The SoapBoxers

Much like the rain delays this weekend at the 109th United States Open Championship at Bethpage Black course, your truly is a little late in getting in this week’s sports story in.

Yesterday provided some great drama and a great and memorable finish. It became somewhat of a Darwinesque survival of the fittest down the stretch. The last group with Ricky Barnes and Lucas Glover started Monday play on the second hole with a comfortable cushion of 5 shots between them and the next closest competitor.

Only in the US Open, no lead is comfortable, especially when you have not contended in a Major before.

Barnes was the first to falter, giving away a number of strokes early in the round. He started to show signs of this late in the day on Sunday as he missed a very short putt on #18 and then promptly began the fourth round by barely keeping it on the golf course. Barnes has been in a position like this before, albeit while still an amateur. He is a past United States Amateur Champion. That is a Major in my book, and it sure was to Bobby Jones.

Glover leads the PGA this year in total driving statistics which combines length off the tee with accuracy. That is the kind of statistical support you need to find yourself at the top of a US Open Leaderboard. As Barnes faltered, Glover hung in there just a bit better…mainly due the number of fairways he was hitting.

A number of other players made a charge, Mike Weir, who was a magician with the rescue clubs and fairway woods all week. Ross Fischer…Who??? Most had never heard of him, but they will now. And if you watch golf channel coverage of the European Tour you would know a lot more about Ross and his golf game.

David Duval, who had gone the way of Ian Baker Finch, win the Open Championship only to never be heard from again. Duval showed the world that he might be closer than we think to being among the games best again. He had a few horrible breaks early in the round and could have easily faltered, but instead righted the ship and finished tied for second. No one saw that coming. Except maybe Double D himself.

Tiger made a fourth quarter drive, but ran out of holes and out of time. NBC is always pushing for Tiger, and frankly pushes too hard, I think the reason a lot of folks don’t like Tiger is the media is often so slanted to have him win that it turns a lot of folks off. Still it is impressive that he has no putting game at all this week, hits it just average and still can finish tied for 6th. It just proves how good he really is.

The peoples choice, Phil Mickelson once again came up just a bit shy. Too many good story lines here if he did pull this one off. Now we look at his record in U S Opens and see five….count em five second place finishes. This might be like Arnold Palmer and the PGA Championship. Many close calls but he could never win that one. How many more shots will Phil get to be this close.

At the end it was Lucas Glover hoisting the trophy. One of the quietest and unassuming champions you could predict. With now two wins to his credit on the PGA tour, Glover gets a lot more attention, fame, and a smooth ten year exemption on the tour.

A lot of other big stories later this week including the finale of the College World Series and the start of Wimbledon.

Also I would be remiss if I did not mention a good friend of mine says to purchase your Colorado Rockies tickets now….for the playoffs. What a turnaround in Coors!

Until next week- Hit em straight!

This weekend marks the toughest challenge in professional golf. The 109th United States Open Championship. The United States Golf Association is always known to set up the US Open venue brutally difficult, and this year is sure to be no exception.

Bethpage Black – located in Bethpage Park in New York will host the event for the second time since 2002. Tiger Woods was the winner that year and many feel this year will be no different.

Bethpage is a very difficult and very long course. It is among just a few recent courses that have hosted US Opens that are accessible to the public to play. By now you have all read countless stories of die hard golfers sleeping in their cars overnight to play this golf course.

I am one of the biggest fans of golf I know, but I can’t imagine sleeping in the FJ Cruiser overnight in order to play this place. It is long, somewhat scenic, but we aren’t talking Augusta, St Andrews, Sandhills, Merion, or a bunch of other courses that would be much more enjoyable to play….

but I digress….

This course is just flat out difficult. Which alone will probably eliminate about 80% of the field from a chance at winning. In order to win most U.S. Opens you have to hit fairways, have a great short game, and play conservative yet aggressive. Here at Bethpage you also have to hit it a country mile as the course will play much the same as it did seven years ago.

