July 17, 2024
Has Tiger Lost His Stripes?
In the past I’ve referred to Tiger Woods as the “Babe Ruth” of golf. In my opinion, he has done as much for the game of golf as the Sultan of Swat did for baseball so many years ago. However, the last few years Tiger has been in a slump not being able to win another major. To his defense he has some personal issues and injuries, but he keeps pressing on.
Now comes comments from another pro golfer, Colin Montgomerie, who went public to say this about Tiger:
“I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him. There is none of that now. At Pinehurst, he did not seem to enjoy a single shot, and you think, what the hell is he doing? He’s coming to Troon, and he won’t enjoy it either.”
In reaction to Tiger once saying he would retire when he is no longer competitive, Montgomerie said this:
“Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there. There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go. Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.”
WOW.
My first reaction? What a jerk. Montgomerie needs to shut up. This dude turned 61 last month and has been a pro since 1987. He does have 54 victories to his credit but those came in 37 years on the tour including his current ride in the European Senior Tour and the PGA Tour Champions circuits. 31 of his victories came while playing on the European Tour. Two wins were on the Asian Tour. Seven on the PGA Tour Champions, and nine while playing in the European Senior Tour against older men like himself. He had seven other victories elsewhere.
Montgomerie has never won a Masters, PGA title, U.S. Open championship, or a British Open. His best finishes were second in all the aforementioned tournaments except for the Masters where he finished eighth. So where does he come off telling Tiger to call it quits? Ridiculous.
How did Tiger respond?
“As a past British Open champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin’s not. He’s not a past champion, so he’s not exempt. So, he doesn’t get the opportunity to make that decision. I do. When I get to his age, I get to still make that decision, where he doesn’t. I’ll play as long as I can play, and I feel like I can still win the event.”
Good for you Tiger as this weekend is the British Open thus all this commentary. Tiger Woods is an absolute legend and a credit to the sport. There is no room anywhere for criticizing him. All athletes go through some decline in their skills no matter what the sport. But with Tiger Woods no matter how he is playing, he draws fans to tournament simply because of who he is. Babe Ruth had the same impact thus the comparison.
I know this…anytime Tiger Woods is competing now or in the past, I want to see him play, I want to see how he is doing. When he’s not playing, I’m not interested in watching golf.
On another note, our very own Paul Skenes was the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star game won by the American League yet again. While I was hoping to see the Bucs rookie strike out the side in the first inning, he failed to do that, but he did now allow a hit. Listening to the sports show this morning called The Early Line hosted by Ben Stevens and Donnie Rightside they were talking about Paul Skenes.
These two hosts were discussing whether Skenes can win the Cy Young Award, but they went on to indicate that Skenes might very well win the award, but the Pirates’ success solely rides on his shoulders and how he does will determine how this team finishes. That’s a load of crap. While I think Skenes is the real deal and headed for stardom, his record is in fact only 6-0 with 11 starts. The Pirates as of this writing are heading into the second half of the season with an even mark of 48-48 so without Skenes’ six victories and even if he won all 11, they would still have 37 other wins. Bottom line is he is a major contributor, but the Pirates are still winning other games without him on the mound.
Now comes comments from another pro golfer, Colin Montgomerie, who went public to say this about Tiger:
“I hope people remember Tiger as Tiger was, the passion and the charismatic aura around him. There is none of that now. At Pinehurst, he did not seem to enjoy a single shot, and you think, what the hell is he doing? He’s coming to Troon, and he won’t enjoy it either.”
In reaction to Tiger once saying he would retire when he is no longer competitive, Montgomerie said this:
“Aren’t we there? I’d have thought we were past there. There is a time for all sportsmen to say goodbye, but it’s very difficult to tell Tiger it’s time to go. Obviously, he still feels he can win. We are more realistic.”
WOW.
My first reaction? What a jerk. Montgomerie needs to shut up. This dude turned 61 last month and has been a pro since 1987. He does have 54 victories to his credit but those came in 37 years on the tour including his current ride in the European Senior Tour and the PGA Tour Champions circuits. 31 of his victories came while playing on the European Tour. Two wins were on the Asian Tour. Seven on the PGA Tour Champions, and nine while playing in the European Senior Tour against older men like himself. He had seven other victories elsewhere.
