonnaise.

A new twist for 2011 – This year for the first time ever, the women got an event of their own and did not compete directly against the men. Sonya Thomas aka, the Black Widow downed forty dogs to take the first official Woman’s’ Title , a check for Ten Grand, and the now coveted Pink Belt.

The winner of the “Real “ Event gets a smooth $10,000 and more importantly the coveted Mustard Belt awarded to the winner of the Nathan’s Competition. For Chestnut he needs to clear out some more wall space.

Somehow I think that Aaron Rodgers with his “Championship Belt “ move on the football field would look better sporting one of the Mustard colored belts that would match the Packer Green just fine….but I digress….

Until Next time…Stay Classy at the unlimited buffet nights!

Every gambler knows, the secret to surviving in knowing what to throw away and knowing what to keep.

Las Vegas is hopeful that the early returns in the annual World Series of Poker keeps the momentum going. The roughly 6 week long tournament which began over three weeks ago, is up almost 12% from the amount of entrants through the same point in the tournament series last year (they are basically at the half way mark with 30 of the 58 tournament results completed)

Raise!

Much like the Sportscard industry where Ebay has replaced the local baseball card show and neighborhood shop, on line gaming has put a dent in the live – cash games at Casino’s around the globe. The crackdown by the government effectively shutting down these sites may be a boon for the local establishments, or the backrooms at the golf course or VFW club for that matter.

On-line poker took a huge hit when the government basically shut down all of the operations this past year. This left many of the high rollers and big time gamblers with literally millions of dollars in total assets frozen in accounts, an no longer available to be paid out to the players that had established on line accounts. There was speculation from a number of folks that this might hamper the amount of interest as well as players for the biggest poker event of the year.

Layed down da monster…should have paid me off with dat…..

ESPN used to cover the Final Table of the World Series years ago. They still do..but now it is much more glorified. It was usually aired once instead of many times a week and was on at 2:30 AM in the morning, right after you got to watch lumberjacks doing log rolling and catching your favorite Australian Rules Football Team – Fitzroy kick their way to a slim victory.

The United States Open Championship is being contested at Congressional this week. Congressional is not one of my more favorite venues for an open. It has your usual long rough, fast greens, super long golf holes, and lots of trees, but it is a fairly boring golf course in Johnny’s opinion.

There are some nice historic moments here over the years. Ken Venturi staving off heat stroke to play 36 holes in 110+ degree heat and win an Open here. Tom Lehman playing his normal right to left draw but drawing it into the water to lose an Open.

This year it appears early on to be a boat race.

Rory McIlroy, aka Spaulding from Caddyshack (Judge Smailes Grandson) is playing like a man possessed. The kid has probably more overall golf talent than anyone on the tour other than a healthy Tiger Woods or a Phil Mickelson. Problem is Tiger is wearing a leg brace right now and Phil is over thinking his way to not keeping a ball in play on the planet.

At the time end of his second round, McIlroy has taken it to 11 under, which is rare air in a US Open Championship. Even par normally wins. Shooting under par is unheard of. Rory is making it look easy. He shoots a routine 6 under in day one to lead by three and has added another 5 under today to get to 11 under par.

Granted the course is a little soft, they have had some rain, the greens are not as fast as the USGA demons would like them to be. But…no one else is within 8 shots of him early on. Spaulding is doing what he has done before. He smoked out of the gate at The Open Championship last year at St Andrews with a 63 – the lowest ever first round score in the 150 year history of the Open Championship, and tying the course record in the process….Then the wind nailed him on day two and he ballooned to an 80, effectively shooting himself out of it. He rebounded nicely to still finish 3rd.

Until Next week…

Stay Classy Northern Ireland!

After 19 glorious seasons, the Diesel has hung it up. Riding off into the Big Sunset, the Shaq Daddy has an impressive resume’. An MVP award, numerous rings with a couple of different teams, and one of the most likable guys to ever play in the NBA. The Big Aristotle might also hold the record for most different nicknames ever attributed to an NBA player. This Original Superman started with the Orlando Magic as a young player fresh out of LSU. In his younger days Shaq FU was a physical and dexterous specimen on the basketball court. Many teams underwent the “Hack a Shaq” mentality as the one weakness – the total inability to make free throws on a consistent basis – became more apparent as he moved on to the Phoenix Suns where he played under the moniker of the Shaqtus. He ended his career, fairly unceremoniously as the Big Leprechaun in Boston playing in limited action due mainly to injuries.

Bye Bye Big 401K….your presence in the league will be sorely missed by fans everywhere.

Speaking of NBA….

