Old Guys Rock

Picture: Tulips Blooming in Diane's garden.

We had our first manager's scramble of the new season this morning. There were seven of us so I suggested that the 'old guys' take on the young guys plus Curt, that being Curt Johnson who technically qualifies as an 'old guy' for today. I was a little concerned about the fairness: the 'old guys' were Dave Wininger, Mike Kidwell and myself; the young guys were Trenton Kidwell, Weston Muessig and Josh Butcher. Thought the odds were with the old guys on this one so Curt went with the youngsters to add balance and experience and maybe just the little bit that would make the game fair and balanced. Curt said go with it; so did Trenton. So we headed out as the Trenton gang was unloading and getting all their weapons in order.

Old guys rock, or at least we thought we did. Not today. Had trouble hitting the green and, in some cases, the fairways. Birdied hole #2 with Dave's drive on the collar and my chip to a gimmie putt. Birdied #6 with Mike K.'s drive and iron to the corner and my chip to another gimmie putt. But that was it for excitement though we did have to scramble for a couple of pars.

The young guys, meanwhile, were tooling around taking care of business, coming in at 5 under and also getting three of the four hole prizes, the fourth being left on the table (none of us were able to hit #7 green - oh my). There was that one bit of real drama out there when we were just off the dam after hitting our shots on #8, walking along as jauntily as we could, trying not to let on that our bag of birdies was swinging pretty easy. Trenton's gang was just finishing up with their last guy, Josh Butcher, hitting into #6 from just across the way when they all at the same instant started yelling something unintelligible (not the usual FORE!). Old guys rock, and they move pretty fast too when faced with a white hot rocket coming there way from just down yonder. THUNK! It landed on the dam just behind us. Got our adrenalin pumping in no time at all. We figured it was Josh doing his little bit to rattle us as we headed for the finish line. Didn't make a whit of difference; we finished up with a couple more missed greens and a lengthy downhill slider of a putt for par on the 9th. Congratulations to the young guys, each of whom took home a hole prize as well. You taught us a thing or two today - darn it all.

More fun next Saturday; more players, too, I would expect.

Golfing and Other Things

The above picture: Golfing goddesses - Wilma Bateman and Diane Bird

Eric and his boys are out mowing the tee boxes and the collars, the boys racing ahead of Eric to clear the blocks off of the tee boxes, and then put them back. Such exuberance and energy on the part of the young. It is wet out there - though we only got a little over an inch of rain earlier this week, it's all hung around on the ground. Carts are allowed off of the paths but with caution and awareness.

Finished Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men. Kind of depressing when all is said and done, life being something that kind of drifts along without one being able to do much about it. The world going to pot and other mind altering chemicals, not for the better and much for the worse. Not for old men, as Cormac says, who grew up in a supposed "better" time. McCarthy writes extremely well and I enjoy his writing immensely. But on the world going to pot, or to hell in a hand basket, I disagree though my own time on this planet, and even more so my dad's, has been full of man killing man and very little respect for life (certainly the 20th century has to be the bloodiest century of all - which reminds me of the time not so long ago when I raised a few hogs: one of the things I learned when you are trying to raise hogs in a confined space is that you cut their eye teeth and their tails shortly after they are born, or else they will be getting at each other in a serious way when they get older and bigger and space becomes a little more precious, and the vittles as well. Makes you wonder if maybe this planet is getting a bit too crowded for us humans; let me see, what is it we could do to help people get along a little better - wouldn't be wanting to cut off either their tails or eye teeth; hmmm, I have an idea for the men folk. Ah, just remembered the Bonobos and the Chimpanzees - PBS did the explaining several weeks ago on the vastly different approach these two close relatives of ours take in getting on in life, the Bonobos being the peace makers (sex for them is the normal greeting, similar to our handshake...) while the Chimps are the trouble makers. One society is a matriarchy while the other is a patriarchy. Bet you can guess which is which, can't you? Does that suggest anything else to you? Like, for instance, maybe we need our women to be more of a factor in our life? Men folk need to go play more golf; women folk need to be more dominant in the areas that matter, like government, business and education. What do you think?).

