Phil Wins at Kiawah!!

I realize that we are now three days after the fact, but The Grandstander cannot let any further time pass without acknowledging the phenomenal performance by Phil Mickelson in winning the 2021 PGA Championship at the Ocean Course in Kiawah Island, SC this past weekend.  As everyone knows by now, at the age of 50 years, 11 months, Phil became the oldest golfer to ever win a Major Championship.  It was remarkable accomplishment by a popular player and was great fun to watch as Phil battled Brooks Koepka in that final pairing on Sunday.

(Little Known Facts:  The Grandstander is very much like Phil Mickelson.  I am a natural right-hander, I play golf left-handed, and I, too, am - ahem - over fifty years of age.  No wonder people are always getting us mixed up.)

This victory by Mickelson, a 3000-1 long shot who was ranked 176th in the world coming into the event, sparked comparisons to Tiger Woods' equally remarkable win at the Masters in 2019, and it reminded us all that both Woods and Mickelson will forever be linked as the greatest golfers of their generation.  One must wonder how truly staggering the wins and wins-in-majors totals for Phil would have been had he not been a playing contemporary of Woods over the last twenty-five years or so.

It is interesting that the two of them, who were never particularly close, and, in fact, may not have even liked each other all that much, have seemed to draw closer as they have aged, in  much the same way that Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus did when their glory years were behind them and they got older.  Think of Phil dressing in red and black on the Champions Tour the weekend after Woods' auto accident earlier this year, and think of Woods tweet saluting Mickelson  (and Phil's response) after the big win on Sunday.  It's kind of cool, really.

And as this Barry Svrluga column in today's Washington Post indicates, the injured and inactive Woods and the fifty year old Philly Mick are still the only gofers that really move the needle among the sporting public.

Two more comments on the PGA Championship. 

The Ocean Course is a gorgeous piece of golf property in a spectacular setting.  Wonderful to look at.  That said, I would have no desire to ever play on it.  I mean, it looks like just about the hardest golf course that I've ever seen.  I can't imagine having a bit of fun slogging through it.

The surging of the crowd onto the fairways after Mickelson and Koepka teed off on 18 can only be classified as an absolute disgrace.

"But that happens all the time at the British Open" I can hear you say, and that's true, but the Brits do it in a much more civilized manner.  What we saw on Sunday was the equivalent of drunken mobs storming a football field.  It's lucky no one was hurt (that we know of) or worse in that melee.  Say what you will about Brooks Koepka, he had every right to be thoroughly pissed off to be swallowed up in that mass while he - in theory - still could have hit shots that would have won the tournament for him.

Let's hope that the stuffed-shirts of the USGA learn from this and does NOT allow this scene to be repeated at the US Open next month.

Sports Update?

Yep, that's a question mark in the headline because, really, we all know that there are no sports to speak of currently.  So this will really be me, more or less, cleaning out some shirt pocket notes.

There was one live event this past Sunday, and that was "The Match 2"  featuring the teams of Tiger Woods/Peyton Manning and Phil Mickelson/Tom Brady.

I watched and enjoyed it immensely and here are some of the reasons why.

• The Match raised $20 million for COVID19 relief efforts.

• It was played, for the most part, in miserable weather and these four multi-millionaire athletes soldiered on for the cause, so good for them. (Major League Baseball, take note.)
• All but Brady wore shorts.
• Manning and Brady, purportedly to be single digit handicappers, were spraying the ball over the course.  In my Tuesday round of Retiree Golf this week, I hit more fairways off the tee than Tom Brady did on Sunday (albeit I hit it a LOT shorter).  It's fun to see great athletes humbled.
• Tom Brady never used a driver.
• No caddies.  They drove their own carts, used range finders, cleaned their own clubs, and pulled their own pins.  I mean, TIGER WOODS was pulling the pins on the greens.  He probably hasn't had to do that since he was ten years old.
• Tiger Woods didn't miss a fairway all day.
• Tom Brady called Peyton Manning "Paydirt."  Great nickname.
• And of course, Brady holing out from 100+ yards in the fairway after hacking it all over the place. And splitting his pants.
• Justin Thomas as an on course commentator.
• Charles Barkley.
• And of course the constant realization that the game played by the likes of Woods and Mickelson is way, way, way different than the game played by high level amateurs like the two QB's, let alone the game played by hackers like you and me.

News reports a few days after the event had Mickelson speculating about continuing the format of The Match with different celebrity guests.   Names like Michael Jordan, Steph Curry, Tony Romo, and Patrick Mahomes were being floated by Lefty.  To that, I say be careful what you wish for.  Keep trotting the golden goose out there, and soon The Match will be just another dunk contest, home run derby, or outdoor NHL game.  Plus, how long will it be before the "celebrities" will C and D Listers like Ryan Seachrist and whoever it is that won the last season of The Bachelor?

