Last day on the beach. Sigh.
Hope you and yours have enjoyed spring break if this is your spring break.
From the satellite studios of the Georgia coast, let's make the magic happen.
From a bunch of you
What did you think of the first round, and how in the world did I forget Justin Rose?
Gang-
Don't beat yourself up about Justin Rose turning in one of the best non-Tiger rounds in modern Augusta National history.
Dude had to WD with back aches in The Players and balky backs are hardly the basis of success in a Green Jacket chase. Plus, the stat I saw stated this is the fourth time that Rose has held or shared the first-round lead at the Masters.
It matches the record held by one Jack Nicklaus, with the key difference being that Nicklaus has six wins there and Rose has as many as Spy.
That said, Rose was close to golf perfection Thursday. He was four shots clear of any other player in round one and his 65 was almost 10 better than the average score of the day.
It was that good, and rarely this side of big-league hitters and long-range shooters do we get to see someone personify the clichéd 'zone' like Rose did on Thursday.
He was 9 under on the final 11 holes and everything he hit - be it driver splitting the fairway, approach shots finding the proper side of the slope, or putts trickling to the lip and falling like Red did for Rita Hayworth at Shawshank - was perfect.
Heck when he stood over his 25-foot birdie putt on the last, I fully expected it to find its way home.
As for thoughts, well, like Sinatra and regrets, I have a few.
> It was clear the Masters Members were not super pleased with DJ's 20 under waltz through the pines last November. Yes, they can easily delete that one away from the IBM memory card and chalk it up to no patrons, less pressure, benign weather conditions, you name it. But by trimming the second cut (more on that in a moment) and putting the pins on very small plateaus around the ever-fast putting surfaces, the average of 74 and change was not an accident. And that they did it silently and covertly is so Masters, and completely unlike the USGA, which would have popped its suspenders and proudly boasted that they are protecting par as a good score before they lose the course heading into the third round and everyone shoots 77.
> As for trimming the second-cut, cue the Guinness dudes - "Brilliant." The rough at Augusta has never been U.S. Open penal - and yes, a somtimes-acting-like-a-teenage-boy like myself will always find ways to fit in 'penal,' the oft-used haughty golf term that ranks right below Uranus and Putin as perfectly fine words that make me giggle - or British Open-trailer parky. So doing that now is admitting you're concerned about the bombers. Granted, we all are concerned about the bombers because driver wedge to get to 13 in 2 is not as much fun or as challenging, and in a game that forever measures its greats against ghosts, it's worse than less fun, it's wrong. So they cut the rough way down and planted the seed that drives off course by a fraction would run out, go through the fairway and into the pine straw or behind trees. And, in my opinion, it wasn't as much the outcome of that happening that caused the heavy-hitters to lose their way Thursday. It was the knowledge that that possibility was out there and the only thing worse that putting obstacles in front of golfers is putting doubts in their craniums. Mission accomplished Thursday.
> Man, that place is perfect no? Just perfect, and watch Thursday was, as I expected, as close to sports normal as I have felt in 15 months.
War Augusta.
And for those wondering, there were two of our 82 entries with Justin Peter Rose among the five names. Congrats Ted M and Adam M for adding the Englishman to your entry.
From Ernie
Of the people that have won three majors, only four of them had not won the masters. Three of them have pretty good excuses, Tommy armour , Walter Hagen and Lee Trevino. Armour and Hagen didn't get to play until they were quite a bit older, and Trevino didn't like playing in the masters for numerous reasons, which he later regretted. All the other guys and there's eight of them, won the masters and then they missed out on others. Do you think that Rory is psyched out about Augusta, and will never win his fourth major? It almost seems that way. When he blew the huge lead, it may have done him in. Many have said, the Masters is the easiest to win, because it has the limited field, plus a lot of people that really don't have much chance of winning with the past winners and amateurs. What do you think?
Big Ern-
I think this question is pitch perfect.
I do think Rory's biggest issues are between his ears as we speak.
His weird admission about trying to be like Bryson and chase the mega-distance.
His body language on the course.
We discussed it at the time, and doing what I do for a living, I'll never look a gift quote in the tongue, but Rory's honesty shows a vulnerability that almost every other big-time golfer bends over backward to hide or distort or explain away.
But it's that honesty that will cause for me to forever root for him, especially here, because when he reached the 64th tee of the 2011 Masters with a commanding lead and snap-hooked a green jacket into "The Pipes" he handled it like a true gentleman.
And a champion.
Will he get it back, his game I mean? Yes, I believe he will.
Will he ever win at Augusta? What once was a slam-dunk 'Absolutely' is now a 'Not so sure.'
I do know this Ernie, I will be rooting for him. Rory and Tommy Fleetwood.
From Walt
Mostly enjoy your column, sometimes you chase rabbits I am not interested in following. But, it is your deal and if I don't like it, I don't have to read, nor agree.
I would like to suggest, after a year of knowing the COVID protocol, I believe if a team cannot field a team, the team should forfeit the game. To allow a team to postpone a game seems to penalize the team that is stringently following the rules. This is primarily pointing to (Monday's) Braves/National game, but should apply to all sports teams.
