Book Review: "American Triumvirate"

I just finished this new book last evening, and I would recommend it to golfers and to fans of golf history.  The "triumvirate" of the title are identified in the subtitle of the book, "Sam Snead. Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan and the Modern Age of Golf."  The reason for this book now is that 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the births of these three giants of the game of golf, and American golf in particular.  Even more remarkable than the fact that these three guys were all born within six months of each other is the fact that Nelson and Hogan both came from Fort Worth, Texas and were caddies together at the same country club, Glen Garden in Fort Worth.


In the 1920's, American golf was emerging from the shadows of the domination of the game by the Scottish and British professionals who came to America in the late 19th century to grow the game in the US.  The game was dominated at that time by pros Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazin, and amateur Bob Jones.  Jones retired from the game in 1930 at the age of 28, and Hagen was, by that time winding down his career in the limelight.  A void was appearing in the game as the Depression was engulfing the nation when along came Nelson and Hogan from Texas and Snead from the hills of Virginia.  Jim Dodson weaves the stories of these three men's lives and careers in a most entertaining and readable way.


Like Jones, Nelson walked away from the game at a relatively young age to become a rancher in Texas.  Hogan, after suffering a near fatal car crash in 1949, dominated the game like no one, perhaps not even Nicklaus or Woods, has since (four US Open wins in a six year period, plus wins in the Masters, US Open, and British Open in 1953), then left the game and developed his own equipment company.  Snead never did quit.  He hold the PGA Tour record for 82 official tournament wins, played competitive tournament golf into the 1980's, and it was his his participation and promotion of the Senior Tour that allowed that circuit to become the success that it has been.


All three were interesting guys.  From reading the book, it is apparent that Byron Nelson was the favorite of author Dodson.  He makes him out to be a living saint, and maybe he was.  I've never really ever read anything negative about Nelson over the years, though  the guy that I found to be most interesting was Ben Hogan.  So much so, that I plan on doing a separate post on Hogan within the next couple of days.  I shall even draw some comparisons between Hogan and certain Mr. Eldrick Woods.


When we visited Southern Pines, NC last fall, I had the good fortune to meet Jim Dodson, and he was nice enough to sign a couple of his previous books of his that I had for me.  In talking about "American Triumvirate" he mentioned that this might be the last golf book that he has in him.  Too bad, because I have always enjoyed his writing.  If you are a golfer, I would strongly recommend both "Final Rounds" and "The Dewsweepers" if you have not already read them.  And you may not even have to be a golfer to enjoy "Final Rounds."  It is a wonderful father-son story that is quite moving.  I make it a point to re-read this one every couple of years.


Anyway, I recommend "American Triumvirate."  Golfers didn't always play for multi-million dollar purposes every week, and that fact that they do so today can in large part be traced to the efforts of Snead, Nelson, and Hogan.

DVR Alert for Friday

Good stuff on Turner Classic Movies tonight, all from director Billy Wilder:

8:00 PM - "The Seven Year Itch" starring Marilyn Monroe and Tom Ewell.  This comedy  is the one with Monroe in the white dress standing over the NYC subway grate, the iconic scene that thoroughly P.O.'d Joe DiMaggio.

10:00 PM  - "The Lost Weekend"  starring Ray Milland.  The story of an alcoholic won an Oscar for Milland and Oscars for Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay.

Midnight - An interview done in 1988 with Billy Wilder.  I am particularly looking forward to watching this.

All times Eastern.

Testing

Good morning, Loyal Readers.  

Consider this a test posting.  It comes about because Google has indicated some sort of change in how they will be managing these blogs.  Not sure how it is going to work, but as for now, I'm having some issues with how the whole things present themselves when making a post.

So, this post is really about nothing, other than seeing if I can deal with the changes.

If you don't mind, please try posting a comment to see how that works as well.

Many thanks from The Grandstander.

On Sean Peyton

So, one week after NFL Commish Roger Goodell suspends (and justifiably so, in my opinion) Saints Head Coach Sean Peyton for one year, this is what Payton has been up to:

• He shows up at the NFL League meetings
• He attempts to hand pick his interim successor
• He considers appealing his suspension (which is his right, I'll give him that)
• Signs a deal to work as an expert commentator on NFL games with Fox

I'll say this for him, he sure has a huge set of cujones and absolutley no sense of embarrassment.