The finals are in full swing and if not for a complete meltdown and letdown in Game 2, the Heat would have a commanding 3-0 lead. Instead the totally collapsed in Game 2, and nearly repeated the feat trying hard to lose Game 3. Johnny’s notes from the finals thus far…..Dirk is REALLY good, no I mean Really good! Dwayne Wade has been the MVP so far of the Playoffs, and lastly players are flopping everywhere getting ghost calls from the officials. I guess whoever loses will have the officials to blame.

The Baseball draft is being held as we speak. For those of you who are baseball aficionados I am sure you are excited to watch this, but me…nah…not so much. There is a big difference between watching the ESPN full court press crew along with Kiper and McShay and countless highlights and interviews with coaches, players, team owners , the graphics etc. Then Major League Baseball rolls out the White Pages personality of Bud Selig coupled with some high school highlights of players none of you outside of their geography have ever heard of and then a couple of genius comments by the MLB Network Stiffs. Boo MLB for trying to be something you are not to the casual fan….exciting.

Until Next Week, Stay Classy Milwaukee!

On a day with relatively no sports news, Jimmy “the Vest” Tressel decided to proclaim his resignation from thuh ohio state university as their football coach.

Nothing like picking the day that we honor America’s heroes of military service to slip into the night – – because of your dishonorable actions.

The real issue here is not what the Buckeye players did that was wrong, it was the fact that the head coach knew about it, then lied that he knew about it, and then took another year to basically confess his problems. More strangely, he waits another 3-4 months from when the entire charade completely blew up earlier this year. But, he waits until NOW announce that he is stepping down? Why the wait Jimmy?

Coming clean earlier would have avoided a lot of embarrassment for the University, and its program. It would have also given the Athletic Director a chance to do a broader coaching search and perhaps look at other interested candidates. That is no longer a possibility with the Spring football camps wrapped up and summer conditioning well under way.

Ohio State will have a number of players sit out the first 5 games of the year to start the 2012 season due to them essentially trading autographs and memorabilia for ink. That is right. Tattoo em up boys with a alleged drug trafficker….Classy.

A number of other players are still under investigation and could face yet to be determined disciplinary action. More investigation into sold bowl and conference championship rings and sweetened deals to purchase cars from local dealerships have the boosters squirming in their overpriced seats at the Horseshoe.

Amazingly I have not heard an apology from Tressel to date. The Vest in his owns actions cares so much about his players that he would cover up infractions and cares so much for the University that he felt that keeping the head coaching position any longer would be an unfair distraction. How about a simple – “I am sorry” from the former head honcho.

The next weeks should be more interesting as further details unfold. Ohio State has to appear before the NCAA infractions committee in early August. Maybe the club should have done their homework and recognized that this was not Tressel’s first tussle with allegations. While coaching at powerhouse Youngstown State, talks of improper recruiting were in the air. Tressel left those allegations while they were still under investigation and went on to be the head coach at Ohio State.

No where to slip to this time except the golf course for Tressel.

Until next time,

Stay classy Columbus!

Ahhh it is that time of year again when there is drama in the Bronx Zoo. The Evil Empire also known as the New York Yankees seem to hum along magically when all is going well. They are winning games, they are enjoying the YES network, they are getting up the ire of Baaaahston fans….but this year has been different. The Pinstripers are struggling, They have not enjoyed their normal success of recent years early on in the 2011 season. Now this past week they have one of the biggest on the field and off the field distractions in the Majors involving their long time catcher Jorge Posada.

Now on any other team this may not be a big deal. But we are talking about the New York Yankees here folks. The geographic center of the Universe. Remember the Sun itself orbits around New York City.

This past week Jorge bailed out of the lineup on his own accord. He is only hitting .165 this year and has yet to get a hit all year off of a left handed pitcher. Manager Joe Girardi had dropped him to dead last in the batting order. Jorge was so angry at being demoted to ninth in the order Saturday that he not only said he wanted out of the lineup, also indicated he might want off of the team. Allegedly a heated discussion took place before the game between manage Joe Girardi, a former catcher himself, and Posada. These two have had some issues over the years that seem to stem back to their playing days when Girardi was still in the league as an active player.

Yesterday Derek Jeter the modern day version of Joe DiMaggio in the eyes of Yanks fans stepped to the defense of his comrade in arms, essentially condoning Posada’s behavior indicating he had nothing to apologize for, he obviously was struggling and he was caught off guard with this and had a bad day.

The New York front office brass did not seem too impressed with their team captain taking this stance and called for an internal meeting to discuss the entire situation.

It appears all is well on the Eastern Front now and the over-reacting drama surrounding this incident is over. But it does bring up a valid question. When a great player become average, or gets to the point when their skills have deteriorated significantly, whose responsibility is it to call it a day, sit down for the betterment of the team, or even hang up the cleats for good?