Now where was I... Oh, on disagreeing with Cormac on the world going to pot. I realize my perspective is skewed because of the company I keep, that being mostly golfers, who are out looking for a few hours of company and competition. Good company to keep, in my estimation. Best leave it there, at least for the moment.

Tulips are up and being all pretty out at our place. And the dandy lions (smile) came out during the night, filling our expanse of grass with dots of yellow gold. Red Buds blossomed just like they were supposed to, about the 1st of April; Dogwoods won't be far behind. Lots of things right with this world of ours.

Golfing with Local Celebs

Jack Butcher, not only our local legend but also a celebrity of sorts, is seen above with three golfing buddies as they start the back nine (about an hour ago). Jim Bateman brought to my attention this article in the Evansville Courier&Press, all about Jack B. and his NIT exploits. Worth a read. His golfing buddies this morning: Jim Leonard, Rex Hudson and Jack Lents. Our celeb is the one with his hands on his hips and a smile on his face though good neighbor Jack Lents says he beat him on the first nine. Can't you hear Jack B., the Coach, saying "Lots of time, lots of time".

Manager's Saturday Morning Scrambles

Hey! Good news! We're starting the Saturday scrambles again this Saturday. Nine o'clock start time for now, and, of course, weather permitting. Call in sometime before then - remember, we make up the teams shortly before the start time - nice to know you're coming at least ten minutes in advance.

Back from Bloomington by mid afternoon. Had lunch with daughter Miki at the Siam House. Of note: Bloomington is full of young people. And people from around the world. Nice international flavor - I like that. Hard to find down here in Martin County.

The Greens are Lovely

The greens are lovely. So say the experts out there, our customers, coming in from their rounds of golf. I agree - mid season form for the greens already. The grass is growing in leaps and bounds with the warm and the rain. I hauled in my small home push mower and did several of the tee boxes last night: the reels for the utility mower are being sharpened and are late in being returned from our service providers. Our apologies to our good golfers.

A little rain this morning - yes, I'm at the golf course but on my way to Bloomington in a little bit.

League notes: On players needing partners for any of our leagues, let us know and we will put you on a list here at the clubhouse.

Eric's birthday today. If you see him, wish him a happy. Picture: Eric with Danielle's Naomi in 2004.

This and that

At the golf course, where I've spent a lot of time with the warmer, more friendly weather. And while here the world has continued to turn. Of note:

Tiger wins, again - ho hum. Lorena, too.
Georgetown stuns UNC; advances to Final Four!
Grass is growing; neighbors are mowing.
Forsythia is blooming - our world is filling with Spring color.
Golfers keep coming down from the hills, being seen for the first time in months.
Somewhere baseball is about to start but I haven't heard a whisper where.
The political blogs I read are abuzz with the USA-purge story/scandal; and the Iraq mess.
Reading a Cormac McCarthy book: No Country for Old Men. Called a modern day western, it's a dilly.
The other three: Ohio State, Florida, UCLA.
Eric corrected me on the proper name of one of the contenders to the NCAA basketball crown. He says: "It's Memphis, Dad, not Memphis State". I thought about that for a minute and told him he was wrong, it is Memphis State. Fortunately, Jack Butcher, an alumnus, was out here playing golf at the time. Jack patiently told me that it is Memphis now but that it was Memphis State when he graduated. Ah, no wonder I was confused - hadn't updated my memory chip yet on the name change. Funny how that happens. Definitely me living in and remembering things as they used to be rather than as they are.

History is made

Too bad the Vikings had to be on the losing end of the Boys Class A championship and part of that history making effort by the Oregon-Davis team. First time ever here in Indiana that both the boys and girls trophies reside in the same school. That is cool... For the winners. For the Vikings, somebody forgot to break that glass door that covered their hoop. Darn the luck. But congratulations on a great season.

Butler goes home, too. Georgetown moves on to another game. No favorites here, no predictions either. (Go Buckeyes...)

