Month: April 2022

It was a beautiful day at Augusta National.

Scottie Scheffler won the Masters and in doing so won his fourth tournament in his last six starts.

He shot a final round 71 to finish at -10.

He was awesome on Sunday going 5 for 6 on off the green scrambles. I have no idea what tournament Jim Nance was watching. He seems lost at times without Tony Romo. If you put Jim Nance with Michael Cage you could conceivably have total non-coherent blather for three straight hours. I thought Scottie’s chip in birdie on No. 3 was the dagger and tore out Cam Smith’s heart right there and then.

It was a beautiful ending. His wife actually looks quite a bit like my daughter-in-law. I cried there at the end. I did a lot of crying watching the final round.

Tiger finished all 72 tortuous holes to finish at +13. He just simply wore out the final two days. He was +1 after the first 36 holes. He was hugging on Little Charlie and I cried on that one too.

I cried a third time when Rory shot a tournament best 64 to grab second place. Rory was my father’s favorite golfer. I’m guessing I was the only dude in Oklahoma who cried this much while watching the Masters on Sunday. If Nora Ephron had scripted Tom Hanks to play Scottie I’d still be crying.

It was a great day of golf and great tournament. More to the point it kept me from even thinking about watching the point shaving Thunder close out their season of sustainability by losing both games in Los Angeles by a combined 70 points.

On one hand in Augusta, we had everything noble and aspirational about sport and competition. Then on the other hand, we had Sam Presti’s Thunder showing us everything tawdry and dubious in regard to the bottom seven teams of the NBA and why probably four of these teams should be moved to other cities.

Just writing that one paragraph about the tawdry Thunder makes me feel dirty. I need to cleanse myself and get the glow back to a wonderful Sunday.

The right one is out there for you, Tiger. You have a lot to offer if you would just take Uncle Mike’s advice. I know she’s out there for you, buddy. You’ve won 15 majors and 82 tournaments all told… don’t you think it’s time to find the right Mrs. Tiger.

A tough day for Tiger in the third round on another bad weather day at Augusta. Tiger soared to his worst ever round at Augusta with a 78.

This puts Tiger at +7 for the tournament. Hopefully…his girlfriend is there to get him through this night.

Good weather tomorrow with winds finally subsiding, plus easier pen placements. Just a horrible putting round for Tiger on Saturday.

I would just say, take a deep breath, see if you can make some putts and shoot a 65 to get back at even.

Just to make the cut with that leg was something. But shooting back in the red would be epic.

Enjoy the song, Tiger. This one puts me to sleep in about two minutes.

Go out there and have fun tomorrow.

Tiger…if I were your caddy this is what I would say. Get a girl to stay with, get a dog, get a song to sing on…and spend plenty of time with Charlie on the golf course being his caddy. But shoot a 65 tomorrow as well and make a statement.

Good luck, buddy.

The 24-56 Thunder finish off their second straight season of tanking this week-end in Los Angeles. If the Thunder could lose both games that would bring them in at 24-58 for the season. Couple that with last season and that means the Thunder would be 44-110 the last two seasons in Oklahoma City.

Thunder have two pretty good picks in this summer’s draft, and the Thunder should come out of this draft with two players who should be good enough to move into OKC’s top seven or eight players next season.

I also have no idea if the Thunder will be tanking beyond this season.

I do know this though, the Thunder per league release ranked 28th in attendance this season only beating the Kings and Pacers for the dubious honor of having the league’s worst home attendance.

Per the league stats which do not reflect actual bodies in seats….the Thunder averaged 14,877 for their forty-one home dates which translates into 81.7 home attendance.

I think in reality from what I saw in the arena the Thunder had around 9,500 bodies in the arena for most of their games. The top two levels were primarily empty.

Next season I would think if the Thunder tank again these numbers will drop even lower because at some point any legitimate entity has to display some sense of reasonable legal good faith in selling their product to the public.

If Sam Presti has a real vision of sustainability in Oklahoma City…I would think he and his ownership group would need to project that vision next season.

In closing…the bottom five teams in attendance this season were… 26 Orlando, 27 San Antonio, 28, Oklahoma City, 29 Sacramento Kings, and 30 Indiana Pacers.

Pulling aside San Antonio is there any real reason these other four cities have NBA franchises and Seattle, Las Vegas, Tampa, and Kansas City do not?

The rest of the league is getting ready to begin the NBA Playoffs in what should be a great post season. I’ve watched my last Thunder game of the season. Pro wrestling has more integrity.

Bring on the sustainability, Sam Presti.

Just make the cut today, Tiger. Stay on the leaderboard and just make the cut to live the last two days of the tournament.

I thought Tiger looked fairly solid. Took a bad bogey at the par five eighth, but otherwise solid.