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While Woods, Mickelson, Manning, and Brady were slogging it through the downpours in Florida on Sunday, MLB and the MLBPA continued their pissing contest over money when and if some form of a Major League Baseball season is to be played.  You know the story: "Billionaires vs. Millionaires" fighting over  moola while 100,000 Americans have died and tens of millions are out of work because of a global pandemic.

Rather then me go on and on about the horrible optics of this whole thing, I strongly recommend that you read Jason Mackey's lengthy piece that appeared in the Op-Ed section of Sunday's Post-Gazette:

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/insight/2020/05/24/Home-run-or-strikeout-Baseball-s-return-to-play-negotiations-could-have-long-term-effect-on-the-game/stories/202005240045?fbclid=IwAR0a6H23SNIh1nX-uYMp0PlULzgYG4YIG1oHGBVb06uQc0_rJw1_MgYhAbY

It not only outlines the issues of these specific negations, but also lists why baseball, the sport, is declining in following among younger people.  The best line in the article is quote that says of MLB and its Players that "it's almost like they're asking people to not follow their sport."

As it is, I say that it is less than 25% probable that there will be a baseball season in 2020.  Hope I'm wrong.

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Football.  I have watched two episodes of "America's Game" on the NFL Network highlighting the 1975 and 1978 seasons of the Pittsburgh Steelers.  The show on the 1979 season awaits me on my DVR.  I don't like to be one of those guys who wallow in nostalgia, but man it sure is fun watching those shows.   Those teams were GOOD!!!

Sports Notes - Various Topics

Cleaning out the Mental In-Box, Wide, Wide World of Sports Division.....

The Pittsburgh Pirates had a spectacular month of July, sporting a record of 17-9 that shot them back into playoff contention.  August has not been so kind.  With three games remaining, the August ledger shows them at 8-16.  Fourth place in the Central, 14 games out of first place.  Eight and one-half games out of the Wild Card spot with nine (9!!) teams ahead of them.  With thirty games remaining, they have to go 18-12 just to finish over .500.

And here is some more good news.  On his weekly radio show on Sunday, Neal Huntington led off with this quote:

"As we look at next year's club, the core of it is this year's club."

How would you like to be a ticket sales rep for that Pirates with THAT as your marketing slogan this off-season?

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Le'Veon Bell has indicated that he will sign his franchise tag deal with the Steelers and report for practice on Monday, one week before the regular season opener.  All the Steelers players and coaches are saying the right things.  You know, "He's the best...it's just business....we're glad he's back...we need him to get where we want to go"...and blah blah blah.

When this season ends, and Bell goes and collects his pot of free agency gold in 2019, these same players, the ones who have been banging their heads at training camp and in exhibition games will no doubt tell us what they REALLY thought of Bell's hold outs these last two seasons.  You know, like they all told us about what kind of a teammate James Harrison was in his final year with the team after the Steelers canned him.

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Pitt opens its 2018 football season on Saturday against the mighty Great Danes of Albany University. I am looking forward to being at Heinz Field on Saturday to see Albany collect it's huge paycheck, and to spending another convivial season, my sixth, amongst the members of the ticket group I am in.  That's will always be fun.

As for how is Pitt going to fare this season, I can claim no insight or expertise to make a valid prediction.  However, I do know this: In the three seasons under Head Coach Pat Narduzzi (or HCPN, as he will be known for the remainder off this blogging season), Pitt has gone 8-5, 8-5, 5-7 (0-2 in bowl games; they failed to qualify for a bowl last year, and that's not easy to do in college football these days).  It's time for the Panthers to take that proverbial "next step" under Narduzzi.  Not sure what that means, but it would sure be nice to see Pitt in the race for a slot in the ACC Championship game in November.  HCPN has already predicted that they will be in that game. Can't say that he's shying away from putting himself on the spot.

Oh, and Pitt is relying heavily on sophomore quarterback Kenny Pickett, who as started all of one game in his career.  Granted, that game was a spectacular upset win over a 10-0 (or were they 11-0 at the time?) Miami, and Pickett sure was great in that one.  Still, Pitt is putting  a lot of eggs in the inexperienced Pickett's basket.  I hope it works out.