Movies, Walk Outs and the Big GO

Last night at our house on the hill, after dinner and the news, we removed ourselves to the living room to watch a Korean movie (one of my selections from Netflix), Oldboys. Within the first few minutes of the movie, Diane found herself covering her eyes and telling me to let her know when it was safe to look again - she was closing her eyes to some very graphic and fairly disgusting scenes, like the main guy asking for something live to eat - the waitress finds him a small octopus like critter which he immediately starts eating, head first. Yuk! Not nice! After two or three of these eye aversion maneuvers by Diane, she had had enough and walked out. I stuck with it and it turned out to be a very good movie - I gave it a rating of 4. About revenge.

Meanwhile, March Madness continued with Memphis State winning yet again. But it was the Ohio State and Tennessee game which was on when the movie ended. OSU 10, Tenn 9. I went back to the den and spent a few minutes talking with Diane about this and that, came back to find the score Tenn 30, OSU 18. My oh my... What is going on here!? The lead grew to as much as 20 before the half. The big guy for Ohio State, Greg Oden, spent more of the game sitting on the bench than he did running back and forth on the floor - Tenn did a good job of getting him in foul trouble - btw, what's with all of a sudden the refs are calling everything when last week they let the boys play? The second half was a different story: the Buckeyes crawled (the AP is calling it a "furious rally") all the way back and eventually won the ball game when the Big GO swatted away the almost-a-lay-in, for-sure-good-for-two-points-and-the-win shot by Tennessee's Ramar Smith as time ran out on the Volunteers. It was good one. Guess what? So far we have two number ones and two number twos advancing. Selection committee gets an A, so far anyway.

Better get myself to the golf course. Eric and Diane are over there now. Looks like we have rain coming in this afternoon.

Books, Reading, Writing and Libraries

Question for you: what is not in the picture? what's to the right, the left, behind the photographer? A writing and thinking prompt used to fire your imagination. Picture was taken yesterday morning before we went down to Washington and while Diane was dropping off a book for me - Huong's Novel without a Name - a good read but not near as powerful as Bao Ninh's The Sorrow of War, both of which dealt with Vietnamese soldiers in what they termed the American War. Diane and I have always been users of the public libraries wherever we called home. Something our parents did for us - by reading to us getting us started as readers and thus allowing us to travel in space and time to learn and experience the wonders of times past and times to come, and current goings on as well. Our local library can get you books not on its shelves, something I have taken advantage of many times over the past five years. So, thanks to Mary and Judy and all the good people who have worked hard to run and support the Loogootee Public Library.

By the way, it's raining cats and dogs out here at the course. Should clear up sometime this afternoon - good for the later golfers.

The picture: taken from the parking lot on the north side of the Loogootee Public Library looking northeast.

Support your ...

...neighbors in their endeavors, as in the Barr Reeve Viking boys basketball team. We did go down to the Black Buggy - the company was merry and the biscuits and gravy were delicious. We dressed in the appropriate attire to claim a discount - it was 30% yesterday, 50% last Saturday. We had absolutely zero problem in dressing in red and black and showing our support. These kids are our neighbors, for gosh golly's sake... Of course, I consider people from around the world as my neighbors - how's it go? I am a world citizen currently domiciled in the USA, in Indiana, in Loogootee, on St. Mary's Road (make that E350N.). Kinda like the little critters, and big, with whom we share this planet - by the way, Carl Sagan's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is the book that gave me an understanding, an appreciation and a reverence for all of the different life forms, our "forgotten ancestors" . So, go Vikings. Bring home the trophy and the glory this Saturday.

Diane's parents in 1935, etc.

Dick and Violet Dickerson. Wedding Day. Central City, Nebraska. Diane was born in Albion, Nebraska; lived in Boise from 1945 to 1962 though spent most of her college years in South Bend at St. Marys.

The etcetera part: The Irish women lost last night though ahead for part of the 2nd half - supposedly sent shivers through the #1 seeded North Carolina team before they regrouped.

