Heat Wave

Although the temperatures are going to be a little high today, the real Heat Wave is all those Bullies in Chicago giving the Miami Heat a cheery good bye to their basketball season. The defending champs can now go home and watch the rest of the playoffs on their fancy tv's having been swept off of their collective feet by the team now coached by the little guy from Plymouth, Indiana, Scott Skiles. Last time a Chicago team advanced? You know when - Michael's last championship year, 1998.

Luke Donald lost out to Scott Verplank, who grew up in the Dallas area and actually played with Byron Nelson. That's cool. (Did visit Irvine once when I helped my Dad move down there for a year's stay at a university there - pretty flat country; wasn't into golf at the time so didn't avail myself of the opportunity to get over and visit with one of the greats....) Lorena Ochoa lost out to the lady from Italy, Sylvia Cavalleri. Julieta Granada tied Ochoa for 2nd. Ochoa no doubt will remain at number 1 among the women. The wins by Verplank and Cavalleri were their first. Nice.

So who's the big winner in the NFL draft? Brady Quinn and the Browns? Looks like a pretty good fit. Here's another question for you football fans: Which team is going to win the Super Bowl next January? Hey, now that Dungy and Manning knows how to do it (with great defense!), why not pick the Colts to repeat?! There's my vote. And you know with my early vote I don't have to think about it again until mid January 2008.

Which reminds me of something else, the bunching of the presidential primaries into early February next year rather than the usual run from February to June. I like that, the bunching, although I did read a suggestion that made even more sense: to have a series of three primary dates, each organized so that all three would be important in the selection of the party nominee. For that to happen would take organization, agreement, commitment. Hmmmm. Also movements to make the electoral college system a thing of the past and let the popular vote be the deciding factor. That too makes sense to me - would be no such thing as a swing state; every vote would count. That would mean that Democrats in Indiana and Republicans in California would have a say in who the next president is. Hey, that's a good idea, isn't it?

Going to go finish Vonnegut's Hocus Pocus. See you at the golf course a little later.

Sunday Funnies

Brady Quinn finally gets picked. And is happy that he's going to the Browns, his team from his youth. Brings to my mind Lou Groza and Otto Graham, stars of the original Browns. Looks like he is going to a much better team than JaMarcus.

Luke Donald leads at the Byron Nelson and Lorena Ochoa, after a "monster" Saturday round, is tied for the lead down in Mexico.

Meanwhile, in our Nation's Capital, sex and politics are again converging. A former Eli Lilly chairman now working for the Bush Administration, excuse me, just recently working for the Bush Administration, has admitted to ABC that yes he did use a certain service to provide him with young ladies who gave him a massage. No sex, he insists. He has since resigned, I guess worried that the knowledge of his use of a 'legitimate' local service would get in the way of his continued benefit to the Bush Administration and its 'abstinance is the best safeguard' policy aginst AIDS and other dastardly STD's. He should have endorsed the 'don't ask don't tell' policy of the Pentagon in dealing with people with same sex sexual orientation when confronted by ABC. Oh well, one never knows what's going to pop up next. Apparently thousands of telephone numbers are in the little black book. You think that the phone company is going to get a lot of requests for change in number?

So where are we now on the scandal front? Way too numerous to count? My oh my, how the mighty have fallen. Or will fall. Again. What a mess we are all in. Best stick to football stories and golf tales and weather stuff. (Somewhere I heard that it is best to stay away from discussion of politics, sex and religion if you want to keep the peace. Kind of reminds me of my Mom at our dinner table back in the mid '80's - Diane was there, along with my Dad and Eric and Danielle, both teenagers, maybe a junior and senior in high school. Something came up in our far ranging conversation and the word 'sex' was all of a sudden out there on the table, to which my dear Mom immediately said "shush! children present." Hmmm, okay. Kind of like the Republicans not ever wanting to admit that they have or even like sex. Hey, maybe they don't. Never thought of that possibility but there are asexual people in the world, or even worse, anti sexual zealots. Best stop there just 'cause I need to get back to the golf course.)

Sunny and warm and the goldfinches are feeding and looking very handsome in their fancy yellow outfits. Need I tell you to go golf? It's good for you.

Saturday Scramble Blowout

Picture: The Kidwells, Tyler, Mike and Trenton standing in for scramble winners Dave Wininger, Joe Allen and Kevin Byron

The teams and their scores from this morning's scramble:
-Dave Wininger-Joe Allen-Kevin Byron (-7)
-Tyler Kidwell-Trenton Kidwell-Morris Cornelius (-4)
-Mike Kidwell-Tony Wease-Curt Johnson (-1)
-Mike Bird-Wayne Souerdike-Joe Doyle (-1)

Dave Wininger's team chipped in for two birdies and also ran in several 10' putts. Hard to beat any team when they are finding that sort of magic. Widely disparate scores this week - unusual. Two of the teams were similar to last week with widely different results. Mike Bird and Wayne Souerdike were joined by Joe Doyle (vs. John Foddrill) and Dave Wininger and Joe Allen got to play with Kevin Byron rather than with his dad, Junior. Couldn't have been the golfers though; must have been the weather; or the pin placement; or the earlier start time; or the way the golf goddess was holding her tongue. Oh well. Tune in next week for more good stuff. Wait a minute... Don't forget the sharp shooting by Trenton Kidwell - got three of the four hole prizes, missing only the 2nd shot on #5 which was taken by Dave Wininger (Dave also got two in Tuesday Men's League last Tuesday - good iron play by DW).

Four of us went out for a skins match following the scramble. Tried something new: Golfers used their existing handicap from league play with no strokes given on par threes. No hole prizes, no low net, no carryovers. Entry fee - a slim $5 bill. Payout per skin: entry pot divided by number of skins. Results: Tyler Kidwell and I each got two skins; Mike and Trenton came in empty handed. Now we need to double and triple the guys playing.

Hey - it was super walking around in the sun and having fun with the guys.

Impressive

This is impressive and was brought to my attention yesterday afternoon when I saw Kevin and Curt Johnson out on the golf course. As many of you know, Kevin Johnson is down in Orlando in school to become a PGA professional. A couple of weeks ago he was back home for a visit and out playing a lot of golf with his Dad, Curt. In chatting with them I discovered that Kevin was working with Curt in improving his game. Expectations: three shot improvement in a short period of time. Results: Curt started the season with a 48, shot a 44 the second week, and then came in with a nifty 42 this past week, which includes a -1 on the par 3's. Nicely done? Very nicely done. Impressive? Very impressive.

