Robservations: Scorecard sticks it to Standard
The PGA’s final major of the season is going on this week, as golfers converge on Whistling Straits for the PGA Championship.
But one of our own local “majors” was played last week, as a large field hit the McMinnville Country Club for the 18th annual Rotary Golf Classic.
For some, it was a major payday, as thousands of dollars worth of prizes were given away.
For others, it was a major fundraiser, with money raised by the tournament going to Rotary’s scholarship fund.
But for your friendly neighborhood sports department, it was a major disappointment, as we finished out of the money — yet again.
OK, our 10-under 62 wasn’t that bad a score. But it wasn’t what we shot, apparently it was how we shot it.
By the end of our day, we had tied four other teams for the top score in the tournament’s “B” flight. Meaning, of course, we were at the top — of the middle of the pack. But when the math was completed, and the prizes were given to the top three teams in our flight, we came away with nothing more to show for our efforts than the stop-light red glow on the back of my neck that has been painfully and disgustingly peeling away for the past week.
Bottom line, scorecard playoffs stink. And I stink even worse when it comes to getting a golf ball to go anywhere near where I want it to go. Ask Dale, he’ll tell you. Ask our playing partners, when they get back from the chiropractor after having to carry us around the course all day.
On the other hand, we had a good time, got to pal around with a lot of good folks, and got to donate some cash to a worthwhile cause.
That, plus we beat the radio team by three strokes. So maybe the day wasn’t a total waste.
• News flash: There is a high school football game featuring the Warren County Pioneers in seven days.
Is it just me, or have fall sports snuck up on us this year? It seems like just last night we were wrapping up the baseball and men’s soccer seasons, and now here we are talking volleyball, golf, girls’ soccer and my personal favorite — football.
I don’t know about you, gentle reader, but I’m getting gassed up for it. I can’t wait to see the completed renovations to Nunley (no relation) Stadium, and I’m looking forward to the Pioneers hitting the gridiron to start the 2004 season.
Of course, as with every year, everywhere I go people ask for my thoughts on how well this year’s team will do.
For some reason, as if I have a crystal ball with laces in it sitting at home on the coffee table, sports fans around the county come asking for my opinion as to how much, or how little, success the Pioneers will have on the football field.
I don’t know why they bother, since they’ve almost always already made up their own minds on the subject. I know this, because as soon as I offer my opinion, they either agree with it, or tell me how wrong they think I am.
I’ve never been one for predicting a team’s performance in the paper. It’s been tried by predecessors of mine, with disastrous results, and it can often drive a wedge between coaches and sports writers.
But this year’s different. So here it is, for the first time ever, my prediction for what the Pioneer football team will do this season:
They will play, at least, 10 games. Most of them will be on Fridays, and they will last a little over two hours.
Wow. I hope I haven’t put myself too far out on a limb with that.