Here are my favorites to contend this week.

1) Eldrick Tont Woods – Any reason to not take Tiger? Hmmm…#1 in the world, just coming off a win at the Memorial with one of his best Fairways Hit rounds in forever, and the last time they played here he was the only golfer under par for the tournament. I’ll play with the house money in this shocking pick.

2) Phil Mickelson – Sentimental favorite for three reasons. First of all, he has been close in the Open a couple of times. Second, his Wife Amy will start cancer treatments soon, and a lot of people would love to see lefty pull this rabbit out of the hat. Third, New Yahkaas Love Lefty!. Will undoubtedly be the favorite of the crown and one of the few that has the game to do it.

3) Jim Furyk – Furyk has a game suited for all U.S. Open venues. Drives it well, plays smart, good short game..Length here may hurt him a bit. He is also playing very well this year, good enough to win.

4) Geoff Oglivy – Stole the Open a few years back at Winged foot when Montgomerie and Mickelson spewed oil and threw gears on the finishing holes. Has been hot or cold this year but has the type of game that should succeed here.

5) Sergio Garcia – It pains me to pick him however you cannot discredit his ball striking abilities. He has the length to contend at this track. Biggest question with Sergio is will the locals remember the antics of 2002 and bring the heat on Sergio again in 2009. I for one am betting they don not forget and the crowd might just be the reason he is NOT around on Sunday.

Now that only leaves about 151 golfers I am not picking, so sit back this weekend, and enjoy another great installment of our National Championship.
Happy Fathers Day this weekend to all you dads out there!

A big week in sports and a lot of stories to touch on…so this week Johnny G decides again to do the weekly run-down.

The Big Unit gets the big 300th Win. I wrote an article about this last week and I was glad to see Randy pick up 300 on his first try. Too many times in sports is seems like an athlete gets close to a milestone and it takes a long time to get it done and out of the way. Nice Job Mr. Johnson

The Magic decided to not show up for Game 1 in Los Angeles and then played better in Game 2. I am not a big fan of the NBA and last night reminded me again as to why. Too many ghost calls (for both teams in my opinion, but most of which Kobe was the benefactor of) impacts the final score of the game way way way too often in NBA games. I guess this is why I am a fan of individual sports like golf, because there is no referee to blame the outcome on.

Speaking of golf, I guess Tiger Woods’ knee must be feeling better. Jack Nicklaus the host of the Memorial Tournament joked that Tiger was really struggling in his comeback from the surgery since he had only what??? A bunch of top tens and a win to his credit so far this year? I guess you can add another win to the tally now. The folks running the US Open are hoping he can keep that going in two more weeks.

Roger Federer finally breaks through in an easy coasting straight set triumph at the French Open. This now adds him to the list of tennis players to win the career Grand Slam. Many would argue that Federer is the best of all time. He now has tied Pete Sampras with 14 career Grand Slam titles. I, for one, don’t feel he is even close to done winning them just yet.

The College World Series will be starting next weekend in beloved Omaha, Nebraska. The CWS has become one of the most popular NCAA tournament venues thanks mainly to the fantastic coverage provided by ESPN of the games in Omaha. Matter of fact a few years back when the NCAA was considering moving the CWS out of Omaha, the ESPN telecast became more of a “telethon” constantly pimping the great job and the fine folks and hospitality that the city provides hosting the tournament. Omaha has now committed to building a brand new stadium which will be used almost exclusively for this tournament for the few decades. I guess it does pay to have a major network in your corner.

And since ESPN is wanting to throw it’s weight around, the SEC begins a new 15 year contract with ESPN starting this year which will televise all of their games not already picked up by CBS coverage for a smooth 2.25 Billion dollars over that time. If you’re a fan of the SEC all this means that the future looks good. If you’re a competitor of the SEC, you know this league is not going to be backing down…and if your are not on the Big 10….errrr Big 11 network already you better hope that your conference is planning on something soon with an exclusive television deal….or during National Titles games we are going to hear a lot more chanting of S-E-C, S-E-C!