As noted in a previous blog, we spent some time in Oakland in the mid 60's and happened to be there during the early years of the AFL. The Oakland Raiders became my team and it was a wild and wooly bunch back then even before Al Davis. Remember Daryl Lamonica? The mad bomber? One of those Irish quarterbacks who went on to play in the NFL, (others: Joe Montana, Joe Theisman, Paul Hornung). Another Irish quarterback on the blocks today, Brady Quinn, going up against LaMarcus Russell from LSU (yes, I know, another one of those Irish football post season embarrassments). And the Raiders have the first pick. Who do they choose? If Al Davis acts like Al Davis, I would say it will be the big guy with the big arm from down south rather than the littler guy from the north. That is if he goes with a quarterback. Expect he will.

Heading to the golf course; got a scramble to get started. Looks like it's going to be a beauty of a day so go golf and get a little fun out of day that stretches out before you.

Friday Shananigans

Picture: The path to par at #1 after an errant tee shot - from the back of #9 green. See below for what and how I did in yesterday's match play competition in the Senior League.

Question: What kind of 2nd shot would you take if your ball was on the back side of #9 green - a low liner through the trees and over the bridge? or a chip out to safety and then your approach to the green?

Stacy Prammanasudh leads in Morelia as Ochoa plays her first golf as #1 woman player in the world. Very cool for the young Mexican, Lorena. She and Na On Min, a rookie from South Korea, are one shot behind the leader, a young woman from Oklahoma (with ancestors from Thailand?). Love the very international flavor of both the LPGA and the PGA tours. World class golfers and reflective of just that. Brett Wetterich leading at the Byron Nelson.

Last night we watched a Japanese horror movie - with subtitles. Since visual and audio effects play such a large part in giving one that spooky feeling, the foreign language did not in any way detract from our getting spooked, chills running up and down our spines, hair standing on end, sudden intakes of breath. We enjoyed it - A Tale of Two Sisters.

At the golf course this morning, several hardy golfers (Hudson, Butcher, Lents, Hudson and one) plus us mowers - Eric and me. Grass is growing furiously. Miss Inclementina Weatherspoon is out there too - brought some of her buddies - Lena Lightrain and Trixi Lowtemp. Expect they'll all be moving on so we can get in some good golfing tomorrow.

BTW, Saturday's Manager's Scramble starts at 8am tomorrow.

Returning to the question I posed at the start of this blog: I chose the direct route, going with a choked up 6 iron with the ball set back in my stance and with both a short back swing and a short follow through. Hit the intended low liner that cleared the trees, sailed over the bridge, checked up on the hillock protecting the green and came to a stop on the #2 fairway side of the green surround. Chipped down to two feet below the cup and made the short putt for par. Good stuff.

Thursday Shot of the Day

Darn the rain. Had to stop after five or six holes when the rain and the thunder/lightning mix came at us from the south and west. Stood around in the clubhouse and talked about great shots and ways to finish the round. On ways to finish the round: best idea to come out was to finish play after our regular event next week - of course, you get together with today's opponents and then finish up. You do have the option of getting with them and coming out earlier. On hole prizes: congratulations to Charlie Sheetz, Carroll Rayhill, Mike Bird and Frank Fee for getting their names on the boards today. Unfortunately, it is all for naught because of the rascally rain. Next week's regular event will have eight different hole prizes; this week's hole prizes are caputski.

Special stuff of the day:
-Frank Fee got himself introduced to Senior League by going double bogey on his first hole (#8) but then parred the next four.
-Charlie Sheetz had a terrific shot on #3, stopping within five feet of the hole. Hope he made his birdie.
-Carroll Rayhill had to be convinced to write his name down on the board at #7 and then smoothly rolled in his 18 foot putt.
-Albert Kavanaugh had his drive on #2 nestle about two inches from the water and two feet from a level surface along the right side of the fairway; being the gutsy guy we know him to be, he refused to take a drop, pitched to fifteen feet below the hole and two putted for his par. Super pitch shot.

Several of us ended up over at Stolls for some of their good cooking.

More later as I think about it. Add your stories in the comment section.

Wednesday Stuff

Cloudy but dry at the moment here at the golf course; rain maybe later, way later. You have enough time to get in a round.

Remember, truth will out. A key aide to Attorney General given immunity. More here fromYahoo News on this blooming scandal/story.

Eric, Frank Fee and I did a walking inspection of the golf course earlier this morning. Glad to report everything is fine and even though we got an inch of rain last night, grounds are in excellent shape.

Heading to Bloomington.

Tuesday Shot of the Day

pictures: Chris Hogan and Kent Summers patiently waiting for the tee box to empty. And Kirk Summers, Jay Breeden and Kent earlier discussing the proper way to avoid double and triple bogies.

Tuesday Men are on the course! It's early afternoon now and I'll update this later on. Each of the Tuesday Men are invited to comment on the day's action. Just click on comments below and tell of the good, and not so good, stuff that happened in your group today. Finishing up about now are Virgil Harper and Gary Lamar (good to have these two guys back after a two year break), and Byron Christie and Brian Ader.

Nothing on the radar right now. Keep your fingers crossed.

Update: The weather was coming; everybody knew it and made an effort to get to the course a little early. Well that worked; the last group finished up in the dark of the storm but five minutes before the thunder, lightning and downpour. Thanks to late arrivals Kerry Wagler and Don Carrico, those needing subs got them; full house tonight, no ghost substitutes.

Update two: Did think of a couple of things during the night: Somebody, and I don't remember who, was awed by Tim Miller's tee shot at #1 - a long one that he thought cleared the spillway. Tim had told me earlier that he had drove the green on #8 on Sunday (and then three putted...). So, we have a new bomber on board. He also has a short game on occasion as witnessed by his getting the hole prize on #3.

Phil Eyler came in with the only par or better round last night. Dave Wininger hit it into the road on #1, took a double bogey, then played the next eight holes at one under and took home both #7 and #8 hole prizes. Mike Kidwell started with two bogies then finished the last seven at one under to come in at 36 with Dave. Charlie Lyon and Dean Winkler had things working for them, finishing the night with net scores of 28 and 29 respectively. That's good shooting! Tracy Rayhill, playing in the last group with darkness all around and the rains just over the hill beyond #3, hit a honey of a shot (at least it ended up being a honey - did anybody actually see it in the air?) on #9 to get that hole prize. Good stuff.