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On the national scene, you are all familiar with the sordid tale of Urban Meyer and the ridiculous slap on the wrist that Ohio State handed him last week.  This has been written about extensively by many, many talented national sportswriters and commentators,  so I won't restate the story here. Suffice to say, most people, at least most people outside of the state of Ohio, feel that Meyer should have been fired.  I especially like one columnist I read, and I regret that I can't remember who it was, who has renamed the Buckeyes coach "Urban Liar".

Well, at least we know who and what runs the show at THE Ohio State University, and considering their track record over the years with Woody Hayes and Jim Tressel, I guess we shouldn't really be surprised.

As for me, I have decided to effect any own form of protest.  I have decided that I will NOT watch any college football game this season involving Ohio State.  That could include several games of consequence, including games against Penn State and Michigan, and it could also include games in the College Football Playoffs in January.  Although  I would think - hope? - that that CFP Committee would bend over backwards to NOT include Ohio State in that four team set-up, no matter what their record.

Now, I know that little old me sitting in Pittsburgh, PA not watching a given football game or games on a given weekend or weekends will not amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world, but it will make me feel better about myself.  So I have that going for me, which is nice.  (Two classic movie lines referenced in one paragraph!)

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The other big announcement in recent days was confirmation that Tiger Woods will meet Phil Mickelson, head to head, in a $9 million televised golf match over Thanksgiving weekend.  Of course the Nine Large will be coming from someone else's pockets - yours!  Yep, this made for TV event will be available only on a Pay-Per-View basis, probably cost you twenty-five to thirty bucks to watch this event.  

Now I love Tiger and Phil, and they are arguably the two greatest and most important golfers (and in the case of Woods, one of the most important athletes) in this century, but this is pure money grab, worthy only of fading boxers, MMA fighters, and Vince McMahon.  Also, between them, Woods and Mickelson have won exactly one tournament in the last five years.  I don't begrudge anyone making a buck, but guys of their stature should really be above this.  

Now, if they were going to play a skins game for $1,000 a hole OF THEIR OWN MONEY....that I might be willing to watch.

The US Open, Phil, and Brooks

Readers - I think there were two of you out there - have been beseeching The Grandstander for his thoughts on the recently completed US Open, specifically for his thoughts on Phil Mickelson's rules breaking fiasco in the third round.

First, The Phil Cause Celebre....

I won't recount the whole thing.  If you care at all, you know the details.  The Hall of Fame golfer, the second best and most important golfer of the still young 21st century, deliberately broke a rule, took a two stroke penalty, and caused a great deal of harrumphing among those who hold the rules of golf sacrosanct who saw Phil's transgression as equal to someone urinating on the altar at the Vatican.  My thoughts:

• No one in sports, no one, are more self-important than the rules nerds who run the game of golf.  So, when someone of Mickelson's stature sticks his finger in their collective ears, a part of me says "Good for Phil."
• In retrospect, however, Mickelson's actions WERE pretty egregious, and something a little stiffer than a two stroke penalty was no doubt deserved.
• The USGA Blue Blazers, who are the lead harrumphers when it comes to the rules of golf, defecated the bed on this one - AGAIN - by saying that the two stroke penalty was sufficient.  Had some shmoe Open qualifier who was ranked 241st in the world done what Mickelson did, he would undoubtedly have been DQ'ed immediately.  By showing that there IS a double standard when a golfer of Philly Mick's stature is involved, the Blue Blazers put the lie to the very standards that they hold so sacrosanct.
• Oh, and did you notice that three days after the conclusion of the tournament, Mickelson issued an apology for his actions.  Too late, but Phil is a guy who's dodged Insider Trading charges during the course of his life, so I guess this won't bother him all that much.

Second, the pros whine.....

There was much wailing and gnashing of teeth as the pros whined and bitched about how unfair the set up at Shinnecock Hills was, particularly on Saturday.  As fate would have it, my "Facebook Memories" today showed this post from this date in 2015 following the Open at Chambers Bay in Oregon.  I reproduce it here:

Pro golfers are independent contractors and, as such, are different from most other pro athletes, especially those in team sports. They should be admired for that. However, they take a back seat to NO PRO ATHLETE, not Tom Brady, not LeBron James, not A-Rod, no one, when it comes to - to coin a phrase - primadonnaism. Don't make a noise, don't click a camera, please don't move while I take 120 seconds to line up this putt. The complaints about Chambers Bay that we are hearing are a prime example. Let's bring Rory McIlroy or Jordan Spieth out to Rose Ridge or Saxon and give them a dose of humility in the form of what 99% of the world's golfers have to play on all the time.

Only the date and the location changes.  The guys who never had to play on a public course in their lives continue to cry whenever that can't shoot four rounds in the sixties.