Too many players have held on way past the point of no return. Some retirements seem to come suddenly such as Barry Sanders or Ken Griffey Jr. Others seems to go on like the end of a bad movie (Brett Favre)

By their nature professional athletes are confident, bordering on cocky, and have achieved the successes they have endured in their sport because they are better than most, even at the heightened level of competition. It must be very difficult to make that decision on your own as an athlete.

Here is hoping that Posada won’t have to stare his .165 batting average in the face to accept that maybe the end is near, and can make a decision on his own before the team is forced to make it for him.

Johnny missed his normal Tuesday article last week as he was vacationing with Mrs. Goodman in the lovely town of Las Vegas Nevada. As surprising as it may be, yours truly ran into none other than Peter Edward Rose at the sports book at the Mirage Hotel and Casino.

Pete was making an appearance somewhere at the Hotel or a nearby hotel doing an autograph session, as I saw a number of folks walking around later that day wearing autographed jerseys and hats or carrying photos. I for one did not bother asking for an autograph from Pete Rose, as I have heard countless stories about him charging for his signature no matter what the venue or occasion, however I did break the ice with him by offering him one of the multitude of my free drink tickets, which he accepted.

We spoke about baseball for a few short minutes – he even mentioned that one of his favorite hitters in the game today is Troy Tulowitzki, and then I was rudely interrupted by an East Coaster who just barged into the conversation like he had known Pete Rose since he was three years old (shocking I know).

Many thoughts crossed my mind in this short time speaking casually to the all-time hit leader of major league baseball. Are you pissed off that you are banned for life? Do you wish you would have admitted you gambled on baseball right out of the gate instead of admitting it years later? Do you miss the limelight that you could have gotten if you would be able to display your Hall of Fame ring wherever you go?

I am sure Pete as some regrets. The saga around his banishment from baseball basically became a grudge match between the Commissioner Bart Giamatti, and Rose when the details of his gambling came out. I still feel strongly that if Pete would have admitted to all his indiscretions right away that the result today would be different. There is no doubt that his credentials or the way he played the game (he is known as Charlie Hustle for cryin’ out loud!) would have been more than enough to get him a guaranteed first ballot vote into the Hall. Some argue that once Pete is gone from the earth, the Commissioner at that time may elect to remove his ban, as it is doubtful that no one has been more hotly debated about getting into Cooperstown, with the possible exception of Shoeless Joe Jackson.

As we move away from the so called “ Steroid Era “ in baseball it will be interesting to see how the likes of Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, and others are viewed. Baseball writers are a fickle bunch, many having a holier than thou attitude and the thought that they are the gatekeepers of the National Pastime.

This I know for certain, all the baseball issues for Pete Rose are in his past, he still is a person that likes to gamble, and I hope he enjoyed the free drink from Johnny Goodman.

What do you think, readers?  Should Pete be in the Hall of Fame?  What about the guys from the steroid era?

Until next time, Stay classy Cincinnati!

Big problems continue for the beloved Ohio State Program. Not that it is any big shocker, but the NCAA the fastest yacht in the boat race, finally made a public statement yesterday that they are looking into “alleged” infractions. The violations in the Ohio State case happened a basically 12 months ago. The news splash came out in late December right before the bowl game, and then further escalated about 2 months ago with Tressel’s admission he knew about the problems with the five players trading equipment and awards for tattoos. Heck he even had the email train to show for it.

Now the Buckeyes have until July 5 to answer questions for the NCAA. A hearing before the infractions committee is scheduled Aug. 12 in Indianapolis.(coincidentally one day before Johnny Goodman’s Birthday) After that, god only knows how long this will drag on. Heck it took the NCAA 5 years to nail USC for Reggie Bush and other violations of basketball players taking place during the same time span.

The lingering question is will the NCAA think that the penalties imposed by the school are strong enough, or will they wield a heavier hammer? Hard to tell. The scuttlebutt in the coaching fraternity is that “The Vest” is in deep doo doo. Heck even Nebraska increased head coach Bo Pelini’s salary just yesterday making him the third highest paid football coach in the Big Ten. Why? They lost way more games than they should have last year and folded like a cheap card table in their bowl game re-match with lowly Washington. Maybe Athletic Director Tom Osborne wanted to make a possible move to Pelini’s alma mater, Ohio State, look less appealing from a financial perspective.