Heading down to the Black Buggy for breakfast. Not raining yet, might not be all that bad today. Eric is out there, at the golf course, wanting to see you.

Golf quick the weather is changing

Cool but not rainy today. Chance to limber up again. But hurry cause there's more rain tomorrow.

Anybody watching the Women's version of March Madness? (Bracket here - pdf doc.) I followed the Notre Dame Irish several years ago when Ruth Riley took them to the finals against Purdue. Watched the Duke squad and their magical teams which kept coming up short though I think they did win it all a year or two ago. And the UCONN Huskies - one of those teams that is so good, year in and year out, you end up hoping someone would come along and knock them from their high-and-mighty perch. Guess someone has these past few years. And then there is the terrific Tennessee team, coached by the the woman who currently has the record for most wins in NCAA history (you know who the leader among the men is, don't you?). I see the Irish are still in it, Purdue too. No predictions here - you know where the crystal ball is.

Going to the golf course. Hope to see you there.

More Stuff and Things: Rules

Parents rule, at least for a brief period of time. (Above: my parents in 1935)

NCAA basketball rules. Jack Butcher's alma mater, Memphis State, made it to the sweet 16, as did our neighbors, Southern Illinois and Butler. Ohio State, too. Just watched a little bit yesterday - Purdue giving Florida more than it wanted before going the way of other major schools here in Indiana, the basketball capital of the world. Thanks to Butler for hanging in there.

A golf rule: don't three putt from 15 feet. Watched Tiger do just that on his way to a dismal finish after what he considered one of his best ever rounds last Thursday.

Another golf rule: one's best round is followed by one's worst.

Rules of grammar: Every household needs someone to be the bug killer; around here that means Diane. Not every household has a grammarian, but this one does, and that too is Diane. She goes bananas (wonder where that saying came from? I googled it- "...The phrase 'going bananas' was first recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary, and is linked to the fruit's 'comic' connections with monkeys..."; go to the link for other need-to-know stuff about bananas - here).

Where was I? Oh... When coming across errors in printed matter, she often takes the time to correct a misspelling with a handy pencil. And make some comment about the ability of the writer and editor. She'll remind me, gently, of a word or two that slips 'neath the radar in my writing. Bless her. While Diane looks for good writing with emphasis on the form, I could care less about spelling and rules of construction (not entirely true as bad construction can greatly inhibit understanding and meaning). So, I was a little surprised to get this from Diane in an email the other day:

"...fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too. Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can. i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wr od are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsa t ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it..."

something which has everything to do with context and understanding and absolutely nothing to do with spelling. So, what's my point? Hmmm.

Which reminds me, or maybe brings me back to a forgotten point: we have been checking our web site and making corrections as we catch them. The email link on the "contact us" page has been corrected - Rita Butcher, through Jack, brought that to our attention. (Thanks, Rita, who also knows a thing or two about editing.) Though closer to perfection, we know that we aren't there yet. Guess what - we need your help in doing better. So, if you see something amiss, let us know and we'll try and make amends. (John Foddrill also provided help a few weeks ago - thanks, John.)

More on rules: As a general rule, be short and precise. That way you won't lose your audience. Are you still there? (smile)

p.s. On bug killing, I like to think that Diane has laid down a chemical barrier around our house which loudly and often announces to all little critters that danger lies ahead - turn back - go elsewhere. And that makes it bug deterrence rather than bug killing.

Great day for basketball

Not such a hot day for golf both here, with the cool temps and the northerly wind; nor on the PGA tour at the Arnie Invitational - just ask Tiger and Casey and Mediate - struggle, struggle, struggle. Basketball, on the other hand, was just super most of the day and well into the evening, starting with the Vikings win in OT over Lanesville and ending with the Hoosiers loss, after coming all the way back (like the Irish), and then letting it all slip away in the final minute. Too bad. Xavier, another one of my Final Four picks, almost sent #1 seed Ohio State packing, but losing in the end in OT. That leaves Georgetown as my only remaining pick. Almost time to put away the crystal ball. But today was a fun day in basketball with all those close games. Hope your team was one of the winners.