Montgomerie has never won a Masters, PGA title, U.S. Open championship, or a British Open. His best finishes were second in all the aforementioned tournaments except for the Masters where he finished eighth. So where does he come off telling Tiger to call it quits? Ridiculous.
How did Tiger respond?
“As a past British Open champion, I’m exempt until I’m 60. Colin’s not. He’s not a past champion, so he’s not exempt. So, he doesn’t get the opportunity to make that decision. I do. When I get to his age, I get to still make that decision, where he doesn’t. I’ll play as long as I can play, and I feel like I can still win the event.”
Good for you Tiger as this weekend is the British Open thus all this commentary. Tiger Woods is an absolute legend and a credit to the sport. There is no room anywhere for criticizing him. All athletes go through some decline in their skills no matter what the sport. But with Tiger Woods no matter how he is playing, he draws fans to tournament simply because of who he is. Babe Ruth had the same impact thus the comparison.
I know this…anytime Tiger Woods is competing now or in the past, I want to see him play, I want to see how he is doing. When he’s not playing, I’m not interested in watching golf.
On another note, our very own Paul Skenes was the starting pitcher for the National League in the All-Star game won by the American League yet again. While I was hoping to see the Bucs rookie strike out the side in the first inning, he failed to do that, but he did now allow a hit. Listening to the sports show this morning called The Early Line hosted by Ben Stevens and Donnie Rightside they were talking about Paul Skenes.
These two hosts were discussing whether Skenes can win the Cy Young Award, but they went on to indicate that Skenes might very well win the award, but the Pirates’ success solely rides on his shoulders and how he does will determine how this team finishes. That’s a load of crap. While I think Skenes is the real deal and headed for stardom, his record is in fact only 6-0 with 11 starts. The Pirates as of this writing are heading into the second half of the season with an even mark of 48-48 so without Skenes’ six victories and even if he won all 11, they would still have 37 other wins. Bottom line is he is a major contributor, but the Pirates are still winning other games without him on the mound.
July 15, 2024
Skenes is on the Scene
Tomorrow night is Major League Baseball’s annual All-Star game and the very first inning will be sheer excitement for Pittsburgh Pirates fans everywhere.
That’s because rookie Paul Skenes has been named as the starting pitcher for the National League becoming only the fifth rookie in history to have that honor.
The other four were: Hideo Nomo (1995), Fernando Valenzuela ('81), Mark Fidrych ('76) and Dave Stenhouse ('62).
The last time a Pirate was named as starter was Jerry Reuss in 1995. Skenes has taken the world by storm and is now just six victories away from matching the all-time record for an undefeated season of 12-0.
The icing on the cake today is that the Bucs with a sweep of the White Sox have brought their season record to an even .500 at 48-48 and find themselves in 3rd place just 8 1/2 games behind first place Milwaukee.
The Buccos are also only 1 1/2 games behind in the wild card race. In past years we Pirates fans have expected a collapse by this time. But this is in no way the loser teams we have known. These guys can play and are competitive . I think they will be scratching and clawing the rest of the way.
With Skenes, Jarod Jones, and Mitch Keller as the primary starters thinks are more optimistic at this point than in past seasons.
That’s because rookie Paul Skenes has been named as the starting pitcher for the National League becoming only the fifth rookie in history to have that honor.
The other four were: Hideo Nomo (1995), Fernando Valenzuela ('81), Mark Fidrych ('76) and Dave Stenhouse ('62).
The last time a Pirate was named as starter was Jerry Reuss in 1995. Skenes has taken the world by storm and is now just six victories away from matching the all-time record for an undefeated season of 12-0.
The icing on the cake today is that the Bucs with a sweep of the White Sox have brought their season record to an even .500 at 48-48 and find themselves in 3rd place just 8 1/2 games behind first place Milwaukee.
The Buccos are also only 1 1/2 games behind in the wild card race. In past years we Pirates fans have expected a collapse by this time. But this is in no way the loser teams we have known. These guys can play and are competitive . I think they will be scratching and clawing the rest of the way.
With Skenes, Jarod Jones, and Mitch Keller as the primary starters thinks are more optimistic at this point than in past seasons.