The Summer of Love and RFK on PBS

Picture: Bay Area 1960's

Last night good viewing on PBS with the 1960's being highlighted. First came The Summer of Love, the story of the Hippie "invasion" of the Haight-Ashbury district during the summer of 1967. Interesting stuff going on right under our noses: we lived in the Bay Area in the mid 60's and did take walks in Berkeley but not San Francisco (though I did work in SF for a short period of time). We were very young and very innocent and still very much interested in doing the things we were supposed to do. Took us a few more years to realize, like the Hippies, that life was more than duty and following the Pope or the President or whomever. Guess we grew up some.

We left the Bay Area in mid summer 1967 and resettled in the Seattle area. It was there on June 5th of 1968 that I watched (on tv) Bobby Kennedy get shot, dying the next day. Jeesh, what a world we had back then, losing RFK and MLK within a few months of each other, JFK five years earlier, and of course all the killing down in SE Asia. PBS did another show on RFK last night, and it too was excellent. Lots of good things came out of the decade of the sixties, all those liberation movements are still bearing fruit; the scientific advances made as a result of the moon mission; all of our kids. Do we have to make periodic sacrifices to unknown gods to advance our cause? to keep the demons from overpowering us? Here's a question for you: are we better off today than we were forty years ago? as a country? as a world? I'm older and wiser in the ways of life, at least when I look at myself as a twenty something and now as a sixty something. Certainly am more reflective and, I would hope, more sensitive to the plight of all these other life forms cohabiting this blue and white orb here in 2007. But our country? our world? I don't know. Lots of bad stuff out there.

David Halberstam

One of my favorite authors with a writing range that took him from being a truth teller in Vietnam to reporting on the grace and magic of Michael Jordan was killed yesterday in an auto accident at age 73. Have read and enjoyed most if not all of his books and learn from the linked article another one, on the Korean War, is coming out this fall. From the article, Halberstam on calling a spade a spade in reporting from Vietnam:

"...“He was not antiwar,” Mr. Prochnau said. “They were cold war children, just like me, brought up on hiding under the desk.” It was simply a case, he said, of American commanders lying to the press about what was happening in Vietnam. “They were shut out and they were lied to,” Mr. Prochnau said. And Mr. Halberstam “didn’t say, ‘You’re not telling me the truth.’ He said, ‘You’re lying.’ He didn’t mince words.”..."

David Halberstam, one of the really good ones, gone.

On Walls and Movies

Good fences make good neighbors. That's one of those country sayings I heard more than once, and have come to believe, when we moved to the country back in 1975. But that little saying has more to do with farmers and livestock than it does with city folk. And now we get an affirmation of that, and a little sign of independence, from Iraq's Prime Minister, Mr. Maliki, who has just told Mr. Bush to stop building a wall that would separate his people. Reminds me of the proposed wall along our border with Mexico, which is kinda like the fanciful star wars project of bygone years. Also brings to mind Mr. Reagan's request to the Soviet leader: "...Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!..." And lastly, it brings to mind the Great Wall of China which now is considered one of the wonders of the world. (Do you know how long it is? Care to guess?)

Meanwhile, the search for some kind of explanation for the Blacksburg killing spree begins. An that leads to an examination of culture which includes books and movies. And lo and behold a movie under consideration as a link, or at least an example,of the brutality that might inspire the insanity is Oldboy, the violent movie which Diane walked out of a few weeks back. The linked article does say that "...the Asian countries that produce gory and graphic movies, cartoons and comic books tend to have very low rates of actual violence...". Crazy people do crazy things because they're crazy, not because they watch certain movies or read certain books or eat chocolate chip cookies. It's bad stuff, not good stuff.

Nice at the golf course though winds whipping around and making the game a little more interesting.

The Sunday Funnies

Picture: In the pines at Lakeview's #5 green.

Abortion is back on page one with the recent Supreme Court decision. Too bad. Back in the late '50s and early 60's it was birth control that was the topic that got people's motors running. Nowadays not much discussion about the right or wrong of birth control; lots of tried and true ways to have effective birth control, and lord knows we really should limit the human population as much as we can. Maybe in another 50 years the abortion issue will be mostly settled, or not an issue. Certainly today we have the technology (the morning after pill) to easily prevent unwanted pregnancies which would remove the majority of abortions. How come we don't make that pill as cheap and as available as a headache pill? Makes too much sense, I guess.

Our highest ranking ensurer of the rule of law is grilled and burnt, roasted and toasted. Not a pretty thing to watch or have to live through, especially if you're a Gonzales. Continuing the lancing of the boil...

Finished Vonnegut's Jailbird. Light, casual reading full of irony and incidentals and coincidences. I like the way he throws in stuff from all over the place and all over time. Am sure there is a larger truth that the author is getting at. You remember that in the end he agreed with Twain - life is a crock. Made me laugh. Now on to Hocus Pocus.

And in golf: The big boys are playing down in New Orleans and a guy by the name of Watney has the lead by two with 18 holes to play.

Lovely day - you need to go golf. Treat yourself to a two hour break.

Saturday Scramble Surprise

Picture: Rex Hudson, Sheryl Flasch and Wayne Souerdike just after Saturday Scramble victory celebration. (I knew there was a way to get those two old guys to smile... Correction: one old guy and one not so old guy.)

Winning team: Bird-Souerdike-Foddrill-Spare (31). Won on the cards as the team of Wininger-Byron(Pops)-Allen-Spare also came in at 31. Denson-Butcher-Hudson-Spare: 32. Jeffers-Hembree-Wease-Byron (Kevin): 33. Hole prizes: three to the Bird Team; #9 to Jack Butcher.

Junior Byron chipped one in on #2 for an eagle; Rex Hudson missed an eagle on #4 by inches. Bird Team took four holes at par to settle down, then birdied four in a row with very strong putting (John Foddrill rolled in two beauties) and were hoping for a birdie on their last hole (#8) to win it on the course. No such luck; needed the good efforts of super card puller Rex Hudson to seal the victory.

Traffic

Pictures: A slower pace of life: horse and buggy outside the clubhouse and Wayne S. up at #4 earlier today.

Not a bad thing to practice on a sunny Friday afternoon in April.

Reminder: Tomorrow's Manager's Scramble starts at 9am and is a 9 hole event.

Movie Time

Diane stayed around last night and watched this foreign film and, like a few we have seen these last several weeks, was a little bit wierd and had it's share of extreme violence - reminded Diane of Misery but on a more terrifying level. Audition is the title and Netflix provides this description:

"...Director Takashi Miike fashions an explosive drama in Audition. Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) has lived as a widower for too long and decides it's time to marry again. But how will he find a wife? When a friend suggests he hold a fake audition to pick the right woman, he takes him up on it -- only to realize that his choice may be a better actress than he bargained for...."