Some of our own - last fall

The guy in the middle is Fred Elliott who left us over the winter. Fred, we're going to miss you, buddy. Rest in peace.

Daggers to the heart

You remember 2051 years ago plus one day, the Ides of March in 44BC: Julius Caesar was stabbed in the back by a group of noble Romans who thought Julius was getting way too big for his britches. Well, today I feel kinda like JC must have felt as the Winthrop Eagles delivered a bunch of daggers to my heart as they toppled the Notre Dame Irish. The Eagles knocked them to the deck and got out to a 20 point lead. CBS decided the heck with showing this game and switched to the Wisconsin game where the Badgers were losing badly as well. But wait a minute. Here come the Irish with a magical rally that saw them taking the lead with a mere 2:21 left to play. Hurray, hurray! But the rascally Eagles were not to be denied, subduing the Irish with a flurry of baskets and finally winning by 10 points, their first tournament victory. This was such a big story that it ended up being the lead story on the Washington Post's front page, lead tournament story. Darn it all. At least this Irish team came back and had a good shot at winning, unlike the football team which has been an embarrassment, a hugh embarrassment, with their bowl game defeats.

New worthy item from the north: Eric's sweety, Colleen, picked Virginia Commonwealth to beat Duke. Don't imagine too many people did that. Eric explained that she hates Duke and of course will do everything in her power to see them retire as soon as possible (which is kinda like the way I feel towards that once and former General up in Bloomington, whom btw, also tasted defeat in his first game).

So, the Irish had a bad day. Tiger did too, shooting a 3 over round of 73 and happy that he came in under 80 with the way he was striking the ball. Oh well, tomorrow is another day. Hope to see you out at the golf course where we might be able to control our own destiny, at least for a little bit of time.

Good luck to the Vikings, and, very reluctantly, to the Winthrop Eagles...

Tiger playing this week

With March Madness ruling the roost, PGA golf took a back seat yesterday. Still, Tiger is playing this week and, thru first day play, was right up there on top after a pretty good day at the office with a round of 6 under to share the lead with Vaughn Taylor and Paul Casey (Rocco Mediate is at -8 thru 16 holes on day 2 and is current leader). Go, Tiger.

Not much golfing going on here at Lakeview these last two days - cool, wet and windy. A few brave souls came out yesterday, including the Shoals Golf Team, which stopped in after finding Eagle View closed. Applause for us - glad I was out here and had the course open for them.

On target after day one almost

Day one of the tournament is done and gone and for the most part me and the seeding crew did okay. You'll remember I predicted four upsets and we've had two. Unfortunately, one of the two was Gonzaga who I thought played very poorly against IU last night; Eric reminded me that good defense by the opposition has something to do with such play. I caught a little of the Boston College game earlier yesterday, and last night as the Gonzos were smashing my Final Four prediction on the very first day of play I was thinking that maybe it wasn't Gonzaga that I picked - it just sounded like Gonzaga; really, it was Boston College, a Catholis school from the other side fo the country. Need a little slack here, guys. (smile)

Diane and I did not repair to the living room last night after dinner and turn on the basketball; rather we watched a movie, The Lake House, with Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. A love Story with some interesting things done with the concept of time. It's good and we enjoyed it very much even if it is rated PG.

Me bad...

Yesterday Eric asked if I'd completed my brackets yet; I told him, again, of my earlier all Catholic Final Four, to which he replied that's was just for fun; how about your real picks. Hmmm, my real picks. I'm not sure my unreal picks are all that bad. He has Florida and Ohio State in the Final Four, and I expect he has his brackets completely filled out now as he and Colleen (his wifey) are both intensely interested in college basketball. Diane could care less, has other things much more interesting to keep her as busy as she wants to be. I enjoy the hoopla and the intensity of this March Madness. It really is an amazing tournament where the best get together and shoot it out among themselves - all in a relatively short time. Reminds me a little of pick-up games way back when I was in high school - I would wander over to the Rockne Center at Notre Dame on Saturday mornings and get into scratch games with all the college students - I forget how many courts there were at the Rock. A bunch. I also forget whether we played half or full court games - I think full court. But it sure was fun, like colts racing around just for the sheer joy of running, of exercising, of pushing our young muscles to the limit. So, March Madness is upon us. And that, along with all the good golfing weather we've been getting - as Jackie Geason would say, how sweet it is! And it sure is.