Having said that, however, I also say screw the USGA people who insist that the Open be a "difficult test of golf".  I, for one, do not particularly enjoy watching the best players in the world kick it round the course shooting seven or eight over par in any given round.

Finally, the winner.....

Let's hear it for Brooks Koepka, who has won the Open for the second consecutive year, a feat that had not been accomplished in twenty-nine years.  Between Mickelson and the set up of the golf course, Koepka's considerable accomplishment seemed to be a footnote to the entire weekend, and that's a shame.

Sunday Double-Header

Yesterday turned out to be a great day to plant oneself in front of the TV set for some primo sports viewing.  

It began at 9:30 when the leaders, and, it turned out, the only relevant golfers in terms of the Championship, Henrik Stenson and Phil Mickelson teed off for the final round of The Open Championship, aka, The British Open.  Stenson led by one at the start, and Mickelson, now 46 years old, was looking for his first victory if any kind since he last won the Open in 2013, and what a performance they put on.  Over the course of the final round, the two of them combined to make 14 birdies, 1 eagle, and only two bogies (both by Stenson).  When it was done, Mickelson had shot a 65 and Stenson a 63, which produced a three shot victory for him in golf's oldest Championship.

To be honest, halfway throughout he final round, I felt that Stenson was going to win because I felt that Mickelson's forty-six year old nerves would give way and cause him to lose.  Didn't happen that way.  At all.  Mickelson shot a terrific round of 65, and I think I heard someone say that his -17 finish would have won all but one of the previous 144 Open Championships.  He just happened to come up against a guy who shot a superhuman round in Stenson's 63.

By the way, did anyone else notice that when Dan Hicks kept saying after the 16th hole that Stenson needed to play the last  two holes in one under par to equal broadcast partner Johnny Miller's major championship record low round of 63 shot in the 1973 US Open at Oakmont, that Miller had nothing to say?  And when Stenson sank that thirty footer for birdie on 18 to achieve that record tying 63, Miller again had nothing to say when Hicks made mention of it.  I don't think Johnny, who has now joined the Get Off My Lawn Club, was at all happy about they score of Stenson's.

And I always like the tradition that appears on the scoreboard at The Open Championship each year:

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With the conclusion of the Open, it was on to Root Sports and the Pirates-Nationals game.  The big story for the Pirates should have been the six shutout innings, one hit, five strikeout, zero walks performance delivered by rookie Chad Kuhl....

...but, of course, the bigger story became Mark Melancon surrendering a two out home run in the bottom of the ninth that tied the game, 1-1, and which then forced extra innings that stretched out to 18 innings before the Pirates won, 2-1, thanks to Starling Marte's solo HR in the top of the 18th.

Games like this always produce some weird statistical occurrences.  For example:

• Andrew McCutchen went a mind-numbing 0-for-8.
• Bryce Harper went 1-for-6, and Nats' fist baseman Clint Robinson went 0-for-7.
• Pirate catcher Eric Kratz went 1-for-6 which somehow managed to RAISE his batting average to .107.
• The unlikely Pirates bullpen combo platter of A.J. Schugel, Jared Hughes, Juan Nicasio, and Jonathon Niese combined for a nine inning shutout.
• Jerry Meals - remember him? - was behind the plate umpiring this game, and he had a chance to balance the books for the Pirates had he called a DOA Eric Fryer safe at the plate in the 16th inning, but, alas, he made the correct call this time and called him out.

And of course, the REAL star of the day was that little kid in the neon green Under Armour t-shirt that Root Sports kept focusing on from the time of the game tying Nats' homer in the ninth and throughout the rest of the game.  I loved him, and so, apparently, did the rest of the country, as the kid blew up the Internet as he ran the gamut of emotions over eighteen long innings.

Nice game to win.

The Future of Golf, or Post-Masters Reflections

Four days after the conclusion of an amazing Masters Tournament, it's time to reflect upon just what took place and what it might mean.

First off, the wire-to-wire win for 21 year old Jordan Spieth prompted this great cover and tag line to appear in the mail box today:

Clever take on the book about Michael Jordan, and a statement that the "Spieth Era Begins Now".

First the tournament itself.  Spieth's performance was nothing short of, sorry about this, Masterful.  Only the fifth wire-to-wire win in the history of the Masters, and a tie for the all-time low score.  On Saturday, he stood up to the challenges and charges of the biggest names in the sport (McIlroy, Mickelson, and Woods), and on Sunday, every time someone looked like he would challenge him, Spieth answered with a birdie, an amazing up-and-down, or a clutch par, all leading to this moment.

Does this mean that a "Jordan Spieth Era" is now upon us?  