Sounds innocent enough. But isn't. Diane thinks it's a good movie to have around and to show to 'frisky' men. Remind them that all is definitely not as it appears, especially with young and beautiful and willing women. A good one with a mix of beauty, suspense and horror, and a male lead who turns out to be the innocent 40 something, really.

The night before we watched Jacob, Diane's selection, a movie of the Bibical character of the same name, in which deception played a major role - from Jacob's deception in getting his brother's blessing to his being deceived into marrying Leah. Am sure Diane was hoping for something more like The Red Tent, Anita Diamant's novel told from the perspective of Dinah, Leah's only daughter, which is excellent - well worth the read.

On books: Got three of them started (one on what's happening in Vietnam, one a bio on TR, and the third a Vonnegut novel) and not much time to get into them. Ah, the woes of the busy golfer...

It's stunningly beautiful out here at the golf course. Come out and enjoy the sun and fun...

Senior League Shot of the Day

Pictures:
1. Richard Swayze, Jack Lents and Jim Bateman before play.
2. New league members and teammates, Walt Bowen and Dave Trinkle, after play.
3. Vic Wallace after play.
4. Dale Delong after play.

Best smile: Dale. Best non smile: Jack. Also did you notice how people appear to be just a little more relaxed after play?

Players are encouraged to add their own stories about the day's activities in the comments section.

Comments from the clubhouse:
-Rex Hudson was in awe (I think it was awe...) at Pam Byron's distance: on #6, her drive was 150 yards ahead of his, 50 yards ahead of Jack Butcher's. As it turned out, distance isn't everything - each of the players in the foursome registered a score of seven on the hole.
-Clyde Wake had a honey of a day, shooting a net 28 to take low net score honors. Pam wasn't far behind with a net 30.
-Ken Hudson was doing something right: of the five actual birdies registered during the day, he garnered three of them. I want to know where he is hiding the birdie goddess.
-Newcomer Dave Trinkle had the most pars with seven and a share of the low gross with Mike Bird (yes, that's me...).
-On the way in after finishing on #4, Jack Lents and I stopped and got the closest-to-the-pin marker on #3. Junior Byron had his name on it - so I mentioned to Jack how Junior had started out in the Men's League with two 37's. Good shooting, in control of his game, and looking like he had himself another good outing. Well, then we got back to the clubhouse and found out that Junior's wife came in with a 48 (awfully good!) and Junior, spitting nails all the way around (I guess) tallied a 45 (a not so awfully good). Hmmm, the things we go through to get to the end of the day.
-Other sharpshooters: Jack Lents on #7; Ken Hudson on #8 - long putt; and Pam Byron on #9.

Other comments:

Handicaps for the competition are figured differently this year: the difference between the sums of each team's handicaps are calculated and that difference is applied to individual holes. For instance, this morning Richard Swayze and I had a combined handicap of 13; Jack Lents and Jim Bateman had a combined handicap of 20. Difference of seven with the Jim and Jack team receiving one stroke on each of the first seven handicap holes.

Over the winter, we recalculated the handicaps for each of our teeing areas and made a distinction for the first time between the blue tees and the white tees. The new 'degree of hardness' numbers can be viewed here. New scorecards should be here in a week or two.

The weather was cooler than expected and the scores were higher than hoped for; nonetheless, it was a successful opening day for the Senior League. More good stuff next week, same time, same place.

Dropping in to say hello

Tuesday Men's League Note:

Mike Kidwell did not get a hole-in-one. Terry Padgett did. One of our more merry foursomes followed Terry to #9 and wrote their names on the marker, in jest, for fun. Heard that Mike got dozens of phone calls about where the free drinks were being served. Terry did leave word at the clubhouse for those interested in their well earned free drink (being on the course at the same time does count for something, you know...) to meet him next to the water cooler next Tuesday at 4:15pm. I imagine there will be a big crowd - bring mixer.

Other stuff:

Senior League members who are interested in watching the Gonzales 'drop-in' meeting up on the Hill tomorrow (starts at 8:30 our time, C Span coverage) do not have permission to show up late to the opening ceremonies and first day of action. Clubhouse personnel have been instructed to issue a 2 stroke penalty to any player using such an excuse. Clubhouse personnel have also been instructed to keep abreast of the situation in Washington and to provide updates to interested parties at the course.

On a more serious note: Eric filled me in on what he knew of the loaded gun incident at North Daviess. In short, our grandkids were in harms way. Am thankful it all came to nothing.

Saturday's Managers Scramble will start at 9am this Saturday.

Shot of the Day - Tuesday Men Rock

Pictures:
Terry Padgett just after getting an ace on #9. "It bounced on the green once and hopped in the hole. After seeing how close the hole prize marker was, I knew someone was going to be awfully disappointed."

Joe Doyle, with a grin, and Larry Sutton, with a bag full of weapons, as they get ready to tackle the difficult task of bringing the course to it's knees. (Joe shot a net 33, and was the more successful of the two - at least today).

The Byrons and the Summers before heading down #1, ever so hopeful. See scores to see whose hopes became reality, whose will have to wait for another day. (I think the old man of the bunch fared the best.)

Shot of the day: Terry Padgett's hole-in-one on #9. Nice way to end your round.

A much better round but a disappointing finish: Short Jeffers who went par-birdie-birdie-birdie over the first four holes and got the hole prize on #3 to boot only to finish with a double bogey at #9. Go figure.

Add your comments and recollections in the comment section. Know that there was both good and not so good shooting out there today.

More on Prosecuting Attorneys' Fealty

Commentary by a current U.S. attorney on the importance of prosecutors' loyalty to the Public (that's us), and not a Bushie or a Clintonista or any other political flavor of the day.

In a previous blog on this topic, I strongly suggested good golf as a necessary antidote to any excessive dwelling on things of a political nature. Other suggestions: a walk in the park with a grandchild; get lost in a Stephen King thriller; go for a ride down memory lane with an old friend; smile at strangers and wish them a happy day. What do you do to lesson the burden of life's travails? (As I write that I am seeing in my mind's eye the picture of the little girl looking through a chain link fence at a refugee camp somewhere just outside the borders of Iraq; we have problems?)

More League Notes

Pictures: Sam Potts and Bob Norris - long time partners and golfing gurus.

Bob Norris was the single most influential man in getting me started in golf administration, encouraging me to take over his Fifty-Plus League back in the mid '90's.

Tuesday Men's League: This is week 2 and also the conclusion of the first of two team tournaments. Leaders at the top of the Team competition get both recognition and cash prizes for their fast start.