I also cannot believe that the NFL establishment is very happy with one of its broadcast partners for hiring a guy who should be considered a pariah for the next 12 months.

Two Disparate Comments

Several years ago, sometime back in the late 1980's or early 1990's, a very young Jane Orie knocked at the door of our home in Franklin Park and asked for our vote in an upcoming election for State Representative. Impressed by her willingness to get that personal in her campaigning, I voted for her that year, and in every other election for which she stood since then. My other impression of Jane Orie came a few years ago when we were treating two of our nephews to a day at Wildwood Highlands. The by now State Senator Orie was there leading and treating a group of mentally handicapped adults to a day at the park. There were no newsmen or cameramen there to document this sincere act of kindness on her part.

All this is to say that I feel very badly over Jane Orie's conviction for various offenses in court yesterday that will no doubt end her career and possibly cause her to do some serious prison time. I do not doubt that members of her staff under her direction did what was charged: performed political functions while on the state taxpayers' dime. I also know that if every office holder was punished for the same offenses, we would need to be building a few more prisons to house the offenders. Also, it seemed that the District Attorney's office went after Jane Orie with a zeal that seemed somewhat out of proportion to the crime.

And, yes, I know that just because "everyone else does it", that doesn't make it OK for Jane Orie to have done it as well. Doesn't mean I still can't feel bad for her.

******
My other comment concerns a documentary that appeared on PBS last night (and which, thanks to the DVR, I just finished watching) about Fenway Park, which, in case you've been sleeping all spring, is celebrating it's 100th Anniversary this season.

Narrated in reverential tones by Matt Damon, part of the show talked about the elaborate preparation that goes on for a ball game at Fenway. What the show didn't mention is that these same levels of preparation take place at 29 other ball parks in the major leagues on game days as well. The rest of the show highlighted how Special, and Awesome, and Sacrosact, and Holy this ancient structure is. Wow, after it was over, I felt guilty that I wasn't weeping uncontrollably while watching this show. People criticize CBS for the way they gush about the "Tradition Like No Other" that surrounds Augusta National and The Masters, but that is nothing compared to the sycophantic ramblings that people use whenever they describe Fenway Park.

Two stories about Fenway:

1. My wife NEVER ceases to remind me that she has seen a game at Fenway Park, and I have not, and


2. In 2003, when the Red Sox visited Pittsburgh, I sat next to a couple of visiting Sawx fans in from Boston. When I asked how they were enjoying their visit, their response was that they were having a great time, loved our new ball pahk, and wished that they "had a ball pahk like this in Bahston."

Tigers and 'Cats and Jayhawks (?)...Oh, My

Not sure how you apportioned your TV viewing time this afternoon, but most of my attention was on NBC watching Tiger Woods win his first PGA Tour event in 934 days. Did the guys at NBC bring up that 934 day number enough for you? Since the revelation of Woods' now well-publicized feet of clay, it is quite fashionable to knock him and have people tell you what a scuzzball he is and blame him for everything from poor on-course behaviour, spitting too much, global warming, $4 per gallon gasoline, and inverse fluctuations in the stock market. I, however, have always been rooting for him to find the magic once again on the golf course and start winning. Golf is a lot more interesting when Tiger is in the hunt and winning.

Well, he did that in most convincing fashion today - a five shot margin over second place finisher Graeme McDowell. One most interesting stat from today, and I think I heard this correctly from the boys in the booth, was that of the final 14 golfers, Woods was the only one to shoot under par in today's fourth round. That's impressive.

That was Tiger's 72nd official PGA Tour win. The record for Tour wins is 82, held by Sam Snead. Here's a question to ponder: at age 36, which record is Tiger most likely to break, Snead's 82 career wins, or Jack Nicklaus' 18 majors (Tiger has 14)? I was beginning to think that both records were becoming out of reach for Woods, but after today, I think Snead's record is well within his grasp, and probably more likely to fall than Jack's 18 Majors. However, if Woods wins one this year, and right now he's got to be the favorite at Augusta in two weeks, Jack's record comes into play once more.