Had Todd and Mark and Noah and Eamon out as a foursome the other day; wouldn't it be something to have them challenge Nicholas and Ethan and Mark and Logan to a nine hole game here at Lakeview? I'ld put money on the Loogootee lads.

Update 1 (1pm): Okay, I'm going with the house today, betting on the knowledge and wisdom of the seeding crew to do their job well. There will be 4 upsets in the 32 games - just don't know which ones. On CBS right now: Texas Tech (Bobby Knight) and Boston College - it's late in the game and it's close. Saw that Louisville is having a verrrry easy time.

Update 2 (Friday morning 11:10) Add Brent and Joel to the suggested golf game between Lions and Vikings basketball players. The only Viking I know for sure that plays golf is Luke Harmon, Patti Bowling's grandson. The Lions, on the other hand, have a bunch of golfers moonlighting as basketball players.

League Reminders

Just after noon here at home. A few birds, chickadees, finches, small woodpeckers, sample the offerings from our feeders just outside our kitchen windows. It's cloudy and warm and I have just returned from a visit at Dr. Weir's in Bedford (I think, maybe a Mitchell address - down 37 about 5 minutes from the 37/50 junction). Moira and Pam, as usual, treated me like a king. Then on up the road to Bloomington and Sam's for course supplies. Diane and Eric are out at the course, taking care of business.

A few reminders:

- Tuesday Men's League participants all play from the blue tees and at any time on Tuesdays.

- Thursday's Fifty-Plus League, our senior league, is open to any golfer who is 50 or will be 50 in the current year (2007); participants play together in a match play format - each team plays against a particular team in head-to-head competition; men play from the white tees, women from the red tees; play in April starts at 9am, post April at 8am unless otherwise noted on the schedule.

- Community League members play from different tees: men under 50 (flat bellied guys, supposedly) play from the blue tees; senior men and teenage boys from the white tees; ladies and children 12 and under from the red. Play is anytime during the week - at your convenience.

A reminder of a different sort: tomorrow is tax day for corporations.

Stuff and Things at the Course

Another good golfing day here at Lakeview with lots of sun and the temperatures in the 70's Hurray! The grass is even showing signs of turning green on us, and that means growing on us as well. That's okay - we want the grass to grow and make our little haven glisten with morning's dew on green spikes reaching towards the heavens.

More guys showing up after a winter's hibernation: Leroy Streepy, Jim Leonard, Richard Sapp. Each happy to be out and away from the televisions and the couches. And just now arriving John Chapman and Dick Barber, he that is way too busy running all over the country, Florida, Indianapolis. Holy Cow! Busy, busy, busy!

Remind your senior friends who are not in our Thursday morning league to take the plunge. We have room and would love to have them share some time with us as we chase the little white ball in the pursuit of glory, and low scores, and maybe a quarter or two from a friend.

Let there be plenty of sunshine...

The last four days have been wondrous for golfers of every stripe. And that, my friends, was super nice. Golfing was more than enjoyable, though, with all the returning customers, I played but a few holes at the end of these last two days. It was great to see you all again! Expect to see even more good weather golfers in the next few days. Notice our own little golf goddess, granddaughter Leah (in the above picture, Danielle's younger daughter), doing her own bit at calling for the powers that be to give her heed.

Go Irish! Go Vikings!

Notre Dame goes to the big dance. To get to the final four, and the following is conjecture (smile), the Irish will have to beat Winthrop, Oregon, Wisconsin, and then Florida. Go Irish! The other finalists: Gonzaga, Georgetown and Xavier. That would make it an all Catholic Final Four and the Pope would be there to present the trophy to the winning team, which, of course, would be Notre Dame.