Thursday Senior League: Will post a 1st week schedule later today for the 18 teams that we have.

Sunny and 70's today. Yum. Come out and treat yourself to some fun in the sun.

Monday's Offerings

Boo Weekley uses chipping magic to win at Hilton Head. You remember a month ago when he missed a three foot putt to fall into a playoff, right? Soloution to putting woes, as everybody knows, is to avoid taking out the short stick by putting the ball in the hole before you even get to the green. Boo did that today on the final two hole to keep Ernie Els off the winner's rolls and earn his own first PGA victory.

Tuesday Men's League: Tim Miller is joining Bryant Trambaugh and the Summers boys, Kirk and Kent, have signed on. Byron Christie is still looking for a partner to play with during the day.

Thursday Senior League: Looks like weather will not be a factor this week so it's a go starting at 9am on Thursday. Bring your A games. Still have room for another team and need a partner for Sharon Brassine.

Community League: Reminder: starts the week of May 14th. Get a partner and sign on to this new league. Would love at least five teams in each of the different categories: Woman/Woman, Man/Man, Woman/Man, Parent-Grandparent/Child-Grandchild, Junior/Junior.

On a decidedly heavier note:

Conservatives are writing letters to the President with a very blunt message: Fire Gonzales. In part, the letter says:

"..."Mr. Gonzales has presided over an unprecedented crippling of the Constitution's time-honored checks and balances," it declares. "He has brought rule of law into disrepute, and debased honesty as the coin of the realm." Alluding to ongoing scandal, it notes: "He has engendered the suspicion that partisan politics trumps evenhanded law enforcement in the Department of Justice."..."

Hmmm. Does anybody believe that our Attorney General has been acting on his own in any capacity whatsoever since he joined on with George W. Bush sometime back in the '90's? Lucky for us, our system does work, as participants in the Watergate mess back in the '70s kept repeating. And, as John Dean and Shakespeare say: the truth will out. Hang on to your seats and your hats, folks; it's gonna be a bumpy and windy ride these next several months. (Dwelling on this stuff is deadly and depressing; be sure and mix with a large dose of good golf.)

Signs of the Times

As promised, pictures from earlier today. Kim Jones, Cara Allen and Shirley Jeffers were the female element of the K of C scramble, bundled up against the cold.

Jackie Robinson Day. Cool. I missed the 50 year celebration back in 1997. Brooklyn is my birth city and I am proud to be connected in this very indirect way to the momentous and courageous action by Jackie Robinson and the whole Brooklyn Dodger organization.

LPGA update: Lorena Ochoa - plus six over the last six holes; Laura Davies - plus 5 over the last two holes; Brittany Lincicome - bogey on the finishing hole and the winner by one. Brutal, brutal, brutal ending that left Annika on top of the ladies rankings at least for a little while longer. Long live the queen.

Braving the Elements

Twenty-seven gutsy golfers showed up this morning to take on the wind and the cold in the Knights of Columbus first scramble of the year. Winds gusting to 30 mph (?), temperatures hovering right around 40; golf skills dormant or non existant or waiting for another day to make an appearance. All of the above make for an enjoyable outing, really. Winners were Terry Butcher, Brandon Smith, Kevin Downey and Will Trout with a score of, now get this, 65. That's 5 under. That's less than half of what it would normally take to win a scramble out here. Second place was decided on the cards with two teams coming in with a nifty 67, that's 3 under. Wow. Somebody call the sheriff - they're shooting the lights out up north of town today. The winning 67 belonged to Dave and Lee Wininger along with Mark Jones and lil ole me. It's cool. (Diane took a couple of pictures which I will post this evening.)

LPGA update: Thru 13, Laura and Lorena, who are also braving the elements, tied for first at -13.

K of C Scramble

Another one of our golf goddesses: Erin, Jim and Wilma's granddaughter.

Loogootee K of C will have its first scramble of the year tomorrow out at Lakeview. Nine am start. Note that this event is starting the roll towards fair weather, a bunch of which hits us during the next several days. About time, let me say; seems like it's been forever.

Dinner at the Batemans. The women have solutions for the Iraqi thingee: get out, leave, stop now, drop everything. Sounds good to me. You know that there are historical and/or literary precedents for women stopping silly man things. They all just agree to cut them off from the things they like; for instance, hot meals, friendly chatter, warm bodies. Doesn't take them long to come around to "mama's way of thinking". Another possible solution is a return to the ways of real men in times long ago when kings and princes and leaders personally lead their troops into battle. Too easy for the men of today, in order to prove their manhood or something, to sit around some very comfortable conference room and casually send the young to faraway places to shoot and maim and kill and to be shot and maimed and killed. Ms. Gram Pelosi, and Harry Reid, going to meet with George Bush next week. Representatives of the people, and the children, of these United States.

On a lighter note: Food was great, company even better.

Come play golf tomorrow or in a day or two - it'll do wonder for your spirits.

The Meaning of Old

As golfers well know, magic can happen at any time. Elsie McLean, at 102, gets her first ace, and becomes the oldest person to do so. Cool. Do have a bone to pick with those golf architects who insist on making blind holes, as this one was for Elsie. Hole-in-Ones are very special and even more special when you see that ball all the way into the hole. Usually results in all sorts of untoward commotion on the tee box.

An old pro, and one who hasn't won on the PGA Tour since 2004, is leading at Hilton Head: Ernie Els. Probably wouldn't think much of my calling him an old pro. 37 years old. Young next to a lot of our players.

On the LPGA, Laura Davies and Nancy Lopez, a couple of 'old' stars, made the print at the Ginn Open. Laura is tied for 1st with Lorena Ochoa while Nancy, in a comeback effort, shot a 83-80 to come in last. Ouch. Morgan Pressel followed her triumph of two weeks ago by missing the cut. Ouch. Thrdi round today. Put money on Lorena.

Our senior seniors: Bob Norris, Clyde Wake, Don Lannon - three in their eighties. And going strong. And still interested in winning, not just playing, as Clyde reminded me the other day.

Our inclement weather of these last few weeks is definitely old. Go away, let us play, bring the sun and the warm for a long, long stay. (I look out the clubhouse window and see the beautiful green of #1 fairway as counterpoint to the steely gray of the sky.)

On a lighter note: NYTimes most frequently searched keywords:

Keywords most frequently searched by NYTimes.com readers.

1. sex
2. imus
3. pet food recall
4. immigration
5. global warming
6. china
7. iraq
8. gwen ifill
9. india
10. vonnegut

Let me see now, thinking... Imus - yes; vonnegut - yes; china and india - would have; iraq and global warming - ever present thorns; gwen ifill - part of the imus thingee and a PBS mainstay; immigration and pet food recall - i know about them. Does that cover it all? Hmmm, I think so. Let me know if I missed anything.