July 12, 2024
End of the Week Thoughts
First, let me mention the performance of the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes yesterday as he earned his sixth win without a loss in 2024. This was his finest outing to date, no question. Seven innings of shutout and no-hit ball striking out 11. Skenes is without a doubt the most dominant pitcher in Major League Baseball now.
With that said, the pitching strategies of current baseball in the bigs has changed the way the game used to be played…BIG TIME. When Skenes was pulled from the game, reportedly he wanted to stay in. This whole pitch count bullshit is ridiculous. Apparently, limiting pitchers from throwing too many times is done to save a young man’s arm from injury. Come on now. This was never the case throughout the history of professional baseball. What this is doing is preserving the records for complete games, innings pitched, shutouts, and no-hitters by one pitcher.
Skenes was in a groove in the seventh inning when he threw his final pitch and come on man…he was just SIX outs from throwing a no-no.
I’m convinced that no matter how well he was pitching he would have grabbed that special accomplishment. He also probably would have struck out a few more along the way and what would have surpassed an already amazing feat could have become one for the record books.
I really hate this pitch count crap and it is preventing Skenes from doing even more special things. I heard on ESPN radio this morning someone saying he was throwing every pitch at 100 miles per hour and thus letting him continue would risk injuring his arm. BULLSHIT. First, every pitch of his is not at that speed. He does throw some off-speed stuff. Regardless, had he been allowed to continue and if he got into trouble in the 8th, he could have been pulled then.
The bottom line is what he has done thus far this season. The numbers are mind boggling. 11 starts, six victories (and had the Pirates scored a few more in those non-decisions, his record might have a few more victories), a crazy 1.90 ERA, 66 1/3 innings pitched, and 89 strikeouts. The kid has walked just 13 batters. Opposing teams are hitting just .202 against Skenes. To top it all off, in his rookie season he was named to the All-Star team. I can’t wait to see how he does on the big stage.
In other sports, two men who should be ashamed of themselves this week for actions they engaged in and words they express. Let’s start with Oklahoma State University head football coach Mike Gundy. Gundy’s star running back Ollie Gordon was recently pulled over by police for a DUI. When Gundy met the press in a few words it sounded like he was defending Gordon’s actions.
Said Gundy:
“I’m not justifying what Ollie did, I’m telling you what decision I made. I thought, OK, I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life and it was just fine so I got lucky. People get lucky.”
Say what? The man just admitted to 1,000 DUIs. Unbelievable and incredibly irresponsible not just for driving after drinking but to publicly acknowledge that like it’s no big deal. He continued with more stupidity:
“Ollie made a decision he wish he could have done better, but when I talked to Ollie, I told him you’re lucky you got out light because you make a lot of money to play football. So back in the day, being able to cover the cost of what he’s going to go through legally, would be difficult for a college player. It’s not for him. Now I’m not speaking for him but I’m saying that’s not an issue for him. So, nobody got hurt.”
That statement leads me to wonder WHAT IF Gordon had hurt or even killed someone after his drinking and driving bout? What would Gundy have said then? It’s just disgusting his attitude and brushing this incident off like it’s no big deal. Gundy should check the news and read and watch the two DUI situations that took place in New York in the last few weeks where multiple innocent people lost their lives because of some stupid and careless drunk driver.
This brings me to the other sickening story of the week, that of the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Wander Franco. The 21-year-old was arrested in his home country of the Dominican Republic for “commercial sexual exploitation of a minor” as well as human trafficking. This after the discovery that Franco was having sexual relations with a 14-year-old. To make matters worse, the child’s mother was being paid $1,700 a month from Franco and was awarded a car by the major leaguer. In a word, the girls’ mother was basically pimping out her own daughter.
While the investigation continues and a court hearing is scheduled for August 14, Franco is being kept off the field.
The mother of the girl is also in trouble as she is facing money laundering charges. The young girl reportedly said her mother took advantage of her and was an alcoholic who also has violent tendencies.
Now 15, the girl had moved out of her mother’s home. The charges involved Franco contacting the girl by phone and spending two nights with her away from her home on December 9, 2022, when they had a sexual relationship. The mother also paid for a taxi to take the girl to meet Franco.