This Wednesday, Randy Johnson will make his first attempt to win his 300th game, as he sits perched on the doorstep with 299 wins.  Johnson’s climb up the all time wins chart has created a lot of buzz in baseball circles as to the chances of someone else replicating the feat of 300 wins.

Records show that since the decade of the 40’s, our current decade is the second only to the 1980’s in number of pitchers reaching the 300 win milestone.  During the 80’s, Tom Seaver, Gaylord Perry, Don Sutton, Phil Niekro and Steve Carlton joined the elusive 300 win club. Nolan Ryan was the only one in the 90’s, and in the new millennium, Roger Clemens, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and now soon Randy Johnson – make it a nice quadrilateral

Johnson has been a unique pitcher among this list.  He has a career 3.29 ERA to go along with his 299 wins.  That alone does not seem to be unusual.  I mean, you have to be pretty good to get this far in the win column.  The amazing part is he has consistently gotten better with age.  He is second on the all time strikeout list behind just Nolan Ryan.  He has gotten better and better and better with age.

Since turning 30 years old, Johnson has won 235 of his games and struck out more than 3700 batters.  If you measure his Earned Run Average against the league average (this is an advanced statistic called ERA+), he is +147 during that time.  Some baseball pundits say if he is not the greatest old pitcher in the history of the game, then he is right there with the likes of Lefty Grove and Hoyt Wilhelm, both Hall of Famers.

Johnson had won 49 games entering 1993, his 5th year with the Seattle Mariners.  Then he went on a historic 10 year run which included a record of 175-58 along with 5 Cy Young Awards.  He will become the 24th pitcher to win 300 games and just the 6th left hander to do so.  Johnson’s 72 victories in his 40s would rank fourth behind Phil Niekro (121), Spahn and Cy Young, with 75 each.

But enough about the Big Unit for now…..

The other side of the conversation is “can anyone else do it?”  Will there be another to reach 300 wins?

In order to get there in this day and age you need to have a number of things going for you as a Pitcher.

1-      You have to get to the bigs early

2-      You almost need to be on a good team who can help you get some wins

3-      You have to pitch for a lot of years

4-      You need to avoid injury

As the game has continued to advance through the ages, there is more specialization of pitching.  Pitchers all seem to be on pitch counts.  Five days rest is the norm.  Long gone are the days of Cy Young who won an impressive 511 times to go with his 316 losses……  So the guy who has his name on the award which goes to the best pitcher in each league very year has more losses on his record than all but as select few have in terms of wins.

….the magical 300.

Retractable roofs have been all the rage in “American Sports”. We have seen a number of baseball stadiums incorporate this type of feature to prevent the rain outs that so many fans as well as vendors hate. Heck even the Arizona Cardinals in the National Football League one upped the retractable roof with the retractable field …. one that slides in and out of the stadium to allow for better growing of turf conditions in the hot and dry desert climate.

Now retractable roofs have hit the big time. That is right; tennis has recently seen this rage as well. It caused quite a stir earlier this year when a match in the Australian Open was put on hold. Earlier this January a mid match decision to close the roof in a match between Svetlana Kuznetsova and Serena Williams may have cost Kuznetsova a spot in the Semi’s.

The decision was made to close the roof as temperatures had the mercury popping in the mid day sun. In the past temperatures have been reported as high as 140 degrees Fahrenheit during matches in Melbourne.

Now Wimbledon has recently installed a similar roof contraption over the Centre Court, allowing for the normal gray and gloomy British conditions to be held at bay, and allow uninterrupted play at least on the feature court, during the tournament.

Fifteen Thousand Spectators turned out to watch exhibition matches involving Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf, Kim Clijsters and Tim Henman. This allowed Wimbledon to try out the new digs at the All England Tennis Club. Reportedly, when the structure came together, a round of applause broke out. Closing the new roof was timed in a smooth 7 minute and 4 seconds. Not exactly fast as the traffic on the M40, but at the same time a very acceptable time frame that does not amount to a whole lot more than an extended break between service sets.