Heading home. Be back if the weather improves.

Men in Powerful Positions Tumbling

From Amazon.com, Description of Vonnegut's Jailbird:

Jailbird takes us into a fractured and comic, pure Vonnegut world of high crimes and misdemeanors in government...and in the heart. This wry tale follows bumbling bureaucrat Walter F. Starbuck from Harvard to the Nixon White House to the penitentary as Watergate's least known co-conspirator. But the humor turns dark when Vonnegut shines his spotlight on the cold hearts and calculated greed of the mighty, giving a razor-sharp edge to an unforgettable portrait of power and politics in our times.

Hmmm, appropos of nothing in particular.

One of the chief policy makers on the Iraq thing (read disaster), Paul Wolfowitz, is in the headlines not for any of the terrible things that have happened over in the Middle East but rather for sexual misconduct, or rather for substantially increasing the salary of someone with whom he is romantically involved. Hmmm.

One of the commentators on the human condition (or at least he has a radio show, and tv too), Don Imus, in trouble for the way he has described a group of very succesful college women, the Rutgers women's basketball team, which just finished second in the NCAA tournament. Back when I was young, youngsters heard a lot of "Watch your tongue" and "You'll get your mouth washed out with soap". Guess things are different nowadays. Well, maybe not: he's been taken out to the woodshed through the back door.

On the lighter side: Kurt Vonnegut's "so it goes" was picked up by Linda Ellerbee which is where I remember it - one of her early news shows. Now I see she titled one of her books with the phrase. Always liked her, a maverick, like Vonnegut.

Friday's Stuff

At the golf course where it is partly sunny and in the mid forties. Golfers are out there, trying to catch up with their game which has been put on hold becuase of Inclementina.

This week' Loogootee Tribune fills in the rest of the Butcher NIT story. Larry Hembree does a super job in reporting on the game and even includes a picture of the Tiger team with a very young Jack Butcher. Will post the article, hard copy, on one of our bulletin boards here at the clubhouse. (Larry hasn't got an online version yet, does he?)

More later. Going down to George's place (Dairy Master) for lunch with the Batemans. And Diane.

Update: Ended up at Los Bravos and had a great time catching up with the
Batemans. Some of the topics of discussion: dreams, men in high places (see above), league members. While paying, I mentioned seeing a senora (or senorita) for the first time helping out; was told that was Ruby who they called out and insisted on taking a picture of the two of us - so look for Ruby and me on the wall next time you're in there. I'm the one with the big smile. Stopped at the library on the way back and picked up two of the three Vonnegut books they hold - the other one, Breakfast of Champions, had been checked out earlier. The two: Jailbird and Hocus Pocus, neither of which I have read. As usual, people were having a good time at the library. Ringleader: Mary, capably assisted by Judy.

Seniors Rock

In spite of the inclement weather, several of our brave and hardy seniors were here ready to go by 9am. Still got two on the course, the Hudson brothers, Rex and Ken, finishing up the back nine. Leroy Streepy, Morris Cornelius, Clyde Wake, Dave Strange, plus Walt Bowen and Dave Trinkle, both from Plainville and new to the senior league this year - though Walt played in it several years ago. They all tested the wind and the cold and came in happy to find a warm spot. Where's the coffee? I directed them to our near neighbor just over yonder, Stoll's. - by the way, Stoll's Lakeview Restaurant still gives you a free drink with your purchase of a buffet meal when you show them our scorecard. Diane and I had a super meal there after the big too do of getting the Tuesday Men started.

I've updated the list of players in our Senior League. Still hoping to get to the 20 team level.

Kurt Vonnegut passes on. Read and enjoyed his books years ago. Might be worth a second reading. A long and excellent look at his life and work at the NYTimes:

"...His novels — 14 in all — were alternate universes, filled with topsy-turvy images and populated by races of his own creation, like the Tralfamadorians and the Mercurian Harmoniums. He invented phenomena like chrono-synclastic infundibula (places in the universe where all truths fit neatly together) as well as religions, like the Church of God the Utterly Indifferent and Bokononism (based on the books of a black British Episcopalian from Tobago “filled with bittersweet lies,” a narrator says)..."

and later, a forever truth about wars men fight:

"...Mr. Vonnegut shed the label of science-fiction writer with “Slaughterhouse-Five.” It tells the story of Billy Pilgrim, an infantry scout (as Mr. Vonnegut was), who discovers the horror of war. “You know — we’ve had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves,” an English colonel says in the book. “We had forgotten that wars were fought by babies. When I saw those freshly shaved faces, it was a shock. My God, my God — I said to myself, ‘It’s the Children’s Crusade.’ ”..."

Good read. Go see for your self. Wonder what Vonnegut books the library has?

Senior League Opening Postponed for a Week

Drat the luck! Ms. Inclementina Weatherspoon has dropped in for a visit, bringing high winds and low temperatures. Which all means that the grand opening day festivities for the Senior League are postponed for a week. By all means come out and play but it will be for the fun of it, and to see if the bad conditions are as detrimental to our local game as they were to the efforts of the big boys down in Augusta last week. I think we can hold our own.

Off and Running

We are started in league with the Tuesday Men having a great time last night. Results are posted, guys.

Rain today looks like it's going to be around this morning; maybe some golf this afternoon in preparation for opening day for the seniors tomorrow at 9am. The golf goddesses are watching over us this week.

NBA note: Glanced at the headlines and found the Toronto Raptors being mentioned as the surprise team of the season. Wow. Surprise is not the word; more like flabbergasted. From the depths of the NBA cellers... And the Pacers?

I'm at the course - came over to post yesterday's league scores. Still raining but I'm going walking anyway. Anybody else?

Opening Day for Tuesday Men

Pictures from this afternoon during opening day ceremonies: Dave Wininger looking like he just homered off of Nolan Ryan (?); Terry Padgett in perfect form; Mike Breeden talking politics as son Jay listens (and smiles) attentively; Greg Potts trying to explain how Tracy Rayhill managed to beat him for the first time ever.

Scores will be posted at our website tomorrow morning.

Tuesday Shot of the Day

Here's your chance to be an online commentator on the action at the golf course today. Am interested in hearing and reading about those special moments from any one of our golfers, and you have to be the one providing the input. So, fire away - go to the comments and tell us about the stellar exploits you witnessed out on the course. Of course, you can toot your own horn as well. No prizes to win hear, just a way to share a tale or two.