He’s walks a helluva lot better than I do…so as of right now I’m thinking his physical therapy people will get him once the round is over and work on his recovery time for tomorrow’s round.

You win or lose the Masters on the back nine…so if Tiger could do some damage on those par fives that would be handy.

Fairways and greens, buddy. America is locked in on you.

Just make the cut and see what happens around you would be my sage advice.

Stay away from a terrible hole.

The Thunder lost by forty or so points tonight in Salt Lake. I could care less at this point. Without Chauncey Billups on the opposing bench, it’s not that easy winning an NBA game.

That’s all I’ve got to say about the game in Salt Lake. Two more games and the Thunder’s season will thankfully be over.

I will say this though…I think whichever adult suggested Darius Bazely sit quietly on the second row was the Thunder Player of the Game.

I’m moving on to the Masters, at Augusta National starting tomorrow. This is what I do as a sport purist. After the Masters…I’ll get ready for the NBA Playoffs and the glorious Stanley Cup Playoffs. I could care less who the Thunder pick in the NBA draft. I just hope it isn’t Chet ‘The Stickman’ Holgren. The thought of having to look at Stickman and Poku on the same team seems beyond the pale of cruel and unusual punishment.

Tiger in his glorious career has only once failed to make the cut at Augusta.

This is a new deal though given he almost lost his leg in that horrific car accident. I think Tiger’s recovery time from the walking will decide his fate as far as making the cut on one leg.

I just hope Tiger makes the cut and gets himself to Saturday. Beyond that, I think anything else would-be gravy on this first tournament back.

I hope the PGA pairs him with Patrick Reed on the first round. That would be a hoot. The white kid from the South who immolates Tiger down to the wardrobe Tiger wears on the course.

I’m glad the PGA banned Phil for this event. He’s become a complete bore. Let him go play on the Saudi tour is what I say. They can play their tournaments on Donald Trump courses. I could care less. Ban his ass, like they did with Trump after the Insurrection.

I love Tiger. To me…he’s the one who succeeded Ali as the most transformative athlete for the second half of my life.

I worry about that leg in cold, damp weather though.

Hope Tiger plays in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills in Tulsa because I’ve been invited through my daughter-in-law’s family to attend the Wednesday practice round. My daughter in-law’s father was at one time the Southern Hills club champion and actually played on the same high school golf team of Mike Holder in Ardmore. Bill beat him like a red-headed step-child is what I’ve been told. Dead solid perfect.

Bill actually caddied for Raymond Floyd back when Ray won the PGA Championship at Southern Hills.

But tomorrow the world watches as Tiger returns to Augusta National.

The beauty of Amen Corner and how to play it if you’re Tiger Woods.

So…this is Sam Presti’s vision of sustainability in Oklahoma City. How quaint.

He already has assembled one of the worst broadcast teams in all of professional sports, so why not bring the team itself down to the same level.

The other Sam…as in Anderson, the one who wrote the book Boom Town, surely has to be chuckling to himself this morning.

Bless their hearts. All of them.

How fitting the G League darlings will end the last three games of their botched season of tanking with the next to last game versus the shitshow Lakers in LA on April 8th. Maybe Russell could wear a Thunder uni so as the Thunder would lose the game. That will be my gala sendoff of this pathetic NBA season in Oklahoma City. It could be more glorious than the ending to Inglorious Basterds.

Simply look at the highlights from above from the last ten minutes of the 4th period. Adam Silver should at this point suspend the seasons in Oklahoma City, Houston, Portland, Orlando, and Sacramento as to make it appear the mafia doesn’t own the NBA. We’ll let Detroit continue because I enjoy watching Cade Cunningham play basketball.

This is why Sam Presti sat down Rookie of the Year candidate Josh Giddey? This is why Shai missed the All-Star Game?

I wonder what Josh Giddey and Shai Gilgeous -Alexander are thinking this morning? More importantly…I wonder what their agents are thinking.

Every time I focused in on Josh’s face what I saw was disgust. I’m not sure what I saw on Shai’s face. Clearly…though, Darius Bazely is an entirely different animal. I was embarrassed for Darius Bazely last night. He looked like a complete fool. Sam Presti should make him team captain next season if the Thunder decide to tank a third straight season.

Thankfully…that was it for the Thunder’s home schedule this season. Only three road games left and then there will be nothing left to ponder except who the Thunder will draft this summer.

Out loud hint to Clay Bennett…either play legitimate basketball next season or do the right thing and move the franchise back to Seattle where it probably should have stayed in the first place.

On the same day I watched Tiger Wood’s highly inspirational press conference, I then ruined it by watching the final period of the Portland Trailblazers literally take a dive in blowing a double digit fourth period lead against the incredibly stupid Oklahoma City Thunder.