Well, how do you define an "Era"?  Is Spieth the next Tiger Woods?  Sorry, but no, or at least no one should be ready to declare so at this point.  Does it mean that Spieth can be a dominant player on the PGA Tour for the next 10-15 years?  It is quite possible that Spieth could indeed be just that, although, I do not think that we shall ever see anyone dominate professional golf the way that Woods did in the period from 1997-2008.  The probability of such dominance is infinitesimal, if for no other reason than this guy:

Rory McIlroy is only 25 years old and already has four majors to his credit.  And if McIlroy will prevent Spieth from being the "next Tiger", then Spieth, in turn, could prevent McIlroy from being the "next Tiger" as well.

What does excite the imaginations of golf nerds everywhere is the possibility of Spieth-McIlroy duels over the next dozen years or so that will be reminiscent of earlier days when Arnold Palmer battled Jack Nicklaus, and Nicklaus battled guys like Tom Watson, Johnny Miller, and Greg Norman.  It is a measure of Woods' total dominance during his time that there never was a real challenger to him, not even Phil Mickelson.  The idea of Spieth and McIlroy going head to head on Sundays at Augusta, Oakmont, St. Andrews and other such places over the next decade to so is wonderful to think about.

Oh, and we should also keep one other thing in mind.  Spieth could end up being a one hit wonder like Trevor Immelman, Lucas Glover, Andy North, or one of the many other golfers who have managed to win one major, and little else.  It certainly doesn't appear likely that Spieth will fall into that category, as he has already won several times on Tour and performed well in a Ryder Cup competition, but you never know.  It will be interesting to look back at the ledger at the conclusion of this Tour and Majors season and re-evaluate the possibilities.

Of course, you can't make any evaluation of the State of Golf without talking about these guys:

Phil Mickelson had a terrific Masters.  His score of fourteen under par would have won the Masters 70 of the 78 times in its history.  It appears that he has something left in the tank, at least at Augusta, and it would have been interesting to see how Spieth would have held up had he been paired with Mickelson instead of Justin Rose on Sunday.  One of those intriguing "what ifs" that makes sports so much fun to follow.  However, Phil is now 44 years old.  It's hard to win anywhere on tour at that age, much less a Major, which makes his performance at Augusta all the more remarkable.

As for Tiger Woods, he is 39 and he managed to shoot eight under par over the second and third rounds of the Masters. He also was two over par over rounds one and four.  The fact that he scraped by in one over on Sunday, when he could never find a fairway off the tee, is amazing.  He could overcome such erratic driving at Augusta, but if he drives like that at a course set up for the US Open, he won't make the cut.

The key points in the above two paragraphs are the ages of the two golfers.  In all sports, and especially tournament golf, Father Time beats all comers.  I don't doubt that Mickelson and Woods all again win tournaments here and there on the PGA Tour.  Woods may even possibly still be able to dig down and win a Major one more time, but at this point it's a long shot.  This takes nothing away from what they have been, which is two of the greatest golfers of all time (and in Woods' case, he is in the argument for THE greatest golfer of all time).  It will still be fun to see them play and watch them on TV, but I am afraid that their Days of Dominance are over.

The US Open will be played in Oregon this June, which means prime time telecasts here in the east.  You know that Fox, which is televising the Open this year, has to be licking its chops in hopes of young guns like McIlroy and Spieth going at it at Chambers Bay.  Bring it on!!

Rory McIlroy Wins the PGA

I got very caught up in watching the final round of the PGA Championship yesterday as it evolved into a four horse race among Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Rickie Fowler, and Henrik Stenson, which McIlroy, as you know by now, eventually won by one shot over Mickelson.

This one had everything going for it, drama-wise:

• Would McIlroy continue the dominant streak that he has been on, having won the Open Championship and the WGC Bridgestone event in his last two starts?
• Would the crafty, but aging star, Mickelson, be able to pull off what would be his seventh Major victory?
• Would the emerging young star, Fowler, finally break through?
• Would the tall Swede, Stenson, who just happens to be the #4 ranked player in the world, steal the show from all of them?

As the back nine began with a birdie for Fowler, I thought that my Saturday morning pre-third round prediction that called for him to win the Championship was looking good.  However, shortly thereafter, McIlroy, who was then three shots back, pulled off a shot from the tenth fairway from over 230 yards out to within seven feet of the cup, which he then drained for an eagle that got him to within one of Fowler and Mickelson.  In retrospect, that was when this tournament was decided.

