Weekend winners (non British Open division)
– Johnny Manziel. Dude got dealt in the CFL from Hamilton to Montreal, which has lost 15 of its last 16 games. That means Johnny Clipboard will no longer have to sit behind Jeremiah Masoli and will have the chance to be Johnny Football again.
– LeBron’s family. LeBron’s middle school son was the star player on his AAU team that won the middle school natty this weekend. That’s cool, and bully for Bronny.
– Red Sox. Wow, with Chris Sale, that lineup and 70 wins, Boston looks like a World Series lock.
– NFL fans. Training camp starts this week. Good times.
Cleveland Cavaliers’ LeBron James (23) drives as Boston Celtics’ Marcus Smart (36) defends during the second half of Game 6 of the NBA basketball Eastern Conference finals Friday, May 25, 2018, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)
Weekend losers (non British Open division)
– These umps. How two guys can miss a swinging strike is befuddling. So befuddling in fact that both umps got suspended. And in future time when almost every sporting event – even Mexican baseball – will have illegal action on it, the fix being in will be a hard and fast complaint on something like this.
– LeBron’s family. Yes winning is cool. That said, the tensions for a middle school game got so elevated that there were technicals and stoppages of play because of parents and even a moment when LeBron had to calm everyone done. MIddle school hoops… feel the heat.
– The Mets. The Mets are in free-fall and their best picther – and trade piece – is on the DL with hand, foot and mouth disease, a virus normally treated in kids under 5. So there’s that.
– Sports fans in general. With THE Open in the rearview – and that kickball thing, too – after about 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, the sports viewing options were Rugby, Reds-Pirates and Cornhole. Egad. Run calendar run.
Tiger Woods smiles as he walks on the 16th fairway during the final round of the Quicken Loans National golf tournament, Sunday, July 1, 2018, in Potomac, Md. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)Open and shut
Wow that was fun. A lot of fun. Let’s count the big things that happened at THE Open, and we’re not sure a top-10 is big enough, considering the action, the questions and the fall out.
1) We will start with the winner, although we do not believe he is the biggest story. Yes, Francisco Molinari was a great story and yes he became the first Italian to win a major golf title. Cool. Side note that no one should miss: Molinari made as many bogeys at THE Open during the weekend as you and I did – zero.
2) Tiger, Tiger Woods y’all. We’re curious about the upcoming backlash from hard-core golf fans about the overflow amount of TV time Tiger received. (That’s a complaint every week that Tiger is in it, too.) But that he was paired with the eventual winner and there was no doubt who was the Big Cat of NBC’s eye.
3) Tiger, Tiger Woods y’all. His performance – and his star-power – was worth that attention, though. Dude was in the lead on the back-nine on Sunday. He looked like Tiger of mid-2000s. He was excellent, and he was easy to root for. Heck, he did not even meltdown when some bloke yelled during his back swing on his final tee shot of the week. We have golf questions to come, but man whether you love Tiger or hate him, you have to admit that Sunday was awesome theater.
4) Jordan Spieth falters. Not only were we enthralled with the Tiger storyline, the presence of Spieth in the final group added to that. There’s no way we were the only one wishing it would be a Spieth, Woods and anyone else playoff right? Still Spieth’s major glass-hallf-full-half-empty M.O. is worth a question too.
5) Kudos to Ernie H., who is unofficially the winner in THE Open for Bid-ness challenge. Ernie had the winner Molinari (1), a runner-up Kisner (2) and Spieth (9) and Fleetwood (12) for a total of 24. If you have any beefs with our scoring, please let me know before COB today.
6) That’s how a major course should look and change. Unlike Shinnecock, Carnoustie was amazing. It had four different looks in four rounds. It was balanced between getable to formidable to down-right nasty. How much did the wind influence Sunday’s play: Tiger Woods hit an 8-iron from 133 on No. 4 into the wind; he hit pitching wedge from 166 with the wind on No. 5.
7) Distance. OK, we have discussed this to a place of ad nauseam for some, but we think this is worth mentioning, especially at classic courses that simply can’t add another round of lengthened tees. On Saturday, Jordan Spieth – who ranks 71st on Tour in driving average – reached the 380-yard par-4 first from the tee box. He made the putt for eagle. On Sunday, on the 261-yard par-3 16th, Rory McIlroy used a bleepin’ 6 iron. Yes a 6-iron for a shot a lot of folks would use driver. Friends, that’s not even a game most can understand.
8) Speaking of the Tiger factor, here’s betting Sunday was a monster day for NBC. Tiger’s presence – despite the super early start times in America – led the overnight ratings to some big numbers through Saturday. The third-round numbers of 2.6 rating and 3.72 million viewers, per Nielsen fast-nationals, were up 24 percent in ratings and 21 percent in viewership from 2017.
9) Questions with Tiger: Did Sunday change your opinion or reinforce your opinion that Tiger has a major title in his future? Simply put is there a better thing in sports than Tiger Woods in contention at a major, and before you answer, ask yourself is there anything other than the Super Bowl, is there a casual connection to sports greater than Tiger being in the mix? Do you think Tiger Woods got nervous when he got the lead Sunday, and when was the last time Tiger Woods was nervous like that in a major?
10) Questions for everyone else in golf: Jordan Spieth… will he win eight-plus majors or is he going to be a guy forever frustrates? Simply put, will he be Phil or Tiger? Rory McIlroy poked the bear after the round. Rory McIlroy, same question as above? Dustin Johnson, perennial tease or potential great? Rickie Fowler, will he or won’t he, and should he have that final-round ‘stache full time? Kuchar, same question, but without the ‘stache? That the best final round of a non-Masters since…? Discuss.
This and that
– Speaking of golf, Luke List had a rotten Saturday (77) but had a round Sunday (69) that a lot of the dudes in the top 10 would have paid seven figures for in the final round. List finished tied for 37th at 2 over and collected $41,375 for his work. In a little more than 10 days of golf in Scotland, List, who finished top-five at the Scottish Open the week before, made $400K. Good times.
– While we are on golf, here’s a guy after a lot of our own hearts. Eddie Pepperell credited his hangover for his final-round 67 at THE Open. Giddy-up.
– Braves split with the Nats over the weekend in between rain drops. While we are discussing it, Ronald Acuna is knocking the cover off the ball from the 1 hole.
– TFP SEC ace David Paschall started his post-media days, pre-practice SEC series. Here’s Alabama from Sunday.
– Speaking of TFP staples, Stephen Hargis is on his annual preps tour of the first day of practice. Here’s the place to follow along live.
Today’s questions
I may have missed a better score than Ernie’s; speak now or forever hold your tees.
There are a slew of golf questions above. Feel free to discuss.
Also, add a winner or a loser from the weekend.
Today is July 23, and on this day the ice cream cone was introduced. Ice cream cone – friend, for sure.
Phillip Seymour Hoffman would have been 51. Monica Lewinsky is 45.
Today is Jack Nicklaus’ 58th wedding anniversary. Is there a more undeatable GOAT of any sport than Nicklaus?
Daniel Radcliffe is 29 today, and we feel pretty sure that no matter what he does in his future acting endeavors, Radcliffe will be forever known as Harry Potter
Who joins Harry Potter on the Rushmore of actors forever known as one character?