Update: Things heard in the clubhouse post round:

-Terry Butcher opens with birdies on the first 3 holes, gets the hole prize on #3 and finishes with a 34.
-Pops Byron happy with his 37 and more than pleased with his new partner's 47, net 30. New partner is son Kevin who also got the hole prize on #7. Pops gets hole prize on #9.
-James Hager showed up with two new partners: Jon Boyd as new golfing buddy; wife-to-be Kim as his riding partner. Golf game? A not-so-good 40 for our low gross player of 2006.

On the Tee from Loogootee Indiana...

In baseball, it's "Play Ball!"
In car racing, "Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines!"
At the horse races, "And they're off!"
And out here at Lakeview Golf Course, we had marching bands and fireworks and dancing girls along with free coffee and doughnuts. Well, almost... In reality, Dan Steiner was the golfer with the opening shot, no doubt a honey right down the center of the fairway. Dan was out here early, even had to wait for the frost to clear the greens, but then got around in workman like fashion coming in with a net 37. So we start our league season: the sun is shining and the temperatures are warming. And the day promises to be a good one for our golfers. Nice.

Golf World this week has "feisty teen Morgan Pressel" on its cover, youngest LPGA major champion with her victory at the Kraft-Nabisco. Congrats to the youngster. Now we need to hear from some of those other super teens on the Ladies' tour, including Michelle Wie.

And while I'm at Golf World, which I do enjoy, the Lipout section has this from Halle Berry (along with a picture of her looking very coy): "I just want to be a decent golfer and have the guys be happy that I'm with them, not like, 'Oh damn, here comes Halle.'" Hmmm, message for Halle: if you run into problems elsewhere, Ms. Berry, you just come on down to our little town here in southern Indiana. We would be more than happy to have you join us here at Lakeview. No objections, right, guys?

Back to the Business of Golfing

Hope you all enjoyed the nice little cold weather interlude that gave us more time than we needed to catch all the action at the Masters. I did but I also think that it was a little bit much, all that cold, all those blasts of freezing air from the north, the sullen gray overcast. Way too much. But this is a new day and we're back to thinking of growing grass and opening day for league play. Looks like we are going to get started after all with the rains going elsewhere tomorrow and Thursday. A little on the cool side but very playable at 55-60*.

Word from Mark Jeffers last Saturday: Knights of Columbus has scheduled a scramble for next Sunday, April 15th, here at Lakeview. 9am start time. As usual, sign up is at the K of C.

Word from Walt Bowen, a Senior League player in years past: he is returning, this time with a newbie, Dave Trinkle. Great! That makes 17 teams for Thursday morning; think there is one more that just hasn't signed up as well as a single waiting for a partner. Can we get to 20 teams?

Expect the Tuesday League to come in around 30 teams; had 31 last year and already some fresh teams have signed up to play. With the longer daylight this year (maybe even more next year), there will be lots of time in the evening to get one's round in. As in years past, #1 tee box will be reserved for Tuesday League players from 4-5:30 on Tuesday afternoons. Will expand that if necessary.

Sun is shining; it's 40*. Time to head down the road a piece and see what's going on at the golf course. I think maybe Eric mowing the greens; sandpipers dancing on the south wall of the dam; a lone eagle fishing off of #4 green, or maybe down off of #7 green. Maybe even a few early golfers.

Hope your Easter day was super.

The Youngster Wins the Green Jacket

Made me laugh when they kept referring to Zach Johnson as the youngster since he is the same age as Tiger. Old Zach is young in wins compared to Tiger but that didn't make any difference earlier today. Steely Zach kept on playing beautiful golf on the back nine and pretty much cruised to his big moment. That's cool. Tiger lost all by himself, and like many others, had opportunities to improve his lot. It was a fun tournament with lots of wholesale changes at the top over the weekend. And surprises aplenty, like Phil's opening triple bogie today; and Goosen's superior play until his putter stopped working on the back nine; and all the eagles on hole #13; and of course the biggest surprise of all, a green jacket for a youngster. Good stuff, as Johnny Miller would say.

February Golf is Ugly

At least here in Loogootee. The reason being that conditions are less than perfect. Temperatures, wind, ground conditions. Then there are our own body and mind parts reacting to the elements and the frustration of not being able to do much good. Today I was able to watch the big boys play some February golf down in Augusta at the Masters. Oh my, what a show they put on. Even Tiger showed some uglies, especially when he finished the day with two bogies that put him back to +3, about where he started the day. But wait, not so fast. That even par round enabled him to move way up on the leaderboard and finish just one stroke out of the lead and he goes out with Stuart Appleby tomorrow afternoon in the last group, where, the tv crew kept telling us, each of the winners have come since 1991. If you didn't catch the coverage today, you missed out on a whole bunch of train wreaks all over the course, including Appleby's triple bogie on 17. Oh my, oh my, oh my. What fun. And more tomorrow when conditions are expected to be the same: cool and breezy. Odds on Tiger taking home the prize?

Too cold here for golf today; a little warmer Sunday. Easter.

Librarians Rock!

Picture: Reading Leah

Would rather be out playing golf but the conditions are almost unbearable: overcast, very windy, cold. All the way up to 33* here at our place on the hill.

Breakfast with Diane down at the Cabin. Neighbors and friends and strangers joined us, or we joined them.

Yesterday, between things, I tried to find a feed of the Masters on our satellite. Got sidelined and distracted by goings-on at C-Span: First, a talk at John Hopkins University by Larry Cox of Amnesty International who "...suggests what can be done to make the United States a credible proponent of human rights". Second, George Christian and Peter Chase were speaking at a university forum in Vermont (can't find the C-Span link - hmmmm, censored?) on their experiences with the Patriot Act, national security letters and gag orders. Go here for a NYT article on their first speaking up from last June, which, in part, says:

"...The librarians, who all have leadership roles at a small consortium called Library Connection in Windsor, Conn., said they opposed allowing the government unchecked power to demand library records and were particularly incensed at having been subject to the open-ended nondisclosure order."

Librarians rock! because they had the courage to stand up and say no to Big Brother and yes to an individual's privacy rights. More, more of the same please. Here's another link, this one to a Mother Jones write-up on one of the librarians in Vermont who has been speaking up against provisions in the Patriot Act. She also was in attendance and a participant yesterday. Request: more sunlight and fresh air for all those roaming the corridors of power.

Almost time for Masters coverage on CBS. Care to guess who will be leading after today's play?

Cold Weather Blues

We actually had golfers this afternoon: four young men had decided earlier in the day that they were going to play. And they did, in temperatures right around 30* and a nice little northerly wind and now and then a snow flurry. Mother Nature - not nice.