Lucky #7

The NFL Lockout drama saga continues this week we are quickly approaching the 2011 Draft. AP writer Jaime Aron had an excellent article on April 23rd that listed the top players taken at each position in the draft since the modern day draft has taken place. As you can imagine this could be a hotly debated topic. I mean which #1 overall is the best? Bradshaw? Manning? Aikman, Campbell? You could make your argument for any of these guys at #1. But what I found interesting was that the #7 pick in the first round has been a veritable point of weakness overall.

Tops on Aron’s listing was Adrian Peterson in the #7 spot, who many felt “slid” to the Vikings as he was coming off an injury plagued college career at Oklahoma. Phil Simms, Sterling Sharpe, Bryant Young and Champ Bailey are others of mention at the number 7 spot but no one really stands out like is the case at the other positions in the top 10 overall in any given year

Maybe this means the #7 spot is due to have a great player taken. Of course anyone in the Top 10 each year is considered great or they would not be considered to be drafted that high. The consensus at #7 this year is Patrick Peterson, the dynamic secondary player from LSU. Only time will tell if a Peterson will dominate from the #7 spot overall in the draft.

Until Next time…stay classy Mel Kiper Jr.

Normally I write a sports article but Kosmo is going that direction a bit today, so I will focus on a more Kosmoesque topic for Tuesday … Customer Service.

My wife and I recently bought a new car. Well somewhat recently. We picked up the car at the dealership on February 21. The negotiation went well, I haggled enough that we were happy with trade in values and all was agreed upon.

Unfortunately the dealership did not have the color of vehicle that my wife really wanted so they made a trade for the color we were looking from a dealership out of state. They were not exactly sure if the features were all exactly the same as they had two in the color we wanted and they were not sure which would show up in the trade they were making. So we negotiated based on the higher priced vehicle.

The day we picked up the vehicle, we were hit by the manufacturers credit guy. Now I work at a place that has a great credit union with fabulous rates. He also kept trying to sell me warranty and maintenance plans. I had to politely explain no fewer than four times that the reason I keep buying this brand of vehicle is the reliability, I have never had any issues with them.  So basically “no I am not interested in spending more money on a warranty plan”.

The dealership had put in a charge for $600 for gas, detail and dealership accessories on the final sales bill. WTF? I asked you if I needed to detail my old car , and you told me “no”.  I am not paying for gas … I just bought a 30K plus vehicle from you and you did not add anything additional on to my car, so what are you trying to pull here?

After 2 ½ hours at the dealership (we had an appointment to pick up the car) we finally got to drive it home. My wife procrastinated a bit and waited until the last day to title the car, pay taxes, and get her plates. When she showed up at the DMV they politely explained that they did not have her title yet from the dealership. When my wife called the dealership (realize she is still at the DMV at this time) the dealership said, “it was lost a couple of weeks ago in the mail, didn’t anyone call you to tell you”.

After some vented frustration, my wife secured a loaner car from the dealership. A week passes. Nothing. She calls the dealership again. “Looks like it might be 2-3 more weeks before we have it as there is a computer problem with the State of Colorado” (which I think was still code name for – we have no idea where it is but we don’t have it yet for you).

This prompted a visit from Johnny Goodman to the dealership. After I expressed my complete dissatisfaction with the lack of communication and ranted and raved for about an hour, the dealership agreed to pay my first month car payment (only after I basically told them they needed to). I was having a real problem making a car payment on a vehicle I could legally not drive due to a mix up at the dealership which was completely their error, not mine.

Another 3 weeks went by and we finally got the title. My wife is now driving the car. I was called the day she picked up the title by our salesman who indicated he just found out about this a week or so ago (completely a lie here – trust me, everyone in the dealership told him I stopped in to talk to him the night I came in to look for getting my car payment made … I did make a HUGE scene that night so I am quite sure I left a lasting impression) and then he had also contacted my wife and I … but only after we had filled out a less than complimentary survey and the results went from their home office back to the dealership. Why would you respond to a bad survey and not even call to inform a customer that their title had been lost? An answer to this question I will never know or understand.

The worst part of this is the dealership is literally a half of a block from my house. When salesman go outside for a smoke break they could wave to me on my deck of my house. They had 5 phone contact numbers for my wife or myself yet chose to not call us until we initiated to them that there was a problem.

Hopefully those that read this will have better experiences than I, or will go the extra mile in their jobs this next week – realizing that sometimes problems develop a life of their own and just get bigger and bigger. All which could usually be solved by simple a phone call. As we get more technological in our world, the verbal or face to face communication suffers and seems to get worse and worse. Unfortunately this dealership has lost my business for good as I will never buy another car from them. And as an added bonus my wife and I have pretty much told anyone who will listen our story of great customer service.

Until Next time … stay classy Performance Toyota of Lincoln.