Barre Reeve goes to Seymour next Saturday after spending yesterday beating the likes of Covington and Tecumseh. I was at the Tecumseh game and must say that BR had an easy time of it - with superior 3 point shooting and a distinct height advantage. Go Vikings! I did hear an interesting rumor: Luke Zeller transferring from Notre Dame to Butler.

Lakeview Community League

This week's local newspapers will have the brief article on the forming of the new Community League here at Lakeview. Go here for the article. One unique feature of the league is the opportunity for golfers to play on more than one team, though I don't see anybody playing in more than two because of time constraints. Since it is a play at your-own-convenience league, a golfer could theoretically play with a spouse on one day and then later in the week, play with a friend. Grandparents could play with grandchildren, and then on another day with each other or with a friend. For instance, Diane is planning on playing with her grandson, Lucas, and still has the option of playing with a friend as a Woman-Woman pairing, or even with a man as part of a Woman-Male team. (Of course, each team has to come up with an entry fee: $20.)

Our Women's League of past years has been folded into this broader, more inclusive league. Even further back, when a Junior League was offered out here, that, too, now has a resurrection of sorts, as our youngsters can now team up with each other and participate in a Lakeview League.

So, all you golfers out there who have wanted to be part of a league - well, now one's available. I hope you come join us and share in the fun and competition of league play. What the heck, you may find yourself on the top of the standings come the end of August. At the least you will have had the opportunity to spend some quality time with people for whom you care.

Heroes at the Golf Course

Live blogging at the golf course where old friends and new golfers have showed up to take advantage of the sunny skies and the warm. The warm, like in over 50* and without an icy blast coming at us from the northwest. It's nice and that is a nice change.

Diane and I were talking about heroes the other night - PBS was doing a show on Willa Cather, one of Diane's literary heroes, she who said, and I paraphrase, the end is nothing, the road is all. (Lakeview golfers certainly ascribe to that sentiment, being well aware that the final score has little to do with why they spend time out here pushing around a tiny sphere; rather it is the path that is shared, the comradeship, the being together for a little while. Some of us do care, in an offhand way, for the final result; you'll allow us our little waywardness, won't you?)) Diane remembered one of my youthful heroes: Ernie Banks, that long, lean and lanky shortstop for the Cubs who always wanted to play two. What exuberance he had for the game! I still remember his bursting onto the baseball scene back in the '50's. He was a joy to watch even as the Cubs continued to fail in their attempts to win ball games. But maybe they, too, ascribed to Willa's maxim: the road is all.

Who are your heroes? Do you know your kids' heroes?

The Golf Goddess Responds

The golf goddess, Gigi, I think this time, has responded with sunshine and temperatures at 50* this morning. Bless her. Of course, my laptop is cranky and I won't be able to have breakfast with Diane and Eric is still fighting the yuks. Still, bless Gigi. It's to the golf course I go...

Leagues

The "Leagues Forming" notice should appear in this week's area newspapers. Our website News page has the article as written. And we are starting to get calls and emails from golfers showing interest and/or signing up. Won't be long now even though today is on the cool side. Golf yesterday was more than okay - the sun and the competition and the companionship did a marvelous job at negating the effects of the cool northerly wind. Also starting to see fellow golfers who disappeared with the onset of the winter season all those days ago. You remember last November, don't you? Or was it last October that you last played a little golf? Seems like it has been forever, this dastardly winter of ours. By the way, Jim Fox checks in from Florida that it is 71* and wonders what our problem is. Anyone care to respond to Jim?! Be nice.

Okay. Time for breakfast with Diane and then finish up the corporate taxes which are due on the 15th of this month. Would rather be playing golf but you already know that.

Put in an order for some good weather, please...

Another weekend of cool inhospitable weather. But now Monday and the sun is shining as I write though the temperature at 39 and the wind from the west around 8mph makes playing golf somewhat dicey. But what the heck - lets do it anyway. Breakfast with Diane; a haircut; then the golf course.

Did you see that Mark Wilson won the Honda Classic this morning? Won it with his magic putter.

