5-at-10: Monster mailbag with Tiger thoughts, Baylor trio goes low on PGA, media or House members

Tiger Woods hits from the fourth tee during the first round of the Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera Country Club, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles.
 (AP Photo/Ryan Kang)
Tiger Woods hits from the fourth tee during the first round of the Genesis Invitational golf tournament at Riviera Country Club, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023, in the Pacific Palisades area of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Kang)

Happy Friday everyone.

Let's handle our business.

Rushmore of men's tennis -- Rod Laver, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and John McEnroe. (Yes, I know the Djoker is a dude and he may bump someone off the mountain after he resets all the records in the next year or two, but it won't be McEnroe, who was the game's first rock star -- be it for the wrong reasons now -- and has become arguably its best and most recognized voice. In some ways, Johnny Mac is right there with Johnny Madden in terms of great success on the field/court, and just as much success and more impact describing the action.)

Rushmore of tube -- boob tube and all related TV references, YouTube of course, tube steak (slang for hot dog) and down the tubes. Tubing, while great, added the -ing suffix and changed the spelling, or it would have made it.

Rushmore of hearts (and dang, this one got tough) -- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, queen of hearts, broken heart and a personal nod to "clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose."

Rushmore of NFL players from FCS/I-AA schools -- Jerry Rice, Randy Moss, Kurt Warner and Michael Strahan. (Clarification: First, the NCAA divided I-AA off in 1978, so some of the all-time dudes from the 1960s and early 70s from schools currently in the FCS or even the old I-AA did not qualify. Also, I added NFL so I felt we were gauging on the NFL careers of studs who came from the FCS more than FCS careers, and yes it was tough to keep T.O. off. If we had done it just on college careers, Steve McNair and GSU's Adrian Peterson would be 1 and 1A.)

More importantly, here's the updated link for the daily "Plays of the Day" gambling email newsletter I have been writing.

It's still free, and please know I appreciate your patience as we work through the kinks on this thing. That said, even after last night's 1-1 performance -- War Iowa; stupid Memphis -- we are still plus-32.65 since starting this exercise in late October.

You know the rules.

Here's Paschall on a historical look back -- after UT's hoops win over No. 1-ranked Alabama -- how the football Vols have fared against top-ranked opponents.

Here's Hargis with a well-done look at multi-sport McCallie star Carson Gentle, who sounds anything but.

To the bag.


From Spy

View's great up here from the 5-at-10 Chinese weather balloon. (Where else would a Spy be? Huh? Huh? How 'bout a Fresca?)

I thought about you talking about Tiger yesterday, and it just made me think about the point I've tried to make for a few years. He is getting older, and even though I'm older, it takes a little bit more to get up now. I don't bounce right up anymore and yes, it wasn't a gradual thing, either. It was one day springing up from the floor and then the next day ... push here, put a hand to brace there and up. And I haven't had a half-dozen to a dozen major surgeries.

Age catches up to you at some point, and even as well conditioned as Tiger has been, age plus the times under the knife for knee surgeries and spinal fusions equals probably not much chance of contending even on a sporadic basis again.

And will you watch the Netflix "Full Swing"?

Seems as if Rory doesn't care if Lefty hears what he has to say about the leader of the LIV golf defection.

My attorney had dinner last night with Cam Smith and Harold Varner's financial guy. Varner made $6 million in his first eight years on the tour. Not a bad living. LIV offered him $30 million in one fell swoop. Thirty mill can buy a lot of mirrors you can look at yourself in and ask if your soul isn't hollow.

Spy,

Be careful up there. We got some itchy trigger fingers when it comes to balloon hunting, which is way more important and useful as opposed to snipe hunting.

Anyone around these parts been snipe hunting before? If you know, you know.

Tiger's round Thursday was magical. It's the most fun non-football sporting event I can recall in months.

He was playing with JT and Rory -- yeah, talk about star power -- in L.A. and Woods birdies the last three holes to shoot 2 under. All three of those dudes made birdie on 18 and the smiles and joy came across in the broadcast.

And the broadcasters knew it, too. And embraced it, because while you are correct, age and Father Time are unbeaten again after toppling TB12, the turn-back-the-clock Tiger is still the biggest star in American sports, people.

Yeah, some NFL guys have more commercials and NBA guys have monster contracts and Shohei may be a bigger global guy -- and a slew of soccer players too -- but no one in sports right now -- at least for me -- moves the needle like Tiger bleepin' Woods.

Period. Hit return.

Will he contend again? I doubt it, because while I was turning cartwheels Thursday evening, turn-back-the-clock Tiger was all smiles with a 2 under finish. But competing-to-win Tiger would have been ticked, he would have been prickly in the post-round news avail and he would have headed to the range to hit 9-irons until his hands were numb.

Last night, he finished the news conference, likely had a very expensive glass of red and got in an ice bath.

Sure, I'd especially love for him to win one more PGA event because he deserves to hold the career wins record by himself -- sorry Sam Snead, who, like Tiger, has 82 career PGA wins, too -- before he's done.

As for "Full Swing," I give that a definite maybe. My dance card is full as we speak, and if you want to talk about aging, know the 5-at-10 went through some Advil this week.

Three softball practices with at least 200 pitches per and a total of at least 500 fungos hit plus two sixth-grade basketball practices where we are learning to play man-to-man (or is it person-to-person in girls' hoops?) over the last four days.