No doubt about it that Rory McIlroy, winner of three straight tournaments, the last two Majors, and four Majors by the age of 25 is now the best player currently trodding the world's fairways.  The inevitable talk of "can he catch Jack" will now start up.  Please, great as he is, let's hold off on that talk until he wins, let's say, four more Majors over the next three years.

As for Tiger Woods, who missed the cut, it is starting to look like he - and he will turn 39 this December - is becoming just another guy out there on Tour.  Except for one thing.  He had major surgery on his back just three and a half months ago. I have had that same surgery on my back, twice, and I can tell you that there is no way he should have been even playing in these recent tournaments, much less contending in them, much less winning them.  He should not even try to play again until next year.  My own thought is that Woods will win tournaments again, he may even win another Major, but he will not break Nicklaus' record of 18 Majors.  That ship has sailed.

Just for the fun of it, I found myself "live Facebooking" the PGA Championship as events unfolded, and my posts were greeted with massive silences from the universe of my Facebook friends.  I guess I should have sent out pictures of my neighbor's cat if I wanted to generate traffic.  Apparently, golf tournaments just don't move the needle in the social media world.

The PGA Tour Turns Back the Clock

Most people think that the PGA tour doesn't really begin until The Masters (A Tradition Like No Other), but, in fact, the golfers have been teeing it up since the first weekend in January, but it's kind of gotten lost in the shuffle of the NFL Playoffs.  Until, that is, the past two weeks.

In case you missed it, two weeks ago Tiger Woods won, and in pretty much Tiger-like fashion, the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines.  This was the eighth time that Woods has won a tournament at Torrey Pines.  This past weekend out in Scottsdale, Phil Mickelson went wire to wire in a beatdown of the rest of the field, including a round of 60!

I don't think that we will ever see the dominant Tiger Woods of the early part of this 21st century, but let's remember that he did win three tournaments last year, and he looked pretty damn good two weeks ago.  Of course, Woods has set major championships as his standard, so the big question about him is always, will he ever win another Major, and if so will he break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 Majors (he has 14)?  My thought - yes, he will win another Major, sometime, but, no, he will not break Jack's record.

Mickelson has reached an age, he is 42, where guys just don't win with regularity on the big Tour.  I'm not sure how many more performances like we saw this past weekend Phil has left in him.  Still, his performance last weekend, and Woods' the week before, does tantalize you with hopes of Tiger-Lefty showdowns at Augusta and the US Open later in the year.

Speaking of Mickelson, how did you like the pity party he threw for himself about how he was getting screwed by the tax laws on the Federal and the State of California levels.  My heart really ached for him.  By the way, he made $45 million in 2012.  I would happily trade him my income and taxes for his income and taxes.  Guys who have grown up in the life of country clubs and elite amateur and then professional golf, they really have a handle on the real world, don't they?

Some of the biggest off the course news this year was the signing of Rory McIlroy, the current #1 in the world, to a mega-millions deal by Nike.  In case you haven't seen it yet, Nike has produced this cool commercial featuring their two big guns.  Interestingly enough, Woods and McIlroy were NOT together when this commercial was produced.  A triumph of clever film editing.

US Open is Underway

So, I am sure that many of you are clamoring for a Grandstander prediction for the US Open now underway at Olympic Country Club in San Francisco.  After his win two weeks ago at The Memorial, Tiger Woods is the betting favorite and the trendy pick, and I suppose he has as good a shot as anyone.

Fans of Phil Mickelson, and I am one, wonder if Lefty will ever be able to capture a US Open, after he has finished second five times in this Championship in his career.  At the age of 41, time might be running out for Lefty, but I see one thing that might spur him on this week.  If there is anything that gets Mickelson's juices flowing it's major championships and the chance to put a beat down on Tiger Woods, and the two of them, along with Masters winner Bubba Watson will be paired together in the opening two rounds this week.  That can work against you, too, since you can get caught up playing the golfer in your group rather than the course, but I think Mickelson is smarter than that.  So is Woods, for that matter.

In fact, I will ooffer one prediction: Woods will finish ahead of Mickelson this week.

I have  not been able to muster up any kind of feeling to register a learned prediction other than this: an American will win the US Open this week.  Sorry about that Rory, Luke, Lee, Ian, and all you other Internationals. 

 And if you want to go with karma for a pick, how about this?  Earlier in the week, as a promotional gig before a Giants game at AT&T Park, Dustin Johnson and Giants pitcher Matt Cain were hitting drivers from home plate over the right field seats and into McCovey Cove.  We now know that Cain responded by pitching a perfect game last night.  Will some of that same karma rub off on Johnson?  Johnson has contended in majors before and he's coming off a nice win in Memphis last week.  Hey, it's as good a reason to pick him as anyone else.

