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Open date
The U.S. Open starts today. I merged a couple of preview rants from the 5-at-10 into a column for today’s fish wrapper. Enjoy.
But DD’s questions Wednesday leads us to an ask anything Thursday — that’s AGT for those in the know — search and discover session.
As for the Open, my pre-tournament bets were a Koepka-Rahm parlay for both to finish in the top 10 at plus-340 and a bigger parlay at plus-441 of the Baylor School golfing trio/accounting firm of Mitchell, English and List to make the cut at the Los Angeles Country Club.
#Fingerscrossed. #DaddyNeedsaPayDay.
And while we may want our favorite golfer to win, and Rory and Phil to play together for the middle-school, first-boys-and-girls-party-like awkwardness that would create, know this: The LACC grounds will be the star.
It’s hard as all get-out. Side note: Smart bet would be on Max Homa to play well. He’s a local L.A.-area kid and dropped a course record 61 on LACC in the Pac-12 tournament when he was in college. Hmmmmmm.
As DD, there is a close-to-300-yard par 3. There also is a par 3 that could play fewer than 100 yards. That’s testing all the tools in a players bag, no?
We asked earlier this week, what club would you hit into a 300-yard par 3, and if you are a regular golfer — and being honest about it — you are not reaching the green.
In fact, looking for more details on that led me to this interesting story which partnered with a Billy Beane-like golf analytics crew to produce the following tidbits.
Golfers with a 5 handicap (which is someone who goes out and regularly shoots 5-over-par, so someone who is a pretty dang good player who almost always shoots in the 70s) with U.S. Open conditions (which adds half a stroke) would be lucky to make par and would expectedly average 4.61 on the almost-300-yard par-3. That seems kind of right, no?
Golfers with a 10 handicap (which is a low-80s player, which again is better than most) with the U.S. Open conditions would average a smidgen over a double-bogey 5 on the 11th at LACC playing at that length.
And of course it spirals from there, which leads us here: Unless you are really good at golf, there’s no way you are breaking 100 over 18 holes at LACC this week.
None.
Major mistake or no mistake at all
So we mentioned the Stanley Cup-winning Las Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday. We did so with the caveat that I know relatively little about the game.
So it goes.
But, in the hours following the Knights win, it appears President Joe Biden — or whomever runs his POTUS Twitter account — knows little about diplomacy in sports.
Biden congratulated the Knights for bringing the first “major” sports championship to Las Vegas, which he called a “proud American city.”
Debate the proud thing all you want. Vegas, great for three days, would never, ever want to live there.
But WNBA star A’ja Wilson is less-than-pleased that her WNBA Las Vegas Aces, who won that league’s title last September, were brushed over. It’s fair to point out that this is not the first gaffe from the Bidens when it comes to high-level women’s basketball.
Remember when Jill Biden issues the rec-sports, everyone-come-to-the-celebration invite to NCAA runner-up Iowa, much to the chagrin of NCAA women’s hoops champion LSU?
But since we try to ask the tough questions around these parts, is the WNBA a major sports league in this country?
On an anything goes Thursday — AGT as the kids like to say — how many major sports do we have in this country and what is the pecking order?
NFL is 1. I believe college football is 2, and the numbers support that. Pack MLB, NBA and college hoops in whichever order 3-5. Because in that order, Larry Johnson and the Rebels from that great 1990 UNLV team could have every bit as big a beef if not more with Biden than Wilson, no?
Where does hockey and golf and professional soccer fit? Be it the MLS or whatever Euro cup or tourney that is happening as we speak.
How far do you go before you get to WNBA, and while we all know I’m not the biggest Biden fan — and his diplomacy diction could have been better — but is he wrong about Vegas and this being the city’s first “major” sports championship?
Thoughts?
Who gets your vote?
No, this is not a return to politics, even though we mentioned ol’ Joe above.
This is a blind straw poll on who would get your MVP vote as the MLB season hits the 70-game mark for a lot of teams.
First, Shohei is the AL MVP. Period, end the conversation. Yes, the Angels would miss the playoffs if the season ended today, but they are still six games over .500 and in contention.