One of the biggest worries was the new air control system. Not that the folks here in Jolly ol England will have to worry about the heat like they do down under in January, but lets face it, 15,000 rabid tennis fans in an enclosed building is about as steamy of an atmosphere as you can get. No sense having all those folks uncomfortable in the “closed roof” temperature would hit say 75 degrees or so.

So that gets us halfway home for the Grand Slam venues … but wait! The French Tennis Federation has started making plans for a new retractable roof to cover the Phillippe Chatrier Court at the Roland Garros tennis complex. It is slated for completion in time for the 2011 French Open championships.

And, here at home, USTA officials have also drawn up plans for a roof to cover the US Open’s Arthur Ashe stadium at Flushing Meadows, N.Y., after last year’s Men’s Final had to be moved to the third Monday of the tournament after weekend rain delays.

Thank goodness they can’t build domed golf courses for the PGA Tour!

Who is more upset right now? The Los Angeles Dodgers ownership, or all of the fantasy baseball nuts who have ManRam on their squads and have to find a 50 game replacement? I thing the Red Sox are pretty happy they have Jason Bay right now with all of the problems of their former left fielder on the West Coast.

Rachel Alexandra, who won the Kentucky Oaks (a race for fillies ran on Friday before the derby), is looking to run in the Preakness Stakes. Sounds like she will get her chance to run against the boys. A number of owners who did not run in the Kentucky Derby had considered entering horses in the race. This would have in effect blocked her ability to run in the race due to a hierarchy system that gives preference to those horses who were pre-nominated to the Derby. I am glad this worked out or we would be screaming Title IX for the horse racing next.

The Kansas City Royals are 18-14 and on top of the American League Central. A new refurbished Kaufman stadium is not the only reason fans are showing up. This small market team once again shows that if you put a good and WINNING product on the field, the fans will come out to the ol ballgame. The Royals have been very good on the mound but losing Joakim Soria on the disabled list will not help their cause. Keep an eye on these guys and see how they respond in the next couple of weeks.

I bet the Lakers are rethinking their inability to sign Ron Artest earlier this past year. There have been so many radio talking heads and fish wrap folks talking about how soft the Lakers are in the playoffs that you would think they were describing the bedding in a new hotel chain.

Speaking of NBA playoffs. Here are some stats on League MVP Lebron James in the postseason. He is averaging 34 points, almost 9 boards and 5 assists per game in the playoffs. Scariest stat of all…his age….just 24.

Being the golf fan that I am, I watched a LOT of the Players Championship this weekend. It amazes me how good the pros can play as they continue to make the course conditions tougher all the time. I look forward to the switch back to the “old style” grooves next year on the PGA tour so we can see all of these guys look more like us and less like a video game when they play.

The U.S. Open is just around the corner. I wonder what Tiger is thinking – right now as he is really fighting his golf swing as well as his putter. I think soon he will put it all together, but in the meantime, some of these other guys better make hay while they can. Until next week, hit em long and straight!

Each year the first Saturday in May rolls around….and the casual horseracing fan in all of us takes over. It is much like the Indianapolis 500, or Wimbledon.  You may not follow the sport at all, but one week out of the year you tune in.  You watch.  You might even host or go to a “Derby party” Heck many of you might even head to your local track or simulcast racing establishment and throw a couple of bucks on your lucky number.

That is probably the only way you had the #8 horse in the Eleventh Race at Churchill Downs this past Saturday.

