On Golf!

 Golfing ...

   The 2013 British Open will soon be upon us.  The third of golf’s four “Major” championship tournaments begins July 18 at the Muirfield Club in Gullane, Scotland.

   Professional golf tournaments, especially the Majors, are compelling to watch. Consider that it takes around eight months to crown an NBA or and NHL champion, and only four days to crown a Masters Champion. The drama at a Major really starts with the first round on Thursday, and continuously builds until the Sunday evening climax.

   Yes, golf is an individual sport, and that’s fine. It’s part of its beauty. Phil Mickelson was entirely on his own playing during the closing holes at Merion Country Club near Philadelphia earlier this month, as the 43-year-old dueled with Justin Rose for a U.S. Open title. Five times a runner-up, Mickelson desperately wanted to reward his family, friends, and fans with that elusive US Open Trophy. Sadly for Phil, he again finished second. But many fans had to relate to Phil as an individual, knowing that time is running out on his career, knowing of his personal generosity, and knowing that he took time off from the tour to support his wife and his mom when they both had breast cancer.

   Modern broadcast technology with its superb graphics, expert camera-work, and high definition television makes watching a Major on TV a delight compared to the old days when it was so hard to follow the flight of the ball on black and white television sets.

   Yes, the individuals do make the sport. Tiger Woods may be the world’s most recognizable figure. And I don’t mind the occasional TV cutaways to his new girlfriend, Lindsey Vonn. But what really makes golf fun to watch are the venues, the courses themselves. A tennis match involves two players hitting a ball back and forth, trying to keep inside the lines, which are standard everywhere. In golf, every course—every hole—is different.  There are hills and dales, water hazards and sand traps, trees, spectators and more. Tennis is one on one. Golf can feature 36 (or more) players out on the course at the same time, with a like number of balls in play.

   Full disclosure: I have been playing more golf lately, which has increased my interest and appreciation for the sport.  Loudon Country Club.  Canterbury Woods. The Owl’s Nest in Campton.  And Den Brae, that wonderfully forgiving nine-hole course in Sanbornton. I played the same ball all nine holes, which especially nice. I’d earlier lost quite a few golf balls on a different course and am still battling the poison ivy problems I contracted from searching for them. Further, after borrowing a friend’s driver and almost reaching the green on the Par 4 fifth hole, I realized I needed to get a real driver to replace the ancient one-wood in my old golf bag. The nice folks at the Den Brae Club House gave me a deal on a real driver and extended it two inches with a new grip. This new weapon in my golf arsenal positioned me for more of those exhilarating 250 yard drives.

   I just need to keep them straight and out of the poison ivy.

 

   Bring on the British Open!

 

    (Predicted winner – Rory McIlroy.)

 

DEEP IN THE HEART OF TEXAS

 

The great city of Austin, Texas, hosted the annual convention for the North American Society for Sports Management earlier this month and yours truly was among the attendees.  While it was nice to experience the many interesting seminars and network with colleagues from around the country, it was also wonderful to sample a different sports culture.

Professional development, if you will.

 

Texas is football country to be sure, and NASSM scheduled an event at Darrell Royal–Texas Memorial Stadium, which has a seating capacity of over 100,000.  Built in 1924, the stadium was dedicated to Texas’ World War I veterans, and the 5280 Texans who gave their lives in that conflict have their names permanently displayed in bronze outside the north end zone. I walked an upper level of the legendary edifice, and felt the presence of many gridiron ghosts. The Longhorns have won 32 conference titles as well as national championships in 1963, 1969, 1970, and 2005.

The Texas State Capitol Building is a short walk from the stadium, but I took the scenic campus route to see the famous Texas Tower, where Charles Whitman killed seventeen people and wounded thirty-two others in a mass shooting rampage on the afternoon of August 1, 1966.

The Capitol was fascinating to visit. I wanted to get a photo of the portrait of former Yale cheerleader George W. Bush, who’d owned the Texas Rangers baseball team before serving as Texas governor from 1994-2000. Like the New Hampshire State House, the Texas Capitol hangs paintings of all its former governors. I was surprised to see that Texas had twice elected Miriam Ferguson—a WOMAN! —as governor, in 1924 and 1932. How progressive! (It wasn’t until 1996 that N.H. elected a female chief executive.) I later learned that Miriam was the husband of former Governor James Ferguson, who was impeached and removed from office during his second term. As part of his conviction, he was not allowed to hold state office in Texas again. After her husband's conviction, Ma Ferguson ran herself for the office. She told voters that said she would follow the advice of her husband and Texas thus would get "two governors for the price of one.” A campaign slogan was "Me for Ma, and I Ain't Got a Durned Thing Against Pa."

OK. Maybe the Texans were not that progressive after all.

 

I picked up a local paper and read a sports column reminiscing about the Dallas Chaparrals ABA hoop team, which later became the San Antonio Spurs. Despite the fact that the Spurs are in the NBA Finals, some feel they are the third most popular NBA team in Texas, behind the Dallas Mavericks and the Houston Rockets. (The Spurs are easily the SECOND most popular NBA team in N.H., right behind the Celtics, due to the presence of Concord’s Matt Bonner on the roster.)

 

Beyond sports, I also sought to expand my cultural horizons by visiting a Honky-Tonk. As an erstwhile country music fan and loyal listener of Mountonborough’s WSCY—Super Country 106.9 FM—I’d heard the term before but wasn’t quite sure what a Honky-Tonk was. Turns out it’s a southern bar that plays country music. The concierge at the Hilton shared that Austin’s “Broken Spoke” had been voted “Best Honky-Tonk in Texas.” So I had to visit.   

“The Best Honky-Tonk in Texas” also had the lowest ceiling in Texas, but I ducked as necessary and was delighted to be able to buy a pitcher of Lone Star for only $6.50. And I bravely took some dance lessons from The Spoke’s own Terri White. Turns out that I dance even worse than I golf, but Terri was very patient with me and the other novices. I’ll eventually master the Texas Two-Step, just as I’ll eventually master my seven-iron.

 

One of the Texas Two-Steppers looked familiar. She looked just like Teri Hatcher, the Desperate Housewife. Turns out that she WAS Teri Hatcher, whom some readers will also remember from the TV show “Lois and Clark.” I learned that Teri had a football connection—of course, this being Texas—having once been a cheerleader for the NFL’s San Francisco 49ers.

Her two-step was much better than mine. But I’ll bet she can’t hit that seven iron!

Anyway, Austin was wonderful. Next year’s NASSM Convention will be in Pittsburgh and “I Ain't Got a Durned Thing Against Pittsburgh.”  I’ll be there.

 

Professional development, if you will!