Al Groh is Out

It will be difficult to lure a successful coach to UVA, based on academic restrictions, and poor YOY performance. Realizing the decision will not be solely based on football, my thoughts:

Untouchable I'd want, if $ weren't an object: Jeff Tedford

My current wishlist (and % chance):

1. Chris Petersen (BSU) (2%)
2. Pat Fitzgerald (NU) (1%)
2. Calhoun (AF) (4%)
3. London (UoR) (55%)
4. Butch Jones (CMU) (3%)
5. Grobe (WFU) (25%)
6. Strong (UF)(10%)
7. Woody Hayes, Mike Price, and Gene Stallings
196. Flavor Flav
278. Golden and Mike Groh

Major Applewhite as a darkhorse?

LRJ WR

Lebron's talk of playing WR for the Cleveland Browns makes for good discussion.

"Quarterback Brady Quinn also heard about James' football fetish. He would love to have a target to throw to like James in the red zone."

Shouldn't you reach the red zone before discussing your red zone options?

If LJ waits too long, the orange helmet referred to by Mangini will be that of a construction worker, if he's lucky enough to land a foreman job after getting freed by Cleveland.

LJ would have more success as a WR for the Giants.

NCAA BB 2009

I enjoyed ESPN’s NCAA BB Marathon; it jogged memories of the NCAA Tournament, and watching a sequence of games, a whetting of the whistle.

Down:
Kansas - #1 on the basis of returning starters/scorers (top 9), but I see marginal improvement from last years S16 team. Aldrich will take touches from more athletic players, and it will be hard to settle on a rotation.

Duke – Lost their most athletic player when Elliott Williams transferred to Memphis.

Top Ten Teams (in general) – Most T10 teams have a few superstars and little depth, or depth with no go to scorer. More cracks/flaws in the T10 than in the past.

Up:
Teams not currently in the Top 25 – Maryland (GV, EH, LM) has depth and experience, and will rise as the season progresses. Memphis gained a potential All American in Williams (kudos to the NCAA for allowing him to immediately transfer, on account of personal hardship) but the team has a lot of growing up to do (under an untested coach) and improve their shooting to be dangerous. Not used to being the underdog, I see them improving as the year progresses. Gonzaga has a young team, who will undertake a difficult schedule, but Mark Few will prepare them well for March.

Magazine Rankings 2009

I've never curtailed my interest in reading, which leads me to receive a multitude of magazines, covering many different subjects. My 2009 magazine ranking:

1. Dwell - The writing is intentionally sparse, but the pictures are the true content, and convey beautiful homes, offices, tree houses, etc. Very imaginative and inspiring.

2. GQ - Quality articles, great style advice. I enjoy it as much as I did at 18.

3. Sports Illustrated - My parents bought me my own subscription for a 30th birthday gift, and I couldn't be happier. Not the same magazine I used to snip for my wall murals at age 10, but still a cover to cover gem. SI may be the foundation for men aged 28-42.

4. Fast Company - Excellent reading, understated humor, diverse topic coverage.

5. Inc. - Good stories of small business success.

6. Golf - Excellent interviews, which are stymied by the excessive advertising.

7. Vanity Fair - Three excellent stories per issue, the rest is advertising.

8. Wired - I don't understand Wired.

Forrest Gump, Lillehammer, and Ace of Base

While OJ was in the back of Al Cowlings' Bronco, and Arkansas won the NCAA basketball tournament on the sharp-shooting of Scotty Thurmond, our anonymous coed was watching the debut of Friends before grinding to 'The Sign' at the Tacky Party.

At least that is what her gym t-shirt from yesterday supposed (Tacky Party 1994). I was both impressed and reviled by a fifteen year old shirt.

Musings...

- A friend at work mentioned taking her kids to the school book fair, and immediately conjured up great memories. The gargantuan metal lockers, color coded by age, are am image I (surprisingly) remember quite easily,and fondly.

- I should revisit my elementary school to see if my mental map still matches the actual layout, and how the scale has shrunken as I have grown.