Thoughts.
Walt-
I agree that we are to the point now that a majority of the exposure to COVID is breaking protocol.
I understand the reason MLB would want to reschedule as many of these games as possible for as late in the year as possible. It's money. If teams are allowing 33% capacity now, if they can push back a date with the Braves until September when twice as many or even a full house can attend, well, that's millions of dollars.
That said, calling these COVID cancelled games a no-contest seems disingenuous, especially in college hoops, when late in the season half those teams were done playing anyway.
Same with UTC football. They opted out, those should be forfeits, not that it matters a hill of beans either way, but if you or your players decide not to play when the other team is ready to play, that seems like the perfect definition of a forfeit to me.
And I'm all for finding non-governmental ways to encourage as many as possible to adhere to protocols and get vaccinated. If game checks or Ws and Ls were on the line, here's betting that the players and owners/organizers of those teams, leagues and sports would be even more in line with those measures.
In fact, amid all the hubbub of the MLB all-star game, the decision to incentivize vaccines - families can travel with team if vaccinated is a big one - seems like a solid idea.
But everything is getting washed away by the MLB all-star game decision, which I'm sure is one of Walt's rabbit holes.
Side note: Pretty interesting how for the first time in recent cancel culture memory, the right is standing up and fighting back.
And if you think this is a fight, let Biden really go after the guns.
Speaking of rabbit holes, and speaking of the polarized ends driving a narrative.
Hey, I believe every American who wants to own a gun should be able to, but there has to be a checklist of criteria here people.
Has to be. Can't be crazy. Need to wait a certain period so it's not a passion buy that becomes a passion crime. Can't be a felon.
But I also wonder why some of the far right feel the need that we should all be Wyatt Earp and have a Peacemaker strapped to our hip when we go in for a triple-app combo at Chili's. YeeHaw.
There should be some mandatory baselines - Not unlike having an ID and voting, in my mind - and then there should be ways to make sure the rights of eligible American are secured, be it owning a gun or casting a ballot.
From Chas
For the bag: What would The Hammer say about Gawga's new elections law if he were still with us?
Also for the bag: What's the Rushmore of Dave Clark 5 hits? Can you distinguish their sound from The Monkees?
Chas-
Speaking of rabbit holes, let's take the second part first.
To be honest, the Dave Clark 5 and The Monkees are each a wee bit out of my go zone.
In fact, my first exposure to The Monkees was Davey Jones being Marcia's celebrity crush on The Brady Bunch.
Fire away.
As for the Dave Clark 5, well, it feels like the nickname for a magical week of games in the postseason for a reserve Red Sox outfielder in a key best-of-seven series with the Yankees.
Red Sox fan 1: "Man, I hate those (bleeps) from the Bronx."
Red Sox fan 2: "Who doesn't? Their muddas don't even like 'em."
RSF 1: "Sure."
RSF 2: "Remember that time Dave Clark hit three homers in Game 1 and we beat those (bleeps) in five."
RSF 1: "What was he, 11-for-16, four dongs, 12 ribbies in the series? And he threw that yanker Jeter out at the plate."
RSF 2: "Sure, beat those (bleeps) 4 games to 1."
(Long pause and a deep sigh before an audible mumble)
Together: "The Dave Clark 5."
And when I was a kid, considering the song list in our family rides, I am much more prepared to compare and contrast the Oak Ridge Boys and the Statler Brothers. So there's that.
As for the Hammer, well, his voice would be appreciated here, whether the MLB would have even bothered to ask for his input rather than jumping right on the tracks of Wokeness and leaving the station on a bullet train of over reaction is the question.
I think Hank Aaron, who was always reserved in his opinions, which gave his words even more weight, would have made some very similar points to Masters chairman Fred Ridley in that there are a lot of Black Atlantans who are losing real dollars in this decision, and it was a decision made on their behalf not by them.
I also think Aaron understands the South better than most of the sports activists who have grabbed that baton, because like Ali, Aaron was raised in the South during a time that was filled with hatred.
I also think Hank would have realized what the platform the All-Star game would have brought to the conversation later this summer. If you keep the game there, and the cries for the law to be tweaked or improved have not been addressed by then, it becomes the overriding story of the week and every national news crew would be there.
Now, if the law is still in place as is - and again, if you have an opinion on this but have not read the law, then I encourage you to go read it and make up your own mind - it will be a one-day story in Denver and then it will be about the home run derby and the game.
And maybe that's what baseball wants. Side note: It's pretty surreal this is the only way the MLB can be a national talking point these days. Think back to the McGwire-Sosa home run chase, and now imagine uttering that previous statement.
I also believe more than anything else, Hank would have found a way to find a better solution than the MLB taking its ball and going to Colorado. He would have called on MLB to help get more people an ID. He would have noted the hypocrisy and hidden racism of even implying that minorities and members of the Black community are unable to get a driver's license by themselves.
His voice would have been measured and almost assuredly heard.
Thanks gang for a great week, even on the road.
Enjoy the weekend and buckle up for the weather.
Jay Greeson