Mine That Bird, a 50-1 long shot came from seemingly Paducah down the stretch to go from 15th to 1st to win by a number of lengths under a great ride by Jockey Calvin Borel.  Borel coincidentally became just the seventh jockey to win both the Kentucky Oaks, which is run on Friday, and then pull off the double header with the Derby winner on Saturday.  This alone is no small feat. There are great story lines all over the place here.  A virtual unknown horse.  Trained in New Mexico, which I don’t think anyone would argue is exactly the bastion of thoroughbred racing in this country.  Originally purchased for a mere nine thousand and five hundred dollars as a yearling and racing against horses that sold for multiple millions with proven bloodlines and high hopes.

The Bird is the Word!

Normally NBC does a magnificent job of broadcasting the Kentucky Derby. It is one of their marquee events of the year.  But this year, a lot did not go to script.

First off, heavy rains inundated the area.  This made for in racing language what is referred to as an off track.  Of course Churchill Downs is one of the best facilities in the world, so it was described as a fast wet track…aka – a nice way to say it is muddy and sloppy.

Secondly, no one saw this winner coming. Even the Great Tom Durkin, who calls many of the most prominent races on television seemed to be out of sorts as the Bird flew by a multitude of also rans along the rail.  It took a few seconds, well after Borel had grabbed the lead for good that Durkin announced he had hit the front of the field.

And finally, immediately after the race it was evident to me that NBC was scrambling to get some more coverage of the owner and trainer for this horse.  Normally the television crew is strategically positioned to keep an eye on the reactions of the owners and trainers in the stands.  Capturing all of their glee or agony as their horse is flying home down the stretch.

No Cameras seemed to be following trainer Bennie “Chip” Woolley.

The very long winded interview with Jockey Calvin Borel on the back stretch is a normal part of the coverage, but then after that there was a good couple of minutes of open mic coverage with the outrider and Borel yelling and pointing and celebrating with the crowd.  Talk about your can’t miss television.  No doubt Borel is an animated guy and the thrill of the moment was fun to watch.  But 30 seconds of this would have sufficed…But it did allow for NBC to get their folks in place to ask a bunch of stupid questions.

The brilliant line of questioning once again reported to Woolley that he had travelled all the way from New Mexico.  Via of all things….a motorized vehicle and not an airplane…in order to bring the horse to the race. Although you have all heard it by now, Woolley was on crutches, yet took the time to walk his horse out of the barn to the paddock complete with crutches and all in the muddy conditions.  “How long did it take to get here again Chip?”  ” How many miles is it to Churchill Downs”  Why ask the trainer? NBC had already mentioned these facts about ten times in the telecast.  Much to the guffaw of many at my household Woolley responded beautifully with something along the lines of “Maybe you guys will talk about something else now other than how far of a drive it was”

In the end, a brilliant and thrilling ride by a great Jockey, a great storyline on many fronts, and for the betting public out there, a smooth $103 to win ticket.  To all of you “experts” that did not see this one coming….

I guess they all got the bird.

Staff sports columnist Johnny Goodman shares his opinion of high school basketball phenom Jeremy Tyler in today’s edition of The Soap Boxers.

This one does not star Chevy Chase … No, it is a different type of European Vacation for high school Junior Jeremy Tyler.

He has recently announced that he will not only forgo his Senior year of high school, but will forgo college as well.  Not in order to enter the NBA draft as so many before him have done.  Instead, Tyler will take his hardwood game to the courts of Europe, to play professional basketball. The goal: Hone his skills and in the process earn some money while improving his stock to make it someday in the NBA.

The 6’11” Junior from San Diego has caught a lot of heat for his decision to head overseas.  So why, when a basketball player chooses to play for money before the NBA says he should, does everyone have an opinion? (including yours truly) Because we are sports hungry fans of college football and basketball. We find it easy to pick on those who would prefer not to follow the “rules” and instead cash in on their success earlier and not later. After all he could be the player to get my club over the hump. Thirty- Five years of season tickets and not even an NCAA tourney win to show for it. What if he played for MY school?

I’ll bet you a grande latte that David Stern is worried about the precedent this might be setting.