- The Golf Channel has done such a good job covering the HSBC and JBWere Masters I'd forgotten there was a concurrent PGA Tournament (Disney) with a good field (Fowler, Lovemark, Johnson, Toms, Gay). Nightly live coverage is fantastic.

- Hard to believe it has been 11 years since TW competed in Australia. Raking a $3M appearance fee doesn't hurt.

NCAAA Bowl Projections

Stewart Mandel's Bowl Projections elicits low expectations at the paucity of (projected) marquee games. Nerveless, the speculative gates are open.

Bad:

- Going from a BCS Title matchup to the Sugar Bowl (against Cincinnati) would be a precipitous drop for Florida, and deservedly so, based on their play over the last month.

- Does anyone care about GT/Iowa in the Orange Bowl? Did anyone care before Iowa lost this weekend?

- Wow, is the PAC 10 down (more so than most years). A 2L Oregon in the Orange Bowl? I'd rather watch Stanford.

- A mediocre Big East and TCU wreck the BCS bowls. They have arguable cases for being the best teams in 2009, but BCS games should pit big conference foes.

Good:

- Alabama/UT would be a great title bout.

- While Central Michigan (MAC) vs. Louisiana-Monroe (Big Ten No. 7*) looks terrible on paper, how can anyone argue with the Little Caesars Bowl?

- Auburn/Clemson would match inconsistent teams in the Chick-fil-A Bowl.

- Miami would annihilate ND in the Gator Bowl.

- Houston/Georgia would feature an upstart v. a stalwart.

Number of bowl games I'll match +/- 1.5, the Rose and possibly one more game.

Free Advertising

Thanks to two days of rain at the Viking Classic, Dean Wilson has gotten more face time on pgatour.com than he received prior to Thursday.

Shouldn't Brett Favre be the official sponsor of the Viking Classic? (rimshot)

Top Ten Professional Golfers Under 25

The focus of the Frys.com Open was the emergence of youth on the PGA Tour, a needed spotlight for the post Tour Championship events, where kids in their early 20s with nothing to lose can play anxiety free golf. As homage to a final round which included a hole-in-one and a ball jump out of a water hazard, my Top 10 Professional Golfers under the age of 25. Just missing the list are Dustin Johnson and Michael Sim (both 25).

10. Tony Finau (21) – Currently on The Big Break, averages @ 330 yards off the tee.
Prediction: Two wins on PGA Tour
Comparison: JB Holmes

9. Pablo Martin (23) – Won the Estoril Open de Portugal in 2007, becoming the first amateur to win on the European Tour.
Prediction: Three wins on European Tour, one WGC win, one Ryder Cup
Comparison: Luke Donald

8. Shane Lowry (23) – Won 2009 Irish Open in a playoff over Robert Rock (great name). Currently 190 in the WGR.
Prediction: Five wins Worldwide, two Ryder Cups
Comparison: Darren Clarke

7. Rickie Fowler (20) – All-everything from Oklahoma State, NCAA Player of the Year as a freshman. Lost in playoff @ Frys.com Open to Troy Matteson. While others see a perfect pedigree, I see him being somewhat undersized, and possessing a swing with too many moving parts.
Prediction: 10 PGA Tour wins, one Major, Four Ryder Cups
Comparison: Hal Sutton, Fred Couples

6. Jason Day (21) – Won the 2007 Legend Financial Classic on the Nationwide Tour, becoming the youngest winner of a Tour-sponsored event. Has played the last two years on the PGA Tour.
Prediction: 12 PGA Tour wins, one Major, Three President's Cups
Comparison: Jim Furyk, Tom Kite

5. Ryo Ishikawa (19) – Four wins on the 2009 Japan Golf Tour, youngest player to reach the Top 50 on the WGR (36).
Prediction: 20 wins worldwide, two Majors, Eight President's Cups
Comparison: Sandy Lyle

4. Matteo Manassero (16) – Youngest winner of the British Amateur, played with Tom Watson and Sergio Garcia in the 2009 Open, finishing T13 (Sunday 69).
Prediction: 15 wins worldwide, two Majors, five Ryder Cups
Comparison: Bernhard Langer

