The Rogers News

Author: Chris

  • Presidents Cup: Day Two

    The Presidents Cup itself was the biggest winner today thanks to the International team making up a significant amount of ground and preventing the weekend play from becoming a mere formality. Nothing would have been worse than watching the teams go through the motions for the final two days of quality golf of the season.

    The U.S. enters the weekend with seven points, two points ahead of the International team. The final total would have been closer but for Woody Austin’s solid play on the final three holes. After falling in the water after trying to hit out of the water on the 14th hole he went par-birdie-birdie-birdie to reduce the match to all-square from two-down and secure a half point.

    The Stricker-Verplank combo was the only U.S. pair to win a match outright today, while the usually dependable Woods-Furyk pair got trounced by Singh-Appleby. I thought the Mickelson-Mahan duo would have performed better than they did. Down early, they fought back to all-square only to lose the final hole and the match.

    Prediction for Day Three: The International team will put up more of a fight during the morning foursomes matches and takeover the overall Cup lead during the afternoon four-ball matches.

  • Presidents Cup: Day One

    The U.S. team won five matches and halved one match today. That’s a pretty solid showing for a team that is generally perceived to have missed that day in first grade when you’re taught to play well with others.

    Both teams’ performances looked unspectacular on TV. Are we seeing the effect of “FedEx Fatigue”? Or is it just first-day jitters? The fact that Tiger Woods popped-up his opening tee shot proves that this Cup still means something to the players. The first tee nerves wouldn’t be here if the players didn’t want to win this thing.

    Hopefully the Int’l team will put some points on the board tomorrow and the atmosphere will tighten over the weekend. If not, Royal Montreal may be open for member play on Sunday.

  • Presidents Cup: My Predictions

    The U.S. team will defeat the International team 19-16, but it will ultimately depend on the Sunday singles matches. The U.S. is notorious for playing slightly less than inspiring golf during four-ball and foursomes. And while the International team doesn’t have the same flare as the GB & I players in Ryder Cup years, they seem to gel better – probably because they have less “big” names, which translate into big egos. Lastly, I think the crowd will be largely neutral considering how close Montreal is to the U.S.

  • Brian Griese to Start for the Chicago Bears

    Former University of Michigan quarterback Brian Griese is taking over for the Chicago Bears quarterback, Rex Grossman. This means there will be two U of M quarterbacks starting for NFL teams – the other being Tom Brady for the New England Patriots.

    Better yet, the Bears are playing the Detroit Lions in Detroit. Griese will be making his pro debut as a starter only 45 minutes from his alma matter.

    What are the chances that the Bears and the Patriots will make it to Super Bowl XLII in Arizona? The Bears were in the Super Bowl last year and the Patriots made it to the AFC Conference Championship.

  • Golf News Round Up #1

    I’ve come across a lot of interesting golf stories today, so I’m posting them in a links post. Here we go:

    Lots of caddies are wearing and being sponsored by Crocs, the hideous floating footwear that is really popular in Boston (personal observation).

    In Golf We Trust takes a look at players who credit God for their on-course abilities.

    Golf World says to watch the Presidents Cup closely or wait until January. Apparently the Fall Series isn’t that big of a draw. Duh.

    ESPN provides the most poorly formatted Presidents Cup first-day line up.

    Golf Digest says Nicklaus wants Woods to play Weir, but finding a partner for Woods in team matches is more difficult.

    Euro-drama between Nick Faldo and some guy named Paul McGinley. Nick is captain for the GB & I team for the Seve Trophy and he’s also the 2008 Ryder Cup captain. Nick didn’t pick Paul for this years Seve Trophy, so Paul decided to quit as Nick’s assistant in order to “focus on his play for the Ryder Cup.” Uh huh, sure. (Via Waggle Room)

    The Trilby Tour sounds like something an English tailor would organize. Designer clothes are supplied to all of the players.

  • Prince Chasing Cecil Fielder

    Watching first baseman Cecil Fielder hit home runs in the early 90s is one of my favorite memories as a Detroit Tigers fan. He peaked in 1990 with 51 homers.

    Prince, Cecil’s son, now plays for the Milwaukee Brewers and is closing in on his father’s peak year.

    Prince Fielder, who passed Willie Mays as the youngest to reach 50 in a season, said he wants to hit 52 home runs this season. That would be one more than his father hit in 1990 for the Detroit Tigers.

    Well, good for you Prince, although the article goes on to make Prince look like an asshole and Cecil look like a bigger asshole. Apparently, they’re having some father-son issues and using the national media to work it out.

    In other baseball news…

    Speaking of home runs, I posted a couple weeks ago about a campaign Marc Ecko was running online to decide what to do with Barry Bonds’ 756 home run baseball. The results are in and the public has voted to iron an asterisk onto the ball and send it to the Hall of Fame. This is rude to Barry Bonds and a sad outcome, however Bonds may have brought it on himself. I think it would be better to wait a few years and gain some perspective on the matter.

  • Super Cup: Combine the Cups

    I’m a huge golf fan. More good golf on TV should make me happier, but that’s just not the case lately. I’m burned out and I haven’t even left my couch. (Or is that the problem?) I don’t want to feel compelled to watch golf every week for two months straight. There should be some build-up between tournaments to get the golf fan taste buds salivating.

    This is why I propose that the Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup and Seve Trophy be combined into one Super Cup. It would be a bigger draw all around and it would allow the Cup anticipation to build up for a full two years. Further, it would give the players, who if you ask me, look cupped-out, a well deserved break from cup competition.

    The format I propose would be similar to the current Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup formats except the players were play in sixsomes. Yes, I know. That is unheard of. But that would only make the Super Cup more spectacular. It would be three-way matches with an international pair, a U.S. pair, and a Great Britain & Ireland pair. Or, the event could be turned into a two week golf bananza and a round-robin format would be employed.

    There are many possibilities. Any one of them would be better than the current onslaught of Cups we’re dealing with today.