Somewhere in the basketball cosmos both David Stern and Aubrey McClendon are in a state of shame for ever having anything to do with bringing the NBA to Oklahoma City.

Beyond giving up 173 points at Memphis, this was the most shameful thing I’ve witnessed in this season of stupidity in Oklahoma City.

The dumbasses who run this Thunder organization just got snookered again by Chauncey Billups and the shame in it all is that the fans in Oklahoma City who were in that arena tonight are too stupid to even realize it.

If there is a dumber NBA fanbase than the one Sam Presti has created in OKC, please tell me which fanbase that would be.

This fourth period was worse than watching Trump and Marjorie Taylor-Green do a ‘conservative’ rally somewhere between the state borders of Alabama and Mississippi.

I will not even allow 405 Baller to taint his or her name by writing on the Thunder Journal this week. Nothing good could possibly come of it.

This game was shameful. It was a disgrace to the spirit of sport and competition from sea to shining sea.

It was like watching the corrupt sport of boxing….or watching the state legislature of Oklahoma in action. But this was worse.

When you can’t even lose by design in an effective manner it might be time to do a Robert Irsay and in the dark of the night move the team back to Seattle or to Las Vegas.

In this fourth period the Thunder were allowed by the willing Blazers to outscore the team from Portland by a 31-12 margin. It gets better. In the last ten minutes of this game OKC with a group of obscure G Leaguers outscored Portland 26-4.

It was beyond pathetic to witness.

A new lower low.

Again…if this is Sam Presti’s vision of ‘sustainability’ to turn the city into a complete shit show of losers and dimwits…then I say move the team west.

And then there’s Tiger Woods above at the age of forty-six saying he just wants to keep competing despite having a leg which says no. A story which will probably remind of us Ben Hogan at some point.

He wants to chase the Golden Bear for the majors record despite what Jim Traber says about him in Oklahoma City.

And all of this was ruined for me today because of the disgraceful level to which the Thunder have fallen.

The Thunder have taken the Bad News Bears to a level lower than what Walter Matthau did to the little league baseball team.

In closing….

Portland took Greg Oden.

Beyond that salient fact tell me what Sam Presti has actually done in Oklahoma City beyond propagating even more stupid white people in a rogue red Trump state.

The basketball part of me wishes OU wasn’t joining the SEC. Big 8 and Big 12 basketball is a part of me.

So when either OU, O State, Texas Tech, Baylor or Kansas does something of note…I feel a kinship to it.

The football not as much because I know if OU wants to have any chance of ever again winning a national championship in football, they need to be in the SEC given where college football has moved.

I’m happy for the Kansas Jayhawks. Baylor is No. 4 pre-season next year and the Jayhawks depending on their NCAA fate are currently ranked No. 8.

As far as Bill Self’s future at Kansas…he’s 59 years of age and if by chance the NCAA hammers Kansas because of their five violations…then I guess it’s on Kansas and Bill Self to decide the future course of their program in a mutual agreement of sorts.

But for this moment right now in April the day after Championship Monday…it’s One Shining Moment in Lawrence, Kansas.

A great Championship Monday and a beautiful tournament all around. The Kansas Jayhawks came back from a 40-25 halftime deficit to forge a 72-69 win over the North Carolina Tar Heels.

A great game from start to finish as the Jayhawks won their fourth basketball national championship.

Bill Self becomes the first Kansas coach to win two national championships in hoops.

The fifteen-point halftime lead was the largest lead ever blown by the losing team.

Kansas was just the better, deeper team. Hubert Davis and his team have nothing to be ashamed of whatsoever.

To get to Championship Monday…Carolina, a team which was on the bubble six weeks ago, beat Marquette, defending national champion Baylor, UCLA, St Peter’s and Duke. They came within a play or two or running the gauntlet.

A fabulous NCAA Tournament by the Heels.

Brady Manek had the ride of his life…just two plays short though.

To put how close this game was, keep this in perspective…both teams led the game for 18:32 and the game was tied for the other 2:56 of play.

But Kansas is the better team. Once they got their pace going in the second half, they outscored North Carolina by a 47-29 margin in the final twenty minutes.

A dream season for Bill Self and his family as they struggled through the loss of Bill Self’s father earlier this year.

My guess is at the end of the day the NCAA isn’t going to punish Kansas like they did with Oklahoma State for the Lamont Evans issues.

So…at the end of the day the Big 12 repeats in basketball with a second straight national title, plus the fact Texas Tech made it to the finals two tournaments ago before Covid wiped out a March Madness in 2020.

It’s the toughest basketball conference in the country.

The Big Ten…what a joke. The Big Ten’s streak of not winning a national championship in men’s basketball stays intact to the year 2000 when Michigan State won the title.

Nine teams in this year’s tournament. Not one team advanced beyond the Sweet 16. Not one.

A great tournament though from start to finish.