Fore shadowing
So, most of the golfing headlines around the spectrum of late have been rather controversial. Especially for golf.
The LIV. Greg Norman saying everyone makes mistakes, even murderers. Phil being FIGJAM. The PGA Tour embracing its Bushwood Country Club arrogance. (“Where did you come from a scotch ad?”) Well, this week, there’s another major and maybe – just maybe – the golf storylines will be about golf.
Which brings us to the PGA Championship, the Ringo Starr of golf’s majors if we’re being honest, and truthfully, that may be a smidge unjust to Mr. Starr, who did eventually marry a Bond girl. So there’s that.
Of course, the week at the PGA has been dominated by the competing league talk, and when that has subsided, the biggest story out there actually has been the wicked overpriced cocktails at the Southern Hill concession stands where a Michelob Ultra starts at $18.
But we are mere hours from teeing up the second major of the season, and in truth, there is fun golf for which to seek. Let’s review the some of the top-shelf stories that, if they happened, would make those $18 Ultras a little easier to tolerate.
1 Tiger. Always Tiger. Until Tiger stops entering these things, this is the starting point of every major. And this one is a little more intriguing than Tiger’s return at the Masters for a couple of reasons. First, he sounds more confident. Second, Southern Hills – despite the name – is flatter than a two-year-old Pepsi, especially compared to the walk around Augusta National. Third, he’s Tiger, the original scary mother bleeper in golf. And while we’re here, the news out of Vegas is that if Tiger somehow managed to win this thing – he’s listed at plus-6600, which bet $100 and win $6,600 – it would be the biggest loss in BetMGMG history according to representatives of the online bet taker.
2 Jordan Spieth. Career grand slams – an individual winning each of the four majors at least once – are way more rare than you would think in golf. If Spieth wins this weekend at the PGA, he would be just the sixth ever to win the modern slam of the Masters, the PGA, the British Open and the U.S. Open. (In the early days of the game, before the Masters came on board in the 1930s, the majors were the U.S. and British opens and the U.S. and British amateur tournaments. And yes, the great Bobby Jones won all of those in 1930, so there’s that.) And that club is even more exclusive over the last half century since only Woods has joined the Grand Slammers since 1966, when Jack Nicklaus completed the noteworthy sweep at the British Open. The others are Gene Sarazen, Ben Hogan and Gary Player.
3 If we’re not going to mention Mickelson – even though the questions about the controversial defending PGA champion who has made more news with his words than his wedges in 2022 will be everywhere, especially with pre-released copies of Alan Shipnuck’s biography circulating this week – I’ll offer the best player in the game right now. And that’s Masters champ Scottie Scheffler. Scheffler is looking for his fifth win in 2022. He’s won four of his last eight PGA Tour starts. Heck, that’s good for an MLB starting pitcher; that’s insanely, all-time good for a PGA player. Of course, he’s the betting favorite, but how about this roll: In 11 stroke-play events since December of last year, Scottie has four wins, a runner-up, a top-10 finish and four top-25 finishes. In that stretch he has played those 792 holes at 117-under par.
4 Rory. I like Rory. Always have. Or least since he handled his back-nine implosion at Augusta those many years ago way better than any of the rest of us – or any of the rest of his peers – would have. Side note: The PGA certainly has a flair for star power, as Tiger, Rory and Jordan will play together in the first two rounds. Heck, maybe that trio – which is 1, 6 and 11 on the career earnings list and has made $252.3 million just playing golf – can buy an Ultra or three for some of the fans.
5 And of course for those of us familiar with the local golfing scene, Luke List and Keith Mitchell, two PGA vets who grew up here and had super careers at Baylor School before becoming professionals are in this event. List will tee off in final group of the day off the 10th tee at 3:37 p.m. Mitchell is also starting on the back at 3:04 Thursday.
Is even fair?
So there’s been a big to-do about soccer. Yes, there’s almost always a big to-do about soccer from soccer folks.
They call it the beautiful game. They have been saying since the 1990s that soccer is about to become America’s next big sport. They dismissively say that those of us who don’t enjoy soccer, don’t understand soccer.
Oh, we understand soccer. Just like we understand mandatory insurance meetings at work. We just find both boring.
Anywell, the U.S. soccer leadership may not be in the team picture with the NCAA, FIFA and IOC as the worst governing bodies of any sports, but over the years it has not stopped them from trying to be included.
The biggest dust-up that has faced the U.S. soccer over recent years, though, has be the demands from the U.S. women’s players for equal pay as the men’s players get.
It’s an understandable baseline. The women play the same sport. They play the same sport at a higher level of success than the men. And the crowds at the U.S. events in America are very comparable as well.
