We've written an obscene amount in the last six days, and the old melon is starting to spin. But we're up for the challenge, and ready for more. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ... uh where were we? Oh yes, sorry about that error, thought we were fielding a grounder for the Braves.
From the "Talks Too Much Studios" here we go.
Golf looking ahead
We wrote in today's TFP about golf's need for a new heavy, one of those week-in, week-out guys that the rest of the field and the rest of the sports world know will have a say in almost every tournament and 90 percent of all the majors for the next decade. NASCAR reached new heights when Dale Sr. was that guy, and they've been looking for his replacement since. Tiger Woods was that guy in golf, and they needs to find his replacement now.
Think back before Eldrick grabbed the game by the grips and took over. It was a shuffling of major champion winners like Davis Love or Steve Elkington or Mark Brooks or a slew of forgettable names that dominated the mid 1990s. It was less than gripping.
Golfer Bubba WatsonNow, the thrill of Bubba Watson's excellent Sunday charge was awesome. The thought of Bubba Golf seems rocking. It's likable and engaging. It is not built for long-term major championship success, though. His bust-it-and-trust-it view of smashing drives and believing he can shape shots out of trouble produces some "OH MY" moments and it will produce a bunch of double bogeys at major championship courses that are not Augusta. The Masters is made for miracles and memories. The U.S. Open is made for meticulous.
Answer this is Bubba more Phil Mickelson or John Daly? Granted it's hard to know, but here's saying if we had a career prediction for Watson it would mirror Fred Couples. One green jacket and he's loved at Augusta and he always contends there, but somewhere along the way, we'll ask, "Does Bubba really only have one major?"
Golf needs to find the next heavy.
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Houston Astros' Jose Altuve, left, Jordan Schafer (1), Brian Bogusevic (19) and Travis Buck (6) celebrate the Astros' 8-3 win over the Atlanta Braves in a baseball game Monday, April 9, 2012, in Houston. (AP Photo/Pat Sullivan)Braves' woes
Your Atlanta Braves made four errors - three by fill-in third baseman Juan Francisco - as they fell 8-3 to the Houston Astros.
Atlanta is 0-4, and is facing elimination in the NL East race. OK, we made that last part up, but this team needs something positive to happen pretty soon.
Maybe that jolt will come from Chipper Jones returning from the DL today. Maybe. And then again, is it really a positive thing for Johnny Braves Fans to be "needing" an oft-injured 40-year-old infielder to return to feel good? Not really, no matter how made Juan Francisco is. (Side note: Doesn't the name Juan Francisco scream SNL character. Like, maybe Juan Francisco was a friend of Steve and Doug Butabi that bobbed their head at "What is Love?" Or maybe Juan Francisco is the foreign correspondent to Christopher Walken's "The Continental." Anyhoo, where were we?)
It's still entirely too early to do much hand-wringing. In fact, here's the optimistic view of the today: At this pace, we know that there's no way Fredi G can burn up the young arms in the bullpen, right?
Relax. Here's a prediction that Tommy Hanson gets it done tonight.
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In this Nov. 12, 2011, file photo, Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino, left, followed by Arkansas State Police Captain Lance King, center, Brandon Mitchell (17) and and the rest of the team onto the field before the start of an NCAA college football game against Tennessee in Fayetteville, Ark. The Arkansas State Police are taking another look at the motorcycle crash involving coach Petrino. Authorities say they want to know how State Police Captain Lance King wound up meeting Petrino after the crash at an intersection in Fayetteville. King, who provides security for the coach during the season, then drove Petrino to a hospital. (AP Photo/April L. Brown, File)Petrino in limbo
OK, we've been gone a few days, and we're ready to discuss Bobby Petrino's mess at Arkansas.
Here's the skinny: Dude is a great college football coach and an offensive wizard. Dude was messing around with a 25-year-old blonde former Arkansas volleyball player, whom he hired into the football offices. (Side note: Major no-no there and certainly a fireable offense considering the sexual harassment possibilities.) Dude had a wreck riding his motorcycle with said blonde on it and lied through his teeth about it.
First, Bobby P.'s job status has nothing to do with whether or not he's a scumbag. Arkansas knew that when he was hired. So stop the moral indignation. This has to do with cost analysis. The cost to the reputation of the school and possible lawsuits of keeping Petrino must be weighed against the coast of losing a coach that has made the football program relevant on a national scale.
Here's thinking that the fine folks at Arkansas are looking into every Petrino closet to make sure there's not another skeleton in there and to make sure there's not another egg-on-the-face sandwich around the next corner.
If this is it, they likely will keep Petrino despite the lies and the almost certain sexual harassment suit. How else can you explain the fact that he has not been fired yet. They are looking for reasons to keep Petrino right now. It's just that simple. That said, if they find something else, he's toast.
(And from what we are hearing Gus Malzahn and even Butch Davis could be on the short list of those who will surely get a call.)
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This and that
- Will Muschamp is trying to rebuild the Florida Gators into the national elite program it was a few years ago. The Gators are 15-11 in the last two years and Muschamp is trying to find a reliable quarterback heading into his second season. So the last thing he needed this spring was a serious injury right? Well, sorry Will. Defensive end Ronald Powell, the Gators' sack elader last year and arguably one of the team's most athletic players, tore his ACL.
- As our SEC ace David Paschall told us today, Georgia added two more commitments to the 2013 class. They had 14 pledges already. Wow. They're almost done and it's early April. Granted, a few of these kids have some serious work to do before they can come to Georgia and get suspended, but still. (Kidding. We're kidding.)
- How about that Yu Darvish, huh? After a rocky start dude looked pretty sharp in collecting his first win for the Rangers.
- Good news for Broncos fans. Receiver Eric Decker says he and Peyton Manning have been working out for a few weeks, and that Manning's arm strength is A-OK. If Manning's healthy, the Broncos fans are going to be asking "Tim who?" by about week three.
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Today's question
Sports cliches are sports cliches because they are almost always true. Sure, they are overused to the point that they can make your eyes bleed, but that does not change their validity.
Take the old Ben Franklin quote, " In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."
There has to be a few more right. Like Dan Uggla's going to stink in April. We know that as fact, right? Or that if one of Tiger Woods' clubs misbehaves he will punish it, right? Those are certainties, right? They happen so consistently that are we to the point of calling them certainties?
We know Woods is good for one outbreak a round - and to continue to connect the death, taxes, golf corollary, Will Rogers once said that the income tax has made more liars out of the American people than golf has; that Will Rogers was a sharp cookie. Uggla is 1-for-13, and 0-for-his-last-10. Hey, it's April.