******
I began the afternoon by watching Kentucky wallop Baylor (the Bears, Oh my!). That one was so out of reach so early, that staying with the golf at Bay Hill was easy to do. The Wildcats sure do look impressive. Make that Very Impressive.

I was also glad to see Kansas advance. Not that it helps me all that much in my FGE Bracket Pool, but Kentucky and Kansas are my two Universities in the MOASP, and if they both happen to meet in the Championship Game, I will have a big leg up on securing the coveted Lamp of Knowledge Trophy for 2012.

******
It will be interesting to see the TV ratings for this afternoon. A Kentucky blowout and a golf tournament with Tiger Woods in the lead surely ate into what CBS thought they would score for this afternoon.

Oh, and by the way and for what it's worth, I didn't see Woods spit once on the golf course today.

Hello, Good-bye

Lots of Good-Byes, and some Hellos, in the news these last few days.

Of course, the most newsworthy one in Pittsburgh was Hines Ward saying Good-bye and announcing his retirement. I had already commented on that one, but I had to include it here once again, just to go along with the theme.

A day or so later, Duquesne's best basketball player, T.J. McConnell, announced that he was leaving The Bluff in order to be able to compete at a "higher level." Not good, and just to stir the pot even further, two other Dukes players said that they would also be transferring. Today, the University one-upped the players by saying Good-bye, and by that I mean firing, coach Ron Everhart. Everhart is the first Duquesne coach with a winning record in a couple of generations.

As a wise friend of mine tweeted earlier this evening, Duquesne basketball is in "disarray." I am 60 years old, and you have to be pretty much my age to remember when Duquesne basketball was the #1 program here in Pittsburgh and relevant on the national stage. With parents and an older brother who are Duquesne alums, I grew up in a Duquesne family, and rooted for the Dukes, with my own memories stretching back to the days of the Willie Somerset era. There are people who have lived in Pittsburgh for 30 years and can't imagine that the Dukes were once the Kings of Hoops in Pittsburgh, while basketball was almost an afterthought at Pitt. Hell, you can make the case today that even Robert Morris, although they play in an inferior conference to the Atlantic 10, is a stronger program than Duquesne. Chick Davies and Red Manning, not to mention Frank Miniotas(!), are rolling over in their graves.

It's kind of sad, really, and you can't have a whole lot of hope that whomever Duquesne brings in to succeed Everhart will have much of a chance to bring the program back to glory. Hope I'm wrong on that.

A possible Good-bye, for the short term, for Pedro Alvarez? News reports surfaced today that Pedro now has a "balky" left knee. The cynical among us see this as a chance to put Pedro on the DL to start the season, which would then be the conduit to send him to Indianapolis to start the season under the guise of a "rehab assignment."

Hello to Eric Bedard as the Pirates Opening Day starting pitcher. With A.J. Burnett on the shelf, I suppose that there was some sentiment for Jeff Karstens, based upon his season in 2011, to get the nod, but what the heck. I'm too lazy to look it up, but when was the last time that the Pirates had a pitcher get the Opening Day assignment two years in a row?

A possible Hello to 49 year old Jamie Moyer in Denver. I have to tell you that I, for one, am pulling for him to make the Rockies squad. He is 49 years old, coming off of Tommy John Surgery, and in recent years appeared to have trouble throwing a baseball through a wet paper bag, but he was still an effective pitcher. I would love to see him pitching again in 2012.

Finally, Good-bye to Chipper Jones who announced that he will be retiring after this upcoming season at age 40 and with 21 seasons in the big leagues, all with the Braves. It is sometimes easy to develop a dislike for players on the "other team", particularly when that team beats your team, but I never felt that way about Jones (nor, for that matter, the Braves in general in the Bobby Cox era, notwithstanding the 1991 and 1992 NLCS). He always seemed to be a classy guy and good guy. And what a ballplayer! Through 2011, he sports a .304 BA with over 2,600 hits, 454 HR, 1,561 RBIs and an OPS of .935. I hope he goes out in 2012 with a nice year and maintains those lifetime .300 and .900 numbers. Next stop: Cooperstown, NY.