Some sports, such as football, have clear rules that define the amount of “time” a player must be out of high school in order to compete in their leagues.  NFL football, however, is more of a monopoly.  It is a captive market whose success has not caught on world-wide.  You want to play Americanized football, you do it here in the USA, or play on the slightly weird field with slightly different rules north of the border in Canada.

Basketball is a totally different sport.  The success of the Olympic Games has brought a lot of attention to this sport around the globe in the last two decades.  The NBA is now full of stars from a variety of countries – it truly has become a “global sport”

So what if this young man was a golfer?  Or tennis player?  Bowler, skier, motocross rider, gymnast?  Would there be such an outcry?  Would anyone even really care? Would the media cover it at all?

Nope…..

It all comes down to one simple thing for all of us who are raising a stink about this Tyler’s decision.  Money.  Money for the media, money for a college somewhere in terms of ticket sales and concessions. Money for an agent down the road when he want to actually come to the NBA.

It is quite likely he will develop his skills more than he would with a year in high school where he is dominating his competition. He might even get quite a bit better playing against older, professional players in Europe.  Of course there is always the chance that he could be a bust along the likes of Darko Milicic and Michael Olowakandi

Who knows, the final result may eventually end up the same, even if he happened to go to college first…. but at least this way Tyler will get something while enjoying the culture of Europe.

Money… and a European Vacation.

Staff sports columnist Johnny Goodman talks about questionable picks in the NFL draft in today’s edition of The Soap Boxers.  We are pleased to announce that Johnny will be a weekly contributor to TCO in the future.

Now that the annual marathon that we call the NFL Draft is over, lets look at some of the biggest question marks in this draft.

Matthew Stafford  – over forty million guaranteed money.  Wow…Hope he turns out to be John Elway and not Ryan Leaf.  But I am not convinced.  Still the Lions had to try and sign this guy as they have nothing in the tank.   Duante Culpepper can keep the quarterback seat warm for a year or two if needed, but the Lions need this one to work out well.  Staffords proud parents appeared to be the happiest people on stage when the pick was announced.  Of course if I knew my son was going to be rolling in 40 Mil plus, I would be smiling too.

Is there a bigger question mark in this draft than the Raiders taking Receiver Darrius Heyward- Bey as the 7th overall pick?  I guess, not…after all, this is a pick made by the Raiders we are talking about.  I mean Michael Crabtree is still available at this point in time, I guess Al Davis figures if he can succeed under the Mad Bomber Mike Leach, who is possibly the strangest of all major D-1 College coaches, then he absolutely has no chance to succeed in the normal environment of the Silver and Black.  Basically Heyward-Bay has what Al Davis always seems to love, straight line, world class speed.  I see no reason to take the guy that high  and neither does anyone else.

The Jets traded up to get the glamour boy of the 2009 draft, Quarterback Mark Sanchez.  I actually like what the Browns did here by trading the pick away.  They did not get maximum value to move the #5 overall to the Jets, but they got the best deal they could find.  The Browns win here as they save the multi million dollar gamble on a quarterback.  The guaranteed money for the #5 overall pick would have been hefty for the browns, who have already seemed to position themselves for the future with the QB position.  The Jets gamble here in my opinion, putting all of their eggs in one basket.  I think this is a gamble, but remember I also think this is overall a weak draft.

Tampa Bay has a new coach and apparently a new quarterback.  The Bucs traded up to get Josh Freeman.  He is still very raw, but he is freakishly athletic.  Raheem Morris apparently fell in love with Freeman while a defense coach at Kansas State.  Byron Leftwich can provide a stop gap measure.  Not sure if I like this pick or not.  Freeman is the guy who beat much more talented Texas Longhorn teams on a regular basis, but also is the same guy that made Nebraksa’s defense look like the Blackshirts of the mid 90’s while they struggled against everyone else.  As a side note, I am a Husker Grad and …..did you know that Both Sanchez and Freeman had originally committed to come to Nebraska…but I digress.

