Well, it has been almost a month since I last posted here. A vacation out of the country, back for a week of work, then off to Florida for our National Sales meeting left very little time to post. That on top of the fact, not a whole lot has gone on in sports lately made feel like that was OK (not sure how others may feel about that.) Where do I start…?

The Major League Baseball All-Star Game was the first major sporting event played while out of the country. The resort we were staying at had the game on in one spot that evening. There were about five guys watching this, and none were really captivated by the game. To put it in perspective, I saw more guys in line for a chocolate buffet at 10 PM than watching the end of the game. Baseball, to my generation and I am 32, is not what it is to those 52+.

The (British) Open Championship was the next one. The best way to recap that event: Tom Watson had the lead going to the seventy-second hole, missed an eight foot putt to win and lost in a playoff; Tiger Woods missed the cut for only the second time as a pro at a major championship; Stewart Cink won the British Open. The 59-year old Watson was the story all weekend, making many forget that Woods had missed the cut by early Sunday morning. Cink went out early Sunday, posted a number, and then won in the playoff, as Watson looked exhausted. Watson stated that his legs were done in the playoff. 

The last three races at Chicago (Mark Martin), Indianapolis (Jimmie Johnson) and Pocono (Denny Hamlin) have not been the most exciting in my opinion. 11 wins (12 if you include the All-Star race) this season for Hendrick/Stewart-Haas, and 5 for Gibbs, out of 21 races tells you everything you need to know. The three races I’ve missed, our guy in the 88 car has had an average finish of 26. Looking at these results, I can see why Kevin Harvick would entertain possibly going to Stewart/Haas Racing in 2010. With only five races to the chase, 5 of the 6 Hendrick/Stewart-Haas cars are in, 3 from Roush and one each from Penske (Kurt Busch), Gibbs ( Denny Hamlin), Earnhardt/Ganassi (Juan Pablo Montoya), and Petty ( Kasey Kahne). One name sticks out as missing: Kyle Busch. 3 wins, 6 Top-20 finishes, yet his average finish is still only 18^th. Feast or Famine seems to be the deal with the 18 team. It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next five races.

Training Camps began this week without Brett Favre. This proves the league can move ahead without him, or John Madden. Favre says he is retired and then Jackson goes down with a knee injury for the Vikings…..then a phone might ring in Mississippi sometime soon to see if # 4 is REALLY done??? My money is on yes.

Now while on my trip to Florida last week, I was able to get a round of golf in on the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course. Yes, I hit the green on 17 (and made par on the hole) and another par on 18, but did shoot 103 from the blue tees. The course was very challenging in that most shots from the fairways were from uneven lies. It always felt like I was either side-hill, down-hill, but never flat. The greens were unreal fast. I had an 8 ft downhill putt on 11 and barely got the ball rolling, yet it still hit the back of the cup and bounced up in the air before falling. Geoff was our group’s forecaddie and did a terrific job. I strongly recommend him if you ever go down there and play. I cracked my driver hitting my tee shot on number four and by the time we arrived on seven tee box, another caddie had a new driver waiting for me ( That driver story will be saved for another week). This course really emphasized how important a strong short game (putting included) is to scoring well. It also re-emphasized that it is not how well you hit your good shots, but how well your misses are hit. Miss on the short-side of a green or the wrong side of a fairway and you are dead. This course really is not a big hitter’s course; you have to be able to place your shots. Now to the hole everyone asked about first, seventeen. The hole is only 125 yards and is relatively small in area. I hit a wedge onto the green and it stuck on the top ledge on the back of the green with a front pin placement. I almost rolled a forty footer in for a birdie and left myself two foot for par. It is amazing how small of an area it really is around 17, yet how large it appears on television. It was difficult to play the par 5 16^th and not look over and watch the guys playing 17. The entire experience was well worth it and one I would definitely consider doing again.  If you would like to see any pictures, hit me up on facebook, as I have posted some there.      

  

·         Phil Mickelson is back this week and next week for the PGA Championship. I wonder if he plays in a manner of nothing to lose or if he tries to go out and win one for his wife and mom. It’s great to hear both are doing better, and that is the most important thing in his life.

·         Defensive Guru Jim Johnson of the Eagles lost his battle with cancer. He was the best in the business at what he does according to Andy Reid and after what he did to my Cowboys at the end of last season, I can not doubt that. He will be missed by all football fans.

·         The Panthers are at training camp and Maake Kemoeatu has already been placed on injured reserve for the season after tearing his Achilles tendon. One of the positions the Panthers are thinnest at, took at monstrous hit in the first session of the season. And on top of this……

·         Julius Peppers is making over a million dollars a game this season. Do you think the Panthers would like to have some of that back to go and try and find another big defensive tackle to replace Kemo? Think Peppers might like to have someone capable of taking the double team like Kemo did to free up Peppers from seeing double teams constantly. I think this will hurt Peppers and Beason more than any others on the defense. Calling Brentson Buckner??? Anything left in the tank?

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