Enjoy the Open.  With it being played in California, we will be seeing it in Prime Time here in the east.  I like that.

Haas Wins in LA

Well, did you watch the LA Open today?

The Mickelson-Bradley back and forth written about this morning did take place, along with Bill Haas jumping in and out of the lead, and a lot of other guys, most notably Dustin Johnson, squandering shots and opportunities to get into the mix and take control of the tournament. After an afternoon of watching these guys ham-and-egg it all over Riviera, it appeared that Haas was the winner until both Mickelson and Bradley made two incredible birdies on 18 to force a playoff. Haas won on the second sudden death hole, a short - 314 yard - par 4 in an amazing display of golfing strategy. If you play golf, watching them play that 10th hole was completely fascinating. If you don't play golf, you probably have a quit reading before you got this far in the post anyway, so I won't go into it here. You can read about it in the paper tomorrow.

As I said, three and a half hours of ham and egging was all made worthwhile watching Mickelson and Bradley on 18 and watching them and Haas in the two sudden death holes. Great stuff.

And a couple of final comments on Keegan Bradley, who at age 25 certainly seems to have the chops to be a big factor on the PGA Tour for years to come.

• I wish he didn't use a belly putter (Haas does, too, by the way). Just doesn't seem right.



• He takes FOREVER to hit his shots. Recreational golf will take even longer to play if the weekend hackers start to imitate him.



• He spits a lot. A LOT. It has become fashionable to beat up on Tiger Woods for his habit of constant spitting on the course. I hope those same critics will come down on Bradley for this dubious habit. Unless, of course, there is a double standard among the golfing elite where someone who looks like Woods is concerned. Not that that could be possible in this day and age, of course. (It can be noted that Gary McCord did say that he would have to talk with young Keegan about the spitting.)

For Our Sunday Afternoon Viewing Pleasure...

Earlier this week I wrote about Phil Mickelson's victory at Pebble Beach last week and made the following observation: "At age 41, who knows how many victories like this Mickelson has left in him..."

Shows how much I know. This afternoon, Lefty will tee off in the final group of the LA Open (or whatever corporate name it goes by these days) at Riveria CC in Los Angeles tied for the lead with his playing partner, reigning PGA Champ Keegan Bradley. In many ways this pairing may be even more interesting that Phil's pairing last week with Tiger Woods. Bradley, a major champion at the age of 25, represents one of the new wave of Young Guns on the PGA Tour, and Mickelson is, well, Phil Mickelson. Aging Great vs. Young Lion. Crafty Vet vs. Promising Youngster. Old Guard vs. New Wave. Pick whatever cliche you like, but this has the makings of a very fun afternoon in front of the flatscreen.

If only Bradley didn't use one of those belly putters. I every golfer using one of those should have two strokes, minimum, added to his score over 72 holes.

Enjoy!

Hines, Hailey, Phil, A.J., Jack Butler, and Other Topics

Having been hit with some kind of bug over the past few days, The Grandstander decides to clean out the Mental In-Box prior to leaving for a doctor's appointment....

• The Hines Ward Drama is playing out on the sports pages and talk shows - and on Facebook - in the last few days. I agree with Ron Cook to a point. True, Ward has been paid handsomely by the Steelers over the last 14 years, and football is first an foremost a business, so in that respect, the Steelers owe Ward nothing if they feel it is time to cut the cord and move on. However, having someone in the Steelers hierarchy leak the word to Jason LaCanfora of NFL Network (and how else would LaCanfora get such info?) was NOT something that the Steelers should have done to a player of Ward's stature in team history. That was a move that Steelers Nation Loyalists would scorn if Jerry Jones or Dan Snyder did it to a similar player.


• I have a feeling the dance that is now taking place involving Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin, Todd Hailey, and Ben Roethlisberger is not going to end well, and it could get a lot uglier than, say, the possibility of Hines Ward wearing some other team's uniform in 2012. Hope I'm wrong.


• No one remembers Franco Harris as a Seattle Seahawk. He will always be a Steeler. Same thing will apply to Hines Ward, no matter where he might play in 2012.


• If Roethlisberger had been a boy scout during his past off seasons, would the Steelers - and their fans - be so fired up about Ben needing a hard ass coach like Hailey to reign him in and "tweak" his game? Understand that I am not defending Roethlisberger's past antics. Merely posing a hypothetical question.


• Did anyone watch the final round of the AT&T National at Pebble Beach on Sunday? Playing in the next to last group on Sunday with Tiger Woods, and two shots behind Woods and five shots out of the lead, Phil Mickelson put a beat down on the field and on Woods, in particular, to win the tournament by three shots. Golfers can talk all they want about how they play the course and not against each other, but there is no way that Phil wasn't relishing that 11 shot pasting he dealt Tiger.