The Dolphins chose Pat White in the 2nd round with pick #44 overall.  What???!?! Pat White? Do the fish plan on running the wildcat formation full time this year?  This was a HORRIBLE pick this high.  They could have easily nabbed White 2 rounds later in my opinion and picked up a number or players here with this pick that could have proven to be a lot more useful to the organization.

The Eagles are another interesting bunch.  I think they hit a home run with Macho Harris in the later rounds, but I still question the toughness of WR Jeremy Maclin.  Can he run?  Yes!  Is he explosive?  Yes!  Is he a great returner?  Yes!  Do I think he is another Reggie Brown for the Eagles?? Yes.  I have seen too much of this guy’s play in TV and in person and I am not convinced he has the toughness to play a lot of downs in the NFL.  Sort of a la Reggie Bush.  Great Athlete, explosive as heck, but soft in my opinion.

Last but not least we look at Percy Harvin going to the Vikings.  First Randy Moss, then the Love Boat, now Harvin.  Do they like problem in Minnesota.  I guess he forgot to leave the weed back home before the combine, and the Vikings overlooked that in the draft, although there were 70+  OTHER players they pulled off their draft board due to what their front office deemed as “character issues”  I guess potential talent outweighs character issues here.  Another player in the mold of Maclin.  Flashes of greatness but still a lot of questions.

As always it will take some time to see who turns out to be great players and who is a complete bust.  Overall this is one of the weaker drafts in recent years, and there was seemingly less “sure things” then I can remember in a long time.

Staff writer and golf fanatic Johnny Goodman (not his real name) shares his experience at the 2009 Masters.

This year I made my first trip to the Masters golf Tournament in Augusta Georgia. As a fan and player of the sport, this was on a short list of things I really wanted to do at least once in my lifetime.

I attended the weekend action. Your typical day for a “patron” starts by getting up at dark thirty in order to arrive at the gate of your choice by no later than seven in the morning. This assures you will be near the front of the line to get a prime viewing spot on the course. Most of the spectators bring small chairs (ones with arm-rests are not allowed) and will place them strategically in a spot where they want to see the action.

In the event you didn’t get your chair where you wanted, no worries, this is the Masters! If a chair is not occupied, you are welcome to sit in it and watch the action, of course if the party owning the seat returns, you are politely asked to remove yourself and find another available seating arrangement.

After placing your chair in the morning, it is off to the merchandise tent, the concession stand to pick up a pimento cheese sandwich, or just a chance to walk the course.

The Main Merchandise tent is located near the clubhouse. Needless to say it is a magnet for the patrons once they get on the grounds of Augusta National. The selection is tremendous, the traffic is even more so. Yours truly spent a smooth $1500 to fill a significant order placed by friends and family members.

The Concessions are maybe the best deal going anywhere in golf. The prices have not changed much in years. Beers are $2. Sandwiches are anywhere from $1.50 to $2.50. A $7 ballpark hotdog…. not here at the Masters.

The course itself is indescribable, but I will try. Television coverage does not do it justice. I will admit that the folks at CBS do an absolutely outstanding job of capturing the beauty and angles which best exemplify the course and the topography of the site, while maximizing the golf action. The course is much hillier than you would imagine. High Def TV helps to show it, but there are a number of holes that will have elevation changes of 60-100 ft or more from tee to green. The greens were smaller than I expected, as the television coverage does make them look larger than they are in person.

I have been to numerous sporting events in my life, and none are better run than the Masters. This is not just a major golf tournament, it is an event. Actually it is more than just an event….it is everything that is good about golf – beautiful scenery, a difficult course, good friendly people at every turn, and good manners…with exception of the “streaker” who found his way onto the course on Sunday. At any other place this would have been a big deal, complete with a bunch of clapping, hollering and the like …. but…. here at Augusta, the Patrons remained quiet while security personnel tackled the gentleman and removed him from the course. Nope, the Green Jacketed members already have a “Tradition unlike any other” and they aren’t about to let someone else start one on their watch.