No scramble on Saturday - more cold on the way.

Tiger also had a not nice day but remains in contention 5 back of the leaders. Should be an exciting weekend down there in Augusta.

Better end this day.

Tiger Follies

Picture: Good neighbor Jack's place a few months back when it not only was cold but looked cold.

It must be tough out there. When I left the golf course yesterday in mid afternoon, Tiger had just finished 15 with a birdie drawing him to within 2 strokes of the leaders. Great, I thought, he birdies 17 and 18 and is co-leader heading to the 2nd day. Noooooo, that is not the way it happened. Didn't get back to checking on the results till way after 8pm: pulled up the scoreboard on the internet and there was Tiger sitting at +1 rather than -3. Apparently he misunderstood, hearing bogey for birdie. Yeeessh...

Just got an email wondering if we were going to be open today. Hmmmm. As a matter of fact, yes. Eric and I will both be out there this afternoon taking care of business and seeing what we can do with the grass. Might be a little chilly playing golf, but what the heck, who cares about chilly (Eric and I do, Diane too...).

Leaguers to Date

The sign up sheets, as of right now, are posted at our website.

Tuesday League

Senior League

Community League

Here at the golf course, it is cold and windy. Guess I'll go home and get in Diane's hair.

Go Golf, Friends and Neighbors

Picture: Something grandson Lucas put together at the clubhouse one day last year while waiting for Dad to finish up on the course. He used our "write-on erase board" along with erasable markers. We love it.

Later on today I'll be posting and sending out to those of you on our email list our current signees for league play. Yes, we start next week, weather permitting. And, yes, we want more to sign up - still room. (Community League starts in mid May - reminder.)

Other stuff:

Pat Summitt surprised each of her assistants with a little post season gift: a Mercedes SLK 280 roadster. How nice it is.

Masters has started and Tom Watson and Tim Clark were leading at -1. Tiger tees off at 1:52. Eastern time? Probably. (You ready to go to Eastern time? Be able to play till 10pm during the summer here. That's cool.)

British sailors, recently Iranian captives, heading home. Wonder how many people remembered the year long forced residence of all those Americans , the Iranian Hostage crisis, back in 1979? Bad year for Jimmy Carter.

Hope you didn't miss NOVA on Tuesday night. You would have gotten to know the cuttlefish and it's habits to some extent. Did you know that they breed and die? The eggs are laid and fertilized and the adults are then sent packing having done their job of making the next generation. All nature here, no nurture. I wonder if those adult cuttlefish choosing restraint get to live longer? Heard on your local cuttlefish tv station: "Want to live longer? Just say no." Ah, abstinence. Offers more than one would think, at least in the cuttlefish domain. Another one of our fellow life forms, forgotten ancestor, remembered.

Cool and windy and the goldfinch are just outside the window here, having tea and crumpets.

Herstory is History

Picture: More Loogootee Brickwork (while I was out and about earlier today)

Pat Summitt gets her 947 win and 7th NCAA championship. Wow, that is impressive, all those wins, all those years. More than likely our first 1000 game winning coach.

Grandma Pelosi making a name for herself and ruffling the feathers of some of our other government leaders.

No women playing at the Masters this week; expect it won't be long before one does. The good and ambitious young lady golfers will follow Michele Wie's lead and ask "why not?" The PGA Tour is for the best golfers in the world either gender; the LPGA is a "ladies" tour, that is what the "L" stands for. Golf is one of the few sports where women can compete with men. Go for it, ladies.

Windy, wet and cold. Golf course is closed. I've been busy with taxes and recycling. Oh, and the movies were very good last night - we got in a double header: Match Play and The Talented Mr. Ripley, both thrillers with Hicthcockian flavors.

We've got Weather!

Radar image from Wunderground.com.

Eric did some mowing this morning, most of the morning. I was going to get on the big tractor and do some more this evening but Mother Nature has intervened. Guess Diane and I will be forced to watch a movie instead. Darn the luck.

One week till Men's League starts. A week and a few days and the Senior League gets going.

National Champs

Picture: on the way home.

Florida - wow! I'm impressed. Imagine it'll be a few year before we see a repeat champion not to mention a double champ in football and basketball not to mention the championship games being played between the same two schools. Odds, please. Oden was brilliant. Gators were brilliant. Speaking of rare events in team sports, don't forget the achievements of the Oregon-Davis Boys and Girls basketball teams this year, each bringing home the state trophy.

On Saturday's scramble: Curt Johnson, older gentleman on the team of young men, adds comments to my write-up: Old Guys Rock. Check it out. Thanks, Curt.

Lot of grass cut out at the golf course today. More scheduled to be shortened tomorrow. Lots of golfers today - lots of nice during the day for golfers to enjoy.

Mowing them down one by one

Picture of Eric as a youngster.

Man Eric is presently out on the course mowing a whole bunch of long grass. Lots of wet still on the course as well as lots of tall green stuff. Tees and greens are lovely.

The ladies had fun yesterday out at the Kraft Nabisco: the golf gods kept mowing them down one by one with the last one left standing an 18 year old teenager who had finished her bogey free round a full hour in front of the last group and four shots from the lead - Morgan Pressel. Spunky teen who went for the traditional victory swim with her caddy and her grandma - cool picture of the three of them having a ball - go see.

Big basketball game tonight. Did you forget?

Next Saturday's Manager's Scramble will start at nine; make plans now. I wouldn't mind a rematch with the Trenton gang but lets do that in addition to a 16-20 player scramble.

All Fools' Day

Go here for all you ever wanted to know about April Fools' Day. Help celebrate this day of foolery by engaging in some outrageous bit of warm hearted merriment; suggestion: head to the golf course and surprise everyone by getting a weird and wacky hole-in-one. Go here for Lakeview's Hole-in-One Club stories.

Buckeyes and Gators get to play one more game; Georgetown and UCLA take a seat. Conley and Oden don't lose while Florida looks unbeatable. Eric is picking Florida by ten plus points - you remember he, along with a whole bunch of other people, even the seeding crew, picked these two to end up in the finals. Of note: Georgetown's bench went scoreless - wow. Poor Bruins - stuck on eleven titles - bring back John Wooden, the Wizard.

Lorena Ochoa whiffs a flop shot at the Kraft Nabisco. Ouch.

Bubba the Bomber leads by three in Houston. I liked it better earlier yesterday when there were five golfers tied for the lead.

The sun is shining; temperature is 74; light breeze. Good day for fooling around at the golf course.