This man should be thrown out of baseball permanently. And Mike Gundy? He should be fired. This is what you call mentoring of young men? Disgusting.
With that said, the pitching strategies of current baseball in the bigs has changed the way the game used to be played…BIG TIME. When Skenes was pulled from the game, reportedly he wanted to stay in. This whole pitch count bullshit is ridiculous. Apparently, limiting pitchers from throwing too many times is done to save a young man’s arm from injury. Come on now. This was never the case throughout the history of professional baseball. What this is doing is preserving the records for complete games, innings pitched, shutouts, and no-hitters by one pitcher.
Skenes was in a groove in the seventh inning when he threw his final pitch and come on man…he was just SIX outs from throwing a no-no.
I’m convinced that no matter how well he was pitching he would have grabbed that special accomplishment. He also probably would have struck out a few more along the way and what would have surpassed an already amazing feat could have become one for the record books.
I really hate this pitch count crap and it is preventing Skenes from doing even more special things. I heard on ESPN radio this morning someone saying he was throwing every pitch at 100 miles per hour and thus letting him continue would risk injuring his arm. BULLSHIT. First, every pitch of his is not at that speed. He does throw some off-speed stuff. Regardless, had he been allowed to continue and if he got into trouble in the 8th, he could have been pulled then.
The bottom line is what he has done thus far this season. The numbers are mind boggling. 11 starts, six victories (and had the Pirates scored a few more in those non-decisions, his record might have a few more victories), a crazy 1.90 ERA, 66 1/3 innings pitched, and 89 strikeouts. The kid has walked just 13 batters. Opposing teams are hitting just .202 against Skenes. To top it all off, in his rookie season he was named to the All-Star team. I can’t wait to see how he does on the big stage.
In other sports, two men who should be ashamed of themselves this week for actions they engaged in and words they express. Let’s start with Oklahoma State University head football coach Mike Gundy. Gundy’s star running back Ollie Gordon was recently pulled over by police for a DUI. When Gundy met the press in a few words it sounded like he was defending Gordon’s actions.
Said Gundy:
“I’m not justifying what Ollie did, I’m telling you what decision I made. I thought, OK, I’ve probably done that 1,000 times in my life and it was just fine so I got lucky. People get lucky.”
Say what? The man just admitted to 1,000 DUIs. Unbelievable and incredibly irresponsible not just for driving after drinking but to publicly acknowledge that like it’s no big deal. He continued with more stupidity:
“Ollie made a decision he wish he could have done better, but when I talked to Ollie, I told him you’re lucky you got out light because you make a lot of money to play football. So back in the day, being able to cover the cost of what he’s going to go through legally, would be difficult for a college player. It’s not for him. Now I’m not speaking for him but I’m saying that’s not an issue for him. So, nobody got hurt.”
That statement leads me to wonder WHAT IF Gordon had hurt or even killed someone after his drinking and driving bout? What would Gundy have said then? It’s just disgusting his attitude and brushing this incident off like it’s no big deal. Gundy should check the news and read and watch the two DUI situations that took place in New York in the last few weeks where multiple innocent people lost their lives because of some stupid and careless drunk driver.
This brings me to the other sickening story of the week, that of the Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Wander Franco. The 21-year-old was arrested in his home country of the Dominican Republic for “commercial sexual exploitation of a minor” as well as human trafficking. This after the discovery that Franco was having sexual relations with a 14-year-old. To make matters worse, the child’s mother was being paid $1,700 a month from Franco and was awarded a car by the major leaguer. In a word, the girls’ mother was basically pimping out her own daughter.
While the investigation continues and a court hearing is scheduled for August 14, Franco is being kept off the field.
The mother of the girl is also in trouble as she is facing money laundering charges. The young girl reportedly said her mother took advantage of her and was an alcoholic who also has violent tendencies.
Now 15, the girl had moved out of her mother’s home. The charges involved Franco contacting the girl by phone and spending two nights with her away from her home on December 9, 2022, when they had a sexual relationship. The mother also paid for a taxi to take the girl to meet Franco.
This man should be thrown out of baseball permanently. And Mike Gundy? He should be fired. This is what you call mentoring of young men? Disgusting.