5/7/08- While the Tiger's Away- the mice, at least some of them, decided to play. After failing to win in consecutive tournaments, including a miserable second place Masters finish, Tiger Woods checked into the hospital for arthroscopic knee surgery and removal of whatever nerves/emotions that caused him to miss makeable putts as mere mortals often do. His brief hiatus obviously left a gaping void in the PGA's PR machine and some people stepped up to try and fill it, others didn't.
Trevor Immelman won the Masters then proceded to turn into Elmer Fudd while last year's self-proclaimed biggest threat to Wood's reign, Rory Sabbatini, has done absolutely nothing to back his claim. Phil Mickelson, as has happened so often, rarely finishes the deal and Vijay Singh has yet to win this season. On the plus side, young players like Adam Scott, Sean O'Hair and Anthony Kim have all won tournaments though they have yet to show week in and week out consistency. This week's Players Championship is probably the last semi-major before Tiger's anticipated comeback for the U.S. Open. Any number of different people have a shot at winning this and the next few tournaments. If someone is really serious about being a contender for Player of the Year honors, they need to get their act together now. It's going to get a whole lot harder when Eldrick returns!
Just a quick observation on 18 Holes Pick Em; once again it's Frank, followed not very closely by the rest of us stiffs. Isn't it about time to start building that gallows?

1/11/07- 2008 Season Season Preview- It's over before it starts. Barring a major injury to or lynching of (compliments of an incredibly politically incorrect/brain dead Golf Channel announcer) one Eldrick Woods, there's as much chance of someone other than Tiger winning golf's new Holy Grail aka The FedEXCup, as of the Washington Nats sweeping the World series this season. Like it or not, Woods has become a one-man dynasty, ranking alongside previous Celtics, Yankees, Canadiens and UCLA basketball juggernauts. A couple years ago the golf gurus were eagerly anticipating the arrival of super long driving hotshots like Bubba Watson and Boo Weekley who were going to give Tiger all he could handle. Turns out they could indeed hit the ball 350 yards, just not into the fairway, and the rest of their game was a tribute to mediocrity. What remains now is a roundup of the usual suspects: Mickelson, Furyk, Els Scott, Garcia etc., none of whom appear to have an iceberg's chance in hell of dethroning Woods. Rory Sabbatini has shown flashes of brilliance but has found it difficult to finish the deal with his foot in his mouth. Vijay Singh wasn't included on the list because he's finally showing the effects of age and playing 52 weeks a year. How much money does this guy need anyhow? What's a personality selling for these days? As the PGA Tour '08 starts up this month, it remains the only sport with exhibition games both at the beginning and end of the season. The suspense is under whelming. As for 18 Holes Pick 'Em, Frank appears well on his way to establishing his own mini-dynasty. Maybe we should lynch him? :)

7/25/07- Ahogarse.... a not so nice Spanish word meaning "to choke" but it aptly describes what Sergio Garcia did Sunday at the British Open. The former Senor Waggles had the championship offered to him on a silver platter, first by little known Argentine Andres Romero and then by eventual winner Padraig Harrington. Garcia, however, refused to take charity and missed a putt on the 18th hole that most weekend hackers could have made. The ensuing playoff was a foregone conclusion as there wasn't an iceberg's chance in hell that Garcia was coming back to win. Exhibiting his usual class, Garcia blamed the crowd, the sand trap raker, voodoo and everything but himself for the loss. I'm guessing that few tears were shed on his behalf by his fellow pros! Americans were noticeably absent from the Open leader board but that's understandable after finding out that Dick Cheney was acting POTUS during Bush's colonoscopy ( I'm not touching that one- too easy). Guess we should just consider ourselves fortunate that we're not at war with some belligerent country- like Switzerland. As for 18 Holes Pick Em, John won in convincing fashion resulting in one of the fastest updates in Total Sports history! Frank extended his overall lead and it looks like the rest of us are playing for second place.