• To his credit Mickelson downplayed the whole thing, pointing out the greater body of work over time, while allowing others to site the stats (Woods -71 PGA Tour victories to Phil's 40; 14 Woods' majors to Phil's 4). Still, when paired head to head, Mickelson has beaten Woods the last five times this has occurred.


• At the age of 41, you have to wonder how many more of these victories Mickelson might have left in him. As for Woods, who ever could have envisioned the kind of meltdown that we saw on Sunday?


• The Pirates are in the news with their pursuit of pitcher A.J. Burnett from the Yankees, who are willing to do almost anything to get rid of him. Hey, the addition of Burnett certainly can't hurt the Pirates, but it doesn't envision a free ride into the post-season, either. Bob Smizik points out that if nothing else, the pursuit of Burnett (and Edwin Jackson and Roy Oswalt before that) will prove to the players on the team that management is trying to do more than just turn a profit.


• Bob Smizik also linked to a blog by some guy named Jim Krug. I don't know Krug's background, but he offers a look at the Pirates management's performance that is hard to refute. Check it out here http://isportsweb.com/2012/02/12/pittsburgh-pirates-a-j-burnett-situation-showcases-lack-of-direction/


• On a much more positive Steelers note, belated CONGRATULATIONS go out to formers players Dermonti Dawson and Jack Butler for their recent election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. I am happy for Dawson, and I am sure that he is deserving, but, be honest now, who among us is equipped to judge the merits of an offensive lineman for HOF worthiness? If the selectors deem it to be, then I'm sure OK with it. As for Butler, his election at the age of 82 is long overdue if only to prove to too many of generations of Steelers fandom, that the Steelers did indeed exist before Franco's Immaculate Reception. Butler's stats and accomplishments were well documented in the media at the time of his selection, so I will not restate them here. I will, however, recommend that you go to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website and search out Bob Dvorchak's "Sports 'n'at" video about Jack Butler. It pays tribute to Butler far better than any words that I can write here.

Selected Short Subjects

Selected Short Subjects for a Monday Morning....

Glad to see that the Pitt Panthers secured a #1 Seed for the NCAA Tournament, if for no other reason than to avoid listening the three days of angst and despair if they had gotten a lower seed.

Did you miss Billy Packer on the Selection Show? How fun would it have been listening to him bitching about 11 Big East teams in the field and only 3 ACC teams (and one in a play-in game at that) in the Tourney?

For what it is worth, I have a Final Four of North Carolina, Duke, Notre Dame. and Pitt.

*****
I watched little of the golf tournament from Doral yesterday afternoon. Very good event with Nick Watney edging Dustin Johnson for the title. Good stuff, and it seems that a new wave of young golfers are starting to come to the fore on the PGA Tour. Tiger Woods did manage a Top Ten finish in this event, but through the first 2 and 1/2 months of the season, he and Phil Mickelson are appearing to be just two other guys out there. Of course, I don't expect that Tiger and Phil will no longer be relevant, but it's looking like their days of domination may be over.

What might have been even more disconcerting was seeing Aussie Adam Scott, once hailed as a Young Lion on the Tour, using a long putter. I hate those things.

*****
You want to see an example of abject greed? Read the statement that Art Rooney II released after the NFL labor talks broke down last Friday. It reinforces my long-held belief that no one surpasses sports team owners when it comes to greed.

This morning I'm reading the PG story of the Gerry Dulac's interview with Rooney over the weekend. Halfway through I asked myself "why am I reading this?" Just let me know when it's over.

I am guessing that not one regular season game will be missed when all is said and done.

*****

My newest addition to my DVD collection is a box set "Definitive Edition" if the old "Twilight Zone" TV series. All 156 half-hour episodes with Rod Serling and done in glorious black & white. In the last week or so, I have watched about 10 episodes, and, for the most part, the stories and the production holds up very well after 50 years. A couple of them have been clinkers, but a few are very good. "The After Hours" with Anne Francis was good, as was "The Eye of the Beholder" which starred a pre-Beverly Hillbillies Donna Douglas. And as it did 48 years ago, "Terror at 20,000 Feet", starring a very young William Shatner, can still scare the bejeezus out of you!

*****
For the second year in a row, I volunteered this past Saturday at the Heinz History Center for National History Day, and got to view the history projects and presentations of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders from throughout the region. If you worry about the direction kids are headed in these days, your mind can be put at rest when you experience something like this. These kids are amazing.