Trojans and Lions come up short

The Wood Memorial Trojans, the girls playing for the state championship, had a second quarter right out of hell yesterday morning, being outscored by the Oregon-Davis, 25-4, which doomed their efforts to bring home the trophy. Final score: Oregon-Davis 54, Wood Memorial 46. The tall and talented center for the Trojans, Katie Cochren, finished with a triple double, 17 points, 13 rebounds, 10 blocked shots.

That was yesterday morning. Last night up in Odon at the North Daviess gym, our local teams, the Loogootee Lions and the Barr Reeve Vikings, put on a show that was a hold-your-breath, sit-on-the-edge-of-your-seat, foot-stomping, rafter-shaking barn burner that was decided only when the final horn went off and the Lions' last second shots missed their mark. Vikings 40, Lions 39. Ecstacy to my left where the Viking faithful went through the roof; agony to my right, where the Lion backers stood drained blankly staring at the mad rush of those other guys to the center of the floor. Well, darn the bad luck of the Lions and a big congrats to the good fortune of the Vikings - may they continue to succeed and bring home the state trophy to the area.

The House On Angela

The house on Angela Blvd. in South Bend where I spent my teenage years. St. Joseph High School was five blocks to the west, Notre Dame was ten blocks to the northeast.

The Winds of Change

It's sunny and above 50* here at the golf course - one would think pretty decent golfing weather. But, alas, the winds they are a-blowing. Which means a drying, and that is good. Which means a weather change, and that could mean a warming, maybe. I think we're all ready to be done with the cold of this past month and get on with some decent weather, for gods' sake (imploring all those golf gods and goddesses to get us to the 60* days). On channel 2 weather last night, it was reported we just had our coldest February since 1979, with an average temperature around 21*, 10* below average. I remember the second half of the 70's: we had moved to this area in 1975 (from the West Coast) and immediately were subjected to some of the harshest winters since way back in the 19th century when farmers had to go out in the middle of the night and walk their horses so they wouldn't freeze in the cool of the night - temperatures down into the -40's. Not only cold but also lots of snow back then in the 70's. Brrrrr...

Don't forget the sectional ball games tonight - memo to myself. Go early. On Tuesday night, Jim and Wilma and I, and lots of others, sat up in the bleachers behind one of the goals, half expecting to move down once the first game was completed and some of the Shoals and Rivet fans left the arena. Never happened. Full house. High interest. That's cool, and the seats were hard but not all that bad. We managed.

Movies and History Lessons

Diane and I watched Earth last night, an excellent 5 star movie about the civil and religious wars in India way back in 1947 when its independence was being gained from Great Britain. This was a terrible time for Muslims and Hindus as more than a million lives were lost in the relocation of peoples that took place in the agreed upon partition of Pakistan from India. Worth watching but be prepared for an ending that is heartbreaking.

Sectional Basketball

Congratulations to the Patriots and the Vikings, victors on Tuesday up in Odon. By far the better game was the first one - Rivet and Shoals, decided only when Shoals missed a tying 3 pointer as the clock ticked down. In the 2nd game, Barr Reeve's amazing 3 point production doomed North Daviess early. Now on to Friday night! Go Lions, Cardinals, Vikings and Patriots...

Leagues Forming...

From our website (www.golflakeview.com - the News) and soon to be in local papers:

03/01/07

Lakeview Leagues 2007 Forming

Lakeview Golf Course in Loogootee, Indiana, announces the formation of Leagues for the 2007 season. The Tuesday Men's League commences play on April 10th and runs through September 4th. The Fifty-Plua League, a league for senior men and women, starts on April 12th and finishes on September 6th. Area golfers are invited to join either or both leagues. A Lakeview Community League, new this year, will start the week of May 14th and run through the last week in August. This new league will have the same format as the Tuesday Men's League with the exception that play takes place any day of the week and participation is open to players of any age and gender. Watch for more information on this league in late March. For more information, contact the Lakeview clubhouse at 812-295-5678 or visit us online at www.golflakeview.com.