I feel like a cross between Abe Simpson and Ron Burgundy after he went jogging -- or yogging with a soft "j" -- with Veronica Corningstone.

Most likely I will watch "Full Swing," and we can all agree that Rory simply does not give a rip about who in the LIV hears his thoughts about the LIV. And I'm good with that, too.

Your story about Varner is why I am a little surprised there are not more dudes in the LIV. And just as surprised at the star-power they attracted.

And considering the last year of his life, do you think Phil Mickelson wishes he had a mulligan on this whole deal?

Discuss.


From Mac

Jay, are you watching Keith (Mitchell) mic'ed up on CBS? Good stuff.

Mac

Background: This was from two weekends ago -- Feb. 5 -- when Keith was on his way to a top-10 finish. Here's the clip Mac was referencing.

And yes, my betting take is riding Keith for a top 10 finish every week. We discussed that a couple of weeks ago, and got him again this week at plus-1000 considering the field.

That said, what a start for the local dudes at the Genesis, right?

Keith dropped a 64 Thursday. Which also begs the question if whether the Baylor School golf team used Riveria as a home course back in the day. A pricey commute to L.A. for sure, but considering former Red Raiders Mitchell, Harris English and Stephan Jaeger combined to shoot 15 under Thursday, who knows.

Each is in the top 15 with Mitchell tied for the lead, Harris tied for fourth and Stephan's T14.

Keith was tremendous on that clip and he would/will be great on TV if he ever decides to follow that path when his playing days are done.

But man, what an opening 18 filled with Red numbers. (See what I did there?)


From Patrick

I am a gun owner. Probably going to go to the range Thursday to shoot. More legislation on guns really isn't the answer. More resources directed toward mental health is.

There are 435 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Most, unless they are your House member, are by and large nameless and faceless to the public. Except for those loudmouths who garner the lion's share of the attention for no other reason than that they say truly outlandish and often idiotic things. And those are the ones whom the media runs to every time for a soundbite, giving us, the public, a never-ending cycle of stupid with which we have to deal. And those reps know -- you know they know -- that every last thing they say, do or emanate is going to get coverage somewhere.

So who's more to blame? People who probably shouldn't be in Congress in the first place? Or an often lazy and concerned with social media hits news media?

Patrick

Great points, and mental health is a monster piece to this puzzle. But when it is just as easy for anyone to buy a semi-automatic firearm as it is to get a fishing license -- and easier to get a gun than it is to get a learner's permit -- well, there are some legislative pieces we could add, too.

Is it a slippery slope? Of course, but the path we're currently on is a bloody slope, so let's examine everything.

You are so correct about your House of Reps rant and the large-scale media's role in this.

When it became clear that news had entertainment value, well, that was one thing.

When the powers that be running the CNNs, the Foxes, et al., as well as the big puppies in print, decided that entertainment was more important than the news, well that's how you get everything from MGT to AOC to Ted Cruz looking like a fool to Donald Trump getting elected.

And that's not taking either side. That's making a statement, because a lot of what Trump was trying to do in his four years -- especially in terms of economy and foreign policy -- seemed to be on the right track.

But when he started, he was barely at the adults' table during the debates, but then he became the barb-slinger, wise-cracking, over-the-top ham on stage and turned the debates into part roast/part stand-up and part "What will he do next" TV spectacle.

And the news networks are searching feverishly to find his replacement. Not in a political aim for whatever he did or did not do as president, but in an entertainment vacuum for what he did as a personality.


From John

The NFL is a fraternity pure and simple especially for superstars and coaches. They often act like fraternity boys, too. We, the sporting public, can't get enough of it,and we lap it up. They are accorded special treatment after all.

Terry Bradshaw is hardly paid for his tactful oratory skills. We live in such a coarse and uncivil culture anyway. "Sucks" is a term we hear on the air, and no one really calls it out, either. How about Travis Kelce every time he gets in front of a camera?

Andy Reid isn't a bad guy, but his success came at a cost to his family life, apparently. Older son died because of drug abuse, and his younger son is in jail because of it. Hard enough to be a parent but Andy was likely away a lot advancing his career and maybe his sons had too much time and cash on their hands?

Who among us could successfully handle such fame anyway?

John

Another great email. Man, the 5-at-10 regulars are smart. Not dumb like people said about Fredo, but smart and they deserve respect.

The unseen prices on family to be as good as these all-time greats are is extreme.

Sure, the rewards are, too. But like asking above if Mickelson could have a do-over with the last year, what would Andy Reid give up if he could to change the paths of his sons?

I was OK with Bradshaw being Bradshaw, which as you said, is what he's paid to do.

So in some ways we should expect it. And his "Go have a cheeseburger and enjoy the win" was more a reference to Reid's past, because after the Chiefs won Reid's first Super Bowl, he said he was going to celebrate with a huge cheeseburger.

But Bradshaw saying, "Waddle on over here" felt different, at least to me, than locker room antics.

It felt kind of mean-spirited, which is not the Bradshaw buffoonery we are accustomed to. And sure, we all are too sensitive these days, but it just was a jack-wagon thing to say in my mind.

You're right too about our standards, which is amazing that we can't say so many words that reside on the jagged edge between OK to offensive to downright fireable, but a vast majority of Carlin's seven forbidden words are no longer among those, you know?

Enjoy the weekend friends and great job.

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