We're still here. Don't worry. JTBI is in Michigan, Seaward is down in Kentucky, and I'm kicking it in Oxford, Ohio. We'll be back up when we all are settled and I stop taking naps in lieu of studying for Spanish. So get ready. more...
If you've been noticing a dearth of posts by The Seaward lately on this here blogging premises, there's a good reason for it: like JTBI, I, too, (holy comma, Batman!) have a new job and am in the process of moving from here...
Well, I'm back from vacation, where I was supposed to play golf at any number of nice courses in the Carolinas. Needless to say, the heat index was somewhere around 115 degrees all week, which barely made it tolerable to swim in the bath water that was the Atlantic Ocean so much of my vacation was spent watching TV, drinking Yuengling, and reading Mahler's "The Bronx is Burning", which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Speaking (kinda) of golf...
Did anybody even watch the PGA Championship this weekend? If so, please comment as to why. Because there is nothing, friends, more exciting than watching every golfer watch Tiger Woods and what he did this weekend in Tulsa. Sarcasm aside, Tiger Woods is your PGA Champion, giving him a win and two runners-up for the 2007 Majors. On the large, that's a pretty mediocre year for the stripped one, considering the two #2 finishes came with Tiger leading for a portion on Sunday. But Tiger was unbeatable this weekend, which was set up nicely by his round on Friday. He shot 63 at Southern Hills and missed a putt on 18 that would have given him a score that would have more closely resembled a score from Tiger's video game. It was academic after that with the rest of the field is wilting like Brady Quinn against any kind of good college football team.
I wish ESPN would consider adding to its lineup a crisp, half-hour, nightly news version of SportsCenter -- just news and highlights, without gimmicks or sponsored segments or recaps, without self- or cross-promotion, with a consistent anchor team accountable for a consistent tone, with spare to no use of instant commentary. A prime-time island of clean, clear, straightforward news on which ESPN's journalistic credibility could securely rest.
As Seaward mentioned in today's TMA, Barry Bonds became the Home Run King of Major League Baseball last night/early this morning. I made it a point to watch the game two nights ago and was disappointed not to see the record set. I don't know what was going through my head last night when I decided to go up to my room and try to finish "The Bronx is Burning" (the book, not the miniseries, both of which I enjoy). Then, just after midnight, my brother Jonathan ran upstairs yelling at me.
"Chris! Chris!! Get down here! Barry did it!"
I felt like a kid on Christmas Day I ran out of my bed so quickly. I almost tripped down the flight of stairs I was moving so fast. When I got downstairs I saw a throng of Giants hugging Barry. I saw fireworks going off at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Later, I saw Hank Aaron on the Jumbotron reading a very prepared statement congratulating Barry on his achievement. I saw Willie Mays trying his damndest to help keep Barry's emotions in check on the field.
And then I saw something that made me totally forget about the shadows surrounding this record and the allegations surrounding this athlete. I have never been a Giants fan in any regard but I have had a soft spot for Bonds since his drive for the record began in earnest a few years ago. I thought about how Hank Aaron had faced racism and death threats while he tried to break the Babe's record in 1974. Bonds had steroid allegations, constant ESPN coverage and Pedro Gomez (oh my!) to worry about during his chase. Yet standing on the third base line at AT&T Park, Barry Bonds reached for the heavens and thanked his late father, Bobby, and broke down.
Just like that, Barry Bonds was human, as human as you or me. In the midst of this chase and these allegations, Barry Bonds was nothing more than his father's son, trying to celebrate this home run with the man who taught him how to do it. When he pointed skyward, Barry reminded all of us that baseball is just a game and that it is a game that we share with friends and, more importantly, family. We can discuss steroids tomorrow, but for today, Barry Bonds is the unquestioned Home Run King of Major League Baseball.
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After today, I will be going on vacation to the simple recesses of Edisto Beach, South Carolina. It is a quiet beach island an hour away from Charleston and is just a stones throw from some great golf, including:
The Ocean Course at Kiawah, site of the 2012 PGA Championship (mark it down)
Carolina National Golf Club, a Freddy Cuplando design
Daufuskie Island Golf Resort
Wild Dunes, the classic Tom Fazio design
Why do I mention this? Because I get to play one of these courses and you don't. Good money's on Carolina National or Wild Dunes, but I'm holding out for Daufuskie near Hilton Head. One of the courses is named "Bloody Point". And I can't stop giggling.
Anyway, the crux of this entire thing is that I will likely be away from any form of communications whatsoever and it is with that that I leave TSE in the able (if sometimes invisible) hands of JTBI and Seaward, maybe a guest here and there. Between now and the end of August, we'll be doing some Best of TSE posts that not only cleared the bar, but set it at a new height this summer. Look for one later today.
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