3. Jamie Lovemark (21) – Won NCAAs as a freshman @ USC, lost in playoff @ Frys.com Open to Troy Matteson. Fundamentally sound (simple) swing and height (6’4”) accentuates length off the teem
Prediction: 10 PGA Tour wins, 3 Majors, multiple Ryder/President’s Cups
Comparison: Nick Price, Ernie Els

2. Anthony Kim (24) – Hard to believe AK isn’t 25. Already a 2 time Tour winner and Ryder/Presiden’t Cup stalwart.
Prediction: 12 PGA Tour wins, 4 Majors, multiple Ryder/President’s Cups
Comparison: Raymond Floyd

1. Rory McIlroy (20) – Won the 2009 Dubai Dessert Classic on the European Tour, solid showings in Majors, WGC events. Swing is both powerful and accurate.
Prediction: 30 wins Worldwide, 15 PGA Tour wins, 5 Majors, 10 Ryder Cups
Comparison: Nick Flado, Phil Mickelson

Up and Down

An interesting E (70) for Kevin Streelman @ the Frys.com Open. http://bit.ly/1nEe6w.

I'm surprised he didn't withdraw, or break any clubs.

Question of the Day

Would it be weird to purchase a chair for my office and neglect the standard issue offering?

Laughingstock

UVA football is atrocious. Without delving into details, I hold the coaching staff fully accountable, as we have talented athletes who are trapped in the first year implementation of a spread offence, which is being sabotaged/watered-down by Groh. Also (one last rant), how do you come out in the spread against W&M, instead of running it down their throat to a 14+ point lead, before implementing the spread? We compleletely negated out athletic superiority.

If/when/once Groh is fired, the popular replacement is Mike London (Richmond). Personally, I want no part of any coach from the Al Groh lineage. My choices to replace Al Groh:

1. Chris Peterson -Boise State - Would he leave a perennial top 15 team for a rebuilding assignment?
2. Troy Calhoun - Air Force - Former service academy coaches are favorably viewed at UVA
3. Paul Johnson/Tom O'Brien - GT/NCSU - We should ahve hired PJ two years ago, I knew he'd be successful @ GT, who are scary good this year. 0% chance either leaves for UVA.
4. Chris Beatty - WVU - It is only a matter of time before he gets a HC gig.

I don't want:
1. Phil Fulmer - Does not fit the UVA xcoaching persona, lauded by the same contingent who wanted Bobby Knight to replace Dave Leitao
2. Any assistant coach from USC
3. Terry Bowden

Strasburg and the Nats

That may be the only time I combine those words. With just over a day left, I'm disappointed the Nats haven't signed Strasburg, although they've offered them a 'record deal'. I'd split my blame 70/30% between the Nats and Boras.

Should the Nats not sign Strasburg, it will be the second consecutive year they do not sign their first round draft pick. By drafting SS #1, they knew he'd command a record deal which would surpass an incremental increase from the current record of $10.5m/yr. The corresponding positives (ticket & jersey sales, conversation) would outweigh the looming negatives if he gets off the hook.

Boras could care less if he blows up baseball to fatten his pockets. He's malicious.

Back in Action

After a very important layoff.

Not overly enthusiastic about the PGA Championship. Essentially out of the running for my golf pools, and I'm not inspired by Hazelbeem. The course is long, I get it.

I was miffed when I attempted to download the PGA iPhone application, and it was $1.99? No other major charges for their application (even the Masters, which provides coverage not on TV), but the PGA is trying to cash in? If you have 10,000 people purchase the application, you've made @$6,000. Additionally, their online tracker is miserable.

Pick(s)? - Don't really care, but we picked Dustin Johnson in our pool.

The Open - 2009

7:00 AM the Thursday of the Open competes with Christmas morning. There is no better way to start a day. Too bad the coverage on TBS is like a toaster dropped on one's foot, initial pain, ultimately numbing to resigned acceptance. Ernie Johnson is terrible.

Our (belated) picks.

2. Camilo Villegas
1. Graeme McDowell

Halfway There

"THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 02, 2006

Rub My Face In It Later

Lucas Glover is going to be one hell of a professional golfer. I think he wins at least two Majors by the end of the decade."

