Boys Basketball Sectionals Tonight

At North Daviess tonight, the Jug Rox take on Vincennes Rivet in the first game starting at 6. Since all my kids graduated from Shoals, I say Go, Jug Rox! The second game has the Cougars of North Daviess going against the Barr Reeve Vikings. Since my grandchildren are going to North Daviess schools, I say Go, Cougars! On Friday, the Loogootee Lions take on the Washington Cardinals (in the first game?), and since I am a resident of Loogootee (my mail comes through the Loogoootee Post Office), I say Go, Lions! That's four teams getting my support. Better throw some support towards the Vikings since our house is located in Barr Township and the neighborhood youngsters go to Barr Reeve. That leaves the Cardinals, the Catholics. Hmmm, don't know about the connection there. Any suggestions? You know I support them all and hope for games as even and as exciting as the ones the girls have put on in recent weeks.

Hey. I'm heading out to the golf course. The sun is shining, the wind is calmed down a bit, and the birds are making spring-like noises.

The Swede Takes the Trophy

Diane, with Swedish blood running through her veins, cheered the triumph of her fellow Swede, Henrik Stenson, after it was all over and done with and I told her the results. And I cheer the results as well. NBC made a go of it and I found myself watching more of the match than I had expected to. The Buckeye/Badger game was just around the corner over at CBS and it ended up being a whale of a game with the Buckeyes prevailing, using a standard weapon of theirs, the blocked shot, to thwart the Badgers last attempt to steal one from the OSU home arena. But mostly I was at NBC enjoying the back and forth nature of the competition and listening to the prattle of the commentators. No real gripping moment, lots of not so good shots, errant drives, fairway shots into bunkers, missed sand saves, missed putts, but still enjoyable. The course was sterling - would love to play it someday (next life maybe).

And while all that was happening, Fred Funk, the little old guy, over 50 in any case, the straight shooter who hits it more like you and me - short and straight (?), was winning down in Mexico. Cheers.

Yesterday at the course: windy, cool and wet. Not a whole lot of golfing.

Girls Basketball

Congratulations to the Wood Memorial Trojans - they beat the Northeast Dubois Jeeps and head to Indy for the state championship against Oregon-Davis. Go Trojans!

Match Play

So it's now down to two: Jason Sobel at espn.com is trying to make the case for watching these two excellent golfers

MARANA, Ariz. -- I know, I know. Geoff Ogilvy is playing Henrik Stenson in the WGC-Accenture Match Play final and you don't care. Or you care, but not enough to watch. Or you care enough to watch, but not enough to watch 36 holes. read more here.

But in the end I can't tell whether he's talking with tongue in cheek or not. He didn't convince me to tune in, but I will, at least for some of it, maybe as background as I do other things. I was hoping for a semi final match between TW and Charlie Howell - that would have been fun to watch - Tiger may have even treated him like a human being during the match, given their friendship, real friendship. But maybe not. A more perfect final match? TW and, hmmm, Jim Furek would have been more than okay; but Phil Mickelson a more ideal choice. You know that Phil would be all smiles going around the course, and you know that Tiger would be anything but until the outcome had been decided. Could have been fun, and something NBC would have given, oh, five minutes of free advertising? better make that an hour, rather than the Geoff and Henrik show.

Other options: how about the Buckeyes and the Badgers on a competing network? I'll be watching some of each.

Hey - I'm writing from the golf course where it is a little cool, a little windy, but very playable. Rains maybe later.

Inclement weather, Offseason and Books

Windy and cool this morning so I'm here at the dining table rather than at the golf course. After commenting on the woes of TW last night, the balance of the evening and part of this morning was spent in finishing Bao Dinh's The Sorrow of War (Loogootee Public Library got it for me - thank you, Mary). This book is the ramblings of a Vietnam soldier and deals with, pay attention now, the sorrow of war. The protagonist is a youngster who spends his youth, as many Vietnamese did, fighting the American War. It's a tale of the horrors of war, of lost youth and of lost love. Powerful and engaging, and well worth the time and effort if you are at all interested in the Vietnam Experience.

One of the nicest things about working in a seasonal business is the chance to catch up on stuff and things in the offseason. Both Diane and I revel in the opportunity to catch up on our reading, to explore different worlds and perspectives from a host of different authors. Diane, for the most part, covers the fictional side of the universe, the imaginary and created side, while I handle the non-fictional, the real world so to speak. The book mentioned above is an exception for me though it blends in nicely and offers an emotional side to the many 'real' books I've read on Vietnam. A necessary exception and one that Diane would probalby say I need to make more often.

Magic in earlier times

By the way, while I was going to and from Bloomington on Thursday (a supply run), I was going over those sports magicians from the last 25 to 30 years and wondering who were the similar magic players from the 60's and the 70's. My memory provided me with no ready answers though it did offer some possibilities: Wilt Chamberlain who was dominant but for the most part unable to help his teams win championships in the '60's. Bill Russell was so good and his teams won, both in college and at the pro level. Julius Erving was a superstar during the 70's and was a joy to watch. Jack Nicklaus? I was not a big golf fan during those years; certainly he was dominant and a winner. Two or three teams might qualify: Stengel's Yankees; Wooden's Bruins; and Auerbach's Celtics. All winners. I know I am leaving much out here, and given a few more trips to Bloomington, or maybe a little help from you all, a whole host of other superstars could get their due right here. For now, enough. Got to go commiserate some more on TW's loss.

Update June 1st 12:25am:

Mystery Golfers - from left to right, top to bottom:

1.Jim Murphy
2. Diane Bird
3. Pam Byron
4. Vic Wallace
5. Junior Byron
6. Clyde Wake
7. Bob Norris10. Allen Swayze
8. Charlie Sheetz
9. Morris Cornelius