I am not a golfer any longer, but at one time I did go out a few times a week and duff the ball around.
The courses were not bad and you could actually play a round of golf in less than four hours, but they priced me out and I just couldn’t see paying those high amounts to play such lousy golf.
So instead of suffering through those hot summer days, I spend them in cool air conditioning either at home or at the race book playing the ponies. But sometimes I do like watching a good golf movie on the TV – like “Tin Cup.”
It’s one of my favorites, mostly because of Rene Russo who played psychiatrist Dr. Molly Griswold, and became Kevin Costner’s shrink and girl friend as she brought him along in several tournaments so he could qualify for the US Open.
Costner played Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy, a wild and crazy beer drinking golfer who could play great but would some how lose it when trying a crazy shot instead of playing it safe as he ends up doing in the US Open. The movie is really entertaining.
As the movie progresses Roy meets up with Don Johnson who plays the big gun – the Tiger Woods type in the movie. Johnson was Molly’s boyfriend before Roy and there is no love lost between them.
Anyway, I have seen this movie many times and the other day after getting home from betting the ponies in the cool air of the race book I settled down for a nice glass of red and turned the tube on. Low and behold it was “Tin Cup” or was it?
No it was Rory Mcllroy making his run at the US Open and what a run – a record breaking four rounds of great golf. The only thing missing from the real thing was Russo.
Now this was almost too close for me to believe – Rory Mcllroy actually doing in real life what Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy wanted to do in the movie. At the end the golfers who were trying to catch him and never did were saying who is that guy and the spectators were looking at each other whispering Tiger who?
I would really like to see Rory hire Cheech Marin to be his caddy when he attempts to win the British Open, Cheech played Romeo Posar in the movie, friend, drinking buddy and caddie for Roy.
Back to baseball
As we get close to the All Star break, some teams are just bad, but there are closer races in every division with the exception of the NL East.
The Phillies look to pull away from the pack, but there are a number of teams that could meet them for a shot at the NL pennant. In the Central, the Brewers and Cards are in a virtual tie. St. Louis has gone 3-7 in the last 10 games, while Milwaukee went a steady 5-5.
Cincinnati is just two games back and the “who dat” Pittsburgh Pirates, believe it or not, are just four games back after getting swept in Cleveland in three very close games. The Cubs and Houston Astros are just bad teams.
In the NL West you can say good bye to the Dodgers and Padres. San Francisco and Arizona are battling it out with the Colorado Rockies in pursuit.
In the AL East, the Red Sox and Yankees will battle it out till the end. With the Boston Bruins winning the Stanley Cup I believe the Red Sox will turn Boston into the City of Champions and win the World Series.
Who knows, maybe the Pats (if there is no strike) will win the Super Bowl! Now that would be something. I think I will go out and make a future bet.
The Tampa Bay Rays are a good team and cannot be overlooked in the AL East. They could get hot.
In the AL Central, the Tribe got back into first place, thanks to the Pirates, but will battle the Tigers the rest of the way with Detroit overtaking them to win the division.
In the AL West a dog fight looks to be taking place as we head into the “dog days of summer” between the Rangers, who just went 3-7 in their last 10, the Mariners and Angels.
Anyone of the three could win this division. It is just a matter of which team can get hot in August.