And Shohei is a contender for the AL Cy Young — yes Shane McClanahan is the front-runner and there are a lot of good AL picks — since he ranks top three in the MLB in Ks and top five in the AL in WHiP among starters. And oh yeah, he’s second in the MLB in homers and fifth in the bigs in RBIs.
So barring injury or someone doing Ted Williams-level things over the next 90 games, the AL is a done deal.
But which of these two resumes would you support, and know that each is a Gold Glove-level defender:
Player A — .331/.410/.572 in batting average, on-base and slugging; 58 runs scored, 13 homers, 44 RBIs, 9 steals and a 3.2 WAR (wins above replacement).
Players B — .333/.405/.580 in batting average, on-base and slugging; 59 runs scored, 15 homers, 44 RBIs, 29 steals and a 3.7 WAR (wins above replacement).
Player A has been the real bright spot on a team that has slightly disappointed and is second in its division. Player B has been the catalyst for a team that has met expectations and leads its division.
Yes, Player B is Ronald Acuña Jr.
Player A? That would be one Frederick Charles Freeman.
Thoughts (other than “Man, it would be sweet to have Player B hitting first and Player A hitting third for the Braves”) people?
This and that
— Lost of intrigue and hand-wringing with the reveals of the 2024 SEC schedule. As you’d expect TFP college football wizard David Paschall has the details here. You know the rules. Man, Georgia adding trips to Alabama and Texas in place of playing Vandy and South Carolina is certainly a step up in degree of difficulty, no? Bearddawg, thoughts?
— We mentioned last week that 83-year-old Al Pacino was about to be a daddy again for the fourth time. So this story caught my eye this morning as Al went out with his twins and their momma — and his former squeeze — Beverly D’Angelo. In the Pantheon of strange movie character couplings, Michael Corleone and Ellen Griswold has rank near the top, right?
— Braves played. Braves swept a doubleheader from the Tigers. And more importantly, went over in both games to help right the Plays ship.
— Sticky situation. Mets reliever Drew Smith has been suspended 10 days for having a sticky substance on his pitching hand. Back in high school that was called “alone time.” Now it costs you 10 MLB games. Who knew?
— Seriously? Man, my party is lost. “Stand with Trump” is the Republican rallying cry? So many things could be said, but I’ll just offer the political analysis of these two: First, that the GOP has no one to rally behind other than Donald Trump — who has been, you know, arrested this week — is terrifyingly awful and awfully terrifying. Second, do the GOP folks who want to nominate Trump for whatever reason not realize that the only way to ensure Biden a second term is run Trump against him? Even in this day and time when voting against a candidate is more popular and makes more sense than voting for any of the flawed choices before us, no one will turn out the other side in protest votes like Donald J. Trump. Period.
— I don’t care that Justin Verlander’s 4.40 ERA is more like a great 40 time for a DB prospect than the numbers we expect from the future Hall of Famer. It’s good to be Justin Verlander friends. Here’s his better half at her day job.
— So we have a new resident looking for a spot up here on Signal apparently. As for me, I just barely missed him the other day. (Spy? Anyone? Bueller?)
Today’s questions
We are flush with them all over the place in an AGT offering.
We’ll also offer this for those of us a certain age:
Which was the cooler 1980s teenage attire back in the day — the Ocean Pacific T-shirt, the Coca-Cola branded rugby sweatshirt or the Member’s Only jacket? Discuss.
As for today, June 15, let’s review.
On this day in 1878, the first “motion picture” was captured as 12 cameras took one picture in succession to see if all four of a horse’s hooves left the ground when it galloped. Which camera did you operate, Spy?
On this day in 1965, Bob Dylan recorded “Like a Rolling Stone,” which Rolling Stone magazine named the best rock song of all time. Poppycock to that. We all know it’s “Gangum Style.”
Or “I’m too Sexy.” Man, you have not heard the last of Right Said Fred, friends.
Ice Cube is 54 today. Think we’ve done the rapper turned actor Rushmore before.
Helen Hunt is 60. Courtney Cox is 59.
Wade Boggs is 65 today. First, Boggs reportedly drank 100-plus beers on a cross country flight back in the day with the Red Sox.
Second, if we started with Boggs and Tony Gwynn, who are the other half of the best contact hitters of the last 50 years.
Go and remember the mailbag.