Congratulations to LG, a first-time Major Championship winner at Bethpage. Please drop the arrogant/sulking act when you are playing poorly (dragging the driver behind your body as you walk off the tee), one Curtis Strange a lifetime is enough.

U.S Open - 2009

You'd expect Bethpage Black, stretched to 7400 yards, to require length off the tee to be competitive. However, 2002 results deliver a different portrayal, as shorter hitters (with the exception of TW) fared extremely well (Maggert, Hoch, Mayfair had top ten finishes). Length will play a factor in 2009, but on account of the rainy weeks leading up to the event. If Bethpage receives rain, expect much of the same.

I remember leaving work in 2002 to watch the Friday round, which consisted of Sergio Garcia regripping for 65% of the telecast I was working a job I hated and had lunch by myself at Chili's. Easily the most miserable lunch of my life.

Aside from the presumptive favorite, TW, other potential winners.

2. Graeme McDowell - A European always makes a run (Nick Dougherty). People are focused on McIlroy, Stenson, etc., but McDowell is playing well and poised for a competitive Major.

1. Dustin Johnson - I'll be wagering on Johnson. He's the five tool golfer (drives with length, drives with accuracy, excellent irons, good short game, good putter) and has the confidence to match.

Also, golfers who won't win.

2. Angel Cabrera - Playing with Tiger Thursday/Friday is a tough draw. TW ain't Kenny Perry.

1. Paul Casey - He's overcome ill-spoken comments from his past, but New York residents have a long memory.



Also, congratulations to Cameron Yancey for qualifying. He's a product of the VSGA and played at UVA, and was a frequent competitor during my junior golf 'career'. I wasn't aware he was still playing.

Common Sense Addendum

To continue my crotchety rant, on the $20 CakeLove gift certificate, the expiration date was 'Jun 10', which required a follow-up call to ensure they meant June 2010, and I didn't have a gift certificate that expired five days after purchase. Why would you even include an expiration date?

I called Macy's to order a curio (yep) and they essentially don't sell the model we chose. While on their website, the wait for delivery is at least 90 days. They have a display model at our local mall, but they won't sell it to you. Great idea to have a display of something you can't buy.

I look for Jim Furyk to win at The Memorial, and I'm exstatic Virginia baseball is still alive in the Super Regionals (@ Old Miss).

Common Sense

Where has it gone? Two examples...

Last night we ordered a birthday cake from CakeLove, and when we went to pick it up, they hadn't made it. Awesome. In lieu, they scrambled to slap a birthday message on a different cake, which had most likely been in the display for days (it tasted like it) and give us a $20 gift certificate on a $50 cake. Thanks for the $10 cake (we didn''t order) and 'enticement' to come back to your miserable store. When did refunds become verboten.

Today at the golf course (after being annoyed when the cart vermin approached the car to take my clubs, don't ever a.)approach b.)touch my clubs) I was short on balls and picked out a sleeve of Titleist Pro V1s.

Guy working register: "If you like the Titleist, you should really buy a sleeve of Nike (whatever). They even come with two additional balls free."

So...

1.) Did I ask for a golf ball suggestion?
2.) Are you insinuating I'm a bad golfer, and a sleeve won't cut it for 18?
3.) I've played Titleist for 20+ years, you see me rifling through the sleeves, avoiding the Snack Shoppe 7s, for a sleeve of 3s, so I appear to be open to the hard sell on the Nikes?

Anyone know how to avoid the 'cart vermin' who spitshine your clubs after a round? I'm going to start wrapping 3-5 of my clubs with toilet paper coming up 18.

Producing v. Consuming

I've been overly marred in internet consuming, time to produce.

Was able to get in two rounds of golf over the weekend. I'm really enjoying the game with new fitted irons. I highly recommend anyone who takes an interest in the game do the same. I can't believe it took me 20 years to get fitted. New I need to get fitted for woods. I'm tiring of my 907, and actually swung the Cleveland Launcher well. We'll see.

With a nod to myofficialthoughts.blogspot.com, some Memorial Day fantasticism.