In terms of compensation from the U.S. soccer, all of those things not only call for equal pay for the women’s players, they demand it. Heck, you could make an argument the women deserve more than the men in salary on those terms.
Well, with news Wednesday that new collective bargaining agreements with the men’s and women’s teams have been finalized, that is now a reality. A reality and then some. From the Sports Business Journal, “Under the new CBAs, players on both teams will receive equal pay for all competitions, including the FIFA World Cup, and the same cut of broadcast, sponsorship and event revenue as part of a new revenue-sharing arrangement with the federation.”
Again, from the U.S. Soccer folks, the salaries should be the same, or considering their greater levels of success and championship pedigree, the women should make more.
But putting all the World Cup money into the same pot and dividing it for all the men and women players is ignoring the basic math of the structure. The men’s World Cup is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and with sponsorships and TV deals, FIFA shared $400 million to the teams in the 2018 men’s World Cup and $30 million to the teams in the ’19 women’s Cup.
Heck the real protesting should be at FIFA’s door, since the ’18 World Cup revenues totaled $4.5 billion and they only shared $400 million with the teams and players. Who runs FIFA, Mark Emmert?
There are several countries – Australia and Norway among them – that have equal payment of players and compensation in terms of national teams and requirements. But those deals do not include the staggering differences in the popularity global of the men’s and women’s games.
I am all for fairness. Truly. And the U.S. women’s soccer team has the biggest beef in this argument of discrepancy of this kind as anyone in terms of salary.
But this is not the Olympics – men and women competitors at the same event and in the same broadcast, or even Wimbledon, per se – and the numbers are strikingly different. Heck, in some years, this could actually even shortchange the women’s team if the men fail to make the field and the women win the Cup.
So, we’ll ask again, is even split fair in this case?
Better call someone
OK, if you have not covered Monday’s “Better Call Saul” episode, go ahead and skip ahead. We’ll wait.
OK, back to it.So some semantics. “Better Call Saul” will have two mini-final seasons. Monday’s BCS was the penultimate episode of the first half mini-season. And the sooner we are done with this Howard storyline, the better in my mind.
Saul/Jimmy and Kim are great. But it’s hard to see the revenge-laden plans to get back at Howard for the whole Sandpiper (and Jimmy’s brother stuff) deal is going to offer the payoff needed to warrant all of this time.
(Side note: How pathetic was Howard’s interaction with his wife and how boss was Howard’s kitchen?)
All of that feels like loading up on salad before a great steak.
Because as good as great as all of the characters are – and as top-shelf as the writing is to bring out the best in those characters, even Howard who is an irredeemable gasbag – the more time Mike and Lalo are NOT on the screen.
And gang, when Lalo found the German – it was equal parts Fargo and Fugitive good. Well, in every regard except for the German’s lower left leg that is.
And Mike, well, Mike gonna Mike and that is enough for me.
Overall, too much Howard (again), but the teases of the looming confrontation between Lalo and the Chicken Man, and how Mike saves the day – remember the Chicken Man is around for “Breaking Bad” so however this plays out, we know Gus Fring at the very least survives – is gripping.
This and that
– Jimmy Butler is a dude. That is all. Butler had 41 as the Heat grabbed Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
– NBA Draft lottery was last night. The Orlando Magic got the top pick, which means they are now officially on the clock, and I make no bones about it, if they pass on Jabari Smith, they will regret it for a decade.
– You know the rules. Here’s Hargis on some area prep baseball standouts looking to be Tennessee Mr. Baseball in their respective classifications.
– So Nike is signing NIL deals with high school soccer players. (Yes, this is officially, the most 5-at-10 ink on soccer in a long, Long, LONG while.) Here’s more on the Thompson sisters in L.A. agreeing to deals with the Swoosh. In my mind, this is the item that scares the Power Five programs the most. What happens when Nike goes directly to the star prep players – the Thompsons, a Zion, a Bryce Harper, an Arch Manning – and gives the money that used to go to Stanford soccer, Duke hoops, Texas baseball or Alabama football directly to the teenager?
Today’s questions
Which way Wednesday, starts this way, which high school player over the last 25 years would have gotten the biggest NIL deal? OK, which high school player other than LeBron?
Which golfer are you picking in the PGA? Which one are you rooting for?
Which character on “Better Call Saul” is the best?
As for today, May 18, let’s review.
Nice day for some baseball all-timers: Brooks Robinson is 85 today; Reggie Jackson is 76.
Yannick Noah is 62 today. Does he and Joakim make the father-son Rushmore of professional athletes in different sports?Go.